“She’ll be all right,” Dad yelled over the howling wind as he focused on Kull and me. “You have to stop the queen. Do whatever it takes to stop her.”
“You’re sure she’s okay?”
“Yes, but not for long if you don’t stop the queen. She’s going to use Theht’s power to recreate the same spell she used against the goblins. Except this time, she’ll destroy all races except elves. She’ll kill them, Olive, and then she’ll kill anyone who opposes her. Stop her now before she can use the sword to amplify her spell.”
“But how do I stop her?”
“You’ll think of something!”
Great. Thanks, Dad. That’s really helpful.
Kull took my hand, and we attempted to walk against the wind. I felt as if my knees would buckle at any moment and I would be swept away, but with Kull’s help, I managed to move forward.
The queen rose higher into the air as the whirlwind gathered in strength around her. A spark of electricity shot outward from the sword’s blade, igniting the grass. With the wind gusts, the small flames quickly grew into a bonfire. The flames shot upward and got sucked into the vortex.
Kull and I jumped back as the flames erupted around us. The elves scrambled as the fire engulfed the grasslands. Heidel and Maveryck appeared from the crowd.
“I’m going to use a spell to stop her,” I told them. “Maveryck, I could use some help.”
The thief nodded, and we faced the queen.
My magic flowed quickly, fed by the intense power swirling around us. Maveryck’s magic also fed into mine. With a whispered word, I let my magic flow, glowing inside me, then I pointed my finger at the queen’s heart and released the spell.
Blue and amber shot from my hand, but instead of hitting the queen as I’d hoped, the magic wrapped around the queen. It only aided to fuel her own powers.
“That wasn’t good,” I said to Maveryck.
“No, magic won’t affect her, it seems.”
“What about weapons?” Kull asked, hefting a discarded basita that had been thrown to the ground during the chaos.
“Yes, try it!” I called back.
He lifted the weapon and pulled the lever that launched a white flaming bolt at the queen. The bolt struck her chest and disabled her for a moment. The wind died down, but when it did, the queen lowered. Her feet touched the ground as she focused on us.
Her eyes glowed bright white as she crossed the distance. She pointed the sword’s tip at my heart.
“There is a piece of the goddess within you,” she said, her voice like a thousand whispers. “Give it to me.”
I backed away. She needed the goddess within me to completely harness Theht. She’d tried to take the goddess from me before, but without the sword, she’d been unsuccessful. Now, she would have no trouble controlling the dark goddess’s powers, and no trouble controlling me.
“No.” I stumbled away from her.
“I will take it from you.” She lifted her hand. Magic shot from her fingers and wrapped like barb wire around my skin, flaying my flesh. I cried out as the queen hovered closer, looming in my vision.
“Your power is mine.” She pressed the palm of her hand to my chest. I screamed as pain lanced through my skull, pulling and ripping my brain apart. Shadows clouded my vision. All that existed was the pain. She would kill me trying to take the goddess from me—I knew I would die soon, that I could do nothing to stop her, when that part of myself that had always existed within me—Deathbringer—reacted.
The pain stopped.
I rose and blasted the queen with my magic. She flew backward. Her assault on me stopped.
As I stood, everyone around me laid prone on the ground. Fires burned in every direction, their crackling mingled with the howls of the jagamoors far in the distance. I glanced at my hands, my arms, feeling as if I was a different person in another body. Something besides me controlled my actions as I walked to where the queen lay.
Gasping for air, she stared up at me with haunted eyes. The sword lay on the ground near her.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t touch it.”
“I must,” I answered, and I didn’t recognize the hollow, lifeless voice coming from my own mouth. I lifted the sword off the frozen ground. Its magic knew me.
Power licked over my arms and coursed through my body, giving me more strength than I’d ever felt before, but as the magic took hold of me, so did Theht.
I peered into the mirror’s blade, my image staring back at me, but as I looked, my magic exploded from my hands, opening a portal without my controlling it.
Wind howled through my ears as I was thrust from one reality to another.
Where are you taking me? I asked Theht.
To the place where you shall transform the world.
I landed in a heap on the sand. The bitter taste of bile filled my mouth as dizziness overwhelmed me. Opening my eyes, I tried to focus on my new surroundings.
I lay in a desert—a familiar place I’d seen in visions many times before.
No, no, no, I can’t be here!
As I crawled to my hands and knees, the wispy form of Theht stood in front of me. She was robed in a black cloak and hidden in shadow.
“Where are we?” I gasped.
“This is the isle of shadows—a realm that exists between worlds—the place where you will do my bidding. No one can touch us here. There is no magic that can stop my will, and the one prophesied of killing me cannot travel here. You will direct the course of the star fragment to the world, and then with its destruction, I will take all power for myself.”
The portal crossing had taken its toll on me. Thinking coherently was becoming a problem, but I finally managed to speak.
“No,” I said. “I won’t. You can’t force me.”
The shadowy form loomed closer. Her eyes met mine. “You’re wrong,” she said, her voice a whisper as she wrapped her hands around my throat. Her magic surged through my body, into every blood vessel, and then I rose above the ground, watching as we soared toward the night sky.
We flew until we floated above the planet. Theht controlled me as we sped toward the asteroid. Her power combined with mine as she thrust me toward the approaching rock. I did not feel cold, nor did the lack of atmosphere bother me. I couldn’t control my movements, yet I could still feel my arms and legs, which meant I must’ve still somehow been in my body.
As we reached the asteroid, I found Earth among the stars, a blue orb the size of a marble from my perspective. Below me, the asteroid rocketed forward, away from Earth’s orbit and away from destruction. For now, our world was safe. If I did nothing, it would stay that way.
But Theht’s powers overwhelmed my meager magic, and I watched my hand lift and point toward the asteroid.
I could stop this. I had to stop this now.
Magic gathered in my chest, making me panic. I’d come too far to let this happen. Lucretian had told me I could use time to stop prophecy. In vain, I tried to conjure some sort of spell to stop time from moving forward, but my magic wouldn’t respond. It was too late, and I knew it. I’d failed.
Magic blasted from my fingertips, colliding with the asteroid.
There was no sound as the magic struck the rock in a blinding explosion that sent the asteroid off course and toward Earth. The blast from the explosion punched my chest and blinded me.
I tumbled backward, space blurred. The stars seemed to tumble around me as I was hurtled toward Earth. With my magic spent, I felt like an empty shell, but that was nothing compared to the pain I felt inside—an all-consuming fear that our world would soon be destroyed—and that I’d been powerless to stop it.
I tumbled through Earth’s atmosphere. Below me, the continent of Faythander came into clear focus. It struck me then just how beautiful the planet was with its snow-capped mountains, green plains filled with grass swaying in the wind, and lakes and rivers with water so blue it dazzled the eyes.
And I’d been powerless to save it.
> My descent slowed. I couldn’t feel my body. It was as if I were detached, watching from above.
I landed in the snow in the goblin lands not far from the cave. Time passed. I wasn’t sure how long, although I knew it was still nighttime. When I finally came to, I gasped in a lungful of frigid air. The feeling of pins and needles prickled my fingers and toes as my body became my own once again.
Tears of frustration and anger leaked from my eyes. I screamed, pounding my fists into the frozen ground. I’d never felt so helpless, so manipulated. Theht had used me, and I felt utterly abused. Emptiness filled me. After screaming until I’d grown hoarse, I collapsed and stared at the sky.
I wiped away my tears, knowing anger wasn’t the solution. Instead, I focused on breathing. In and out. Calmly. Was there a chance I could still fix this somehow?
The morning sun was beginning to rise over the mountains. Breathing in the cold air, I let go of my anger, thinking instead of what I still had. I was alive. But beyond that, what else did I have? Memories.
I’d seen sunsets and sunrises so beautiful they touched the soul. I’d ridden dragons through the clouds, seen the flowers bloom in springtime, and leaves punch the world with color in the fall; I’d heard music in the wind and touched the stars. It had all happened in the two worlds of Earth and Faythander, both with magic of their own, and they would be immeasurably missed, never to be replaced.
Kull, Heidel, and Maveryck made it to my side. Kull knelt and helped me sit up. Except for a hint of dizziness, I felt well. Emotionally, I knew I was scarred inside, a deep wound that was yet to heal, if ever it healed.
I hugged Kull to my chest, feeling the warmth of his embrace. The smell of sandalwood and leather calmed my frantically beating heart. He was here and he was alive. That was all that mattered for now.
“Olive,” he said as he drew back. “What happened?”
I glanced overhead at the depthless blue sky, feeling the weight of what I had been forced to do starting to collapse on me.
“I—” I started, but couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat. Of everything I loved in this world so much, I would miss him the most. “Kull, I am so sorry,” I finally managed. “There was nothing I could do to stop her.”
“Where is she now?” Kull asked.
“Gone for now, at least I think so. She used all her energy to control me.” My words came tumbling out, and I couldn’t seem to stop once I’d started. “I tried to manipulate time, but she controlled my magic. She used me to push the asteroid toward our world. As soon as the asteroid hits our planet, she’ll use the energy from the explosion to cross into our world.”
“How much longer do we have?” Heidel asked.
“I don’t know. Hours, minutes, I can’t say for sure.”
“Is there anything we can do to stop it?” Kull asked.
“Not unless you’ve figured out a way to manipulate time, which I still haven’t been able to understand.”
Kull’s shoulders sagged. He squeezed my hand, then looked up at his sister and Maveryck.
“The good thing is we managed to repel the queen’s army. They retreated almost an hour ago. Also, we were able to get your mother and father to safety.” He reached to his side and pulled the sword of Dracon free from his scabbard. Its blue crystal glittered in the sun. “And we still have the sword.”
“How did you manage to get it from her?” I asked.
He smiled. “You know nothing stands between me and my sword, Olive.”
After everything that had happened, he still knew how to make me smile. “Ah, I should have known. So it’s your sword now, is it?”
“Yes, and I swear to you, I will not lose this one.” He stuck it back in the scabbard as Grace trotted up to us and sat at her master’s side. Beyond the wolf, a small campfire burned at the bottom of a steep hill. Kull helped me stand and led me down the slope until we reached the fire, where I sat on a log and stretched my hands toward the flames.
As I sat by the fire, I studied the blue and gold flames, fuel and oxygen combining to form the blaze, leaving ash behind. A log split in half and sprayed a shower of sparks into the air. Watching the embers flitting past, an idea struck me.
I’d had the answer all along. I knew what to do. I knew how to stop the asteroid, and I knew how to destroy Theht once and for all. Best of all, I finally knew how to manipulate time. I had a portal, I had pure magic, and I finally knew where to find an anchor—the last piece of the puzzle—and it had been with me all along.
The world would not end today.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“You’ve discovered something?” Maveryck asked. He, Kull, and Heidel all sat on a log across from me, with the fire burning and crackling between us.
“Yes, I think so. It came to me when I was looking at the fire. Lucretian said I needed three things to manipulate time—a portal, pure magic, and an anchor.” I exhaled, feeling the excitement and nervousness making my heart race. “I think I’ve found all three, and I’ve had them all along.”
“You have?” Heidel asked.
I nodded, then removed both my ring and my necklace. “Here.”
“Your jewelry?” Maveryck asked.
“Yes, but not ordinary jewelry. We recently learned that the ring is powered with pure magic. And this…” I held up the bone fragment dangling from the necklace. “It’s my anchor.”
“Do you believe you can use them to create a portal?” Maveryck asked.
My stomach twisted. This may have very well been the stupidest thing I’d ever attempted, but if it worked, it meant I saved the world. “I’ll try, but it won’t be easy. In fact, I’m not sure I can open a portal of the magnitude I’ll need to complete the spell. We could all die.”
“We’re going to die regardless,” Kull said.
Beyond Kull, the asteroid appeared in the sky. It looked like a star burning bright enough to appear during the day. I swallowed my panic, knowing we didn’t have much time. The asteroid grew brighter as I stood.
“I need all your help,” I said, my heart racing faster as I faced them. “Gather around me. Maveryck, you’ll have to aid me with your magic. Kull, Heidel, once we arrive on the other side, we may need your weapons. I’m not entirely sure what we’ll find once we cross.”
The three people gathered around me, and I felt their strength as I cupped both the ring and the dragon’s claw. Glancing up at the asteroid, I knew what I had to do.
“Are you ready?” I asked them.
“Yes,” they answered as one.
Inhaling a deep breath, I prepared my magic, then I called upon the pure magic. It didn’t respond at first. The ring simply sat in my cupped hands.
We didn’t have time for the magic to be fickle now.
“Maveryck, focus your magic on the ring. Try to draw out the pure magic.”
He nodded. Together, we poured our magic into the ring. The blue of Maveryck’s magic, tinged with a hint of purple, flowed from his fingertips and into the ring’s stones.
I called upon mine and fed it into the glowing stones. The blue magic of Faythander warmed the silver band and made the jewels glow ever so faintly. Then, I added the power of Earth magic. Amber light swirled around the gemstones, combining with the blue, like flames. Uncontrolled, the magic whipped back and forth, an unsteady intensity that was difficult to manipulate. Gasping, I stumbled back as the power attempted to overwhelm me. It was too much, too fast.
Overhead, the sky grew brighter. Blinding light turned the world an unnatural shade of orange, as if we were drowning in an ocean of fire. The air turned suffocating hot. A maelstrom of wind beat against us, almost knocking us backward.
Panicked, I turned back to the stones in my hand. Feeling the black magic within me, I released it, letting it combine with the blue and amber. When it became balanced, I focused on the anchor, the dragon’s claw.
I’d never done this before. I wasn’t exactly sure how it would work, but with the magic fueling the stones, I t
ouched my finger to the claw.
A portal formed around us. Blue and white beams burst from the open gateway, and then encircled us in a dome of light. Warmth surrounded me as the portal engulfed Maveryck and me, and then spread toward the two Wults.
As my body was dragged from one reality to another, I grasped at the remaining magic inside me, focusing on the asteroid. The blinding light made it impossible to see anything, but I’d manipulated the space rock so many times now I had only to reach out to feel it. Sensing how dangerously close it was, I tugged it through the portal with us.
Ultraviolet light entered through my closed eyelids as my body was ripped from one reality to another. Gravity pulled at my limbs, and I felt as if the portal would tear me apart. Just as I thought I would die a horrible death of being ripped limb from limb, I landed face down in the mud.
The pervading scent of ozone filled the humid air. As I sat up, I wiped the mud from my face, then found my ring and necklace near me. I pulled them free and did my best to wipe them clean.
The others also lay around me, and they sat up to study our new world.
Giant ferns the size of mature trees grew around us, blocking out portions of the gray sky. In the distance came the long, drawn-out bellow of an unfamiliar creature. The leaves moved in the canopy overhead, and the squawking of birdlike animals echoed through the jungle.
“Where are we?” Heidel asked as she stood and wiped the mud from her pants.
I also stood, holding the necklace out for her to see. “I used this as our anchor,” I said. “We’re in the past… by about sixty-five million years.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
Kull and Maveryck also stood.
“We’re where?” Kull asked.
“I brought us to the past,” I answered. “I realized we’d have to go somewhere to undo what had already happened, and I needed to use some sort of anchor to get us there. Destroying the asteroid was beyond my capabilities, and I knew that no matter what, I would be forced to destroy the world, so I brought the asteroid with us.
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