“Really?” I ask, raising my chin up. “You are only Darkness. And everyone knows Darkness cannot exist without Light. In fact, Light always drives away the Darkness. And that means you need to go back to hell or wherever you’ve come from. We are the Seers — the Daughters of Light. We are the guardians of this planet and all her bounty. And she, the Earth, will live!” I raise the sword high above my head, and with a scream that comes from the very core of my being, I bring the sword down on its right shoulder. There’s a cracking sound and a spray of blood as the thing collapses onto the cobblestones.
JASMINE
I rush over to Jade. It’s strange, but I know just what to do. Laying my hands on her shoulders, I close my eyes, feeling the surge of energy again. The gold flakes dance in my mind’s eye. Warmth travels from my fingers through Jade’s flesh. Raphael.
Jade’s eyes flutter open. “Jasmine?” she says, her voice hoarse. “Where am I?”
I put a finger to her lips. “Rest for a minute,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”
Though his eyes are closed and his breathing is shallow, Mr. Khan is still alive. His faint heartbeat makes me want to cry.
I lay my hands on his abdomen. His blood wets my palms. And I close my eyes. This time there’s the gold, but there’s also the sound of Raphael’s laughter, and the feel of his heartbeat intertwined with mine.
Jasmine, Raphael’s voice says from deep within me. You did it. Go look out at London.
I step forward and look down over the hill; it’s slowly turning from a dried and dusty compilation of grasses into a vibrant emerald-green carpet. Lily and the others are walking up the hill toward me. As I look out at the white, majestic buildings of the Naval College and then at London beyond, a crazy thing starts to happen. Tendrils of greenery, and vines, and the arms of trees are growing up and over and around the buildings. Within minutes, much of London is consumed by nature. The Thames shines brightly and the sky above it fills with birds and insects of every colour and shape imaginable.
There’s a faint mewl from the satchel. I open it and take Mithra out, placing her on the cobblestones.
“You’re safe now, little one,” I say, bending down and kissing her on the top of her head. “We all are.”
EPILOGUE JADE
Kiki and I take our time at breakfast today. As I sip my dandelion tea and stare out over the Thames from the balcony of our little flat, I can’t help but think about how lucky we all are. After all, just a year ago, both me and Kiki were nearly dead, and the world was on the brink of descending into chaos and destruction.
“What are you thinking?” Kiki asks, reaching out and taking my free hand in hers. The sun lights her face. I watch as it dances in her curls and warms her skin.
“Mainly about us, about everything, really,” I say. “About Mom’s visit next month.” Everyone in the world now gets one airline ticket a year. They can stay as long as they want wherever they go, and recycled fuel and cleaner, noise-efficient planes mean less impact on the environment. I’m hoping she’ll want to stay in London, but it’s her first time here, so it depends. I know she’s been teaching dance in Toronto and might not want to leave her students. Still, video calls every day aren’t the same as being able to hug and kiss her good night.
Kiki smiles at me. “I can’t wait to meet her,” she says. “I hope she decides to stay. And I hope she likes me,” she says, nervously biting on her lower lip.
“She’ll love you,” I say, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. Her lips are warm and taste like honey from the tea. “How could she not?”
That’s the thing. Now, families never have to be apart, if they don’t wish to be. In this new world, there are no borders, no citizenship. People can move freely and, no matter what employment they take on to contribute, they receive housing and income. I’m still going to school, and I hope to teach environmental science someday. Not all of the Earth has healed and regenerated yet, so many areas of the planet remain uninhabited. I want to study the regenerative process and help determine when and how those areas should be repopulated.
I think back to Jasmine saving Kiki on the day of the Final Battle. She’d been badly injured by a demon and, according to Jasmine, was bleeding out fast. Jasmine’s careful with her powers these days and rarely uses them, but she does work at a London hospital, helping whenever it is not yet a person’s time to move on. When she’s not working, Jasmine spends a lot of time alone, writing. I think she’s writing down our story as a warning to future generations, should greed and the desire for power rear their heads again. So many people died from the water poisonings that the first few months involved teams of people just burying bodies. Clarence was one of those who didn’t make it. I think his heart was so broken, he likely didn’t mind passing on after making sure we were safely on our way to Greenwich.
“Hello, girls,” Mr. Khan says, appearing in the open doorway to the balcony. “Hope you don’t mind. The door was open, and I tried to buzz you on your video watches repeatedly. You have training in less than thirty near Canary Wharf.” His voice is tinged with exasperation, but he smiles when he sees our little table with its teapot and biscuits.
“We’ll get there at the right time. The Docklands is running well today,” I say, lifting the teapot. “Want a cuppa?”
Mr. Khan smiles. “Sure,” he says in mock defeat. “I get that there’s not as much urgency to train these days, but we still need Seers to be ready. In case.” He takes a seat on the empty chair beside Kiki.
I nod at him. He’s right. Though everything is working well right now, it would be super careless if we forgot about the past. Humans are still human. And there are far fewer Seers in the world now than ever before.
“We’ll make it there on time,” I assure him. “In case.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A huge thank you to everyone at Dundurn Press for helping not only with Darkness Rising, but with the entire Daughters of Light series. As always, I want to extend immense gratitude to my agent, Amy Tompkins, of the Transatlantic Agency, as well as my editor, Allister Thompson, for their support and guidance. Thank you to my partner, Robert Stewart, for supporting me and walking this journey with me.
Book Credits
Project Editor: Jenny McWha
Developmental Editor: Allister Thompson
Copy Editor: Catharine Chen
Proofreader: Shari Rutherford
Cover Designer: Laura Boyle
Interior Designer: Lorena Gonzalez Guillen
Publicist: Elham Ali
Darkness Rising Page 23