by Twyla Turner
“Yes. Anything that will keep us safe until everything goes back to normal.” One of the mermaids spoke for the rest. Her skin was nearly translucent it was so pale. Her hair was white-blonde and almost matched her skin. She looked at Immy with familiar green eyes, as if she had already met the human girl. And Immy seemed to have recognized the fair mermaid as well.
“Rafe, you saw where the mermaids live under the water. If you push the darkness back far enough, away from their home, I will raise the wall where the darkness ends, and the light begins. And their city won’t be destroyed in the process.” Wakeley suggested.
“I’m ready when you are.”
Wakeley lifted out of the water and flew above the ocean as I swam out towards where the dark waters began. I pushed the dark water further back, and I watched as the serpents splashed in protest.
“Now, Wakeley,” I shouted to him up above.
Below the ground rumbled. I looked back at our friends on the shore, and they stumbled back as the earth shook. I looked up at Wakeley. His eyes were closed as he concentrated. His imprints turned pale green and waved rapidly. His hands were outstretched in front of him, palms up as he manipulated the earth below. I swam back several feet from where the water was divided by clear and dark, the ocean stirring. Reddish rock burst through the water. The water foamed and crested against the wall as it rose. In either direction, as far as the eye could see a jagged rock wall surged from the depths. With it now safe for me to leave the water, I lifted out of the clear channel and joined Wakeley up above. The serpents slammed their bodies against the wall, to no avail. Once Wakeley was finished, the wall was about three-hundred-feet thick and twice as tall from the top to the surface of the water.
“WOO!” Wakeley shouted and punched his fist in the air. “We did it!”
We high-fived and bumped our chests together in celebration. On a natural high of victory, we flew back to shore. Everyone clapped and cheered as Rae embraced Wakeley and Immy hugged me tightly.
“We’re winning, Immy,” I whispered in her ear.
“I know.” She blew out a pent up breath.
“Just one more gauntlet and we’re done.” I pulled back and looked down at her.
“Yeah…fire.” She said nervously.
“We can do this,” I said confidently.
“I sure do hope so.”
Chapter 39
Rafe
“The elfin army will stay right here until you get back,” Valen said as he gripped my wrist. We released arms and pounded our chests once. “We will look after the merpeople until the war is done. Good luck, brother.” He finished with a quick nod.
“Thank you, Valen,” I replied solemnly.
I walked over to where Immy and Daegan were speaking with the mermaids. The one with platinum blonde hair was giving instructions to them.
“Hafgrim resides in Cerise Castle, and he is protected by dragons.”
“Oh, lovely,” Immy said sarcastically. “I guess that’s where the fire part comes in.” She looked at me with worry. I took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
“Yes, I am afraid so.” The mermaid nodded. “It would be doubtful that you will be able to just walk right into the castle and kill Hafgrim. The only possible way to get in is through the underground passageway.”
“How do we find this passageway?” Daegan asked.
“There is a black river that flows through a cave. Find the river and follow it upstream to the cave. Inside is the passage to the castle. Take it and it will lead you to him.” She instructed us.
“Do you have any other tips or words of wisdom?” Immy asked hopefully.
“Just that we know you can do it. We’ve always believed in you.” The mermaid said sincerely.
“What is your name?” Immy wondered.
“Valora.”
“Well, thank you, Valora. Thank you for bringing me to Empyrean. This place saved my life. I was this close to giving up.” Immy held her index finger and thumb about a half an inch apart, demonstrating how close she had been.
“I know.” Valora gazed at Imogen perceptively. “Now go. You can do this. You all can.” She looked at the six of us individually.
We all nodded to her and then prepared to leave for our last gauntlet. The final trial. Immy dipped the golden chalice into the freshwater of the cove. We each drank from it to renew our strength. Immy walked over to Daegan and hopped up onto his back with ease. Daegan flapped his raven wings, lifting off of the ground. The four of us unfurled our wings and followed them up into the air. We hovered up above Mermaid Cove.
“I think once we pass over the wall, we might want to fly low to try and keep from being detected,” Saffi suggested.
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s do this!” Wakeley grinned, ready for battle as usual.
I looked over at Immy. “You ready?”
She took a deep breath and gripped Daegan’s mane. “I think so.”
I flew over to her. I gripped the sides of her face and kissed her hard. I had no idea the extent of the danger we were about to head into or whether we would make it out alive. So there was no way that I was going to miss the opportunity to kiss her lips one last time and tell her how I felt.
I pulled back from her lush, soft lips and stared into her amber eyes. “I love you, Immy.”
Her eyes turned glassy, and she blinked several times. One tear escaped and slid down her plump, freckled cheek. “I love you too, Rafe.” She whispered softly.
My heart expanded at hearing the words repeated back to me. We gazed at each other for a few more moments, before Daegan interrupted us.
“If you two are done professing your love for one another, we’ve got a war to win. And I’d like to hurry up and win it so that I can get back to my own lady. If you don’t mind.” He teased us jokingly.
“Whatever, Daegan. Don’t hate.” Immy grinned and patted his neck. “Alright, let’s roll.”
Chapter 40
As a palace maid helped dress me, in the early morning hours the visions came to me. I instructed her to quickly get the king and queen. Soon after, Yaron and Aviana sat with me as the young ones fought against the sea serpents. I watched as they used a combination of physical skill and intelligence to defeat the water monsters. Leaving one last gauntlet to face.
Before our warriors took flight to fight their last battle in Myrkur, I requested that Yaron and Aviana take me to the front steps of the palace. There I had them gather all of the faeries in the city square, before the palace steps. I knew the visions would come back once our band of brave fighters headed towards their last battle. And I had just enough power left in me to give Faerien City a special gift.
I raised my hand, and the crowd fell silent. I began and my voice rang out, echoing through the trees. “My dear faeries, the six brave warriors sent to fight for us. To fight for the light. Are about to journey into darkness, into Myrkur for their last battle.” My eyes panned the crowd. A sea of worried and anxious faces stared back at me. “I know many of you have requested information on how the war is progressing. And fear that the darkness will prevail has consumed you. Well, tonight I give you the gift of sight.”
Just as I finished my speech, I felt my eyes glaze over, and Faerien City fell away. In its place was Mermaid Cove as Imogen hopped onto Daegan’s back and they all lifted up into the air.
I used my power to propel my visions out through my eyes. I heard a gasp as the crowd saw the images I could see projected into the night sky. An excited murmur went up through the gathered faeries. Then they heard the conversation between Imogen and Rafe, and they fell silent once more as Rafe kissed Imogen. A pin drop could be heard throughout the city square as the crowd became wrapped up in the drama unfolding before them.
In a straight line, the six warriors flew towards Myrkur. The four young faeries had never been to the dark side of Empyrean. No one from Hikari had. At least not in the last several generations. They flew over the new rock wall that Wakeley had risen earlier.
Rafe looked down and saw the sea serpents hiss up at them as they passed.
As they entered into the dark kingdom, I felt my emotions roiling. Deep sorrow, depression, fear, even hatred pounded through my chest. Every negative feeling deep within me came up to choke me. If I felt that way, I could only imagine what the six of them felt being there in the thick of it. And it was no wonder. Everything in Myrkur was dark, dead, or rotting. Whatever plant life was there, was black or gray from lack of sunlight. Scary trees with twisted limbs dotted the landscape. Huts made of thorny vines, acted as the dwellings of whatever insidious creatures resided there. The only light source throughout the dark land was the active volcanoes oozing bright red lava. The volcanoes surrounded an obsidian castle in a semi-circle. Much like the elf castle on Älva Mountain, Cerise Castle looked to have been created directly from the ash and lava rock surrounding it.
They dipped low, as close to the ground as they could get to stay out of sight. But it was no use. Somehow, the alert must have been sounded. The ground began to tremble below them. Plumes of ash shot out from the volcanoes, coating the already dark skies with thick soot. The earth shook and rumbled even more as the volcanoes erupted. An explosion of red liquid burst from their tops. Hot volcanic rock shot out like cannons. They had to swerve and dive out of the way to avoid the flaming rocks.
The ground shuddered again, and they looked up to see a large claw emerge from the top of one of the volcanoes. Next, the head of a dragon rose up and shrieked as it pulled itself up from the spewing mountain. Scorching lava ran down its body, and it shook it off as if the blistering liquid was nothing more than lukewarm water. The other volcanoes rumbled and one by one a dragon crawled out from their tops. The winged beasts’ scaly skin was blood red. Horns and spikes protruded from their heads like evil crowns. They screeched, showing off mouths full of deadly sharp teeth.
Rafe looked over at Imogen, and her eyes were wide with fear as the first dragon spotted them. They had run out of time. It flapped its massive wings and lifted off of its sizzling perch. And the others quickly followed. The dragons headed straight towards them. When the first one came within striking distance, it opened its mouth and spewed liquid fire at them. They dove out of the way just in time.
“Immy! Look for the black river while we focus on flying!” Rafe shouted out to her.
She just nodded her head, unable to speak. Daegan focused on where he was going, and she looked over the side of him, searching for the river Valora had told them about. They dodged and swerved as much as they could, but the dragons were gaining on them.
The dragon creeping closer to Wakeley opened its mouth and shot out a spray of volcanic fire. A cry of pain sounded and Rafe whipped his head around in the direction it had come from. Wakeley grasped at his side, and he listed slightly to the left as if he would fall from the sky at any moment. Rafe quickly flew over to him to hold him up. Rae’s face was filled with worry, but there wasn’t much she could do since they had to focus all of their attention on escaping the deadly creatures.
“Just hang on for a little longer, Wakeley,” Rafe assured him as they weaved through dead trees and around large boulders, trying to lose the dragons.
“I see it! I see it!” Imogen shouted and pointed south towards the dark flowing water.
They didn’t hesitate. They dove down towards the black river. Their flight path was erratic to keep from being hit by the determined dragons’ deadly fire. When one flew up the other would fly downward and side to side, narrowly missing the scalding liquid.
In the distance, they could see the opening to the cave. It was narrow. Just large enough for them to slip through, but not large enough to accommodate the wingspan of the dragons. Even Daegan would be a tight fit. With shelter within their reach, they pushed even harder, speeding towards the cave. Rafe looked back and quickly veered left as one of the dragons snapped its teeth at him. Meer inches from his and Wakeley’s feet. Once he dodged the bite, he looked forward again.
“Shit!” He shouted.
Rafe barreled towards the cave, about to crash into the rocks above the opening. He gripped Wakeley and banked right to avoid smashing into the rock wall at the very last second, joining the others as they sprinted through the mouth of the cave.
The dragon that had nearly taken a bit out of Rafe didn’t have enough time to avoid hitting the rocks. It slammed into the rock face of the cave. The impact sent rocks flying and the entrance to the cave crumbled, sealing it from the outside in. They had no choice but to continue through the passageway.
Once the coast was clear, the last of the collapsing rocks rolling down to seal the entrance, they landed on the rock floor of the cave. Rafe collapsed against the rough wall, trying to catch his breath as he eased Wakeley to the ground. Rae rushed over to him to tend to his wounds. Imogen slid from Daegan’s back. On wobbly legs, she walked over to a rock next to Rafe and lowered herself gratefully.
“Never in all my life…” She breathed, trying to calm herself. “That was the single scariest moment of my life. If we… When we win this battle.” She corrected her statement, trying to remain positive. “I think I’m going to sleep for a week.”
Everyone nodded their agreement. They took a moment to calm their frazzled nerves. When they were ready, they began to walk down the dark passageway. The blue, white, purple, and green light from the four faeries’ imprints and wings cast just enough light to see a few feet in front of them. They walked down the twists and turns of the tunnel for about twenty minutes. The tunnel led them into an enormous cavern. They stopped in the middle of the large rock room and turned in circles.
“Now what?” Daegan said as they viewed four separate passageways. “How do we know which one to choose?”
“I have no idea?” Imogen said looking around.
Before they could even pick which passage to go through, ear-piercing screeches nearly shattered their eardrums. They clutched at their ears and cringed. Daegan stomped his hoof and shook his head. The ground rumbled under their feet. The echo of shrieks and heavy footsteps came from all four tunnels.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Imogen groaned.
“It’s an ambush, and we’re trapped,” Wakeley announced. He looked more than a little nervous for once.
“We can’t go back from the way we came,” Saffi spoke. “With our added strength, we could move the rocks from the entrance. But only to face the lava spewing dragons. And we still have to get inside of the castle to reach Hafgrim.”
“In other words, we have to face whatever comes through those tunnels and fight.” Imogen sighed.
“Basically.” Saffi nodded.
They all pulled out their swords from their sheaths as the rumbling noises drew nearer. The six of them stood together shoulder to shoulder, ready for battle in their fighting stances. Imogen stood to Rafe’s right. Her sword at en garde. For the first time, Rafe noticed that the blade of her finely crafted sword was glowing red. He had no time to dwell on it or ask questions.
Through the entrances to the passageways burst out four dragons. They were somewhat smaller than the volcano dragons but no less fierce. Their rough skin was a charcoal gray, and their eyes glowed golden as they stared at the defenders of Hikari. The dragons hissed and crept towards them slowly. The two on the ends stalked around them, forcing the six into a circle, back to back.
Saffi and Rae faced off against one while Wakeley and Rafe took on one each. That left Imogen and Daegan to fight the last one. The dragon Rafe was fighting, tried to blast him with flames, and he dove for the floor and rolled out of the way. He had narrowly escaped the blast because he was entirely too distracted. It was hard for him to fight his own battle and worry about Imogen as well. Rae could heal them, but she couldn’t raise people from the dead. One wrong move. One misstep and Imogen could be taken from him in the blink of an eye.
Rafe hopped back up and faced off with the dragon once more. He glanced over at Imogen and Daegan. She jumped in front of the unicor
n when she sensed the dragon was about to throw flames. Imogen raised her shield just in time as the blast of fire burst from the dragon’s mouth. The flames licked at the gold metal, and the pressure forced her down. She braced her legs apart and pushed the flames back, and then cracked the shield across the dragon’s snout.
Not paying attention to his own fight, the dragon whipped its long spiked tail around. Caught off guard, the blow knocked Rafe off of his feet. He quickly rolled away as it tried to crush him with its clawed foot. As he tried to get up from his vulnerable position on the ground, Rafe felt the ground shake. He looked over to Wakeley. The Earth faery hovered above the ground, his hands were held out in front of him, calling on his powers over earth. Giant stalagmites burst through the rock floor, surrounding the dragon he was battling like a natural cage. Overhead, he dropped stalactites from the ceiling like rain. Several of the sharp pieces of rock pierced the dragon, and it shrieked. The dragon quickly stopped moving, the life draining from it.
Rafe’s dragon adversary turned away from its fallen comrade and looked at the blue faery. “You won’t defeat us.” It hissed, speaking for the first time. “Darkness will reign.”
“We’ll see about that,” Rafe growled as he hopped from side to side, ready to dodge the dragon’s attack.
Imogen cried out, and Rafe turned towards her. He saw the dragon she was fighting smack her with its tail, sending her flying and knocking her helmet off her head. The distraction was just long enough for his dragon to snap at him. Its teeth sunk into Rafe’s left arm and he shouted out his pain.
Though his pain was nothing compared to his worry over Imogen. Their eyes connected and he could see the same concern mirrored in her eyes for him. The split second that she took to focus on Rafe was enough for her dragon to attack. Rafe watched in horror as it blew out a fireball that enveloped her.
“Immy!” Rafe screamed.
The dragon still had a hold on him with its teeth, dragging him away. A dark rage filled his veins, and Rafe gripped his sword and threw it like a spear at the dragon’s eye. It screeched and let go of his ravaged arm. Rafe’s sword clattered to the floor as the dragon whipped its head from side to side. Rafe ran for the sword and used his momentum to run up the rock wall and somersaulted in midair. Unable to see him coming from its injured eye, Rafe landed onto the dragon’s back and shoved his blade through its skull.
