I reached for my magic at the same time as Julian pulled a sword out of the ether.
The trolls reached their right hands out of the gap. Giant swords flew out of it and into their palms with satisfying thumps.
They remained in a line in front of the jagged abyss, growling and staring us down.
I stood on guard, ready to strike with my lightning. “What are they?” I asked Julian, since as long as we stayed where we were, the monsters seemed to be doing the same.
“Fomorians.” He returned his sword to the ether and pulled out two huge axes instead. “Enemies of the fae. At least, that’s what I think they are. They’re supposed to be extinct.”
“Whatever they are, they don’t look friendly,” I said. “And they definitely don’t look extinct.”
“Think we should fix that?” He smiled wickedly and held the axes higher, ready for a fight.
There he was. The lethal chosen champion of Mars that I knew and loved.
It was good to have him back.
“You get the five on the left,” I said. “I’ll take the five on the right.”
“Stay as far back as you can.” His eyes didn’t leave the monsters, ready to strike in case they moved. “The size of their swords gives them an advantage, so we want to attack from afar.”
“Got it.” I held up my hands and shot out a bolt from each one, striking two of the monsters in the center of the chests.
Double bullseye.
They fell back into the crevice, as did the two Julian had hit with axes to their hearts.
The remaining six Fomorians ran at us. But despite their size, they were no match for our magic. I shot out one bolt after another, taking down my remaining three faster than I could think. It was so easy that my hood stayed in place.
The final Fomorian ran for Julian, and he pulled another ax from the ether.
The weapon turned to smoke and disappeared.
Julian stared at his empty hand, stunned.
The Fomorian’s feet pounded into the snow, quickly closing the space between us. It raised its giant sword above its head and swung it down at Julian.
I screamed and shot a blast of lightning at its chest.
Julian rolled out of the way, safe.
Electricity crackled across the monster’s body. It seized, dropped its sword, and crashed backward to the ground. The snow beneath it sprayed up and struck my face.
I ran over to Julian to check him for injuries.
He threw me off with so much force that I stumbled back and nearly fell. “I’m fine,” he said, and he stood up, brushed the snow off his cloak, and surveyed the scene in front of us.
Four of the monsters had fallen back into the crevice. Four had fallen near it. And then there was the final one, a few feet away, fried from my lightning.
All of the ones that I’d gotten were thoroughly blackened. Julian’s had gaping wounds in their chests from the axes, although the axes were gone. Blood pooled in the snow beneath them.
A deep, throaty hum sang out from the abyss, and the bodies of the Fomorians slid toward the crack, like magnets being pulled inward. They fell inside, and once the final one was gone, the gap closed. It sealed itself shut with a loud sucking noise.
A soft breeze rustled through the trees, and then, silence.
I should have been celebrating the victory. But worry tugged at my chest.
Why did Julian’s ax disappear like that?
I removed my pack, took out the golden apples, and handed one to him.
He took it without meeting my eyes and bit into it, staring out at where the crevice had been. The apple brought a bit of light back into his wings, but not much.
I waited for him to say something, since he normally took time to think things through before speaking. But he took another bite of his apple and chewed slowly, not saying a word.
“We should keep going,” he finally said. “Want to eat and walk?”
No.
“Want to tell me what just happened?” I said instead.
“With what?” He actually had the gall to look confused. At least, to pretend to look confused.
I wasn’t buying it.
“The ax,” I said simply. “It disappeared.”
He frowned and flexed his fingers. “The cold’s apparently taking more of a toll on me than I realized,” he said. “We don’t all have electricity magic to keep ourselves warm.”
Guilt clawed at my throat. Of course the cold was affecting him more than it was affecting me. I should have realized as much.
I’d been completely inconsiderate for complaining so much when this weather was hurting him way more than it was hurting me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have known.”
“How could you have?” His voice was sharp, as were his eyes. Then, his expression softened. “I’ve been toughing it out without complaint. But there’s a reason we don’t live in these parts. We’re not meant for this weather. It drains us. Weakens us.” He looked away from me and clenched his jaw, as if admitting a weakness pained him.
I stepped forward and rested a hand on his forearm. “Maybe I can help warm you up?” I asked.
He pulled back his arm, and a cold breeze numbed my cheeks. “We should keep moving,” he said. “We need to travel as far as we can before the sun rises.”
Apparently he wasn’t leaving it up to debate, because he spun around, took another bite of his apple, and continued forward.
I followed, since it wasn’t worth arguing with him when he got all determined like this.
We stepped over the scar in the snow where the ground had split open, and out in the distance, a giant, rainbow-colored dome shimmered into existence. It was taller than the Coliseum, and it looked big enough to house a village. Its vibrant, dancing lights far outshined the aurora.
I stopped walking and stared in amazement. “Is that it?” I asked.
“It has to be.”
Electricity buzzed excitedly in my stomach. “We made it,” I said, as if saying it would make it real. “We finally made it.”
“We did,” he said, although he didn’t sound as happy as I thought he would.
“What’s wrong?”
He tore his gaze away from the dome and looked at me. “Promise me you won’t tell them we’re giving the wand to the Empress,” he said. “At least, not until we can fully assess the situation.”
I let out a long breath, since as much as I hated it, he was right.
“Fine,” I said. “I promise.”
He pulled me closer and kissed me lightly on the forehead. “Thanks for listening to me on this,” he said. “It’s what’s best for you. I’ll always do everything I can to keep you safe.”
“Even if it means lying to an entire group of people looking to us for hope,” I said.
“Even then.”
We gave each other a long look, put the apples back into the pack, and then hurried toward the glimmering dome.
32
Selena
I’d never been the strongest runner—at least, not compared to Torrence—but I pushed through.
My magic buzzed so much that I could practically feel the Holy Wand calling to me, and soon, Julian and I were standing in front of the smooth, rainbow-colored dome.
It towered above us, and I took a few seconds to catch my breath. The dome was beautiful, but unlike other boundaries, it was opaque.
It was unnerving to not know what was inside of it.
Julian wiped beads of sweat off his brow. “We should walk around the perimeter,” he said. “Try to find an entrance.”
We walked around the dome in silence. It didn’t take long to complete the circle, and we found no entrance. I wasn’t surprised. I’d never heard of a boundary dome having an entrance. That would defeat their whole purpose.
I stepped closer to it, still unable to see inside. “From what Gloriana said, they should be expecting us,” I said, and I reached my hand forward. “Maybe we should just knock to
let them know we’re here.”
Julian wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled me back so there were a few feet between us and the dome. “Are you crazy?” he said. “Who knows what that thing will do to you if you touch it.”
I pulled my wrist out of his grip and lowered it to my side. “Fine,” I said, since he wasn’t wrong. “Do you have a better idea?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He plucked a sling and a small, round stone out of the ether. Then he put the stone in the sling, pulled back, and released.
The stone smacked into the dome, bounced off, and plopped into the snow.
“That went well,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes and kept going.
Five more tries yielded the same result.
He pulled back a seventh stone. But before he could release it, two tall, strong men in rough brown cloaks stepped through the boundary a few feet away from where he was attacking it. One of them had light brown hair, and the other jet-black. They didn’t have wings, their ears weren’t pointed, and they smelled like vanilla.
Half-bloods. At least, I thought they were half-bloods. Vanilla was a distinctly fae smell. I’d only smelled it on full blood fae, but these two clearly weren’t full blood.
Julian spun to face them, keeping the sling pulled back.
Both of them had swords strapped to their sides. But the taller man on the right—the one with the dark hair—held his hands up in what looked to be a peace offering.
Then he shot orange magic out at us and trapped us in a small, sheer orange dome.
Julian’s stone smacked into the boundary, bounced back, and hit my shoulder.
“Ow.” I grabbed my shoulder and massaged it. It stung, but I’d live.
“Sorry.” He lowered the sling and focused on the half-bloods. “How do you have magic?” he asked. “You’re half-bloods.”
The man who hadn’t used magic stepped forward and sneered. “The better question is why are two fae this far north?” he asked. “The cold should have killed you days ago.”
“We’re not fae,” I said quickly.
The man with the magic snorted. “Your wings say otherwise.”
Okay—if they weren’t into watching the Faerie Games, I saw how that would be confusing.
“What about our ears?” I pulled down my hood and revealed my rounded ears. “Fae have pointed ears. We don’t.”
“A simple glamour spell.” He shrugged. “Any fae can manage that.”
The other man pressed his lips together and studied us. “Why use glamour on yours ears and not your wings?” he asked.
At least one of them seemed capable of critical thinking.
“We can’t use glamour,” Julian said. “We’re chosen champions—not full fae.”
“You mean you played in those Faerie Games?”
“Yes.” He pulled a jeweled dagger from the ether, the sling disappearing as quickly as the dagger had appeared. “I’m Julian Kane, this year’s chosen champion of Mars.”
“And I’m Selena Pearce.” I squared my shoulders and held his gaze. “The chosen champion of Jupiter.”
Both men stilled when I said Jupiter’s name.
The man with the magic narrowed his eyes. “Prove it,” he said.
“All right.” I removed my gloves and rubbed my palms together so they tingled with warmth. “Here goes nothing.”
I kept my palms together and gathered my magic. Then I slowly pulled them apart, and bridges of electricity danced between them.
I smiled at the half-bloods, enjoying their shocked expressions.
But that was just for dramatic effect.
Now, for the fun part.
The tiny bolts fizzled out, tendrils of smoke drifting up around my face. Calling upon more magic, I stepped forward, pressed my palms against the orange barrier ahead of me, and shot maximum voltage straight into it.
Blinding electricity spiderwebbed across the dome. I pushed out more and more magic, until finally, the dome crackled and popped out of existence.
Both half-bloods still stared at me in shock.
I stepped over the melted line in the snow where the barrier had been, and clouds rolled in overhead. “Was that enough proof for you?” I tilted my head, toying with tiny bolts of electricity between my fingers. “I can show you more, if you’d like.”
Thunder rumbled above, answering my call.
“No!” the man without magic said, glancing up at the sky in fear. He returned his focus to me and cleared his throat. “I mean, you’ve shown us enough. We believe you.” He looked to his friend, his eyes pleading for him to agree.
The half-blood with the magic continued to stare at me, saying nothing.
My heart pounded so loudly I could have sworn he could hear it. But I refused to back down.
Finally, he released a resigned sigh. “Welcome to the Sanctuary,” he said. “Our Head Elder has been waiting for you.”
33
Selena
“I’m Liam,” the dark-haired fae with magic said. “My colleague here is Niall.”
“Nice to meet you,” Niall said.
“You, too,” I said, although with every word I spoke, I felt like a fraud.
They’re letting me into their home, and I’m going to lie to them.
Thinking about it made me feel sick.
Julian watched the half-bloods like he didn’t trust them. “You never told us how you have magic,” he said.
Liam raised his chin, looking offended. “We’re free half-bloods,” he said. “Descendants of the founders of the Sanctuary. We were born and raised here, so we never received tattoos to bind our magic.”
That must be why I could smell their magic. The binding tattoo must have hidden the scent of their fae magic, just as Camelia’s spell had done on me.
“Those of us born in the Sanctuary are the only free half-bloods in the realm,” Niall said proudly. “We haven’t discovered a way to remove the tattoo from half-bloods who escape the Empire to find refuge here, but we’re constantly working toward a solution.”
Julian touched the spot on his bicep where the red binding tattoo was hidden under his clothing. “In the citadel, there are rumors about a place like this,” he said. “But I don’t think anyone actually believes them.”
“It’s more of a fairytale told to children as a bedtime story,” I said, repeating what Octavia had told me in the bathhouse during our only one-on-one conversation.
Julian looked at me in confusion.
Of course. I hadn’t told him about what Octavia had confided to me about her past. It was her story, and it seemed too personal to share—even with my soulmate.
But now wasn’t the time to get into that, so I turned to Liam. “We’re ready to meet the Head Elder,” I said, since the sooner we got it over with, the better.
“First things first,” Liam said. “As you probably realized, full fae aren’t welcome in the Sanctuary. We’ll be walking through the village to get to the Head Elder, and your wings will draw attention, since our people will assume you’re full fae. I’d tell you to use your glamour to hide them, but—”
“We don’t have any glamour,” I said.
“So you claim,” he said. “Therefore, due to your inability to access your fae magic, Niall and I will use our glamour to hide your wings for you.”
Julian looked between the two half-bloods suspiciously. “How much magic do the two of you have?” he asked.
“Enough to easily hide your wings—with your consent, of course.” Niall puffed his chest proudly. “The glamour will hold for as long as we’re touching you. Which we’ll need to do anyway, to get you through the boundary.”
“All right,” I said, although I was ready to attack with my lightning if they tried anything against us. “Take us to your Head Elder.”
Liam stepped forward and held his hand out to me. The meaner one. Great. “Don’t jolt me with that electricity of yours,” he said, as if he could sense what I was thinking. “If
you do, you’ll regret it.”
I wasn’t sure what he could do to make me “regret it,” given that I’d easily disintegrated his dome. But I held my tongue, since it would be unwise to get on the bad side of someone who was helping us.
“I promise,” I said instead, placing my hand in his.
Niall took Julian’s hand, although Julian’s eyes stayed focused on me.
Suddenly, my body tingled. Julian’s wings faded out and disappeared. A glance over my shoulder showed that my wings were gone, too. But their familiar magic still pulsed where they connected to my back, letting me know they were there.
They weren’t gone. They were hidden.
“Entering the Sanctuary will feel slightly strange,” Niall warned. “But don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe.”
Julian and I said we were ready, and then, the half-bloods walked us through the rainbow dome.
It was like stepping through rubber, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Bright rainbow dots filled my vision.
The dots faded away and revealed a tightly packed village of wood paneled houses. Snow covered their thatched roofs, like a winter wonderland.
Inside, the dome was transparent. Only a sheer bit of rainbow light served as a reminder that the village was inside of it.
I unbuttoned my cloak, since while the village was chilly, it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was outside the dome. I’d guess the temperature was slightly below freezing. But it was warm in comparison to the windy Hypernian tundra, which was saying something, since I was used to living on a tropical island.
The half-bloods walked us through the streets, which luckily were pretty empty, since it was the middle of the night. An occasional half-blood peeked through their window to watch us pass, but that was all. They didn’t seem overly interested in our arrival. It was like they didn’t recognize us at all.
“Do you watch the Faerie Games in the Sanctuary?” I asked Liam, holding my breath as I waited for his response.
If they didn’t, they’d have no idea that the Empress had sent us to find the wand.
The Faerie Wand (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 4) Page 14
