Crisanta Knight: To Death & Back

by Geanna Culbertson

  All of a sudden my compact started vibrating again. “What’s happening?” I asked.

  “You’re getting another call,” Liza responded.

  “Oh. I guess I should go then. It could be Peter or Dorothy.”

  “Very well. I will just leave you with one last instruction before I go.”

  “Let me guess. Try and stay out of trouble?” I said in jest, as that was what she usually told me.

  “Not this time,” Liza responded with a small smile. “I know trouble pursues you like a moth does a flame. I just want to say, take care of yourself, Crisa. I’m rooting for you.”

  With that, Liza’s image vanished from the looking glass. The words “Accept New Call?” appeared in the center of the glowing mirror. Since the Mark Two was voice activated, I figured that was probably the way to respond.

  “Um, call accepted?” I said.

  The compact stopped vibrating and my brother’s face filled the mirror. The moment I saw Alex, I involuntarily clutched the compact more tightly.

  “You made it out of the citadel,” he commented.

  “You’re a major jerk,” I retorted. “See, I can state the obvious too.”

  “I didn’t call to argue, Crisa. I just thought I would warn you that I passed the Boar’s Mouth test. We’re coming after Excalibur, which means you and your friends need to watch your backs. Arian doesn’t need you alive as a spare anymore.”

  “That’s not much of a warning, Alex. We’ve been forced to watch our backs since the first time Arian tried to kill us.”

  My hold on the compact grew tighter still; I wondered if the whole thing might shatter in my fist.

  “I’m not talking about Arian,” Alex said. “When you escaped the citadel, Rampart sent a legion of knights after you. And now he’s spread word via Mark Twos to all off his main contacts in the realm, specifically the kingdoms that intersect the Passage Perelous, that you and your friends are headed to Avalon. Powerful families and common magic hunters alike are aware of you and where you’re going, and they have the promise of your Pure Magic and a sizable reward from Rampart if they kill you and take it.”

  “Oh good,” I said sarcastically. “And I thought getting Excalibur was going to be easy.” I narrowed my eyes and sharpened my tone. “Alex, we talked about this. Save your warnings. I don’t need them like I don’t need you. But to make it even, I’ll give you a warning of my own. You, Mauvrey, and Arian better watch your backs. Because my friends and I are walking away with that sword.”

  “You won’t succeed,” Alex said bluntly. “And when the time comes, I advise you to get out of the way. While I won’t hesitate to take down any of your friends, I’d prefer to protect you from Arian if I can. He and Mauvrey don’t need you alive anymore, Crisa …” His expression wavered. “But I still do.”

  Hearing the undeniable note of caring in Alex’s voice caused my annoyance to boil over. Gray areas were insufferable and now they seemed to be everywhere—my Magic Instinct, the morality of taking a life, my relationship with Alex. While the former two on that list were likely going to plague me for a while, I would nip the latter in the bud right now.

  “Alex, you’re an antagonist. You don’t need me alive. Why should you care about your little sister? My friends and I are not afraid of you or Arian or Mauvrey, so bring on the threat. Furthermore, stop calling me. Unlike you, who can’t seem to pick a side, I’ve chosen mine. And no one is going to keep me from defending it.”

  “Crisa—”

  “Good night!”

  I snapped the Mark Two shut. Immediately, the compact started buzzing again. Filled with ire, I impulsively chucked the compact across the room. It sailed straight into the fire where it could burn—just like Alex would burn if he ever tried to hurt me or my friends again.

  atalie Poole.

  My dream zoomed in on the maple-haired girl as she leaned against the railing of a balcony overlooking a courtyard full of people. Some were carrying backpacks. Others sat at tables in the shade of a lovely pergola. A few chatted away by a fountain in the center of the courtyard, which encircled a lone statue of a man holding up a scroll. It was simple, but it had a powerful presence.

  Opposite Natalie’s balcony was another just as grand. There were several balconies protruding from the building overlooking the courtyard. The structure was modeled in the shape of a U. Immense iron lanterns with gold colored glass hung from majestic archways on the lowest level of each side. The regal setting reminded me of Lady Agnue’s.

  Over the years I’d dreamed about Natalie more than anyone else. She was a protagonist on Earth whom our antagonists were trying to destroy. They wanted to break her spirit because she had the potential to open the Eternity Gate, a legendary entrance that connected all the realms to a powerful land outside of time called Eternity. According to myth, when a world’s dark magic (dark energy) outweighed its good magic (good energy), the Eternity Gate would open. If this happened, normal magic would shut down across every realm while Eternity’s protectors examined the offending world. This included the magic of In and Out Spells (like the one around Alderon) and the magic of Fairy Godmothers.

  That was why the antagonists were set on destroying Natalie. Acquiring Paige’s memories to learn the location of Book’s genies was only part of their plan. Natalie Poole and the Eternity Gate had always been the other main components.

  Natalie’s prophecy alluded that she would be primed to open the Eternity Gate by her twenty-first birthday. However, just like my friends and I intended to foil the antagonists’ genie efforts, we fully intended to stop the Eternity Gate from opening and save Natalie Poole.

  The Book to Earth time difference put us at a disadvantage. She was a child now, but that wouldn’t last long. It would only be about eight months in Book before she turned twenty-one. Also working against us was that I didn’t know exactly where she was on Earth or how to reach her. That was why I was trying to connect with her and warn her in an unconventional way. With a lot of training, carriers of Pure Magic could communicate through dreams with the people they often dreamed about. Liza did it with me periodically. Since I dreamed about Natalie so much, the idea was for me to achieve the same thing.

  It was risky business trying to push myself to do this. Reaching someone through their dreams took a lot of energy even for experienced magic wielders like Liza. So I had to work to enhance the strength of my magic without allowing it to become stronger than me. But for now, reaching out in a dream was my best bet for warning Natalie of what was coming. I only hoped I would get powerful enough to do it before it was too late.

  As I watched Natalie observe the courtyard below—a rare expression of contentment on her face—I knew putting myself at risk to save her was the right decision. Like so many sacrifices my friends and I had already made for the sake of protecting our realm and others, it was a price that needed to be paid. And I was the only one able to pay it.

  Natalie appeared about twenty in this vision. It was the oldest I’d ever seen her. The vibrant strands of her maple hair were pulled back in a bun. A tattered backpack was draped over her shoulders.

  “Saying one last goodbye?”

  Natalie turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Ryan Jackson—the boy I knew was destined to be her One True Love—came out on the balcony. He wore a navy t-shirt that complemented his blue-gray eyes.

  “We don’t leave for a week,” Natalie replied as he stood beside her and looked down. “I’ll probably eat my lunch up here at least three more times before we go.”

  “By ‘eat your lunch’ do you mean sketch the people down there while some random squirrel makes off with your salad?” Ryan retorted.

  “Don’t make fun,” Natalie said, swatting at him playfully. “That squirrel was creepy. He looked like he could eat me. So if he wanted my Cobb salad, then …” Natalie stopped talking as something across the courtyard caught her attention.

  “Nat, what’s wrong?” Ryan asked, trying to see what she was lo
oking at.

  “That girl …” Natalie spoke like she was in a trance. “I know that girl.”

  My dream perspective followed Natalie’s line of sight to the balcony on the other side of the courtyard. Standing at the railing was me. Dream me. And dream Daniel. They saw Natalie and Ryan just as the pair saw them. They stared at each other from across the distance and all the sounds of the busy courtyard faded away.

  The scene shifted.

  Rampart and Arian were in the Knights’ Room of Camelot’s citadel castle. Arian rapped his fingers on the Round Table in frustration. “You said you kept Ozma’s crown in your study, Rampart.”

  “I said that as a test, Arian,” Rampart replied. “I had a feeling you might try and take it before fulfilling your end of the bargain.”

  “Rampart, I am going to live up to my end of the bargain. Alex is going to retrieve Excalibur, I’ll use it to access Paige’s mind from Glinda’s memory stone and find out where the genies are, and then you can do whatever you want with the blasted sword.”

  “That all sounds fine in theory, Arian,” Rampart countered. “But as Ozma’s crown is my only bargaining chip, you’ll excuse me if I want to keep its location hidden.”

  The scene started to fade. However, as it did, my perspective shifted to the fireplace at the rear of the Knights’ Room and zoomed in on the gold florets on the mantle. A bright flash of a thin gold crown in someone’s hand suddenly consumed my vision. Then I was somewhere else.

  I faced a great battle. The sky was bright and brilliant despite the absence of the sun. Streaks of pink, purple, and lime zigzagged over the starry heavens. They cast the entire world in a dizzying glow. This surely was the Vicennalia Aurora in full effect.

  I was at the border of Alderon. The dome-like force field of the In and Out Spell, normally invisible, sparkled furiously. In addition, silvery cracks that looked like thick lightning strikes were corrupting the sphere, making it look like an egg about to hatch. Only unlike an egg, I knew that the beings trying to get out of this enchanted shell were bent on our realm’s destruction.

  Inside the crackling dome, an army of humans and monsters was ready to charge. At the front of the assembly was a small lineup of men and women whose forms glowed with black energy. The black energy flowed from their hands into the In and Out Spell as they tried to demolish the force field.

  Somehow, I knew they were all carriers of Pure Magic. I could feel it. These were victims of the same disease I suffered from, except they had turned dark and been sent to Alderon to live out their days as malevolent witches or warlocks.

  There were at least thirty of them. Time and imprisonment in this wasteland had made them older and more ragged, but they were still strong. More than strong, really—they radiated power. And one look into the intensity of their dark, glowing auras told me that they were not afraid to use it.

  On the other side of the In and Out Spell, two dozen Fairy Godmothers fired their magic into the force field with equal fierceness. Their wands were pointed directly at the dome. Mighty blasts of scarlet-colored energy poured out of them, but it was nothing compared to the Pure Magic wielders on the other side.

  Among the Godmothers I saw Lena Lenore.

  The Fairy Godmother Supreme’s normally polished attire was sullied and torn, and her beautiful dark hair was frazzled, as if a wild animal had attacked her. There was a ferocious but fearful glint in her hazel eyes as she sent her own magic to strengthen the In and Out Spell.

  It occurred to me that I’d never seen the Godmother Supreme look nervous before. She was always so confident, so powerful, so intimidating. But the desperation in her expression here was as evident as the fact that the Godmothers were losing.

  The In and Out Spell around Alderon was crumbling and the Godmothers didn’t appear to have the numbers or the strength to hold it off much longer. I couldn’t believe it. Book had experienced the Vicennalia Aurora many times before; I was told we were prepared for this. Every time the event occurred, Fairy Godmothers dedicated themselves to keeping an eye on Alderon’s In and Out Spell. But clearly the majority of the Fairy Godmothers weren’t here.

  “They just took Daisy and Erin!” someone shouted.

  Debbie Nightengale appeared from behind Lenore. My own Fairy Godmother looked even more disheveled than the Godmother Supreme. She had fresh scratches all over her arms, including a particularly large gash by her shoulder. Her red hair was a mess. And her dress—a light green gown with moving swooshes of color that matched the Vicennalia Aurora—was ripped in at least ten places.

  “How many of us are left?” Lenore called back, sweat dripping from her brow due to the exertion.

  “Seventeen, myself included,” Debbie replied, shooting a bolt of red energy out of her wand at something behind the Godmothers, which was cut out of my perspective. “What do we do, Godmother Supreme?”

  Lenore gazed at the force field and the army of villains behind it. “The Aurora has never had this kind of effect before. It really is making people with Pure Magic stronger and normal magic like ours weaker.”

  The more I studied Lenore’s distraught face, the more I realized I preferred my all-powerful enemy in her state of superiority. Seeing her so worried made me feel extremely unsettled, and the news she just shared was beyond troubling. I’d already learned that normal magic was going to be weaker on the day of the Aurora. But I didn’t know Pure Magic would be stronger. I’m not sure anybody was prepared for that. Lenore clearly wasn’t.

  “Godmother Supreme.” Debbie’s eyes pleaded with Lenore as she fired bolt after bolt of magic at an unseen enemy. “Please tell me you called for reinforcements before the Mark Twos went dead.”

  Suddenly, I perceived a terrible and familiar sound. Up ’til now, my dreaming consciousness had not heard it, as if a layer of the dream had been on mute. Now though, vicious, memorable screeches pierced the air. My viewpoint changed and I was finally able to see what Debbie and several other Godmothers were defending themselves against from behind. Flying monkeys.

  Dozens of the winged, fanged monsters from Oz were flapping across Book’s sky—releasing their blood-curdling cries, swooping down with claws outstretched to assail the remaining Godmothers, and bobbing and weaving past the bolts of magic being shot at them.

  I watched Debbie fire in defense, but the creatures were too fast, their flight patterns too erratic. I saw one circling far above. He was coming in at an angle behind Debbie and Lenore, headed straight for them, but neither of the two Godmothers noticed. The flying monkey closed in—fifty feet, forty feet, thirty feet, twenty feet, ten feet, and then …

  Visions began flashing through my head at rapid speed.

  I saw creatures that were half human and half animal. Their bodies were of men dressed in sleek silver suits. Their fist-sized eyes were giant and black and set in furry, white faces.

  Next came Kai, Daniel’s girlfriend from Century City. She was in a forest, masterfully fending off magic hunters with her sword. I saw Daniel fighting beside her.

  The images came faster. My mother’s glass slipper shattering. Man-sized boot prints in the snow. Natalie running through a dark alley lined with dumpsters. A lavender-colored cat with giant green eyes and a creepy grin. An old woman I’d seen in my dreams before.

  The scene expanded around the old woman. She was in the middle of the woods. Seven magic hunters stood behind her. They all faced a grand cave with a mouth blocked by an enormous stone. The old woman was nervous. With that many magic hunters aiming their weapons at her, I could understand why. But what was strange was that she looked more worried about the stone in front of her.

  I’d envisioned this before. With a flash my dream then changed to another familiar scene. Hills with blue colored grass rolled in the distance. A huge river surrounded by embankments of gray sand resided next to a great battle unfolding. Jason, SJ, and Blue were fighting at least thirty enemy knights in gleaming black, gold, and blood red armor. While Blue and Jason harnessed th
e power of their respective weapons to fend off the attack near the river, SJ was more inland. Focused on firing her portable potions, she didn’t see a knight coming up behind her. He struck her in the back of the head with the pommel of his sword. She fell to the ground. He rushed in and raised his blade.

  My perspective snapped to Blue. She was wearing a brown vest over a navy romper. Out of nowhere she was hit hard and thrust off her feet. She tumbled down the riverbank—the gray sand sticking to her hair and clothes like breadcrumbs on a chicken breast.

  She tried to stand but another attacker slammed his shield against her head. Blue leapt up into a spinning kick to knock the knight away. But when she whirled around anew, a different knight came charging with a spear aimed directly at her chest. The blade reflected in her eyes. In that spilt-second I’m sure she thought she was done. But before the blade pierced her, Jason leapt in front of Blue and the spear went through him instead.

  “Jason!” Blue screamed.

  My friend fell to the ground. The knight who’d struck Jason yanked out his bloodied spear. He hinged to take another shot at Blue, but she launched herself at him before he got the chance. She tackled him to the ground and smashed his face with her fists over and over.

  More attackers drew in, but she jumped up and annihilated them all. Wielding the fallen knight’s spear, she combined its force with her own—punching throats, flipping bodies, and slamming every enemy that came at her.

  Suddenly the ground began to rumble. The panicked shouting of the other knights filled the air. A great, golden glow washed over their faces like an incoming tidal wave.

  My focus returned to Blue, who took the opening to race back to Jason. She dropped to her knees in the gray sand. Jason did not move. His shirt was stained dark red around his stomach. Blue grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, calling out his name. He did not respond. She touched her hands to the wound and blood soaked her skin.

  The terrain continued to tremble. The river sloshed. The glow in the background grew brighter. Eventually the glow became so strong it washed out everything and then—