The Sixth Gate

by K T Munson

  “Elsa! Where are you, my girl?” Malthael called, and he sounded blissfully close.

  The owl screeched as it flew overhead, gliding almost silently on the air. Glancing back at the panther as he sat inside the ring of flowers with Nanette, his tail flicking, the owl watched her. Unwilling to return and listen to what Nanette was saying, she ran from the soft green grass into an area filled with trees raining red leaves. It reminded her of the Netherworld, specifically the trees in Morhaven, but it was no place she had ever seen.

  She stopped running when she saw Ki sitting on a rock by a lake. She hesitantly walked up to him, happy to see him despite herself. He was meditating with his legs crossed and sat completely still. When she reached the rock, she leaned forward toward him, her right hand slowly reaching toward him.

  The moment her left hand touched the rock, he turned back to her and said, “I’ve always accepted you as you are.”

  “I know,” Elisabeth replied, pulling her fingers back. “As I’ve accepted you.”

  “You need to accept yourself,” Ki told her, waving toward the water. “Kerrigan and Jinq were saved because of you. You must accept what has happened.”

  “It’s too hard,” she replied, her voice pitched low as she looked down. “So much has happened, and I don’t want to deal with anything else.”

  “You have to,” Ki said, touching her under her chin to make her raise her head.

  Elisabeth took a step back and Ki stopped moving. Cav, the owl, landed on his shoulder, and Ki turned around to return to meditating. Elisabeth spared him one final glance before she turned and continued through the forest. Without owls or panthers to guide her, she followed her instinct.

  “Elsa,” Malthael called, his voice sounding airy, “come here.”

  Elisabeth stopped when she saw the door in the middle of the woods. It was carved with the image of poppies around a sliver of a moon. She touched the door, her fingers running over the image as she reached for the knob with her other hand. The door handle turned, and she pushed it open as white light washed over her.

  She sat on the floor in Malthael’s study as he smoked a small pipe. The room was filled with the smell as the fire burned. She glanced up and saw that it was winter outside, with frost obscuring the windows. He was reading a book but paused when Elisabeth continued to stare at him.

  “There you are, my girl,” he said softly, taking the pipe from his mouth. “Where has my little Elsa been?”

  “Lost,” Elisabeth managed, feeling like a little girl again.

  “Have you found yourself?” Malthael asked with an all-knowing smile.

  “Why did you lie?” she asked, ignoring his question, “All my life you’ve never lied even when you should have, but you did now. Why?”

  “You know why,” Malthael said before puffing on the pipe. Rings circled up from the opening.

  “You wanted to protect me,” Elisabeth replied without hesitation. Her protection had driven him to do mad things, including becoming Malthael, the Mad Dog. He had foregone an eternal life to guarantee her continued existence. He had become her surrogate family after her mother had died.

  “He accepted us, but you don’t.”

  Elisabeth stood and turned to face herself. Unlike Elisabeth, who kept her hair up, Elsariel left her blond hair loose, and her face was set in a mischievous grin. It was eerie staring at herself; it made her hair stand on end.

  “I almost killed a boy the last time you made an appearance,” Elisabeth said.

  “He deserved it,” Elsariel replied. “You were just afraid.”

  Elisabeth swallowed the sudden excess of saliva in her mouth. She wanted to run back to the frozen wasteland and hide. Elisabeth’s breathing increased, and it felt like her chest was being crushed. She fought for air.

  “Coward,” Elisariel mocked.

  Pushing down the tears, Elisabeth felt a sudden fire in her belly. “You have no right to call me that. If I’d let you have your way—your impulsive, wild way—we’d be dead. Ki’s blade would have worked.”

  Elsariel put her hands on her hips. “You don’t know that.”

  “I do. All of my counterparts on the other planets are dead because they let their other halves out. I wanted nothing to do with you.” Elisabeth pointed her finger accusingly.

  “You wanted nothing to do with our father,” Elsariel corrected her. “His hatred made you push me away.”

  “You wanted to push the rules, break them even. Malthael made those rules for a reason.” She was yelling now and couldn’t seem to get control. The words were pouring out of her unchecked.

  Elsariel stepped right up to her. “That is what I am. In pushing me away, you buried your gifts. They are bare illusions of what you could do. The Black King is right. We could rule this place. Our father may have taken our mother, but he left us with his power.” Elsariel tapped a finger against Elisabeth’s chest. “Combined with that shard and the sudden fluctuation in the balance because we are the last of our kind, we are as powerful as if we were a full Soul Collector. Only better because we can pull life force from the living.”

  “That is all you care about.” Elisabeth pushed her back to break their connection. “Power!”

  “How else are we to protect them?” Elsariel shouted back.

  That made Elisabeth pause. She blinked in surprise. “Protect who?”

  “You may have buried me, but I’ve always been there.” Elsariel shook her head. “Malthael is our father, adopted or otherwise. He is everything to us. He accepted me even when you wouldn’t.”

  Elisabeth looked back at the frozen Malthael. Tears welled in her eyes. She wanted nothing to do with what her father was, but Elsariel was right. Malthael was their father. Her papa. Elisabeth felt a hand on top of hers, and she looked over at a mirror of herself as a child. The child version of herself looked hopeful as she smiled. Elisabeth realized this was the part of her she had rejected as a child. This was what Elsariel had started out from and now only wanted to become whole.

  “I’m the reason he calls you Elsa,” the girl whispered, her eyes full of hope and longing.

  “I’m sorry,” Elisabeth said, drawing the girl into her arms. “I should never have abandoned you.”

  Her little arms wrapped around Elisabeth as she whispered, “I know, I understand.”

  “Can you ever forgive me?” Elisabeth asked as tears welled in her eyes and she closed them.

  “I already have,” the younger version of herself replied.

  She took in a breath and opened her eyes. She was standing in a field in Hystera. In front of her the Black King was talking to Ra. She had all of Elsariel’s memories because now they were her memories. Better yet, she felt twice as in control and twice as powerful as before. She couldn’t help but to feel her lips curl up in anticipation as she glanced down at the palm of her hand. It was high time she set everything right.

  Chapter 64: Hystera

  Ki and Malthael crept through the woods with Nanette close behind. She had stubbornly refused to be left behind with Elisabeth in danger. If it weren’t so perilous, Ki might have admired her determination. Yet when they reached the woods it didn’t seem like a lot was happening beyond the Black King and Elisabeth talking. The two demon dogs were in their spirit form out ahead ready to warn them if any danger was ahead.

  “Should we distract him?” Nanette whispered.

  Ki was about to respond when Malthael stopped dead. Ki nearly ran into him and was about to say something when he saw the seriousness of his expression. His hand was up, and he was looking out into the field. He saw Elisabeth crossing the field with a look he had never seen on her.

  “She’s whole,” Malthael whispered softly. “I can feel her power.”

  The Black King looked up as the wind started to swirl. It caught speed as he lifted his hands and Elisabeth put a hand up to stop his attack. Suddenly, Ki felt something tickle his stomach. He opened his mouth as part of his life force was drawn out of him. The same ha
ppened to Malthael and Nanette, lines of blue leaving them. Every villager and Black Council had their life force drawn out of them as well, and it was all placed into Elisabeth.

  “You betray me so easily, Elsariel,” the Black King called to her, his face shadowed with contempt.

  “My name is Elisabeth,” she called back as the wind swirled tighter just behind her, “and it is high time you returned to Croatoan.”

  “You can’t defeat me,” he laughed. “I am the Black King.”

  “I can’t defeat you alone,” Elisabeth called as the wind stopped and the swirl of air settled. “But I expect we can.”

  Arawn stepped out of the circle as it settled. His black elk-like antlers and the bow across his chest made him imposing sight as he stood tall behind Elisabeth. Her heavy black dress whipped around as she faced the Black King. Ki swallowed hard despite himself. Arawn was the most feared member of King Nauberon’s court. No one dare challenge the Lord of the Hunt.

  “Aryan the Black,” Arawn said, pulling a double-headed axe from his waist. It was nearly as tall as Elisabeth. “You’re still as ugly as I remember.”

  “Arawn,” the Black King retorted as he bared his teeth. “The Flower King’s pet.” He sneered.

  “King Nauberon suspected you might be involved, and it is in his honor that I now fight you,” Arawn responded, pointing the end of the axe at Aryan the Black. “I relish our coming battle.”

  “I shall relish mounting your head above my fire,” Aryan the Black replied before he lifted his hand and brought it down.

  Elisabeth lifted her arms and crossed them in front of her face. She was shoved back slightly as a red shining force shaped like a comet hit her glowing barrier. It rippled with the same blue energy she had drawn out of them. Arawn didn’t hesitate to jump over her barrier and move toward the Black King. With a single movement, the Black King blocked his downward strike and moved to the side.

  “What are they fighting with?” Nanette whispered behind him.

  “Their life force, which is why Elisabeth needed as much as she could get,” Malthael whispered. “We need to figure out a way to get the gate open. It is the only place that can trap the Black King.”

  The Black King and Arawn continued to dance while Elisabeth attacked from another direction when she could. Yet her attacks did little to slow him down. He side-stepped each attack with ease and deflected the ones he couldn’t move out of the way of. Arawn was giving him more trouble, his blades moving with a power that was almost difficult to watch.

  Arawn put his axe back on his hip before drawing his bow in one fluid motion. It was arrowless until he drew the bowstring back. Then an arrow of light appeared. It whistled through the air before striking Aryan’s shield. It threw him back, and he landed hard in the dirt. When the Black King stood, his clothes were covered in dirt, which matched the scowl on his face.

  “The Black Council can open it,” Ki whispered, glancing toward Ra and the other men.

  “They would rather die,” Malthael whispered back, glancing over his shoulder, “and we know they cannot die as long as their souls reside within you.”

  Ki touched his chest and was suddenly sick at the thought of their dark souls within him. They were liars who only wanted to further their agenda. Ki glanced toward Ha and he steeled himself against the possibilities. He couldn’t pick and choose; he had to reject them all.

  Arawn crashed against the tree line as Elisabeth moved in between the hunter and the Black King. She unleashed a wave of blue light that struck Aryan’s barrier. It thinned at her attack, giving Arawn the time he needed to recover. Running towards the Black King, the hunter leapt over Elisabeth as he pulled his axe free. He brought it down on Aryan. It drove the barrier into the ground, creating a crater in the dirt. Suddenly, Aryan had a long blade made of light in his hand.

  “I am of their blood,” Ki admitted, though it burned deep in his belly. “I can open the gate.”

  “I’ll distract the Black Council,” Malthael said and his arm went out. A blade that burned red as though it had been heated appeared in his grip. Nanette gasped but said little else as Malthael stood. Ki stood as well, but Nanette took hold of his pant leg to stop him.

  “What will I do?” Nanette asked, clearly unhappy to be left behind.

  Ki glanced down at her and saw her determination to help. The Netherhounds moved to Malthael’s side, and they all vanished. Elisabeth was brought to her knees by an attack as the Lord of the Hunt and the Black King fought axe against energy blade. Once she was on her feet, Elisabeth attacked again before blocking a return assault. Arawn shifted and brought the blade down, leaving a menacing hole in the ground where the Black King had been.

  “When we open the gate,” Ki told her as he focused on Elisabeth, “call to Elisabeth.”

  “What? Why?” Nanette asked, and he turned back to her.

  “Call to her so she isn’t close to the gate,” Ki said, realizing what he was going to have to do. “If you call for help, she’ll come to you.”

  “Ki, wait,” Nanette called as she tugged on his pant leg. “Why do I have a bad feeling?”

  “Just call to her,” Ki said and pulled free from her grip to join the fray.

  Malthael appeared by Ra and drove the sword deep into his belly. Ki knew they could not be killed, but they needed time to heal. The Black King hardly took notice of them as Ki moved around the edge of the clearing. The villagers huddled together, their eyes barely recognizing anything. They seemed to be alive but in sort of a dream state, and they did nothing to hinder his movements.

  Ki knelt down and waited as Malthael and the two demon dogs wreaked havoc. The Black Council banded together quickly and attacked where they could. Ki ran out into the clearing as Malthael drew the Black Council away from the gate. One of the fallen council members reached for Ki as he sprinted and he jumped over the man’s body. When he reached the gate, he touched it and started to chant the words he had heard the Black Council use. He had an excellent memory but had missed some of it to the sound of the wind. Whatever it took to save Elisabeth, he was willing to try.

  Normally, many people were needed to recite the words, but he was one man with many souls. The souls of his people were in him and every soul of the Black Council. It had to be enough. He didn’t let worry or doubt distract him from his task. He looked to the sky as he chanted, and the clouds started to darken and churn. He heard shouting but ignored it as he continued the mantra. The wind began to swirl, and so he continued. Just as the gate was starting to open and Ki could see the red of Croatoan forming, something conked him on the back of the head.

  Chapter 65: Hystera

  Elisabeth nearly cried out when she saw Malthael appear amid the Black Council. She very narrowly blocked the oncoming attack that would have cut her in half. The blue of her shield glowed bright and sure as it hummed with power. Her arms came down as Ki shot across the clearing toward the gate. Her eyes went wide as she realized what was happening—they had a plan.

  Turning toward the Black King and Arawn as they continued to exchange blows, she hurried across the clearing to move behind them. She needed to push them toward the gate so that the Black King could be driven back to Croatoan. She put up an arm when the Black King threw a backhanded attack at her. Her blue shield hummed again, reinforced by the life force she had stolen. Their presence explained the added power in her belly.

  Focusing a targeted attack, the Black King threw up two shields to defend himself, one for her and one for Arawn. His shield also glowed blue, but it sparked black. She didn’t know what that meant, but she knew they were different. They both might be half breeds, but he was something more. Somehow, he must have changed himself. Above her, the sky started to swirl and black clouds gathered. Elisabeth centered another energy attack at Arawn’s side as he doubled his efforts. She had been right to save the Lord of the Hunt for that moment. Elsariel had not done everything for herself; some of what she did was for Malthael, Nanette, and even Elis
abeth. She could feel her in her thoughts and in every attack.

  The Black King finally noticed the swirling charcoal clouds and turned his head toward the gate. When he lifted his arm, Arawn forced his attention and Elisabeth attacked from behind. He formed a full shield but dropped to his knee. For a moment, Elisabeth thought he had been weakened, and then the barrier expanded and threw Arawn back. The hunter landed on his feet, but he had been thrown back a good distance. Elisabeth raised her shield but was forced back slightly across the ground by another of the Black King’s assaults. The distance of her slide was evident by the trail her heavy dress left across the parched ground. Her shield pressed thin, but it held.

  When she looked up, the Black King was raising his arm and Elisabeth felt herself yelling, “Ki!”

  The wind had picked up and her dress was pulled to the side as she took a step forward with her arm out. The force of the Black King’s attack glanced off Ki. He fell forward and bounced off the stone before it shimmered and the gate opened.

  “No!” Elisabeth yelled, and the ground cracked around her.

  Her vision became hazy as she took a step forward. Elisabeth lifted her arms over her head and brought them down. The Black King blocked her attack. Arawn stood ready to go on the offense, but at her second attack he hesitated. Her entire body glowed — she could feel it prickle her skin — as she faced The Black King.

  She didn’t lift her arms but instead let her will work. It crashed toward him like a wave, hurtling with increasing force. He raised his shield, but it crashed all around him and threw him back. He knelt to keep himself from falling and raised his head.

  “That is your true power,” the Black King called. “Finally.”

  Aryan lifted his arms, but she jerked her head. The energy slammed into him, tossing him to the right. He skidded across the ground toward the gate. He quickly got to his feet but he wavered. Elisabeth could see the doubt forming on his face. Arawn continued to hold, waiting.