She swiped a tear from his face. “Vorea takes the power of others to escape the consequences of her actions, but I’m not much better. Look at what I am doing to you.”
“I can bear your burdens,” he replied.
She hugged him. “You are courageous little boy.”
“I am older than you can imagine, Niv’leana. But don’t despair. This is my purpose. I chose this.”
She knelt next to him. “You do not speak like a child. How old are you?”
“I have lived more lives than I can count. This is my last one.”
“And then where will you go?”
He smiled. “Home.”
“Where is home?” she asked.
He opened his mouth to reply, then stopped. “I can’t tell you now. But know that I chose you because I know you have the courage to let me go. So, I ask again, are you ready?”
A sharp, burning pain flared in her chest. His eyes widened in terror as she collapsed in agony. Her lungs burned, and her throat filled with blood. She turned on her side and tried to catch a breath, but she choked. Her body heaved and wretched as she strained to expel the blood.
Panic over her imminent demise consumed her. Her body maintained the struggle, but she saw no way to recover. The boy leaned over her, clearly worried about her condition but apparently unable to help. What was happening? Why had she not yet lost consciousness?
He gasped. “Narelle.”
Chapter 67
The undead continued their onslaught, piling into the barrier with increasing ferocity. Their impacts caused ripples and distortions in the shield, especially in the spots where their numbers were greatest. Olivia helped reinforce the barrier, providing additional magic to bolster the thin line of defense between them and certain death.
A dull ache formed in Farius’s chest. Something had been ripped from him. A cold, empty pocket of silence formed in the energy that always surrounded him. He knew this feeling – someone he loved was in danger. Without saying a word to the others, he headed to Niv’s hut. He arrived to see his daughter’s body with a dagger in her chest. Narelle stood over her.
She withdrew the dagger and hovered the bloody knife in front of him. “Not a step closer, Farius!”
“What have you done?”
“I did what I had to do for Lahara.”
He surged forward. “Let me get to her. I can heal her.”
“No. You’re too late, anyway.”
Blood streamed from the wound as her chest rose for a shallow breath. “She’s still alive!”
“My mistake.” She adjusted her grip on the dagger and prepared to strike again.
Olivia lunged past him. “Don’t, Narelle!”
“Get out of here, Olivia. This doesn’t involve you.”
He took another step toward her. “You cannot stop both of us.”
Olivia hurried to the other side of the bed and placed her hands on Niv’s chest. “I’ll heal her.”
Narelle leaned closer to Olivia. “Stop! I’m doing this for our city. I made a deal with Vorea.”
“You have been deceived,” he said. “Vorea will not keep her word. Now let us heal Niv. She is our only hope.”
Narelle pointed the knife at Olivia. “Back away.”
He continued his desperate advance. “Put the dagger down.”
Niv’s body heaved as Olivia began to heal her.
“I won’t let you interfere,” Narelle ground out through gritted teeth. He reached for her dagger, but she pulled away. “I do not want to hurt you.” He cornered her and thrust his hand toward her. “Give me the dagger.”
She lifted the blade to his face. He grabbed her wrist and tried to pry it from her fingers. He made little progress with her strong grip before she shoved him back. While he struggled to maintain his balance, she scrambled around the bed and pulled Olivia away from Niv.
Narelle put the dagger to Olivia’s throat. “Stay right there.”
He raised his hands and summoned essence from the fire in the lamp on the nightstand. He condensed a ball of flame between his hands. “I will do whatever I must to protect my daughter.”
Narelle scowled. “Even kill the mother of your child?”
Chapter 68
Niv was still conscious. Time crawled from her perspective, and it had been minutes since she had taken a full breath. She clawed for every cohesive thought and struggled to keep her mind from succumbing to the overwhelming pain and panic.
The boy held her hand. “Olivia is helping you. Do you feel it?”
As soon as he spoke, she felt a surge of light within her chest. The searing pain decreased to a barely tolerable level and her breathing eased. All she could manage was a nod.
The warm, restorative energy that she so desperately welcomed had vanished.
“Something’s wrong,” he said.
The pain increased but breaths came easier.
“You know what you have to do, Niv’leana.”
Leave my body behind.
Astral travel involved separating her spirit from her body. It was difficult to do under normal conditions, but her current physical and mental state made the process nearly impossible. How could she fight Vorea while she struggled to stay alive?
She knew what was necessary. She shut out the pain and distress and put her weeks of practice to use. She separated from her body. A piercing ring filled her head, and with a sudden jolt she disconnected from the physical. A silver cord was her only link to the world she knew.
In this state she rid herself of the anguish and despair of her material existence. Only moments ago, she had wondered how it was possible to reach this plane in her condition. Now she didn’t want to leave. The body she left behind convulsed with pain while her spirit climbed higher, higher still, and then… freedom.
The boy vanished, and the void around her gave way to an ethereal view of the events transpiring around her physical body. The sight of her broken body overshadowed the conflict between Farius, Olivia, and Narelle. It would have been easy to latch on to the suffering and reintegrate with her body, so her spirit soared through the ceiling and out into the open sky.
The barrier to the east disintegrated from the continual onslaught of undead. Energy crackled through the holes that now let ghouls trickle through the shield. She feared for her love’s safety, but she knew attachment to this realm would only delay her obligation. She turned from the chaos and headed west, over the mountains, to Selandis.
Frasie nocked an arrow and cut a glance to Aiden. “Can we make it through this?”
A stream of undead emerged from a large gash in the barrier. The Den’tari allowed the shield to collapse and began launching fireballs at the ghouls.
“Yes,” Aiden replied.
“Will we?”
He replied with a simple nod and a strained smile. He hid his fear well. Her body shook, but her aim was beyond practiced – it was an instinct. She released her arrow. She was certain it hit. She fired her flaming arrows in a constant volley, striking her targets with her usual consistency.
The Den’tari magic and her arrows took considerable strength from the approaching wall of death, but a few managed to make it through the attack. Aiden and Shareis rushed to the edge of the ridge and used their elevated position to protect her and the Den’tari. Shareis’s blade whirled through the air with precision, cutting the undead, then a swift kick sent them reeling down the hill. Aiden’s blade crunched into the fragile bones of the ghouls, breaking them to shreds with his powerful blows.
An undead made its way to Nivvy’s hut. She didn’t know how it had managed to slip by, but she couldn’t let it threaten the ritual. A quick arrow ripped through its neck and sent it tumbling into the snow. She took a few steps back to gain a better view of the perimeter. Nothing would get past her again.
Inside the hut, the fireball continued to pulse in Farius’s hands. “Yes, Narelle, I would kill my son’s mother if it were necessary.” He feared his daughter might not live much longe
r as her body struggled to survive.
Narelle’s hand shook as she pressed the tip of the blade into Olivia’s neck. “I have to save my city!”
“And I must save my daughter.”
Olivia focused on his fingers that barely managed to contain the flame. She ripped away from Narelle’s frantic grasp and fell onto the bed. He released the fireball and sent it careening into Narelle’s chest. The force of the blast pushed her against the wall. Narelle screeched in agony as the flames consumed her torso. The stink of burning flesh quickly filled the hut. She collapsed into an unrecognizable pool of smoldering skin and bone.
Olivia stared at the remains of her friend. He sat on the bed and touched her shoulder. “We will grieve, Olivia.”
She nodded, dried a tear, then put her hands on Niv’s chest. “Let’s save her.”
Chapter 69
A burst of healing energy reached Niv through the silver cord as she arrived at the main gates of Selandis. A large painting in Frasie’s parents’ living room had been her only view of the city, but she now saw it firsthand through the hazy filter of her spirit’s visual perception. She slipped past the guards at the gates and floated over the main street.
Selandis now differed from the bustling, joyful city that she remembered from the painting she had studied for hours as a child. She expected lively crowds gathered around street vendors and colorful banners atop the buildings, but instead was greeted to empty streets and abandoned carts. Vorea’s authoritarian rule had drained the life from the once shining capital.
She glided over the retaining pool, passed the fountain, then proceeded to the upper city. She admired the statue dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the Proctor Wars - the only portion of the city that hadn’t been spoiled by pro-Vorea propaganda posters. She bolstered her courage and entered the Temple of the Ael’Shanar.
The stunning starry sky scene on the ceiling of the main chamber was an impressive sight, even though her surreal spiritual perspective. She paused at the grand staircase to sense the ether and get an impression of Vorea’s location. Vorea’s despicable presence pervaded the temple, but it emanated most strongly from the basement. She floated down the steps until she encountered a magically sealed door.
She thought the door would pose no issue for her in her current form, but the entire room was spelled against her. She tried to breech the barrier but had no success, so she channeled magical energy and projected it toward the door. After some effort she managed to pierce the barrier and enter Vorea’s laboratory.
A single pillar candle illuminated the room. White fingernails clicked on a large wooden table in the center of the laboratory. “Nice to see you again, my dear cousin.”
“We have never met on good terms.”
A ray of candlelight illuminated a portion of Vorea’s pale face. “I have a feeling if we met in person we’d get along famously.”
She glided closer. “I doubt it.”
“You only know what you’ve been told. Your mother hates me.”
“No doubt because you killed her sister.”
Vorea chuckled. “She disliked me long before that.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons.”
Vorea raised an eyebrow. “Is that what she told you when she tried to excuse her lie about your true identity?”
“I will not debate Maeva’s actions with you.”
“That’s because they are inexcusable, Niv’leana.” She gestured around the room, illuminating wall sconces and larger candles that filled the entire space with light. “Look at all you could have had.”
“A room full of dusty tomes?”
Vorea shook her head. “These dusty tomes contain some of the secrets of the very fabric of the universe. And this is just my private collection. This temple is full of knowledge waiting to be explored.” She lifted a cloth from a bell jar. A small white-blue light shimmered.
She instinctively knew it was Mae. Relief washed over her as she clung to the hope Mae could still be alive.
“I’m going to make you an offer this woman would never dream of taking,” Vorea continued. “I’m going to share all of this with you.”
“I don’t want your vile magic, Vorea.”
“Stop channeling your mother and listen to me. Magic is neither good nor bad, Niv’leana. In fact, there is no good and bad.”
“There most certainly is bad, and you are the very definition of it,” she replied.
“Good and bad are relative judgments. We can only judge ourselves and others by our own code of conduct. What is your code?”
“I have no desire to harm others.”
“And in doing so, you accomplish nothing.”
“I can accomplish a lot without hurting anyone.”
Vorea rolled her gray eyes. “Not any meaningful change. The very act of creation requires destruction. A fire in the forest clears the way for stronger, hardier saplings.”
“You are unhinged.”
“Possibly. But I am right. Change demands destruction. Nature is always recreating itself. Why not give it a hand – encourage it to manifest the change you desire?” She looked at the jar and sighed. “I tried to get your mother to see this. I offered her a chance to rule Selandis with me. She refused.” She pointed at her. “And she denied you that choice, too. She stole your birthright and kept you in the dark about your powers. Then she shows up and strings that powerful artifact around your neck to try to defeat me. Are you going to do her dirty work?”
She couldn’t stand the sight of Vorea or bear to think of the horror she had visited on so many people, but she couldn’t easily dismiss her words. “You make some good points, Vorea. But I cannot forgive you for what you have done.”
Vorea chuckled. “I have not asked for it. But I do ask you to join me. We could create a perfect paradise. No strife, no conflict. Just order and peace.”
“I cannot allow you to continue your murderous rampage.”
“Why do you have such blind loyalty to a woman who has done nothing but betray you your whole life?”
She raised her hands. “This isn’t about Maeva. This is about the innocent lives you have destroyed.”
Vorea extended her arms and gathered a surge of dark green energy in each palm. “No one is innocent. Least of all you.”
She braced herself against Vorea’s intense maelstrom of energy. Vorea glanced at the chaotic orbs and grinned, then propelled them toward her. They impacted her form, sending shocks through her entire ethereal essence. Her vision became useless and she lost all sense of where she was. The once bright room was dark.
Vorea’s voice echoed in the darkness. “You are as foolish as your mother. You should have joined me.”
Another blast of energy surged through her, disrupting her thoughts. It rippled through the silver cord and tugged her consciousness back to her body. Both her physical and astral body were in agony. The Amulet of Balance was her only refuge from attack.
The avatar emerged from the darkness. On one side, rays of blinding light danced through the heavens. A dark pool of blood and death lie on the other.
She took his hand. “I don’t know if I can go on.”
“You may stay here forever. Nothing can harm the soul.”
The prospect was tempting. Pain and misery surrounded either option.
“But know that balance exacts a heavy price. You can accomplish nothing from the middle. You must choose a side, Niv’leana.”
She looked at both paths. “Death awaits me in either.”
“Polarity is life. Balance is death. Vorea was right. Creation requires destruction. To create a world free of her rule, you must destroy her.”
“And if I choose to return to my physical form?”
“Then you will live under her rule,” he replied. “You and I will never be free.”
“I choose freedom,” she said.
The boy smiled and motioned toward the light. “Then you know the way.”
She resisted the urge to retreat to t
he physical and sought to anchor her spirit to its position on the astral plane. She walked toward the chaotic light energy and firmly rooted herself in the disorienting charge of Vorea’s magic. She couldn’t see Vorea, but sight would be useless. Sight was a mere affectation for her spirit.
A chilling laugh emerged from the confusion. “I’m disappointed in you. To be thwarted by such a trivial attack.”
Vorea’s taunt gave away her position. She focused on the sound of her voice and used it to cut through the energy projected toward her. Rather than brace herself against the onslaught, she embraced the chaos. She absorbed the frenetic magic that enveloped her and concentrated it within her. The candlelit mausoleum of necrotic magic reappeared, and Vorea’s frail, pale body stood motionless.
Vorea stumbled to a table along the back wall. “Very good, Niv’leana. I’m impressed.” She picked up a key and unlocked a small wooden box. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t be a challenge. However, you have underestimated me.” She opened the doors on the box and exposed the sickening green hue of a Sorceress’s Tear. “Neither of us can now use magic. And you cannot physically attack me in that form.”
The stone captivated her attention. It consumed her every thought and tugged at the edges of her consciousness with a profound calling. She couldn’t focus on anything in the room, but she could establish a connection with the amulet.
“You must ignore the stone,” the avatar said.
How?
“It only has power because you can’t think of anything but the stone. You’ve been trained to avoid it. To defeat the tear, you must completely give in to its call.”
Give in?
“Allow yourself to become entranced by it. Do not resist.”
Why?
“You cannot fight what you do not know. And you cannot know a thing until you become one with it. Only in the darkest moments can you see the true beauty of light. With this knowledge you may use an extreme of polarity against itself.”
Though she trusted the amulet, she doubted his suggestion would work. Nevertheless, she did as he said. Rather than resist the Sorceress’s Tear, she acquiesced to its calling and stared at the stone intently. As she suspected, her thoughts were absorbed by the magical artifact.
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