“I trust her, Sepheus,” Phyra reassured him. “Celestia wouldn’t have chosen her to fight with us if she had ill intentions.”
His gaze darted to Chel, who didn’t hide her worry, but said, “It’s this or be damned to spend the rest of eternity with Vesirus.”
He leaned back and stared at the glacial blue ceiling. “Do it.”
I touched the scepter to the spot where his heart beat.
Nothing happened.
I tried again, reaching inside for my power. It stirred awake.
Still, nothing happened.
I groaned. “Why isn’t this working?”
“Maybe it needs blood,” Sepheus offered, ripping open the leather armour covering his chest. “There’s a spike on the end of the crystal,” he pointed out.
I lifted the scepter to inspect it closer. Indeed, a tiny spike protruded out the top of the sparkling sphere. It wasn’t big enough to fatally wound a person, but it had to be there for a reason other than decoration.
His bare chest rose and fell as he waited for me to make another attempt.
I lowered the silver rod down until the silver spike met his golden-brown skin. I stared into his deep brown eyes and pushed the scepter into him.
The end of the scepter lit up like a tiny white moon. The spark inside me fluttered as though it’d grown wings. The crystal turned emerald green, and my ears rang so loud I almost broke contact to hold onto my head. I felt Sepheus’s power tangle with mine, growing warmer inside my chest. When the crystal dimmed back to a clear white, I knew our powers were intertwined. My heart beat strongly.
I lowered the scepter and studied Seph. His eyelids lay closed. His chest no longer rose and fell with his breaths.
Chel placed her hand to his cheek. He didn’t move. “This better work,” she warned.
I swallowed, trying to get accustomed to the amount of power running through my veins. If this was what two elemental’s magic felt like, how would four feel?
I stepped up to the next empty cube and managed, “You’re turn.”
Chel watched me closely as she lay down between the glass walls.
“Ready?” I asked her.
She licked her lips. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I did to her as I did to Seph. The crystal turned sapphire blue this time. As I absorbed her power, I felt the call of the ocean, heard the sound of waves. I even tasted the salty sea air. I understood her longing to be near water.
I swayed, nearly toppling over when her power joined with mine. So much power. My skin felt electric.
I hobbled over to Zephyra.
She pressed her lips together and bowed her head. “It was an honour to fight by your side.”
“And yours.”
She offered a sad smile before she lifted herself into the glass coffin.
I held the scepter against her and then pressed, feeling the spike sink into her body. Her lips parted and her eyes widened as the crystal turned ruby red. My power hungered for hers. It would have scared me if it didn’t feel so damned good. The other two elements swirled joyfully, ready to welcome hers. Fire danced through me, lighting me up from the inside. A golden warmth brushed against my nerves. Memories raced through my mind. Memories not my own. The creation of the elements. Our love for the goddess. I felt it all.
The transference complete, I dropped the scepter. I could barely stand. My body didn’t feel like my own. It was too small. The magic wanted freedom. Soon, I told it. I need you to help me, and then you will be free.
‘Who are you talking to?’ a male voice asked.
I grabbed the sides of my head and shot backward. No, it couldn’t be. “Sepheus?” I asked out loud.
‘We’re all here,’ Chel’s voice answered inside my head.
“Oh, I—”
‘Our spirits are with you,’ Phyra proclaimed. ‘You don’t have to do this alone.’
I rubbed my hand over my forehead. “Splendid.” I didn’t know how I’d manage focusing with three voices in my head, plus my own.
‘We’ll try to be quiet,’ Chel said, sensing my worry.
‘Being a woman feels—interesting,’ Seph mused.
I had the sudden urge to roll my eyes, and I knew it came from Chel.
Antarus nickered and pawed at the ice.
“Don’t worry, my guardian friend. I haven’t forgotten about you.” I picked up the scepter and placed it beside Seph’s body. I looked into the unicorn’s golden-brown eyes as he puffed air through his flared nostrils. “Protect them with your life, or… are you alive? Protect them with everything you have.”
He flung his nose out in the air, which I supposed could have been a nod of agreement.
“Thank you.” I spared one look at the magnificent beast from my dreams before I sprinted for the stairs.
Power radiated through me. I didn’t need light to see through the dark. I no longer felt the bruises from my fall, nor did I notice the hunger in my belly. All my weaknesses had melted away. And I knew, with our powers entwined into one, we could defeat Vesirus and send him back to his dark, dead world.
I dashed up the stairs, using air magic to clear the exit of the rubble Ramiel had used to hide the Chamber of Eternal Rest.
The sky had begun to lighten to that awful blood red shade. The Crystalline Palace, a melting block of ice, waited through the macabre courtyard. I strode past the blackened trees, my boots hitting the slush the only sound. The birds I’d loved to whistle along with as a child had either vacated the kingdom, or they’d become food for the demons. If I had to guess, I’d say all the other animals living in the lands surrounding Ventosa had left too.
A guard noticed me and shouted, “Aye! Where do you think you’re going?” His eyes glowed brighter as I came close enough for him to take in my scent. “Creature of Celestia!” His hand shot out for his sword, but not before I scorched him with a river of flames.
I let the fire go out, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ashes.
“Thank you, Phyra,” I muttered under my breath.
‘My power feels stronger,’ she replied.
“Yes. Our powers are stronger together.” I repeated the words Ramiel had once said to me. I moved onward, nearing the palace entrance.
A pair of guards armed themselves and stalked toward me. I levelled them with more scorching flames. My spark squealed with glee inside my chest. No one could stop me from getting to Vesirus. No one could stop us.
Still, they tried.
A winged demon, much like the one that’d captured me and Phyra, dove through the air, aiming for me. I called on the earth magic, and two thick vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around its wings.
The demon crashed to the ground like a giant bat shooting from the sky. It snarled and snapped its jaws at me, wishing for my death.
I cocked my head, staring into its pure orange eyes. “Not this time.” Another vine whipped from the ground and twisted around its neck. I clenched my fists as it squeezed harder and harder.
The demon’s forked tongue hung out of a mouth lined with rows of sharp yellow teeth. Its eerie eyes protruded out of its fur covered head.
I gritted my teeth, pulling the vines tighter until blood gushed out of its neck and coated the fur on its chest. Tendons broke and muscle tore. I didn’t stop until the demon’s head lay at my feet.
Both satisfaction and revulsion swept through me. “That’s disgusting.”
‘But effective,’ Seph pointed out.
I lifted my gaze. Hordes of demons and guards had come out of the palace to witness the commotion. They prepared to attack as they realized an enemy had just slain some of their own.
I wanted their blood to coat the cobblestones beneath my feet.
I pulled my sword free; the sword Ramiel had gifted me. He believed in me. I could do this.
‘We are with you,’ Phyra assured me.
My battle cry cut through the air as I charged for the creatures pouring from the entrance of my
invaded home.
I swung my Celestian steel against the first sword, knocking the guard who wielded it back.
She recovered and thrust her blade upward, almost catching me under my arm.
I spun and kicked out. My foot connected with her ribs.
I drove my sword through the side of her head before she could regain her balance.
Two more guards came at me.
I struck one with a bolt of fire and sliced the other from belly to heart, spilling his guts before taking his head.
I didn’t recognize my own laugh as three more leaped for me, no four… four and a demon.
I couldn’t take them all with a blade. But I wanted their blood to rain down, so I felt for the water beneath their flesh and I called it forth.
Fountains of scarlet and black burst from their bodies. Their warm, sticky blood coated my skin and clung to my hair. Wiping it from my eyes, I continued forward.
Throngs of the Dark Lord’s creatures fell upon me. I slashed and burned my way through, but there were too many. When one fell, two more struck.
The sharp edges of steel sliced through me. Claws scratched any piece of my body they managed to touch. Teeth snapped against my extremities, leaving bloody indents behind. I felt none of it. It was as though I’d grown numb to pain. Even so, I didn’t know how much my body could take regardless of the magic keeping it moving.
I fought my way inside the palace to the main floor. One against many. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t experienced it myself.
The air cooled as I brought my own elemental power forth. Ice coated the broken tiles on the floor and crystallized the blood pooling around our feet. I drained the space of air, and the possessed guards halted to gasp for breath. The demons were unaffected. They were creatures of death and didn’t need air.
But with the guards out of my way, my odds of winning tilted in my favour.
“Auralina! Come to me!” Vesirus’s voice slithered through the palace, beckoning me like some sort of sweet indulgence.
A force of dark power slammed against me, causing me to lose grip on my control.
Air filled the guard’s hungry, burning lungs. They narrowed in on me.
Their Dark Lord cut them off before they could counter. “Bring her to me.”
Every one of them stopped in their tracks, demons and guards alike. He had them all under his complete control.
A man with the same glowing eyes as the others moved forward. But the pale shade of his hair… the arrogant smile... it seemed so familiar.
“Princess Auralina,” he drawled, forcefully taking me by the wrist. “My Lord wishes your presence.”
It all came rushing back to me when he spoke my name. “Vidar. I see you’ve found a master to suit your vile needs.”
“We could have ruled together, you and I. But you threw it all away for the inside of a tower. The predicament you find yourself in… the death you’ve placed upon your people… it’s entirely your fault.”
‘Don’t listen to him,’ Chel bade.
‘It is not your fault,’ Phyra added.
I knew they spoke the truth. I wouldn’t let my past haunt me. We’d come so close.
“Take me to Vesirus. He’s the one I’ve come for.”
His lips twisted as he pulled me closer. “My pleasure.”
The creatures followed us through the ruined palace and up the stairs to the Lunar Room.
The door swung open of its own accord. The sky above the glass ceiling washed the circular room in shades of scarlet.
I didn’t feel any fear since I’d absorbed the others’ powers, until I looked upon the Dark Lord in his true form. There are no words to describe the Lord of Darkness, the emptiness he promised. Two solid silver eyes watched me, empty of emotion. His body shifted shape each time I blinked, from one nightmare to another. Somehow, I knew if I touched him, oblivion awaited me. It would be so easy to give in, to sink into that abyss and cease to exist. The thrall; that was the danger of being in his presence. He ruled the world of darkness, and the void would always be his true home. I could see why his creatures worshipped him. They longed to be turned into nothing.
‘It’s not worth it.’
Huh?
‘The darkness,’ Sepheus tried again. ‘It’s not worth your heart. Believe me. It almost swallowed me whole once. Don’t give into temptation.’
His words cut through to my heart. The other elementals were counting on me. Even he, the one who’d always had a smart mouth. It wasn’t only my own life in jeopardy. My realm would suffer if I surrendered.
My sister hung from the ceiling, painted with moons and stars, in her cage. She sat on her knees, her thinning face pressed to the bars. I didn’t dare meet her gaze.
Vidar bowed to the Dark Lord. “Here is the one you seek.”
I ripped my wrist from his grip and tilted my face to look into Vesirus’s haunted eyes. “I will not allow you to take this world.”
Whispering laughs encircled me, the Dark Lord’s chilling voice swirling around my head and invading my ears. “Too late. Sarantoa is mine.”
“You’re wrong.”
He rose up, his shifting body elongating until his head nearly reached the ceiling. His limbs spread out like a thick, black fog, reaching for me. “Try to take it from me.”
I edged backward, afraid to let him touch me... afraid of the death calling to me. “You don’t know the kind of power I possess.”
“I know you have combined all of the elemental powers,” his voice hissed and boomed at the same time. “It’s not enough. You cannot defeat a god.”
“You’re dead,” a chorus of voices hissed.
We’ll enjoy sucking the meat from your bones!” his creatures hounded me, smacking their lips together.
I raised my chin and smiled at my enemy. “You’re wrong.”
I sent a blast of flames at him. I put everything into the river of fire I shoved toward him. My spark ignited with Zephyra’s power. When that didn’t work, I combined mine and Chel’s magic. Pellets of ice showered Vesirus, but they dissipated as they hit his ever-changing form.
“Zephyra,” he purred. “Tell me, did you enjoy killing your mother?”
I felt the fire elemental shrink inside of me.
“She can’t hear you,” I lied.
He ignored me. “Chelela. How I enjoyed turning your king against you. You know, it was so easy to get him to accept my offer once he lost his wife. It humours me to think he believed I’d let him rule your realm.”
The blood in my veins turned to ice. “He was weak, and I’m glad he’s dead.”
I bristled. Chel! Those weren’t my words. Her anger gave her enough strength to control my mouth.
‘I’m not sorry,’ she admitted.
Some of the anger seeped away as I regained control.
“And Sepheus,” the Dark Lord went on. “I’ve seen the darkness in your heart. It would be so much easier to give in.”
The earth elemental kept his silence, and I knew why. Darkness may have once infected his heart, but no longer. Nothing but light filled his spark.
My lips curved up in defiance, Chel’s move.
“Your pathetic attempts to weaken us won’t work,” I spoke for the four of us.
“No, but this might.” He extended one of his claw-tipped limbs toward the cage holding my sister. “I know what she did to you. You remained locked in that tower because of her. She was queen. She could have released you, but she chose to forget you instead.”
“No, no, no,” Star shook her head back and forth like a mad woman.
“Consider her my gift to you. She took your crown. Now, you may take her life.”
“No, no. Please, please! I never meant for any of it to happen,” she begged, her tear-filled eyes pinned on me.
I ignored her. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Do you?” he hissed.
“Yes, and it won’t work.” I readied my power, but Vesirus stopped me.
&n
bsp; “Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. If you won’t kill her, then I will.” He turned his attention on her, sliding off his throne and closer to her cage.
His shadowy tendrils crept closer to the bars. If he touched her, she was dead.
I gathered air and water and surrounded the cage with a thick sheet of ice before he could touch her.
His growl shook the walls and almost knocked me off my feet.
I had no time to waste. I hurled more fire at him, but he wasn’t corporal. The flames passed through him.
“I tire of your foolish attempts. Adelaide!” he called.
The Queen of Solis stepped out from the throng of creatures surrounding the throne. She wore an obsidian gown covered in a silver web-like pattern. Her long golden hair spilled wildly over her shoulders. Phyra barely recognized the cousin she loved so dearly. My heart raced at the thought of what he might do to her.
His fog-like form swept around her, careful not to touch her delicate mortal skin. “Kill her,” he ordered his queen.
Adelaide turned her glowing eyes on me and took up the sword resting beside the silver and diamond throne. I recognized that blade. She gripped my Celestian steel in her hands.
My weapon, its twin, sang as I slid it free and prepared to attack.
‘No!’ Phyra pleaded. ‘Please, don’t hurt her!’
I pursed my lips. Fine. Vines shot up from between the mosaicked floor and aimed to pin her wrists down.
But the steel was goddess made. She cut through the vines like they were butter.
I took the defence; blocking, and parrying, and dodging her blows.
Our weapons may have matched, but I had better training. As I feigned to the right, she took the bait, leaving herself wide open.
I disarmed her and successfully bonded with smooth, tough vines.
She struggled against her tethers, the cords in her wrists straining as she tried to claw at them. “I will fulfill my order,” she vowed through clenched teeth. “If it’s the last thing I do.”
I brushed her words off and strapped her sword—my sword—to my back, promising myself I’d return it to Ramiel. I didn’t know how if I was dead, but for some reason I had faith he’d receive it.
‘Thank you.’ Phyra sighed.
The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series Page 93