by D P Rowell
“No, no,” Jakka said, “you only one who can keep Yutara alive.”
Ace stopped moving. Jakka slowly stood with his cane and stepped closer to Ace.
“You see,” the old jag said, “Rio is at crossroads right now. He needs all souls council collected for ages to gather enough magic to crack stone open. Council doesn’t even know he has stone. But, listen, Ace. You can prevent this. You can free witch of curse if she so chooses. Even if she willingly gave herself to council previously, she can be redeemed.”
Ace processed everything the old jag said for a moment. He sighed and slowly paced the floor, hands on his head. “How am I supposed to do this?”
“Well,” Jakka said, “you not supposed to do anything. The Light will do it. You must simply obey. Look at all he brought you through recently. He knew exactly how to communicate with you to keep you pushing forward in this journey. He knew exactly how to bring you here. He can guide you to using your authority.”
“What’s the difference if I burn the witch with the elyr versus saving her?” Ace said.
“White fire takes witch’s body from Yutara, but her soul remains in her parcel’s grasp until absorbed. When she gives up her curse, soul returns to her. Witches are dead without Light, but with soul returned, she comes alive once again. She gets life back,” Jakka said.
Ace stared at the wall of scribblings in silence for a moment. The jag slowly walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Before any of this can take place,” Jakka said, “you must learn to accept Emery’s forgiveness. Entire fate of Yutara depends on this. Without elyr, you cannot use this authority.”
Ace sighed and lowered his hands by his side.
“I leave you moment to sort this out,” Jakka said. “We all be waiting for you at beach.”
Ace nodded and kept his eyes about the scribblings on the walls. He battled the pain coursing through him. Every time he pictured Rio’s eyes when he tricked Ace into giving him the stone, sharp needles went through his skin. He clenched his heart and dropped to his knees. His mind took him to the last time he saw Kareena, throwing and breaking the video disc. He pictured Julie and Tamara tied up over Uncle Marcus’ video camera. He’d made so many mistakes. How could Ace not blame himself for all of it? It was his responsibility to keep the stone safe. His responsibility to—
“Well, you’re not supposed to do anything. Light will do it.” Jakka’s words returned to him. He strained at the thought of them. He remembered the voice he heard in the garden in Dorneg. The powerful voice of authority he’d heard before.
I can’t do this anymore. Ace thought. I’m not able.
Peace shot through his body. The air around him grew pleasantly warmer. He closed his eyes rested in tranquility. The familiar voice came back, less commanding than before, but with just as much authority.
I know, said the voice, but I am.
Ace burst into tears and fell to the floor as a sense of renewing joy overtook him. He cried happy tears and felt as if five-hundred pounds had been lifted from his back. Ace soaked in the moment for some time. Once he felt the time had run its course, he stood up.
“Time to stop blaming myself,” Ace said to himself, “Yutara needs me.”
He stepped from the cave and moseyed along the path in the dead forest leading to the beach. Everything seemed brighter than before. He thought he might be walking on clouds. A surge of confidence straightened his posture. He soon broke from the path and stepped onto the beach, where everyone awaited him. Cameron, Trilo, Juneg, Easley, Borundi, the other pirates whom Ace hadn’t met yet, and Jakka. They had been sitting down but stood as Ace stepped from the dead forest. They looked to him with expectant eyes.
“So . . .” Cameron said.
Ace smiled at his older brother. He closed his eyes and brought his hands together before his chest. He inhaled deeply. With one, powerful exhale, a pale flame, greater than Ace had ever made before, came forth from his fingertips and consumed both his hands. Ace split the flame as he pulled his hands apart and let out a powerful yell. The elyr consumed both of his arms and eventually his torso. He shot the Light from his body with a shout and it fled into the air and dissipated. Ace stood straight and smirked at the crew standing before him. “Let’s go save the world.”
CHAPTER FORTY
The Return to Heorg
The crew worked together to set sail once again. Ace stood on the beach in front of Jakka as the crew made their final adjustments.
“Thank you, Jakka,” Ace said.
The old jag grinned. “I one who should be thanking you.”
“Or, maybe we both should be thanking Emery.”
Ace and the jag chuckled together.
“I truly overwhelmed,” The old jag said. “Never would I have believed I could be freed from all wrongs I done. My time in seven realms has come to end. I can now pass into Light and I can hardly contain my joy.”
Ace simpered. “Seeing you has definitely given me a new sense about the world. If you can be turned, there’s probably millions of witches in Yutara who’d be willing to join the Israh.”
Jakka nodded. “There reason why Emerson Stone chose you, Ace. Don’t ever forget that.”
Ace and the jag embraced. “See you in the end, friend,” Ace said. He turned and climbed the ratlines. Cameron helped him climb aboard. Once they lifted anchor and set sail, Ace stood at the stern of the ship. The old jag waved in the air as the dead forest drifted on the horizon. The pale flame began at the jag’s fingertips and soon swallowed up his entire body. The light faded, and the jag vanished.
Cameron stepped next to Ace. “What did you do?” he spoke softly.
Ace kept his eyes on the dead forest. “What do you mean?”
“To get your elyr back,” Cameron said. “What did you do?”
Ace chuckled and turned to his brother. “Actually, that was the problem. The entire time I was relying on me to get my Light back. I was relying on me to save the Peppercorns. In the end, there’s nothing I can do to grow the Light in me. It was a gift from the Emerson Stone. I just needed to accept it.”
The ship broke through the surface of the purple water as they returned to Yutara. It rocked and swayed as it smacked back on the river from leaping in the air. When everything settled, Ace and the crew took notice of their surroundings. Grandpa’s ship hadn’t taken them back to the ocean outside of Dorneg, but to a river. The waves caused by the ship’s great landing splashed onto a familiar town to their right, on the bank of the river. The residents screamed and rushed away from the water as the ship burst through the surface.
“Hillrun,” Ace said, “Why did the ship take us back here?”
“Yeah, we need to get to Breen to save Dad,” Cameron said.
“And Sebastian,” Trilo butted in.
The jags of Hillrun stood by the river bank staring eerily and gasping at the massive Earth ship strolling beside their town. They looked like they had just seen a ghost. Or a random ship pop through the river. Ace dismissed the jags as a thought passed through his head. Kareena. He was as close to Gathara as he could get while still being in the water. He commanded the crew to pull ashore.
“Cameron, Trilo,” Ace said, “we need to get to Gathara and let the Israh know what’s happening.”
“What are you talking about?” Trilo said.
“The stone, it—it’s not what we think,” Ace said. He proceeded to tell the fae and his brother about Rio being a warlock and his intention with the Emerson Stone.
“So, we need to get the stone back, like, right now,” Trilo said.
“But how? We can’t take on Rio yet,” Cameron said, “He’s a flippin’ warlock!”
“I know, I know,” Ace said, “but . . . I kind of have a secret weapon. There’s no time to explain, we need to get to Gathara as quick as possible and tell Kareena and Tharuach.”
Cameron and Trilo agreed. The crew followed Ace as he climbed off the ship and stood before the Hillrun jags eyeballing them.
“Hello,” Ace shouted.
The jags returned his greeting with a silent stare.
“Yo, Ace,” Trilo said softly. Ace turned to the fae. “How’re we supposed to get to Gathara if we don’t have a hovercraft?”
Ace ignored Trilo as he caught the eyes of a familiar face peering from behind the crowd of jags. The face of a fae. Old silver hair and a look of curiosity about her. Something about the old lady’s innocence tugged on Ace’s heart. He smiled and moved through the crowds.
“Now, wait minute,” one of the jags in the crowd said.
Ace turned to find a tall, male jag staring at him.
The jag puffed his chest and spoke loudly. “Just who are you ugs and how in Heorg’s Sun did you pop through water like river lilly?”
Ace smirked at the crowd of jags. “We just came from Earth.”
Nervous laughter trickled through the crowd of jags. The jag who had spoken seemed so taken aback he couldn’t even think of a response. Ace turned to greet the old fae lady.
“Do you remember me, Elly?” Ace said.
The old lady gave a slight nod, mouth agape.
“I stayed at your inn a while back with a drake. I can tell by the look in your eyes. You know exactly who I was, didn’t you?”
The old fae half smiled and gently raised her shaky hand until it grazed Ace’s right cheek. “It’s been so long since I’ve had hope. My whole life, I’ve been waiting for Emery to return. The prophecy became legend to me. I’ve spent every moment since you left my inn convincing myself you weren’t the Elyrian and it was just a trick of the mind. But . . .” The old fae held her other hand below their faces so only they could see and conjured a gentle flame at the tips of her fingers. “I’ve felt a deep stirring in The Light recently. More powerful than ever before. And . . . now you’ve returned . . . I can see it in your eyes. It is you.”
Ace's mouth slanted upward. “We need your help. Can you get us to Gathara?”
“I can get only four of you, five at the most, if you use my craft. The rest of your crew, I’m afraid I cannot help.”
Ace turned behind to find the others waiting on him. “That’ll do, Elly.”
The old fae directed Ace and his crew to her hovercraft, deep in the town. The ship was half the size and twice the age of the hovercrafts in Dorneg. Its turquoise surface and matte gray bumper screamed, “I belong to an old kind soul.”
Cameron went to the driver’s side after Elly gave him the keys.
“Hold up,” Ace said, “Last time you drove we almost died.”
Cameron shook his finger at Ace. “Yeah . . . but we didn’t.”
Ace sighed and turned behind him. The crew stared anxiously, waiting for orders he presumed. “I have to get to Gathara. I don’t want to leave you all, but I have no choice. We can only take three others at the most.”
Juneg stepped up. “Ace, thank you for all you done for us. Easley and I are going to stay here. Lots of potential new recruits to the Israh.”
Ace nodded and scoped out the other crew members.
“Don’t look at me,” Borundi said, “No way I can fit in that tiny thing.”
Trilo walked straight to the hovercraft without hesitation. “Well, I’m going with you, Ace. I’ve been waiting this entire time to learn how to make that crazy white fire and blow stuff up and I’m not letting you outta my sight until it happens.”
Ace chuckled at his fae friend. Everyone else remained still.
“Hey, Juneg,” Cameron said just before they climbed in. He pulled the earpiece from his ear and tossed it to her. “Stay in touch.”
Cameron’s driving had improved when they weren’t being chased by a hundred Dorneg police crafts. They zoomed by in the clunky old craft and Gathara hid behind the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. Once they had reached the front of the city, Cameron slowed down before the gates.
“Woah,” they all said, faces nearly pressed against the windows. Jags, drakes, faes, and humans by the thousands flooded the gates to be let in. The adventurers stepped out of the old craft and began walking through the crowds into the city. They squeezed their way through the peoples until they reached a cobblestone street where a break in the action occurred. Not much of a break, for beside them on either side rushed hundreds more people.
“What’s happened here?” Cameron said.
Ace turned behind to face his brother. “Recruiting,” he said with a smile. To their right, where lay a small park in Gathara, stood a tall, male fae teaching the ways of the elyr to tens of other faes. Other faes from the street poured in and began learning from the male fae as well. To his left, humans, drakes, and jags all dressed in the X vests with AMRs in their hands marched forth. Gathara had become a home base for the Israh. Maybe Ace hadn’t screwed everything up too bad after all.
They marched along the streets until they reached Headquarters. Just before the bridge and the moat, the crowds around them began to hum and whisper. The chaos about the city dimmed down and more of the whispers became audible.
“Is that him?”
“The Halder?”
“The Elyrian?”
Soon, everyone in the crowds had stopped doing what they were doing and parted ways for Ace, Cameron, and Trilo to step to the bridge. Once they arrived, Ace turned around to face Gathara atop the hill looking over the large, Old Earth-like city. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of residents stood before him, their eyes telling of shock and awe.
“Ace,” Trilo said, “I think they know who you are.”
Cameron scoffed at Trilo. “Oh really? What makes you think that?”
Ace chuckled at his brother. His smile stretched the length of his face as hope rushed through his heart. Ace stood awkwardly silent at the crowd. The way they stared suggested he should speak. But what was he to say? The amount of silence grew so uncomfortable, he eventually opened his mouth. But just before he spoke, someone interrupted him.
“Ace! Ace!”
The boy and his friends turned behind to find Kareena’s father running along the bridge, nearly tripping on his robes.
“Tharuach,” Ace said, “it’s great to see you!”
The fae’s face became clearer as he rushed toward the boy. His greeting was anything but warm. “Oh my goodness, I’m so glad you’re here. We’ve been trying to reach you but couldn’t for some reason.” He finally caught up and Cameron and Trilo gave him their shoulders to rest on as he caught his breath. “It’s Kareena.”
All previous hope rushed away quicker than it had come. Ace stepped close to Tharuach and placed his hands on the fae’s shoulders. “What about her? Is she okay?”
Tharuach shook his head with horrified eyes. “No and it’s worse than you think. Rio has her. But not just her. He has all of Yutara now.”
Ace froze solid. Other than his gasping for air, he remained motionless and dark. He sensed every last trace of color drain from his skin.
He didn’t just say that. Kareena’s okay. She has to be.
“Ace,” Tharuach said, “there’s something you need to see.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The Fae Queen and the Treaty
Ace stood before a hologram TV in denial. George and Ihana accompanied Tharuach in the conference room as the recording played.
“When did this happen?” Ace said, eyes focused on the television.
“Earlier this morning,” Tharuach said.
The hologram TV projected one of the news channels. Videos taken by civilians and crew members showed a spontaneous ceremony in the streets of Naraka. The peoples of Naraka held signs up and erupted with cheer as an army of faes marched through the crowds in the street. They all had elegant robes of silver and gold and bland faces. They marched towards the Capitol Building to along stage and podium. Behind which sat five chairs.
The faes marched to the edge of the stage and finally stopped. The crowd went silent and from the other side of the stage came forth the leader of each race and took a seat. First was G
erald Yvonne, President of Eveland; then, the old jag named Dodger Girdleg, Prime Minister of Heorg; Next, Nahamni Lock’lara, the Drake Elder. The last one to take the stage didn’t sit but walked up to the podium. He had coffee colored hair slicked all the way back, and a thin, well-trimmed beard. Not a spot on his pale face. His name was Sam Radar, founder and ruler of the Neutrals. Once he arrived before the podium, he leaned into the microphone and began his speech.
“It is with great pleasure and rejoicing that we are gathered here this morning. For too long has this great world been separated and divided. Too long have we let our differences set us apart. As many of you know, I set out to begin a great country of every race and nation in Yutara.”
The people cheered, and Sam let them calm down before speaking again.
“But my dream . . .” Sam gave a pause for the crowd to quiet some more. “But my dream doesn’t end in the Neutrals. My dream ends with all of Yutara coming together, be it drake, jag, or human, as one people!”
The crowd burst with cheer again.
Ace turned from the TV to face Tharuach. “What is this? What does this have to do with Kareena?”
Tharuach pointed to the TV. “Just keep watching.”
Ace turned back to find Sam Radar speaking again.
“Today, that dream finally comes true. Since I began the Neutrals, I’ve been working with Yutara’s leaders to work toward this dream. Two have remained astray from this dream, seeking to be left in isolation from us. These two are the drakes of Oola, and the faes of Breen.”
Ace’s eyes widened. “Are all those faes in the crowd from Breen?”
“Yes,” Tharuach replied quietly.
“Thanks to a great peacemaker, who’s shared my dream since the beginning, these two nations have agreed to join in the unison of this great world!”
The crowd applauded.
“Years of working within and making negotiations has finally brought this dream to fruition. He is a drake of unspeakable honor and courage; persistence, and unfathomable wisdom; a leader, a hero, and my dear friend. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Neutrals, please welcome, Rio Atarion!”