And thanks to Grace, she headed to the exact room in which she'd find the Mage Mirrors—her first task: seek and destroy these mirrors. That should piss off her father, royally. And if she guessed correctly, force him into moving his own plans along faster; basically, force his hand and make him take her to the Immortality Stone, and thus seal her own fate, one way or another.
She used magic to cloak herself and hoped it worked. Regardless, she'd not take unnecessary risks. Twice, she ducked to hide, avoiding Stripers moving about the lower level of the estate; but there wasn't any other way she knew of to reach her destination—she needed to get to her father's bedroom. There was a large bunch of Stripers hunched around a round table, planning something. She couldn't help herself, she needed to know what they were up to. Perhaps she could sneak a peek and get some advanced knowledge of her father's intentions.
She crawled across the rug, keeping herself low and peeked her head up to see between the railings. Unfortunately, it wasn't what she saw, but what she heard, that disturbed her. A woman named Ardon was spreading out some sort of map.
"This is a rough sketch based on my recon, but right here," she pointed somewhere Meghan wasn't able to see, "is our entrance point to the Tunkapog lands. We need to strike fast. We've already lost our advantage with a surprise attack. But they won't seal that portal because they'd be sealing out their own, too. We haven't found them all yet, but they have spies on the island."
A moment of panic and doubt set in. Her father had discovered where everyone was hiding out and they were planning to attack. Soon. Perhaps she needed to rethink the plan. She hadn't considered that her friends and family and countless others would not be safe while she confronted her father.
"No," she mumbled. It was all the more reason to do this now, and not wait.
She crawled back to the far side of the wall, out of sight, and kept going past them until she'd made it safely to the other side and had the cover of two walls on either side of her. Her father's bedroom was at the very end. A tall, sturdy looking door she needed to go through.
Her feet moved swiftly and cautiously until she was within reaching distance of the doorknob. This was going to get tricky—getting inside without alerting anyone else to her presence. And she had no idea where her father was at this moment. For all her luck, he was inside his bedroom, or with his mirrors.
Her hand lifted to try the doorknob and she hesitated for a second, like touching it might set off some sort of alarm. But she had to start somewhere and—holy crap! It opened. Like—just opened for her. It could not be that easy! He wouldn't just leave his bedroom unlocked. Would he be so arrogant as to think he was safe from intruders? Or was it her blood that allowed her such easy access?
Damn. What if this was a trap? He might already know what she was up to.
"Doesn't matter. Still have to try." It was now or never, so she slipped inside the room and closed the door gently, behind her. Meghan leaned up against it holding her breath for a few terrifyingly long seconds.
Nothing changed. Nothing happened. No alarms went off. No Stripers or even her father popped out of nowhere as if they were expecting her.
She let her heart stammer its way back to a normal beat and eyed the bedroom. It suited her father well. Stark. Clean. No personality to anything. No warmth. Only a starchy-like function to everything in the space. The bed didn’t even look worn. Her father probably didn't even sleep.
Her eyes flew by a mirror and rushed right back to it.
There it was.
A full length, oblong mirror standing at the back of the room. Just like her idea—hiding in plain sight. The warmth of the ornate wooden frame didn't fit in with the coldness of the rest of the room. She approached it with caution in each step, examining it. At first glance, and even second, it appeared to be a normal mirror. But she was certain this was the entrance to his secret room. The space few knew existed. The place he kept his Mage Mirrors.
If what she suspected was correct, her blood would give her free access to this room. All she had to do was step through the glass. Meghan pushed down what felt like a pack of sawdust stuck in her throat, casting an anxious glance back at the bedroom door, then back to the mirror. She thought about the Stripers downstairs planning their attack and in another breath of time shoved her body into the mirror and swished on through to the other side.
She was in.
It was almost too easy.
But again, nothing happened.
And there they all were. The Mage Mirrors. Lined up in a semi-circle with a chair in the middle of them all. Her father's link to the past and future. His arsenal. One that he wasn't going to have access to after today.
Meghan spun and waved her arms around calling out enchantments to block the magic she was about to perform and keep her presence unnoticed—until she was ready for it to be revealed. But it should bid her enough time before she allowed herself to get caught—and hopefully, her father would do as expected and take her to the Immortality Stone.
So far, the First Seer's advice had worked. And Grace's intel had proven correct.
Meghan used her father's blind spots—more like his arrogance in that his blood would protect all his secrets. Of course, he also thought she was safely locked in a room she couldn't get out of.
The room had a strange feel to it. Like the mirrors were not the only thing that held magic. There was an energy in the room that was almost loud enough to buzz. She'd need to destroy the mirrors and this room. She'd take no chances.
She made to approach one of the mirrors but gasped when a hazy form appeared in the center mirror. The haze transformed into an angelic face. A smiling young girl with bright, soulful eyes. But a few year's older than the one from the First Seer's vision. Her smile widened, but her head cocked in a knowing pose.
"You're finally here. I've been waiting—it seems like forever."
"Hello, Grace. You probably already saw all of this then?"
Grace shrugged. "Versions of this day, yes."
"Ver-sions?"
"There's always more than one version of any given moment in time. But in my various versions of this day, the outcomes all match." Which made her smile even wider.
"The future is always in flux, always changing." Meghan nodded, that understanding becoming clearer.
"Even this one we're participating in this very minute has variations. If you succeed and destroy the mirrors, it will set off a chain reaction of events. And if you do not, another starting point with other possible versions of that future. It's always unfolding. However, I think I've managed to get you on the exact path to get the outcome we all want. Well, everyone but your father, of course."
Meghan shook her head in question.
"Your father believes he is in control." Grace frowned and crooked her head. "And he is—never doubt that reality, because it is true. I have lived that future. I am living that future. However, the day you and your brother were born, a shiny new future presented itself. One I'd never seen before. One your father believed he could control. And in many versions of that future, he does. But there is one—just one chance, that he does not."
"You're not even born yet. How can you—"
"I am connected to all timelines. All pasts. All potential futures."
"That is an—intense burden I can't even wrap my head around."
"For me, it simply is. But if you manage to stay on this one, right path that I have led you to, my future will change, too. And it's one I really want. The future we all want."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because it's the only one in which Jurekai Fazendiin no longer exists."
"It really is that slim of a chance then? One possible path to lead to his demise. With so many versions of the future, as you say, it does not sound promising."
Grace smiled thinly.
"I have done all I can to make sure this future is aligned with your actions. It has not been easy to steer him down the correct roads, time and time again
, to make him believe he is winning. Especially when most of those roads were lined with misery for so many, including myself. However, we are, at last, at the pivotal moment when all those roads have intersected and the future is no longer in my hands. But yours."
"And that is a fact that's been accepted. You'll get no argument from me." Meghan paused. "When the First Seer showed me who you are, she said we needed to find you. How do we do that? You're not even alive yet in my time. Where is your mother?"
"Her fate is already sealed. Whether she is taken by Fazendiin, or remains free, I am her death in all possible futures."
"What do you mean?"
"She dies bringing me into this world."
"Oh—I'm so sorry, Grace."
"Me too. But it's unavoidable."
"You are far too wise for someone so young."
"Today." Grace's eyes twinkled. "If we win this future we all want, I just get to be a kid, raised by the best parents anyone could ask for in any timeline. They protect me from people like Fazendiin. And I can't wait to meet them." She spoke it like they'd already won.
Meghan walked right up to the mirror and touched it. "I'm going to make sure that future happens. For all of us, Grace. So, how do we find you?"
A sadness enveloped her. "The truth is, your father will always find me first. There is no way to avoid this future either. However, if you succeed and destroy the Stones, the rest will fall into place." Grace got that soulful look in her eyes again. "Everything we've all experienced has been to learn how to win this future of freedom. To overthrow Jurekai Fazendiin's tyranny. But in winning this future, the past cannot be forgotten. Although, it must be put in its rightful place as history for all to remember. Before we can be brave, we must learn what it is to be afraid. Before we can appreciate unconditional love and unwavering loyalty, we must first understand what it is to be hated, exploited, and cast aside. Before we can fight with the desire to win our freedom, we must experience what it means to lose it. Only then, can any of us ascend to greatness, and truly appreciate what it means to live."
Meghan pondered, in awe, of the girl's words.
And if her father always found Grace first, what did that mean in regard to the forthcoming battle? Perhaps Meghan didn't fully understand what Grace was saying, or how these mirrors worked. Either way, one point was clear.
"You are seriously far too wise for someone so young. I suppose, though, you would know these things better than anyone, with the life you've lived. The futures you've seen."
Grace giggled adorably. "But I'm looking forward to not having to be wise, except for when I choose to be. There is but one final act to play out."
Meghan nodded and stepped back. It was time to destroy the mirrors. The first giant step in the plan to secure that one future they all wanted.
Grace's easy features turned grim. "You're about to dismantle your father's portal to his past and future, and force him to live in the moment." She crooked a brow. "In fact, he is coming now, in my time. Your magic will hold until you break it, as planned. And you don't need the warning, but I'll give it anyway. His reaction will be brutal and swift and once you do this, there's no going back. It is your one chance. You will have to work fast. And never let your guard down. He will never give up until there's nothing left of him."
Meghan nodded through the chilling reminder.
"Goodbye, Grace. I hope we get to meet in this future."
"I hope so as well. But seeing all I do," she winked, in awareness of the secret Meghan was currently hiding, "it will not be you who finds me."
"Should have known I couldn't keep anything from you."
"But I understand and will gladly keep your secret. Goodbye." Grace's face vanished from the mirror before a single shock of breath came out of Meghan.
She thrust her palms out in front of her and muttered a spell that sliced a small cut into each of her palms. She pushed out a powerful blast of magic which slashed into the center Mage Mirror. A gash rent down the middle until the glass cracked all the way to the sides, and then shattered. She repeated this spell until all that remained of the mirrors was a pile of shimmering broken glass. Which Meghan used magic and fire to destroy, until nothing at all remained but the charred floor.
Step one of the plan, get into her father's estate: check!
Step two, destroy the mirrors: check!
And now to let the chaos unravel as it needed to, because step three meant it was time to get herself caught.
CHAPTER 14
Meghan spun around, stepped out of the oblong mirror and blasted it to smithereens. Goodbye secret room. She removed the magical protections she put up and attacked her father's bedroom burning it down. She blew out his door, causing quite the ruckus out in the hall.
Almost on cue, footsteps marched closer. Stripers, she was sure. But the only face that mattered filled the blown-out doorframe with a penetrative threat of utter loathing and payback that was sure to come. His gaze only left her long enough to verify that his prized possession was gone. He said nothing. She didn't expect him to, because if she guessed correctly, he'd never told his army about his secret weapon and wasn't about to—meaning, he thought he could somehow fix this.
Her father always had another plan.
He'd never give up.
Not until there was nothing left of him.
Meghan's daring almost betrayed her when he silently ordered his Stripers to remain in the hall and entered the room, alone. The space was suddenly so much smaller with him inside of it. She could feel the fury on his breath, and the vengeance leaking out of his pores.
She forced her bravado forward and faked a smile. "Hi Daddy. Good to see you too." Okay, inciting him even more, probably not a good idea. And the animosity in his features threatened to drown her, but she refused to let it and stood her ground. She'd not let it infect her. She'd not allow him to control her. She still had a job to finish. And next step in the plan—get him to take her to create the new Power Stone. Something he shouldn't have a problem doing seeing as she'd just done the one thing he'd never forgive her for doing, ever.
"How did you escape your quarters?" He raised his arm in a never mind that question, motion, and leaned in far too close for her liking. "How. Did. You. Know?"
"About the mirrors?" she replied too loudly for his liking. Yup, enough with the unnecessary inciting… she cleared her throat. "I'm a Seer, Dad. Or have you forgotten?" Meghan lifted her hand to show him the cut. "And you are right about our blood. It makes the most powerful magic."
Fazendiin had a severe doubt it was purely her gift as a Firemancer that had told her about his mirrors. Grace had betrayed him. It was the only possibility. Something she'd pay for in a few years once he had her in his grasps.
"You only think you've won," he vowed evenly. "Go ahead and smile. Revel in your victory. It is inconsequential. And when I am done with you, you will never have a reason to smile again." He stormed out of the room shouting orders to his Stripers.
The vitriol spewing from her father only proved that she had him exactly where she wanted him. He might pretend it didn't matter—and perhaps he believed it didn't. But she had bested him, again. And was forcing his hand whether he saw it that way, or not.
Regardless of the win, there was no ignoring the icy shiver of dread hammering at her heart. This was it—the moment everything from her past had driven her life to—the Immortality Stone and her one chance to destroy it, and her father.
If she failed—well, Grace was right. Her father would rain hell down upon them all and they'd never get another chance to remove him from power.
Striper's dragged Meghan down too many flights of stairs to count, deep into what she thought was the basement of her father's estate. Only, when they went through the tall stone doors at the end of a long hall, they stepped outside into a wintery courtyard at the backside of her father's estate. The blast of cold zapped her straight into reality.
KarNavan was there, waiting in a shroud of vengeance
. They'd killed his daughter. This might add some unneeded fuel to the fire.
Fazendiin spun and blocked his daughter's path.
"I'd have preferred to do this procedure indoors, but if my calculations are correct," he lifted a brow daring her to defy that he wasn't, "things are going to get—messy." For you… she heard the silent, unneeded addition. "Welcome to your future, daughter."
His hands raised to his sides and it was as if an invisible veil lifted. On the left, the Immortality Stone. On the right, another massive pile of Stones—his unstoppable power that he meant to use her, to create. And off to the side, someone Meghan did not expect to be present.
"Colby…"
What was he doing here?
His gaze raised to meet hers, his presence and state of mind in a sudden onslaught of confusion at seeing her. Like she was out of place. Funny, it seemed they were thinking the same thing and neither was wrong. But it wasn't the time to fess up.
Colby stood like an idiot, gawking at the sister he'd just spoken to not long before and who had not mentioned being here, or being a prisoner—a pretty darn important point of note, he thought. And something she didn't respond to. In fact, she was trying hard to keep him out of her mind.
Meghan's stare hardened. Colby was supposed to be safely with the Tunkapog—a snag in the plan, but the ruse had to continue so the only choice was to ignore the silent plea Colby's features wore, to explain her presence. He'd figure it out soon enough, just like Fazendiin. Who rubbed his greedy hands together like a child about to get some free candy.
"Let's make some magic, shall we?"
Two Stripers grabbed Colby—Meghan's eyes widened as the reality struck like a match igniting a wildfire. Her father wasn't going to use her to make his new Power Stone.
"No…" she let slip out and bit her tongue. Another major snag in the plan. She swung around to confront her father, but didn't have to look far as he was just a few feet away wearing a gleam of extreme satisfaction.
"My son has proven he's not worthy of being a king. So now I'm making the choice easy for you, daughter. Take his place by my side and I will allow him to live."
Ascend (The Last Oracle, The First Seer's Gift, and a Prophecy Fulfilled) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 11) Page 10
