“I must heal Udari.”
“In what way can we help, Nica?” Trey asked.
“We desperately need your speed traveling ability,” Nica said. “There is no transportation on Apedra capable of taking us to the far side of the world, and we need to get there as fast as we can.”
“Of course,” Garen said, standing up. “Where is this place?”
“I’m not quite sure about that,” Nica said. “We’ll have to go to Ian’s townhouse in Cidade first. Then I’ll call the sprites and they can tell us.”
“Ian, if you will show us on this map where your home is, we can take you there without showing ourselves out on the street,” Val said, sliding a map across the table.
“Aunt Lari, will you come?” Nica asked.
“No, Nica, I will remain here and watch over Bree for you and Ian,” Lariah said.
“Thank you, Highness,” Ian said, after returning the map to Val. “I appreciate that very much.”
“Ian, if you want to stay here with Bree, I understand of course,” Nica said.
“Thank you, Nica, but I’m staying with you,” Ian said. “I can’t do anything for Bree right now, but I may be of some use to you.” Nica’s smile was radiant, earning little smiles from the Dracons.
“Let’s go,” Val said, placing one hand on Nica’s shoulder. Trey placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder and the five of them vanished from the Ugaztun.
Chapter 13
Flora definitely didn’t enjoy flying. She’d thought it would be fun, especially after spending three whole days doing nothing but drinking blood. Well, she admitted to herself, the kill was always a kick, of course. But the enjoyment wore off fast when she had to spend hours afterward fighting to keep blood in her stomach long enough for Luagh to absorb the power from it. She’d spent a lot of time telling herself that being able to fly was worth it.
But it wasn’t. It was nauseating. Worse than drinking blood, even. And boring. There was nothing to see but endless ocean in every direction. She didn’t know why Luagh wanted to fly to the far side of the planet, or what he was looking for. He refused to tell her, which made her angry. It was still her body he was using. Mostly. There were the wings, of course, and a few other things. But it was still her body more than his, and she deserved to know what he was using it for. But she was leery of pushing him now. She really didn’t want to see those horrifying images again. If she’d been in control, she would have shuddered at the thought.
She retreated to the back of her mind, tired of looking at the water far below, letting Luagh control things. She needed to find out how to control Luagh the way he controlled her. She already knew how to use power, even though Luagh wouldn’t let her. Every time she reached for it, he either stopped her, or took control. If he could stop her from doing what she wanted, it was only reasonable to assume that she could stop him, too. She just had to figure out how.
***
Without warning, Nica, Ian, and the three Dracon Princes suddenly appeared in the foyer of Fadden House, shocking Joseph so deeply that for several seconds he could only stare open mouthed at them.
“Sorry, Joseph,” Nica said. “We didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Not to worry, Miss Nica,” Joseph said, fumbling for his usual stoicism for just a moment before slapping it back into place. “Welcome home, Mr. Fadden.”
“Thank you Joseph,” Ian said. “We’ll be in my study.”
“Of course, Sir,” Joseph replied. “Shall I call for refreshments, Sir?”
“No, thank you, Joseph,” Nica said. “We’ll only be here a few minutes.”
“As you wish, Miss Nica,” he said with a bow.
Ian opened his study door and Nica entered, followed by the Dracons. He closed the door and gestured for the Dracons to sit if they wanted. Apparently they didn’t want as they merely nodded and remained standing in a semi-circle facing Nica.
“Min, Nim, I need you,” Nica called out. “Please come to me now.”
Ian waited tensely, wondering if he would see them this time, or if they’d be invisible to him again. He had his answer a moment later when the two tiny sprites appeared outside the study window. They skifted through the glass and flew directly to Nica’s outstretched palm, their wings trembling nervously.
“It’s all right, these men are my family,” Nica said. “They will not harm you.”
“We trust you, Bright Lady,” Nim said, sticking his narrow chest out and raising his chin. Min rolled her eyes.
“What can we do to help you, Bright Lady?”
“Will you tell my uncle where the island of the Udari is so that they can take us there? I must heal the Udari before the Changeling discovers Eibhleann is trapped.”
“Of course, of course,” Nim said, nodding his head rapidly. Min glared him into silence.
“I don’t know if it will work,” Min said doubtfully, turning back to Nica. “He has to be able to see me.”
“I see you, Sprite, and will cause you no harm,” Garen said in what was, for him, a gentle voice. He held one hand out, palm up, as Nica was doing, and waited. Min looked at Nica with wide eyes.
“I promise you Min, you’ll be perfectly safe.”
Min straightened her wings, raised her chin and flew over to Garen’s hand. She landed gingerly, as though half expecting to be squished, then stood up straight when she realized the giant man wasn’t going to move. She tried sending him the island’s location with a mental image and was surprised, and pleased, when the giant man nodded to her a few seconds later.
“I have it, thank you,” he said politely. Min flew back to Nica’s hand, trying not to look as relieved as she felt. “Nica, how will you heal the Udari?”
“I don’t know yet, Uncle Garen,” Nica said. “Eibhleann will tell me what to do when we get there. Once I’m physically closer to her, I should be able to hear her in my mind.”
“All right,” Garen said. “One moment please while I share the location with Val and Trey.”
While he did that, Nica looked at the sprites in her hand. “Will you two please go to Queen Eibhleann and let her know that we’re going to the Udari now? My uncles will speed travel us there, so it will be only a few minutes.”
“Of course, Bright Lady,” Min said.
“Thank you Min, and you too, Nim,” Nica said. “I don’t know what I’d do without your help.”
“It is our honor to help you,” Min said, though both she and Nim blushed at the compliments. Then they flew back to the window, went through it, and vanished from sight.
“I’ll be right back,” Nica told Ian, then left the study and went up the hall to the restroom. Before leaving she took a moment to splash some cold water on her face. She wasn’t scared, but she was nervous. She would do, or try to do, whatever Eibhleann asked of her. But there was an awful lot riding on her success. If she failed, she’d feel responsible for every single person that the Changeling killed from then on.
She reached for the towel on the counter and patted her face dry, then looked in the mirror and grimaced. She hadn’t braided her hair after her shower because her hair had been wet, and now it was a fly away mess. She combed her fingers through it since she didn’t have a brush with her, then braided it rapidly. Pulling the tie from her pocket where she’d put it, she wrapped it around the end, then flipped it back over her shoulder. Just as she did that, she glanced in the mirror and froze at what she saw, her heart suddenly pounding. She turned her head to look over her right shoulder, but couldn’t see her shadow, so she looked over her left shoulder and still saw nothing. She looked into the mirror again and clearly saw her shadow on the wall behind her. A shadow that didn’t look quite right, with large curved…somethings…protruding above her shoulders. A shadow that she couldn’t see at all without looking in the mirror.
A knock at the door made her jump a good three inches off the floor. “Yes?”
“Are you all right, Nica?” Ian asked, worry in his voice.
“I’m fine,” she said, putt
ing a smile on her face before she opened the door. He wasn’t buying the smile, she could tell that right away, so she dropped it. “I’m just a little nervous is all. Come, on, let’s go do this.”
“You don’t have to do this, Nica,” he said. “You really don’t. I swear, I’ll never hold it against you.”
Nica stopped and turned to look up into his eyes. “But I would, Ian,” she said softly. “I would never forgive myself if I didn’t try. This is who I am. I have to help people, Ian. It’s just the way I’m made. After I help the people of Apedra, then I’ll need to go in search of other people who need help. If I can’t do it through ICARUS, then I’ll buy a ship and hire a crew and go out on my own.”
“That would be an expensive endeavor,” Ian said.
Nica nodded. “Yes, it would be,” she said. Still looking into his eyes she took a deep breath and made a decision. “When I was ten years old the Dracon-Bats came to visit me one afternoon. I was sitting by myself in my favorite tree, crying because I’d gotten two questions wrong on a math test.
“You see, from the moment I learned about ICARUS, what it was, and what it stood for, I knew that was where my future lay. I was nine then, and I had the requirements for entry into the ICARUS Academy posted on my bedroom wall from that day onward. But those two wrong answers taught me that sometimes, hard work just isn’t enough. What if I wasn’t smart enough to get into the ICARUS Academy? Or strong enough? Or talented enough?
“I remember Quenton helped me down out of the tree, Karl dried my tears, and Sam sat down on the grass and pulled me into his lap. Then they told me that if I kept working hard, and if I never gave up, if I persevered no matter what the odds against me might be, they would see to it that I’d be able to buy my own ship and use all that I’d learned to strike out on my own if I failed to get into ICARUS.” Nica ignored the tears she felt slipping down her cheeks at the memory of that long ago day.
“The star diamond jewelry that I carry with me all the time was designed by them, for me, to remind me that hard work and perseverance always pays off in the end, one way or another. That’s why I carry it with me all the time. Not because of their value, but because of what they represent.
“The jewelry was presented to me on my eighteenth birthday by the Dracon Princes, along with a legacy that Quenton, Sam, and Karl created just after making that promise when I was ten. They called it Nica’s Legacy.” She smiled. “I own the only Grade 1 star diamond mine in the Thousand Worlds, Ian. I also own two gold mines, a platinum mine, two regular diamond mines, and a dozen other precious and semi-precious gemstone mines. Not to mention an enormous grain farm, a horse farm, and the Dracon-Bat’s liquid assets at the time of their deaths which was…substantial. All of it was left to me so that I could fulfill my dream of helping people whether I got into ICARUS or not. And that’s exactly what I intend to use it for.”
“Of course you do, Nica,” Ian said with a smile on his face. She was shocked to see a few tears there, as well. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to live up to the example they left behind, though.”
“You don’t have to, Ian,” Nica said. “I was a child, and they loved me as an uncle loves a favorite niece. They never knew me as an adult, or as a woman. You’re the only one who ever has. You’ve nothing to live up to but yourself.”
“Thank you for that,” Ian said, then sighed heavily. “I don’t know if I’ll have the freedom to follow where you go, Nica. I want to, believe me, I want never to leave your side. But I may not have a choice.”
“That’s not something we have to worry about,” Nica said, reaching up to wipe both of their tears away. “Everything will work out as it’s meant to, all right? Have a little faith.”
“I’ll try,” he said. “Come on, your uncles are waiting.”
Nica nodded and hurried up the hall at Ian’s side, what she’d seen in the mirror before Ian had knocked on the door completely forgotten.
***
The next time Flora checked, Luagh was descending. She watched as he circled a small island that was little more than a pile of rocks with a sandy beach on one side. He landed on the beach, but Flora stayed back, sensing his shock and disbelief as he stared at what looked like a green stone tower sticking out of the water a short distance from the island. She didn’t see anything interesting about it, but Luagh continued to stare at it for a long time. Not being the patient type, Flora soon got bored.
“What is that thing?”
“It is the Udari,” Luagh replied.
“Oh, that’s helpful,” she said sarcastically. “What, exactly, is a Udari?”
“It is the source of all power on Apedra,” he said almost absently. Flora studied it with a bit more interest, but she neither saw nor felt anything to substantiate Luagh’s claim.
“Feels dead to me,” she said.
“Yes, it does,” he said. “This explains why there is so little power in the world. But why? What happened to it?”
“How should I know?” she asked, already bored again.
After a few more minutes, Luagh spread the long, ugly leathery wings he’d somehow attached to her body and took off again. Flora was about to retreat when she noticed he wasn’t flying so high this time. Or so fast. Curious, she decided to wait and see what he did next. She was surprised when another island came into view, this one much larger than the first one. It was covered with the most enormous trees she’d ever seen, and she thought she could see people moving around down there. She waited for Luagh to land again, but he didn’t. Instead, he flew around the island twice, then turned back toward the first island.
“What are you doing?” she asked, unable to keep silent any longer.
“Leaving,” he said tersely.
“Why?” she demanded. “That island looked like a good place to rest for a while.”
Luagh chuckled coldly. “You think so?” he asked. Flora remained silent, fuming over being laughed at. “That island holds the Tuatha De, human,” he said, shocking her so much she forgot to be mad. “Including Eibhleann.”
“If that’s so, why didn’t she stop us?”
“Foolish human,” Luagh sneered. “Did you not sense the barrier surrounding the island?”
“No,” Flora snapped. “You’re driving, remember?”
“The Tuatha De are trapped,” Luagh said. “All of them.”
Flora thought about that for a moment before understanding hit her. “That means we can do whatever we want now, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” Luagh replied, grinning into the wind. “Apedra is ours for the taking.”
***
Nica opened her eyes to find that they were all standing on a narrow sandy beach at the edge of a rocky island. Less than a dozen yards away from where they stood was an enormous green crystal that rose up out of the ocean and into the sky about a hundred feet. It was the exact same cloudy green as the stone in the ring she’d worn for years.
“It’s broken,” Ian said, pointing at a deep crack that marred the center of the crystal about half way up its face.
“That’s Udari,” Nica said. “The source of power for all of Apedra. That crack is the reason Apedra is fading away, Ian.”
“I don’t understand something, Nica,” Trey said as he stared at the Udari.
“What’s that, Uncle Trey?”
“Every other world we know of generates its own magical power,” he said. “Why does Apedra require an external source?”
“Because it wasn’t created naturally,” Nica said. “It was created with the power of the Udari, therefore it requires the Udari to maintain it. Eventually Apedra will be able to maintain itself, but that time is long into the future.”
“This is from the information Eibhleann put in your head?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, it is,” Nica said, shrugging. “She said I’d get it all once I unblocked myself, but it’s not happening that way. I’m getting what I need when I need it, but so long as I get it, I guess I have no reason to complain.”
“Do you know how you’re supposed to fix that thing?” Ian asked.
Nica reached into her pocket for the ring and held it for a long moment, thinking. “I need to put this on again, then I’ll know.”
“Are you sure, Nica?” Garen asked.
“Yes, Uncle Garen, I’m sure,” she said. “The Udari is supposed to be clear green, with a bright yellow core of energy that glows. The stone in this ring is actually a piece of the Udari. It didn’t block my psychic abilities so much as it…collected them. That’s why they call me the Bright Lady, and why the sprites see a really bright light around me all the time.”
“And the purpose of this light?” Val asked.
“To repair and…recharge is the best word I think,” Nica said. “To repair and recharge the Udari.”
Nica's Legacy (Hearts of ICARUS Book 1) Page 31
