A Queen To Come

by Frances Ellen

  The broken window… and the drain pipe… Gayle might have been able to run.

  Madeleine flew down and back to the main street and found Rose, Katherine, Diallo and Percy standing there, wide-eyed in horror. It was only then that Madeleine registered the destruction of the main street. It was like a gigantic knife had been pulled right down the middle of it.

  Madeleine hung above it for a second and realised that what she thought was a chasm, was actually only a few feet deep. She didn’t understand the significance of it, and therefore didn’t care. She dropped to the ground and reached for something in her jacket pocket.

  “The house?” Percy shouted through the downpour. His dark hair was plastered to the sides of his face.

  “Empty! But she might’ve got away!”

  Madeleine found what she was looking for in her pocket and revealed it. The other Ceders stared at the small vial in her hands. Tomas Mendosa had given it to her during their meeting less than an hour earlier. The vial contained Gayle Mendosa’s blood.

  “If anything should go wrong, use it. If, for some reason, that chip doesn’t work, this will be the only way you’ll be able to find her,” Tomas had said.

  Madeleine now bent over the vial, as if to shield it from the clattering rain, and emptied half of its content onto the palm of her hand. Percy took the vial from her, so that Madeleine could close her other hand on top of the one holding Gayle’s blood.

  With her fingers intertwined, and Gayle’s blood oozing through her fingers, Madeleine held her hands to her mouth and whispered the words of a tracking spell. All eyes were on her, and Madeleine saw the growing awareness in each of them as they realised the worst might have happened right under their noses.

  Madeleine closed her eyes and focused on finishing the tracking spell perfectly. She could feel the blood warm in her hands; her heart hammering in her chest. There was only a light tingling across her palms and the inside of her fingers – usually a tracking spell would also tug her hands into a particular direction – but it was enough to tell her that Gayle was still alive.

  But something was blocking her spell. Or someone.

  Gayle was alive, but she was still actively being hunted, and Madeleine knew they wouldn’t have a lot of time. If they were going to break through whatever was blocking her spell, Madeleine would need more Aster power than that of one generation. If she could get a precise location by using a lot more power, she could shimmer right to where Gayle was, blockage or not.

  “Hold on!” Madeleine commanded again.

  All the Ceders and Percy Kelly did as they were told, and Madeleine shimmered them all out of the town.

  A second later the four of them, completely drenched to the skin, appeared in the Board Room. At the desk, Axel shot up from his chair, eyes glaring.

  “WHAT ARE YOU—” he started, but Madeleine wouldn’t let him finish.

  “Get me the Asters!” she shouted at the Ambassador.

  Axel’s face whitened slightly. “They are in the South American Underworld getting the Affinites out.”

  Madeleine couldn’t spare even one second to panic. If she couldn’t use the younger, current generation of Aster magic to make her spell strong enough to find Gayle… then she would need the older generation instead.

  “Get me a bag of salt, a candle and some matches while I go and get the Elders; we don’t have much time! She won’t be alive for long!”

  Chapter 13

  After only about half a mile inside the Sera, the Asters had made a turn that led them down a set of steps and further into the depths of the South American Underworld. At the bottom, they found themselves once again running through a series of tunnels.

  Matu’s eyes were glued to the tracker as he made each turn. He could see the orange dot on the screen, and he could see the path towards it. The technology was simple, but it worked. It didn’t give him any information about what state Josie would be in once they found her, but at this point he only cared about finding her.

  He still couldn’t believe that it was Josie he was tracking. That Eileen had risked her own daughter’s life so that the Asters had a lead and could find the other Affinites in the Underworld.

  Her own daughter.

  It was as if Eileen knew for sure that Josephine would live through this. That her daughter would be fine. But Matu had heard the stories, and he knew for a fact that Eileen had heard them as well. From Eidi Okoth they had learnt that even the children weren’t safe. Yaro had been hit right in front of Eidi and Reth to try and get them to talk. What the hell had been going through Eileen’s mind to even think about putting her daughter through that?

  That Eileen was committed to her job as a Watcher was not in doubt. What Matu did doubt was if she was as good at her job of being a mother. He’d heard enough from Josephine to suspect that she wasn’t.

  Matu reached the end of another corridor. He was about to dash to his left, but Sophie stopped him, like she’d done at every other intersection they’d come across. Matu waited for Sophie to look in both directions and listen intently for a moment. The second she nodded that the coast was clear Matu raced on.

  He knew he wasn’t at his sharpest. How could he be? When the life of the girl he loved was at stake? But some part of him wasn’t worried that he wasn’t at his best. He had complete faith in the people behind him. Every single corridor they had run through up until now looked the same to him, but he knew Sophie would be paying attention and know the way back. He also knew Sky was ready to shimmer them out if they really ran into trouble. And that Nathan would be the first to know whether trouble would arrive: at regular intervals, Nathan would touch the wall with his right hand and magically grow a tiny root there that could communicate with him. Matu knew the roots couldn’t exactly speak to Nathan, but if the dark energy of a Disciple passed it, indicating that they were being followed, Nathan would be the first to know.

  The orange dot on the screen was getting closer. Matu tried not to think about how lucky they had been not to run into any Disciples yet. He also tried not to think about the fact that it probably had nothing to do with luck. He just hoped that there wouldn’t suddenly be an entire army coming after them all at once, or waiting for them at the prison cells. Even so, they were prepared for those scenarios as well.

  They turned another corner. Matu had only moments to take in a huge painting of two lightning bolts crossing each other, before they moved on. He hated that symbol; Astaroth’s symbol. There had never been another King with his kind of magic. He had been one of the original seven. Matu remembered that the North American King was into the fifth reincarnation already. That King had never really been taken seriously. No King compared to Astaroth. Not even Kirnon, Astaroth’s older brother, and the only Original King left. Even though a King became more powerful the older he became, all the terrifying stories had been about Astaroth, never Kirnon.

  Matu arrived at another intersection and Sophie suddenly made him stop. Sky, Lian and Nathan pressed in against them and waited. Sophie held her hand up so they would remain still and peered around the corner. She then suddenly whipped her head back and pressed a finger to her lips. There was the sound of running footsteps, and then there were about ten Disciples running through the corridor alongside the one the Asters were in. Matu hadn’t realised there was a corridor right beside their own, and that they had reached an intersection where you could turn back into the other one if you wanted.

  The sound of the Disciples should’ve spiked fear through Matu, but instead he felt relieved that they were still around. Having such a famous district like the Sera be completely abandoned was in some ways more terrifying than having it crawling with Disciples.

  Once the Disciples’ footsteps echoed in the distance Sophie looked at the tracker in Matu’s hand and made a U-turn into the other corridor, and headed in the direction the ten Disciples had just come from.

  Matu looked down at the tracker as he followed Sophie. “We’re almost there,” he told th
e boys behind him. He couldn’t believe he was so close to reaching Josie. His stunning girl, with the locks of blonde hair and the brilliant smile that could light up a whole room. Matu snarled at the thought of someone laying a hand on that beautiful face.

  They came to a stop at the end of another corridor. Matu turned the corner and saw that the adjacent corridor was only about a hundred feet long with a wooden door at the end. Matu glanced down at the tracker. The orange dot was right on the other side of that door. His heart started hammering in his chest.

  “She’s right behind there,” he said, relief in his voice.

  He stepped into the corridor; it was wide enough for Sophie and Nathan to come up on either side of him. Matu glanced sideways at his brother. There was something like suspicion in Nathan’s eyes as he scanned the walls and ceiling, the Band on his wrist glowing green. Matu ignored it, and he started to quicken his pace, his eyes on the tracker, knowing that Josie was so close.

  “GET BACK!” Nathan shouted. Suddenly there was an arm flung across Matu’s chest and he was being thrown backwards. He landed painfully on his back, dropping the tracker in the process. Nathan was half on top of him. Matu glanced up at the door and moments later it was blown to pieces.

  Matu threw up his hands and turned his head away to avoid getting hit in the face by debris, but it never came. There was a ringing in his ears from the loud bang when the door exploded. He had seen the pieces of wood flying in his direction, but they hadn’t hit him.

  He opened his eyes. Nathan was sitting on his knees next to him. His right hand was up in the air and the Band on his wrist was glowing a fierce green colour. Between them and the exploded door was an entire wall of brown roots, protecting them from the blast.

  Matu opened his mouth to speak, but right at that moment there was a loud tearing sound. He looked up and saw that a huge crack was spreading out on the ceiling. Small pieces of rock were already raining down.

  Matu scrambled to his feet. Sophie, Lian and Sky were already doing the same thing behind him.

  “Nate!” he called to his brother.

  Nathan turned around and followed Matu’s eyes to the ceiling. He threw his hand up, Band glowing, and brown roots started stretching across the ceiling, covering the crack and holding it together.

  Nathan jumped to his feet and dashed past Matu towards the other Asters, but Matu didn’t move away. He stared back at the root wall that had saved them from the blast. Josie was behind there. He couldn’t just run in the opposite direction.

  “Matu!” Sophie came back up beside him, picked up the tracker he had dropped in his fall, and tugged on his arm. “The ceiling won’t hold for long. We need to go.”

  Matu angrily pulled his arm back. “Josie’s behind there! Right there! Nate, get rid of that wall, this will be faster!”

  “There’s another way to get there,” Sophie reassured him urgently, looking down at the tracker and taking his arm again.

  Matu didn’t look at her. He looked past her to Nathan, pleading with his eyes not to pull him away now that he was so close. Nathan looked back at him. There was no emotion in his face. It was almost chilling how Nathan lost that kind side of himself when they were on missions. Only the cold and clinical remained; the focus on what they had to do and how best to do it.

  “You can’t get through that way,” he said calmly. “We will be buried alive if we try.”

  Nathan’s words sunk in. The ceiling gave another groan, and more bits of debris rained down. Matu covered his head and hurried alongside Sophie over to where his three brothers were waiting for him. As he reached them he turned to Sophie.

  “Find me that other way, now,” he told her.

  Sophie nodded. She turned away from him and headed back down the corridor. Matu kept close behind her, followed by the other three boys.

  There was a loud rumble and crash somewhere not far behind them, and Matu knew that it was the ceiling that had fallen down. Nathan had been right. He never spoke much during missions, but when he did it always mattered and he was always right. He was running alongside Matu now. His Band was still glowing green as they followed Sophie back down the long corridor, and turned right at the end.

  Nathan glanced behind him. “We’re being followed.”

  “How far behind?” Sophie asked from up front.

  Matu looked sideways as his brother thought for a moment. “Two, three minutes—tops.”

  That wasn’t long… Matu thought, worry flaring up in his stomach. “How much further?”

  Just as he asked the question a side-corridor came up on their right. Sophie turned and sprinted down it. Matu had a vague idea that they were now running back towards where Josie was. When he looked over Sophie’s shoulder at the tracking device he saw that they were still quite a distance away, but at least they were heading back in the right direction.

  They kept on running. No one said anything as the four boys followed Sophie down the seemingly endless hallways. Matu couldn’t hear their pursuers yet, and knew that if they were coming closer Nathan would let them know. Now all he could hope for was that they wouldn’t meet any others in front of them. They had a plan in place for if that happened; Matu just hoped they wouldn’t have to make use of it.

  Matu looked over Sophie’s shoulder again and saw that they were coming very close to the orange dot that indicated Josie’s location. He was dismayed to see that she seemed to be so close on the other side of the wall to his right but that there was no way to get to her quickly. Even looking forward he didn’t see any entrance to his right at all.

  But Sophie kept on running with such confidence, and Matu forced himself to keep his mouth shut and to have faith in his sister. He moved up alongside her, matching her stride for stride.

  Then suddenly Matu spotted an opening in the right-hand wall.

  “Is that…” he started.

  “Yep,” Sophie answered through her heavier breathing.

  They neared the opening, and were about sixty feet away when the whole tunnel rumbled and the ground shook beneath their feet. Matu slowed as he neared the opening, and at that moment a mass of debris blew out from the side corridor. The force of the explosion nearly knocked him off his feet. He stumbled backwards, pressing a hand against the wall to steady himself.

  “No, no, no!” he shouted.

  More cracks appeared on the ceiling.

  Matu jumped in front of the opening – the side corridor that was supposed to get them to Josie – and found that the explosion had completely sealed it off. Huge rocks barred the way.

  “We need to keep going,” Sophie urged. She set off again at a run. Matu followed her closely. She had to know another way. Sophie would find another way.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sky muttered from the back.

  “They’re trying to bury us alive,” Lian answered.

  “Their timing is way off,” Sky replied.

  The two of them grinned at each other. Matu stopped himself from snapping at his brothers. Only those two could find a way to joke around during a mission as dangerous and important as this one.

  “That’s because they’re not trying to kill us,” Sophie said from up front.

  “Well, that’s good,” Sky said facetiously.

  Sophie glared back at him. “Those explosions cost us time.”

  “What are you saying?” Matu asked, coming up beside her again.

  Sophie glanced sideways at him. “They’re trying to stall us.”

  As they ran alongside each other, Matu managed to stare at his sister. “For what?”

  “I don’t know. But whatever it is, we’re running out of time.”

  Matu almost let out a growl.

  “They’re coming closer,” Nathan warned from behind them, “and there’s more of them.”

  “I thought you said they weren’t trying to kill us,” Sky called to the front.

  The corridor swept round to the right, and Matu used a hand on the wall to make the turn. He glanced
at the device in Sophie’s hands. Josie was almost perpendicular to them now, on their right. He looked up ahead, and saw an indent in the wall coming up.

  The Asters skidded to a halt, and Matu realised the indent was really a huge oak door built into the wall.

  “Killing us is not the main objective, for some reason,” Sophie said. As she spoke Matu dug into his magic, the Band on his wrist starting to glow a deep bronze colour. “But if they can kill us while we’re here… I doubt they’ll pass up that chance.”

  “They’re getting closer,” Nathan called out, glancing behind him. “Two minutes max.”

  Sky was looking up ahead of them. He had his short spear in hand, ready to fight. “It’s not them we have to worry about.”

  Matu caught a glimpse of Disciples running towards them from the direction Sky was looking in. There was a flash of green, and great, thick roots started to grow in between the Asters and the onrushing Disciples.

  “That won’t hold them for long,” Nathan warned.

  With his magic pulsing through his body, Matu threw his fist against the door. It swung open with a groan.

  He had prepared himself for an attack on the other side, but none came. The Asters hurried inside and Sky flung the door shut behind them. Nathan threw up his hand again, Band glowing green, and more roots grew, barring the door shut from the inside.

  There was a tearing sound from the other side of the door, and Matu knew that that was the sound of Nathan’s magical barrier of roots on the other side of the door being ripped apart.

  “How long?” Sophie asked.

  “No more than five minutes,” Nathan answered.

  But Matu wasn’t listening anymore. He stared down the long hall they’d just entered. It was lined with prison cells. Small spaces had been carved into the walls and there were metal bars enclosing the prisoners inside. The prison ceilings were extremely low. A grown man would be just about able to sit up straight in one of them without banging his head.