by Bonnie Lamer
From the direction of the great hall, Taz’s twin is stalking toward us. I move forward, not wanting to get trapped against the door. “If you leave now I won’t hurt you,” I say to the approaching animal.
“Who will stop her from hurting me if I do?” the other Taz growls. The nearer he gets, the better I can make out the missing patches of hair and the scars he wears. One of his ears is practically gone and his tail is a lot shorter than my Taz’s is. What has she been doing to the poor thing?
“She hurts you?”
“Her, or her magic,” the devil says. “Depending on her needs.”
The sad thing here is he sounds like this is perfectly acceptable behavior. “She shouldn’t be hurting you. She’s doing it by choice, not because magic dictates it. Look at my Familiar, not a scratch on him.”
“Actually, I have three,” my Taz says.
“Not helping,” I tell him out of the corner of my mouth. I’m sure they’re tiny and he probably got them running from the other him.
“Your meager excuse for a Familiar is no standard to live by. He would have been used up and ground into dust a long time ago in our universe. The weak don’t survive.”
I’m going to bring this up the next time Taz complains about something I’m doing. Providing we both survive. “Well, things are different here.”
“So I see,” the other Taz says, coming to a halt and baring his teeth. “Are you sure it wasn’t Goblin magic that created such a pitiful creature?”
“Oh, dear. A Familiar cowering behind its Witch. What a lame excuse for a universe this is. It needs someone strong to shape it into what it could be.”
I am beginning to hate the sound of my own voice. And the sight of me as my doppelgänger comes around the corner. “What’s that, your evil playground?” Ok, that was lame.
“We don’t need to be enemies,” the other me says.
I groan and shake my head. “Is this the part where you say we can be sisters and rule the universe together? Because this me would never say anything so contrived.”
“Neither would I,” she says with a wicked grin. “I was simply going to offer to keep you alive if you stay out of my way. You and your pet can live out your lives here as long as you never get in my way again.” By pet, I don’t think she means Taz. She means Kallen.
“Yeah, that’s not going to work for me.”
She laughs and I’m quite disturbed to hear how much like a donkey she sounds. I never sound like that, do I? I’ll ask Adriel. She’ll give me an honest answer. “I killed your pet in my realm, you know. As soon as Raziel told me about the choice he had to make, I sought him out. First, I made him my slave and he did anything I wanted him to do.” I get the impression she’s not talking about dusting. “When I tired of him, I severed his head while I was kissing him.”
I honestly don’t know what to say to that. To be able to commit such an act is unfathomable to me. The depravity of it, the pride she takes in it, it is too much for my brain to comprehend. The only words I can think to say are, “You know, the Cowan realm has some really good psychotropic drugs. We could fix you.”
I really hope it hurt her head when she hit the wall as much as mine hurt hitting the door behind me. I am now sprawled on top of Taz, who for once isn’t complaining about anything. The other Taz was smart enough to get out of the way. He’s probably used to his Witch Fairy’s bouts of rage. “I believe we’ve established that anything we do to the other happens to us.” I mutter, getting to my feet again.
Looking much better off than I do, my doppelgänger growls, “The difference is I’m not afraid of the pain.” At least I feel it coming this time as magic slams me back down.
My mind is racing, trying to think of something I can do to her that won’t hurt me. She’s right, I don’t like the pain. Putting my own wicked smile on, I pull magic for a counterattack. I sense her bracing for impact but she’s not expecting what I do. Below us both, the floor dissolves. We are above the archives here and it’s a twenty foot drop to the floor. Unless I grab the rope I created which is now attached firmly to the wall. I am jerked to a stop mid-air but my doppelgänger is only just able to cushion her fall before she hits the ground. She gets up growling. Yup, she is actually growling.
I search my brain trying to figure out what she’s going to do in retaliation. It’s an easy guess that she’s going to cut my rope so I have plenty of time to cushion my own landing. It sucks when the bookshelf falls on me, though. I am barely able to put a bubble around me so I don’t get squashed like a bug. Hundreds of irreplaceable scrolls fall around me, many turning to dust on impact with the floor. Maybe bringing her to the archives wasn’t such a good idea.
Managing to push the bookshelf back the way it came, I overcompensate and it falls the other way, creating a domino effect. I grimace as I think of the knowledge lost as more books and scrolls are ruined. What the hell was I thinking?
My doppelgänger is not troubled in the least by the loss of information. This is apparent from the way she tries to set me on fire. Oh, come on. “Really?” I demand, rising from the ground safe within a magic bubble. “You are willingly to burn yourself?” That unpleasant donkey laugh is the first reply I get. I definitely need to know if I ever sound like that.
“To rid myself of you? I would suffer any pain.” I can’t see her and her voice is coming from farther away now. Oh no! She’s heading toward the dark magic section. Getting to my feet, I tear after her. With her black soul, she’ll have no trouble entering the area.
So focused is she on her destination, she’s not prepared for me to physically attack her. As soon as I make contact with her, I teleport us out of the archives. Out of the palace. We end up tumbling onto a lonely stretch of road far from anywhere. I remember travelling this road on the way south to the Giant territory.
My doppelgänger screams in frustration. “How can a universe exist where I am such a pansy?”
“How can a universe exist where I think pansy is a cutting insult?” I ask, crawling away from her.
My doppelgänger glares at me. I can see her mind working trying to come up with a plan. When that malicious smile forms on her lips, I know she has one. Looking around, she says, “This particular realm is awfully important you. Me, on the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of Fairies.”
My gut clenches. The Seraph’s words come back to me, slapping me in the face. This other me performed genocide in her universe. Would she? Could she? My heart sinks as the answer lodges firmly in my brain.
I try to keep her from pulling magic. I pull at it, tug at it, trying to get it under my control but she grabbed it first. This gives her the upper hand. For the second time in two days, I hear a sonic boom. I’m pretty sure my ear drums rupture. My doppelgänger has created an imbalance and has set the air on fire within the forest. Around us, trees are falling as they are devoured by flames. The grass and flowers near us are scorched, leaving nothing but dry, black earth in their wake. Small animals are fleeing, birds are taking flight. My doppelgänger is going to destroy this realm bit by bit until one of us is dead. She will commit genocide and every Fairy I have come to hold dear will die at her hands. This is the moment I decide it’s not going to be this version of me who ends up dead. It will be my doppelgänger.
So engrossed in the destruction she is wreaking, the other me doesn’t notice the tiny amount of magic I steal away from her as I pretend to want it all. With this tiny bit of magic, I create a dagger so sharp, it slides into my chest like a spoon in soft ice cream. Wrenching the knife out, blood pours from the wound. My doppelgänger’s wide eyes are staring at the red circle forming on her blue shirt. The dye of the fabric gives the blood a slightly purple hue.
Taking advantage of her surprise, I pull hard on the magic, willing it to heal me as quickly as it can. Cries of pain are wrenched from me as my body tries to forcibly knit itself back together. Healing shouldn’t occur this fast, it has to be precise. Each organ, each bone, each muscle, each tear of t
he skin must be given time to reconnect appropriately. Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of time. My doppelgänger is already grasping at the magic, pulling some of it to her. If she can’t repair the damage to her heart, she is going to die and the desperation in her eyes is proof she knows this. I close my own eyes when she falls to the ground. I can’t watch my own death. With the last bit of energy I have, I teleport myself back to the palace, leaving the fire still raging around the other me.
The feeling of the cool, hard floor underneath me is the only sensory proof I have telling me I’m back. My eyes are still firmly closed. My chest hurts so much, I can barely breathe. One of my lungs must have been nicked and I didn’t have time to repair it. Each time I inhale, it’s like the knife entering me again.
“Xandra!” Taz shouts, his long nails screeching against the smooth floor as he comes to my side.
I open one eye just enough to let him know I’m still conscious. “Hey,” I whisper. A mistake. This use of precious oxygen causes me to cough violently and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.
I fear I’m losing the ability to communicate with Taz when all I can make out from him is a low, menacing growl. I open my eye wider and find his teeth bared and his body ready for attack. The shock of him vaulting over me makes my heart stutter. What is he doing? The horrible sound of two animals tearing at each other is my answer. He attacked his own doppelgänger.
When the animals break apart briefly, Taz warns, “I will kill us both to protect her.” He will?
The other Tasmanian devil laughs at him. “Do you believe I fear death?” Considering the treatment he’s received, he probably longs for it.
In response, Taz lunges at him again. The sound of tearing flesh assaults my ears and opening both eyes now, I attempt to pull magic. I can’t. But I don’t need it. Taz has the other him around the neck and his teeth are biting through flesh and tearing through muscle. His own neck is bleeding but this doesn’t stop him from shaking his head roughly, tearing away at more tissue. Taz’s doppelgänger rolls them across the floor until he’s able to dislodge Taz. But my Familiar has a rather large chunk of fur and skin dangling from his mouth.
“Taz, stop,” I plead with the last bit of oxygen in my lungs. I don’t want him to die. I’ve grown to love the stupid little beast.
Instead of rounding on Taz for a counterattack, his doppelgänger scratches his nails against the floor in a backwards motion. He is retreating. With a final gnashing of his teeth, the other Tasmanian devil disappears around the corner. Taz doesn’t give chase. Instead, he uses the last of his strength to return to me. Falling against my side, he gives in to the pain of his self-inflicted injury. What a pair we are lying here slowly bleeding to death.
Chapter 22
I don’t know if seconds or hours pass before I see Kallen’s face above me. He’s saying something to me but for some reason, his voice sounds a million miles away and I can’t make out his words. My breathing is so shallow, I can’t pull in enough oxygen to tell him I can’t hear him. I lift my hand, trying to place it on his cheek to let him know I’m still here with him, but it falls painfully back to the floor.
“Don’t move,” Kallen’s lips mouth. I’m pretty sure the hand thing was the last of my ability to do so, so I readily comply.
In my peripheral vision, I can see others are freaking out around us. My eyes, though, stay focused on Kallen. He is my anchor. Even when Isla is kneeling beside me, assessing my injuries, I hold his gaze. I barely register the poking and prodding she’s doing. It’s probably not a good thing that I don’t feel any pain.
I am in and out of consciousness while I am carried upstairs on a magical gurney. I’m brought to the Princess bedroom and gently placed on the bed. Kallen has not left my side. Even as my friends crowd around me, he has a firm grip on my hand, scared to let go.
I must lose consciousness again because when I blink my eyes, there are several people gathered around me and a fire is raging in my chest. Mom, Dagda, Isla, Tabitha, Tana, Kegan, Adriel, Raziel, Alita, Conor, Jadyn, Grandpa, Mohana, the Elf Queen, the Goblin King, and surprisingly, Arie and Kai, all have their hands held out above me and each has as much magic drawn as they can manage and it’s all focused on me. More specifically, it’s focused on my chest. They are healing me. Able to move my head now, I look down and am completely freaked out when I see the blue flames.
Sensing my panic, Kallen firmly holds me to the mattress. “It’s Dragon Fire.”
Gee, that makes me feel better. “Dragon fire kills people,” I gasp. The burning sensation in my chest is getting stronger the more agitated I get.
“It has healing powers when handled in the right way,” Tabitha explains. “Now, hush and let us do what we need to do. You squirming around will only make it harder.”
“What happens if you lose control of it?” I can’t help but ask.
Dagda’s voice is firm. No room for compromise in it. “We won’t.”
Unless I want to find out the hard way what happens if they lose control, I better stop moving and let them do their thing. It’s an excruciating five minutes later when the flame is finally doused. Instantly, my chest is pain free and I can breathe normally. Relief resonates around the room.
I can’t help but marvel at the fact all these people came to my aid. They cooperated with each other. Turning my head, I see the Sasquatch King and the Centaur King standing guard at the door. A Faun is standing near them trying not to be in the way. I can just barely make out Quinn and Ellu’s forms at the edges of the door. They must be on guard duty as well. I assume the flame used to heal me came from Ryu. Huh. I’ll have to keep in mind that my impending death is one way to bring harmony to the universe.
The crowd around my bed begins to step back. I’m not sure how Arie and Kai are doing it, but they seem to be walking on their tail fins. Magic is a wonderful thing. Kallen sits down next to me and softly pushes my hair from my cheek. Caressing my skin with his thumb, he says, “I am not ready to die of a broken heart so I would appreciate it if you would stop coming so close to death.”
I smile and turn my head so I can kiss his palm. “I’ll see what I can do. How is Taz?”
Kallen nods his head toward a mound of blankets on the floor. “He is resting comfortably.”
Now that everyone is certain I am going to live, anger is the next emotion on the list. “What happened? What did she do to you?” Dagda growls, ready to go after my doppelgänger himself if I tell him where she is.
Where she is. Oh, god! “Fire, she set the air on fire in the woods!” I exclaim, sitting up so fast I get vertigo.
“We know,” Isla says, her own anger matching Dagda’s. “Giants saw the smoke rising and sent word. They are doing what they can. We have sent Fairies to assist them.”
Do I dare ask this question? Almost whispering, I ask, “Did they find her body?”
Shocked, Kallen says, “Your doppelgänger? No. We assumed since your injuries were so great she…” his voice trails off.
“Won?” I shake my head. “I did this.”
Maybe I should’ve told Kallen this in private. If I had, my sore eardrums wouldn’t now be accosted with sound louder than the sonic boom. All the harmony in the room has disintegrated.
“Quiet!” Dagda bellows. When things quiet down, he says, “You did what?”
Is it too late to say ‘never mind, I was just kidding’? Gathering as much courage as possible, I say, “I stabbed myself in the heart in order to kill her.” I have never seen so many blinking eyes in my life. It’s like they all believe if they blink hard enough and fast enough, they will erase my words from their minds.
Raziel speaks in my defense. “She had little choice.” Man, he looks terrible. There are black circles under his eyes and he appears to have lost weight. His face is gaunt and he looks older.
“Are you okay being here?” I ask him. “Adriel said you were in sensory overload.”
“Be that as it may, it did not stop him fr
om grabbing me and speeding to the palace saying I needed to help heal you,” Tabitha says. Is that a tear in her eye? “It was his idea to use the Dragon Fire. Now you go and tell us this was a self-inflicted wound? I should’ve said no and tended to my garden.”
She doesn’t mean it. I know this, but it still stings. “If it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure she’s dead.”
“Then you’re pretty wrong,” Taz says through a loud yawn.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
“If the other me isn’t dead, the other you isn’t dead.”
My face folds into a scowl. “He ran away. How do you know he’s still alive?”
Deciphering our conversation, Kallen says, “The other Familiar did not get far with his wounds. Palace staff found him unconscious near the front door.”
“He is locked up in one of the cells,” Dagda says.
“And you’re certain he’s still alive?” I ask, dreading his answer. How could she have survived the wound without healing it as much as I did before I came back here? She should have bled to death within a matter of minutes. It doesn’t make sense.
Grim expression rooted on his face, Kallen nods. “He was given a course of healing and he is being watched closely by one of the guards.”
“All this and she still didn’t manage to kill our enemy?” the Sasquatch practically screeches. I really don’t like him.
“If she’s not dead, she’s seriously out of commission for a while,” I say, leaning back against the headboard. I wonder how far her limited strength could carry her when she teleported away from the fire. She must still be in this realm.
“Unless,” Raziel says and catches himself as if he didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Unless?” Isla pushes.
“Unless she is healed by an Angel,” Tabbris says scaring the crap out of me. She’s pacing at the foot of my bed. Weaving in between the still forms of my family and friends.
