by DM Fike
“I’m sorry, Marcus,” she whispered, an uncharacteristic current of pity in her voice, “but you can’t interfere.”
By the time Avalon understood what was going on, Kay had already stopped moving. Desert Rose had once again turned Kay into a statue, his face twisted in rage and pain.
Avalon stared at him in horror. She rounded on Desert Rose. “What have you done?”
“I did what had to be done,” Desert Rose snapped, a barely contained anger of her own boiling to the surface. “Or would you rather we kill him so you could save the rest of us?”
Numbness washed over Avalon. She knew Desert Rose was right. She wished she could have said goodbye, but Kay would have never accepted it. She did not want to die but embraced the inevitable. Everything was happening so fast, and there was no way to stop it. She slumped to her knees.
Someone sat down next to her, throwing an arm over her shoulder. The scent of sweat and musk hit her senses as she realized J.T. had attempted to reach her.
“I misjudged you, lass,” he said in her ear. “This thing that’s happened to you, it’s cruel and unfair. It shouldn’t be happening again.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“I know,” he replied.
Somehow, his sympathy helped. A deep sense of purpose grew in her chest, one that slowly outgrew the fear and doubt. A oneness overtook her, connecting her back to her magic in a heady rush. Lightning sizzled in her fingers. Wind swirled in her gut. Earth weighed down her limbs. Even fire and ice shot through her veins.
“We have to go,” Shivant’s voice called above her.
Avalon pulled out of J.T.’s embrace. She leaned over and kissed Kay softly on the cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
Then she rose, wiping her face with her tunic sleeve. She faced the five Guardians in front of the open-air window, where beyond dragons clawed at the gremlin’s dark magic barrier. Beyond, Braellia—the real enemy—charged toward them, ready to destroy anything in her path.
“Let’s end this,” Avalon said.
CHAPTER 28
HALICIA STOOD AT the edge of the drop-off and thrust her fingers into her mouth. A sharp whistle cut through the air. From the courtyard below, swarming with guards and knights preparing for war, a lone Covert K fairy knight flew up the side of the Earth Tower to hover next to her.
“Ho, General!” he greeted.
“I need three more fairies to carry us to battle,” she barked.
“Four,” Desert Rose insisted behind her. “I’m coming too.”
“Nay,” Halicia countered, grabbing the communicator from J.T. and tossing it to her daughter. “Someone should take command while we’re gone. Armed forces should prepare for battle and continue citizen evacuation in a calm fashion. Can you do this?”
Desert Rose caught it with a nod before dashing off downstairs.
The Covert K fairy soon returned with reinforcements. Halicia stepped back a few paces and lifted her arms so that she formed a rough ‘T.’ “Take us all to the outer wall,” she commanded.
The original fairy yelled, “Ho!” before wrapping his arms up and over her shoulders, wings flapping. Together, they leaped off the lip of the tower and glided smoothly down over the main castle wall.
Colin nodded at Symphony. “After me,” he grinned, then jumped off the ledge himself. Symphony flew down to catch his hands in midair, and they followed Halicia.
Shivant went next, another fairy wrapping his arms carefully around the lord’s torso before descending. That left only two more. J.T. motioned for Avalon to go first. The third fairy picked her up as if to dance and carried her off.
The wind bit into Avalon’s eyes, so she closed them, letting it slap across her cheeks. Everything behind her eyelids appeared red and angry. She tried to let her mind go blank, to not think about where she was going, but she couldn’t erase the picture of Kay’s statue form from her mind. He would never forgive her for doing this.
But she would never forgive herself if she didn’t.
The fairy deposited her on the forested side of the outer wall. J.T. plopped on the ground next to her. Past the other Guardians, across the wide field of the now empty refugee camp, the gremlins’ dark barrier wall shimmered, casting a bubble-shaped haze. It emitted a deep, unsettling hum that vibrated the forest floor. On the other side, three dragons bashed themselves against it, roaring in anger, although their cries came out muffled on this side. The fairies who had transported them watched on in terror as the massive beasts lashed their bodies against the smoky dome.
J.T. waved at the four knights who’d transported them. “Back to your posts!”
“Ho!” they screamed in unison, then took back to the air.
Halicia and J.T. directed the group across the eerily empty campsite. They had landed on the Jentry side with tents overturned in a rush to flee. The medic tent stood wide open. Someone stirred about inside.
Colin paused to poke his head in. “You have to evacuate!”
“I’m leaving with the last patient,” a familiar voice answered from within. Avalon’s insides clenched as Gonait stepped outside, a small bundle of cloth with bare feet poking out.
“Gonait!” Avalon cried. She could just make out bits of caramel-colored hair poking from the cloth. She carried the injured orphan.
Gonait did a double take. “Avalon? What are you doing here?”
“Dragons are coming,” Avalon told her as the others ran toward the front line. “You must go.”
“Aye, I’m going!”
Gonait fled while Avalon advanced on the barrier. The ice and earth dragons appeared unconscious, likely from hitting the barrier at full speed, but the fire, lightning, and wind dragons waited for them, arching their bulky heads toward their approaching group. The smoldering claw of the fire dragon pushed at the dark magic barrier. It stretched like plastic for a moment, the wall flickering before bouncing back, causing all three dragons to screech in frustration.
“YeeeeeeOW!” someone screamed in pain not far away in some nearby bushes.
“Keep it up, Mutt!” a second voice encouraged. “Don’t give up now!”
Halicia jogged over to the bushes and cut them open with one deft slice of her sword. She exposed Isolde and Mutt huddling in the leaves. Isolde squeaked when she saw everyone, but Mutt had his attention focused on his magic. Red eyed from his previous inebriation, he held his hands up against the dark magic barrier, smoke curling around his fingers and seeping into the structure. Grunting and moaning, he was obviously under incredible strain.
“L-Lord Emerson?” Isolde stammered meekly from the ground.
Colin started in surprise. “What is the boulder elf doing here?”
Isolde eagerly turned her attention to him. “How else do you think the gremlins knew to make the wall? If I hadn’t been here, the dragons would be swarming over the city already.”
J.T. knocked against the smoky barrier. “It’s as solid as any real wall,” he announced as a lightning dragon struck the barrier where he touched. He jerked in surprise, not in any physical pain. “We need a way to get to the other side.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Isolde asked. “It’s keeping the dragons out.”
Mutt sighed with relief. “Ask me twice, you don’t need to!”
“Wait!” Halicia cried. “We must formulate a plan first!”
But it was too late. In his haste to ease his burden, Mutt immediately let go of the barrier and a large gaping hole eased open where his hands had been, the size of a large building.
Chaos erupted. The fire dragon, still leaning against the wall, fell toward them with nothing holding it up. A maelstrom of sparks whipped out of his mouth. Everyone scattered, Halicia creating a crude ice wall to keep the flame from harming everyone.
The skies darkened above. The lightning dragon sent a bolt toward them. Colin absorbed it with a raised hand, the booming clap ringing across the meadow as he redirected it straight at the wind dragon. The wind dragon how
led as the bolt hit it squarely in the chest, collapsing over the top of the fallen earth dragon.
The blinding flash made it hard to see the fire dragon’s tail whipping out to smack them. J.T. dodged it, but it grazed Symphony, who stumbled before her wings caught up to her. She landed in a jumble not far away.
Meanwhile, the lightning dragon continued to send bolts. It first aimed at Mutt, who yelled “Outta here, I am!” and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Next, the lightning dragon focused on Avalon, sending three successive blasts her way. Colin raised his hands, absorbing and redirecting each one harmlessly. The strikes weakened him, however, as sweat soaked his headband.
“I can’t keep this up forever!” he cried.
Unfortunately, the others had their attention on toppling the fire dragon. Halicia encased its head in ice while Shivant and Isolde rooted two of its claws into the earth so it couldn’t slither away. The dragon roared as J.T. redirected its fire harmlessly into the air. Halicia coated its head in more ice, meaning to cut off the dragon’s air supply, but it would take several minutes for her strategy to work.
During those minutes, Colin faced the lightning dragon with Avalon by his side. He took two more direct lightning hits, throwing one right back at the lightning dragon, who did not so much as blink at such raw power. At his limit, Colin collapsed on one knee, both palms burnt and bloody from so much raw lightning.
The lightning dragon snapped its jaws, electricity sizzling in its gut. It focused on Avalon, sparks streaking from its mouth. She fully expected to get blasted, which is why she stared slack-jawed as the lightning formed an unnatural arc away from her, zipping across Emerged Falls to strike the Earth Tower. The roof exploded on impact, sending rock and vines tumbling to the courtyard below.
“Kay!” Avalon screamed.
Her words became lost in a tornado that whipped past. Behind her, Symphony had regained her bearings and launched a gale so furious that it ripped up gigantic trees by the roots in its wake. Avalon guarded Colin’s bowed head, barely missing getting pulverized as the trees and wind collided with the lightning dragon instead. Stunned, the lightning dragon could do little more than wail as the tornado picked it up and flung it across the campsite. It landed in the pond that separated the Jentry and gremlin sides, a shower of sparks erupting above to indicate it had fried itself.
“Colin!” Symphony ran up next to them, her arms around her husband. “Are you well?”
He nodded, although it took him some effort to stand.
“Is everyone accounted for?” Halicia called by the fire dragon. The beast had finally succumbed to suffocation, allowing all of them to regroup.
Avalon stumbled forward, anxious to tell them about the lightning bolt that had struck the Earth Tower, when a sudden green glow overshadowed them all.
A voice rumbled above the trees. “You all came to greet me. How thoughtful.”
The terrifying empty eyes of Braellia emerged from the treetops, her ghostly face laughing down at them all. Across the clearing, an Aossi with bat like ears and asymmetrical buzz cut strode into view. The green cloud of light that formed Braellia hovered above Scawale, whose tattered armor had become covered in old gore and blood. Scawale’s face appeared haggard as if she hadn’t slept for days, but she smiled manically.
“Dear Omni.” Shivant had to throw his head back to fully view Braellia towering over him. “She really has returned.”
“It’s not her,” J.T. barked. “Just a shadow of herself, corrupted by Kryvalen.”
“Oh, J.T.,” Braellia cooed, although her voice echoed in a deep bass given her size. “How awful of you to say. And here I thought you cared about me.”
“I did!” J.T. yelled. “The real you! Not this warped form.”
“So much for reuniting with old friends,” Braellia sneered. Scawale strode forward, a puppet underneath Braellia.
Halicia and J.T. joined to form the first line of defense against the approaching enemy. “You will not enter Emerged Falls!” Halicia shouted.
“We will go wherever I please, and do whatever I please,” Braellia announced. Her transparent hand extended to form a finger pointed straight at Avalon. “And I will have her!”
Avalon’s heart caught in her throat, the oneness of being so close to Braellia’s magic drumming in her ears, making her dizzy.
“We will offer her to you, Braellia!” Shivant stood next to Halicia and J.T. Symphony gave Avalon one last melancholy look as she helped Colin hobble over to complete the line.
Isolde stared in confusion at the Guardians’ formation. “What are they doing?”
Avalon waved at the bewildered boulder elf. “We’ve got a plan. Everything will be over soon. Get out of here!”
Isolde hesitated for only one more second. “Be safe, my friend!” she cried, then scattered back toward the castle gates.
Avalon swallowed the hard lump in her throat. There was no turning back now.
Braellia bellowed at the line of Guardians with rage. Below her, Scawale withdrew the sword and poised it in front of her.
Shivant crouched low to the ground, pebbles rumbling around his feet. “NOW!”
The other Guardians quickly ignited their own elemental powers. J.T. threw out his hands, both crackling to life with flame. A whirlwind cycled around Symphony, growing larger and lifting her a few feet off the ground. Colin winced as bits of lightning sizzled to life between his fingertips, snaking around his forearms. Halicia pointed her sword at Braellia, her entire arm and sword glistening in icy blue as they became encased in crystals. As the Guardians’ powers magnified, a green glow that matched Braellia’s hue began to emit across them. Avalon could feel all their magical energy melting into one, humming across her own body, connecting her to both the Guardians and Braellia.
Eternal flame surged through them all.
Braellia screeched in horrible dissonance. She batted one hand down toward the line of Guardians, attempting to knock them over, but to her horror, her hand disappeared as it approached them. Avalon, standing yards behind them, gave a gasp as that hand reappeared deep inside her. Her vision fractured into two: one which stood behind the Guardians in the real world, the other sinking back into her own mind, standing once again in the Temple of the Heavens. Ladybug waited for her there, watching everything with tense anticipation.
“How can you do this again?” Braellia shrieked, her voice rising to a childlike plea for mercy. “You said you would always protect me, that you loved me!”
“We did love Braellia,” J.T. screamed above the din. “You’ve corrupted that beautiful girl.”
Inside her mind, Braellia glared at Avalon in hate. “You cannot keep me here,” she warned, her voice warped as if taking through a loudspeaker.
“You won’t be,” Avalon said. “Not for long anyway.”
The Child’s eyes narrowed. “You would sacrifice yourself for people who hate you. Like this fool,” she sneered at Ladybug.
Ladybug regarded her dispassionately. “You’re sick.”
Avalon clenched her fists at her side. “A sickness that needs to end, no matter the cost.”
Back on the outside, Braellia raised her own maelstrom of magical elements: lightning striking into bursts of fire at her feet on shaky ground, ice shards dancing on rapid winds. “If you will not stop, I will imprison you first!”
A green streak of light formed around her gigantic body, just like the eternal flame surrounding the Guardians. It shot out like a bullwhip toward them.
Halicia darted out of its path, missing its mark by mere inches. “She’s using counter magic!” She slashed her sword and sent a sparkle of shards toward Braellia. “She means to absorb us first!”
J.T. dodged a second slash attack. “Avoid her whip!”
Shivant brought up a shield of earth to defend himself from a third. “And hit her before she hits us!”
Thus the two sides squared off: a row of smaller dancers against a larger diva, their beams of green light jabbing at
each other. The Guardians would direct a strike at Braellia, who would deflect it with a rush of fire or wind gust. Then Braellia would take a crack at the ground, sending one or more Guardians scrambling out of the way to avoid getting struck. The forest buckled under this barrage, trees snapping in half, tents ripped from the ground and flying by in the whistling winds.
As the battle waged on, it became clear that Braellia was tiring. For every strike she made, the Guardians managed several more. Braellia’s giant form withered under the onslaught, shrinking down toward Scawale. Before long, she had shrunk to half her size, only twelve feet tall.
Inside her mind, Avalon watched a pain-addled Braellia scream and claw at the forces gaining on her externally. “You’re done,” Avalon told her. “Let Kryvalen return to the darkness where he belongs.”
The Child quieted so suddenly, it sent a shiver up Avalon’s spine. “Darkness,” she breathed.
Back on the battlefield, the Guardians had reduced Braellia to hovering a few feet above Scawale, still standing motionless like a soldier at ready. “Avalon!” Shivant yelled through clenched teeth. “It is up to you now! Absorb her!”
“Darkness!” Braellia screamed. “It is unholy. It is not pure. But I will not be cast out again!”
Scawale jerked her head in Colin’s direction, a mechanical doll following Braellia’s will. The Aossi soldier slid a booted foot toward him, a flurry of shadows shooting out of her toes, heading straight for the lightning Guardian.
Avalon recognized that attack. Scawale had choked her with shadow before. “Colin, watch out!” she yelled with her earthly form.
But the shadow was too fast. It coiled around Colin like a snake, wrapping around his throat. His lightning flickered off as he fought against the invisible force strangling him. The Guardians’ eternal flame disappeared, and they faltered, staring in horror at their gasping comrade.
A horrible dread settled over Avalon. “Ladybug!” Avalon reached out to grab the gremlin. “You’ve got to stop Scawale’s dark magic!”
To Avalon’s dismay, her hand went straight through the gremlin. “I can’t,” Ladybug said. “I’m sorry.”
