I nodded slowly, well aware of what she was going to say. I'd told myself the same thing a million times over by now. It didn't make me feel any better. Then again, the truth rarely had that effect on people.
"Thank you for being here," I said to Tebir. I meant it, too. "Your support is priceless."
The green fire figure bowed with reverence. "It is the least we could do. I imagine Brendel and her cohorts are too busy hunting Taeral and Thieron to bother with this portal, but, nevertheless, it's better if we're here to make sure they don't tamper with this evacuation."
"The last thing we need is a hostile Hermessi infiltrating The Shade again," Ibrahim said, disgust skewing his lips. He'd taken Brendel's intervention against Sherus quite personally—not that I could blame him. We'd all felt the same.
As it stood, time was running out on us. There were dozens of planets in peril in the Supernatural Dimension and the In-Between, as the Hermessi's ritual drew closer to the end. We couldn't save everyone, as much as we wanted to, but we could at least pull our officers back and use them to defend The Shade and Earth, as a whole, in case the Hermessi completed their objective.
That didn't mean we'd have a sure chance of survival, going forward, but we had to try.
"We need to optimize this process," Corrine said, frowning at the portal. "Streamline the officer transfer, somehow. Otherwise, it'll take too long to get everyone here. We all saw how long it took for the first batch of Neraka's squad to come through."
The witch was right. With only hours left on the clock, we'd barely welcomed back about one third of GASP’s forces spread across the federation. We needed to do better, faster.
Ibrahim placed a hand on the stone portal, its mist dark gray and shimmering quietly. "We can modify the portal to link to all the others at once," he said. "We need to get at least one witch or warlock on the other side of each entry point to power up the portals, while we do the same to ours."
"That is going to drain us." Corrine sighed, but eventually nodded her agreement. "Let's do it."
They positioned themselves on the portal's sides, each touching the stone frame with one hand and their hearts with the other. Rose called out to all the witches and warlocks waiting by their respective portals and notified them of what was about to happen—Kailani and Arwen included, among many others.
"They're ready," Rose said.
Corrine’s and Ibrahim's lips moved slowly as they closed their eyes, blending learned swamp witch magic with their natural skills, until the tips of their fingers lit up green.
My breath stopped for a moment, watching the process unfold. The more intense the green glow in their fingers, the brighter the mist's sparkle became, until the gray faded, replaced by a powerful cloud of white. That was it, I realized. The moment in which all the portals the witches had opened before were simultaneously connected to this one. My skin tickled with a faint sense of excitement, as I'd never seen something like this before. The operation was too complex for them to do it more frequently. As Corrine had said earlier, it was going to drain them, both physically and mentally.
"Whatever happens next, Sofia, remember… we're in this together," Derek whispered to me. "We still have friends and loved ones in this world. River was right to suggest this course of action."
And I didn't even want to know what pain wrestled in her chest for this. She'd chosen to leave her husband, my son, and their family in the sanctuary, and come back here to fight for The Shade. I'd cried enough about this already.
"It's a good plan. The best, given the situation, anyway," I replied.
Yelena and Benedict came out from the redwood path, both of them paler than usual. They joined us in front of the portal, but their expressions gave me pause. "What's wrong?" I asked them.
"Fiona asked us to be here," Yelena said. "Something in her voice made me worry, but she wouldn't tell me anything more. She only wanted Benedict and me to be here."
A pang in the pit of my stomach troubled me. I wasn't sure why, but, then again, a mother's instinct tended to resonate with others.
"It's done," Ibrahim announced. "All the portals are simultaneously connected to this one."
"Expect an influx," Corrine warned us.
Unsurprisingly now, GASP agents started pouring in from all corners of the Supernatural Dimension and the In-Between. First came the Fire Star officers, accompanied by Aisha and Horatio.
"Welcome back," Derek said to them. "I'm sorry we have to reunite in such circumstances."
"Where's Nuriya?" Aisha asked.
"She's at the extension glass house, with Sherus," I replied.
"Gah… I hate having to do this," Horatio muttered. "Not telling anyone, either."
Had they told the Fire Star fae that they were leaving, it would've caused an uproar and most certainly a stampede, as well. We couldn't risk that, so we'd advised all the GASP officers returning to The Shade to tell no one. No wonder this felt so awful. Secrecy was the one thing we'd done our best to avoid, from the moment we'd founded the agency.
The Calliope squad came next. To my surprise, Draven had joined Serena, along with Kailani, Hunter, Jovi, Anjani, and even Hansa and Jax. I would've expected the Eritopian GASP officers to stay back, like others in their ranks, but, at the same time, I allowed myself a faint smile, glad to see them here, with us.
Draven, however, looked terrible, burdened by guilt and anger as he held Serena's hand. I couldn't help but hug him, hoping I'd at least manage to comfort him for a little while. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Draven."
"I'm not sure how I'll sleep again," he replied, his gaze lowered.
"We're doing the right thing," Serena told him. "Hopefully, we'll both go back when this is all over."
"We were useless out there," Jax chimed in. "I don't like this any more than you, Druid. But The Shade can still be protected."
None of this was easy, that much had become painfully obvious. And the individual decisions of our officers had to be respected, regardless of what they chose. If Draven, Bijarki, Hansa, Jax, and Anjani, for example, decided to leave their home planet behind and focus on defending The Shade, all we could do was welcome them with arms wide open and grieve with them if the Hermessi got their way.
But if they'd chosen to stay on Calliope, we would've had to accept that, as well. Of course, it would've made it all the more difficult for Serena and Jovi, among others, who were Shadians and intrinsically connected to us. Maybe they would've stuck with their spouses, too. It would've broken my heart, but, alas, they'd all come back to us, albeit riddled with the kind of guilt and shame that would take years to get over.
"Here comes the last group from Neraka," Corrine said.
I found myself breathless as Harper and Caspian appeared first through the glittering white mist. They were joined by Shayla and Eli, and by Scarlett and Patrik. Scarlett held a baby in her arms, and I heard Yelena gasp next to me. We both recognized her almost instantly.
"Sophia!" we both said.
"Where's Fiona?!" Benedict asked, his eyes wide and frozen by fear.
Harper teared up, while Scarlett brought the baby to her grandparents. "I'm so sorry, Benedict… Yelena… Fiona is staying back with Zane."
"What?!" Yelena cried out. "No!"
"The hell she is!" Benedict growled, moving to go through the portal and drag Fiona back here, if he had to. Caspian and Patrik quickly blocked him.
"I'm sorry, you can't," Caspian said. "I'm truly sorry."
"We tried everything we could to convince them," Patrik added, while Benedict struggled to get past them.
"That's my daughter! No! I am not leaving her there, Zane be damned!"
"It was her choice," Harper said. "Zane couldn't be swayed, and Fiona loves him more than anything. She loves her people—"
"We're her people!" Yelena sobbed, as Scarlett carefully handed her the baby.
"The daemons are her people, too," Caspian said. "As much as we would all like it t
o be otherwise, it's the truth. The moment she married Zane, Fiona became their queen. And their king chose to stay with them until their last breath."
"He tried to get her to leave, though," Harper continued. "He did. He tried… but Fiona couldn't be swayed."
Yelena and Benedict were baffled, much like the rest of us. Zane and Fiona's decision had made Draven and the other Eritopian officers feel even worse—I didn't need sentry powers to tell. They looked downright awful, ashen, mere wisps of their former selves.
"This isn't happening," Yelena mumbled, staring at the sweet bundle in her arms. "Sophia… This… This isn't right."
The Stravian crew poured through the portal next, distracting us for long enough to remember that Taeral and his team were still on Strava, but Amane, Amal, Ridan, Douma, and Dmitri had returned to The Shade.
"Amane… What of Tae and his squad?" Kailani asked her first.
"We left them to their own devices. There wasn't much we could do for them, anyway," Amane said. "They have access to all our equipment and technology if they need it. When the evacuation order for GASP officers came through, Tae urged us all to go. They've got more Reapers on their side now, including two of the lost First Ten, as you know."
"Then they had better fix this!" Benedict shouted. "Because my baby chose to die on Neraka…"
He broke down, and Derek and Xavier were quick to pull him away from the portal and to comfort him as best as they could. At least Yelena was busy holding Sophia, but Benedict was impossible to console. He cried, and Derek hugged him tight, beckoning him to let it all out.
I had no idea where my strength came from, but I managed to keep a straight face as we welcomed more GASP agents back into the fold.
"For what it's worth, no one wants to be here right now," Amal said, loudly enough for Benedict and everyone else to hear her. "But we chose to be here because we want to protect The Shade and Earth's future, should the Hermessi complete the ritual. It does not make us cowards for leaving our people behind. The odds are not in their favor, and a good leader must be able to pick his battles. That being said, choosing to stay behind with one's people, whether by birth or by marriage, is not a mistake. They are all heroes, and, with a little bit of luck, we'll get to see them again soon enough, alive and well."
"And quite embarrassed," Hunter added.
It drew a few faded chuckles from the swelling crowd of GASP officers. Aisha moved closer to me. "The worst part is that we chose to keep the fae agents in the dark about this," she whispered. "Horatio and I had to literally sneak off the Fire Star."
"We couldn't risk bringing the fae in, regardless of their affiliation," Corrine interjected. "The Hermessi might use them as weapons."
"What about Sherus? He's already here!" Aisha said, pursing her lips.
"He's one. Imagine what Brendel would do with fifty or more in here," Corrine retorted. “I’ve put heavy protection on the glass house, nonetheless, having learned from our Crane incident. We’ll wait and see if they manage to use him in the Earthly Dimension before they come through themselves. Otherwise, he’ll just be part of the body count. One of the five million they need to hit in order to complete the ritual.”
“After Brendel killed him, she left,” I said. “Chances are they won’t be able to use him like they did Crane—though Crane was just a test run. There doesn’t need to be a Hermessi present to automatically take over the body, that’s not what that whole incident was about. With Crane, the Hermessi were just testing a preview of their power. Nevertheless, thank you, Corrine, for putting additional protection on the glass house.”
She nodded. “It’ll activate as soon as a Hermessi’s presence is felt inside. Either way, this whole thing sucks…”
"We will all have to live with it,” I said. “We just need to make sure we get to live."
The last batch of Calliope agents came through, and River was among them. I'd been so caught up with the influx from different planets that I'd failed to even notice that she hadn't come through with Draven and his group. She had, however, brought Phoenix and a cried-out Viola with her.
I hugged River first. "Your strength leaves me speechless, every time," I said to her.
"I'm sorry I was late," River replied, glancing back at Phoenix and Viola. "She had to say goodbye to her sisters. The Daughters chose to stay behind with the Eritopians."
Derek moved away from Benedict and Xavier and came to us, concern darkening his blue eyes. "Once the evacuation is complete—or once the ritual is, whichever may happen first—we'll have to seal and destroy the portal here," he said.
Corrine nodded. "Ibrahim and I are on it. We still have people coming in."
"I know," he replied.
"There is something else you should know," Amane said. "It might give you a bit of hope."
"What is it?" I asked.
"The Stravian Hermessi are against the ritual, and are thankful you saved their children," she said. "They, along with all the other elementals who oppose the ritual, will do everything in their power to defend the living from it."
I blinked several times, trying to wrap my head around her words. "Is that even possible?"
"Brendel didn't count on us screwing with her plans as much as we did, including stealing the Hermessi children back from her," Amane explained. "The ritual, as she knows and dreams it to be, might not do as much damage if there are enough rebels to oppose it. Unfortunately, it isn't a guarantee that Strava or other planets with a rebel predominance will survive. I just wanted to tell you, hoping it would at least make you feel better."
"Our Hermessi allies haven't given up on us," Derek concluded. "That's good."
Like Amane had said, it didn't mean Neraka or the other planets would survive, but it proved that, even in the face of such adversity, entities like the Hermessi could still stand their ground and rise against their evil, obsessed majority.
Knowing that Brendel was still desperately hunting Taeral had also encouraged me. It meant that, even with Death missing, there was still a chance that he might find a way to stop the ritual. As long as Brendel was on her chase, we all had a shot at survival, in The Shade and beyond.
So maybe, just maybe, by tomorrow's nightfall, we'd all look back on this moment and blush, thankful for not having to go through with all this. And if the end did come at the Hermessi's hands, at least those of us who remained would fight them until our dying breath. That was the GASP way, after all.
Nuriya
I was barely holding myself together, much too tired to even bother to hide it. The last couple of days had taken a monstrous toll on me. If, by some miracle, we all survived this—my husband included—I'd need years to recover from all the pain and anguish that had torn through me like raging thunderstorms.
With the GASP evacuation process keeping most of the lead officers busy, I was left alone with Sherus in the glass house. His skin was pale, having lost its amber glow in death, but I took comfort in knowing he was too far away from the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension to do any damage if the ritual weaponized the five million fae bodies, as would happen according to its lore. The ritual itself was not meant to be a one-off power spurt from a fixed number of influenced fae, though. The mass destruction through their bodies was merely the beginning. Then, the power surge would come, where all the Hermessi would be powerful enough to breach the Earthly Dimension. It also made them impossible to kill, even with Thieron—or that had been my understanding from the last conversations we'd had with Taeral and his crew.
I needed my boy back here, now more than ever, but I limited my communications with him, knowing that he had to keep his head in the game, fully focused on what came next. Death was missing, and that made his mission all the more difficult.
Fortunately, I had a dead husband keeping me company. For now, Sherus's soul was still with us, but I wasn't sure for how much longer. I did hope Taeral's endeavors might convince Death to spare Sherus from dying and to bring him back… but if she was nowh
ere to be found, how would we even get to ask her?
"I'd say penny for your thoughts, but I'm pretty sure I know what's on your mind," Sherus said, his voice low and soothing as he sat on the floor in front of my armchair. He'd kept himself remarkably calm, given his condition. Then again, Sherus had never been one to succumb to panic or despair. That seemed to apply in death, as well.
"I'm just wondering how this will pan out," I murmured.
"Whatever happens, we both know we've done everything in our power to save our people and protect our loved ones," Sherus replied.
A bitter smile tested my lips. "Aisha and Horatio had to sneak back into The Shade. Not even GASP fae are allowed back, not to mention the Fire Star people. We've left our kingdom behind, my love. The very kingdom we've sworn to protect."
"It's not as simple as that, my darling, and you know it," Sherus said. "Even I am ready to accept that. It breaks my heart, too, but there was nothing left to be done for the fae, considering their connection to the Hermessi."
"If the ritual is completed, it means we'll have left them to die out there."
"As long as some people survive the ritual, it doesn't matter what species they belong to. What matters is that, if the Hermessi succeed in their plans and wipe out two dimensions, you and the whole of GASP must find a way to survive and protect the Earthly Dimension from Brendel and her cohorts," he replied. "Think about it this way: without the Hermessi children, she has no one to topple this part of the universe with. We've already crippled her mission. And if we succeeded in that, we can damn well make sure we keep her out of this marvelous world."
Looking at him, I couldn't help but smile. Even in death, my husband sought to observe and analyze the bigger picture. In a sense, he was right. There wasn't anything else we could do for the Fire Star. Derek and Sofia had also been fair in their assessment: either we got all the civilians off the planets marked for the Hermessi's wipeout, or we got none of them. It was rough, but as honest a judgment as we could pass in these troubled times.
A Shade of Vampire 77: A Fate of Time Page 6