by M. L. Brooks
“You have concubines?” asked Adair.
“Well we don’t do marriage in New Valar. The whole system was too patriarchal. I take lovers when it suits me. If you want love, you court a woman, if you want offspring you court a man. A woman is the keeper of her own house and she structures it however necessary to endure,” said Petra.
“That’s mind blowing,” replied Adair.
The two sat down and chatted for another hour. They threw around ideas of how they could take out the prince and Nathaniel. Poison and assassination were easy options but getting away without igniting a war or Adair being executed created more challenges. Adair told her all about her adventures and training with Rose. Petra wanted to try to enjoy the ball but after everything Adair had been through she wasn’t sure if she could be as calm.
The plan Petra gave to Adair was to go through with marrying Prince Flavian. After they are married they would go on a peace delegation to New Valar and Petra would see to it that Prince Flavian never made it home. Adair would be able to start over in New Valar or be free to go back to Rose once he was gone.
When they were done planning, they headed out to the party together. At the throne room, a trumpeter played a tune and Mitchel introduced each guest of the ball. When he got to Adair, he mentioned her as a guest of honor and recounted a list of her accomplishments. Everyone clapped and cheered.
The throne room was filled with tables and food and people drinking. There was live music playing. The stars twinkled in the night sky above the glass ceiling. Nobles were dressed in their finery and made plenty of chatter. Adair stuck with Petra for most of the night. When they sat down to eat, the Prince and Nathaniel both sat next to her.
For dinner, they were served roasted pheasant. The meat was perfectly cooked and seasoned and a delight to eat. There were all manner of fruits, vegetables, and desserts out across the tables. Petra grabbed a slice of cheesecake and paired it with an orange jelly.
“Try this,” said Petra, forking a small bite off and swirling it in the jelly before holding it up to Adair’s mouth.
Adair was uneasy about a woman feeding her in public, but she did not want to be rude to Petra so she took a bite. The cheesecake crumbled in her mouth, the sweetness of the cake clashing against the citrus tartness of the jelly. The startling flavor made her tongue tingle but at the same time it was undeniably a delicious combination.
“Wow!” said Adair, swallowing the bite.
“Good, right?” laughed Petra.
“What a vulgar display,” said Prince Flavian as he got up and left the table.
Petra and Adair turned to each other and laughed at the Prince’s exit.
The wine and other alcoholic beverages started hitting Adair and her cheeks turned warm. She decided to step out onto the balcony and get some fresh air. When she got outside, the cold night air rushed over her body. There was a slight ocean breeze, and it felt great. She leaned against the stone railing of the balcony and peered out toward the crystal, its cyan blue light bathing the whole quarter in a soft glow. The balcony swept wide around the castle and had stairs leading around the throne room and down to the courtyard. She walked slowly around the corner, closing her eyes and just letting the wind sweep across her.
Nathaniel followed her out onto the balcony. They were alone together out there.
“How did you survive that night?” asked Nathaniel as he approached her.
“I barely made it, Nathaniel. What you did was wrong and when I’m queen I’ll see to it that both you and the prince get what’s coming to you,” snarled Adair.
“I could kill you right here and leave that threat as empty as your chest when I rip your beating heart out of it,” he quipped back.
“I could scream and people would be out there in an instant,” said Adair.
She inched back from him, wishing she had her sword on her. Her heart started beating a little faster.
“Good. I’ll leave this dagger in your body and tell everyone I tried to save you from an assassin who made their getaway.” He laughed, flashing her a dagger with a handle that had the thorn circle emblem of the Valarians.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it,” said Adair.
He whipped the dagger across toward her throat. She ducked under his swing, and with her left hand tried to pin his wrist against the balcony. With her right hand, she reached over and grabbed the hilt of his sword. He pushed her off him, his sword coming free from its sheath at the same time. Adair stepped back cautiously. He grinned at her, tossing the dagger back and forth from hand to hand as he walked closer to her.
She held his sword in her hands. It was much heavier than the one she had grown used to using. The metal was cold in her hands. Her hands were clammy from fear and booze, and she had a hard time keeping her grip on the blade. Nathaniel edged closer to her, picking up on Adair’s weakness. He swung the dagger at her. She parried his blade and then kicked him back. He took a couple steps back, laughing aloud at how ineffective her kick was.
He stabbed at her with the dagger. She spun around the blade of his dagger and leveraged the sword in her hands up underneath the shoulder plate of his armor. He cried out in agony, and she pushed him back from her, ripping the sword out of his wound. Blood gushed down his chest from the wound in his shoulder. He fell against the railing of the balcony, cursing at her.
Adair looked down at Nathaniel and then at the sword in her hand. In that moment, she had the power to take revenge upon him for betraying her. Looking down at him, she was overwhelmed with pity. She felt a sense of security she had not felt since before losing Shea. Adair threw down his sword, deciding this was not the path she wanted to commit to.
Adair turned around and ran away. Nathaniel staggered after her but realized even if he caught her, his arm was useless now. She took the back stairs down out of the castle and headed toward her room. She knew that Nathaniel was not going to follow her.
As she ran out of the castle, she noticed something flit across the crystal. It was just a blur of a body and the translucent outline of wings. It resembled Alfein’s shadow. If she had never seen a Fae before she wouldn’t have recognized it, but she was curious what was going on. She got up to her room and threw off her dress, ripping the sash in her effort to get it off as quickly as possible. Once her gown was removed, she put on her regalia armor, grabbed her sword, and headed out toward the mage’s tower.
Carrying the sword with her gave her a sense of comfort. If someone like Nathaniel showed up again she would be prepared to dispatch them. A couple of guards were posted in front of the tower. She told them she was working on a private investigation and then went right past them. Everyone knew who Adair was and they did not question her. Finding her way up to the platform looking over the crystal was easy enough as it was one of the main features of the tower.
The lookout point was a long stone pier that extended from the tower right up to the crystal. It did not have any railings and felt very open at the height she was at. This was the closest she had ever been to the crystal. Dahlia and Alfein were standing at the edge of the platform. Standing directly in front of her was Rose.
“What’s everyone doing up here?” asked Adair, between breaths from running up the stairs.
CHAPTER 22
Rose stood on the platform with Adair behind her. She ignored Adair’s presence and kept her attention fixed on Dahlia. Dahlia and Alfein were in front of them, closest to the crystal. Rose’s dark coffee brown hair flowed freely in the night’s breeze. She wore a dark purple robe with an intricate sash that resembled the twinkling sky above them. In her hand was a long sword, the hilt of it separated from the blade and held together by a ball of energy that radiated like a small golden sun. Her violet blue eyes were focused in on Dahlia. She was prepared to strike at any given moment.
Dahlia stood there with her black hair cascading down her back. She had an arm clutching Alfein. He stood half in front of her, defensively. Dahlia’s eyes betrayed a wickedne
ss to them that Adair had not seen in her before.
“Quit playing with me Dahlia, what are you doing up here?” asked Rose.
“Fine! I’m going to destroy the crystal!” shouted Dahlia.
“Wait, what? That’s why you asked me to take you here?” said Alfein, confused by Dahlia.
“How long have you had your memory back?” asked Rose.
“It came back to me in Bosh Ragan, when Adair touched my hand. Everything came flooding back to me. I remember our last fight, and the curse you put on me because you were too much of a coward to finish me back then. You let me wander this world without a clue who I was for centuries,” accused Dahlia.
“I’ve found the resolve to do what needs to be done. I’m not the same child I was three hundred years ago. If you fight me tonight, I will slay you,” replied Rose.
Adair reached out and touched Rose’s hand. Adair was not startled but she turned her head slightly to Adair. At the end of the platform Dahlia’s skin started shifting and black hair sprouting from her body. Alfein saw her begin to transform, and he kicked off the platform to fly away. In the middle of his jump, Dahlia grabbed his wings and yanked him back to her. Her hands were now giant black claws, and her face was a distorted demonic shade of what it used to be. She bit into Alfein’s neck, sharp monstrous teeth tearing apart his skin and devouring his flesh. He screamed in agony.
“This is the power of blood magic. A Demon Fae can use it to conjure unspeakable horrors. Stay back Adair, this is my fight” warned Rose. She darted towards Dahlia.
She was so fast that watching her move was like watching a blur. Dahlia eyes glowed bright red as if she had been charged from consuming a piece of Alfein. She threw down his lifeless body and jumped back from Rose’s strike. Dahlia flipped through the air, smashing a sharp claw into the crystal and hacking a huge piece out of it. The crystal’s light flickered as a hairline fractured across it and the chunk fell to the ground below them.
Leathery bat-like wings sprouted from Dahlia’s back and she started gliding around to the other side of the crystal. Rose ran across the platform and jumped through the air to Dahlia. Rose sliced through one of Dahlia’s wings as she landed gracefully on the opposite platform. Dahlia screamed and slashed her claws out at Adair. Adair stepped out of the way of each swing, dodging Dahlia’s strikes.
Mages from the tower came running out onto the platform to see what was happening. Before they could begin casting, Dahlia dove into them and began tearing them to shreds, eating them alive as she went. They screamed in horror as their bloody bodies were cast about by Dahlia. Her wing regenerated itself and she was recharged by their deaths.
“Adair, I need you to warn the mages to keep everyone away from us. I’m the only one who can fight her,” ordered Rose.
Adair was in shock with what was happening, but Rose’s voice snapped her back into reality. She ran over to the mages and tried her best to explain the situation. They weren’t understanding what was happening but the demon and the fading crystal in front of them were enough evidence that they needed to stay out of the way.
“Dahlia! You were my sister once but no more. I will stop you!” cried Rose.
She snapped her fingers and several swords appeared in front of her. She threw them at the demon in front of her. Dahlia dodged the first couple of swords. When Dahlia threw the sun sword at Dahlia, it transformed into a bolt of energy. It hit Dahlia and blasted her down the hallway of the tower. Dahlia crashed into a crowd of mages who were watching the fight. One of them shot a fireball at her, that she deflected with the back of her hand before gorging herself on everyone she could grab.
The remaining onlookers screamed and ran away down the terror as fast they could. Restored, Dahlia turned herself back toward Rose. Rose was already charging down the hall toward Adair. She jumped into the air and while spinning around, summoned more blades. She descended down upon Dahlia, cleaving into her from multiple angles with the blades. Dahlia screamed as dark, oily blood, spurted from her wounds. She slapped Rose away.
Rose blocked the strike with her arms but it still sent her skidding back. Rose snapped her finger one more time and she disappeared in a bolt of magenta electricity. Dahlia huffed and puffed as she looked around trying to see where Rose had gone. Rifts tore open in the fabric of space around Dahlia and multiple Roses jumped through them, each slashing at Dahlia with different swords as they jumped. Dahlia screamed, feeling their blades hack through her body. The rifts disappeared and in another flash of electricity, Rose reappeared a few yards in front of Dahlia.
Dahlia fell to her knees, her face contorted in rage.
“You think you’ve won? You stupid bitch. You were nothing three hundred years ago, and you’re nothing now!” shrieked Dahlia as she ripped at her own flesh. She was using her own blood to continue casting her nightmarish blood magic.
As her bloody splattered around the room, it started bubbling and spitting like water in boiling grease. The blood shifted and turned into hideous bestial wolf forms. Rose lifted her middle and index fingers into the air and generated a sword for every demon that Dahlia had created. Rose launched the blades at them.
Many of the demons burst into pools of blood and death upon receiving a fatal blow, but some of the others managed to dodge and retaliate back at Rose. The sword master danced between each of the demons, picking up swords along her way and striking them down. She was strong and graceful, and every move she made was done with otherworldly precision.
When all of the demons were dispatched, Dahlia was left crawling across the ground in a mess of her own blood. She looked up at Rose, her face seething with hatred and agony. Rose picked up her sun sword as she walked calmly toward Dahlia. She swung it around and beheaded Dahlia. Dahlia’s corpse burst into ash and all of the blood and demonic corpses that had filled the room melted into ash.
“Wh-Who are you?” stuttered one of the mages who had just come upon the scene.
“I am the voidwalker, master of time and space,” replied Rose as she turned and went back out to the platform to check on the crystal. The mages stood back confused, not wanting to fight with whomever had managed to defeat the demon.
The radiance of the crystal had all but diminished. It had tilted to the side and was dropping down to the ground. Adair was sitting on the opposite platform, tears on her cheeks as she held Alfein’s body. Rose leapt across the platform and over by Adair. Rose waved her hand and the sun sword faded away.
“How could this happen?” asked Adair.
“We don’t have time. This crystal is a support pillar, keeping the other planes from crashing in on this one. We need to get it back in the sky,” said Rose as she raced down the tower, through the crowd.
She retrieved the chunk of crystal from the ground below and went to make her way back to the tower when a group of guards shouted at her to stop. Rose halted, assessing what her next moved should be. A wizened old man with a long beard and gray robes approached.
“Let her through you fools! We have to save the crystal!” ordered the old man.
“Who are you?” asked one of the guards.
“I am Guild master Erasmus!” announced the old man.
The guards put away their weapons, recognizing the man’s authority over them in this circumstance. Rose nodded at him in appreciation and then ran the stairs back up to the tower. The old man blinked and teleported up to the platform where Adair was. He ambled over to Adair and put his hand on her shoulder, attempting to her comfort her.
“Adair, give me your sword. I need the hearthstone to affix the crystal back together,” ordered Rose.
Adair pulled out her sword and handed it to Rose.
“The crystal was broken by the energy of death, it’s going to take the energy of life to put it back together,” said the old man.
“What does that mean?” asked Adair.
“It means that when I put this piece back onto the crystal that my life will be consumed to repair the crystal,” said
Rose.
“You can’t do that!” cried Adair.
“I have to do it! If I had the courage to put my sister down all that time ago instead of just wiping her memory, we wouldn’t be here right now,” said Rose.
“No. I mean I can do this. I was never particularly smart, or strong. I couldn’t save friends, and I couldn’t avenge them either. If I can lay my life down to save everyone, please, let me. This whole journey, this is what I was meant to do,” said Adair.
Adair took Rose’s hand and gently pried the crystal sword away from her. She felt its cool, light, grip in her hand. The blue hearthstone shone brighter, filling Adair with a sense of purpose. She took the broken piece of the crystal from Adair and turned to the old man.
“What do I need to do?” she asked.
“Jump down and pierce your sword into the crystal. If you focus your intentions on saving the crystal then your hearthstone will react and do the rest,” explained Erasmus.
Adair nodded. Sword and crystal in hand, she walked to the edge of the platform. She looked out upon the great crystal that was descending closer to the earth below. Cradling the shattered piece under her left arm, she jumped out to the crystal. Her heart beat faster. She did not know what the afterlife would hold but, in her heart, all she wanted was for the crystal to be fixed and for everyone to be safe.
Her sword pierced right into the crystal. Instantly the blue light of the hearthstone grew brighter and transformed her body into bright energy. The crystal absorbed her, the hearthstone, and the broken piece. The last thing Adair remembered was being enveloped by the warmth and light of the crystal. The brilliance of the crystal had been restored, and it was no longer chipped or broken.
From inside his robes, the guild master withdrew a long redwood wand. It vibrated in his hand as he waved it through the air and chanted loudly. He gesticulated like a conductor leading his orchestra. The air thickened, and the crystal started lifting back up. Erasmus had moved the crystal back to its original position as if it had never been touched in the first place. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, tucked his wand back into his robes, and then turned to Rose.