by R. A. Rock
Tessa whipped her blades up, and it hit, deflecting wildly to the cliff wall where it blew up a bunch of rock. Stones rained down on them and all three covered their heads to protect themselves. The queen recovered first and shot another bolt at Finn, who was once again flipping his blade.
He swung, continuing to spin the blade around his hand effortlessly, and sent her magic up toward the sky. Then the magical blasts came one after the other, the queen not giving them any time to think, but only react.
One shot through the air and hit Finn in the foot. He danced back with a hiss, his boot smoking. His attention was distracted for only a moment, but that was all it took. The queen aimed at his chest, and the magical blast hit him square in the solar plexus.
He fell backward with a groan and lay still. He was conscious but couldn’t move. He didn’t know what the magic had done to him, but he felt overloaded. Finn felt as though all the magical channels in his body had been completely overwhelmed.
He watched helplessly as Tessa spun the blades and deflected every shot the queen aimed at her. Then the queen got smart. She aimed at him. Finn tried to roll out of the way but couldn’t, and Tessa’s attempt to block it for him wasn’t quick enough.
The magic hit him again, and he felt searing pain all along his magical channels and throughout his entire body. He groaned in agony.
The queen barely seemed to move, and yet suddenly, she was beside him, the glowing end of her staff pointed down at him. But Tessa was there too, behind the queen with her blade at the ancient Fae’s throat.
They were at a standoff.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Tessa,” the queen said, a mocking smile on her face. “I have a feeling you might have got a little attached to your pet thief, haven’t you? You wouldn’t want me to have to kill him, would you?”
“Ransetta,” Tessa said, a warning tone in her voice.
“Oh, don’t worry,” the queen said with false concern. “I won’t kill him. Of course not. All you have to do is give me the Scroll.”
“Don’t do it, Tess,” Finn said, turning his head as some of his movement came back to him. “Don’t. You know what she’ll do with it.”
Tessa face was conflicted. “I can’t let her kill you, Finn.”
“Better that than giving her the Scroll. You should go.” He glanced quickly at the blade. “You should leave now.”
Finn flicked his eyes toward the blade again, the one that opened portals. Tessa blinked, hopefully understanding his meaning. She could get away from here. Even with the amulet, the queen couldn’t get the Scroll out without Tessa. Only the Keeper of the Scroll could remove the Scroll from its hiding place because it was keyed to the Keeper’s Starlight.
Tessa gave a little head shake and then a look that seemed to mean something, but Finn didn’t know what.
“No,” she said, putting away her blades. “I’ll do it. I’ll open it and get the Scroll.”
Tessa held out her hand.
“Give me the amulet,” she said, glaring at the queen and making absolutely no attempt to be polite.
The queen smiled and handed it over, following Tessa toward the column but still keeping her staff trained on Finn.
“That’s right, Tessa. You always were good at following orders. No need to stop now. Just give me the Scroll, and I won’t kill him.”
“Palms,” Tessa said, holding hers up.
“No way,” the queen said, gripping her staff so tightly, her fingers turned white.
“Then no Scroll,” Tessa said, her face resolute. “You think I’m stupid enough to believe that you won’t kill him after you get the Scroll? Just for the fun of it? I’ve known you far too long, Ransetta.”
Ransetta’s smile faltered a little, and she pressed her lips together. The two women stared each other down for a long minute, and then Ransetta held up her hand. Tessa clasped it for a moment, until the vow took, and then let go and turned toward the pedestal.
Without any hesitation or attempt to be careful, she slammed the amulet into the stone. And the moment it touched, the column began to sink, the earth shook, and reality shimmered for a moment as a wave of powerful Light magic moved out in ever-widening concentric circles.
As it hit Finn, he felt the ability to move come back into his body, and he stood up. He flexed his arm where the monster had bitten him and his wrist had been broken. It was healed. He felt stronger than before. That was the power of Light magic.
Tessa and the queen stumbled back when the magic hit them, and as Finn moved forward, he caught Tessa around the waist and spoke into her ear, the warmth of her body comforting him.
“We need to use the blades and get out of here,” he whispered, glancing at the queen who was rubbing her head as if it hurt.
“No, I have a better plan. Just back me up.” She shoved him away from her before the queen could notice.
“Where’s the Scroll?” the queen asked, sounding shrewish. “Do I have to kill him after all? I can kill him if you don’t keep your end of the bargain.”
“The Keeper hid it well,” Tessa said, aggravated. “There’s more to getting it than just the amulet.”
Tessa touched the ring, activating the Keeper’s memories, and strode toward where the column had now disappeared into the platform. She crouched before it, and both Finn and the queen, still holding the staff toward Finn, stepped forward to see better.
Then Finn realized that the top of the pedestal wasn’t one solid piece of stone. It was made up of many pieces, and Tessa was shifting them around like a puzzle box. She worked for a couple minutes, moving pieces here and there as if she knew what she was doing.
Finally, she pushed the last piece into place with a click and removed the amulet from the pedestal, putting it back around her neck. The Dark Queen didn’t seem to notice. The rock shuddered, and Tessa stood up, facing the mountain. With a low rumble, a large chunk of the mountainside moved slowly out of the way, leaving an enormous archway. The smell that wafted out was old, ancient even, and the queen took a deep breath. Tessa glanced at Finn and the queen, then stepped through into the cave that contained the Scroll of Severance.
The Dark Queen smiled in a way that made Finn’s skin crawl and his stomach turn. He didn’t know what plan Tessa had, but he hoped it was a good one.
Or things were about to get really, really bad.
Chapter 42
Tessa stepped through the enormous stone archway that led into the Scroll room, feeling dwarfed by the ceiling so high above her. But she had a feeling that had been the architect’s intention.
The Dark Queen and Finn followed close behind her as the magic sensed the presence of the Keeper’s Starlight and slowly shut the large stone door again, effectively trapping them in the Scroll room.
But Tessa didn’t feel trapped.
She felt as though she were coming home. As though she were finally doing what she had been born to do.
And nothing was going to stop her.
Tessa knew everything because she had the Keeper’s memories. She strode forward with purpose, her footsteps echoing in the tall chamber.
The tiles of the floor had been placed in concentric circles of ever-darkening blue. When Tessa arrived in the middle and stepped onto the round circle made of a lovely blue crystal, there was a hollow-sounding click. The crystal lit up from within, the walls of the chamber began rotating with a grumbling of stone on stone, and a shiver of magic went through Tessa.
The room was a cylinder and built with smooth blue stone, so perfectly circular that it had to have been created with magic. No stonemason’s hand could ever have made it so completely free of any fault or defect. As the walls rotated, they revealed an alcove built entirely from the royal-blue crystal of the circle Tessa was standing on.
Finally, everything stopped moving and was quiet and still again. She knew the queen and Finn were behind her, but her entire awareness was on her mission. She could think of nothing else.
Tessa’s hand
s shook as she approached the Scroll of Severance. A bright light illuminated it from no source that she could discern. She stopped before the blue crystal case that contained the Scroll.
This was it.
Her heart pounded in her chest.
“Can I use your knife, Finn?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the Scroll as she held out her hand. He pulled a regular knife out of the sheath in his boot, putting the handle into her palm.
“What’s going on?” the queen asked, her tone petulant. She clearly didn’t like being out of the loop. Tessa could smell her sickeningly sweet perfume, and the scent irked her as much as the queen’s presence. “And don’t forget that his life is forfeit if you don’t give me the Scroll.”
“I know, I know,” Tessa said, controlling her temper. She really wished the other two weren’t there. She needed all her concentration for what she was doing. She didn’t have any energy for idle chit chat.
Closing her eyes, she felt for the magic lock that was keyed to the Keeper’s Starlight. With a deep breath, she sent her magic into the lock spell. After a moment, a drawer popped out of the side of the glass case. Tessa opened her eyes. The drawer was made of pure white marble, and she couldn’t tell where it had come from. She took the knife and drove the tip into her pointer finger without flinching.
“Blood magic?” Finn asked, stepping back. Tessa glanced over at him. He had a scowl on his face. “I didn’t know the Keeper had used Dark Magic.”
“It’s not Dark Magic,” the queen said with a wave of her hand, dismissing his foolishness. “Blood is used to key all sorts of magical locks. Don’t be such a simpleton, thief.”
“Only the blood of the Keeper, freely given, can open this case,” Tessa explained, taking her finger and holding it over a small circle that had been inset in the otherwise smooth stone drawer. She squeezed her finger and let one drop of crimson blood fall on the stone. The blood spread out and filled the circle. Then, with a pleasant sound, the top panel of the blue crystal case slid away and revealed the Scroll of Severance.
Tessa drew a deep breath, knowing that the next few moments of her life would change Ahlenerra, and everyone in it, forever—either for better or for much, much worse.
Tessa reached in and picked up the Scroll. There was a surge as the magic recognized her, and she carefully pulled the ancient piece of paper from the case. She noticed it was written in Railltah, the ancient Fae language. The parchment hadn’t deteriorated at all because of the magic protecting it.
Ransetta was smiling broadly with greed in her eyes.
“Finally,” the queen said, reaching for it. Tessa took one step toward her and held the Scroll out.
“Please Tess, don’t do this,” Finn begged.
But Tessa didn’t falter. Time seemed to slow down as she set the Scroll into the queen’s hand, and there was a flash of light as she fulfilled her vow. The queen couldn’t kill Finn now because she had said she wouldn’t if Tessa gave her the Scroll.
Tess smiled broadly. Finn was safe from the queen forever.
The next moment, though, before the queen could grasp it tightly, Tessa snatched the Scroll back and whipped out one of the blades, slicing the tip across the queen’s now empty palm. Tessa prayed she had pulled the correct blade for opening a portal because otherwise, this plan was going to be completely Shadow-cursed in about a minute.
Ransetta shrieked in rage and pain as her blood welled, and then her eyes rolled back in her head, and she swayed on her feet but didn’t fall. Tessa didn’t waste any time but took two steps to the side and scored a portal across the floor in front of the queen. Then she stuffed the Scroll in her shirt as she ducked behind the Dark Queen’s wobbling form.
“Help me, Finn,” she yelled as the queen recovered and lifted her staff, looking for anyone upon which to vent her wrath.
But Finn was already beside Tessa, and together, they pushed the queen toward the portal. She instantly realized what they were doing and dug in her heels, but the sleeping potion on Tessa’s blade had weakened her, and she didn’t have her full power.
“Push,” Tessa shouted, giving her entire strength to it.
They both shoved the queen as hard as they could, and with a scream of fury, the queen lost her balance and fell through the portal with a splash.
They looked down through it and saw her rising up out of the water like a vengeful siren. She clearly had at least some of her powers back and was lifting her staff to point it at them.
“Quick,” Finn said, stepping back. “Close it.”
Tessa tore the closing blade out. The queen’s staff was poking through the portal, and she had it aimed right at Finn.
“Tess, she said she wouldn't kill me, not that she wouldn’t hurt me,” Finn said in a worried tone as the staff’s end began to glow. “And it really hurts to get hit by that staff, Tess.”
Tessa drew the blade across the floor, fumbling and only half closing it. The staff point was crimson.
“Tessa,” Finn said again as he dodged a blast from the staff. “I’d rather not get hit by the staff again. There’s only so much agony I can take in one day.”
Tessa focused and carefully drew the blade across the rest of the open portal with a whooshing sound, closing it tightly and trapping the queen. The portal had cut off the end of her staff as it shut, and the wood fell to the floor with a clunk—inert and harmless now that the evil behind it had been stopped.
Tessa pulled the Scroll out of her shirt and checked it for damage, then carefully stowed it in her Otherworld sheath.
The Scroll was fine.
And it was hers.
Tessa had done the impossible.
She had found the Scroll of Severance.
“Shadows and Chasm, Tess,” Finn said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. “You did it.”
Tessa hugged him back, a feeling of calm and satisfaction spreading through her.
“I did it?” She shook her head. “We did it.”
Finn smiled at her.
“And how did we accomplish such a feat as pushing the Dark Queen, the First, into a portal without her being able to stop us?” Finn asked, skeptical.
“It was the sleeping potion. There was still some on the blade. I knew it wouldn’t make a Faerie as powerful as her go to sleep. But I figured it would slow her down enough for us to push her in.”
“That was a big risk, Tess.”
“I know. There was no other way.”
“Where did you send her?”
“To see an old friend,” Tessa said, suddenly feeling immensely tired. She slid down to the floor, leaning against the stone wall. Finn sat down next to her, his shoulder touching hers. He waited patiently to explain.
“To Perdira’s Mire,” she said with a chuckle. “I thought it fitting.”
Finn laughed. He took her hand and held it. “Very fitting. Full circle, even.”
“Where did you send the warriors and the monsters?” she asked.
“The Direwood,” he said. “I thought it fitting.”
They smiled at each other, and suddenly, their eyes locked. Tessa’s heart kicked up a notch, and she felt the Starlight mingling in their hands.
“I guess there’s only one question left then,” Finn said, and she saw his eyes drop down to her lips and then back up to her eyes.
Tessa wondered if he was going to kiss her. And if she wanted him to.
Ha. Who was she kidding?
She wanted him to.
She’d been dreaming of his kisses for weeks.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Who do you know that reads Railltah?”
Tessa’s heart fell. No kiss then. Well, whatever. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want Finn, anyway. Right?
Yeah. Right.
“I don’t suppose you can?”
“Nah.” Finn shook his head. “Not me.”
“Well, then I guess I have my work cut out for me, finding a translator.”
The
y might have done this amazing thing together, but Finn didn’t want her. Tessa got to her feet and headed to the wall, trying not to feel too disappointed. Being with him would be too complicated anyway.
“I guess I’m going to be busy for a while, trying to end the Severance,” she said, opening a little door and pulling the lever inside. The stone of the mountainside slid out of the way again so they could exit. Finn didn’t respond to her statement. They walked out onto the platform where the sun was turning a warm yellow in the afternoon sky, and Tessa closed the mountain up again.
The wind had stopped blowing, and all of Ahlenerra lay before them bathed in a golden light, as if the sun itself was placing a magical blessing on the land. Tessa and Finn stopped and simply gazed at the loveliness together.
“Soon, there won’t that gaping wound across Ahlenerra anymore,” Tessa said, pointing at the black scar of the Chasm that tore in half the otherwise beautiful landscape.
“Because of you,” he pointed out, finally saying something.
Tessa smiled. “Because of both of us, Finn.”
Then she decided to take a risk for once, and going up on her toes, she pressed a chaste kiss to Finn’s firm lips.
He seemed surprised.
“Just a goodbye kiss,” she explained, lifting her eyes to his.
“Tess,” he said, in a rough voice, catching her hand and holding it.
Tessa’s breath came faster as she tried not to hope. “Yes?”
“I don’t think I can stand to lose you,” he whispered, searching her eyes.
“Then don’t,” she said and closed the distance between them. Their lips met, and the kiss, which started gentle, soon turned passionate. They kissed until Tessa lost her breath and thought she might spontaneously combust from the fire inside her. She pulled away before things got really out of hand.
Finn grinned at her and stepped back.
“What now, Keeper?” he asked, running his hand through his hair and looking a little dazed.