Fragments of Light

by Beth Hodgson

  “How far back?”

  The woman paused for a moment. “Almost to the beginning of time.”

  Auron groaned. Ikaria had his power and was probably well on her way to leaving their time, and all the while, his message had failed. He needed to find the Emperor before Ikaria did anything. The Empress was to arrive back at the citadel tonight. Hopefully she brought with her reinforcements from the High Court. That is, if they weren’t already too late.

  “Then why are you here? What of the Ghost Man?” He took her hand, and she helped him to his feet. His body still felt clumsy from the battle that had taken place hours prior.

  “I have spent many years traveling all of time in search of this Ghost Man. To my dismay, I have found no trace of him. It’s like he doesn’t exist.”

  “Surely the vision gave you the sense that the Ghost Man wasn’t in this era,” Auron asked.

  “I thought I was close to finding him in another time, but it was just a non-gifted, leading me to another dead end. After exhausting all of my options, I decided to find the source of the vision to get more clues on where to search for this red-gifted man.”

  Auron thought immediately of the vision when he was dying. That had not been included in his cry for help, as his message had already been sent out after he transmitted it within the lifestream. There was a princess. His complement.

  “If you find a princess, one who has the gift of the green, you should find him.”

  The woman’s face dropped at his statement. Auron could tell she knew exactly who he was talking about. “Truly? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, without a doubt. She is his complement.”

  “If that is true, then I must get back to the past.”

  This woman had the violet gift, just like Ikaria. But there was no way she would have been able to travel time with her given color and how dark purple her hair was.

  She has consumed other colors.

  “How many colors have you absorbed?” Auron said, his voice coming out a bit harsher than he intended. “You can heal. And time travel.”

  “I have absorbed all but two colors.” Her purple eyes glanced at him as if she knew his thoughts. Auron saw the shame within their amethyst depths.

  “I know what you are thinking. I have felt the same way for the last how many years that I have traveled. I have defied the laws of the gods, an action that has haunted me every day of my life,” she said sadly. “But remorse and shame are the prices I pay to save the future.”

  “I see.”

  Auron had no other words for her. Her sins obviously affected her, just by listening to the weight of her heart while she spoke.

  “Before I go,” she said, “I need to know what this staff that was whispered of in the vision looks like. There was no imagery, as if the dream had been cut off.”

  “I wasn’t able to weave the full message. For that, I am sorry. I was overcome by the sorceress’s magic,” Auron said.

  “Where can I find it?”

  “I was hoping the Ghost Man would find it back in time with my ancestors, but since you are here and have healed me, we can simply go retrieve it now,” Auron said quickly. “I forgot it in the temple while I was meditating on my nightly prayers. Let us hope that it’s still there, given the circumstances. The one who seeks to destroy us all might have it in her possession, knowing how cunning she is. If she does, there will be no chance in stopping her.”

  “Who is this sorceress you speak of?” the woman asked.

  “I will tell you on the way,” Auron answered. He held out his hands, summoning his yellow protection magic around them. The magical barrier encased them in a shimmering golden color.

  “No need,” she said, summoning her own barrier in a transparent violet. “I have my own.” She nodded her head at him, motioning that she was ready to go. “Geeta.”

  “What?”

  “That’s my name. Geeta.”

  “Auron.”

  They made their way out of his chambers and through the citadel halls. As they turned around another corner, the walls began to shake violently, and the ground shifted. There were forceful booms, sounds that only magic could make, while screams and shouts echoed through the halls.

  Auron and Geeta gave each other a knowing look. Auron had to choose between getting the staff first or what sounded like a confrontation with Ikaria. If they went to get the staff, it might be too late. The temple was on the other side of the citadel. They didn’t have the time to do both. The Empress most likely had her reinforcements, and they were confronting her now. He made his decision.

  “We need to try and stop Ikaria in this time at all costs. She can’t travel back,” Auron called out, leading the way through the corridors, running as fast as he could. “With your power, perhaps we might have a chance!”

  “I will do what I can,” Geeta said, sprinting right behind him.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  VIOLET

  “You sent for me, sister?”

  Ikaria strutted through the main audience hall, swaying her hips while the high heels of her shoes clacked firmly across the polished black marbled floors. Her hair, along with the fabrics of her headdress, flowed behind her, gracefully following her provocative moves. She heard the doors close as the guards blocked the entrance. Within the shadows of the hall, Ikaria saw the air ripple and move from her acquired orange magic. The illusionists. Now that they didn’t have to mask the Emperor’s appearance, they were solely concentrated on fooling her, hiding in the shadows.

  This ought to be fun. Ikaria glanced out of the corner of her eye, trying to get a count and location on where all the orange-gifted were hiding. Derek had better pull through and get that blood.

  Ikaria could take down the gifted, but it would still be challenging. She didn’t have all of the colors of magic, which meant she could still be overwhelmed.

  Ayera was seated on her throne, casting a glance down on Ikaria, who stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to the royal platform. The Emperor’s seat was empty. Cyrus was probably still struggling back in her chambers, cursing her existence. The mere thought satisfied Ikaria immensely. Cyrus thought he was this so-called Ghost Man, with his tinted gift being masked or ghosted from the court. Clever, but wrong he was.

  Ikaria gave Ayera a swift bow, then rose steadily, eyeing her sister. “What is with all of the formalities? Summoning me to the audience hall, with guards… and gifted?” Ikaria gestured around her at the invisible orange-gifted.

  Ignoring the question, Ayera pressed on. “Ikaria, have you seen the Emperor as of late? Ever since I returned, no one has seen him.”

  Ikaria sneered. “How am I to know, sister? I am not your husband’s keeper.”

  “And Auron?” Ayera stated with grave concern. “I summoned him here earlier, but he has not yet come. I am told his chambers are empty.”

  Clever little Suri, masking Auron’s body. Shrugging, Ikaria dismissed Ayera. “How am I to know where that priest is at? Probably off at the temple doing what priests do… praying. At least, that is what I am told they do.”

  “I am being serious, sister.”

  “So am I,” Ikaria said darkly.

  Ayera shot up from her throne, and Ikaria saw the airflow glide around her sister swiftly. The currents of the gifted moving around caught Ayera’s hair in their wind, the long strands floating behind the Empress. They were getting into position to protect her. Through the illusion spells, Ikaria could see many of the gifted from World Sector Six—reds, oranges, and yellows.

  “You know, Auron had a vision,” Ayera said.

  “He’s always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong,” Ikaria said, casually walking to the side of the royal platform, seemingly uninterested. “Let me guess. He told you that I am the cause of this magical plague, and that I am consuming everyone’s power and absorbing the colors to complete the Spectrum of Magic. Did I sum that up correctly?”

  Ayera’s eyes suddenly watered, tears holding fast withi
n the corners. Ayera looked terrified at the confrontation at hand. Loathing twisted inside Ikaria.

  My sister doesn’t have the stomach to be Empress…

  “Is it true?” Ayera whispered. “Have you been absorbing others’ power? Are you the cause of this plague?”

  Ikaria narrowed her violet eyes. “That is what the High Court would have you believe. But they are the cause of the disappearance of magic, not me.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “It’s true. Did you know that I found a book in our library, detailing any and all laws of magic?”

  “You never told me of such a book.”

  Ikaria ignored her. “It said that all gifted have the ability to tap into colors that are next to theirs in the Spectrum of Magic. We gifted should have felt these other colors throughout our lives, and yet no one in the future has this ability. Don’t you find that odd?”

  “Why didn’t you show this to me?”

  “Because Lord Kohren was acting as a spy for the High Court! I was protecting you and this sector by not speaking of it! I knew that if I did, he would have found out about it and delivered that book to them. But he found it anyway, it seems. And now the High Court has likely destroyed that knowledge.”

  “They don’t have spies, sister,” Ayera said, sounding exhausted. “Why would they? We are under their law, and we faithfully abide by it!”

  “Because they need my magic!” Ikaria cried. “Just ask your husband. Or maybe ask some of your orange-gifted. They have been masking his magic. In fact,” she said, looking around the room with disdain, “they are all working together, since they have the ability to see right through their spells. They all know.”

  Ayera’s face looked like it had been hit.

  “They have been lying to you, sister. All of them. How convenient is it that the High Court has total control over the laws and magic? And how they want us to not be aware of our adjacent colors! Let’s not forget their technological ban, enforced by them and the previous High Courts. And yet they themselves are using the old technology artifacts found on Earth to develop their own technology, making them even more powerful. Sister, they have the ability to take away magic, as well as give it to their spies, their supporters. What do you think their ‘blessings’ consist of?”

  “Heresy!” Ayera said vehemently. “That is against the law of magic!”

  “Precisely, sister. And who gets to decide the law of magic? Who keeps them in check? I think you know the answer to that one. Don’t you see, sister? The High Court wants complete control over everything. Magic, technology, the world sectors. Complete control. They are trying to complete the Spectrum of Magic for themselves.” Ikaria narrowed her eyes, whirling around at the invisible shapes hovering around her. “You know deep down that they killed Father and Mother. Why else would they press for you to be named heir the moment before I was to be named?”

  “My coronation had nothing to do with that! Auron had a—”

  “Yes, yes. Auron had a vision,” Ikaria said mockingly. “A vision that was false. Any yellow can alter a prophecy. They planted that vision in his head so I wouldn’t become Empress, because Father trusted Auron more than anyone else. In their eyes, Father needed to be gone for our stance on technology. We were a threat to their so-called peace. They murdered our parents to ensure they had a complacent person on the throne, with a sworn supporter as your husband. I guarantee Cyrus knew of the plot to kill our parents. Why else would he be so anxious to marry either one of us? He got what he wanted—to rule.”

  Ayera’s tears began to flow from her cheeks, but her face remained still, her hair whipping around her. “That is what you really believe?”

  “Yes. It is,” Ikaria said sharply. “The High Court must be stopped. We can no longer idly sit by and let them have supreme rule and authority over all the sectors. Certainly not this sector.” Ikaria boldly stood at the bottom of the throne’s steps, facing her sister straight on. “Tell me, sister, with you as Empress of World Sector Six, are you just going to sit there and twiddle your thumbs while they take our technological artifacts away, all while letting them enforce more ridiculous laws on magic, continuing to suck everyone’s power away?” Ikaria’s voice echoed through the halls.

  Ikaria watched Ayera’s face twist with worry and confusion, standing in silence. Ikaria felt it, the many doubts swimming about in her mind. And there was a promise… one between her sister and their father… hidden away within the depths of Ayera’s thoughts.

  Ikaria swung around wildly, watching the invisible gifted. “Well, I for one, will not,” Ikaria said, more as a threat to the invisible gifted. “I will do everything in my power to ensure they go down screaming. They fear me most, because I have what they don’t: violet magic. And it aggravates them that they cannot control me. I am their worst nightmare, and they don’t know how to stop me. That is why they wanted Father to send me to World Sector Three. But Father was smart enough to know that they wanted to contain my power and take it away!”

  Ayera gasped, and her face went white. “How did you know about them asking Father to transfer you to World Sector Three?” Unsure of herself, Ayera shook her head, blinking away her tears. “I… I just don’t believe you, sister. Just listen to yourself. Is it true that you have consumed other gifteds’ blood? Or is that a lie too?”

  “Four gifted in total, sister. All for a good cause,” Ikaria said, no longer feeling the need to hide.

  “And all this time… you have been hiding your power from the court… and from me.” A deep sadness resonated in Ayera’s accusation. “You didn’t trust me. And yet I trusted you to find the out about the plague. Instead you killed four of our gifted and hid your powers from your own sister.” Ayera’s face hardened, shooting her a look of disgust.

  “Spies, sister. Spies,” Ikaria corrected her.

  “Witch!” Ayera screamed. “Arrest her!” She shot out her finger at Ikaria, her eyes filled with rage and mixed with tears.

  “So this is how it is, sister,” Ikaria said in a condescending tone, narrowing her eyes. “Going to take me down with a pack of gifted like some wild beast out of control? I expected better of you,” Ikaria sneered. “Have it your way.”

  With bright flashes of orange from every direction, the air materialized into the gifted. They instantly cast golden barriers surrounding themselves and Ayera, glowing with intense golden light. The room began to morph and twist, then suddenly the walls began to shift toward Ikaria. A large ring of glowing red ice and stone formed around her, trying to barricade her from all sides.

  “Weak,” Ikaria said contemptuously, amused at their attempt. She stretched her arms to the sky, burning with her dark-violet power. The walls, ice, and all of the gifted slammed back into various parts of the audience hall. The impact boomed, and crumbling sounds echoed from citadel’s walls.

  “You want to play games? Let’s play, shall we?” Ikaria twirled to face the gifted, smiling at them mockingly as they recovered from the impact.

  With all her powers combined, Ikaria melted away everyone’s barriers while the world turned a deep purple, freezing them in time. A violent storm formed in the chamber, growing in size, swelling until the chamber could no longer contain it. The storm flashed violet lightning and whipped snow, hail, and glowing purple ice shards in all directions, smashing into the gifted, who remained frozen and helpless.

  Except her sister. Ikaria protected her sister with her magic, casting a barrier around her. She couldn’t harm her sister.

  Ikaria began to laugh, as no one had time magic to stop her.

  Through the heavy whirling snow and ice, Ayera watched her with sadness and awe as the gifted were pelted by the storm. Ikaria willed time to not allow them to move.

  The violet ice whipped every which way at them within the cold, circling violet storm.

  “We both know that I would have been the better ruler, sister,” Ikaria snarled. “The throne is mine. It always was and always will be. I will take back wh
at’s rightfully mine, and then I will use all of my powers to shred the High Court into oblivion!” Ikaria flashed her younger sister a look of disapproval, her violet eyes glowing. The winds and ice continued to whip around her, her hair flying wildly. “And when I am Empress, I will restore the ancient ways with technology and heal our lands using the blood of the green! Without your support!”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it!” called out a familiar voice.

  A purplish-red burst of hot wind filled the chamber, counteracting Ikaria’s ice storm. The snow and ice dissipated, creating slush waters at her feet. Ikaria was instantly surrounded by a purple magical force crushing her body.

  Someone else had her color.

  It had to be that gifted that Derek warned her about.

  Snarling, Ikaria closed her eyes, sensing the minds who filled the chamber. Locating the mysterious caster, Ikaria then sent a forceful blow toward the violet caster’s mind and felt the purple magic that surrounded the unknown violet caster flee.

  Ikaria had stunned the woman temporarily.

  Whipping her hair aside, Ikaria summoned her own violet protection barrier once again, reinforcing it through her mind. From the translucent violet barrier, Ikaria caught Auron’s image next to the unfamiliar violet-gifted. He had been completely healed.

  Always a thorn in my side, that damn priest!

  Extending her arms, Ikaria sent a mind-shocking wave to the mysterious gifted woman, but she had her mind shielded with magic, mixing violet magic with the gift of the yellow.

  This woman has consumed other colors too.

  The violet woman charged at Ikaria while casting a large forceful blow toward her. Ikaria flashed out of her spot using dimensional magic, reappearing right behind the woman. Quickly summoning the gift of the orange, Ikaria caused the room to shift in different positions, making the woman confused about where Ikaria had appeared. With a flash of ice, Ikaria struck the woman in the middle of her chest, but her body was doused with Auron’s magic, and the blow was not fatal.