by Kristen Pham
“Shh, you didn’t. He’s still breathing. We’ll take him to a Master Healer,” Thai said.
“It’s Kellen’s dark dust,” Valerie said.
Cyrus was already pumping light into Gideon. For several long minutes they both glowed, then at last, Cyrus fell back.
“I did as much as I could,” he said, and Valerie could read the truth of his words in the shadows under his eyes.
“We’ll take him to Nightingale. There’s still hope for him, Valerie,” Thai said.
Valerie nodded numbly, fatigue trying to consume her as it always did after she used her vivicus power. But before she gave in to oblivion, she reached in her pocket to remove Kanti. Henry knelt beside her, and she opened her hand. She saw light return to his eyes before she was overcome by darkness.
When Valerie woke up, she was back in her own room, and Cyrus was holding her hand. He seemed fragile, drained of his power. Light wasn’t attracted to him, so he lacked his usual glow, and his eyes had never seemed so haunted.
He turned away to shake a sleeping form on the chair by her bed.
“She’s awake,” Cyrus said. “And I’m sure it’s not me she wants by her side right now.”
Before Valerie could contradict him, Cyrus left the room and Thai took his place on the bed next to her.
“Henry’s asleep in his room. Gideon’s in the Healers’ Guild, and Nightingale is looking after him personally. Somehow, Sanguina made it to the Healers’ Guild, too, and she’s in better shape than Gideon,” Thai said.
“And…Dulcea?” Her voice cracked as she said her friend’s name.
Some part of her hoped that maybe there’d been a spark of life in Dulcea, that she would be okay. Because it couldn’t be real. Dulcea wasn’t gone forever.
“Jack brought her body to Azra and Clarabelle, to see if they could help,” Thai said softly.
“And could they?”
The tears in Thai’s eyes were enough of an answer.
“Her soul is in the ether,” Thai said.
“She’s really gone,” Valerie said.
Thai pulled her close, and she cried for a long, long time.
It was morning when she awoke again and quietly slipped out from under Thai’s arm. A dull sense of unreality pushed down on her. Her magic was a mere spark within her, nearly drained from expending her vivicus power on Gideon.
Her mind was also confused. She couldn’t remember the layout of her own home, trying several doors until she discovered which one led to the kitchen. Then, as she tried to write a note to Thai explaining that she was headed to the Healers’ Guild, she found she couldn’t remember how to form certain letters.
A temporary panic almost blinded her. How much of her mind had deteriorated by using her power over the past few weeks? She refused to face what that might mean and forced the thoughts from her mind. Maybe she wouldn’t survive this war, anyway.
Instead, she ran to Silva, the cool morning air waking up her sluggish mind a bit. The Horseshoe was empty in the dawn’s first light, and inside the Healers’ Guild, all was quiet. She peeked into room after room and finally found Sanguina in one, huddled on one of the cots. Her eyes were open, and her gaze followed Valerie as she crossed the room.
Valerie gripped Sanguina’s hand tightly. “In the middle of all this mess, do you know how glad I am that you made it back to us?”
Sanguina’s skin was gray, and with her hair streaked white, it was like she’d aged ten years. But she was alive. “After you left and the others left, the throne room began to flicker. That room has never been unstable before. Reaper left so that the castle didn’t absorb him into itself. I’d say I was lucky, but really, I think he didn’t consider me enough of a threat to risk staying the extra minutes it would have taken to kill me.”
“He doesn’t think anyone’s a true threat to him,” Valerie said. “Maybe he’s right.”
“He’s not,” Sanguina said, her hand steady in Valerie’s.
“Do you know where Gideon is?”
Sanguina shook her head. “But Nightingale will.”
Valerie turned and saw Nightingale’s green form approaching Sanguina’s bed.
“Come,” he said.
After surprising Sanguina by giving her a fierce hug, Valerie let Nightingale lead her to a chamber she’d never been in before.
Instead of rows of cots, this room held one bed, where Gideon lay. Her mentor had always seemed so large. He stood a foot taller than her, and his lithe strength gave him a presence that made him seem even bigger. But in the bed, he wasn’t invincible. He was human.
“Will he live?” she asked Nightingale, turning so she could examine his face.
She knew from experience that doctors sometimes bent the truth, and she wanted to read his expression for herself.
“He will survive. But it is likely he will never regain consciousness,” Nightingale said.
“He has to. I need him,” Valerie said, her voice wobbling.
“Oberon would have said that you’re made of sterner stuff than that,” Henry said.
She hadn’t seen him enter, or even felt him through their bond, and she jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Even with the damage I did, even without Gideon and Dulcea, you will lead us out of this,” Henry said.
“Yesterday, you told me that your actions had cost me the war. Today, you think I’ll pull us all through?” she asked dully.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, and he opened his mind to her to let her know the certainty of his words. But along with that certainty came a sense of the volume of pain he was enduring. It would drive him to madness.
“So do I,” Nightingale whispered quietly. “And I promise you that Gideon will be cared for, whether his mind returns to us or not, until the end of his days.”
Valerie fled the room, away from the still form of her mentor, away from her brother, away from her responsibility, and away from her guilt, which was tearing at the fragile fabric of her soul.
Valerie ran without thinking, and her feet guided her to the best place she could be. In a small grove, Clarabelle was waiting for her. Azra slept next to her in the grass.
Valerie dropped to her knees, but the little unicorn didn’t immediately approach.
“Am I tainted now? Is that why you won’t touch me?”
Clarabelle trotted closer and nuzzled Valerie’s shoulder. Valerie’s mind pinged with the sweet sounds of Clarabelle’s voice, which was filled with love and tenderness. There was no hint of the disgust she feared she’d find after failing Dulcea and Gideon in the Black Castle.
Azra’s eyes opened.
Clarabelle has been inconsolable since you left. The pain surrounding you called to her across the Globe, and it was all I could do to stop her from racing to Dunsinane to be by your side.
“I missed her, too. I missed you both,” Valerie said.
I must take Clarabelle somewhere safe. I have taken your advice and visited Chisisi. He has told us of a place on Earth where we will be safe, but Clarabelle will not leave you.
Clarabelle clearly sensed the gist of what they were saying, because she stomped her tiny hoof, and Valerie’s mind was filled with sounds of her indignation.
“Little friend, the best gift you could give me is to hide. Knowing you are alive and happy will protect a corner of my heart, whatever may come,” Valerie said. “When this is all over, we’ll find each other again.”
And you could visit us.
Valerie shook her head. “Wherever I go, horror seems to follow. They won’t stop trying to find Clarabelle. It’s better I don’t draw any fire in your direction.”
It will be the first time that I have not been in the heart of a major battle of my people. It is not in the nature of unicorns to retreat from danger.
“If I fail, you and Clarabelle are the only hope of goodness surviving the Fractus’s reign. When she’s older, she can take up the mantle if I fall,” Valerie said.
Your thoughts echo my own, though
they bring me great sorrow.
“Good bye, Azra,” Valerie said, and she buried her face in Azra’s mane.
She knelt and hugged Clarabelle. The unicorn’s blue eyes were clear as the sky, but her grief at their separation filled Valerie’s mind with a sweet sadness that was very different from her other losses.
Then the two unicorns vanished from sight, leaving nothing but the scent of lilies in the little grove.
Returning home, Valerie still dragged a load with her that was tangible in its weight.
Henry and Thai were kneeling in the dirt of her father’s garden, working silently side by side.
“I thought this garden bloomed from some leftover magic of Dad’s, but it didn’t, did it? You guys were taking care of it the whole time,” Valerie said.
Thai wiped his forehead, streaking it with dirt. “It wasn’t a secret. I thought you knew. Cyrus and Dulcea helped, too.”
Valerie swallowed twice, trying to keep her tears from rising.
“There’s a piece of her here, with a piece of Dad,” she said.
A flash of Henry’s guilt slipped through his mind’s defenses, and it hit Valerie like a punch to the gut. But before she could sense anything more, he turned away from her toward a shadowy corner of the garden.
Valerie saw that Kanti’s statue was there, life-size again now that the spell from the Glamour Guild had worn off. Henry touched her face. Valerie opened her mind so he could understand that in spite of her anger, she forgave him, since she knew that was what he yearned for.
“I don’t deserve forgiveness from any of you,” he replied.
There was nothing more to say, so Valerie came and stood next to Henry. Thai stepped behind her and she leaned back into his chest.
“Now we have to bring her back to life,” Thai said.
“It seemed like the least of our problems yesterday, when she was trapped in the Black Castle with Reaper. But now that she’s here, who else could change her back?”
“Maybe Dulcea…Gideon… Maybe it was all for nothing,” Henry said, his tone emotionless, as dead as the look in his eyes.
“Or maybe not. Maybe it’s simple,” Thai said. “Maybe Valerie can bring her back to life, once her power is back.”
Valerie reached for Thai’s hand and tentatively brushed her friend’s frozen fingers with her own. At her touch, a spark of life pulled at the flicker of magic in Valerie’s core. Thai’s power leaped out to join hers, amplifying it, and the little spark became a flame. Without even trying, a pulse of magic zinged through her and out her fingertips with no pain or even much effort.
The stone statue melted into the living, breathing, gasping girl. Kanti was back.
Chapter 15
Kanti threw her arms around Henry.
“I told Reaper you’d save me, and you did,” she said.
Henry stumbled back a little from the force of her hug, and muttered into her hair. “Valerie saved you. I bit my nails in a corner.”
Kanti laughed, and then threw her arms around Valerie. “My hero.”
Valerie returned her friend’s hug. When she pulled away, she quickly swiped the tears from her eyes, but not before Kanti noticed them.
“What is it? Tell me,” Kanti said, all of her laughter gone.
Henry trembled when he met her gaze. “I’ll show you what happened.”
Henry opened his mind to Kanti, Valerie, and Thai. Flashes of scenes appeared in Valerie’s mind of Henry helping Reaper and of preparing for Kanti’s rescue. When Henry showed Kanti the part where Jack held Dulcea’s broken body, her fingers tightened around Valerie’s arm.
The scenes stopped, and Kanti turned away from them, leaning against the tree for support. Her chest heaved, and she took great gulps of air.
“Kanti—” Henry began, but Kanti held out a hand to stop him.
“Don’t speak,” Kanti said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Valerie thought her friend was crying, but when Kanti turned, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes flashed. She glared at Henry, and her beauty only made her more terrifying. She seemed to grow taller, and a hum of magic filled the little garden. Valerie doubted that Kanti was aware that she was touching her power.
“How could you think that I would want you to value my life above all of the innocent humans and Conjurors who will die now because of what you’ve done?” Kanti’s voice was low at first, but grew louder as she spoke. “I’ll carry this stain on my conscience for the rest of my life. You knew what I would have wanted you to do, and you did the exact opposite. What you did was the most selfish act I’ve ever witnessed, and you’ve met my parents.”
“Kanti, don’t do this,” Valerie said.
“And you! How could you let this happen?” Kanti said, turning her wrath on Valerie. “Gideon might be dead because you thought you had to rescue me!”
Thai took a step forward, his entire body tense, but Valerie held him back. She knew what Kanti was doing. She’d done it herself, when her friend died of leukemia when she was nine. As long as Kanti was angry, she wouldn’t have room for the pain. So Valerie let her rage.
“Henry might be guilty for all of the strangers who will die, but it’s your fault that Gideon and…and…Dulcea…” Kanti’s voice weakened then, and her face crumpled.
Valerie held Kanti. It was Kanti’s turn to sob, and Valerie let her own tears fall quietly into her friend’s hair. At some point, Henry had left. Thai finally ushered them inside and made a pot of Oberon’s tea.
Even with red, puffy eyes, Kanti was still beautiful.
“Where’d Henry go?” Kanti asked, her voice hoarse.
“He’s going to stay with Cyrus tonight,” Thai said. “He thought you both wanted some space from him.”
Kanti slumped. “I know I need to talk to him, but I’m glad he won’t be here tonight.”
“He couldn’t handle losing you. Especially not after Zunya murdered Joe,” Valerie said. “He tried to let you go, but he couldn’t do that and live.”
Kanti nodded, her eyes shadowed. “I know. But right now, I’m furious with him. He should have been stronger. I don’t know if I can ever look at him the same now.”
The front door crashed open, and Valerie drew Pathos. Skye rushed into the kitchen, his mane wild. He was gigantic in the small space.
“Tell me where to go,” Valerie said.
“It’s too late. The battle is over,” Skye said. “Come with me.”
Skye led Valerie, Kanti, and Thai to The Horseshoe. Even though it was the middle of the day, it was missing the regular bustle of Conjurors going about their work. Valerie’s eyes were drawn to the Capitol building. An enormous crack split the steps to the structure in half. The building itself looked as if it had been struck by lightning, and an enormous, smoking hole had obliterated the front door.
“Calibro and I saw an opportunity, and we seized it without consulting you. It was a mistake,” Skye said.
“That hole in the door looks like it was made from one of those staffs that throws lightning,” Kanti observed.
Skye nodded. “I didn’t think Reaper would be able to get the Fractus here so fast.”
“Back up,” Thai said. “What started the battle?”
“The Grand Masters were meeting today, and Oleander didn’t appear. Rumor was that she was dead. Several of her fellow Guardians said they felt her power released into the universe,” Skye began.
“You’re right. She died yesterday,” Valerie confirmed.
“Calibro and I decided to try to seize control of the group while we had the chance to force an election. Many more Grand Masters are opposing the Fractus, but quietly. We thought this would be our chance to cast off Reaper for good.”
“But he knew, somehow,” Thai guessed.
“Reaper descended on us, ranting about doing what was right. But the Grand Masters weren’t listening. That’s when Calibro and I attacked him.”
“What were you thinking? He could have dissolved you,” Kanti said.
“Worse. He has scrambled Calibro’s mind. She is at the Healers’ Guild, but I don’t think there is much that can be done,” Skye said, his head bowed. “As for the other Grand Masters, some escaped when Reaper’s forces blasted through the doors, but Reaper used portals to send many to a prison somewhere I couldn’t place. Not the Black Castle. It was underground.”
“Will he kill them?” Thai asked.
“Not before he sees if he can use them first,” Valerie said.
“It was a strategic error to strike without you to regain control of the Grand Masters,” Skye said.
“I told you to think for yourselves and alter plans when it made sense. You did the right thing,” Valerie said, but she couldn’t repress a shudder as she imagined Calibro struggling for control of her mind like Rastelli and Kellen.
“I’ll oversee Calibro’s care myself, along with Gideon’s,” Thai promised.
“Gideon has fallen, as well?” Skye asked.
“Yesterday,” Valerie said, her voice cracking.
“The tide of this war is turning. We must take it back,” Skye said.
“We will,” Kanti said, and everyone turned to face her.
Valerie didn’t know what her friend’s plan was, but the steely determination in Kanti’s eyes gave her hope.
Valerie and Kanti were in a carriage, heading toward Elsinore. Thai had stayed behind in Arden to watch over Henry.
“You were stone only a couple of hours ago. Don’t you need time to recover?” Valerie asked, and in truth, she wouldn’t mind some rest herself.
“I’ve been sleeping for too long. I have to do something to make up for what happened in the name of protecting me,” Kanti said.
“Okay, so tell me your plan,” Valerie said.
The carriage came to a halt in front of the dorm for The Society of Imaginary Friends.
“Why are we here?” Valerie asked when she saw where they’d stopped.
“We need someone with experience in diplomacy, someone charming,” Kanti said.
“Cyrus,” Valerie realized.
Why did she always underestimate him? It was a mistake she seemed doomed to repeat.
Cyrus was flying down on a platform as Kanti stepped out of the carriage. Cyrus hugged her fiercely.
