***
The elven star vibrated on Pandimora's arm. At first the sensation puzzled her, but then with each passing moment she grew stronger and more clearheaded. She controlled her mounting excitement. In her mind she manifested a ground portal under herself and Drew. She didn't dare look at him but hoped he dropped down into the portal and escaped.
He fell into the hole, still holding her hand, but Lukais dashed her attempt at escape and her hand was pulled from Drew's.
"No!" Drew tried to hold onto her but he was sucked into the portal. Lukais effortlessly levitated her to his table.
"The human doesn't concern me. But you Pandimora have wanted to return so now you will stay." The elder steepled his fingers and leaned his chin upon them, studying her. "Your mother also was very clever. She learned to communicate with the faeries as a child. I was the one who invited her to our beautiful and magnificent realm." His eyes held a faraway look. "We became good friends."
Pandimora hardly dared to move, part of her thirsty to hear of her mother. He speared her with his blue gaze. "Only I could soothe the headaches she suffered. We formed a bond, but when she met my good friend Declan, they had eyes only for each other." He said it quite dispassionately, but she wondered if Lukais had also loved Clare. "The high lord of the faeries and a human."
"Where are they?" She clenched her fists. Ever since she had found out about her parents, a burning desire had gripped her to know the truth. Where could she find them? Was Irfin correct, they were burned into the afterlife?
He waved a hand. "Gone."
Pain ripped through her, but she put her shoulders back. "I wonder after all this time that I never sensed the cruelty that is your nature. What a pretense, the high elder who cared about all worlds and dimensions, but all you really cared about was the power and your own sense of importance. What you plan is wrong, Lukais."
"It's progress, Pandimora. I do care about both you and Lilja. I spent so much time mentoring you two, thinking to mold Lilja as a future elder." His brows drew together sternly. "You returned to Aisywel to protect your sister, when in effect she too has defected to the humans. And she too will have to answer for abandoning her birthright." His words shattered the short-lived relief Pandimora had felt on hearing that her sister was safe.
Refusing to be treated like a pawn, Pandimora moved right up against the council table. He watched her through narrowed eyes. "You have become quite bold. I always knew of the rebellion you kept in check, but you never voiced it."
"I've grown up," she said, gripping the edge of the glass with her fingers. "The council will be told what you have done and they will decide your fate. Our world is changing and you will have no option but to change with it. The Aisywel crystals have been witness to all that has occurred," she added. "You will be judged upon your words and actions."
Lukais now towered over her. "Surely you don't think I will just go away, Pandimora? That would be naive of you."
"There may be no choice."
Lukais grabbed her arm and pulled her over the table toward him. "What you will never understand is the grave responsibility I bear. Difficult decisions must be made."
It was eerily similar to what Irfin had said.
Her elven star radiated, allowing her the strength to jerk her arm free. She shoved the table toward Lukais but he jumped into the air and avoided its impact.
White bolts of light struck the glass floor all around her. She gripped Irfin's device in her pants pocket, having forgotten she still had it from when she'd brought Drew to the sanctuary. But the device seemed to yield her nothing so she dove around the upturned table and avoided more flashes of light. She knew if they hit her she would suffer the same burns as before, except this time he would make sure she died.
The glass floor partially shattered, falling down into the ground beneath her, leaving gaping holes in the floor structure. Moving swiftly, she avoided the elder's grasp and ran toward the still-glowing portal, but her foot slipped into one of the gaping holes and she lost her balance.
The glass edge of the hole scraped along her leg and ankle, cutting into her skin. She pulled herself away from the hole but Lukais pulled her up and flung her through the air and across the room. She landed hard on a solid section of flooring, sliding across the glass, then rolled, putting out her arms to stop her momentum.
Knowing she couldn't remain still, she scrambled to her feet, gripping her elven star with one hand, willing the strength and protection of the star to fully activate. She ignored the pain in her ankle and leg, and reaching into her pocket, she again gripped the device. The elder ran toward her, a great winged creature in white, his blue eyes mesmerizing even from this distance. She had no defense and in disgust she threw Irfin's device, hearing it bounce against the wall and then roll along the floor.
She retreated to the wall, assessing her chances for escape. The elder was almost upon her when he suddenly stepped on Irfin's discarded device and his feet went out from under him.
Seizing her opportunity, she jumped past him and lifting her arm in a sweeping gesture she expanded her still activated portal upwards, but the elder caught her arm just as Drew ran through the portal. With a mighty heave Drew tossed her the sword he held. In one fluid move Pandimora turned and plunged the glistening bronze sword deep into the elder's white robes.
Luminescent green light shot out of the elder's back, shards flying like glass, shattering the ceiling, raining glass down on their heads. Pandimora struggled to hold onto the sword as the force of their connection vibrated her arms and hands. She pulled the blade out and green light shot out the front of Lukais' robes, likewise imploding the glass walls. Pandimora pulled Drew backwards. "Don't let the light touch you," she cried.
As the elder staggered, the green light hit the glass as he twisted and turned. Pandimora grabbed Drew's hand and they dropped into the portal, falling to the wood floor of his office.
As they lay there on the floor in his office, she opened her fingers and the sword clattered to the wood floor.
They both stared at the sword which now lay beside them. "Close the portal," he said, breathing hard.
Pandimora waved her hands and it dissolved.
"That was too close." Drew looked at the sword. "There's something about this sword. After the first attack, Irfin said he would attach a device to the hilt." He touched the small disc wedged between the double swirled handle. "Will the elder come after us?" he asked.
"Not right away," she said. Drew put the sword on the table and Pandimora stared in fascination at the blood stains. The blade was no longer a magnificent bronze color but now a dull green with chips along its edges.
"In the earth dimension this sword truly looks its age," she said. "But in the faerie world, it reverted back to its ancient origins." She looked up, her eyes filled with moisture. "I was so worried about you, Drew, when I had to leave you."
"You saved my life." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Pandimora stood on tiptoe and kissed him back.
Drew sat down in his desk chair with her on his lap. "I never wanted to fall in love again, Pandimora. I can't bear the thought of letting you go."
Pandimora put her arms around his neck and leaned her head against him. "I love you, Drew. There's so much we have to figure out," she said. "Unanswered questions. But I hope at least the elder has been stopped and Aisywel is safe."
Find Me: Faeries Lost Page 29