Fated Magic (The Fated Saga Book 2)

by Sariah Skye

  “Leo?” Gabriel finally broke the silence, speaking softly.

  I snapped out of my thoughtful daze. “Sorry. I was just thinking about what happens now… if the queen is gone... and everyone else...”

  Kiarra swallowed. In the dim light we scanned the room around us at the dozens of forms writhing on the floor, encumbered by the Shadows. I followed her gaze to the portal and knew we were thinking the same thing: what if they were all gone.

  Maxxus, clearly reading our thoughts, spoke up. “If we managed to save Kit—hopefully we can save them too.”

  “How many could there be in there, though? It was a struggle to save Kit—how can we get them all?” I mused. “And... the queen...”

  Kiarra said what I didn't want to. “What if they're all gone? What if they all gave into the Shadows? Kit didn't completely give up when we found her so there was still a chance? What if…?” she trailed off.

  “What if we're the last ones?” Maxxus' eyes widened at the thought.

  I swallowed, eyeing the portal cautiously.

  Guessing my thoughts, Maxxus moved to stand directly in front of me. “You are not going in there.”

  “But—if they're in there,” I protested. “We can't just leave them! My grandfather could be in there! My brother!”

  “And, the queen!” Kiarra added frantically.

  “You're going to need backup,” quipped a fourth voice from behind us.

  I swiveled on my heels to see Finnian, his pack slung over his shoulder as he casually sauntered into the throne room; Daniel just behind him, gingerly kicking at tendrils as he walked. He yelped and jumped slightly as they squirmed away from his feet. “Dammit, I hate those things,” he said, miffed, under his breath.

  Briefly forgetting the situation, I grinned happily watching my two new friends come towards us. Finnian produced a smaller pouch from his pack and reached in, tossing a white powder down at the ground, which caused the Shadow tendrils to scatter around them.

  I ran to them, feeling a sense of momentary glee. Daniel caught me in his arms and spun me around once before setting me down. “Glad you're safe,” he whispered into my ear.

  Finnian leaned over and placed a friendly peck on my cheek. “I second that.” He nodded towards Kiarra, Gabriel and Maxxus who joined us.

  “So—the portal? Did you close it?” I asked.

  Finnian nodded. “It was easy—too easy.” He frowned wryly. “Now I see why,” he said, eyeing the large, dark black hole in the middle of the room. “That was just the baby. This is the Big Momma.”

  Daniel scoffed. “Nice euphemism, Finn.”

  Finnian gave a slight roll of the eye. “You miscreants are rubbing off on me.”

  I shot him a dire look. “No time for joking, dude. This is serious. The king—” I sniffled a bit, taking a sideways glance at the dead or nearly deceased form of Dragon King Athalos, “—said the queen was...” I hesitated, swallowing down a huge mass of bile burning in my throat.

  “In there.” Maxxus finished for me, somberly, gesturing towards the large portal.

  Daniel was visibly upset. “Shit. We were too late after all, even after that vision. We were still too late.”

  “It just wasn't meant to be,” Finnian said in a small voice twanged with guilt.

  I wondered momentarily if he knew something he wasn't letting on to, but, I knew he wouldn't spill anyway so I let it go.

  Finnian let out a low whistle. “Well, this is just not good.”

  “Not good? Not good? Finnian, it's fucking horrible, that's what it is!” I exclaimed, feeling suddenly hysterical. “The queen is in there! Along with Goddess knows who else! The majority of the entire dragon Court. My grandfather! My mother even! My brother!” I was shaking. I knew that except for Kit, everyone I cared about was in this room; fully at risk of being overtaken by the Shadows if they haven't been already.

  Kiarra brushed a tear falling from her dour brown eyes. “My fiancé.”

  Finnian stepped forward and embraced his longtime friend. “I'm sorry, Kiarra. I didn't mean to sound callous. I'm just trying to keep jolly. This isn't your everyday, average portal.”

  I scoffed. “No shit, it's a Shadow portal.”

  He sighed with exasperation. “Yes, it is, but it's not even your average Shadow portal. It's been bolstered by... powerful magic.”

  “Magic? What sort?” Gabriel asked.

  “You can't tell?” I questioned and he shrugged.

  “There's a lot of magic here right now... it's hard to tell what's coming from where. Also, all our charms and talismans are inhibiting how I detect it,” he said.

  “Right. So let's get down to it.” In the dim light it was hard to see, but I could have sworn his irises changed to a near-white color briefly, before turning back to a pale gray. He wore a confident smile, but I could sense that, despite his cocky attitude, he feared this portal. He summoned all his courage, breathing deeply before stepping forward.

  Daniel quickly grabbed his forearm. “Dude, you're not going there alone.”

  I narrowed my eyes, and pulled Daniel away. “Dude, you're not magical. At least not totally. You're way more susceptible to this magic than any of us. You stay here.”

  Finnian glanced at me. “You'd be surprised, Leo. He may not have magic, but... there is something else about him. The Shadows seem to be repelled by him. As I shut down the portal outside the main gate, they parted for him like the Red Sea—it was incredible. I've never seen anything like it.”

  “Are you saying he's like some sort of... shield?” Gabriel asked.

  Finnian considered this. “Quite possibly. It has been known to happen. You're both from a line of magical ancestors... stands to reason he'll have some himself. I'll have to have Evie look into it further,” he finished under his breath.

  Daniel winked at me slyly. “See? I'm special too.”

  Gabriel quipped something snide and inappropriate under his breath, but I ignored it as Finnian, with Daniel close behind slowly trudged through the Shadow forms towards the portal. The rest of us—Maxxus, Kiarra, Gabriel and I—followed, but he quickly swiveled around and stopped us.

  “Wait. We can't risk compromising the four of you in case something goes really, really wrong. I'm only hoping to 'peek' in and see if I can figure out what sort of magic, what sort of portal this is exactly. I need you back here in case something goes wrong.” He forced a brave smile, but his hands were ramrod straight at their sides... you could see him trembling ever so slightly.

  Feeling rattled by Finnian’s obvious distress—it was wholly unsettling—I pictured Finnian in my mind and thought the words, You are confident and brave... this is no big deal. You're not afraid. You're not afraid... you're not afraid…

  I felt his stare on me briefly while my eyes were shut. I opened one eye to see him paused in his tracks, and his whole body relaxed. He appeared confused a moment before he realized what was happening. He gave me a small, warm smile and a nod and they continued on to the portal.

  Gabriel elbowed me. “He’s right, look.” The tendrils, generally ignoring us at this point, were actively fleeing from where Finnian and Daniel stepped. They tried to desperately make a beeline for the portal.

  Now that I thought about it, even in the dreams Daniel brought me into I never noticed the Shadow tendrils go near him then. It didn't occur to me as strange until now—I just figured it was because it was his dream they were somehow ignoring him.

  “Strange...” I said. As they neared the portal, stumbling twice over the listless forms on the ground, Gabriel threw up a ball of light and I nodded as he spun it bigger. I added my own magic and the two of us threw it—much like a beach ball—towards the two of them.

  It deftly landed on them and spread its protective light shield over them. Daniel called back “thanks” as Finnian, now deep in concentration was reaching for his pack over his shoulder. He pulled out a large crystal—purple in color that glowed dimly has he held it out in front of him.
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br />   “Careful!” Kiarra said with a panicked tone. I could feel the anxiety washing over her. I sent her calming magic from my mind that hopefully she wouldn't even notice. She didn't, and I felt her body relax slightly.

  Suddenly the room filled with bright, purple light. A high-pitched shriek emanated from the crystal as Finnian held it out in front of him. The noise was excruciating to us dragons who quickly cringed, pressing our palms to our ears to drown out the noise.

  “What is that?” Maxxus growled, attempting to shield me with his massive form as he held his ears shut.

  “It's closed!” Finnian hollered back.

  The shrieking ceased and we uncovered our ears. Even Gabriel grimaced from the sound but he bore it better than us dragons. He had been helping shield Kiarra from the noise.

  “How can it be closed? What do you mean closed?” I called back.

  “If it were closed, how could it still be here?” To our knowledge when portals closed, they folded in on themselves and ceased to exist until they were needed again.

  “It's not so much closed as...it feels like... a curtain is over it somehow. I've never felt anything like it.”

  “It feels... wrong.” Daniel shuddered as he contacted touch the portal, tapping on what looked like solid obsidian colored glass.

  “How so?” The four of us, dodging tendrils, crossed the room to them, Gabriel and I tossing our magic at them as we walked.

  “It's like... touching the Gates of Hell themselves,” Finnian finished for him.

  I exchanged a glance with him. “You would know, huh?”

  “I would. It's evil incarnate, anger, sadness, despair and hopelessness all wrapped in one, tidy package.” Finnian reached out, his hand shaking. Clearly my magic had worn off. But he reluctantly touched the surface before him. If it were a normal portal, his hand would have disappeared through but, it was solid like touching a door.

  “Can we open it?” I asked.

  Daniel laughed. “Why would we want to do that? At least it's contained in there—wherever, whatever it is.”

  “We have to get to the queen! And anyone else that might be in there!” Kiarra protested.

  Finnian sighed. “If we can, I don't know how. And that's a first.”

  “Wait. I sense magic!” Gabriel exclaimed, reaching out his palm to touch the essence of the portal.

  “Really? Like the magic of a billion Shadows and—” I began dryly before he cut me off.

  “—dragons. Somehow they're using the magic of all the dragons inside to keep the portal not only active but shut. I can feel it! Water... air... light...” Gabriel swallowed nervously before finally pulling his hand away quickly like he'd been burned. “It's all there,” he said, looking at me solemnly.

  I raised a brow. “What does that mean?”

  “I think it means because you contain every magic inside you—you might be the key to open this door,” Finnian explained apologetically.

  Maxxus and Gabriel both in unison jumped in front of me. “Absolutely not!” They both exclaimed.

  I groaned. “Well I can't leave them in there.”

  “It's like it is a trap... like it was meant for you,” Daniel said in a small voice.

  “Then by all means.” I looked backwards at my friends and nodded towards them to step back. “Pink dragon's gotta do what a pink dragon's gotta do...”

  “We're right here, Leo,” Gabriel said encouragingly behind me and I nodded slightly.

  I sighed. I stepped closer and peered at the solid surface. It was like looking into a mirror, but not seeing anything reflect towards you. You knew it was supposed to show something, but all you saw was very faint outlines of where your reflection should be. I reached out to touch the smooth, dark surface. “You're right—I feel it!” I trembled violently, feeling the magic touch my own. Fire and water... earth and air and spirit and everything else. I stepped closer and as soon as I did, the spot where my palm rested glowed a bright orange and shot outwards.

  “Leorah!” someone called, as the portal exploded in an explosion of black shards, knocking us all to our feet and throwing us halfway across the throne room. I felt my ears ring and my sight go black momentarily at the explosion.

  I skidded on my backside before I thumped into a hard mass. I cringed, thinking it was someone's body. But I breathed a quick sigh of relief when I turned my head and saw it was only the king's throne, which was now knocked over as I crashed into it.

  “Leo!” I heard Gabriel's panicked tone from nearby and I struggled to find him; the portal now gave off a muted black light and, ebbed and flowed like a body of water under the moonlight in the darkest part of the night. My vision was slightly blurry from the impact of hitting the ground as I struggled to find him. But before I could, I heard a whooshing sound, followed by a cackle of menacing laughter.

  “Well, you found us then. How nice.” A vaguely familiar, raspy voice said, tauntingly.

  Nearby on the other side of me, I heard a loud growl. I shifted my position to see Maxxus was close; he had crashed into the queen's throne and tossed it aside with a sweep of an arm as he deftly jumped to his feet.

  “Nicodemus,” he growled, menacingly.

  Chapter 19

  I felt a hand grasp my shoulder and I gasped, startled by Gabriel suddenly before me. He flicked his palm open and summoned a ball of light. I grabbed for his free hand and he helped me to my feet.

  “Look!” Kiarra, who'd been behind me was pointing over my shoulder at the large, menacing form that slithered from the portal. I gasped.

  It was a serpentine shape, a lot like my father, but bigger and scarier. Like a dragon with missing pieces replaced with black darkness. His eyes glowed a dim, putrid green and his entire form appeared to be one large mass of slick Shadow. I don't know how to describe it accurately. Like tar, but without the sheen. But where he stood, there was nothing there somehow yet, he commanded a presence. It was the absence of light and form yet there he was. Like a portal, if you looked at him from a certain angle it was almost like he wasn't there. He was larger than his normal black dragon form—larger than even Maxxus.

  “He didn't look like this a couple days ago!” I shouted over the roar of the portal. “I wonder what happened?”

  “You stupid idiots,” Nicodemus slithered out further, Shadow tendrils snaking out from his form as he walked. Some disappeared back into the portal; others just climbed right back on his form, bolstering him further. He was like a tornado of darkness—tossing out debris and sucking it right back up to make itself larger, more intimidating. “I laughed as you stupid Court dragons tried to seal me inside that portal. I didn't even protest—you would think that would hint that they're doing the wrong thing yet they insisted upon it; sealing themselves in with their magic.” He laughed evilly—it was a soul-wrenching sound that caused me to wince.

  My friends were beside me quickly... Gabriel grasped my arm tightly with his palm. Maxxus was nearby though, slightly in front of me like a strong, earthen barrier.

  “Why did you seal yourself in?” Gabriel questioned, trying to sound brave but I could hear the slight tremble in his voice. I placed my palm over his hand to give him some calming magic, but I was too shaken to the bone.

  Nicodemus chuckled. “Because they voluntarily allowed themselves to go in. Once our pretty pink dragon came to let us out—out they'd all come—more powerful, more tainted by the Shadows than ever!!”

  “Why!?” Kiarra stepped forward and spoke, sounding tearful. “These are your friends—your family! Why would you allow them to succumb to such horror!?”

  Nicodemus slithered forward slightly and chuckled wryly. “I have no friends; no family! Who cares about that when you have power...real power?” As a demonstration, Nicodemus gave a shake of his head and breathed out a stream of Shadow fire. It was cold and dank and smelled of death. Instead of a growl, he let out a hiss.

  Kiarra cried out slightly, attempting to summon a water ball in her hands, but the Shadow magi
c was too fast.

  “No!” I tried to jump in front of her, my wings outstretched in instinct. It shielded her from a full-on blast, but she still got hit partially in the chest.

  She let out a horrific gasp, clutching her chest as she fell to her knees. Her eyes grew wide as she struggled to breathe.

  “Stay with me, Ki!” I yelled as she looked at me pleadingly. I placed my palms over her chest and breathed out with force willing the light inside me to go inside her.

  “Whoa...” someone muttered behind us but I couldn't tell who. I was too busy concentrating on the light connection coming from inside me.

  After a few moments, Kiarra took a huge breath in and coughed. “Thank you,” she squeaked. Finnian was by her side thrusting something inside her hand. Daniel was helping raise her up.

  I left her in their care and turned around slowly to glare at the Shadow dragon. “How dare you; what did she ever do to you? What did any of us ever do to you?”

  “As if you don't know... your very presence here is offensive!” Nicodemus yelled. “You shouldn't have been allowed to live!”

  “Nor should you, Nicodemus!” Maxxus roared, and charged at his former colleague. I grabbed his arm, prompting him to stop.

  “Not yet,” I whispered.

  Maxxus obliged with a grumble. “I will kill you, you son of a bitch.”

  Nicodemus roared with laughter. “Go ahead and try, weakling.”

  Maxxus fought my grasp, but this time Gabriel was grasping his other arm. “Give her a minute, Maxx. Then you can kill him,” he whispered softly to him. Maxxus stood there saying nothing, just glaring daggers at him.

  “Why? Why are you doing this?”

  Nicodemus slithered forward some. “The Shadowtouched... they've been unfairly imprisoned in there for years. Centuries. Millennia. They want their freedom. In return for my help, they gifted me with this power. I will help them take over the kingdom! And I will have a spot on their council in this new Shadow melded world we will create!”