by Lora Palmer
* * *
"I see you’ve found a friend." Korin chuckled as I met the others out on the walkway, the bird still perched on my shoulder.
The warrior chief led us through the bustling main walk lit with bioluminescent flowers on tall, hanging plant stands, down to the largest building in the village. One side of the building, the closest to us, was a large open pavilion with a thatched roof. Nearing sundown, the evening air had turned surprisingly cool, and we settled ourselves at a low bench table around a large, circular rock fire pit in the center of the room. We sat on pillows. After a feast of roasted junglefowl braised with berry sauce, then mixed vegetables from the hut-top gardens, dark breadsticks with jam and nutmilk, the villagers made their way to the other side of the building for evening worship.
By the end of the service, night had fallen, and the bioluminescent flowers beautifully illuminated the walkways and homes. Brian, Korin, and I followed the villagers down to a level below where we’d eaten. There, we discovered an outdoor meeting hall, again with a fire pit in the center, for the evening festivities.
We watched a brief play telling the story of the brave warrior chief chosen in the previous time of renewal and how he had slain ten thunderbeasts singlehandedly, while making his journey to the crystal caves we’d been to earlier. The warrior chief had told this story, a hint of challenge and amusement in his expression as he glanced my way when the story was over.
"And how did the new wielder do today?" asked a tall, thin woman clad in a flowing summery dress of red with white tropical floral print.
"Oh, she acquitted herself well. She and her companions took on three of the beasts, and First Daughter Leandra of Astoria actually tamed hers."
The crowd gasped in amazement at the chief warrior’s revelation.
"Not even brave warrior chief Keldren managed to do so!" exclaimed a young girl in the front row, amid the chatter in the crowd. The chief warrior frowned.
The little boy sitting next to her, maybe the girl’s younger brother — he seemed to be a couple years younger than the girl and about the age of five — fixed his gaze on me. "Are you going to stop the disasters?"
I gave him a gentle smile. "Oh, I hope so. Two crystals are in place already, and I have three more of them. We have a pretty good idea where the other two crystals are and where all the rest need to go, so we should be able to make things better here soon."
He ran to me and threw his arms around my waist. "Thank you!" Then, he did the same to Brian and Korin before returning to his seat, blushing at the laughter from the crowd.
"So, First Daughter Leandra," invited the Queen of the jungle lands, laughing good naturedly, "Tell us your story, along with your companions."
The evening passed quickly, with more stories, music, and dancing. Finally, I managed to bid goodnight to everyone, and I followed a tall, thin girl my age with braided waist-length black hair to my guest hut. Korin and Brian remained at the festivities. I would have liked to stay longer. I’d been having a blast, but I could hardly keep my eyes open now.
* * *
Dressed for bed, I curled up under the covers and tried to fall asleep, but a million thoughts swirled around in my head. I lay with my head on the pillow, limbs sprawled at odd angles.
"Dignified," I snorted, imagining what my birth mother might say if she could see me now. Honestly, did I need another reminder that I was supposed to be this graceful, elegant First Daughter? But that was not me. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing most of the time, and I just didn’t have the poise or confidence to be the way everyone here expected.
It’s so different here. Not just the jungle, but this whole world. Mostly in a good way, though. I liked that people didn’t need cash and that anyone who wanted to would always find work. And everything was so clean! There was no trash anywhere. Everything would get composted or repurposed. The downside was how regimented everything was. Sure, there was no major class division, but everyone had a set place in society, with certain rules and protocols — things like how it’d be a scandal for me and Brian to date. And the whole issue a lot of people had with technology, with the exception of Astorians. I wrinkled my nose. The prejudice against technology made no sense to me. Surely these people, of all people, had the wisdom to use it to the benefit of all. Facing the window to gaze out over the vast forest, I sat cross-legged on my bed.
Would I go back to Earth? I mean, if I got the chance to choose?
It wasn’t something I’d considered before — I didn’t expect to have that choice. Sighing heavily, I shook my head. I missed home. Earth. But this was home, too, and I was just getting to know my birth parents.
If I get the chance, I should make my life here — fulfill my duties and all that.
Gah! I had to take things one step at a time and not worry about the rest. Right now, I needed to stay focused. I couldn’t let myself think of all I’d left behind. Grabbing my data pad from the bedside table, I read the next part of the legends of old.
"The fourth warrior journeyed to the Eldyn Plains, where a crystal forest grows. From these rare crystalline trees, he formed a Crystal of Knowledge, which carries the information stored in all the crystals of all of Jantyr as well as the memories of all past wielders. It is necessary to learn from history and form a new path at each renewal, moving forward and carrying forth all the lessons learned so the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Learn and remember, just as the plains-dwellers, the keepers of knowledge, do. This crystal is said to be kept by the tribe’s leader always, passed from generation to generation for the next wielder."
* * *
I awoke sometime later from a deep sleep to an urgent knocking on my door. Disoriented and completely out of it, I at first didn’t register what the sound meant. The sound came again, along with a male voice calling my name. I groaned and dragged myself out of bed, stumbling and off balance as I padded toward the door.
Who would be knocking on my door at this late hour — whenever it is? I had no idea what time it was, but it had to be quite late by now. So that meant there had probably been an emergency. What’s happened now? Another disaster? At that thought, I ran the rest of the way to the door and threw it open.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and searched his expression, noting the tightness around his brow and jaw and the concern in his eyes. "Brian, what happened?"
"My uncle and your sister are still here, we think. Korin and I noticed a couple acting strange, and I saw my uncle’s ring on the man. They may have obtained small Illusion crystals to disguise themselves, but it’s them. Korin sent me to let you know."
My eyes widened. "We need to get out of here before they try to stop us." I retrieved my data pad from my travel bag, where I’d stashed it before sleep had claimed me, to check when the next airship would arrive. There were no mirrors here we could use. We’d planned to stay here until tomorrow, but maybe there would be an earlier airship arriving tonight.
"We’re supposed to stay put, according to King Korin’s decree." Brian frowned, crossing his arms. "We should be getting out of here like you said, but he wants to ‘assess the situation’."
"You mean, like see what they do and if they’ve managed to get any other crystals."
"Basically, yeah." Brian ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "We should be out there helping him."
"Yeah, we should. Come on, let’s go find him. We could go in disguise..." I smiled mischievously, and something cool, like an icy electric current prickled my eyes.
Brian gasped, cutting me off. "Your eyes…"
"What?"
"Maybe it was just a trick of light. An illusion," Brian muttered. He blinked and shook his head. "They flashed silver."
"Maybe it was from the Illusion crystal." I stepped toward the door, practically bouncing on my toes with excitement at this opportunity to use my ability. I was done being afraid and avoiding the inevitable confrontation with Aedalina and Erik. Now I would have an advantage. "Awesome! So we can go
out there and help. They’ll never know it’s us." Before I could open the door, Brian took hold of my arm and shook his head again. "Why not?"
"Orders are orders. If we get caught, I could end up in prison. And, Leah, how would it look if you undermined him by going against what he told us to do?" Brian’s tone was bitter as he said this. With a sigh, he flopped down in the chair. "Seal the door. That was the other part of his orders."
I blinked, refusing to budge. "Seriously? How will he get in?"
"No idea."
At Brian’s look of irritation mingled with understanding, I shrugged and did as he said. Still, I hated this plan! I hated hiding like a little child. My room was about to become a death trap if we were discovered here, and we were supposed to just let it happen? Together, Brian and I placed our hands on the door and focused. A buzz of electricity, sharp and powerful as our energies mingled, flowed through my whole body from my fingertips to my feet. Then, a silver shield spread from our hands, shimmering as it expanded to completely cover the door. Brian gave me a nod. He must have felt it, too, that subtle tug that meant the shield had snapped into place. That it was strong enough. I stepped back, gratified to see it holding steady, and lowered my hand.
"And now we wait," Brian bit out, scowling at the door like he wanted nothing more than to destroy it instead of make a shield to seal it.
"Oh, I wish we had a mirror so we could at least see what’s going on out there." I wanted to know where Erik and Aedalina were right now, what they were doing. Though I glanced out a window overlooking the main walkway, it wasn’t enough. It would give us little warning of their approach. So far, everything looked normal outside. Small groups of people wandered around, chatting beneath the light of the bioluminescent lamps or ambling toward their homes.
"Cover your window," Brian said, coming to stand behind me. He peered outside, too, his body tense and poised for action.
He was right. If Erik and Aedalina came this way, they’d easily spot me and Brian.
The clear glass covering my windows gave no protection. It even seemed strangely thin and porous, allowing a breeze to flow into the room from outside.
"How?" I asked. No blinds offered privacy. I had no way to hang my bedsheets over the window. Using magic to hold them in place, even if it would provide enough protection, would just drain my energy and leave me unprepared to fight. Why did Korin say to stay put, anyway? Then again, I only had Brian’s word that this was the king’s orders. My mind couldn’t help but linger on Brian’s actions when we’d first arrived on this planet. How much could I trust him and Caleb?
"Watch this." Brian waved his hand in an arc across the glass, and a humming, singing sound filled the room. The window fogged. Then, the fog swirled with bright tropical colors, all reds, yellows, and purples, that grew denser and denser until they became opaque, turning the window into something resembling a stained glass painting. "They won’t find us now. Not unless someone’s told them where to look."
I nodded and without hesitation ran to the next window to make it turn into stained glass, too. Over the brief humming as the glass fogged, I could hear a commotion outside, shouts and screams and the pounding of running feet.
"They’re coming!" My heart was pounding to match that rhythm now, and I would give anything to flee through a mirror, or better yet, to run out there and help stop the attack. They were after me — I couldn’t stand by and let people be injured or killed in my place. "I have to go out there."
"No, Leah, you can’t. King Korin wanted to handle this, so let’s let him."
Explosive blasts of weapons firing and cries of pain echoed throughout the treetops, and I raised my hand to take down the shield separating me from the chaos, but Brian grabbed me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tightly to him.
"Let me go!" My shriek rent the air, mingling with the sounds outside. Maybe I should be more careful than this, but right now I didn’t care if Erik and Aedalina found us. Desperate to get free, I thrashed and flailed against Brian until I realized he was too strong. I couldn’t escape him, and he wouldn’t let go.
"Shh! We can’t help those people, Leah," he whispered in my ear, his voice hard, pained. "I hate it, too, but there’s nothing we can do for them. If you get yourself killed, it’s over. The whole galaxy will be destroyed."
As if that knowledge weren’t ingrained in my being by now.
"I don’t need you to remind me..." My voice trailed off as the commotion reached just outside.
"Come out, Leah. Give yourself up — unless you want us to break down the door. I know you’ll make the right decision, for Earth, for Jantyr, for all your friends and family. We’re the only ones who can help you save them all."
I wondered whether Aedalina actually believed that. "Maybe they can help. They can’t want this world destroyed, right, even if they don’t care about anywhere else? We should talk to them. At least they might stop hurting people."
Brian wouldn’t release me. "Don’t believe it. They have their own agenda, and it doesn’t include helping you survive what’s to come. Just stay here by me! My father and Korin should be here any minute to deal with them."
Bang!
A sudden blast splintered the door. Brian and I both jumped up, readying energy spheres. We had no chance to reinforce the shield.
"Where's Korin? He should be here by now!" I didn’t want to fight without him.
"He’d better be here soon," Brian muttered, holding his shimmering ice blue energy ball at the ready.
Another blast from the outside disintegrated the door totally. In strolled Aedalina, followed by Erik.
"Well, well, you’ve been quite a busy girl." Aedalina smirked, sharing a sly glance with Erik while toying with an iridescent, snowflake-shaped crystal pendant. "We’ve been busy as well, garnering support for our planetary rule. We have strong factions in most of the nations supporting us now. Oh, and we managed to retrieve the crystal of Knowledge. Too bad you won’t get to try it out…it’s quite a rush. You’ve had a great start, Leah, but we’ll take over from here."
Brian stepped forward, shielding me behind him. "I don’t think so."
"Why?" I cut in. "Can’t you just let me freaking do what needs to be done and deal with all of that afterwards? It’s not going to work if you do it, and there won’t be a planet left to rule."
"We’ll take our chances." Erik gave me and Brian an almost pitying glance. "Such a shame you’ve both been drawn into circumstances beyond your control, but what can we do? Prime Minister Roland must be taken down, and that traitorous usurper removed from office. Not to mention the sky-gods. They only understand centralized rule and would take our current system as a sign of weakness. If they arrived today, they would decimate us because we would play politics and take far too long to get anything done."
"What did Dad do to make you two hate him so much?" I wanted to know.
Aedalina’s eyes flashed in fury, and she clenched her jaw. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. "He killed my mother in battle. I was only twelve, and I was on my own because of him! So, I swore my vengeance."
"Against your own father?"
Aedalina glared at me. "He is not my father! He’s merely a criminal whose attack on my mother made it possible for those without magic to rule. Enough talk. I’m sorry, dear sister, but don’t worry. You will help save the planet, just as you wanted."
Erik, the fastest of them all, was the first to let fly an energy sphere, and I barely managed to create one of my own in time to shield myself. A fast, fierce battle erupted.
"Leah, look out!"
I whirled at the sound of Brian’s desperate cry. Tired already from the frantic pace of the battle, I couldn’t shield myself in time from Aedalina’s green stunner or the white ball of lightning electricity Erik sent my way. I couldn’t move out of the way, either, because that would mean Aedalina and Erik would hit each other with their spells. As much as I wanted to move, I wouldn’t. It would mean that Aedalina would die.
Aedalina met my eyes in the final moment as the spells hit, mine determined and Aedalina’s filled with shock.
"Now it’s up to you," I said.
Pain. Inability to move. My fingers and toes wouldn’t respond to my frantic commands, leaving me helpless on the floor. It felt as though a deadly electric current were coursing through my body. My last thought was of Korin. Where was he? We had to warn him…
"No!" Brian’s scream pierced the air, but Erik grabbed him and used a stunner to immobilize him. Brian, too, fell to the ground.
Aedalina pulled the pendant with the crystals from around my neck, her eyes never leaving my still face. "I’m sorry," she whispered.
Now that I was defenseless, Aedalina pressed the Soul Crystal to my body. The crystal glowed with a soft white light.
Chapter 21
Flash.
A thrumming of energy.
Flash.
"I’ll be taking this back."
Korin leaning over a fallen Aedalina, snagging the pendant. The warriors with their vine-whip weapons surrounded them.
Brian in raw anguish, tears in his red-rimmed eyes, a flashing black-and-silver energy sphere in his hand as he leaned over his uncle, ready to strike. "You killed her!" Pure fury in his voice.
"No! Brian, there is a way. Remember?" Korin’s voice.
Then nothingness. Pure, white nothingness. Not a bright, all-encompassing light, but a muted, pale glow. I was trapped in the Soul Crystal. Isolated. Insensate. Helpless.
Flash.
"We are working to evacuate offworld. Before we get them back, we need more MirrorMasters. We don’t have enough." Caleb’s voice this time, filled with urgency.
"Dad!"
"Brian, focus. We need to bring others here from the past. History shows that the last MirrorMaster we brought here, King Alec, married a girl from another world — the Stanford girl."
