Suddenly, the gargon shrieked and jerked back. All of the gargons started shrieking, flapping and scattering like a bunch of frightened bats. The pykan struggled to stay seated on its gargon, and I glanced over my shoulder.
Dragons.
One…two…three…four, five, six—six enormous, magnificent dragons. They rose like phantoms from the mist, and in their midst was the white dragon, the one that had risen from the mountaintop in Gesh. It was the largest of all, shimmering like the mist that had hidden it, with spines all over its face and larger ones forming a ridge down its spine.
My breath caught. Gaia had answered, and Gaia had come.
The sky came alive with fire. Wild flames snaked everywhere, setting fire to every gargon it touched. The gargons flew in a frenzy, desperately trying to get away. Some dove and pecked at the dragons like crows on a carcass, but the dragons snapped powerful jaws, flinging gargons left and right while scorching all the rest. One flaming gargon fell right above me, and I sprinted aside as it collided to the ground in a cannon of screaming fire.
The pykan's fury burned as hot as the air, and it whirled its gargon around, aiming for the white dragon with a ball of light in his hands.
"I don't think so," I said to no one in particular, and I poured every last ounce of strength down my arms and through my fingertips. A bolt of light shot from my hands right as blue light left the pykan's. Our lights collided, both deflecting into the clouds. The magic drained me of my strength, and I fell to my knees, gasping for breath. I felt the pykan's attention at once, and it created a new ball of light—this one meant for me.
A wall of fire enveloped the pykan's light, consuming both it and its gargon. The sky filled with a terrible wail and the pykan and its gargon were gone. The white dragon dove over my head, so low the gust nearly knocked me over, and with a trumpeting scream, the dragon soared up, up, and up, dousing the gargons with a hose of liquid fire.
A great explosion rocked the world. A sonic boom pulsed through ground and sky, so forceful it blew my hair back. Bright white light shot from the heart of the castle, stretching through the sky in a steady beam and punching through the clouds above, which swirled and churned around it. The sky grew darker fast, and great bolts of lightning stretched from the beam into the clouds as though it were going to rip the very sky apart.
Oh, no.
The shield. Eris already had the unity stone. When had he taken it? Or had Lord Pontefract given in and handed it over? Not that any of these questions mattered now. Eris had activated the shield, and he was slowly tearing a hole in the sky. Eris had to be near the source of that light. I had to get inside the castle and stop him from releasing Mortis—if it wasn't already too late.
And I knew just how to sneak inside.
I spotted the white dragon above.
"Please, if you can hear me," I said. "I need your help."
The white dragon snapped its jaw around a gargon and thrashed violently.
What is it you need, young Draconi?
The voice reverberated through my skull, timeless and deep like Nexus's, but also different. This one sounded huskier around the edges. The white dragon had heard me.
"Could you drop me off near the river that runs around the castle?"
Another gargon shrieked as the white dragon knocked it from the air with the rib of one of its wings.
Yes.
The white dragon peeled away from the rest and dove, wings spread wide, straight for me. And he wasn't slowing. I took a slow step back, and then another, and the dragon kept coming. A great gust of wind nearly knocked me back as sharp pressure clamped around my body. The white dragon lifted me in the air, higher and higher, and the ground fell away beneath my feet.
Where would you like me to set you?
"Just around back, by the foot of the south tower," I yelled. "There's a hidden entrance there."
You know I can hear your thoughts, do you not?
I knew that, but I'd never gotten used to it—not even with Nexus. I'd never hear Nexus speak again. My throat tightened.
Do not mourn him, young Draconi. He is Gaia's, and she has reclaimed him. His purpose has been fulfilled. No one can hope for anything greater.
I understood the part about purposes, but Nexus was—had been my friend.
The white dragon dipped over the wall and dove down toward the water. I'd only been down here once, that night I'd followed Denn and his friends down a hidden stair. I didn't like thinking on that night, but it'd also led me to this.
Luckily, no guards patrolled the water or the grounds. They were all preoccupied with the battle above, so no one saw us coming from this side—at least none that I could tell.
"There, right by the oak tree," I said.
The white dragon raised his wings. Air filled them like a parachute, and he slowly drifted down. He opened his talons, setting me on the ground, and I stumbled forward, catching myself before I fell. I was still bruised from my earlier fall, but I couldn't worry about that now. I spun and looked up at the white dragon, who was already rising back into the air.
"Thank you," I said.
With a flap of wings, the white dragon ascended. Leaving me alone.
Clashing and yells echoed from the battlefield, and the clouds had turned an ominous black. I sprinted to the wall where I knew the door would be, and I felt around. It was impossible to see, dark as it was outside, and so many cracks lined the wall it wasn't obvious. My fingers touched upon a rough groove. I curved them around a lip of rock, and felt a notch inside. Fiddling with the notch, I pressed up, and something gave way, followed by a soft click. Rock swung open on silent hinges. I cast a quick glance behind me to make sure no one followed, and then I slipped inside, shutting the door behind me.
I bolted up the stairs two at a time, ignoring the pain shooting through my knees, and when I reached the panel at the top, I pressed my ear to the wood and stopped to listen. A painting hung just on the other side of this wall. I didn't think anyone would be patrolling these parts, but I couldn't be sure. When I was fairly certain the hall was empty, I pressed on the panel. It opened an inch and I paused, scanning the dark corridor beyond. I saw nothing but shadows, the only light coming from a small torch down the hall. Pushing on the panel, I climbed out, then closed the painting behind me. I crept to the end of the hall and peered around the corner. Two shadowguard stood at one end of the hall, their backs to me. Fine, I'd go the other way. I slipped around the corner and pressed against the wall, tiptoeing down the hall in the opposite direction. I'd made it halfway down the hall when I heard a sharp, "You there!"
I cursed and sprinted. There was a whoosh of air and I ducked right as a blade spun past my head, landing point first in the portrait at the end of the hall, impaling a painted forehead right between his painted eyes. I rounded into the next hall, grabbing the corner for balance, then stopped and pressed myself flat to the wall. The first shadowguard appeared around the corner, and I tripped him. He toppled forward, and I rammed my elbow into the back of his head—right as the next shadowguard appeared. He swung at me and I ducked, then grabbed his arm and kneed him in his gut. With a grunt he lurched forward, snaking his arm around my waist with his other, massive arm. I clapped my hands over his ears and he yelped, loosening his grip around me. I slid free, slamming my elbow against his nose. His head arched back, blood already dripping out of one nostril, but I didn't give him a moment. I brought my leg round in a kick that found purchase with his jaw. The momentum spun him around, and I rammed my elbow into the back of his head, too. He collapsed to the ground right on top of the other one. Both of these shadowguard had been completely human. Apparently, Eris didn't trust his fabrications to guard him this close. I wiped my brow and kept running.
Gauging from the beam of light I'd seen outside, Eris had to be inside the throne room. He'd probably have guards at the main entrance, but I didn't know if he'd have them in back. I turned down another hallway, my footfalls echoing along the empty corridor. Anoth
er explosion wracked the castle. The ground and walls shook violently, and I grabbed hold of a wall to steady myself as bits and pieces of ceiling broke off and crashed to the floor. The trembling stopped and I ran on. Past my old room, past Stefan's room and the hall to Fleck's old tower. Running and running past memories and pain through the dark halls of what had at first been my prison and had then become my home.
I shoved down the well of pain threatening to drown me and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I sprinted down another hallway. The doors to the throne room were just around the next corner. And then I ran right into an invisible wall. I bounced back, landing hard on my tailbone, and a handful of shadowguard stepped out from the shadows.
47
DARIA
The shadowguard were on me in seconds, yanking me to my feet and wrenching my hands behind my back. I fought back, managing a jab to an eye and a jaw, but there were just too many of them.
"Take her inside," growled the one I'd jabbed in the jaw.
Another one pushed the door in to the throne room. White light spilled into the hall, bathing the men in an eerie glow as they pulled me inside. It was the light I'd seen from outside, and it was coming from the shield.
The shield itself lay flat, hovering a few feet above the floor. The four pieces had been put together—wind, earth, fire, water—and the scenes on each of those pieces had come to life, glittering with light as images slid across the surface of the shield. The beam of light rose skyward from the surface of that shield, glowing brightest near the center, where a large crystal stone joined the pieces together. There was a hole in the ceiling where the light pierced, and even from here I could see the churning black clouds up above. But now strange dark shapes swam amidst the clouds.
"It's unnerving how much you look like your mother."
My uncle stood upon the empty dais, in a completely empty room. There was no throne or council table or chairs or anything at all. The throne room had been stripped bare. And as I looked back at my uncle, knowing what I knew now, I couldn't believe I hadn't made the tie to Thad sooner. As Eris stood there in his handsome, human form, so confident and carefree, he looked just like Thad. Especially now as he stood there smirking as if he'd just played the greatest prank on the world. Perhaps he had.
"But she was never so predictable," he continued. "I knew all I had to do was wait for you, and you would deliver yourself right into my hands. It's so much simpler finishing off the rest of my feeble resistance when it's concentrated right outside my front door."
I narrowed my eyes on him. "So Lord Pontefract gave you the stone?"
"It would seem so, now wouldn't it." He gestured to the shield. Something about his tone and demeanor made me wonder about Lord Pontefract's current welfare, but before I could voice this, he continued, "Of course, once I had the stone, I knew it was best if I waited for your army to arrive before unleashing the full power of the shield. My victory is so much more…efficient this way."
He'd known when and how we were coming, and he'd prepared for us. "Who told you our plans?" I spat, jerking against the guards holding me.
"I have many spies, dear niece. But for the detailed report of your attack strategy, you may thank that little man at the inn in Rex Cross."
I gasped. "Otis…?"
"Ah, that's his name."
I couldn't believe Otis had betrayed us. He'd been there the entire time we'd been discussing battle strategy, so it made sense he would've known everything, but…I couldn't believe Otis was Eris's man. Especially considering how the Del Contes had trusted Otis with my welfare when they'd first brought me to this world.
"The man you saw wasn't really the Otis you're familiar with," Eris said. "He was one of my spies. He used a potion I believe you're quite familiar with: swapping serum. The real Otis is dead."
Swapping serum. It was what I'd used to disguise myself as Stefan and enter the games. The serum hadn't physically transformed me into Stefan; rather, everyone had just seen and heard Stefan when they'd looked at me.
So the real Otis was dead.
I ground my teeth together. "You're nothing but a murderer, and you don't belong up there!"
He regarded me for a long, amused moment. "Oh, but I disagree, dear niece. When a man conquers another man, the victor naturally fills the space left vacant."
"You killed your own father!" I yelled, then hurried to add, "And my brother!"
Eris's eyes narrowed, his understanding sifting through me. "Stefan made it out alive, did he? Well, I shall remedy that little betrayal as soon as we're done here. You'd understand why all this is necessary if you really let yourself think about it. But you don't like to think about these things. You're too much like your father."
He didn't mean it as a compliment.
"My father was a better man than you'll ever be," I said, jerking against the arms holding me in place. "No wonder you hated him."
Eris's gaze darkened. "Careful. Unlike when we last spoke, I no longer need the knowledge of the Draconi or the Dalorens to unlock the power of the shield. I've managed that on my own, as you can see. So you're life isn't nearly as…valuable."
"Do it," I spat. "I dare you. Kill me like you killed the rest of my family, you coward. You're weak and pathetic and I hope—"
His fist slammed into my jaw. I hadn't even seen him step down the dais; he moved faster than humanly possible. Pain exploded in my jaw, and the guards held me on my feet as I staggered and blinked back tears. I tasted the sharp tang of metal in my mouth.
Eris grabbed my chin and forced me to look up into his eyes. They were Thad's eyes, and it was disconcerting seeing them in my uncle's cruel face.
"I am creating a new world." Eris's tone made my skin crawl. "A better world."
"You're creating a prison," I snapped.
He gripped my chin harder. "Mortis must be freed. For too long have men like my father used Gaia's power to beat and pillage the people into submission, forcing them to accept their ways."
"And you won't?"
He jerked my chin so hard I cried out. "There must be a balance, Daria. Gaia and Mortis were never meant to be separate. We need both to complete the circle—to reach our full potential. My father refused to see it. So did Alaric, and if he'd embraced the truth, perhaps Aurora would still be alive."
I stared into those eyes so full of hate, while his bitterness and anger and grief stormed inside of me, and I knew. He had loved my mother. He had loved her so much more than he should have, but she had loved my father instead. Eris may have always harbored anger and resentment against my father, but it was my mother who'd tipped him over the edge.
"I could've saved her!" Eris looked through me, as if he were yelling at someone else. As if he were yelling at my father. "You knew I could have saved Aurora, but you refused to let me! You refused to acknowledge Mortis's power—to let me set Mortis free—and it killed her!" He looked back at me, struggling to see me again, as if he had to remind himself that I was not my mother. His expression soured with resentment, and he thrust my chin aside. "You're just like your father…you and your pathetic sense of altruism. Gaia created this world. This beautiful, magnificent world where all the wealth is condensed into a small handful and the rest of the people live and die to serve them. This perfect and fair world where an aegis cannot marry a princess," he sneered, then fastened hard eyes on me. "This world needs Mortis. This world needs his servants, just as Earth does."
"So you can control them, too?" I said. "You aren't creating a balance; you're murdering all of Gaia's followers! And the people of Earth don't know the first thing about magic. They won't stand a chance against you, and you know it."
"No, I will build a better Earth—a stronger Earth. I've been to your planet. Yes, that day I saw you in the fields but could not touch you…your father had you so well protected. He'd spent all his life building and rebuilding the spells he placed around your home. If your father and the Del Contes really meant to save your life, they should've ne
ver brought you to this world. I found you that day, but I'd been watching your planet far longer. Earth needs this just as much as we do. The people of Earth are divided and selfish. They have lost all faith—all purpose—and their leaders take and they take and they do not give back."
"And what are you going to give them?"
He leaned so close I could see the specks of brown in his pale blue eyes. "I am going to give them a god. I am going to give them a purpose. Because of me, they will unite, and their unity will make them stronger, and that strength will help them become who they were destined to be."
"Your slaves?" I spat.
His gaze simmered. "They are already slaves, Daria. I'm just going to be a better master. And because of me, there will be a unity between worlds that hasn't been seen since their inception." He paused. "I will give you one last chance. You can follow me—you can come back to Earth with me and have a place in my new worlds, or you can die. I hate wasting such potential. I think you'll find I'm a conservationist when it benefits the progression of mankind."
I glared straight back. "And I will spend every single moment for the rest of my life fighting against you."
He frowned, his eyes stone cold. "So be it."
48
ALEXANDER
Daria and Nexus dropped from the sky like a rock, without any signs of slowing. I watched in horror as I shoved off a shadowguard, and then Nexus crashed into the trees behind the castle and I could no longer see either of them. I sprinted forward, hacking down every shadowguard in my path. I cut and punched and kicked and whirled, pushing through their lines. I had to get to her.
And that's when I saw the dragons rise.
There were six of them in total, rising like spirits from the mist, flying straight at the gargons. The sky lit on fire, filling with great plumes of flame—so great, the heat warmed me where I stood. Cheering erupted behind me. At first I thought the men were cheering for the dragons, but then I heard mention of the Arborenne. I glanced over my shoulder. Lord Dommelier stood atop the crest of hill, his warriors spread in a wave of bronze, and my spirits soared higher than the dragons. He had come.
Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) Page 54