The Queen, The Mirror, and The Creation (Fated Chronicles Book 5)

by Humphrey Quinn

  Kanda slid vertical with her sleek dragon frame and used the Amphivena's snake-like form as a climbing mechanism. Her talons dug into the rough skin, tearing away scales. Her tail wound its way around its body, tightening and squeezing, choking the thing so hard that even its other, second head, across the other side of the valley, began to wail and weaken.

  But with all her dragon strength, it was still not enough.

  The Salt Spiders and Stripers were making too much headway. They were pushing everyone inward, for what was sure to be an extermination. One by one, they'd all be taken down.

  CHAPTER 52

  Colin peered down over the war zone. He was high over their heads, high over the battle, walking through the air as though on a solid, invisible floor. He didn't even bother to cloak himself. It was sad to see the beautiful lands of the Tunkapog turning into a pile of rubble. There was a time when he'd had an inclination to call this place home. It had been so welcoming and peaceful—for a short time anyway.

  He spied down over the fighters, some friend, some foe. But even of these friends, so few were truly such, to him. But he understood why. Because he now saw himself as they did. A danger to all. And after today, he'd solidify that fear in all of them—even if he did save their lives, first.

  "Rain…"

  The skies opened and obeyed his command. Fresh, lifesaving water released in a heavy torrent, sliding over him but never touching him, and falling to the ground setting off a chorus of shrieks from the Salt Spiders as they were forced to retreat in haste to the safety of the salt water river.

  Colin ordered a watery mist to cover the land. That would keep the spiders away.

  His friends gawked upward in awe of their luck. Was it fate? Good timing?

  Kanda, in her dragon form, saw him first, and roared—he had no idea what she was trying to say and didn't care, because it no longer mattered. On the ground, Sebastien saw him first. Then Ivan, followed by others.

  Colin was up high and surrounded in a billowy aura of murky energy that was slowly darkening and expanding outward. Like he'd heard his name, Colin gazed downward, eyes fixed on his friend's. At first, there was no familiarity there. No recognition of their friendship. And then there was a spark of it, the briefest of flickers—but it didn't last. And Sebastien had a sickening feeling that it was meant to say one thing—goodbye.

  Before he could shout for Colin to stop whatever he was planning, he was right back into fighting for his life with the others. The spiders might have retreated, but the Stripers and Slopikes were still battling to win.

  Kanda had managed to bite one of the heads off the Amphivena and it laid out across the ground in a heap, it's opposite head in a similar pose. But it's all she could do in this form and she transformed back into her human self. She fought her way back to Arnon.

  Colin watched the battle, his brow furrowed in disappointment—Fazendiin had fixed his mistake. He'd protected his army, the Stripers, with Projector's bone dust in their veins. Colin sighed. He'd so been looking forward to destroying them.

  "Oh well," he stated flatly. Instead, he pushed an order out of his mind and magicked all dead or living Tunkapog, Svoda, or friend, all together into the center of the village. It happened so fast they almost attacked each other before realizing they'd been removed from the immediate scene of battle.

  A magical barrier went up over them, blocking them from further attack.

  "Live." Colin raised his arms and brought the dead back to life. All those who'd died in battle sucked in breath and were suddenly on their feet. Only three remained dead. They'd sacrificed themselves by putting themselves in harm's way to save another. It wasn’t possible to raise them from the dead.

  Stripers stopped and gawked. They could see what was happening, but none of their spells were reaching through this barrier. Not even the Slopikes could break through.

  Colin lowered himself a little, thinking on what to do next. The billowy aura surrounding him kept darkening and expanding. The magic inside of him was pushing its way forward and he didn't have much longer to keep it at bay before it started its attempt to free itself and take over. Now that he'd experienced this a few times, he could sense it—the point where he sank in too deep and the magic rose upward. But if he wanted to save all of those below, he didn’t have a choice.

  With a flick of his wrist, Aloyna and Jasper's army disappeared. He sent them back to the island where they needed to be to help his sister—after all, she needed to live and succeed today so she'd be able to kill him in the future.

  With a simple, clear thought that demanded execution, the remaining Slopikes stopped their attacks on the invisible wall and fell over, dead. It shook the ground, and the Striper's nerves. Colin's thoughts moved to the Salt Spiders hiding out in the river. With a thin, satisfied grin, he ordered the water to heal itself and extracted the salt out of it. When the last cry of the last spider died, he lifted their dead carcasses out of the water and into the air where a giant circle of flame erupted all around them. Ashes fell to the ground like gray, hot snow.

  The Stripers, although confident they were safe from the Projector's magic, fell silent in their shock.

  Inside the magical dome, and out of the medical tent, the injured and sick began to pour out—healed. Well. Themselves again. Mireya saw her parents amongst them and nearly fainted. Joseph had to hold her upright as they saw her and fled over. She never thought this day would happen—her parents whole again.

  With each miracle of magic Colin performed, his aura expanded and the magic pulsed, getting closer to that point of no return. He lowered himself until looming just in front of the magical dome, and the Stripers.

  "Don't thank me," he told those inside the dome. "You'll turn on me before the morning is over. It's okay though, because you won't have any choice." He refused eye contact with anyone, even his friends or uncle Arnon. And especially not Catrina, even though she didn't remember she knew him.

  His body pushed away from the dome to face the Stripers.

  "Who is that?" Catrina asked softly. "Who saved us?"

  A few onlookers looked at her like she was crazy. Sebastien and Ivan passed each other questioning glances.

  "Um, Catrina, are you okay?" Isabella strode over to look at her head, to see if she'd gotten some unseen injury that had been missed.

  "I'm fine. Just like everyone else…" She stared out at Colin… there was something familiar about him, but she couldn't remember. It was in the songs playing all around her though. In the music of the air, itself. Him… who he was… and that they shared something. That he loved her. But how? She didn't even know him.

  In a simultaneous movement, the Stripers raised their palms to attack Colin. He raised his hand in a motion for them to stop.

  "You cannot hurt me anymore than I can hurt you. But I am going to destroy you."

  Their leader, Ardon, replied with a reviling grin. "You can't."

  "If the Immortality Stone is destroyed, so are each of you." Colin's body lifted again. "You know where I'm going. You'd better hurry." He vanished in a dark storm of electric charges that had the Stripers ducking for cover.

  "On your feet. Back to the island. Now!" ordered Ardon. Because Colin spoke the truth. If the Stone was destroyed, they'd lose everything. They could return and take out the rest of magic once the Stone was secure.

  Once they'd left, the magical dome covering the Tunkapog and Svoda vanished. Everyone underneath was freed. Nashua ordered the borders be secured; this was top priority to keep them from being breached again.

  And many wondered what to do next. A maze of befuddlement and mental exhaustion fell over them as they tried to get their bearings. They were healed, physically, and it even felt like Colin had somehow replenished their magical energy—which meant they were ready to fight. But his words hung over them like a storm cloud that refused to lift. Had he really saved them knowing he had guaranteed his own demise in doing so?

  Kanda put a hand on Arnon's shoulder. H
e caught her sympathetic gaze.

  "There's not a lot we can do. It's in their hands now."

  "It always has been," Arnon replied, speaking of the three born of a prophecy about to come true, one way or another.

  "We can still fight," stated Sebastien. Ivan was right there with him. They couldn't just sit back and let events unravel.

  Nashua stepped up and faced them all.

  "Those who wish to fight, we leave now."

  Aloyna balanced herself, she and Jasper's army suddenly pulled out of the battle by some sort of out-of-nowhere magic, and found themselves back on the island—where another battle still waged. The army cast their shocked gazes at her in question. She threw up her hands, having a guess at what had happened, but with no time to explain.

  From the looks of things, Jasper needed their help. The fight was widespread all over the island as well as the estate grounds. However, the estate itself was still secure, the walls still in place and the gates, reclosed.

  Aloyna ordered them to attack the outer walls and bring them down. They had barely started the charge when Stripers began appearing on boats on the river. They'd left the Tunkapog lands and were returning to the island. Whatever was happening there—the message was clear. The final battle would take place here. And, the attack to bring down the walls would have to wait.

  She ordered the army to reposition and charged at the Stripers. The fight got brutal in an instant. Spell crashing into spell as the colors of the sun rising painted the distant sky, casting the island in twilight, which created shadows out of things that were not there and made it hard to see clearly.

  The Stripers pushed and pushed, working their way with the intent on reentering the estate. Behind them, Nashua and more fighters arrived, spread out, and gave the Stripers a surprise turn.

  Shifters used their teeth, claws, jaws, strength, speed and bodies to slam, ram, tear apart and maim. If they could not kill them, they could try to injure them severely enough to take them out of the battle until they could heal themselves.

  The trouble with fighting immortals… until… Micah, the bear shifter, tore off the head of a Striper with his powerful jaw. And the Striper's body went still. The life left its eyes. Was it true death? Or merely temporary? It was certainly something not easy to recover from.

  But it was when his head lifted and his beady bear eyes landed on Ardon, with fear in her own, that he got his answer. They'd discovered a secret. One way in which they could die.

  Micah grinned. His bear lifting its head in a roar that his fellow shifters understood. He'd found out something important. Something vital. He hurriedly shifted into his human form, leaving himself vulnerable—until his lifesaving trio popped out of nowhere to defend him.

  "How come I keep needing to save you?" taunted Daveena.

  "Save me? I'm about to save everyone." Mireya and Joseph listened closely while the three of them shot off defensive spells. "Cut off their heads and they die."

  "For serious?" Joseph called out.

  "Works for me," Mireya said.

  Someone nearby shouted the news and it began to spread. Not fast enough though. Sebastien heard it and took off, transforming into his bird form to find Nashua. When he found him, he landed a few feet away and told him.

  And for the first time since this had started, Nashua's lips twitched into a thin smile.

  "I will gladly strike off the head of every last one."

  Sebastien was sure to fly all over the island to make sure everyone knew how to kill the Stripers. Taking off someone's head was not such an easy feat. But at least they had a way to kill them and weaken Fazendiin even more.

  And it was all the more reason they needed to get the walls of the estate down.

  Aloyna and Nashua joined forces and while some of their fighters spread out and fought, a group merged together and began to attack the walls of the estate. Bringing it down stone by stone. Chunk by chunk. Until suddenly their eyes were seeing inside the estate, and the battle going on there. Quite quickly, the battle inside and outside began to merge. And those who knew passed along the information needed to kill the Stripers.

  It was a painstakingly slow process to get close enough to a Striper to rip its head off.

  Off in the distance, in the courtyard, Jasper and Fazendiin were dueling for control—over Colby. And Meghan was crouching on top of the Immortality Stone, sucking the magic into herself.

  There was a brief moment—only a couple of seconds—that Aloyna soaked up the sight. Filled in part, with pride at the daring and bravado of her grandchildren. And basking in the idea that this was it, the final push. The moment they would succeed in removing the evil she'd born into this world. Which shook her right back into the war because it was not over yet.

  The orangey sky lit up even more with spell clashing against spell.

  The swoosh of the ocean, drowned out by the sounds of battle.

  And then he made himself known.

  A wave of electric energy crackling to get free.

  Colin…

  And his billowing dark aura stood balanced up on the top edge of the fortress that had once belonged to his mother. Only, there was a good chance that Colin Jacoby wasn’t really present any longer. The magical aura was getting even bigger around him. Like some sort of energy blast struggling to free itself. And worse, Colin was not trying to fight it.

  Arnon and Kanda wanted to run up there and stop him. Protect him. Billie Sadorus, too. Sebastien, his parents and Ivan stopped their approach when they came across the others. But it was Aloyna who strode up to them with the reminder they needed.

  "Colin's only hope is if the Stone is destroyed. It's the only thing that might save him."

  "How can he be saved?" Arnon demanded to know.

  "Jasper believes if the Stone is destroyed, Colin's power might stabilize."

  "And if not?" Kanda asked.

  "Then we have to hope there's enough Colin Jacoby still in there somewhere to bring back."

  "Or none of this will even matter," Sebastien mumbled in despair. He gazed up at his longest friend in this world. How could the young man storming the fortress be the same Colin he'd always known?

  "Keep fighting," Ivan told him. He grabbed his shoulder in support when Sebastien didn't respond. "We keep fighting. Meghan will get it done."

  "And we will all help her," Arnon stated strongly.

  And not just because they loved her, or believed in her, but because they all had everything to lose.

  CHAPTER 53

  Colby struggled to keep his mind clear. The fight to control where his body was heading was taking a toll on him. But he tried to remain still, and not fight it, and let Jasper do what he needed to, to win. In the attempt, much of the other magic Jasper was trying to keep going failed—protections he'd put around the injured and such. Including Jae.

  His wrecked body lay crumpled on the courtyard below.

  It was sight enough to break Colby's heart and mind.

  War raged all around him.

  His sister was putting all her focus into emptying the Immortality Stone before her father could use the magic inside, to create his new, even more powerful Stone. Meghan's concentration was shaken, though, when her fiery gaze landed up near the fortress, and on Colin. She stopped taking in the magic and froze. So many terrifying possibilities unraveling in her mind—because that was not her brother standing up there. He was changing. Becoming something else.

  And suddenly the battle, Colby, Colin, her job… all the chaos came ramming into her like an instant storm of chaos that disconnected her from the power inside the Stone.

  A voice echoed into her mind. Nona…

  "Concentrate, Meghan. I'm almost to you."

  It was a comforting thought that her Catawitch was close. And that thought reminded her that every single thing going on around her right this very moment was all to let her finish this. They were all depending on her. Meghan had to let them fight. It wasn't something she could do, for th
em.

  She settled her mind and refocused her thoughts back to the Stone. The reconnection happened so naturally and so fast that she jolted from the startling need that awakened in her veins. Her vampyre side learned quick, and it wanted to feed. She sucked in—and without a moment's notice was flying backwards off the Stone.

  Her feet never touched the ground though as Nona bounded to her rescue and Meghan managed to spark out enough flame for them to ride, safely, to the ground. She wasted no time to lunge upward, almost with the agility of her Catawitch, and start back for the Stone to try again.

  It was Ardon who'd shot her off the Stone. The battle was leaking into the courtyard little by little.

  Colby held his breath as he watched Meghan hightailing it back to the Stone, and then down below, Jae began to stir. He was both elated and scared to death all at the same time. Jae was alive, but Ardon was trying to keep his sister from doing her job.

  Jae leaned up and shook himself back into awareness. It was a brutal way to come back into the world. And then he looked up and locked eyes with the guy he was in love with. Everything came sliding into place as he saw that Jasper and Fazendiin were fighting, and Colby was helpless but to wait it out to see who won.

  Jae was going to have none of that. He got to his feet, got himself balanced and steady, and decided the only way to help Jasper and Meghan was to weaken Fazendiin.

  The question was, how?

  His killing ability as a Scratcher was useless against him. His magic was piddly in comparison. And then he saw Elisha pacing in the distance, probably thinking all the same things. Jae called out for her and when she saw he was awake, and up, bounded over.

  "Ideas?" he challenged her.

  "Other than jumping on his face and scratching the hell out of him with my claws…" she kept spewing the idea which wasn't a good one, and why she hadn't tried it. But Jae tuned her out as a new one spawned in his own mind.