The Borderlands (Book Two): War

by Aderyn Wood

  Dale took a deep breath then nodded. She peered past the dumpster to the other end of the alley. The crowds still lingered and the ‘networking’ would continue for several minutes yet.

  “We must do it now, lass.”

  Dale tied her crystal around her neck and studied the crack of soil and the stream of water once more.

  “Do you remember the words?” Ness asked.

  Dale nodded.

  “Go ahead. I know you can do it. Be sure to draw on your crystal for the aether. It will be easier then accessing it here on Earth.”

  Dale chewed a lip, wondering how Ness could have such confidence in her still. But she hadn’t seen her failures as the others had in Arcadia. Yes, she could do it. She’d healed Rhys. She could do this.

  She stepped forward and raised her hands, fanning them above her head. In moments she opened her second sight, and drew from the power of the water, the air, and the earth. Then she drew on the aether in her crystal and willed the portal to take its physical form in this world. She opened her eyes, there was no mist as there should be but she said the words anyway. “Aperiesque ostium.”

  Nothing happened and Dale closed her eyes. Believe, believe, have faith.

  She raised her hands and tried again. Imagining an entrance from this world to the Borderlands. She said the words again and this time her voice was a little louder. “Aperiesque ostium.”

  A light mist started to form and Dale blinked, trying to focus on it. Was it just the night mist or was her spell finally working? She repeated the command, “Aperiesque ostium.”

  The mist grew stronger and started to tumble out from the triangle. Maybe she could do it!

  Laughter emanated from the mist.

  “No,” Dale whispered.

  The fog dissolved and Natalia stood in the alley. Her dark hair shining in the pale light, and her nasty smile playing on her lips. “How interesting. I cannot wait to tell Ricardo your magic can’t even form a basic portal.”

  “You followed us,” Dale said.

  Natalia’s nostrils flared. “Of course, you stupid girl. It was all part of our plan. See what you two would do without supervision. Ricardo believed his little information session might have persuaded you of the good we’re actually doing here on Earth. Unlike your mother who sits in her ivory tower, we actually do something to help the poor unfortunate people of this forgotten world.”

  “You lie.” Ness scowled.

  “Shut up, old woman. What a pity you didn’t die when you were supposed to.” Natalia flicked her hair over a shoulder and turned those dreadful eyes to Dale. “Of course I was to follow you. I was getting ready to stop you from entering that portal. But to my surprise I didn’t have to because the powerful little sorcerer couldn’t even create a working portal.”

  Dale closed her eyes. Ricardo would know how useless her magic was. What bargaining power could she possibly have now? And, worse still, what would it mean for the Borderlands?

  19

  “I cannot deny I am disappointed in you, Princess.” Ricardo stood near the window staring out at the night while Ness and Dale sat on the couch. “I thought once you’d seen the good we do here, you’d change your mind. I suppose it was too much to expect. Perhaps we should take you with us, to see for yourself firsthand.”

  Dale glanced at Ness, but the old sorcerer had her gaze firmly fixed on the rug.

  “Yes, I think we’ll start tomorrow,” Ricardo continued. “You can go to our homeless shelter and witness for yourself how we help the underprivileged in this city. You’ll see how we feed them, clothe them, and give them medical attention. And that’s just here in Glasgow. Our organisation grows, Princess. And with it, the good we do.”

  “But… why?” Dale said. “Why do you need me? Why capture me the way you have? Why not let me return to my mother and tell her to come and see these things for herself?”

  Ricardo stared at her with those hypnotizing golden eyes and Dale looked away.

  “All good questions. Of course, there is a very good reason as to why I want you here with us. Once you’ve committed to staying and helping, I’ll share it with you. Your mother… I’m afraid she would never understand.”

  Dale frowned. “How can you know that?”

  Ricardo turned to the window again. “Your mother would have us stop our good will. She would restore the so-called balance here on Earth. A total reset.” His eyes found Dale’s again and he squinted, showing some emotion through his usual veneer of calm. “She would have millions die.”

  “No.” Dale shook her head. “She wouldn’t do that.” But something tugged Dale’s heart and she wondered if Ricardo spoke the truth.

  “Just another month with us,” he said, finally. “Enough time for you to see what we’re doing here, then I will let you return to your mother. Back to the revered peace in Arcadia. Back to do nothing about Earth aside from planning the mass destruction of her people. If that is what you choose – so be it.” His eyes narrowed. “But I won’t let you win.” With that, Ricardo strode out of the room.

  Dale couldn’t shake the feeling Ricardo spoke some truth, and it wouldn’t leave her no matter how much she shook her head.

  “Lies.” Ness lifted her head and stared at the door through which Ricardo had just left.

  Dale swallowed. “Mother wouldn’t do that, would she?”

  Ness looked at Dale, her eyes sparkling. “Your mother only wishes to save Earth before it is destroyed by Earthens themselves. All Ricardo is interested in is continuing this current regime of greed and exploitation. His façade of helping Earth with a ‘feed the hungry’ van and questionable charities will have very little effect in the grand scheme of things.”

  But at least he seemed to be doing something. Dale shook her head again. It was hard to find an argument against him. It was true her mother was doing very little about Earth and the great suffering here. Whereas Ricardo was doing a lot. “But, he does seem to be trying to help.”

  Ness raised an eyebrow. “What he is doing is but half a drop in a vast ocean. Dale, have you forgotten the extent of the depravity here on Earth?”

  Dale frowned. Perhaps she had been in Arcadia too long. Perhaps she hadn’t sensed the pull like she was supposed to, just as she wasn’t in control of her magic like she was supposed to be.

  Ness picked up the television remote control and switched it on, flicking to a news channel.

  “What are you doing?” Dale asked.

  “Let’s have another look at the problems here on Earth shall we? Remind ourselves with a glimpse of the horror this particular news station chooses to report.”

  Images of a building came on the screen. Emergency personnel, police and paramedics, attended frightened citizens. A madman had infiltrated a nightclub with an automatic weapon and shot hundreds of innocent people. Many were dead, the reporter said, and many more would die by morning.

  The next report showed more police collecting computers and files from an office. An extensive underground child kidnapping network had been uncovered, and prosecutors were preparing their case, though many of those involved had gone to ground, and some would escape justice altogether. “In all likeliness to begin the network again,” the reporter finished with a grim expression.

  Dale closed her eyes, but Ness changed the channel to another news service. “Keep watching.”

  Dale looked back at the screen. The news piece reported growing concerns of animal welfare issues from around the world. Undercover cameras had revealed unthinkable cruelty to live export cattle sent from one country to another in good faith, but maltreated in questionable abattoirs. A man with a sledgehammer bludgeoned one cow to death. There were sheep treated roughly while being shorn, punched and bludgeoned with hammers by the men who were supposed to shear them. More footage showed a tiger restrained at a petrol station, starving to death. Tears formed in Dale’s eyes and when she blinked, they streamed hot down her cheek. Tigers are so noble. What have we done to our planet? Why are
we so incredibly fucked up?

  “Turn it off, Ness,” Dale said, but her eyes remained glued to the screen and the skinny frame of the tiger that walked in a hunched fashion.

  But Ness didn’t move.

  “Turn it off,” Dale said again, through gritted teeth, and she tore her gaze from the screen.

  “I think you need to see this. The stark reality of Earth.”

  “Turn it off!”

  Ness frowned but pressed the remote and the screen blinked to black.

  Dale stood and stomped to the bathroom, almost slamming the door. Earth was so painful to look at. Ness was right. Such an abundance of cruelty, exploitation and greed thrived here. Why were Earthens like this? She remembered her own pain when she was growing up – all the bullying that brought her to tears night after night as a child. That’s why Gareth had been so important to her; he’d been her only true friend here. And Ricardo took him from her.

  No. She couldn’t trust Ricardo. But she still couldn’t fathom what was truly going on here. Was that his real goal? To help humanity with his sorcery? The look on the congregation’s faces when Ricardo held them in his grasp… like zombies. Blind followers, completely transfixed by him, with no thoughts of their own.

  It was wrong.

  Dale tore the fake eyelashes from her lids and scrubbed the makeup from her face. She looked at herself in the mirror. “I need to get back to Arcadia,” she said. “I need to talk to my mother.”

  Her green eyes looked tired and confused, so different from the sharp focus of Ness’s blue eyes. Ness always knew what to do. She never seemed wracked by indecision or impotence the way Dale was. Dale touched her crystal that hung over the washbasin. It glowed strong in the bathroom’s dim light – filled with the power of the Borderlands, waiting for her to tap it. If only she could.

  But, perhaps…

  Dale’s eyes widened. “Yes, that’s it!”

  She grabbed a towel and wiped her face. She rushed to the bedroom and changed to her jeans and top, leaving the designer dress in a pink pile on the floor. Then she raced back out to Ness who sat where she’d left her, on the couch.

  “Ness, I have an idea,” Dale almost shouted.

  Ness looked up with hope in her eyes then glanced at the apartment door. “All right, lass. Calm yourself. Sit down, take a breath and tell me, quietly.”

  Dale nodded and sat, taking a slow breath. Her pulse steadied. “I know it’s unorthodox, but…”

  Ness nodded. “Go on.”

  Dale held her crystal up. “You use it. You create a portal for us. You will get us back to the Borderlands.”

  20

  Dale pulled the curtains, blocking potential prying eyes from the surrounding buildings. Ness sat on the lounge holding Dale’s crystal studying it with serious eyes.

  “Well? What do you think?”

  “I think it could work,” Ness said, but shook her head. “It’s not the usual way, to use another’s crystal, and it’s been a long time since I’ve used my magic. When I tried before, it wouldn’t work here anyway.”

  “The counter spell?” Dale asked.

  Ness nodded. “I think so. That’s why I wanted you to try making the portal outside of this building. Perhaps we have to go further afield.”

  “Are you thinking of going to the old hospital?"

  Ness looked at her and smiled. “Aye. The old Clyde’s always been good for making a portal.”

  Dale glanced around the room. “How are we to get out of here?”

  Ness squinted, her eyes assessing Dale. “You’ve put on a bit of weight.”

  Dale’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  Ness tutted. “You needed to, you were a bit on the scrawny side before. Now you look more like a woman.”

  “Excuse me, Ness, but how is my weight relevant?”

  Ness’s eyes sparkled with mystery. “Because I think I have a plan. Open those curtains again, and the window. Is there a ledge out there?”

  Dale opened them and they both peered outside. Beneath the window a ledge, half a meter in length, jutted from the building.

  “You’re not thinking of scaling the building are you?” Dale’s feet tingled at the thought of hanging off the ledge. They were at least ten storeys up, more probably.

  “We saw for ourselves how your portal almost worked, and that was only just outside this building.”

  “So you want to try making a portal on this ledge?”

  Ness pursed her lips. “Not exactly.” Then she scrambled over the windowsill and stood on the ledge. A breeze took her silver hair and it flew around her, the purple dress flowing with it. A car horn sounded in the distance, quickly followed by the echo of a siren.

  “Ness, what are you doing?”

  “I’m going to transform into the albatross.”

  The cold night air filled Dale’s lungs as she gasped. “You want me to cling to your back?” Her feet tingled violently just thinking about it.

  “Exactly, we shall fly to the river, to Gareth’s clearing. That will be the perfect place to create the portal. I’ve done it there a million times before, and I know I can do it again.”

  Dale’s limbs tickled with fright. She could barely look down from here without throwing up, let alone clinging to the back of Ness when she transformed. “But, that’s a long way from here. What if I fall?”

  Ness grabbed her hand and she felt a little of the old calming warmth run through her. “You must be brave, Dale.”

  Dale chewed a lip, but nodded and slowly stepped over the sill, clinging to the window frame with tight, sweaty hands.

  Ness started to remove her dress, Dale remembered how Rhys had transformed to the owl, and Agathina had shifted into the wolf at the sorcery trials. Dale hadn’t had a chance to try that particular spell as she was yet to find her hysbryd. She doubted she could do it anyway. It was a very complex, and dangerous transition, done improperly it could render the sorcerer physically disabled for the rest of their life.

  Ness, now naked, handed Dale her clothes. “Bring these with you.”

  Dale nodded. It was the middle of the night and the breeze that blew from the north was ice cold. She could see Ness shivering in the pale light of the city glow.

  “Are you ready?” Ness asked with chattering teeth.

  Dale gulped. She didn’t feel ready, but she suspected she never would.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  Ness closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. Suddenly her shivering stopped and her facial features calmed. Dale hugged the old woman’s clothes to her chest,

  Ness gestured to the east and then to the west. Then she grasped the crystal in two hands and whispered her secret spell. The crystal glowed with a bright light, like a small star between Ness’s hands. Dale tensed, was it working? Ness’s hands seemed to shimmer and change and now they wore feathers. Ness changed so quickly and dramatically in the next instant she was a large albatross. Her claws perched on the ledge. Her large tail struck through the open window into the apartment, smashing a vase on a nearby shelf. Her beak extended out toward the city. The bird’s eyes were the sharpest of blue, just like Ness’s. Her claws were huge, the size of Ness’s feet, and on the ledge, by one of them, laid the crystal. Dale scooped it up.

  Ness squawked and the sound was too loud, it echoed around the city buildings.

  “Shhh,” Dale said. But she knew it was time to climb on Ness’s back and cling on.

  A sound came from inside the apartment. Someone had opened the door. They had to leave now.

  Dale jumped on Ness’s back. Her white feathers were soft and warm. She stuffed Ness’s clothes in front of her and held her feathers with two hands, tight.

  “Stop!” A call came from inside and Dale risked a look back.

  Natalia marched toward them, her eyes already glowing red.

  “Now, Ness! Go!” Dale shouted and Ness took two flaps with her huge wings and they were off, flying above the city. Dale looked back. Natalia leant out the
window screaming, “Stop!” Her eyes like two red suns.

  Dale held her breath, waiting for Natalia to cast a spell like the chain that struck Ness, the last time she’d escaped from Earth and killed Cat. But Natalia pumped her fist, her shouts fading with the sounds of city traffic. Perhaps the building also restricted Natalia's magic.

  Dale allowed herself a smile before she grimaced again. They were very high now and the city below them looked like a child’s play set. The breeze grew stronger, colder, and whipped up her hair. She closed her eyes, tightened her grip and focused on not being sick.

  “Ah, that was exhilarating!” Ness was still in a state of excitement. They’d landed in the clearing where Dale and Gareth used to work on Joy. Only it wasn’t much of a clearing now. Trees and vines had taken over. Gareth must have kept them down when he was here. It was a good place to work, surrounded by trees so that no one passing close by would see him working on the boat.

  “It’s so good to fly again!” Ness couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  “Ness, I think we have to hurry. Natalia saw us; they will try to stop us. We don’t have much time.”

  “True spoken, lass. Come.” Ness finished dressing and hurried off toward the river.

  Dale followed. The river was inky, shimmering only now and again with the starlight above. The last time Dale had seen it she’d witnessed Gareth murder, watched his body sink into the depths. Would he still be there, at the bottom of its murky waters?

  “Are you ready, lass?” Ness asked.

  Dale nodded and handed Ness her crystal. “Yes, let’s go home.” Dale’s heart raced at the thought of finally bringing Ness home to Arcadia. Her blue sapphire would be re-energized, and so too would her magic. She’d help them defeat the Unseelie, and Dale could reveal who the traitor was. She couldn’t wait to see the look on her mother’s face. Finally, she’d be able to contribute.

  Ness walked a few steps to a large willow whose branches fell into the river. She began the spell for the portal. Dale walked over and stood by her side, studying the way Ness moved her arms. Ness’s focus remained fixed; the crystal glowed bright in her hands.