“Luke!”
He turned around, though his body had already relaxed slightly at the sound of Crystal’s voice…it meant she was okay. She was running up to him with a tortured look on her face, tears streaking through the dirt on her cheeks.
“I tried to help—I tried. But I couldn’t—”
“It’s okay, Crys, I’m sure you saved as many people as you could.”
“No,” she sobbed. “It’s Atticus.”
“No,” Luke breathed. Crystal burst into tears then. “Where?”
Crystal turned and pointed at the fountain in the middle of City Circle. Luke spotted Atticus—his wise and brave counselor—crumpled at the base of the fountain, a pile of Shadows on top of him.
“He saved a group of kids that had been hiding in the fountain,” Crystal said, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. “The Shadows were surrounding it. He held them off so the kids could escape. But there were just too many. I tried—”
Luke pulled Crystal tightly to him, tears welling up in his eyes. After Olympus, Atticus had been the next closest thing to a father that he’d had. The surge of anger and energy that filled him was impressive…and a little frightening. He let out a loud, bellowing roar before unleashing the full force of his Power, electrocuting a line of Shadows with lightning, smashing them into nearby trees with hurricane-force winds, and pelting them with apple-sized hail. When his Power just didn’t quite feel like enough, he jumped into a swarm of Shadows and swung his sword left and right until he had maimed at least thirty of them in a row.
And he didn’t even realize he had actually been chanting.
“Die. You. Mother. Effing. Shadow. Bastards.”
* * *
VICTOR looked out over the destruction of Arbor Falls with a heavy heart. This was his fault, no matter how much Autumn tried to dissuade him from thinking such things. It was. His heightened sense of sight and hearing just made things that much worse. He could zero in on elves as they lost their lives, as the light left their eyes at the hands of one of his Shadows. Creatures that no longer acknowledged him as their leader. Not since they felt him shift from the selfish monster he once was to the noble, generous, altruistic person he’d always wanted to be. The person he now was—thanks to Autumn.
But what did that really mean when his very blood pumped through the veins of the dark creatures destroying the town he’d grown to love? The town in which he’d met Avabelle and Autumn. The town where he’d discovered it was possible to love and be loved.
He watched Autumn—visible to only him—battle her way through the Shadows, smiling to himself at how much she didn’t need anyone to help her. She was a fighter. A Warrior. And she belonged here. Unlike him. He would never truly belong here. No amount of selfless acts would make up for the pain and destruction he’d caused, indirect or not. And it was about the time Autumn had spotted Atticus’s dead body—when she stopped running and dropped to her knees before him, tears streaming down her face—that Victor had a final revelation.
There was one ultimately selfless act he could commit that would make up for everything. And it would make everything better. It would make the Shadows go away. Because, as Vyra had once said, As long as he was alive, the Shadows would thrive.
Which meant…
I have to die.
Autumn’s head jerked upward, her eyes zeroing in on Victor. She’d heard his thoughts. He’d meant for her to. She had to understand.
No, he heard her think.
It’s the only way, he answered in his mind, slowly pulling out the sword he'd used to kill Vyra. It’s the only way I can stop this.
Victor! No!
Taking a shaking breath, Victor held the sword before him with two hands. I love you, Autumn, he thought before driving the blade through his abdomen.
47
Return of the Queen
AUTUMN watched Victor plunge the sword inwards, piercing himself and collapsing on the cliff by the waterfall.
The next few minutes felt like they passed in slow motion.
“NOOOO!” she screamed aloud, though no one could hear her.
Then she ran.
Out of City Circle, through the woods, up the trail, but it felt like dream running. As if, with each step, she was only moving fractionally closer to her destination, like the air had turned to molasses and she was fighting her way through it. When she made it to the top of the hill, her legs and lungs were screaming. Everything sped up.
Victor was still alive. But barely.
“Victor!” Autumn cried, running to his side and falling to her knees on the cold, hard ground.
The hilt of the sword was still protruding from his stomach, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his face scrunched up in pain.
“It’s not too late,” Autumn said desperately, choked by tears as she grabbed his hand. “You can heal yourself. You have to heal yourself.”
Victor squeezed her hand tighter. “No. This—this is how it has to be,” he said in short gasps.
“But—”
“Autumn, please,” he murmured. “Remove the sword.”
She knew what would happen if she removed the sword. Any internal bleeding that was being stopped by the metal would flood his abdomen, and he’d be gone in minutes, seconds, even.
Tears coursed down her cheeks in painful rivers. “I can’t, Victor.”
“Autumn…you’ve given me…the greatest gift. You taught me to love…selflessly. That’s all…I’ve really ever wanted.”
“Victor, don’t do this,” Autumn begged, on the verge of sobbing now. She reached up to brush his dark hair off of his forehead, his emerald eyes fixing on her, full of pain.
“Autumn,” he whispered, pain infiltrating his voice. “Please.”
Looking at the people still battling for their lives below, she realized why he was doing this. What he was sacrificing. Letting out a single sob, Autumn nodded and wrapped her hands around the hilt of the sword, taking a shaking breath, then jerking it quickly upward. Victor let out a sharp gasp and then placed a hand on Autumn’s cheek, brushing at her tears. His eyes locked with hers.
“It is a shame…to have to die…when life has become…this beautiful.”
Another sob escaped her mouth just as Victor’s hand slipped from her face. “I love you, Victor,” she whispered. “I love you.”
And, as Victor’s eyes closed for the last time, Autumn swore she could see the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Then he went still.
Seconds later, the ground shuddered violently, knocking Autumn over. A strong gust of wind blew her auburn curls back and a loud noise that sounded like a wave crashing passed over Arbor Falls. Pushing herself upwards, Autumn watched in astonishment as the Shadows below vanished out of existence, disintegrating in giant puffs of ash, leaving no trace of themselves behind other than the confused fighters who had been forced to the ground by the quaking earth.
Autumn stood up on shaking legs, sword still in hand, and completely by coincidence—or perhaps not—the clouds parted to reveal a single sunbeam, landing on her like a spotlight. A gasp ran through the people below, followed by murmuring and pointing, that Autumn swore was in her direction. She looked down at herself and then over at Victor, realizing she was no longer invisible. And with sword in hand—covered in a mixture of sticky, black Shadow blood and Victor’s bright red blood—standing beside his still body, she knew how this must look to the elves below. But they, at least, could all agree on one thing.
The queen had returned.
The talk and confusion intensified and Autumn knew with reluctance that she was going to have to explain things to everyone. But first, she was going to hug her brother, who had just appeared between the trees at the top of the path to the waterfall.
“Rose,” he said, his voice breaking. “That’s really you, right?”
The tears that were already streaming down her cheeks came faster.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
He ran t
o her then, scooping her up in his arms and squeezing her tightly to him, sobbing into her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
He pulled back, setting her on her feet. “What are you sorry for? None of this was your fault. It was his,” he said, gesturing with disgust at Victor’s still-warm body.
Autumn looked dejectedly down at Victor, feeling nothing but devastating compassion towards the Ellock.
“That’s not really the whole truth, Luke. I have some things to tell you, to tell everyone.”
“But first, you need to give us all a hug,” a voice said from the trees and Autumn looked over Luke’s shoulder to see Crystal, Kyndel, Ember, Jastin, and Charlotte standing at the top of the path, looking worse for wear, but still smiling widely at Autumn.
“Hey, guys,” she said, opening her arms and the five of them ran to her, engulfing her in a group-Warrior hug that made her feel more whole than she had in months. Except—
“Where’s Avery?” she asked as the others stepped back to give her some breathing room.
They looked around at each other and then down at Arbor Falls.
“Oh. I don’t know,” Cyrstal said in confusion. “I haven’t seen him since the beginning of the battle.”
“Yeah, me either,” said Kyndel.
Autumn’s body filled with a tingling dread. Surely he would have been one of the first to greet her if he had been there, if he had seen her.
“Maybe he’s just—”
“He was looking for you,” a voice said behind them.
Autumn whipped around to see him standing alone in the space near the waterfall that led to the Opacious Sea, his golden hair ruffling slightly in the biting wind, his gray eyes clear and bright and sparkling with tears. Autumn ran to him, splashing through foot-high water just to reach him faster, not caring about the numbing cold because her heart was on fire, warming her from the inside out.
She jumped into his arms and felt the hole inside of her that she hadn’t realized was there seal closed. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and they stayed that way for some time, not even caring that the others were probably beginning to feel uncomfortable. And, even after everything and everyone she’d lost, after her parents, Cera, Olympus, Atticus, and now Victor. After all that, she was okay. She knew she would be okay.
They all would.
“Forrest told me everything,” Avery whispered only loud enough for her to hear.
She pulled back from him slightly. “You saw Forrest? Wait, how—?”
“I went to Alder Island to find you—Willow and I did—and we broke into Bluff Bastion. She can change into an actual dinosaur, can you believe it? Anyway, we found Forrest and Rion and they told us everything. If you want, I’ll help you tell everyone the story.”
“No, this is something I should tell them on my own. I—I may need your help in convincing them of Victor’s true intentions, but I’m not sure how much good it will do.”
Avery frowned down at the man who had both killed his sister and protected the woman he loved. What conflicting emotions he must be feeling, Autumn thought.
“I think, in the end, he made the Underground a better place.”
Autumn wrapped her arms around his neck again, breathing him in. Then, turning around, she faced the other Warriors. “I have some things I need to tell you guys. Well, everyone, actually.”
And so, for the second time ever, she ripped a handful of vocalamps out of the base of the waterfall and stuffed them into her mouth, chewing and swallowing the grass flavored, gelatin-like substance. She walked to the edge of the steep hill overlooking Arbor Falls and sat down, crossing her legs beneath her, as if she were in a living room surrounded by friends rather than facing a crowd of every type of Underground creature. Autumn captured everyone’s attention by singing a long, slow note, momentarily hypnotizing them—and hopefully relaxing them—before beginning her long tale.
She wasn’t telling them about what had happened to her, though. Not exactly. No, she was telling them Victor’s story as she had read it in his journals. She told them first a brief history of Victor’s past, about his mother and warlock father’s secret romance—still keeping Rion’s identity a secret for now. She told them about his stepfather, how he favored beating and berating his children more than loving them and that he had brainwashed Victor to think he was evil and incapable of goodness or love.
Then she told them about Vyra’s crazy streak and how she’d used Victor’s power and vulnerability to her advantage, manipulating him to do things for her profit. Autumn spun them the tale of Eris, her abusive mother, and the closet she’d so frequently called home, and how Victor had saved Eris, though it had benefited him in no way. How he eventually came to Arbor Falls and struggled with the task Vyra expected him to accomplish, especially after meeting Avabelle and Avery.
She told them the tale of her and Victor and how he began to fall in love with her, and how that was the ultimate catalyst of Vyra’s demise. She explained that the Shadows had been killing under Vyra’s orders. Orders that hadn’t died with her and that Victor was unable to truly control them.
The tale of how he had convinced Autumn to come to Bluff Bastion with him was the longest. She wanted to tell it just right, so as to convey that the one, true reason he did this was not only because he loved her, but because he knew that being around her made him good, which was what he’d always wanted to begin with. Then she told them about his ability to bring people back from the dead. This, above everything else, seemed to strike awe into the listening crowd.
Autumn looked to her right to see the group of Warriors sitting and listening to her with wide eyes. Avery already knew about Forrest, but no one else did.
She looked back down at the listening crowd, who were now either sitting on the ground or leaning against trees, enraptured by the extraordinary tale. “Victor was able to bring two people back to life that were thought to be dead. A warlock and an elf.” She paused again, hoping everyone would take this news well. The fact that many of them were leaning forward in anticipation or gaping up at her seemed to be a good sign. “The elf he brought back was Forrest Akerley.”
A gasp spread throughout the elves and the Warriors beside her.
“Forrest is alive?” Jastin said hopefully. “Really?”
Autumn glanced over at them and nodded with a small smile. A few of them looked shell-shocked. Kyndel and Crystal were crying now, their hands covering their agape mouths, and Avery leaned towards them to explain further what he had learned as Autumn turned back to the listening crowd.
“And the warlock Victor brought back was actually his birth father. Rion Lavigne. And before you get angry,” she said hastily. “Before you demand to have him put back to death, remember this: Victor grew up in a household of hate. He was taught that he was evil and always would be, no matter how hard he tried not to be. He was led by his sister, Vyra Vaun. And, though he didn’t want to, he followed her because he had no one else to guide him. Think of how different things could have been if it hadn’t been illegal for Rion to raise Victor. Imagine how many lives could have been spared if Victor could have been raised in a house full of acceptance and love.
We need to stop being so afraid of what could happen and start thinking of what would happen if we opened our minds enough to not only accept one another but have relations with one another, so many lives could be saved rather than lost. Victor had enough power to bring back two people we all thought were beyond help. Think of the protection we’d have if a good Ellock were on our side. The Shadows are gone now because, in the end, Victor was on our side, and he sacrificed his own life to save ours. I say we need more creatures like Victor. We need to stop being so—”
A shout from the crowd could be heard, but Autumn couldn’t make out what had been said. Then more shouts of the same thing. And Luke chuckled. Autumn looked over at him in confusion mouthing the words, What are they saying?
“They’re saying
noli timere,” he answered with a smile.
“What does that mean?” Autumn asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” he answered. “It means they agree with you, Autumn.”
“Noli timere,” Autumn whispered and then shouted it for all of the magical creatures in Arbor Falls to hear, “Noli timere!”
“Noli timere!” they chanted back.
And it was clear that they weren’t afraid. They were finally ready to make the change the Underground had needed for quite some time. Little did they know, they’d already made that change before Autumn had said anything at all. They had come together, working towards the same cause.
A new Underground mantra had been created that day, thanks to Luke and Destry, who had started it all. The Underground Crest would soon be changed as well to represent all eight of the magical creatures. The crest was split into four equal quadrants with symbols from two groups to represent each one. A rose for the elves and three stars for the warlocks in the upper right quadrant. A seashell for the merpeople and a sword for the centaurs in the bottom left quadrant. A redwood tree for the giants and a cat-eye for the trolls in the top left quadrant. And a four-leaf clover and a drop of blood for the leprechauns and vampires in the bottom right quadrant.
Beneath the crest now read the words: Noli Timere.
Don’t be afraid.
48
Victor’s Story and Autumn’s Rose
The other magical creatures stayed to help the elves clean up Arbor Falls and to sort through the deceased, which they had to trace all the way back to the Opacious Sea. Avery’s mother was amongst the dead, having left her post at the nurse’s tent on the training grounds. She’d tried to join in the fight, but not being physically strong enough to defend herself, was quickly defeated.
“She died bravely. Heroically,” Avery said through his tears. “I had always pictured her withering away in that bed of hers, a ghost of what she was before. Now she can be buried beside my father amongst the rest of the war heroes.”
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