by Emma Harley
“Happy and calm princess. Being calm will help you focus the size of it,” Logan breathed softly, resting his hand on her shoulder. She nodded as Kalen beamed at her.
“All we need is a little kick-start, I have everything else covered. I’m going to walk you through this,” he reassured her. Each member of her squad looked up proudly at her and saluted, clasping their fist to their chest.
“Are we ready to do this?” she asked breathlessly, setting down her empty cup. A sea of nods confirmed their response as they rose to grab their belongings. Logan clasped her hand and looked straight into her amethyst eyes.
“I need you to focus on me right now, don’t think about anything else until we’re through the portal. Just keep thinking about Izak and his fog bomb if you have to, just keep that happiness built up,” he spoke quietly, although the others could still hear him. Raina nodded, glancing at each member of her squad as she reached back to twist her hair into her signature battle braid.
Raina was no longer nervous or afraid. She watched Izak and Nick squabble childishly over the importance of coffee for breakfast, caught JJ sneakily brush Alicia’s hand as he walked past her and Davin strap a knife onto his belt. Each of them were wearing their tactical gear, minus the helmets and extra padding for easier mobility.
She was wrong in her earlier statement. Raina knew damn well she wasn’t leaving her family in this world, they were about to walk through the portal with her into a new one.
Kalen led the way to the basement, Raina pointedly ignoring the reek of dried blood she knew belonged to her and the Raven. Two overlapping circles of salt were drawn on the floor before an empty wall, one filled with branches while a variety of objects lay in the middle of them both like a Venn diagram for witches. Strange symbols had been painted with her own blood, each accompanied with small crystals. Raina set her bags down on the ground beside the circles, careful not to touch anything. Kalen held her hand and directed her into the first circle.
“Okay, there’s not a lot for you to do here, I’ll do everything I can for you and tell you exactly what to do. I just need you to keep calm and focus on whatever makes you happy.” Logan and Elias picked up her bags, already laden with their own as Kalen busied around, muttering foreign words under his breath.
“Raina, I need to take a small amount of your blood to put in this bowl,” Kalen sighed, “You’ll heal quite quickly, but I need you to remain calm through the stinging.” Davin stepped around carefully, passing Kalen his own dagger.
“Raina do you remember when I tried to diffuse a bomb in a dingy old apartment, despite our orders to retreat?” Kalen dug the blade into her palm, as Davin kept her focus off the pain.
“I pulled you out a third floor window and we crashed through a shed. You broke your knee,” she answered, wincing.
“But that was all that hurt. You ignored orders, you ignored my orders to run, and you stayed with me until there was three seconds left on a twenty pound bomb. I realised that day that I wouldn’t allow anyone other than you to lead me into a war zone. That’s the reason I’m following you now, because you would rather have been blown up than abandon me for my own stupidity.” Raina looked at him wide-eyed.
“I wouldn’t abandon any of you. You’re not just my team mates, you’re my brothers. Even Alicia, because I reckon she could take most of you,” she giggled. Davin grinned and nodded down. Her palm was already knitted together as Kalen cupped the bowl of blood.
“Thanks Bolton,” Raina smiled, “I knew you weren’t always a grump.”
Kalen mixed a few items into the bowl with the blood before striking a match and tossing it into the small pile of dried pine branches. He dragged a small leathery pouch from his bag and handed it to Raina.
“I need you to cast your magic on this, and then toss it in the flames when you’re ready.”
Her team came to stand alongside the circles as Kalen dipped his finger into the blood, touching it onto Raina’s forehead and wrists like a strange occult baptism.
She looked at the proud faces of her family, Logan and Elias beaming at her with encouragement. Kalen touched his lips to her head and squeezed her shoulder.
“You can do this Raina, we all know you can.”
Raina closed her eyes, still smiling at Davin’s revelation, and summoned the unfiltered magic from within her chest.
Three small orbs orbited the pouch in her hand, glowing brightly from the flames. They danced happily as she focused herself, pushing them into the pouch that began glowing with a faint blue light.
“Into the fire now,” Kalen ordered quietly. Raina kept her focus as she dropped the pouch into the flames. The fire roared higher, the flames suddenly a deep purple.
“Now I need you to force the flames against the wall Raina,” Kalen called over the roar. Raina summoned her strength, casting her arms out in front of her as the fire slowly bent to her will.
As though the wall had sucked them in, the flames burst against the wall, spiralling wildly. The fire dissipated, replaced by a swirling vortex, shimmering with a violet light.
“Everyone through, one at a time!” Kalen ordered, as Elias took the first step and disappeared into the glittering maelstrom of light. Her team followed suit, Logan holding his hand out to her to help her through. Raina took a deep breath, and plunged herself through.
∞∞∞
Bright, blinding sunlight met her eyes before she collided heavily with a cobbled ground.
Raina lifted her head to see her comrades in a similar situation, groaning as they picked themselves up. Logan rushed to her.
“Are you okay princess?” he asked, scanning her face for any sign of her power unravelling. She nodded, pulling herself to her feet. She skimmed the group, although everyone seemed to be okay after being spit out of a vortex.
Kalen however was enjoying being back. Large crystalline spears of ice were forming and disappearing in his hands as he breathed happily. Raina became distracted by their surroundings however.
They had landed in a very public courtyard of sorts, and a large group of humans, Fae, and various other humanoid creatures had gathered to watch them from a distance. Guards ran in from every direction, swords drawn. The squad were in ambush formation and armed in seconds, eyeing the approaching guards with caution. Logan raised his palms and called to the guards.
“We’re citizens of Avellia, I am Captain Logan Calviere of the queen’s guard,” he announced loudly.
“Well I’ll be damned,” a gruff voice sounded from the crowd. The owner of the voice pushed past the guards, a very well-toned Fae male, his uniform ranking him above the other guards.
“I thought we were never going to see you bastards again,” he beamed, clasping Logan’s hand and giving him a tight hug.
“Eldan, it’s been a while,” he laughed, clapping the man on the back. Kalen and Elias greeted him similarly as he eyed the rest of the group, clearly guarding Raina.
“So who are these folk? I don’t recognise them.” Kalen gestured to them.
“This is the most elite team of human fighters on the planet Earth; Davin Bolton, JJ Jacobs, Nick Lynas, Alicia Mullins and Izak Brennan. And this is their leader, General Phoenix, the youngest female general in history.” The squad silently acknowledged as their names were announced, Raina however stayed completely still. The Fae male squinted at her.
“Why is a Fae female a general if she has not yet reached her immortality?” he queried, sizing her up. Raina willed her breath into calmness, focusing on the soft touch from Alicia against her arm.
“It’s a long story, one we need to speak with Prince Alexei about,” Logan insisted, glancing around at the prying locals. The man nodded, leading them through the courtyard to a busy road. The onlookers gave them a wide berth, eyeing the heavily armed humans guarding Raina as whispers swirled among the crowd.
Raina turned on to the path behind Logan, gripping his hand tightly. He startled and looked down, but gave her a comforting squeeze in ret
urn.
A humongous white castle blocked out the rest of the horizon beyond the end of the road, which ended at the large golden gates, accompanied by two stiff soldiers. Eldan pulled a strange glass ball from his pocket.
“Swan’s Nest, Incoming ten, immediate audience with Swan. Portal opened. Non-hostiles recovered.”
“Nest confirmed. Ten confirmed. Swan alerted. Repeat recovery,” a voice crackled in response.
“Non-hostile. Repeat Non-hostile.”
“Confirmed.”
The giant golden gates screeched open and the male led them through. The manor looked like a hovel compared to this palace, and Raina stopped dead as she spotted what stood in the middle of a perfectly manicured lawn.
A bronze statue, polished to a mirror gleam, of a small Fae girl beaming at anyone who entered. Around the base was unreachable, it looked like a memorial with bunches of flowers, small toys and gifts left by well-wishers. Her Fae eyesight allowed her to read the plaque at the child’s feet. Princess Raina of Avellia.
Raina tore her eyes away and continued to the palace, Alicia’s arm wrapped firmly around her. They reached the magnificent pearl-white doors and they swung open, revealing two guards and a huge marble entry hall. Six other guards stood at the bottom of the flared staircase as Eldan led them all through. He stopped the humans as they entered.
“I would advise lowering your weapons in the presence of our king. You will not be harmed,” he stated, the order clear in his voice.
Raina glanced to her teammates, echoing his order. They held their guns low, standing to attention at her flank. Davin swapped out his place with Alicia, stepping close beside Raina as the Fae males stood in a line before her, Logan blocking her view.
A young Fae male came rushing down from the stairs to greet them, ushering them through to a large meeting room, spacious and unfurnished except for a sprawling wooden table in the centre. A giant ruby chandelier cast fiery rainbows through the room, mingling with the coloured light pouring in through a stained glass window depicting a giant bird-like creature. Logan’s back stepped into her view, reaching his hand around for her to hold as her hammering heart fell into sync with his own.
“His Royal Majesty King Alexei and Her Majesty Queen Aija will be with you shortly,” male announced, bowing low. Kalen snapped his head to him.
“King Alexei?”
The young male nodded. “His Majesty ascended the throne four years ago due to the retirement of his royal father King Gawain.” Kalen exchanged grim looks with Logan and Elias, steeling his face into neutrality as he tilted his head slightly behind him.
“Are you ready for this?” he whispered back quietly. Raina shook her head.
“Not at all, but there’s no going back now is there?” she replied. Her heart leapt as the doors across the hall from them smashed open, and two pairs of feet stormed hurriedly into the room.
“Captain Calviere? What is the meaning of this, why are you here?” a loud male voice boomed. Raina heard the panicked breaths of another person, the scents of sandalwood and warm spices reaching her from behind Logan’s back. She focused her attention on him, breathing in his rain-kissed scent to relax her hammering heart.
“Unfortunately we had no choice but to return. Things did not go as we had planned previously and we were forced to flee the human world,” Logan explained. A woman’s high pitched breathing became ragged as she addressed him.
“Where is our daughter Captain?” Raina took a deep breath in sync with Logan as he stepped aside, revealing the King and Queen of Avellia to her.
“Allow me to introduce General Raina Phoenix of the 82nd battalion, and her elite squad of soldiers. Your daughter, your majesties.”
Time stood still as Raina concentrated on her breathing, determined not to break before these people. The Fae king was almost her mirrored double, the same amethyst eyes she had stared at in a mirror in her bedroom. He barely looked older than thirty, his dark red hair almost looked like garnets in the sunlight streaming through the windows. His queen was barely half his height, her familiar deep brown locks swept up into a curled pile on her head. She looked older than him, but she had no traces of Fae lineage, even her movements were so beautifully human.
The royals stepped closer to Raina, their eyes swimming with tears as they beheld her. However Raina doubted they expected to see her armed to the teeth and geared as though she were entering the frontlines.
“How did this happen?” the King demanded, “you were all human when you left.” Logan looked to Kalen before looking back at the king.
“I would suggest we take a seat your majesty, this is a very long story, and it is imperative that we keep Raina as calm as possible,” he offered, gesturing to the table.
“You will refer to her as Princess Raina or Her Royal Highness, Captain Calviere,” the king demanded. Raina finally looked at the king, swallowing back the unnerving feelings at the similarities in their faces.
“Captain Calviere may refer to me as General Phoenix or Raina, I hold no other titles,” she demanded, her tone one of a leader as she stared down the king. His jaw twitched with fury, but the fierce stare she held left him gobsmacked, and he didn’t dare speak any further. Raina took a seat between her squadron and opposite Logan, who was ordered to sit next to the queen so she could hear him as he spoke.
Logan regaled the tale of how they had uncovered Coralynn and Brent’s plot to open the portal and regain their Fae bodies through Raina’s death. Eliza going into hiding with Raina and wiping her memory to raise her as a normal human. The government involvement leading to Raina being sent to hunt down and assassinate them both, and Coralynn seeking revenge by murdering Eliza.
Logan was discussing how they found Raina once again, and were double crossed by the government, leading to Raina’s death as a human and Coralynn’s death. The king shook his head in disbelief.
“You allowed my daughter to be taken away from you and hidden for most of her life. Allowed her to join a human army, risk her life for mortals and then she died in your presence, and you have the audacity to walk back through my doors with breath in your lungs?” The kings voice had raised to a roar as Raina stood up, slamming her hands on the table.
“He did no such thing. My mother kept me safe when you two made an error in judgement by binding my life to a spell!” she snarled, “You assigned two agents to guard me and they tried to kill me instead, one actually succeeded. I killed the other one as a mortal when I joined the army, because I wanted to give my mother a good life. I am a General, and I have led thousands of troops in war, and made my way into the most elite squad in my world, the very squad that followed me into another world. I do not permit anyone to grant me permission for my life. My mother trained me to protect myself, and your bastard Fae bitch tortured and murdered her. You wanted to make sure I could never return, but the necklace you gave my mother was around my neck the day your dog killed me. I am here because I am no longer safe in my world, and you were told as a courtesy.”
The queen gazed at her, wincing at her venomous outburst as the king stared her down, both afraid of endangering his reunion and angered that his royal status mattered nothing to the Fae woman who stood before him.
“We didn’t bind your life to the spell,” the queen wept softly, “the spell was bound to the necklace my mother gave Eliza.” Raina shook her head.
“The necklace had a resurrection spell on it, it was supposed to keep my mother safe, but she cared more for me than herself. She put it around my neck the day I deployed with my troops, and I never took it off. The night Coralynn ripped my throat open with a bullet I was wearing it. I died as a human and was resurrected in a Fae body. Their glamour also broke,” she added, gesturing to the males, “My blood was needed to reopen the portal, your spell was designed to break upon my death, allowing the others to return to Fae bodies with their magic back and open the portal to come here. What your bitch didn’t realise was magic in our world was foreign to them. Even a
s Fae they could not use their powers and relied on me to open the portal. Since I was human, had I not worn the necklace, I would never have become Fae, I would be dead.”
The king looked at the queen, a harsh expression on his face.
“Your mother lied to us.”
He turned to Raina and gestured for her to sit again, before ordering his soldiers to send word to the kitchen for food for their guests.
“We relied on your grandmother’s spells. She was the one tried to bind your powers as a child, but you broke through the spell, so she made the preparations to send you to a human world without magic. We were forbidden from leaving our people, so we sent you through with our most trusted friends, your guards were glamoured to human bodies.”
“Where is Thea?” the queen interrupted. Raina barely looked at her, instead staring back at tracing shapes on the table.
“Thea stayed in our world. Her children have no recollection of here, and have happy lives there. I had to leave my family thinking I was dead, and come here. Where apparently I have a grandmother trying to kill me.”
“She’s not trying to kill you dear this is a misunderstanding, there must be some mistake here,” the woman garbled. Raina cut her speech with a wave of her hand.
“Were you aware that the binding spells used by the Shadow Walker tribe can be layered? Your father named you his heir and offered you the full protection on the tribe did he not?” Raina asked her. She glanced to Elias and nodded.
“The tribe is not allowed into our lands, the old king forbade them from entering this territory by law.”
“Well he sounds like a right prick,” Raina sighed, “your mother should have known that if she knew them well enough to sleep with the chief. Their bindings can be layered, so a number of the clansmen casting it on me would have bound my powers, at least enough to only allow a trickle through. But your mother wanted me dead because my existence revealed her dirty little secret, and I guess your daddy banned them because he didn’t want his little science experiment to name an uncontrollable heir with cursed blood.”