ALDER

by Melody Robinette

  “Shhh.” He brushed her hair back from her paper-white face. “I’m here now. They’re bringing you some Healers. It’s going to be okay. It is. It’s going to be fine.” He wasn’t sure whether he was saying this more to Crystal or himself.

  “I love you,” Crystal breathed, her eyes fluttering shut.

  Words that were supposed to fill him with happiness felt like a sword plunging through his chest. This was the first time she had spoken them. And the thought that it would be the last was enough to stop his beating heart.

  “I love you too,” he whispered through a sob.

  The sound of people crashing through the trees towards them met Luke’s ears, but he didn’t look away from Crystal’s now-closed eyes.

  Luke heard Autumn gasp when they arrived at the clearing.

  “Oh my God. Crys,” Autumn sobbed.

  “Stand back, everyone,” Olivia said.

  Luke looked up with a stubborn expression, communicating that he wasn’t leaving her side.

  “Luke, they have to help her,” Autumn crooned. “Please.”

  He looked back down at Crystal’s still face, and a silent tear trailed down his nose, landing on her forehead. Kissing her cheek, he moved to stand beside Autumn, who grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly.

  “We’re going to do as much as we can with the tree still on her because we won’t have much time once it’s lifted,” Olivia said gently to them.

  As the Casters and Olivia hovered over Crystal, Luke’s eyes never moved from her face. He’d never been very religious because he had always valued cold, hard facts over things he couldn’t see. But, right now, he was praying like hell to whatever higher power existed out there to save his angel.

  Time has a way of changing when terrible things happen. It either slows down so much that the seconds feel like hours, or it speeds up faster than light. Luke wasn’t sure which was happening to him, but he didn’t care much about time. He cared more about how much time Crystal had left.

  “I think that’s all we can do at this point,” Olivia said, standing and wiping her brow. “We need to remove the tree to finish.”

  Autumn asked the question Luke was afraid to hear the answer to. “What will happen when you remove the tree?”

  “It depends,” Olivia said, the concern evident in her voice. “Best-case scenario is that it hasn’t severed any major arteries, and we will have time to heal her internal injuries once the tree has been lifted.”

  “And the worst-case scenario?” Autumn asked in a shaking voice.

  Olivia frowned, looking back at Crystal and saying nothing. Luke and the others already knew what the worst-case scenario was. There was no need in speaking it aloud.

  “Avery, when I tell you, quickly remove the tree,” Olivia called from Crystal’s side. “The faster, the better.”

  Avery nodded, moving to stand on the other side of the trunk.

  The Casters and Olivia were stationed around Crystal, with their hands out and ready.

  “Now!” Olivia called, and Avery lifted the tree as easy as if it were a small twig resting on her legs.

  Bile rose in the back of Luke’s throat as he took in Crystal’s mangled, unrecognizable body. He felt his knees weaken, and Autumn used the remainder of her strength to keep her brother upright. He couldn’t break yet. Crystal needed him.

  The Casters and Olivia immediately set to work on Healing Crystal as quickly as possible. Waves of spells and incantations surrounded her crushed and bloodied body like liquid heat.

  “How can I help?” a voice called from behind them.

  Luke, Autumn, and Avery turned to see Ember climbing over the tree that Avery had just lifted off of Crystal.

  Olivia waved her over and murmured something that made Ember frown.

  “She needs a tourniquet on her left leg,” Ember said urgently. “Now.”

  “But that would cause her to lose it,” Olivia protested.

  “Do you want her to lose one leg or die with both?” Ember stated seriously.

  “Take it,” Luke interrupted then. “Take her leg. Do what you need so she will live.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “I’M THE KING, DAMMIT!” Luke bellowed. “TAKE HER LEG!”

  Olivia, Ember, and the Casters looked at him with wide eyes before Olivia nodded and said, “Okay. But you might want to look away.”

  Luke didn’t look away. Autumn was pale, and Avery had to tell her to turn her head, but Luke refused. He didn’t blink. He just kept his eyes trained on Crystal’s sporadically rising and falling chest, terrified for the moment he didn’t see it rise again.

  They removed Crystal’s left leg completely, and a gush of crimson blood spilled over the crushed leaves and shattered acorns. Autumn collapsed in Avery’s arms. Luke glanced over at his sister only long enough to make sure she was okay before turning back to face Crystal.

  Ember cursed, and another fountain of blood shot into the air, causing Autumn to sit down and place her face between her knees.

  Then the rising and falling of Crystal’s chest stopped.

  7

  Black Roses and Dark Secrets

  AUTUMN kept her face tucked between her knees, focusing on her breathing. She’d killed countless Shadows and Atrums. She had seen blood before. Lots of blood. But this was her best friend’s blood, which completely changed things. It gave the blood priceless value. And that above everything else was what made her feel like fainting. When Ember removed Crystal’s leg, Autumn felt like she’d lost a part of herself too and she just couldn’t take it anymore.

  She rocked back and forth with Avery’s strong arms wrapped around her.

  “No,” she heard Luke whisper and willed herself to look up, though she wished she hadn’t.

  Her brother had fallen to his knees, but his horror-struck eyes remained on Crystal, who had ceased to breathe.

  “Her heart stopped,” Ember said urgently, placing a hand on Crystal’s neck. “Come on guys, work faster!” she ordered to the Casters and Olivia as she began pumping her chest.

  “We’re going as fast as we can!” Olivia said as she used her Power to knit closed what had been Crystal’s leg, but was now just a stump.

  The Casters were each working on a different portion of Crystal’s body, healing her internal organs, damaged arteries, and shattered bones as swiftly as possible before moving on to the next area of need.

  “Stop fixing her bones. Come revive her heart!” Ember called to Olivia, who had just finished mending Crystal’s shattered hipbone. “This isn’t working.”

  Olivia blew her chestnut hair out of her face and took Ember’s place near Crystal’s chest, putting her hands over her heart and closing her eyes in concentration. Crystal’s torso bucked off the ground as Olivia shocked her heart. She did this two more times, and Luke let out a small sob when Crystal’s chest began sporadically rising and falling again.

  The Healers worked for another half hour, sweat rolling down their faces. Crystal’s chest continued to rise and fall, and Luke rose to his feet again, pacing back and forth nervously, but never moving his eyes from Crystal’s face. Autumn made a mental note—if Crystal made it through this—to tell her how worried Luke had been about her.

  Ember sat back on her heels, wiping her brow.

  “She’s stable for now,” she said. “We’ve got to get her to the Healing Tree.”

  Acutely aware of the irony, they fashioned a stretcher out of limbs from the tree that had done this to her. Avery and Luke moved her gently onto the stretcher and lifted her easily with Avery carrying the majority of the weight.

  “Ember, did you see, um… Did you see if everyone made it?” Autumn asked, not exactly wanting to hear the answer.

  “Two of the Tetras were killed—Candi and Killian,” she said a little too calmly than one might think natural, though Autumn knew this was Ember’s way of coping—turning off her feelings. “Several Triplexes, Duos, and Unum Warriors died as well.”

  Aut
umn felt tears well up in her eyes, but she swallowed her pain. Loss was just part of being a Warrior. Atticus had told them as much when they’d been initiated. “And the Quinns?”

  “Edric, Jastin, and Kyndel are fine.”

  “Did Charlotte—?

  Ember was quiet for a moment. “No. Charlotte’s still alive, but she’s in a coma and isn’t responding,” she answered eventually.

  “And Forrest?”

  Ember cleared her throat but didn’t speak.

  “Ember, what happened to For—”

  “Oh my God, Crystal!” Wyx exclaimed, interrupting Autumn, as they emerged from the forest into City Circle. “What happened to her—?”

  “Fallen tree,” Ember answered shortly.

  Avery, Luke, and a handful of the warlocks that had healed her left to take Crystal to the Healing Tree.

  Jastin, Charlotte, and Kyndel were noticeably absent, and Autumn assumed they had already taken Charlotte to the Healing Tree.

  “Where’s Forrest?” Autumn asked Ember again.

  Ember looked at the ground and then back up at Autumn, clearly unable to avoid the inevitable. Besides, Autumn knew what she was about to hear…but she still needed to hear it.

  “He was killed,” Ember stated. “He’s over there,” she pointed to a long line of bodies that had already been arranged for burial.

  The tears Autumn told herself she wouldn’t cry, came pouring out like a floodgate that had been dislodged. Why Forrest? He’d been one of the first elves she’d met when she and Luke had arrived in Arbor Falls. One of the first who’d made her laugh, made her feel comfortable, made her feel accepted. Why him? His shock of dark curls and bright, smiling eyes floated into the forefront of her mind. She’d never fully realized or appreciated how brilliantly blue they were, probably because they were always squinted into a smile…and now they’d never open again.

  “Where’s Willow?” Autumn asked Ember thickly through her tears, knowing that she would take Forrest’s death harder than anyone.

  “She’s with Eden,” Ember said in a subdued voice. “She couldn’t look at his body anymore.”

  Autumn nodded, looking back at the long line of deceased elves and warlocks, anger towards Victor Vaun bubbling up inside of her like an overflowing cauldron of poison. She hated him—even more than she’d hated Vyra if that was physically possible.

  Ember turned to leave. “I’m going to go see how Kyndel is doing.”

  “Thank you,” Autumn said quickly.

  Ember paused, turning her head slightly. “For what?”

  “For what you did for Crystal. You really are a great Healer. And you didn’t have to leave Kyndel to see if Crystal was okay, but you did.”

  Ember shrugged, though Autumn could see the pride in her eyes. “Just doing my Warrior duty is all.”

  “Well, I think I’ve misjudged you.”

  Ember gave Autumn a small smirk. “Yeah, well, about time you figured that out. I realized I misjudged you a long time ago, Princess.”

  Ember turned and left City Circle to check on Kyndel, leaving Autumn alone with the remains of the city and the elves she had vowed to protect.

  They held a funeral for the fallen Warriors the next day in the Warrior Burial Grounds. Hundreds of tree stumps serving as headstones covered the area like a land of deforestation. Each individual Warrior was given their own separate speeches and respect, so it took much longer than a funeral for one. But no one minded.

  When it came time to pay their respects to Forrest, Autumn stood to speak. Originally Willow had been elected to speak, but she didn’t feel like she could make it through a sentence about the man she loved, let alone a speech. Willow had come to Autumn, asking if she would take her place. Autumn accepted though she wasn’t sure she could make it through a speech either.

  When Autumn stood, her knees shook, and she tightened them together, clasping her hands in front of her, locking her body into place before it threatened to collapse in on itself. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak when she was struck silent by the awe-inspiring image before her. The forest was now lined with animals of all kinds. Deer, unicorns, every variety of bird, rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels, moose, pegasi, and even a couple of tigerflies hovered around the trees. All there to pay their respects to the man who had been able to understand them. Speak to them. Fight for them.

  Autumn’s eyes filled with tears as she scanned the drawn faces of the animals surrounding them. She had to give herself a full minute of calming silence before she trusted herself to speak. “Not only was Forrest one of my fellow Warriors, but he was also one of my dearest friends. Luke and I met him the first day we arrived in the Underground and, of course, he was goofing off and dramatically bowed to us. He made us laugh. He always made people laugh. And, as Warriors, we need that. You know, the fact that Forrest’s Power was Animal Communication was very telling of just what kind of a person he was because animals don’t trust just anyone. But they trusted him. We all did. And now the Underground is a much darker place without Forrest Akerley here to brighten it.”

  Autumn and Willow made eye contact, and she saw Willow smile sadly in thanks, her eyes swollen and constantly leaking tears. At the end of the ceremonies, everyone dropped a black rose onto each of the Warriors’ bodies before they were covered in fresh soil and grass, their graves decorated with flowers.

  If too many more of them died, they would have to plant more headstone trees.

  Charlotte and Crystal remained in critical condition in the Healing Tree, which had become the Warriors’ new gloomy hang out spot. Not because it was a fun place to be, but because they couldn’t not be there. What if one of the girls woke up and they’d missed it?

  They slept and ate in shifts, but always returned to the girls’ bedsides. The Lead Healer normally didn’t like so many people in a room at once, but she knew better than to say anything to the King and Queen.

  Luke and Jastin never left. They slept on roll-away beds and ate Healing Tree food when they weren’t brought food by one of the Warriors or the Casters, who also had a couple of people in the Healing Tree, Zane being one of them. Autumn assumed Wyx had a thing for him because she never left his side.

  The residents of Arbor Falls were terrified to leave their tree houses, and since Luke wasn’t leaving Crystal’s side, Autumn was left to quite literally clean up the mess on her own. It took as many elves and warlocks as would volunteer—which weren’t many—to clean up the town. The fallen trees were removed, the cobblestone streets mended, the fountain rebuilt for the second time in a month.

  The gypsies—which seemed like such a trivial problem now—ceased to be an issue, as they had left shortly after the Shadow attack, if not during the attack. All Autumn knew was that they had vacated Arbor Lake and hadn’t returned, which was perfectly fine with her.

  After leading another cleaning sweep of City Circle, Autumn entered the Healing Tree to the most beautiful sound she’d heard in days.

  “Autumn!”

  For a moment she thought she imagined it, but when her eyes connected with Crystal’s, she let out a relieved sob and ran to her friend’s bedside. “Crys,” she said hugging her, tears falling steadily now. “Oh, thank God. I was so worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

  “I was awake this whole time!” Crystal exclaimed. “I just couldn’t seem to find the strength to open my eyes.”

  “And, um, did they tell you about…?” Autumn trailed off, looking at the sunken place where Crystal’s leg should’ve been.

  “They didn’t exactly have to. You know when you try to wiggle your toes, and they aren’t there, that’s usually a sign that you no longer have a leg,” she said with a chuckle.

  Autumn rose her eyebrows at Crystal’s cheerfulness. “And you’re okay with it?”

  Crystal shrugged. “I mean, it will definitely take some getting used to, but at least I’m alive.”

  “Yeah, well, thanks to Luke,” Autumn said, patting her brother on the
back, who rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hide his elation at the fact that Crystal was awake and okay. “He sort of commanded them to cut off your leg to save you. I believe his exact words were: ‘I’M THE KING, DAMMIT! TAKE HER LEG!’”

  Crystal laughed and put a hand up to Luke’s blushing face. “As long as you don’t mind having a one-legged girlfriend, I guess it’s okay.”

  “I’ll take you with no legs as long as you’re alive,” Luke said in a voice Autumn had never heard him use before.

  It was at that moment that Autumn realized her brother was in love. Unfaltering, unconditional, no-turning-back-from-this, true love. She smiled to herself, but then caught a glimpse of Jastin’s face. He was watching the others dote on Crystal while he remained several feet away, by Charlotte’s silent side. His expression clearly communicated that he was torn between being happy for Luke and Crystal, hoping Charlotte would wake up too, and fearing that she wouldn’t.

  “So, how’s everyone else?” Crystal whispered to Autumn, Luke, and Avery, trying not to be too insensitive of Jastin, who was now resting his head on Charlotte’s upturned hand.

  Immediately the mood grew darker, and the three of them exchanged uncertain glances.

  “Let’s just worry about you right now,” Luke said gently, brushing her blonde hair back.

  Crystal’s face morphed from bright and inquisitive to pale and petrified in a matter of seconds. “What happened?” she asked with wide eyes.

  “Forrest—” Autumn began.

  “No,” Luke snapped at his sister before mouthing the words, Shut up.

  Autumn shot him a sympathetic glance. “She’s going to find out eventually, Luke.”

  “Not now.”

  Crystal pushed Luke aside, who was hunched defensively over her, protecting her from the words Autumn was about to say.

  “She can handle it,” Autumn said, placing a hand on Luke’s forearm.

  Crystal’s blue eyes were wide and terror-stricken now, peering around Luke and focusing on Autumn. “What happened to Forrest?” she inquired in a wavering voice.