by E E Everly
I sucked in a breath as a sudden pain wrenched through my center. As delightful as our union had been, in stark contrast, an emptiness clawed at me. A ripping sensation as if my light were being torn from me.
But it wasn’t being torn from me.
It was being torn from Cystenian.
“No.” I moaned. “No. What’s happening?” I whispered.
“He’s transitioning into a Dark Emrys,” Yasbail said with soft disbelief. Then louder. “The fool!” She threw me to the ground, rage dripping from her voice. “Your union is worthless. He did this to save you!” Her eyes were filled with loathing. “He killed my brother to save you!”
Bronwen was weeping over Dad’s body. Cystenian was writhing on the ground, mid-transition. Yasbail seethed, ready to go off, her arms wide, ready for attack, but I wasn’t sure whom she’d blast first.
Meuric and his men rushed through the barrier, the hole finally large enough, but they stopped and spread out behind Dad’s body. A few of them drew swords while others held up arms flaring with light. Covered by his men, Meuric knelt beside his son and brushed his hand over Dad’s forehead. His face reddened. “Yasbail, you will pay for this.”
“Father, you’re too late, as always.” She lurched forward threateningly as if she was going to attack but hesitated when Rhosyn grabbed Yasbail’s arm. Were they about to ether jump?
Then the ground shook. A quiet rumbling that grew and grew and grew. Yasbail and Rhosyn stumbled to the side. Meuric’s men held their ground. As the rumbling became heaves, the stones above my head rained down around me. I scrambled away from the entrance of Uffern.
Yasbail spun toward the seal as the earth shook. The rocks groaned beneath our feet. “He’s done it! The fool didn’t even know what he did. He thought he was saving her. He thought by becoming a Dark Emrys he would keep the seal from opening, but it backfired.”
I raced over to Bronwen and yanked her upright. “You bonded with Dad, with Vaughan, didn’t you?”
Meuric caught my eye as he rose to his feet. It was too chaotic to properly introduce myself.
Too grief stricken, Bronwen stared blankly at me.
I shook her. “You and Dad knew what the risks were. Why’d you do it?”
“I don’t understand,” she mumbled.
They had spiritually bonded. They had married in secret. That’s what the clandestine meeting was. I understood now. Dad hadn’t wanted to do it, but he couldn’t bear breaking Bronwen’s heart. He had known the risks. Their union was one that could also fulfill the prophecy. Now Dad was dead, and the seal to Uffern, broken.
“It’s too late for regrets.” Meuric gestured, and his men closed in on Yasbail and Rhosyn, stepping around my dad’s body.
About two dozen souls materialized, facing Meuric’s men, shielding Yasbail and Rhosyn. Reinforcements for the enemy. Perfect.
Shocked by how they appeared, I was beginning to grasp all that these emrys and half-emrys could do as they entered combat.
Too many people were outside Uffern. Too much chaos, the quarters too tight inside the partially broken dome. Most of the fighting was done with swords, albeit, swords that glowed with energy. That must have been safer for their own men in tight spaces than blasting their enemies with light that could ricochet.
I could barely see straight as the earth shook. Most of the rocks had tumbled away from the entrance.
Amid the confusion, Cystenian gasped. He spit away foam. My chest ached as I felt every bit of his transformation. Then, like an angel ascending to heaven, his light blasted from him in a pillar to the stars.
The fighting took a breath to marvel, but just one before they resumed engagement.
A darkness swept up from the ground beneath Cystenian and plowed straight into his heart like a dart.
I couldn’t feel Cystenian anymore.
I couldn’t sense his light.
Couldn’t see his light.
Then I understood—
My angel as I knew him was dead.
FIFTY-ONE
The earth rumbled as everyone fought. I yanked on Bronwen. “We have to go.”
“I can’t leave Vaughan!” Bronwen screamed.
“We’re going to be killed if we stay much longer.” I didn’t want to leave Dad either, but the world was pandemonium.
“Go!” Meuric shouted as he intercepted a sword coming toward Bronwen. “I will bring my son home. Leave him.”
More than happy to do as Gramps asked, I pulled Bronwen to her feet. “I’ll grab Cystenian.”
There was no way I was leaving him for Yasbail to sink her claws into. She didn’t need another Dark Emrys for her cause. I stumbled toward Cystenian, trying to stay upright on a world that tossed like a ship in a hurricane.
Yasbail was faster. After extricating herself from an opponent, she yanked Cystenian off the ground with inhuman strength. Rhosyn provided cover after she shot down an approaching foe. They backed toward the prison’s entrance.
“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” Yasbail yelled. “This still works for us. Cystenian’s coming with me. Sorry, you couldn’t join us, Anerah.” With a smug smile, she shrugged.
“Don’t let them enter Uffern,” Meuric shouted.
The enemy fighters kept Meuric’s men busy. Rhosyn prevailed over the few warriors engaging the twisted twins, and Yasbail added her own blasts as she pulled Cystenian along.
Though drenched with tears, Bronwen made a halfhearted attempt to lift her arms. Rhosyn aimed at her. “Don’t even think about it.” Then she turned to me. “Another time, sweetheart. I still think I could be your mother, just not today. I’m really sorry about Vaughan.” Her face actually looked filled with remorse. “I really am.”
They backed into the dark recesses of the cave. Cystenian’s green eyes were the last of him that I saw—
And they were empty, soulless pools.
FIFTY-TWO
Meuric fought his way to the entrance. Yasbail’s men were powerful, but I sensed Meuric’s men winning, just not soon enough.
The ground settled, with a few occasional tremors. Many men had fallen. A few of the enemy had been captured. Bronwen and I hadn’t fled. I didn’t see the need now that the conflict was winding down.
As Meuric reached the entrance, light flashed at the opening, the same rainbow of colors as when the dome went up.
“They’re sealing it up,” I screamed. Not knowing how to help, I raced around bodies and ducked under incoming swords to skid to a halt beside Meuric. He already had his arms up with a counter blast. I launched my light at the forming barrier. Yasbail sneered at the two of us from the inside of the cave. Rhosyn was helping her.
Another of Meuric’s men joined us. “It’s no use, my lord,” he said as he aimed his light. “They’re using demon magic.”
Meuric strained with his light. “I must summon a tywyll fae. They will make quick work of the demon magic.”
The barrier snapped into place. I dropped my attack, as did Meuric. It was too late, and we knew it.
“Now they begin the journey through the mountain.” He sighed. “Why does this seem so familiar?”
I arched an eyebrow.
All was strangely quiet. The conflict had ended. “Secure those men,” Meuric said. “We need their intel.”
Meuric’s men moved into action. It would take a lot of ether jumps to move the men and prisoners to where they needed to go, I wouldn’t doubt.
Bronwen stood over Dad’s body. “This was not how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to finally be happy. After all those years apart…” She began crying.
I wrapped my arms around her, feeling my dad’s loss as well. My heart ached on all sorts of levels. I’d just had Dad back too. I’d just had Cystenian back. Everything was royally screwed up.
The worst was the hurt that Cystenian caused by thinking he could save me by killing my father. What had gone through his head? Even if Cystenian hadn’t transitioned to a Dark Emrys, how could I think of a
life with him when he had murdered my father?
Meuric crouched beside his son and tugged something off his body. “Yasbail tortured him. Used mind control on him. Subconsciously, Cystenian thought he was doing the right thing by killing Vaughan.”
“No. She couldn’t have.” I swiped tears from my eyes. “Cystenian didn’t do it because she wanted him to, did he? Even after we exchanged lights and he was whole?”
“Yes. Even after.” Meuric stroked his son’s face. “I’ve seen Yasbail use it before. She’s leagued with demons. Their methods of mind control work fast.” Meuric stood and turned to Bronwen and me. “I’ll take you home, granddaughter. My men will guard Uffern and wait for the Vessel to return while I go to Belyven for a tywyll fae. We’ll see if we can open Uffern before they emerge.”
“The Vessel,” I gasped. “She’s going to make Cystenian become the Vessel.” No. No. No. No. This can’t be happening.
“I’m afraid that’s what she intends, unless Yasbail kills him and transitions herself.”
I didn’t know which was worse. “Please hurry.”
They had to get inside Uffern before something happened that we couldn’t stop.
Before I lost Cystenian forever.
Meuric nodded and grabbed my hand and Bronwen’s. My world became dark, but in the time of an eye blink, the world was white again—and cold. We were on the ledge outside Gorlassar. We’d skipped the flight across the desert because of his ability to ether jump. The wind had ceased, and the snow was falling steadily, no longer a white-out.
“The barrier is straight ahead.” Meuric pointed at the boulders. “Go ahead through it. I can’t ether-jump anywhere on Emira. A dragon should be waiting to fly you.”
Bronwen and I trudged forward. Emotionally, we were zombies. Bronwen wouldn’t understand the reference, and I was too destroyed to laugh at my mental quip. We stepped through to a rainy summer day, a light rain, which was just what I needed after a bloody, grueling conflict.
I tilted my head back and allowed the rain to mix with my tears.
I hurt so bad. Everywhere. The constant pressure of pain under my sternum was an ever present reminder of my losses.
Dad. Cystenian.
Our bonds.
Dad wasn’t in my head anymore.
Cystenian wasn’t in my heart.
A teal dragon and a black dragon with a rider were waiting near the boulders. “Urien.” Meuric nodded to the rider, who had chestnut blond hair. He looked like a very typical and very regal emrys. Then Meuric nodded to the dragons. “Tegeirian and Cerys.”
I shyly gave them a halfhearted wave. A broken wave. I didn’t have it in me to be excited about seeing more dragons.
“I take it that it didn’t go well,” Urien said.
Meuric shook his head.
Urien clapped Meuric on the shoulder and then helped Bronwen onto the black dragon and sat behind her in the saddle. Good. That way I didn’t have to worry about her falling off in her semi-comatose state. Meuric helped me onto the teal dragon and slid into the saddle behind me.
My first dragon flight. My heart was anxious about falling, but Meuric wrapped his arms around me. “Relax. I have you. I won’t let you fall.”
I didn’t know where they were taking us. I just wanted to be shut away from the world.
Then I remembered that I couldn’t. I had a daughter. She needed me. I would go home to her.
After a short trip, we landed on the hillside of a radiant meadow. The flower heads dripped with the rain. A cottage was tucked against the woods. Meuric jumped from the dragon and helped me slide down its scales. Urien helped Bronwen from his dragon.
“Catrin knows,” the teal dragon spoke. Her voice was soft. “I felt his life pass. She was with me.”
Meuric nodded as he stepped forward and opened his palm. The necklace Dad had worn, with the teal dragon stone, lay in his hand. “Cerys. I will be back with him, but I have much to see to.” The dragon picked up the necklace with a careful claw.
“Anerah.” Meuric turned to me. “You have family inside. They’ll take care of you until I come back. I know you’re eager to return to Earth. I ask you to bear with me.” Then he pulled me into a hug. I drew in a breath of surprise as he whispered, “My heart is with you in sorrow, granddaughter. Your family mourns with you, but this fight is not over.”
He released me and climbed onto Urien’s dragon with him.
They flew off into the gray sky.
EPILOGUE
Family members were everywhere, family I didn’t even know I had who came to Dad’s funeral. The biggest surprise was meeting my ageless grandmother, who was hugely pregnant with Dad’s sister but more radiant than I could ever imagine a pregnant woman being. It was so weird. Meuric had returned a short while later with Dad’s body in his arms, and Catrin spent hours either weeping over his body or sobbing in Meuric’s arms whenever he was around.
Meuric disappeared without preamble and reappeared when I least expected him. I was told he couldn’t use his ether-jump ability on Emira because it required dark magic, but someone usually had a dragon for him to use.
I know Gramps had a lot to take care of. He had summoned a tywyll fae, and the barrier to Uffern had been removed, but they were too late. Yasbail and Rhosyn were gone. Cystenian was nowhere to be found. Uffern had released them by another way, Gramps said, but a new vessel had been confirmed.
In my heart, I knew it wasn’t Yasbail. She hadn’t become a Dark Emrys and thinking back on her behavior toward him, I don’t think she killed Cystenian, so she couldn’t have become the Vessel.
It had to have been Cystenian. She had to have forced him. Could I blame it all on the strange hold she had over him? Then again, he had become a Dark Emrys. That changed who he was. Cystenian didn’t have a heart now, not one that could feel love or compassion or even joy, so he might have made the choice to become the Vessel on his own.
So as the world outside Emira dealt with the blowback of a new vessel, the world inside Emira mourned.
I hadn’t had the chance to introduce myself to Catrin or give my condolences until the day of the funeral. Even that was a blur. I do remember Catrin embracing Bronwen as a daughter. Tomos and Eiluned came to support their grieving child. They were less sure of me, as their short-lived daughter-in-law, but they too were grieving, and their broken countenances were clear.
No one mentioned Cystenian’s name. I sympathized with his parents. I empathized with Bronwen. Both of us had felt our eternal bonds torn apart. I truly knew how she felt. Except, her love was decades old, and mine, fresh and naïve.
Catrin had siblings at the funeral. Meuric’s mother, Siana, arrived. I lost count of how many people I could call family.
Finally, I returned home to Trysten. Bronwen came with me. Once we crossed to Earth at the portal in Llewella, Meuric ether-jumped up the cliff and right into my backyard.
Weary, I slid the patio door open and pulled an ashen-faced Bronwen after me. Mom would help with her. Bron was in too much shock for me to manage on my own, but she hadn’t wanted to stay on Emira or in her family home when every turn reminded her of Cystenian and what he did to Dad.
After I said goodbye to Meuric, I rounded the corner to the living room and stopped. Mom was sleeping, curled up on the couch, with Trysten in her arms. Even though a few days had passed, Trysten looked so different. She was growing and filling out. They looked so peaceful and happy together. A sob escaped my lips, and I rushed forward to tackle them. Mom cracked an eyelid open as I climbed on top of her and leaned over her shoulder to kiss Trysten.
I was home.
Bronwen roamed into the living room, and I waved her to us. When she was close enough for me to grab, I pulled her down to make a sandwich of me between her and Mom. We wrapped our arms around each other, no longer crying, just feeling comfort from the other.
Mom didn’t ask what had happened. She held Trysten safely while we continued our huddle.
In the silence of o
ur embrace, I vowed a few things to myself.
I wouldn’t rest until I confronted Cystenian for destroying everything in our lives. I understood why the High Emrys said I would have to forgive him. Couldn’t she have given me a better warning that he was going to betray us?
Despite my hurt, I wouldn’t stop until he was freed from being the Vessel and until he could come home once again.
As new as I was to these other worlds, I had my work cut out for me.
***
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For now, you have to hold your breath while waiting to find out what happens to Anerah and Cystenian in Scourged, the next novel. (Coming soon!)
To tide you over, I’ve included the first few chapters to
Consumed: An Epic Dragons and Immortals Romantic Fantasy. Another Portals Universe novel.
CONSUMED
AHNALYN
The words slipped recklessly from my mouth. “I need three days.” I hadn’t expected to say them, and the shock of my quiet voice startled me.
Brenin didn’t seem to notice.
I stood in front of him, so close the individual freckles could be seen across his cheekbones. I could have counted them. The wind rustled his umber curls, and his hazel eyes glinted in the low light.
Brenin grinned, causing his eyes to crinkle around the edges. His unwavering regard flustered me, broke me out into a sweat, and nearly had me gasping for breath, so I looked beyond his ear into the meadow.
Yes, the meadow. Completely safe.
His tempting hazel eyes were not.
The day had shifted into evening, but the sky still held its brilliant blue light and billowing clouds. The grass and wildflowers swayed in the wind.
