by Lizzy Ford
With a glance at her father trapped in his dome, Tiana faced the void again and focused on closing it.
She closed her eyes. She envisioned the tear closing. The power pushed back, and she found herself drawing heavily off of the skinwalker beside her. Where his magic came from, she did not know, but she absorbed it as fast as he could give it to her.
The tear rebuffed her efforts. Tiana rested her hands on the invisible wall separating her from the next world and began to physically push as well as push with her mind. It began to give, resisted and then retreated once more.
Close to the end of her strength, her fury turned to hot rage when she considered all the lives she had let her father claim this day.
Aveline. Arthur. Diving Eagle. She repeated their names over and over.
Tears ran down her face. Rather than fight the pain, Tiana let it and the anger consume her, until she was lost in the emotion. A wailing scream tore out of her lungs, the cry of a Ghoul in pain. The tear trembled beneath her palms and suddenly, silence encased her surroundings.
Panting, Tiana’s lungs and throat burned, and she opened her eyes.
Black Wolf laughed. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “This is why you alone can do this. Look!”
She did so and for a moment, was lost as to what had happened. The world around her appeared frozen at first, people caught mid stride or stuck in the air on their way towards the void. As she looked more closely, however, she realized they were moving, albeit very deliberately.
“The Ghouls,” Black Wolf said. “This is how they capture their prey. They freeze it in place with their minds. Their power is but a drop in a rainstorm compared to yours. Have you never wondered why you have the eyes of a Ghoul?”
She looked around, baffled by the strangeness of her surroundings. Her entire body shook from effort and emotion, and she felt ready to collapse in place. “You think my mother was a Ghoul?” she asked.
“How else could you have done this?” he countered. “This gift to paralyze with the mind belongs to the Ghouls alone. Combined with your Hanover power, you have paralyzed the world.”
Her eyes fell to Black Wolf, and her breath caught. “You are letting me drain you,” she said.
He was human from the waist up, gaunt where he had been strong before, with sunken eyes and sickly features.
“Quickly. Close the tear while you can,” he said, ignoring her observation.
The idea her mother was a Ghoul was too much for her to consider. Tiana’s eyes lingered on him before she returned to her duty. He rested his hand on her shoulder again. She thanked him silently.
The hole, similar to everything else, was expanding at a crawl, inches per minute instead of feet.
Exhausted, with more tears blinding her, Tiana rested her hands on the wall and concentrated on closing the void once more.
It responded more quickly this time. Buoyed by the difference, she allowed the skinwalker’s power to flow through her as she closed the tear. When the hole between this world and the next was little bigger than a horse, the task became abruptly difficult again, and the world began to return to its normal passage of time.
“Your power comes from there. You are losing power as you close the void,” Black Wolf explained.
Dizziness and tunnel vision formed. Tiana shook her head, refusing to stop when she was so close. She drew more from the skinwalker. Except this time, his magic felt different. Older.
“This is you,” she whispered, hesitating. “I am draining your life not your magic.”
“I am glad to give it.” His voice was raspy. “Not because I care for you or your cause, but because I will be known as the skinwalker who saved the world.”
Tiana was unable to help the hoarse, hysterical laugh that bubbled up in response. “If this is your wish, then I will grant it.”
“In a direct confrontation, I would have won.”
More tears filled her eyes. The creature who had killed tens of thousands without a drop of remorse was not worth her second thought, let alone worth the sorrow in her heart. And yet she felt his loss even before he was gone. For all that he was, he had chosen to be more than anyone thought he could be.
Tiana closed her eyes once more. She pulled his life force from his body and pushed it towards the tear. Seconds later, Black Wolf’s hand left her shoulder as he slid to the ground. The bulk of her power ceased with the closing of the hole.
Tiana collapsed, exhausted and weak from the fight. She lay still, crying quietly, unable to help the tears when she thought of those she had lost. She wept until too tired to cry more and her head pulsed.
“I cannot pretend to understand this, but I am grateful to you for what you have done.”
Lost everyone I love? Destroyed half the city? Tiana did not move at Marshall’s voice.
He bent and lifted her off the ground.
Tiana roused herself, aware the final blow had to be dealt, and hating herself for not wanting to do it. Good or bad, her father was all that remained of her world. Marshall released her when she was steady on her feet. She trailed him towards the dome in which she had trapped her father. The soldiers and Natives parted for them, and she ignored everyone.
“Is this everyone?” she asked, looking around. At one point, she had sensed hundreds of fighters.
“Yes,” Marshall’s voice was hushed. “Chases Deer, your uncle, and most of his men are gone. They came with a thousand.”
Tiana stopped, uncertain she had heard him correctly. No more than sixty remained around her. What of the people who lived in the city? How many more lives were lost? If she had been stronger, or acted sooner, or not frozen up when she did, or …
Her father stood proud and defiant, and her doubt and sorrow fizzled in the face of his complete unconcern for what he had done. Because he had done this, she realized. He had tried to pull this city, and the rest of the human world, into the next world rather than lose his hold over it.
I am not like him. This thought surprised her. Her mind was hers. Her power was hers, even if Hanover blood ran through her veins. It did not control whether or not she hurt rather than helped, for this was a choice, one her father had made the same way she had. When tested, he harmed others.
But she had not. Relief trickled through her, followed by the bitterness of knowing those who might understand were gone, victims of a man she should have faced much sooner.
“You would have destroyed it all,” she said to him. She was too tired to be angry anymore.
“The tear can be reopened,” he said staunchly. “You can regain your power.”
Tiana did not reply to the statement even she judged as ridiculous. The skinwalkers, including Aveline, were all dead. No tear could be opened without one.
Her father no longer radiated the energy he had. She tested her own ability, not about to be caught off guard by any remaining tricks of her father. She lifted the knife Diving Eagle had given her from its place shoved in Marshall’s pocket. It floated to her, confirming that, while she could not feel her power, a fraction of it remained.
Tiana started forward, towards her father, hand gripping the hilt hard. She had never killed a man in cold blood, and she was not certain she could, even one as deserving as this one.
Marshall caught her wrist, stopping her.
Tiana looked up at him.
“No,” he said firmly. “Arthur would never allow you to become like your father. I cannot either.”
“No Hanover will leave the city,” she whispered. “You cannot let me, either, Marshall.”
Marshall’s features softened. “Your brother was right. As always. You are not like your father. You do not need to live in his shadow anymore.” He pried the knife from her fingers as he spoke. “You are free, Tiana, from this day forward, with the exception of this decision.”
She let the knife go reluctantly. The effort of holding it, and staying upright when she wanted to collapse and sleep for days, was too much for her. “I am sorry for your loss, Marshall. I do not
know how you live with this pain,” she whispered.
“I do not know either, but somehow I do,” he replied sadly. “Today changes everything for both of us.”
He stepped away from her, towards her father.
Tiana expelled what energy remained around Marshall and willed the dome to allow him to enter. Her father tried to lash out at him, first with power that bounced off him, and then with a punch. Weakened by the skinwalkers, Edwin’s blow did not even glance off Marshall, and he was too slow to recover. Marshall wrapped his hand in the Hanover leader’s hair and yanked his head back. He placed the knife to it.
Tiana closed her eyes. The energy humming in the air around them vanished, and her father’s body hit the ground.
Seconds later, so did Tiana’s. She heard Marshall’s quiet voice calling her name but did not care to listen. Her heart aching, her soul hurting, her body pushed beyond its limits, she wanted nothing else than to join Arthur and Aveline in the next world.
*
As her luck would have it, she did not awaken in the next world. Tiana’s head hurt, and she smelled the combination of mud and blood that had dried on her clothing. The ache at her core, however, was the final assurance she remained alive when she did not want to be.
Grass tickled her face, and nearby, a tree creaked in a cool breeze. The scent of pine and flowers lay just beneath the smells remaining from her battle, and a creek gurgled in the distance.
She opened her eyes, not recognizing her surroundings, other than she was in the forest. Whose forest, she could not tell.
The warm puddle at the middle of her chest caused her to lift her head. Her wolf lay on her, its belly to the sky, and its breathing deep and regular. The moment she saw the basket of bottles beside her thigh, she understood who had brought her here.
Tiana picked up her wolf and sat, not at all eager to face the day or anyone else. Listless, unable to stop the mental replay of all that had happened in the city, she was too exhausted to cry for those she had lost. All she could do was … sit. And hold her pup. Something was jammed in her ribs, and she shifted away.
The knife. She sighed. Her father’s dried blood remained on the blade and hilt. Tiana pulled it free from her waistband.
“Tiana.”
Her brow furrowed, and she twisted. Tiana’s mouth dropped open. “I did die!” she managed in a rasping voice.
Diving Eagle shook his head.
“Then you are a spirit,” she said. Unlike the malicious spirit that plagued Black Wolf, Diving Eagle appeared solid. He was dressed in clean clothing, the war paint gone from his face. Around one wrist, he wore the turquoise bracelet.
She checked for hers self-consciously. The bracelet was present, as was the necklace that matched her sister’s. At the reminder Aveline was gone, Tiana’s gaze dropped to the ground. Why was the necklace so bright when Aveline was dead?
Tiana surveyed her surroundings for any sign of her sister’s spirit. When she saw none, she drew a sharp breath and stood.
“This is for you, if you can have it as a spirit.” She held out the knife.
Diving Eagle accepted it. He withdrew it from its sheath, his eyes on the blood crusting the knife.
“I believe your Hanover vengeance to be complete, with one exception.” She knelt in front of him and placed her pup on the ground. “I am ready.”
He was silent.
“You must rid this world of Hanover blood,” she said. “For all we know, the madness could take me at any moment.”
Diving Eagle crouched, holding the knife.
She held her breath, waiting for the deathblow and praying it was fast, and not about to debate whether or not any Hanover deserved a quick death.
He tilted her chin up until she was forced to meet his gaze. “You are not mad,” he said, reading her eyes in a way that left her uncomfortable. “You are not linked to the next world anymore. Perhaps that was the source of Hanover madness.”
“I am still a Hanover,” she murmured. “Your blood enemy.”
“You saved my people and yours. As far as I am concerned, you are free.”
“What is freedom without those I care about?” Her chin trembled. Did he know she had felt his death like a knife through her heart? “I am so sorry I could not save you.”
He looked away and dropped his knees to the ground. “How can you apologize for the loss of one life when you saved tens of thousands, to include the lives of my people?” He sheathed the knife as he spoke.
“It is not one but three. Aveline, Arthur, and you. One is too many. Three is … unbearable. And the lives of everyone else who fought my father? What I have done, or did not do, is unforgiveable.” She reached for the knife and pulled it from the sheath. Tiana stared at the blade covered with her father’s blood. It was only fitting she used this knife.
Tiana pulled up one sleeve and sat back. This time, she would cut deep enough on both arms for her blood to drain. It would be a slow death, but once it was over, she would be with Arthur and Aveline forever.
“Tiana, stop.” Diving Eagle gripped both wrists.
“I can’t stay here alone,” she said, throat tight.
“You are not alone, Tiana,” he continued. “I am not a spirit, and neither is Aveline.”
She looked up, surprised. “You fell into the tear. I felt you both die.”
“My wolf guide brought me back. He said it was not my time. Aveline’s pup returned her here as well.”
Her pulse quickened, and for the first time, she understood why Diving Eagle affected her as he did. She had not fully realized she cared for him until he was suddenly gone.
“Arthur?” she asked hopefully.
“No.”
Her emotions somersaulted within her, flying between despair for Arthur and exhilaration for Aveline. Tears stung her eyes again. She wiped them away, but more formed, blurring her vision.
“I did not kill you,” she repeated. She touched his arm to reassure herself he was indeed not a spirit. “I did not kill Aveline.”
Overwhelmed, Tiana flung her arms around Diving Eagle and hugged him, not caring how harshly he dared judge her for being over-emotional. His strong arms circled her, and he pulled her into him rather than rejecting her. His familiar scent was calming, his support of her weary frame far greater than any she could muster.
“The six of us chosen by the pups are connected, whether or not we wish to be,” he said quietly. “I believe we are meant to make the world better than the one we were raised in. Without the rivalries, war and blood feuds.”
She listened to his steady heartbeat and his voice, calming. “Is that possible? To make our world better?”
“I am holding a Hanover in my arms and have no desire to kill her. If this is possible, anything is.”
She smiled despite the pain settling deep in her breast at the thought of never seeing Arthur again.
“Marshall Cruise has asked me to meet with him to discuss trade and peace agreements,” the Native chief continued.
“Will you go?” she asked.
“Our war is over. My father would say peace is long overdue, and we need the trade agreements.”
She pulled away to look at him, relieved the stubborn warrior acknowledged it was time for peace.
“Aveline has expressed an interest in returning to the city,” he said.
“You have spoken to her already?” She frowned. “How long have I been unconscious?”
“Your father was slain two days ago. Marshall saw you vanish, and no one could find you. Aveline and I returned yesterday. Our pups told us you would reappear when you were healed.”
She glanced down at herself and patted her side and stomach, where her father’s lightning had struck her. Through her exhaustion, she had not realized she was no longer in physical pain.
“What was the next world like?” she asked.
“I recall only darkness. We were not meant to be there. I believe we were not permitted to see the spirit realm for that reaso
n.”
Pensive, Tiana chewed her lower lip. “I cannot go back to the city,” she said. “I do not want to. I had hoped Aveline would stay with me.”
“I do not think she means to remain there. She has her own vengeance to seek. After that, it is her choice and yours where you go,” he said.
Tiana’s mind was on where she went while Aveline pursued her vengeance, for not one cell in Tiana’s body wanted to return to Lost Vegas.
“You can stay,” the quiet, measured note in Diving Eagle’s tone was not lost on her. As before, he had guessed the thoughts she did not think it possible for him to know.
“With you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “I meant, with everyone. You … all. In the forest or …” Her face flamed hot with embarrassment, and she entertained the idea of taking the knife and ending her misery and awkwardness once and for all.
“With me,” he clarified with his normal candid brevity.
“Does your council not despise me?”
“Not after I revealed who defeated the Hanover leader. They declared you and Aveline, and any descendants bearing your blood, honored guests of ours. If you leave this area for the Freelands, you will always have a home here when you return.”
Home. Tiana had never before realized she did not know what that meant. She had grown up in a closet, but it was never home. Home meant a comfortable place where she was accepted and wanted, where people she cared for reciprocated her love, where she was free to be herself, Ghoulish eyes, Hanover magic and all.
She had always thought escape was what she wanted, to be free somewhere where no one could judge her. But what if she could be free somewhere where people accepted her?
The ensuing silence was intolerable, filled with wired tension and racing thoughts, with her heart beating in her ears and the sense of being fevered and wishing for snow or a cold rain.
Diving Eagle was tense, as if his invitation had revealed more than he was comfortable revealing.
“I hope you told your council you were the key. I could not have done it without you,” she murmured. “If you had not been there …” She shook her head, recalling her temporary break with reality.
“You have always had the strength and courage,” he replied. “You are the only one who could not see it.”