“But Blackwing, why haven’t they done that already? Haven’t we had all five Queens before?”
A shadow passed over his face and for a moment I swore I saw sadness in his crimson eyes. “Indeed we have my boy, and Alataris has claimed victory each time. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to take him down whenever they arrive. The trouble is no one knows when it’ll happen. That’s why the trials always take place one week before the last Queen Ascends to her full power. There will be no going against Alataris without all five possessing their full magic. He knows it, Evermore knows it, and the Queens know it. But I will tell you this, the cycle is doomed to repeat itself until the Queens claim victory.”
“But why? Can’t we just leave him to rule the witches?” I tilted my head waiting for his answer.
“Once Alataris found out about the Queens he knew that if he was able to get their power no one could stop him from taking over all of Evermore. If we turned a blind eye and let him rule over the witches it would only be the beginning. His greed would push him for more. No being should have to suffer his rule. That is why we must help the witches. And we must never let them fall to Alataris, it would be a great tragedy with many lives lost. Besides, the witches might be suppressed under Alataris, but they have ways of protecting themselves. There’s even one Kindgom of witches he can’t touch. It’s called Hexia. The elders and other powerful witches of the casts discovered a way to keep him out and keep themselves in. But in doing so they’ve trapped themselves from the outside world. They only travel from Evermore Academy and Hexia. They need our help, Tucker. All of Evermore does.”
“Is that why I’m here? Why I’m a Guardian?” I crossed my arms over my chest with a huff.
Blackwing chuckled under his breath. “It is part of it, they bare the mark of the Queen on the front of their shoulder, and Guardians bare theirs on their necks. We’ve always had Guardians of each of the species but as time past Evermore realized the Queens would need help. Who better than our finest Guardians? That’s why we have Knights as well as Queens.”
“Then if I’m a Guardian why do I have to go to the trials and why does my father want me to rise above all the other Guardian to become a Knight?” I didn’t want to become a Knight or even be a Guardian. All I wanted was my nice warm bed and my mother to tuck me in before I slept.
“Because only the best Guardians will be chosen to be the Knights. They are meant to protect the Queens and help them in the fight against Alataris.” He released me from his tight hold and rose to his feet and offered me his hand. “Let’s be off.”
Before I reached for his hand I asked him one more question. “If we need to beat Alataris then why six Knights and five Queens? Why not a whole army?”
He leaned down to catch my eye. “Because when the witches cast that spell of theirs there was only enough power for those meant to fight him. Any others would face most certain death.”
“But…”
“No more buts. We’ve got an early morning ahead of us. Come boy.” Again he offered me his hand except this time I took it.
“Tuck, you ready to go?” Blackwing clapped me on the shoulder.
I shook my head to clear the memories. “Yeah. I’m ready.” I gazed out over the woods just outside the training facility. The woods I’d hidden in, in an attempt to run away from this life. For a split second I wondered if they could hide me now? They couldn’t back then.
“Good, it’s time for the trials.”
Chapter 5
The trip from the Kingdom of Cindelore to the human part of Earth was as easy as walking through a door – in this case, a shimmering magical portal which took me exactly where I needed to go. I think? One minute I was standing on the outer edge of my mother’s gardens, the next I was in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse surrounded by weeds and trash. Overhead, elevated highways twisted in different directions. The faint smell of factories stung my nose and puffs of smoke drifted above. I glanced toward the sky, noting how blue it was, so different than the pink-tinted one of my Kingdom. In the distance, the setting sun threw off hues of purple, pink, blue and green.
“Where are we?”
Blackwing adjusted his leather satchel, then clapped me on the shoulder. “New Jersey.”
He stood out like a sore thumb. Whereas I wore black leather pants, combat boots and a black fitted tank top, he wore the Old World fashions. His leather vest and pants that had been cut in the era of the King Richard of England.
“Are the Witch Queens here? And why New Jersey?” I wrinkled my nose at the smell coming from the factories in the distance. It was the first time I’d been away from Cindelore. My first steps into a new world. All my life I’d been preparing for the trials, hearing about the trials, focusing on the trails. And now that I stood just outside of them I felt relieved they were here. After this my life would forever change. Whether it was for good or bad I didn’t know. But it would be different and I found myself looking forward to something different.
When Blackwing turned from me and walked toward the double door entrance, I followed. I didn’t know what to expect or how this would go. But I knew I would survive this and come out on top. I had to, the fate of Evermore was at steak. My heart thrummed in my chest with excitement.
“Because this is where criminals come to bury the bodies they don’t want found.” He motioned to field, filled with dead grass and littered with papers and bottles. “What better place than under the highways? And you will see the Queens soon enough. For now, they remain hidden, but I suspect they will oversee the Trials as they usually do.”
Evermore was what the supernatural races called the world we lived in, even though we lived among humans. They were completely unaware of our kind, and the many different species of Evermore liked to keep it that way.
Blackwing paused and turned toward me and meting my eyes. “They’ll be protected from the evil beings of Evermore, and of course the High King Alataris…for now.”
At the mention of his name the fire within me roared to burn him, to fight against his reign. “I will do what I have to.”
“I have no doubt of it. You know, eight hundred years ago he came so close to getting what he wanted, to ruling all.” He held his thumb and index finger only an inch apart. Then he leaned in. “This close. The history books don’t speak of this, but during the second Cycle King Alataris held four of the five Ascended Queens under his rule. He nearly channeled all their powers for his own. A force like that would be…”
“Unstoppable,” I finished for him. “So what happened?”
“In the end a Knight, a Phoenix, sacrificed himself for the last Queen. In doing so she was able to end the other Queens to save Evermore.”
“Wait, she killed the other Queens?” I’d never heard this history before and for a moment I was utterly shocked.
Blackwell nodded gravely. “She had no other choice. She couldn’t overthrow Alataris on her own. The only way to ensure he didn’t get those powers under his control was to eliminate them completely. And so with the help of her Knight it was done.”
“Why…” I glanced around to be sure no one else was listening. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because you need to know that, as a Guardian or Knight, what you do matters. You’re not just a bodyguard for a Witch Queen. You have the power to be involved, the power to choose, the power to win, Tucker. Imagine the beings you could help.”
It was true, the witches were oppressed under King Alataris’ tyrannical rule. Many other lesser beings were enslaved in his kingdom, forced into lives they never wanted to lead. I didn’t have a choice, I was born into this. But I might have the power to help others choose their own path, the power to give them a freedom I was never afforded. Evermore would be a better place without him.
The power to choose. What a thought, that the one born into a destiny already laid out for him now could determine his own way.
Blackwing reached out and pulled me to the side, a
way from the main entrance as another Knight candidate strode by and eyed me closely. “All your life you’ve been completing your duty. But now, as your mentor, I am telling you to decide. Do you want to go into these Trials?”
“Why now? Why are you asking me to decide what I want to do now?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Because being a Knight isn’t about following some path that’s already laid out for you. It’s about taking command of one of the most difficult situations in Evermore. We both know you have the skill to do this, but, Tucker, do you have the heart? Because without heart you will fail. This has to be your decision, to either move forward or go home.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Go home? And what would I be going home to? Just show up and tell my father, guess what, Dad, I decided after the ten years of training you put me through I don’t want to be a Knight? It isn’t that simple.”
“Yes, it is that simple, and that’s all there is to it.” I could tell he was nervous for my answer. The muscle in his sharp jaw ticked as he waited.
I glanced from the abandoned building toward the shimmering portal I’d just traveled through. If I wanted to leave then all I would have to do was step through and forget about the Queens, Evermore, and King Alataris. I could go home to start a new life, or I could choose to stay. As I glanced back and forth from my old world to what would become my new one I felt that unbridled smoldering in my chest. The constant yearning ache that had been there from the moment I was born. I knew beyond those doors lay the Witches, and my fellow competitors. The phoenix in me called out, wanting the challenge, wanting to win, wanting what lay ahead. It wasn’t just a mark on my neck that secured my destiny…It’d always been in me.
I didn’t know if I would live or die. But looking out over the all the beings entering the area, and the human in their cars on the freeway above there was one thing I did know. I could give them all the one thing I didn’t have. A destiny to call their own, without anyone dictating their lives the way mine had been. “Let’s do this.”
“And that…was your final test.” Blackwing grabbed my shoulders and pointed me toward the glass double doors. I stepped around others to get to them, I could feel him at my back, after all these years it was a comfort to have him with me.
When I reached forward and yanked them open, I was met with the sound of an arena full of beings. From the outside it was an abandoned building, but on the inside it was like one of those huge soccer stadiums. Though I only stood in the entrance I felt the magic swirling around.
I leaned closer to Blackwing. “Feel that?”
“The magic, Oh yes. How else could they fit a stadium full of Evermoreans into this small warehouse? Not to mention the Trials will need major space. The area itself can shift and move to be any size it needs.”
I nodded. “I see.”
At the first set of gates we were stopped by a teenage girl. She was short and round, with dark brown hair falling just to her chin. When she looked at me through narrowed eyes she tilted her head to the side, studying the mark on my neck. “You’re a…a…Guardian.” Her eyes went round and for a split second I thought they were going to pop out of her skull.
I shrugged. “Yes.”
She shoved her hand out toward my chest. “I’m Bertha, I’m a boar shifter. Huge fan, Mister Brand. Huge fan. I can’t wait to see you in action. Most of the Guardians use the back entrance. You’re the first to come right through the front door.” She turned toward the girl at the gate next to her. “Charlene, we got a Guardian here.”
A surge of beings came toward me all at once. Shifters of every kind, all looking human in form with only small signs of being supernatural. Their eyes held different colors and shapes, while their bodies moved with speed faster than any human. The noble elves gazed on with boredom etched into their faces yet they didn’t move away. Pixies of all shapes and sizes flitted about lighting the corridor with glowing dust. I took a step back from the throng of beings crowding toward me. I’d never seen so many gathered in one place at the same time and all clambering for my attention.
Blackwing stood in front of me like a bodyguard. “I’ll be getting Tucker to the area reserved for the Guardians.”
“The Guardian entrance is in the back of the building. Male Guardians are supposed to go to the right and female Guardians are to the left.” She waved us forward. “Come on, I’ll take you to where you belong.”
I leaned in closer to Blackwing. “I wasn’t aware this was a sporting event.”
“Of course. It’s one of the biggest events of Evermore.” Blackwing gestured for me to follow Bertha, past the mob of supernaturals who stopped to watch me walk by.
As we walked through the industrial halls, the cool of the concrete seeped into my skin and the smell of earth invaded my nose. Overhead, exposed beams held up the concrete stadium walls. The floor vibrated beneath my feet and just inside I heard the crowd roaring. What the hell is going on?
“I thought this was the Knight Trials. I didn’t realize there would be spectators, I guess.” Blackwing leaned in to whisper, “It’s gotten larger than I ever imagined. At the last Trials there was barely anyone there.”
Bertha glanced over her shoulder, nodding at me. “Oh but now, most of us wouldn’t miss this for the world. Seeing how you never know when the next Trials will be.”
I swallowed around the nervousness forming in my stomach. “Great.”
Once we arrived at a pair of blue doors Bertha stepped to the side. “Here we are, Mister Brand. Just through here is the preparatory area, where you’ll find a locker assigned to you. You’ll be shown where to go from there.”
“Um, thanks. And please call me Tuck.” I reached out for one of the metal handles, but before I could wrap my hand around it Bertha slammed her fingers into mine. She grasped my hand and shook it so hard I felt my bones chatter.
“I’ll do that, Mister Tuck. And good luck.” She dropped my hand and blushed bright red. “I hope you don’t die.”
Beside me Blackwing coughed into his fist stifling his chuckle.
“Thanks, Bertha.” As she turned and walked away from me I thought I heard a little squeal of excitement. I shook my head. “In all the years of training I’ve been through, you might have prepared me for this.”
Blackwing glanced over his shoulder toward Bertha. “I must admit, it’s gotten a bit more out of control than I ever thought it might.”
“These beings all know who I am?” I paused with my fingers wrapped around the handle. “Did she say she’s seen clips of me?”
Blackwing shuffled from one foot to the other. “I had to submit footage of your training sessions to the Queens. They selected the competitors for Knighthood from what they’ve seen. Every species in Evermore has a Guardian. But some of them wouldn’t even be able to come close to what the Witches need in a Knight.”
“So you’re telling me the field had been narrowed to how many?”
“About fifty.”
I yanked on the door and pulled it wide open. “I’ll take it.”
Before I could step through the door a pixie, the size of my thumb, flew directly in front of my nose. “Tucker Brand?” Her high-pitched voice pierced my ears, yet her childlike features and long white hair made me want to hold her in the palm of my hand and protect her.
I cleared my throat. “Yes?”
Before she said another word, she flew around my head, tying a leather cord around my neck. From it hung a blood-red crystal. I held it in my palm. “What’s this for?”
She threw her hands up and shrugged. “Every competitor must have one, that is all I know.” Then she turned and fluttered away, her glittery wings flapping so quickly she looked more like a hummingbird than a pixie.
I shrugged it off and stepped through into the locker room. A plush carpet squished under my feet. All around the wide room beings were warming up, some sat on benches with trainers rubbing them down, others hopping around like they couldn’t contain themselves. I kno
w how you feel. If I Blackwing hadn’t stamped out any sign of emotion in me I’d be jumping around like the others. At the back of the room stood a row of lockers. One of them had a phoenix painted across it. I headed straight for it.
Years of education from Blackwing had taught me that in each of the most powerful species of Evermore, a Guardian was born into each generation. But this was my first time seeing another who bore a mark similar to my own. The male hovering near my locker stood at least six inches taller than me and was built like a boulder. He bore the mark of the wolf across the right side of his neck, the same as I bore a phoenix across mine.
His lips rose into a sneer and he nodded to me in a mock greeting. “Bird.”
I arched one eyebrow at him. “Dog.”
Blackwing snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You need to focus on what you are here to do. Leave the trash talk for another time.”
Easy for him to say. It wasn’t in my nature to let any kind of trash talk go unanswered. “A little competition never hurt anyone.”
“I hate to break it to you, but in this competition plenty of us get hurt, even die.” A guy who was only a few inches shorter than me leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed. I would expect any competitor to be geared up and ready to go, but this guy wore a tailored black suit that seemed more appropriate for a boardroom than a physical competition. His white V-neck T-shirt was pressed and sat perfectly against his pale skin.
I made a show of looking him up and down. “I can see you’re ready for this competition. Those dress shoes will serve you well.”
“I’m surprised you’re wearing shoes at all. The way I hear it, the little bird could just flap his way through these Trials.” He ran his hand through thick mahogany-colored hair, then tilted his sunglasses down his nose and peered at me from over the top of them, showing me dark chocolate eyes.
When I glanced at the side of his neck and studied his Guardian mark it all became clear. That perfectly-shaped circle was half sun and half moon, with two triangles facing down…Vampire. I sighed. “Well, little leech, whenever someone needs a blood test I’ll be sure to send them your way.”
Wicked Trials Page 4
