The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4)

by Carmen Caine

  A fair distance away to the left, I saw the massively carved main gate with the crowds of elaborately dressed Fae milling about, just like before. The sound of flutes filled the air. I wondered if they were the same Fae, or if the Queens’ castle was really that popular.

  But then Raven and Rafael moved away and shaking off my thoughts, I followed.

  Raven led us down a winding path to a stone circle that looked a lot like a mini Stonehenge, each stone being about the size of a door. Striding up to a light colored stone with an engraved circle in the center, she held out her hand and a moment later, I learned they actually were doorways. Well, portals really. A beam of light came out and kind of just sucked us all up and transported us to a long dark corridor, lit by one of the eerie floating balls of light that I’d seen during my last trip to the City of Queens.

  Rafael didn’t seem too surprised at where we’d ended up, so I just followed them down a long flight of narrow stone stairs endlessly spiraling into the darkness below. The floating ball of light trailed behind us, casting long shadows on the rock walls.

  Finally, we reached the bottom and on the last step, Raven paused.

  “Melody’s secret lab is behind this wall,” she said in an urgent whisper, her voice sounding nasal. She’d been crying so much that she could no longer breathe through her nose.

  “Right,” Rafael gave a soft, crisp reply.

  She looked at me questioningly.

  “I’m going with him,” I hissed stubbornly, moving forward to grab his hand.

  But Rafael seemed inclined to object this time. “It might be safer to stay here with Raven,” he suggested but cut himself short as a new globe of light appeared above us, bobbing our direction.

  Raven responded by grabbing our arms and pulling us to the face of the rock, and as a door zipped open, we jumped inside.

  We arrived in a room that was pretty much empty except for a large white panel resting against the wall. It reminded me of a really big whiteboard.

  “We have to hide,” Raven hissed, pushing us to the white panel. “Melody’s coming.”

  I didn’t have much time to glance around as I was shoved behind the panel. I realized then that it was like some kind of one-way mirror. I could see into the empty room perfectly. I really hoped Melody wouldn’t be able to see me just as easily.

  Rafael and Raven had just squeezed in beside me when the door flew open and Melody entered, wearing her long flowing white cloak and her blonde hair pulled up into a tight bun.

  She moved to the wall opposite us and raising her hand, spoke a single word.

  At once, a large rectangular object descended from the ceiling and when it was almost at eye level, I realized it was some kind of bed. Or a cage, maybe. Large metal bands arced over the top of it to restrain its occupant. It took me a moment to recognize it from the glimpse I’d seen in the hand mirror.

  We’d finally found Jareth.

  He lay there, unnaturally still and with sweat gleaming on his forehead. His eyes were closed and he was breathing fast.

  But he was breathing.

  Relief coursed through me.

  He really was alive.

  “It is time, Jareth,” Melody announced as the bed settled into place in the center of the chamber. “It is time for you to fulfill your destiny and do what I created you to do. You must begin now. I can no longer afford delays.”

  “I only live to serve your every whim, Melody,” Jareth managed to drawl and even in his weakened state, the sarcasm came through loud and clear.

  I found myself smiling in relief. He had to be feeling somewhat recovered in order to have the energy to make his trademark snarky comments.

  Melody didn’t seem ruffled by his attitude. And on second thought, I guess she wouldn’t. She was probably partially responsible for it, anyway.

  She waved her hands and Jareth’s bed tipped upright to face her. He was still enclosed in the metal bands. It looked like he was buried in some kind of iron ribcage.

  “At last, I shall see the fruits of labor. My many, many years of labor,” Melody was saying with a self-satisfied smile.

  “And will you now reveal why?” Jareth asked. His voice wavered a little, betraying a weakness that made me just want to rush forward and free him immediately.

  I must have moved because Rafael’s hand clamped down over mine.

  Melody apparently shared my concern, but I was sure it wasn’t from the goodness of her heart.

  “Are you rejecting your nourishment?” she asked him in a suspicious voice. “I need you strong. Even stronger than before to do what you must do. You are my masterpiece, Jareth. Failure is not an option.” She leaned over to inspect a series of flashing lights on the side of the bed.

  “Ah, what I must do,” he repeated sarcastically, clearing his throat. “A masterpiece created from years of Mesmer research.”

  “I only created them to strengthen you, my dear Jareth,” she murmured absently.

  “And why hide such a secret?” he pressed. “Especially when secrets are only made to be exposed.”

  But she really wasn’t listening to him. All of a sudden, she began to curse. Or at least, I think it was some form of Fae cursing. She was spitting harsh-sounding words as her face darkened in anger.

  “You fool!” she shouted, her chin trembling with fury. “You’ve ruined my system. You’ve rejected your healing! Your foolishness will only allow Rafael to win! We can’t let our enemies outmaneuver us. This is a most critical—”

  “No, not our enemies.” Jareth drew the word ‘our’ out in a mocking tone. "My own brother isn’t my enemy. The only enemy I have is you, Melody.”

  She waved her fingers and Jareth’s face abruptly twisted in agony.

  “So, you wish to know your purpose?” she asked, planting her face inches from his. “Do you wish to know how many you will destroy at my bidding?”

  I held my breath as I felt Rafael’s muscles tense under my fingers.

  “Never!” Jareth struggled helplessly against the iron bands. “I’m not a mass murderer.”

  Melody’s nostrils flared. “Never? I think not. I’ve lost so much because of you,” she hissed in fury. “Because of you, I was forced to destroy our fellow Fate Trackers. All of them. Even those I loved as dearly as my own offspring.”

  Jareth gasped.

  At my side, I heard Rafael’s harsh intake of breath.

  “You … killed them?” Jareth choked. “It was you who murdered the Fate Trackers? You were our mentor!”

  Melody heaved a long, sorrowful sigh. She actually had tears in her blue eyes. “It broke my heart,” she confessed in a tremulous voice. “The sacrifice was … immeasurable. You have no idea how hard that was to do, but I did it for Avalon. I did it because they would have discovered you. I sacrificed so much! And I did it for you, Jareth. To protect you for the day you would free us from our chains!”

  “You are insane,” he choked, looking upon her with outright horror.

  I don’t think she even really heard him. “Now that your Blue Thread is gone, I see only one fate line before you now, Jareth,” she said. There was a triumph in her eyes and she was rubbing her hands together like a little kid looking at a mountain of presents. “You are my weapon, my secret weapon. And you alone are capable of transcending all three dimensions. You can travel where the Fae cannot. You can dream as well as any human, and even more, you can see their thoughtforms. You were created to travel to the Second Dimension and free Avalon of its chains. It matters little that Earth will be destroyed along the way. The humans are vermin, unworthy of saving.”

  Jareth looked like he was going to vomit as Melody began to laugh.

  “It’s no matter.” She shrugged, pointing to the lights on the bed. “You’re still strong enough to fulfill your mission. You haven’t stopped me, you young fool. You are my weapon. You will travel to the Second Dimension and uproot the Tree of Life itself. It is your destiny. And you will fulfill it. Every fate line above your
head says it is so.”

  Rafael gasped.

  Jareth blanched.

  I closed my eyes.

  It was all so horrible. Jareth’s Blue Thread had come and gone. And from the looks of it, he’d also made the wrong choice. His fate lines were now the same as Rafael’s. They both ended with the destruction of the Tree of Life.

  And that meant we were all going to die.

  What seemed like just some kind of vague theory before now seemed so real.

  Jareth had been created to kill us all.

  And maybe Fate had tried to help us out by giving all three of us choices to fix it. Only, now both Rafael and Jareth had made their decisions. Rafael had been wrong for sticking up for me and following his heart. And now Jareth, he was evidently wrong to not join the Brotherhood.

  They had to be wrong choices, because now both of their fates ended up in the destruction of the Tree of Life and thus the end of Earth along with the Second Dimension.

  What kind of deal was that?

  It was supremely, utterly, undeniably unjust and unfair!

  One of the metal bands around Jareth’s chest suddenly released, narrowly missing Melody’s head.

  She stepped back. “I see I must make another adjustment,” she observed with an almost clinical detachment. “That ability should lie dormant until you reach the Second dimension. I can’t have you controlling iron here. It’s much too dangerous for that in Avalon.”

  She began humming a happy song as she leaned over him and raised her trion. He slumped sideways, losing consciousness at once.

  So that had been what I had witness Melody doing to him before. Making adjustments.

  A smell that reminded me of burning electrical wire filled the room and as a beam of light shot out of Jareth’s forehead, Rafael made his move.

  Springing from behind the white panel, he spoke a single, unintelligible word. At once, a golden bubble encased Jareth, protecting him from Melody’s ministrations as she jerked back as if she’d been burned.

  Her jaw dropped, obviously shocked to find Rafael there. “How—” she began. But her eyes turned livid as Raven stepped out to join him.

  “You’ve gone mad, Melody,” Raven accused, choking on a sob.

  “Fool!” Melody spat in contempt. “You’ve let yourself be blinded by love.” She rolled her eyes. “And for what? He doesn’t even love you in return. He never will.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Raven replied, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. “He’s right. You’re mad.”

  I slid out from behind the panel to join them, and Melody’s eyes immediately locked onto mine. I could see the murderous rage simmering there. And facing her, I wasn’t sure which was worse. Melody or the Tulpa. They were pretty close.

  “There’s nothing to be said to you,” Rafael was telling her firmly. “You will be imprisoned for your many crimes.”

  “The Tree of Life must be destroyed, Rafael,” Melody said, reaching out to him. Her eyes were lit with a sort of maniacal fire. “Avalon holds the root of the tree. We won’t be harmed if Earth and the Second Dimension are obliterated!”

  “Roots need the branches and leaves to survive,” Rafael informed her coldly. “And even if that were not so, even if the roots could spring branches and leaves anew, would you really abolish the entire second and third dimensions for the sake of purity alone?”

  Melody shrugged. Obviously, she didn’t mind committing mass murder. I guess to her, we truly were nothing more than viruses or vermin.

  The door in the wall zipped open and Zelphie entered, followed by Harmony.

  I hadn’t seen Harmony in a long time. Looking at her now, it was still hard to believe she was a highly-trained Fae captain once tasked with Rafael’s safety. She’d always be Rafael’s blonde-headed sister to me.

  She sent me a warm smile before swooping down on Melody. “We received your transmission, Rafael,” she said, as a band of light popped out of the slim golden bracelet circling her wrist to bind Melody’s hands like handcuffs. “Raven and I will take Melody to the Hall of Justice. The evidence is undeniable.”

  For the first time, a real look of concern entered Melody’s eyes.

  As the wall zipped open again and a few Fae Protectors entered, Harmony began issuing orders.

  Shortly after, Melody was led away, but she glanced back at me just before the wall shut. Her expression was dark, but I’ll never forget her smirk. It was a confident smirk, one that indicated she felt like she’d still won. It made me uneasy, and I was immensely relieved to find her finally gone.

  I turned away.

  Rafael, Zelphie, and Raven stood by Jareth’s side. The golden bubble surrounding him had popped and he was breathing easier, but he was still unconscious and trapped in the iron bands.

  As I joined them, Rafael looked down at me with a half-smile on his lips. “Could you?” he asked, indicating the iron bands with an elegant gesture.

  They watched as I stepped up to release the clasps. “It’s a good thing I came,” I couldn’t resist pointing out.

  Zelphie actually smiled at me before turning her attention to Jareth. Several small sparks shot out from her bracelet, and then he was sitting up groggily, his eyes going in and out of focus.

  Swinging his legs off the bed, his brown eyes finally settled on Rafael. “What took you so long, brother?” he asked in a gruff, gravelly voice.

  The corner of Rafael’s eyes crinkled at that and his voice softened as he replied, “You weren’t that easy to find, brother.”

  Jareth snorted and tried to stand, but his legs were wobbly and he pitched forward. Rafael caught him as he fell.

  I hurried to help.

  Jareth was a lot heavier than he looked, and we didn’t speak as we headed for the door.

  As we slowly made our way up the spiraled steps, I couldn’t help but ask, “Why can’t we just shift?”

  “There’s no light here,” Rafael’s voice sounded unnaturally loud in the dark.

  I glanced at the eerie ball of light tracking our progress.

  “That light is trapped,” Rafael explained.

  Or I guess he thought it explained it. It didn’t really mean much to me. But I didn’t pursue it. My attention was diverted to Zelphie and Raven behind us.

  “You made the right choice, Raven,” Zelphie was saying.

  “I know,” she said, her voice sounding much more normal now that she’d stopped crying so much. “But it will provide little benefit to me.”

  I figured she was talking about Rafael loving her.

  Zelphie confirmed my suspicions. “The heart can’t be ordered to feel what it doesn’t wish to feel,” she said in soft, dulcet tones. “But you can be at peace, knowing you made the right choice.”

  “Saving Earth is little consolation,” Raven replied petulantly.

  I figured she didn’t really mean it. I guess she was more of a brat than evil.

  Jareth gave a loud groan as we reached the last step, and again, I felt the sucking sensation as I was transported to the other side of the portal.

  But this time, we weren’t alone as we arrived at the mini Stonehenge.

  In front of us stood the Queens of Avalon. The blonde-haired Queen of the Light clad in black and the raven-haired Queen of the Dark dressed in white. Jewels glinted in their elaborately-braided hair and blue lipstick sparkled on their lips.

  Fierce looking Protectors surrounded us all. Their white-spotted leopards graced with sharp, pointed horns crouched by their sides. I didn’t like the way the leopards were looking at us, as though we were tasty two-legged snacks.

  Not yet fully conscious, Jareth still managed to stagger a step forward, patting his pants as if searching for something. “Where’s my trion?” he asked, his words slightly slurred. “I’ll root them while you run, Rafael.”

  Rafael just shook his head, amusement flashing in his eyes. “You can’t even stand,” he muttered under his breath, catching Jareth as he tripped.

  Sud
denly, the Light Queen raised a hand.

  “Dare you come here, Rafael?” she thundered in a voice that made my heart stand still. “What words can you possibly utter that will stay my lips from ordering your execution on this very spot? You have shown nothing but disrespect for us and you have desecrated the Hall of Mirrors!”

  I froze.

  Slowly, Rafael stood to his full height. And then he said the last thing I ever would’ve expected him to say. “I order you to take me to your Hall of Mirrors. At once!”

  Chapter Six - Fear

  Jareth’s dark head snapped back and with a sardonic twist of his lip, he said, “Irony becomes you, Rafael.” His voice sounded unusually weak.

  The Queens were anything but amused. Their blue-sparkled lips opened in shocked outrage to accuse in unison, “You speak as a traitor, Rafael.”

  I wasn’t exactly fond of the Queens. The last time we’d met, they’d wanted to get rid of me. I couldn’t see any reason for their feelings to have changed. But for the moment, anyway, they seemed more concerned with Rafael.

  “If you can’t see that I’ve never been a threat to you, then you are unworthy of the throne, my Queens,” Rafael replied with a scathing frown. “Avalon has never been in greater danger than now. So now, we must break the rules. We can’t let traditions blind us. I need—I must see the mirrors. Jareth’s fate lines dictate that I must track back through his fate. It is his only chance to survive. And I will do it, with or without your help.” He stood there, feet planted wide and his arms folded in defiance.

  The Queens had wanted to execute us ever since we’d set foot in the forbidden Hall of Mirrors. It didn’t seem likely they’d willing help us enter the place a second time.

  They both frowned.

  But it was the way they did it that struck me.

  It looked scripted. Call it a gut-feeling, but they suddenly appeared to be playing a game. And the facts certainly backed that up. They were Queens. If they’d wanted to kidnap me and exact some form of Fairy justice, there was no doubt they could have done it. Nothing could have stopped them from ordering a Fae Protector to zip down to Earth and bring me back. It wasn’t like I’d be able to resist, especially if they shape-shifted into Rafael. I’d probably be fooled long enough to willingly turn myself in before I’d realized my mistake.