The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1)

by Madison Adler

  Ajax said nothing but briefly lay his head on Rafael’s shoulder.

  Rising to his feet, Rafael touched the wall, and the door zipped open. Holding his hand out to me, he asked, “It is time, Sydney. Are you ready?”

  He didn’t have to ask twice. Seizing his fingers, I followed him out of the door as Harmony and Ajax watched with obvious sorrow.

  Rafael led me down a hallway with high-vaulted glass ceilings and walls covered in murals composed of tiny mosaic tiles. Potted plants and trees were clustered here and there in front of tall narrow windows. Flowering vines cascaded from above us. It was like walking in a beautiful tiled garden. The hallway curved, leading toward an immense, arched doorway that was obviously the main exit to the tower.

  My heart was pounding so loudly that it was difficult to talk, but I managed to whisper, “Are you sure these bracelets are going to work?”

  “They will work,” he stated softly, drawing me inexorably toward the arch.

  I wished I could believe him.

  We were almost there when he said, “Remember, you are clothed as one of the Fae now, so you must act like one. Once we leave this tower, we must cross the courtyard to the stairs. Even though our disappearance will distract them for a time, once Jareth learns we are gone, he will head immediately to the wall. He’ll know what I’m trying to do, and he’ll bring assassins to stop me.”

  The word “assassins” made my heart skip a beat, but then we were at the arch and my more pressing concern was, “What happens if these don’t work, after all?”

  Rafael smiled down at me. “Then you will never know,” he said, pulling me through before I could react.

  For a brief moment, our bracelets shot out beams of light and the archway responded with a shimmer, but then we were on the other side.

  It had worked.

  “It worked!” I breathed, stating the obvious.

  “But of course, little human,” Rafael breathed softly in my ear. “Now, you must act like the Fae.”

  “Meaning?” I prompted.

  As he stepped out into the warm sun, he lifted my arm enough so that I was forced to stand on my tiptoes, and then he twirled me around. “You can’t walk. You must dance!”

  I could hear voices around me, but I was focusing on my balance. I never was much of a dancer, and as I stumbled, Rafael dropped his hand lightly to my waist and lifting me, twirled me around several times before placing me back on my feet.

  I looked up at the tower we had just exited. It was more a work of art than a building, a twisting spiral of white stones that wisped up gracefully into the sky with lush gardens and vines growing at different levels. At the very top, a beautiful crystal tree glittered in the sun, its leaves looking more like jewels than anything else.

  “Dance with me, Sydney!” Rafael gently shook my shoulders, drawing my attention back to him. He was smiling down at me.

  “I can’t dance!” I muttered, embarrassed.

  With a light laugh, he replied, “Then I’ll teach you! The Fae express by actions—”

  “And with clothes and makeup?” I interrupted, a little flustered by his hand still on my waist.

  “Exactly!” His heavily-painted gray eyes lit enthusiastically, totally missing my sarcasm.

  The sound of laughter floated from above and I looked up to see the dragon-butterfly creature diving above us, the feather clad Fae on its back laughing loudly. Behind us, three Fae were headed our direction, dressed in elaborate flowing scarves. They wore rune-shaped headdresses at least four feet tall with their hair entwined around them. To the other side, a group of Fae clad in flowing gowns of green, almost the same shade as mine, stood a short distance away, watching me with overt interest.

  I froze.

  Yanking my arm so that I fell against him, Rafael held me close to his chest and whirled me around, again lifting me off my feet. I gripped his arms tightly, feeling nauseated and certain that we were going to be caught. I shut my eyes tightly, convinced all of the Fae were descending upon us from every direction and that shortly I was going to be blinked away into nonexistence. I was wondering if it was going to hurt, when I felt Rafael’s chest rumble with laughter.

  My eyes flew open, and after a few extra twirls, he set me down on my feet. I clung to him a little dizzily as I heard a voice call out in question, “The Summer of 678?”

  “Spring!” Rafael responded, waving in an elegant gesture, picking the edge of my tunic up.

  A chorus of awed gasps greeted this statement.

  I glanced at the Fae around us, gathered in loose clusters. At first, I thought their eyes were focused on me, but then I realized they were staring at the jade green tunic. They weren’t threatening, in fact, they seemed envious.

  “Come.” Rafael twirled me away from their scrutiny, half-carrying, and half-dancing with me toward the other side of the courtyard.

  No one seemed to think his behavior bizarre. In fact, I could see other Fae doing very much the same kinds of things as they wove their way through the courtyard.

  At the next pause, I managed a nervous squeak, “So, you have to act drunk to be a Fae?”

  He laughed at that, a loud peal of laughter. “Carefree, Sydney, not drunk,” he explained with humor. “We live in the moment more than humans do. Try it!”

  I shook my head. I was too stressed out to dance, and I couldn’t see how I could simply just forget my fears.

  “Humans are always living for the future, and they miss the now.” He continued, once again lifting me up, dancing a few more feet, and threading his way through the crowd.

  “Perhaps because we are always dreaming of the future!” I mused, though a little defensively.

  “Perhaps.” He nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

  Setting me down on my feet once again, he planted his face so close to mine that I thought I could feel the sweep of his lashes against my cheek when he blinked. His eyelashes were unusually long, and I found myself wondering if they were really his or fake. Then, catching the nature of my thoughts, I scowled. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “You just did it, little human.” His smile broadened. “For a moment there, your thoughts were focused on something in the present, not in the future.”

  All at once, my cheeks flamed red.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he pointed to a narrow gap between two large metallic cylinders covered with white-leaved vines. It was only a short distance away. “That is the entrance to the stairs,” he said, looking back down at me with a smile. “Come and be carefree with me, Sydney. Even if only for a moment, what better way to spend that moment?”

  A small group of Fae descended upon us, laughing, chatting, and dancing. Their long velvet skirts, elaborate hairdos, and hand-held feathered masks made them look like they had just stepped out of a medieval masquerade ball.

  “Remember, Sydney … carefree.” Rafael whispered in my ear as he once again caught me about the waist and twirled me into the middle of the cavorting Fae.

  I tried, but I was mostly too scared or stunned to feel anything. Now, more than ever, I felt trapped in a dream as I wove with Rafael through the medieval-clad Fae. Several called out the year of the jade green dye with admiration as we passed by. Then, all at once, we were through and standing at the entrance to the stairs.

  Rafael’s manner turned serious all at once. Gripping my shoulders, he said gravely, “The instant we are on the first step, you must run and not stop, Sydney. Do you understand?”

  I shivered and nodded.

  “You must run as fast as you can to the bottom.” His fingers dug into my shoulders.

  “Then what?” I whispered, fighting a rising surge of panic.

  “I’ll tell you once you get there,” he replied. “But you must know this first. When we get to the Glass Wall, we will have less than ten seconds to break it before Jareth will arrive.”

  “Ok.” I nodded, taking a deep, wavering breath. “What do you want me to do?”

  For a br
ief moment, an expression I couldn’t interpret crossed his face, and then he said, “It is you who must break it, Sydney. You must touch the wall.”

  I stared at him, uncomprehending.

  “Only a human can break the Glass Wall.” I barely heard his words through the sudden roaring in my ears. “I’ll do whatever is necessary to stop Jareth and the others, and you must not look back. Promise me that you won’t look back.”

  “What?” I gasped. “You aren’t coming with me?”

  “You must run for the wall as fast as you can, regardless of what is happening. Do you understand?” He was shaking me, but I was so shocked I could hardly concentrate on his words. “Once we reach the Glass Wall, when I squeeze your hand, regardless of what is happening, you must run for it and not look back. Do you understand?”

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe that I had to break the Glass Wall. It was no small wonder that they called me Blue-Threaded. My destiny certainly sounded disastrous.

  “Remember, Sydney! When I squeeze your hand, run, and don’t look back!” Rafael was repeating with a frown.

  Finally, I managed a feeble nod.

  “Are you ready then?” he asked softly, his eyes filled with concern.

  “How can I be ready?” I asked in a voice heavy with emotion.

  Knowing that thinking about any of this would only turn me into a useless mess, I shoved him aside and, placing my first foot on the stairs, began to run, faster than I ever had in my life.

  I could hear Rafael close behind me, but I didn’t let myself think about anything other than the fact that I had to run and focused only on the few steps in front of my feet. The steps before me seemed to spiral endlessly, but I kept circling down, flying over the stairs as fast as I could.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, I heard Rafael shouting from behind me, “When you get to the bottom, jump!”

  At that moment, I circled the last spiral to see that only one flight of steps remained before the staircase ended abruptly in mid-air. The City of the Queens spanned far below us.

  With his words just beginning to register, I couldn’t prevent myself from attempting a complete stop, but it was too late. Rafael followed behind me too fast.

  I didn’t have to worry about jumping.

  Rafael collided with me at top speed, knocking me down. Then we tumbled down the remaining steps before lurching over the edge.

  I screamed.

  There was nothing beneath us but the empty air over the city far below.

  Chapter Twenty-Three - The Glass Wall

  I kept screaming as we fell through the air.

  Rafael was holding onto my ankle and shouting, but I couldn’t hear anything past my own voice and the rush of the wind. I was terrified. I was hurtling unchecked toward the City of the Queens spread out below me but growing more detailed by the second.

  Just as I began to wonder how much it was going to hurt when I impacted the ground, Rafael grabbed my belt, tipped me upright, folded his arms about me and shifted.

  Sucking in a long, wavering breath, I opened my eyes to discover that I was standing once again on compacted white sand. I stumbled out of Rafael’s arms and glanced around. Recognizing the mist, I suddenly realized that we were back at the Glass Wall.

  We were not alone.

  A short distance away, Jareth stood with his arms folded and his legs planted wide apart. Behind him, four Fae stood at attention, dressed from head to toe in black and wearing silver masks on their faces. They were obviously the assassins.

  “Impressive, Rafael!” Leveling his trion at us, Jareth strode forward and shook his head incredulously. “I’ll have to study exactly how you escaped your quarters. I could have sworn that was impossible.”

  Rafael bowed with a grand flourish.

  Cocking a brow my way, Jareth eyed me up and down. “You look half decent for once, Sydney.”

  I couldn’t believe that we had come all this way to fail now. How had he known? We hadn’t even gotten our ten seconds to run for the wall. “How did you—” I began.

  “Know that you were coming here?” Jareth finished the question for me. “The only real danger we face is the destruction of the Glass Wall. Why would I be anywhere else? Even though …” He walked around us in a circle, shaking his head. “I never thought you would actually make it back here.”

  Rafael didn’t reply, but the muscles in his jaw visibly clenched.

  “Why did you lie?” I blurted. It was easier to babble than to face the fact that we had lost. “Why didn’t you tell the Queens about the Tulpa?”

  “Pah!” Rafael tossed his head, his eyes seething. “There is only one possible answer to that question, Sydney. Jareth refrained from sharing that detail because he knows what the Glass Wall is truly protecting, and he wishes to protect it himself!”

  Jareth’s eyes flashed in turn and, lifting his chin defiantly, he retorted in a contemptuous tone, “How astute you are, Rafael. I do know the Glass Wall is protecting humanity, something you have forgotten in your current delusional state.”

  “Who is delusional?” Rafael was asking when I felt him squeeze my hand.

  I didn’t want to leave him. It didn’t feel right. The four assassins were standing on alert behind Jareth, and if Rafael succeeded in distracting them from me as I dashed toward the wall, I didn’t see how he could survive when it was five against one.

  Again, he squeezed my hand, and this time harder. He was shouting at Jareth, and even though it felt like a betrayal, I dashed for the Glass Wall.

  I could hear shouts and screaming, but I bolted forward, pounding through the swirling mist that thinned with every step to reveal more of the Glass Wall rising majestically above me.

  When I was about twenty feet away, I heard Jareth’s deep voice from close behind, and my feet instantly rooted to the ground with such force that I reeled back from the shock of it, jarring my bones and teeth.

  I fell backwards onto the compacted white sand so hard that the air was knocked out of my lungs. I lay there, struggling for breath as Jareth’s footsteps crunched my way. I couldn’t hear anything from Rafael, and I was afraid that meant he was dead. I didn’t think I could see that.

  “You’ve proven to be quite dangerous, Sydney.” Jareth judged sarcastically, kneeling next to me. “Can you doubt now that you’re Blue-Threaded? If I hadn’t stopped you from touching the wall you would have brought disaster upon all of your kind. Does that mean nothing to you?”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I just glared at him as I struggled to sit up. It was hard because my feet were glued to the ground.

  Rising, he studied the Glass Wall spanning in all directions behind him. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “It’s a lie,” I grated, fisting my hands. “Why are you doing this? As Rafael’s counterpart, aren’t you supposed to be helping him?”

  Turning back, Jareth subjected me to a deadly glare. “There is much more to that particular story, Sydney. Rafael isn’t to be trusted. From the very beginning, he denied that I was his counterpart and sought to read fate only for the glory and fame!”

  I was thrilled to hear Rafael from behind me, accusing, “That’s a lie! It was you who refused to trust me from the start!”

  Now that I knew he was alive, I glanced over my shoulder to see the assassins motionless upon the ground and Rafael staggering to his feet a short distance away. A gash on his forehead bled profusely, and he was clutching his side, but he was alive.

  “You have been hiding something from the start, Jareth!” Rafael condemned in a scathing tone. “How could I trust you when even the mirror couldn’t hear you?”

  Jareth’s lip lifted in a slight snarl, and he gave a humorless laugh. “You are most gravely mistaken if that is what you think! The mirror has always heard me quite well. You have been so caught up with Sydney that you’re no longer thinking clearly!”

  “Meaning?” Rafael raised his voice.

  Pausing for
dramatic effect, Jareth finally drawled, “Didn’t the mirror summon us both when Sydney was in the claws of the Tulpa?”

  Even though I didn’t know entirely what that meant, I knew part of it was true. I had only called Rafael. I hadn’t expected Jareth to appear as well when I hadn’t even read his phone number. Glancing at Rafael’s face, I saw that it had turned white, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of what Jareth had said or if it was because he was injured.

  “And now you ask me to trust you?” Jareth gave a scornful laugh. “You want me to help destroy the wall when you are so blind?”

  “You know I’m right.” Rafael began moving stiffly toward us. “You know that Tulpa should never have entered Earth!”

  “There might be other explanations.” Jareth raised his trion and pointed it at me. “Not another step this way, Rafael. All I have to do is kill Sydney, and this entire fate line will cease to exist. Things will return to what they should have been from the start!”

  “You’re a fool!” Rafael swore, pounding his fist against his thigh. “That Tulpa was cultivated from the suffering of many humans over a long period of time—”

  “Why pin that on the Brotherhood?” Jareth interrupted with a flare of anger. “Humans are fully capable of torturing themselves! They have spent thousands of years doing it!”

  Rafael’s gray eyes were alive with passion as he took another step forward. “Jareth, you know humanity can’t summon the Tulpa to their own dimension, nor can they create one capable of converting a human into pure emotion! That Tulpa was a hybrid creation of the Brotherhood! Do not let your hatred of me blind you!”

  “Halt!” Jareth ordered. Turning his back on me, he moved to bodily block Rafael as they both began to shout at each other once again.

  At that moment, Harmony appeared, dropping quickly by my side to press a small white stone in my hand. She murmured, “As long as you have this with you, Sydney, the Fae won’t be able to locate you on Earth—not while I live.” Pressing another one into my hand, she added, “This one is for Rafael. Don’t let him go until he holds it in his hands. Do you understand?”