Apparently, the change in clarity that Angst had enjoyed had the opposite effect on Alloria. He gently detached the young woman to see Victoria glaring over her shoulder. Rather than apologizing to one princess and begging the other to stop, he held Alloria at arm’s length and looked into her eyes.
“You did it, Alloria,” Angst said. “You saved us. Because of you, I can save my family.”
“I did?” she asked, twirling a lock of sweaty hair. “I don’t remember.”
“It’s okay,” Angst said, pulling her into a hug. “You did good.”
When his eyes met Victoria’s again, he saw sadness. She understood that something was very wrong with her cousin, and while that gaze wasn’t forgiveness, it was a start.
“Angst,” Sean called out, “help.”
Angst whipped around to see the young man wrapped in shadowy tendrils, pulling him back through their escape. Simon leaped for his brother, grasping his hands as they were both pulled back into Gyldorane.
“No,” Angst shouted, wielding both swords and storming in after them.
On the other side of the shield, the angry red and blue lightning from his foci revealed the brothers hanging mid-air. The Cursed held them by their necks and leaned forward to sniff his meal.
“Let them go,” Angst said. “Please let them go. You can have me instead.”
“No,” he said. “I will have you all.”
The Cursed let go, and trailing wisps of shadow escaped the brothers as their bodies fell to the ground. The dark echoes of Sean and Simon’s faces screamed in silent horror until they were consumed by the giant monster. Angst staggered back, and then again, staring at the still corpses of two men who’d come to stop him. They had become zyn’ight to protect Unsel, and had chased Angst to save Ehrde. They were heroes.
“Delicious,” the shadow monster said, reaching for Angst. “More.”
Angst backed through the vines as a fury grew inside. It was the rage he’d felt when Fire killed his family, the anger that blinded him when Hector was killed, the loss he’d felt when Moyra died. That rage and anger and loss drew more power from his swords than he could handle…but he wouldn’t need to handle it for long.
“Angst, the brothers, are they…?” Victoria asked. “Angst?”
“Run,” Angst said.
As his friends scrambled away, Angst combined elements—all of them. He wrapped the entire city in a ball of water from the stream far below and a thick layer of earth. Fire came from his unmitigated rage, and Angst shook as he poured it into the city. Air from inside fed his flames and exploded, cracking the ball. His head pounded and the swords blared for him to stop, but it wasn’t enough, the anger was still there. With a deep breath, he forced the city-sized ball to compress.
The brothers deserved to live. The ball shrank. His family deserved to live. It shrank more. This was his fault. And more. No one would die to this monster again.
“Angst,” Victoria said, placing a hand on his arm. “It’s done.”
He let go and the grapefruit-sized ball that was Gyldorane fell into a newly formed crater. Angst collapsed and wept like a baby. Victoria was there, holding him close and rocking.
“I tried to save them,” he said. “I should’ve died, not them.”
“It’s not your fault, Angst,” she said, patting the back of his head. “We will finish this together. When this is done, you’ll either save everyone, or we will mourn them like heroes.”
“Wow, I’m not sure I could’ve done that,” Magic said, slow clapping as he looked over the crater.
The element stood between an open portal and Alloria, who held the horn foci close. Angst leaped up with his arms outstretched, ready to kill Magic with his bare hands. The element blew him a kiss that threw him back in a gust of wind.
“Oh my, destroying that mage city must’ve taken a lot out of you,” he said. A ball of lightning formed in his hand, so bright it was impossible to look at. “I should take the opportunity and end this now.”
“Good idea,” Rose said, as she blurred past Magic, slicing deep into his face with her dagger.
“Al’eyrn,” Magic cried out, grabbing his cheek.
A dribble of night sky fell from his face and landed on the ground. Grass and flowers sprouted from Magic’s blood before withering and dying. The element looked on in horror.
“Fine,” Magic said, grasping Alloria by her hair. “This will be over in minutes.”
“Never again,” Alloria screamed.
The princess spun around, striking the element with the horn again and again. Rose rushed over and sliced across his stomach with both blades of her foci. Magic crouched down and abruptly stretched out. Alloria and Rose were knocked into the air, both landing hard ten feet away.
“Fine,” Magic said, wiping his cheek with the back of a hand. “Plan B.”
Looking at Angst with a malicious grin, he slipped through the portal and it closed with a pop.
44
It took several sleepless nights before Angst was ready to speak to anyone. He’d almost drowned in the raw power he’d summoned to crush the mage city. It left him with bone-deep fatigue that had squeezed out his very will. While the exhaustion would eventually pass, his fear might never truly go away. The haunting image of the brothers pleading in silent screams would take longer to bury than Gyldorane.
Almost more frightening was what he had done to the city. What had he done to the city? Aerella and Jaden’s warnings that he would go mad and split Ehrde in half had always made him laugh in disbelief. But it wasn’t funny anymore. Whether it be living elements, Viveks, or an Al’eyrn with two swords glued to his back, nobody should be able to wield the raw power he had. All Angst had wanted was to be a hero, a knight in shining armor. City crushing was never part of the deal.
On their slow trek to Prendere, everyone gave him the space he needed. He couldn’t tell if they kept their distance out of respect, or fear, or their own need to mourn. The weariness in their faces and the tension in their shoulders mirrored his own.
A part of him wanted to rally the troops and help everyone find the hope they needed. Victoria took charge before that concern weighed on him for long, either keeping people busy or giving them space. Even more surprising, she’d taken Alloria underwing. After a change into less revealing clothes, Alloria spent time being healed by Rose or answering Dallow and Victoria’s questions.
On the third night, they sat around the campfire and compared trips to the mage city.
“I’m guessing you had Sean send that bird to guide me back?” Rose asked.
“I did, though it was your choice to follow,” Victoria said. “Just in time, too.”
“Thank you,” Rose said.
“Angst,” Dallow said. “When did you figure out the tiara had a memndus stone?”
“Just outside The Fette. Alloria threw it to the ground,” Angst said. “When I handed it back, she mentioned it was a gift from Tori. That’s when I put it together. Smart.” Angst nodded to his friend in respect.
“Thank you,” Dallow said, with a gentle smile.
“I miss my tiara,” Alloria said, crossing her arms.
“I’ll get you a new one, honey,” Victoria said. “Every princess deserves a tiara.”
“Okay,” Alloria said, her irritation washed away.
“Why didn’t you leave the tiara behind at The Fette?” Mirim asked.
“Victoria wouldn’t have given up so easily,” Angst said. “It was a way to keep you safe without letting you get too close. Had we met up, you would have wanted to fight, and that would have attracted every war band straight to us.”
“We were almost killed by Berfemmian,” Rose snapped. “How is that keeping us safe?”
“I couldn’t have known about the Berfemmian,” Angst said. “When I faced Marisha, she seemed to be fighting whatever had changed her. I didn’t realize it had affected all of them until Magic explained that Faeoris was Al’eyrn.”
“What?” Jaden
asked
“When Fire killed her, she left behind a golden feather. It was a foci that gave the Berfemmian their wings,” Angst said. “Magic forced Marisha to bond with it. Like Niihlu, it didn’t go well.”
“In my future, we call them Angorian harpies,” Jaden said. “They don’t get less dangerous over time.”
“Something else to fix,” Angst said with a sigh. “Any other dangers I should know about?”
“We were chased by a dragon,” Rose said, peering at him. “And don’t forget almost being trampled by Nordruaut.”
Angst met eyes with Dallow and Victoria, and the three laughed. Like removing the cork on pent-up anxiety, everyone joined in. Everyone but Rose.
“Now I feel stupid,” she said, her cheeks as red as her name. “Want to let me in?”
“Angst set it all up to protect us,” Victoria said. “I heard tribesmen laughing when the dragon chased us from that clearing. A gamlin warned us to run before the Nordruaut arrived. We walked through the aftermath of a battle between Fulk'han and harpies only to spend a night getting drunk with merpeople.”
“Love me some merpeeps,” Angst said, raising an eyebrow.
“Speaking of,” Dallow said, pulling an aged bottle of Aberbrou from his satchel. “I wasn’t sure if this was a good time.”
“It’s the best time,” Angst said, licking his lips. He grabbed for it like a toddler reaching for cake. After uncorking the bottle with his teeth, he took several long draws.
“How is this a good time?” Mirim asked. “Shouldn’t we be in a hurry?”
“Nope,” Angst said. “No one can gfet into Prendere without Alloria’s horn.”
“Yay,” she said, patting the silver foci in her lap.
“For the first time ever,” Dallow said, taking the bottle back and drinking, “War waits for us.”
“Good,” Victoria said with a nod. “My army needs that time to get there, it’ll be close.”
“Uh, how much Aberbrou do you have?” Angst asked.
Mirim, Nikkola, Victoria, Jaden, and Rose all pulled out two full bottles of the delicious brew.
“Apparently the bottles don’t break,” Nikkola said, opening hers and chugging a good portion. “I’m glad you said something. I needed that.”
“Better allies than enemies,” Angst said, raising Dallow’s bottle to toast.
“You made friends along the way,” Victoria said.
“I tried,” he said. “A tribesman named SMyket warned us of the warbands and said he’d be willing to help. I met a young Fulk’han named Teesha and tried convincing her that we shouldn’t be enemies. And, you’ve met Lyda of the merpeople. None of them want this war. They give me hope.”
“Don’t forget the twins,” Alloria said. “I loved dancing with Bella and Karina. They are so beautiful.”
“What?” Jaden asked, sputtering out drink. “They were here?”
“Yes, I’ve seen them several times,” Angst said. “Karina was concerned for you.”
“This is bad,” Jaden said, corking his bottle and standing.
“Why?” Angst asked.
“They’re from my future.” Jaden covered his mouth and looked at Victoria. “If they’re here, does that mean my future is inevitable? Does that mean I have to—”
“No,” Victoria said firmly. “It absolutely does not.”
The two stared at each other, their faces painted with concern.
Angst cleared his throat to interrupt the gaze. “This is sharing time now.” He handed the bottle back to Dallow and stood before Jaden. Placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder, he said, “Please, tell us.”
“I was sent back in time to kill you,” Jaden said, swallowing hard.
“Oh,” Angst said, removing his hand and taking a step back.
Jaden sniffed deeply and smiled at his reaction.
“Who sent you?” Angst asked.
“I did,” Victoria said.
“Right,” Angst said. He took Dallow’s bottle and drank until it was empty. “Go on.”
“I found a message from Victoria,” Jaden said. “She was the one who told me to come back. In those messages, she ordered me to kill you before you destroyed everything.”
Dallow let out a low whistle.
“That’s why you kept calling him a liar?” Rose asked.
“I would never tell anyone to harm you, Angst,” she said. “I couldn’t believe you’d destroy Ehrde. Nobody has that sort of power, but after what we just saw at Gyldorane, I’m starting to believe Jaden.”
“Bottle,” Angst said, dropping the empty in his hand.
Nikkola hugged hers like a newborn, but Mirim leaned forward to share.
Angst took it and drank slowly as things were starting to numb a bit too much. “And I thought Aerella hopping around time gave me headaches.”
“How did you get to our time?” Nikkola asked.
“The twins brought him,” Angst said.
Jaden looked at Angst with wide eyes.
“It’s not only how they appear and disappear. They knew you, and they know m…” Angst grimaced. “It’s not going to happen like that.”
“Tell him the rest,” Victoria said.
“No,” Angst said, chopping at the air with his hand. “Sharing time is over.”
“Why not?” Jaden asked.
“Because it’s pointless,” Angst said. “That’s a future that will not exist. I won’t let it.”
“Is it pointless?” Jaden asked. “Victoria believes that by being here I’ve already affected time. But if the twins are still visiting from my future, doesn’t that make it inevitable?”
They all looked at Angst. He took that moment to hide behind a bottle while emptying it.
“It’s not decided yet, Jaden,” Dallow said, steepling two fingers and pressing them against his chin. “A table Nikkola and I found at the library showed a lot of different possible futures. It reminded me of how you’ve explained your power, Your Highness.”
“Which barely seems to work,” Victoria said in frustration.
“The table wasn’t hindered by Al’eyrn or emotional ties,” Dallow said with an understanding nod. “I don’t believe it would’ve shown other possible futures if none existed.”
“True,” Jaden said, reluctantly.
“The worst future we saw was Magic winning,” Nikkola said. “There isn’t enough mermaid booze to make that memory go away.”
Dallow looked forlornly at his empty bottle, and Nikkola offered hers.
“Thanks,” he said with a wink. He raised the bottle. “So we help Angst, and hope for the best.”
Rose stood while everyone toasted. “I’m going to get more wood,” she said. “I need to make dinner.”
“I’ll help,” Dallow said, following her.
“Don’t bother,” she snapped. “I’m fine on my own.”
After twenty minutes of drinking, stories, and drinking, Dallow waved him over from the edge of the woods. Angst tipsily pushed himself up and set both swords on his back. He followed his tall friend until they were several minutes out of earshot.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“I think one of us was supposed to go after Rose,” Dallow said with a wince.
“Pretty sure that’s your job,” Angst said. “Are you two okay?”
“Probably not,” Dallow said. “But we can deal with that after all of this.”
“That’s not the only reason you waved me over,” Angst said.
“It’s the future,” Dallow said around a thick tongue. “It’s not good.”
“Oh,” Angst said. “How does it play out?”
“You probably didn’t know this, but I can juggle,” Dallow said. “Three balls if I’m sober, four if I’m drunk.”
“Really?” Angst asked. “I need to see this.”
“The next time I see you dance,” Dallow said with a wink. “I can handle three, maybe four futures—but I saw hundreds. Most ended with Magic swirling Ehrde into a bowl o
f rainbow porridge.”
“After what he did to the Fulk’han,” Angst said. “I can only imagine.”
“My point is that you’re our only hope,” Dallow said, his face wrenching in pain. “But…”
“That doesn’t sound like a good but,” Angst said.
“No.” Dallow shook his head for a long time, listing slightly. He finally looked up with tear-filled eyes. “No matter how many of your futures I saw, they all ended at Prendere. All of them. The table showed your life in a series of straight lines that just stopped.”
“Hey,” Angst said. “It’s okay. We talked about this. Going back in time is going to kill me. But it’s like starting over, right?”
“Sure,” Dallow said, tears streaming from his eyes. “Losing Hector was the hardest thing I’ve gone through. You’re my oldest friend. If this goes wrong, I just… I’m going to miss the felk out of you.”
They embraced like only old friends can. When hidden tears and catching breaths passed, Angst grabbed the back of his neck.
“We’re not done yet, old friend,” Angst said, clearing his throat. “You didn’t see all the futures, and we’re far too young and beautiful to die just yet.”
“Right,” Dallow said, wiping tears from his eyes.
“Hey,” Angst said. “We’ve broken all the rules so far. Why stop now?”
Dallow looked up.
“All my life I’ve been told what I can’t do,” Angst said. “I can’t be a knight because I wield magic. I’m too old, too short, and too fat to be a hero. And here we are, Dallow. We’ve accomplished the amazing and are on the verge of the impossible. I won’t give up if you don’t.”
“Not for a second,” Dallow said, pulling back and gathering himself. “I think I’m going to go finish one of those bottles.”
“Save me some,” Angst said. “In case I survive Rose.”
“No promises,” Dallow said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder.
Rose sat cross-legged in the middle of a new clearing. Her two daggers rested at each side, glowing brightly enough to reveal their surroundings. Six or more trees had fallen away from her, as though trying to escape. A fresh, clean cut at each base could only have been made by an angry Al’eyrn.
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