Crisanta Knight: The Lost King

by Culbertson, Geanna;

  A fierce jolt of electricity surged from the Fairy Godmother Trainee’s wand into the orb, violently shocking my friends.

  I lunged at Mauvrey, but my cuffs held me in place. “Mauvrey, stop it!”

  Mauvrey made a sign to her magical accomplice and the electricity ceased. The shock had woken my friends. After recovering for a moment, they slowly got to their feet. At first they looked dazed, but their expressions quickly sharpened from confused to angry. They realized the gist of what was happening and they were ticked off. I knew because I felt the same kind of annoyed fury every time I was captured. It was degrading, and tonight we didn’t have time for it.

  “So, what will it be, Crisa?” Mauvrey asked. “I can still honor Arian’s wishes to keep your general group of protagonist friends alive even if I trim that group a little, which means the only person who needs to make a decision here is you. Will you bring the dragon statue in Century City to life as I have asked, or should I strike down one or two of your friends and let you watch them die, knowing you will not be able to save them in time?”

  My friends’ expressions elongated at the ultimatum.

  Yeah, I’d react that way too if I had woken up to find myself in a hostage standoff with a former classmate.

  “No answer?” Mauvrey said to me. “Well, how about a different question. Which one of your friends will be the lucky sacrifice?”

  Mauvrey sauntered over to the orb and stopped in front of Blue and SJ. “Nice to see you ladies again. Although I suppose lady is not the most appropriate term for you, Blue.”

  “Bite me, Mauvrey,” Blue spat. She banged her chained fists against the bubble. A small electric burst exuded from the spot and shocked her, just like . . .

  “This is an In and Out Spell,” Mauvrey explained arrogantly at Blue’s surprise. “All Fairy Godmothers in training learn the basics of constructing them. Some take to the ability more than others. My dear friend, Tami Robinswood here, excels in the area.”

  I remembered Debbie mentioning that all Fairy Godmother Trainees had a particular skill set they specialized in. While Debbie’s was fashion design and weather manipulation, Tami’s was In and Out Spells.

  I had a lot of questions about what had brought Tami here. I knew Debbie didn’t like her, but Fairy Godmothers were supposed to protect protagonists and defend the realm against antagonists. Tami had completely turned. I addressed her with a cruel smirk and some snark I hoped would irritate her.

  “Nice to see you again, Tami. How’d that Trainee of the Year competition work out for you? Still top of your class?”

  Debbie had competed against Tami for the top spot at the Fairy Godmother Agency and smoked her there, as well as in the Godmother Trainee of the Year competition.

  “I was robbed!” Tami retorted. “That little goody-two-shoes Debbie is nothing more than a—”

  “You are a Fairy Godmother?” SJ interrupted. “What are you doing with the antagonists? You are supposed to be on our side!”

  “Tami was assigned as my Fairy Godmother about a year ago,” Mauvrey responded. “We bonded. Soon enough, she started seeing things from my point of view.”

  “Debbie was right,” I turned to Tami. “You really are a trick.”

  Tami glowered at me then pointed her wand at my friends. Sparks flew from the tip and the orb encasing Jason, Daniel, SJ, Blue, and Kai shrunk in size and seized with electricity. I looked away as they screamed. My hands suddenly lit up with an involuntary flash of golden energy again. It was hot and brilliant, but only lasted an excruciating second because of the cuffs.

  Dang it!

  “Arian was spot on,” Tami said to Mauvrey, twirling her wand in satisfaction. “The best way to make her suffer is to make the people she loves suffer.”

  I was lost for words. Mauvrey paced around the orb prison as my friends recovered. “Hi, boys,” she said as she nodded to Jason and Daniel. Then she stopped in front of Kai. “Hmm, you are new. And common. I am told your name is Kai, is that right?”

  “Stay away from her,” Daniel snapped, protectively stepping in front of Kai.

  “Ooh, sore spot. I guess she will do just fine; she is not even a member of the core group, or a protagonist. Which means she is dispensable, but still a good motivator for you, Crisa.” Mauvrey turned toward her wicked Fairy Godmother. “Tami . . .”

  “Coming up,” Tami replied.

  Tami waved her wand and Kai’s body began to glow red. Then, in the blink of an eye, she vanished from the bubble and reappeared in the clutches of the four soldiers standing across from me.

  “No!” Daniel shouted. He lunged at the force field, but Tami sent another shockwave of energy to debilitate him and the rest of my friends still in the bubble.

  Mauvrey snapped her fingers and Victor pushed Kai to her knees. She struggled, but he and Jae held her down. It must’ve been insufferable for her to still have her sword in the sheath on her back, but not be able to reach it. I supposed that could be another reason why my enemies had left my friends with their weapons. From my experience with the antagonists, they didn’t only want to hurt you physically; they enjoyed hurting you emotionally as well. And for the fiercest of characters, there was nothing more debasing than having the capability to fight but not being able to use it.

  Kai’s eyes were ferocious and her expression unyielding, but I was close enough to see the fear she was trying to hide. Maybe others couldn’t spot it, but I did.

  In the past, when I thought I was about to die, I wore the same mask. I was defiant, courageous, and full of fire. But even those qualities didn’t erase the fact that I was human. And I was as much afraid of death as I was of showing weakness in the face of it.

  Yup, I knew exactly how Kai was feeling. We were so similar. And that made me loathe Mauvrey and Alex even more.

  I darted my eyes to my brother, who had not uttered a word this whole time. “I really hate you, you know that?” I said venomously. “Your girlfriend is about to kill one of my friends! You have to feel something. How can you just stand there?”

  “Your friends aren’t my priority,” Alex responded with cool detachment. “I only ever wanted to avoid hurting you if I could, Crisa.”

  “And what, murdering my friends doesn’t qualify as hurting me?”

  “None of them will die if you just do as Mauvrey says.”

  “Like you do?”

  Alex narrowed his eyes. “Wake the dragon, Crisa. Then you and your friends can leave.”

  “How many more cities do you have to lay waste to before you get it, Alex? I’m not like you. I’m not going to let hundreds of innocent people suffer because some witch told me to.”

  “Because you’re so noble?” Alex countered angrily. “You are no better than I am, Crisa. You’re always putting self-interest ahead of mass casualty count. You gave Excalibur to Arian not five minutes ago in order to save your friends. If his plans pan out, then that will eventually lead to a hundred times more deaths than one dragon, and that’s on you.”

  “Crisa . . . You didn’t . . .” Jason’s voice made me cringe.

  I briefly took my eyes off Alex. Guilt and shame filled me as I looked at my friends. Their faces were wrought with shock and dismay.

  “I had to,” I told them earnestly. “Arian would have killed you all!”

  “All right, this is taking too long,” Mauvrey interrupted in a bored tone, stepping closer to Kai. She nodded to Jae and he drew his sword.

  “What will it be, Crisa?” she asked. “Daniel’s pretty girlfriend, or the dragon?”

  “Stop it, Mauvrey,” I said. “Even if I did agree to this, I’m not even sure I could do what you’re asking. I’ve never tried to restore life to something that big before. I only figured out this resurrection thing yesterday, and I’ve already used a lot of power today. I might not have enough left.”

  “You can do it and you will,” Mauvrey responded finitely. “Or I will ensure you suffer the consequences—starting with her.”

 
; I stole another glance at my friends. They appeared as conflicted as I felt. All except Daniel. He had so much worry written across his face there was no room for any other sentiment.

  When Daniel had revealed that his prophecy said I had the potential to bring about Kai’s demise, he’d assured me that he didn’t hold me responsible for the prediction. But now here we were, Kai’s life literally hanging in the balance because of me, and the responsibility to save her or let her die rested squarely on my shoulders. Was this where fate was leading us the whole time despite our best intentions?

  “Crisa,” Kai said firmly, capturing my attention. “Don’t do it.”

  “What?” I stammered.

  “Kai!” Daniel shouted. “Don’t!”

  “It’s okay, Daniel,” she continued, her tone calm and even. “If it’s a choice between me and the rest of the city, then I choose me. I am not going to have the blood of all those people, of our home, on my hands, or Crisa’s. I refuse to.”

  Kai’s eyes met mine. “I know I promised to let you protect me, but you can’t do it. You can’t save everyone, Crisa. And you certainly can’t risk a city for me.”

  I felt more helpless than I ever had. People kept telling me I couldn’t save everyone and I never wanted to believe them. That may have been naïve or even cocky to think, but being raised as a protagonist meant believing that good always triumphed over evil, and that I could be the medium that insured that. Had I been wrong this whole time?

  My mouth opened to say something in reply, but I didn’t have the chance.

  “How virtuous,” Mauvrey sneered. “But also sooo time consuming. Alex and I have an agenda of our own to keep. So let us speed things up, shall we?”

  She gave a nod and Jae abruptly raised his sword. Daniel’s expression fell.

  “Wait! Let her go!” I shouted, the words escaping me before I could stop them. “I’ll do it. Just . . . just let her go.”

  The submission surprised me as much as my friends. I knew Kai was right; if you looked at the big picture, her life did not outweigh the lives off all the innocent people in the capital I would be putting in danger by waking the dragon. And after what I’d done with Excalibur, which admittedly was a selfish choice as my brother had identified, I had another chance at the same problem—a do-over with greater good vs. personal good. Which meant I had a moral responsibility to do better. I should stop believing I could save everyone and save those that it made the most sense to save. That was a more honorable, heroic thing to do—and it’s what people like Arthur, Merlin, and my own friends and family would want me to do. But one look at the desperation on Daniel’s face and all those good intentions evaporated.

  Kai may have been one person to the world, but she was the whole world to him. Putting aside Liza’s prophecy, Merlin’s advice, and even the promise I’d made to help keep Kai safe—at the end of it, I knew that if anything happened to Kai, Daniel would be destroyed. And I couldn’t have that. Maybe I couldn’t risk a city for her, but as selfish or irresponsible or illogical as it was, I knew I had to risk it for him.

  Furthermore, I wasn’t ready to let go of the faith that I could save everyone, and that the world could never run out of happily-ever-afters. They should’ve always been on the table for everyone, every time. You just had to fight hard and clever enough to win them. I would save Kai. And then I would save the city too. Somehow.

  Mauvrey gestured toward the open doorway to the capital. “You have three minutes.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Are you kidding? I told you, I’ve never tried resurrecting anything that big before. It’ll take some time for me to harness that much power, if I can do it at all.”

  “Well, three minutes is all you are getting,” Mauvrey responded.

  “Why?”

  “Because that is how long your postmortem magic window lasts.”

  My mind took two seconds to grasp what Mauvrey’s statement implied. It only took one for Jae to plunge his sword into Kai’s back.

  “No!”

  It had been Daniel who’d shouted the word, but I was pretty sure I’d echoed him.

  “What are you doing?” I yelled at Mauvrey. “I already said I’d do it!”

  “Call it an incentive to work faster,” Mauvrey replied. “Now you have two minutes and fifty-five sec—”

  A spurt of silver energy rushed out of Kai. As if her body collapsing to the floor wasn’t enough proof of her death, the normal magic she’d absorbed from Morgause ejected itself as it was designed to do when its host was dead. Much to my alarm, that energy sucked straight into Jae’s body. He staggered back and collapsed. Mauvrey’s eyes widened.

  “She has magic?” Mauvrey pivoted toward the other guards. “Did any of you know about this?”

  “No, miss,” one of the men replied hastily. “This is a new development.”

  “Well it would have been nice to know,” Mauvrey huffed. “I would have loved to wield magic. Now that dolt Jae has her powers.”

  I cleared my throat. “Mauvrey,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh, right. Ticking clock,” Mauvrey said wistfully. She waved at the guards. “Let her go.”

  Victor and the other two men freed me from the bedframe and began corralling me in the direction of Book’s door. My wrists were still shackled behind me.

  “Wake the dragon then my guards will let you come back to save your friend,” Mauvrey said. “Try anything else and I will have them smash the mirror on the other side of this portal and you will be trapped there while Kai dies with the rest of your little gang.”

  I was shoved through the portal before I could get a word out. My captors and I brusquely emerged in the storefront window of one of Century City’s many antiques shops. The lights were off and the shop was closed. On this side of the portal, our entrance retained the appearance of a normal mirror; I couldn’t see back into the Portalscape. Through the window of the storefront I spotted the gold head of the dragon statue. Between it and the shop there were hundreds, if not thousands of people milling around the capital celebrating the inbound Vicennalia Aurora.

  One of my captors grabbed me by the forearm and led me out the door. I heard it click behind us, locking itself as we exited.

  Victor and the guards kept me close as we hastened forward. By the glow of streetlamps and lanterns, the capital’s market buzzed with merriment. Decorative silks, banners, and twinkling lights were strung everywhere. People bought souvenirs from vendors, laughed, and reveled. I imagined scenes like this were going on everywhere in Book and in every other realm as well. The Vicennalia Aurora was a celebration for all Wonderlands, and it was about to begin.

  The sky was hazy purple. Catching a glance at a clock in a donut stall, I saw that it was 7:20 p.m. There were only ten minutes left until the start of the main event. With every passing second, I could feel the magic intensify in the air and in my blood.

  As we made our way closer to the dragon statue outside the Capitol Building, I understood why Mauvrey’s men had been dressed in Century City guard uniforms. None of the actual soldiers patrolling the area gave us a second look.

  We turned a corner and came into full view of the dragon statue. In the daytime, sunshine would reflect off the creature and make it look larger than life. In the shadows of twilight, it resembled a monster—a three-hundred-foot wingspan stretching over the city streets, threatening to consume everyone in the vicinity.

  The statue stood on its hind legs in the middle of the roundabout that resided in front of the city’s mighty Capitol Building. Usually the roundabout was flooded with carriages and horses. Tonight, it seemed that street traffic had been shut down and the whole area was packed with partygoers. This must’ve been a prime spot to gather for viewing the Aurora. Much of Century City was composed of elaborate skyscrapers, but aside from the dragon, near the Capitol Building the sky was open. I could just imagine how beautiful it would be to see the colors of the Aurora grace the sky over the Capitol’s proud cupola and the
statue’s gleaming head and wings.

  I was about to take that away from these people. I was about to unleash chaos and horror in dragon form on all the civilians here.

  I pushed through my guilt and second-guessing. I wasn’t certain this was the right thing to do, but then I wasn’t sure there was a right thing to do in this situation.

  One thing I did know was that I couldn’t let Kai die. She didn’t deserve that and neither did Daniel. And just because I had to save them didn’t mean I couldn’t save everyone else too. As mentioned, that was my plan. Since I’d agreed to Mauvrey’s terms, my brain had been churning on how to best achieve it. My answer: I would wake the dragon, resurrect Kai, then stop the beast. As it stood, I had pretty good idea of how I would bring it down. I only hoped the devastation would be minimal in the time it took me to enact my tactic.

  The guards and I reached the gold menace.

  “Un-cuff me,” I said to Victor. “I’ll need my hands for this.”

  “Fine, but no funny business,” he said as he pulled out a key and freed me. “We’re under orders to destroy that mirror and trap you here if you make a wrong move.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I got it,” I said as I flexed my arms. “Now shut up. I need to concentrate to have a shot at making this work.”

  I pivoted to face the dragon. From directly beneath it, the creature’s size was more than intimidating.

  “Enough gawking,” another soldier said. “Do it. Your friend has been dead for over a minute and a half. If you want to save her, you’ll wake this thing now.”

  Crud!

  I placed my hands on the dragon’s hind leg. It was strange. The metal was cold, but I sensed a warm spark of life somewhere inside—the faint memory of a heartbeat. I took a deep breath and focused on that feeling, on the sound of the creature’s once beating heart and the magic inside me that could restore it.

  All right, you monstrous thing, I thought vehemently. Wake up.

  The dragon did not stir.