by Lena Lee
“Where did he go?” Now I was sure I was going to have to kill my father. If he really was the King of Darkness, how was that even possible? Even the original spirits couldn’t kill him and had locked him away instead.
“He went to Earth where Sienna sent his army of demons.”
Chapter 26
I had managed to convince Edrie to stay in Zephyr. There was no longer a safe place for her in Toska, especially with the sanctuary destroyed. With the deaths of the dragons, the protective spells had dissipated. The wolves kindly welcomed her into their caves. They had lost a lot in this war themselves.
“We need to leave as soon as possible.” We were gathered around the long conference table in the training facility. I was pacing at the head of the table with the brothers and Kyra sitting on either side of the table.
With my duties as queen covered, there was nothing stopping me from going to Earth. Although, I would be going regardless. As much as I was starting to fall in love with this world, my life had been molded by Earth and the people there. I couldn’t just leave the remaining human race to face the King of Darkness and his evil demon spawn on their own. Blight did not have the weaponry to kill demons. Neither did Felix.
“What’s your plan?” Rian was the only brother staying behind. I could see the tension in his face over all of his brothers following me to Earth. Even Alex had refused to be left behind, saying we needed a healer. He was probably right.
“Well we don’t exactly know where on Earth he is so we should start in Blight. If he isn’t there then we need to gather resources to fight him. We are going to need Felix’s help on this, they possibly have the weapons. I have the power, but my attention is going to have to be on Sebastian, not the demons. I have a feeling I am the only one who can take him out. We aren’t sure how many demons there are, but there has to be a lot, Sienna spent 20 years releasing dark energy. I doubt she used all of that during our Kyra swap.” I stopped pacing and leaned slightly on the table with my hands. “If things go south, you must leave me behind and save yourselves because he will undoubtedly come back here at some point and you need to be ready.”
They all nodded, except for Rex who had worry written in his eyes. “I won’t leave you behind. I refuse.”
I met his eyes and stared at him for a long time before speaking. This was bigger than us and our soulmate bond. This was the lives of an entire race and possibly Scintilla. “As Queen, you follow my lead.”
“No offence, Your Highness, but what do you know of leading an army or a mission?” He tilted his head to the side. I could feel the challenge seeping through our connection. I didn’t really care, I would deal with it later.
“There’s a reason he wanted a child. I’m that reason, so if shit hits the fan, you will leave me. If you are involved, he will use you against me. We can’t have that happen.” Honestly Rex didn’t have that much combat experience himself since Scintilla was not a warmongering society.
Rex sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He knew I was right, but probably wouldn’t admit it. It was the only way to make sure both worlds were protected. Sebastian wanted something from me, whether that be my life or something to do with my powers was the question of the century.
“What is your plan for Felix? From what you have told me, they are an extremist group and probably won’t take well to being strong armed by outsiders.” Rian and I briefly spoke before the meeting about the importance of not pissing off other leaders. I had a lot to learn about leading, but was certain Rian wouldn’t let me mess up too badly.
“We will go in invisible in case Blight is compromised. I am not sure how Theo will react towards us. He is pretty level headed, but we did just up and leave.” I didn’t need to tell them that Theo already knew I was special and that I had already promised him I’d return. “We leave at dawn. We’ll each take a backpack with food and a change of clothes. I will also be teleporting to Earth ahead of the portal.”
“Why don’t we all just teleport?” Jadan, who had been fairly quiet spoke up.
I shook my head. “I have only teleported with one person and this is much farther than that. I plan on teleporting into my old hovel, that’s where we will open the portal as well.”
“Are you sure you can even teleport that far?” Rex was radiating some fierce worry vibes. I bit my lip and nodded. I hated lying, but I couldn’t exactly tell them about my little trip to Earth now. As much as they claimed to forgive me for killing Wyatt, I could feel that they regarded my words with apprehension.
“I guess we will find out. Let’s get some rest, we might not have the opportunity for a while.” With those words everyone stood and made their way out of the building, leaving Rex and I to further discuss our disagreement.
Without saying a word, he took my hand and I teleported us back to his room, which I guess was more of our room at this point. I spent most of my time here.
As soon as we landed, he pulled me too him and captured my lips in a passionate kiss. He was a bag of mixed emotions. When he finally pulled away, he cupped my face in his hands.
“You frustrate me so much. I don’t want you to feel like all of this is all on your shoulders.” His hands slowly trailed down my neck to my shoulders, then to my hips. “Promise me you won’t just sacrifice yourself.” He lifted me, my legs wrapping around his waist as he made his way to the bed.
I was quiet as we fell onto the bed and he placed light kisses on my jaw before meeting my eyes for my response. Many things had become clear to me over these past few weeks and sometimes self-sacrifice was the only way.
“You know I can’t promise you that. But I can promise you that I will fight as hard as I can to stop that from happening.” He nodded before recapturing my lips as a cocoon of white light encircled us.
Morning came too quickly. I was up before Rex, who snored softly still. I was anxious but resigned to the fact that I was the only one who could stop Sebastian from whatever it was he had planned for Earth. The last thing Earth needed was the King of Darkness destroying what little piece was left of it.
I quickly took a shower before dressing in black cargos, a tank top, and s tactical jacket. I French braided my hair and looked in the mirror. Less than a month ago I had looked in the mirror and thought about how much I didn’t belong in this world. A lot had changed, not just in my appearance but in my soul.
Rex came to stand behind me, putting his hands on my waist and kissing the back of my neck. “You okay?” He looked in the mirror and met my eyes. “Just say the word and we can cancel the whole thing. Go hide in a cave somewhere.”
“Just thinking about everything that’s happened.” I turned and threaded my fingers at the back of his neck. “How patient and loyal you are.” I gently kissed him.
“I love you Mira. You are it for me, as much as you’ve fought me along the way, it’s been worth it.” We might not make it to Earth because my heart was about to explode.
“I love you too. You should get ready. We leave soon.” I left him in the bathroom and finished packing my bag.
There was a soft knock on the door. I opened it and Sara stood in the hallway looking as if she had been awake for hours. I had never once seen her look tired. Whatever coffee she was drinking, I needed some.
“Sara! Is something wrong?” I was surprised to see her this early. She motioned for me to join her in the hall. I stepped out and gently shut the door behind me.
“Everything is fine. I want to give you something.” She held out a locket that was on a chain.
I took it from her and examined it closely. It wasn’t a locket at all. One side was made from what looked like a shiny black rock and the other was clear with a liquid inside of it.
I raised my eyebrows. “What is it?” A part of me hoped it was a necklace that could hold alcohol. I had a feeling I would need some once I was back on Earth.
Sara laughed lightly at the confused expression on my face. She cleared her throat and looked both directio
ns down the hall. “Rian would kill me if he knew I made this for you.” She tapped the pendant. “They hold the power to bring you back from the brink of death. All you need to do it put the pendant in your mouth and your saliva will release them.”
“Them?” I put the chain around my neck and held the pendant up to look at the clear liquid. I then slipped it under my shirt.
“My tears…” At my confused expression she continued, “It’s hard to explain, but my family are the only left of our kind. Only Rian knows about us…” She whispered it so quietly I had to strain to hear all of what she said. My eyes went wide as I stared at her. Apparently, whatever she was, had magical tears. I had officially seen it all now.
“Thank you.” I gave her a hug. “I won’t tell anyone.” I had so many questions, but now wasn’t the time.
After eating breakfast and gathering our bags and weapons, we made our way to the courtyard where Kyra and I had first entered this world. I had learned more about portals since being here. The royal descendants could make them between worlds. Over the years, there had been exploration to other planets as well. Earth wasn’t the only planet with life but was the only one worth visiting.
“I guess I’ll see you all in a few minutes?” I squeezed Rex’s hand and stepped away from the group so no one could touch me. The last thing we needed was someone being ripped apart teleporting.
I could still feel Rex’s worry as I landed in my hovel but it was faint. Our connection was still there but it was very faint, I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t already felt it. Maybe it had been there all along and I just never noticed.
It was very quiet, my hovel as I left it the last time I had been here. It wasn’t even that long ago, but something felt amiss.
It was early morning, faint light filtering through the slats on the shutters and under the door. I cracked the door slightly, just enough to see out. The alleyway was empty. I opened the door further and popped my head out. It was eerily quiet and empty, too quiet. I shut the door.
It had been several minutes since I teleported in and a portal hadn’t opened yet. Rex still felt far away.
Damn them, had they changed their minds? I let out a frustrated sigh and waited. I instinctually knew I didn’t have the energy to teleport that far again at the moment, but already felt my energy returning.
Our connection felt a very small amount stronger but still seemed distant. Maybe the portal took longer, no one had mentioned there was a time delay, but maybe no one was aware.
There was no use in wasting time, Kyra would know where I went. I left out the door, leaving my backpack on my bed. No one was around, had Theo already moved everyone into the city? I half expected a note to be left when that happened.
Something was wrong here. There was no sign of life, but also no sign of death. It was like everyone had disappeared.
“Theo?” I called out, keeping myself to the shadows and slowly making my way towards his house. I badly wanted to conceal myself but needed to conserve my energy in case I needed it.
The door was slightly cracked. I should wait for the others, but they were still far away. I stood to the side of the door and pushed it open with my hand, expecting something to come flying out at me. Nothing.
“Isabella.” The voice came from the other side of the hub. He was here.
“Where are they?” I turned to face him. I pulled my knife out of its sheath. A knife wouldn’t kill him, but it gave me a small piece of comfort.
“I assume they ran. Wouldn’t you?” He snapped his fingers and I heard growling to my left. My head snapped in that direction to see a large pack of night beasts approaching. They were worse that I had remembered. Their skin was the same inky black as the demons and their jaws dripped something thick and green. They seemed even more possessed than they had previously.
“What is it you want?” I slowly moved to my right. I was tempted to teleport back to my hovel but needed to know the answer.
“Join me.” He said it with so little emotion I wasn’t sure if that’s what he really wanted. “You, my child, have their essence in you for a reason. Together we will build a world that is ours.”
The reason I had the five spirits essence probably wasn’t for what he was thinking. I didn’t know much about what my purpose was, but I knew it wasn’t to bring hell to Earth.
“Their essence?” The beasts had stopped approaching but had formed a line between me and Sebastian. A line wouldn’t protect him if I decided to teleport. I was no match for him at the moment though, so I refrained.
“They locked me away because I was what they called a petulant child,” he scoffed as if the memory brought him a great deal of annoyance. “In all those centuries I had a lot of time to figure out a plan to escape and harness my power. As soon as the prison weakened, I made a break for it. I have Earth to thank for that. I waited a long time for an energy manipulator to come along, and she was practically handed to me on a golden platter! I swept her right off her feet and manipulated her into thinking she couldn’t carry a child.”
Something similar to regret crossed his face. My stomach clinched at this. Wyatt had said they had conceived but she hadn’t been able to carry to term. The amount of pain he had caused her made me suddenly regret having so much hatred for her.
He continued as my heart gave a shudder. “So desperate and so completely trusting. It was very easy to mask myself as a sorcerer and swear her to a blood oath to release the demons. Then…” He got a wistful look on his face. “On that beautiful night when you were conceived, I spelled her to draw in the essence of the very creators!” He sounded manic as he detailed my conception. “Of course, not everything went exactly as planned, but here we are, right where I want us to be.”
“What about the dragons… they were your friends. You slaughtered them!”
He shrugged his shoulders and a wistful look passed across his face. “I wasn’t going to kill them since they pose no threat to me outside of Scintilla. They tried to stop me from taking your egg.”
“Well if it’s my egg, I want it back.” I took a step towards him and the demented wolves growled, black drool running off their canines. They smelled like rotten meat.
“You can have it back when you join me. The dragon will do your bidding no matter what side you’re on.”
“You think I’m going to join you? I think your plan to have me be your evil minion didn’t pan out very well, father.” I spat the final word out.
With my answer he let out a frustrated sigh. “You will, if not today, eventually. There’s a darkness yet awakened in you Isabella. You are my daughter after all. In any case, I don’t have time to waste, I’m about 20 years behind schedule thanks to the little detour Dorian took us on.” He scoffed and gestured to his surroundings. “This world is far from the desolate wastelands I had hoped it was by now. I must be on my way to remedy that before we begin rebuilding it.” He gave me an empathetic look before disappearing.
The beasts turned their full attention on me then. Had there been demons here all along? I wasn’t aware that demons could possess, but I should have known anything was possible.
“I’m friends with wolves you know, we can be friends, can’t we?” I looked at the biggest one who let out a snarl that sent a shudder down my spine. “Well it’s been great seeing you all again!” I teleported back to the hovel as the first one lunged. Great, now the crazy wolves were also out during the day.
I plopped down on the bed and ran my hands over my face. How was I going to destroy Sebastian when he had demons surrounding him?
The connection between Rex and I was still weak. A sense of dread washed over me. Where were they?
“Edrie, Earth to Edrie.” A brief moment of humor never hurt anyone.
“It works, amazing!” Her voice wasn’t as clear as it usually was, but was at least there. Before leaving we had discussed the possibility of the connection still exiting between worlds and if it did, she would be the communication between us and
Rian.
“I need you to tell Rian that the portal is not open and Rex seems far away. He doesn’t seem to be moving closer, but I can’t get a read on his emotions from this distance. There is no one in Blight, so I am going to go into the city to see what I can find out.”
“That is peculiar. Stay safe.” Edrie cut the connection and I sat in the silence of the dim room that had once been my home.
What was in store for Earth was clear. There was no longer a question of what Sebastian was up to. He planned on destroying Earth with or without me. If without me meant I died trying to stop him, then that was a sacrifice I was willing to make.