Sapphire stared at the rubble that still retained some of the dark decay that had overtaken the cursed Tower, and the group trod through trees that were nowhere near as large or dense as the Fae Wood. Aelyph led the others between slabs of stone that could have been a part of a wall or floor or even a ceiling before they had crumbled from the Tower.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here—and the last time, I was trying to get as far away from the gateway as possible.”
Emerald screwed her face up. “If you knew about this secret gateway, why did you go through the Nether Rifts to escape the Midnight Tower? Or did you find out about this entrance later?”
“Before, actually,” Aelyph said. “This gateway leads to the outer rim of the Tower. I was locked in the Oubliette, where the only way out was through the Nether. The reason I know about this gateway is that . . . well, I’d used it as an access point to get in and out of the Tower when I was an agent of the Dark Consul.”
Emerald grinned. “So we’re using the enemy’s secret back door? Pretty sneaky, Spiky.”
“Emerald!” Sapphire shot Emerald a look.
“It’s fine,” Aelyph said. “I don’t mind the name ‘Spiky.’ Okay, I think I’ve found the right place.”
Kneeling down in front of a bush-covered boulder, he pulled away the leaves and vines to show the shape of the large rock beneath. He rubbed some of the moss off the boulder to reveal the crystal surface beneath.
“Crystal . . . Does it work like the magic in the Crystal Chamber?” Sapphire asked.
Aelyph nodded and stood from where he crouched. “That’s right. Have you used those before?”
Sapphire pointed to the sapphire in her blade. “The mystics taught us how to use our own gems to access the magic in the crystals so we can travel to different places around Crystalia.”
“Good, then that’s all you’ll need me for. You now know about the Midnight Tower’s layout, you now know how to get there, and . . .”
He turned to face Otto and put his hand out, as if for a handshake. Otto went to shake it. However, Aelyph grabbed Otto’s wrist and turned his palm faceup. He took the Dragon Lance from his back and placed it within Otto’s grip.
“. . . Now you have the weapon you need to defeat her greatest minion.”
Otto held it up. “My word, Aelyph. I can’t take this.”
“You can, and you just did.” He patted the large lance fondly. “Besides, you’ll need it more than I will if you go up against Nightsong.”
Aelyph walked over to Emerald. “I would give you a gift too, Princess Emerald, but I feel you have everything you could possibly need to overcome your enemy right here,” he said, pointing to her head. He turned to Sapphire. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for what you did for me.”
She shook her head. “You only have to do one thing for me, and that’s visit the Castle when you get the chance. I want to show you myself how much things have changed.”
He nodded. “When the time is right, I shall.”
“All right, princesses, we should get a move on,” Otto said.
Sapphire focused on the gem for a moment before saying, “Farewell, Aelyph.”
She walked up to the massive crystal boulder, drew out her sword, and held it up so the reflection of the sapphire on it caught in the reflection of the boulder’s crystal. The crystal started to glow with the transfer of magic, just as the Crystal Chamber would when teleporting a Hero to another realm.
“Emerald, Otto, grab onto me and hold on tight. And whatever you do, don’t let go until we have come out the other side.”
They both approached her, Otto grabbing Sapphire by her shoulder armor as Emerald came to her other side and grabbed her empty hand.
“Don’t be scared, Shiny.”
Otto grinned. “Are you saying that to assuage your own fears, or do you really think I’m afraid after all we’ve been through?”
Emerald shrugged. “A bit of both really.”
Sapphire’s icy gaze locked with Aelyph’s once more, then she nodded and plunged into the crystal. At first, it felt like she was being stretched from one place to another, but she could still feel the weight of Otto and Emerald holding onto her. All around her she could sense the presence of the Nether Realms, dark and foreboding.
She could see all around her its effect on their world, the darkness growing, consuming the land from the Scalding Sea to the black sand coast. She flipped her sword’s cross guard, and with a collective gasp, they tumbled out of the in-between and onto a smooth, rock surface. Rolling over, she bumped the crystal of the other half of the boulder they had just jumped from.
Is this monolith where the boulder in the Fallen Wood came from? Is their connecting magic how long-distance teleportation is possible?
She could hear Emerald groaning and the clank of armor as Otto rolled over. Sapphire knelt and peered up at the Tower that reached toward the sky in front of them. They had made it. She looked down again to see a large staircase leading to a massive, black, stone door. Just as she was getting her bearings enough to rise to her feet, there was a boom from the Tower as the doors slowly opened.
Behind them was a small army of Nether Elves.
Chapter 20: A Missing Princess
The Midnight Queen strode through her Tower until she came to the winding stairs leading down toward the lower cells. It was finally time to show her prisoner her new prize. She had been waiting until the princess had lost all hope before showing her Princess Ruby’s body to break her will entirely, but the Midnight Queen’s patience had run out. Maybe then she could use the princess for what she had planned next.
One last string to pull and I can initiate my scheme to sow corruption in the core of Crystalia.
As she descended the stairs, she smiled as she imagined the crushed hope in her defiant prisoner’s face. There were many things she could do to undermine the royalty in the Castle and make it crumble from the inside, but having an heir to do it for her would be greater than anything she could do on the outside. Being a youngest child herself, she knew the girl would have little chance of gaining such influence unless she killed or found a way to manipulate the others.
Yes, having a corrupted princess inside the Castle would be far more influential than any army I could possess.
She arrived at the bottom and walked across a balcony; it led to an old portrait that had been shattered to reveal a ragged frame. She pulled down on the hook the frame hung from, and a secret door slid aside in the wall. Entering the shadows, she glided down a narrower set of stairs that led farther down into the cold Tower, eventually coming to a tight corridor at its end.
There were spiderwebs and several large spiders in her way, including a few Shadow Spinners and a massive crawler. She waved at them and they scuttled away, afraid of her powers. Spiders’ nests could be found all throughout the Tower, and for people of the light, they could be very dangerous.
The corridor widened to a long row of cells; magically enchanted bars that could not be broken were welded to the rock walls. She gazed at her various prisoners. Most of them were turncoat Riftlings that had gone against her command and Heroes who had failed in their task to destroy her. There was a Paladin among her prisoners, his hair matted and his shoulders slouched in his lost hope—the crown jewel of her collection.
“Hello everyone!” she called with a flourish of a hand.
There were only groans and shuffles in reply.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “Of course you are! Don’t worry. Daemonus will be around soon with dinner. Guess what it is tonight?”
Another set of groans and mumbles.
“That’s right! Slops again, with watery gruel for dessert!”
She eventually stopped at a dark cell, the one she had come to inspect. She squinted into the darkness but couldn’t see its occupant. Panic filled her and she lifted her scythe, making the green gem engraved into it glow with a spe
ll before pointing it through the bars. She gasped in horror upon seeing that the cell was empty. Then she spotted dents in the floor, one of which was connected to a crack. It had created an obvious hole at the base of the wall—a hole big enough for Princess Citrine to have crawled through.
“Oh my, you crafty, little girl,” she said. “Guard!”
A Dimwit prison guard came to her side and let out a noise that she assumed meant it was ready for orders.
“Gather the kobolds and search for her. We cannot allow her to escape.”
The Dimwit grunted in assent and moved off. The Midnight Queen stormed down the corridor and back up the stairs, sliding the hidden door shut behind her. As soon as she returned to the inner stairs, she looked over her shoulder to find a Nether Elf standing behind her.
“We have visitors on the outer rim, mistress,” he said.
“Of all times!” She whirled on him. “I can’t send the kobolds to take care of them; they’re finding the princess!”
She ground her teeth. “Oh, very well! You take care of them. Gather an army of Nether Elves and bring our visitors to me.”
“Very well.” The Nether Elf turned to leave.
The Midnight Queen sighed in frustration. “Everything just has to happen all at once, doesn’t it? Oh, well. Maybe I will have more people I can show my prize to by the end of the night.” She grinned as excitement filled her from the idea, glad she had told the elf to take them prisoner. “That’s right! Let me break all of their wills at once!”
With a brief laugh at the brilliance of her plan, she climbed the winding stairs once again, heading up to the Moon Gallery.
Chapter 21: Punching Your Way Out
At first, the monsters from the Midnight Tower looked varied and grotesque, but Otto’s nervous anticipation had affected what he was actually seeing. Upon further scrutiny, he realized they all shared the same features: they were dark-skinned, armored, and humanoid, and some were even on horseback.
“By the grace of the Goddess, they’re Nether Elves!”
“We see that, Shiny!” Princess Emerald called, eyeing the elves through the scope of her rifle. “Now be quiet while I work.”
She fired several rounds so quickly that they almost sounded like a single gunshot. Blackblades in the infantry fell for every shot she fired. She reloaded and continued to shoot, but there were far too many and they were approaching quickly.
Otto and Princess Sapphire drew their swords, seeing that the mounted Knights of the Tower were beginning to charge. Otto swallowed, knowing already that there were too many for the three of them to fight alone. Their journey was going to end here.
“I’m sorry, Princess Sapphire, Princess Emerald. I have failed you.” He breathed out. “I never thought we would be so overwhelmed. I have let down your father, I have let you down, and I have let down the kingdom of Crystal—”
“Oh, shut up!” Princess Sapphire shouted. “Now, on my command, leap to your right!”
Otto looked back at her in confusion. “What?”
The mounted Nether Elves were galloping at full speed, their lances aimed right at them. Otto turned back to Princess Sapphire. She held her sword behind her back, the gem on her cross guard reflecting off the crystal monolith behind her.
Wait a minute . . . is she . . . ?
The sound of the galloping horses suddenly became a roar, and he turned back to see the army bearing down on them. If now was the time to die, Otto was going to face it without fear.
He raised his sword to clash with the oncoming Nether Elves when Princess Sapphire screamed, “Now! Leap!”
Once again, Otto’s instinct to act on the princess’s command kicked in, and he dove to his right as the horses charged past them. There was a flash of light, and the monolith appeared to swallow up the front of the army’s cavalry.
“Hah, you did it, Sis!”
Otto rolled to his feet, pleased to see that the rear of the army had pulled back just in time.
“It’s not over yet!” Princess Sapphire raised her sword. “For Crystalia!”
Otto spun and clashed with a Blackblade, quickly cutting it down only to face two more. He slashed one way, ducking as one elf’s blade flew over his head, and then struck low to take out its legs before stabbing the other. He whirled as a Knight of the Tower reared up on its horse. Before it could stab him with its lance, Princess Sapphire leapt up behind it and stabbed through its dark form.
She landed next to Otto, catching his gaze before spinning and cutting at the Nether Elves behind them. Once again, they fought back-to-back so that no monster could sneak up on them. Princess Emerald had been firing a cover volley when they were starting to get overwhelmed, but when her hiding place was found, she was forced to shoot at the enemies around her. Without her cover fire, more pressure was heaped upon Otto and Princess Sapphire as the remaining enemies encircled them.
“It was a good plan, Princess,” Otto said, baring his teeth at the Blackblades lashing at them.
“Hah, at the speed they were going, I thought the whole lot would go through. Bad luck, eh?”
A Blackblade raced from the shadowed masses, and Princess Sapphire struck it down as another one charged at Otto. From their ranks, an elven hand shot out and grabbed his sword arm, trying to draw him in so the rest of them could hack him to pieces. Quickly, he reached back and grabbed the lance Aelyph had given him. It may have been a weapon meant to kill dragons, but his father had always told him never to die with a weapon undrawn.
He stabbed through the Nether Elf and slashed at those trying to draw him in, spinning with his two weapons to widen the circle around them. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as a rage came over him. It felt like a voice was in his mind, manipulating his emotions, but he fought it just as he fought those trying to kill him.
“Come on, betrayers!” He flung himself into the crowd.
Something in him felt broken. All of his despair for his father fueled a fury that filled his muscles and sent him hurtling through the elves, cutting them down as he went. As they backed off to give him space, he laughed and scanned the crowd for another target.
However, this time he was knocked back, struck down by a Knight of the Tower. He rolled to his feet as the dregs of the army flooded toward him. He spun about, blocking with his lance and striking with his sword, but he knew his stamina could only last so long. The battle was over and he knew it, but still, he fought on.
The hum of a familiar melody arose from behind the Nether forces.
The Goddess’s song?
Then, at the army’s rear, there was a cry from the Nether Elves and three of them went flying. Cutting down the one he had been struggling with, he looked up as the rear ranks of the army glanced behind them.
“Sis!” Princess Emerald cried out.
Several of the elves were cut down by a rain of bullets, and some kind of explosive went off. Then the Nether Elves at their rear were retreating, attempting to escape from whatever pursued them. Otto and Princess Sapphire cut down the ones running, then watched as whoever was attacking from the rear burst through the army in a flurry of fists.
“Come back here!” screamed a silver-haired young woman wearing a dark jacket over topaz-colored armor. “You started this fight, remember? Now I’m going to end it!”
Otto suddenly realized he had seen this woman before, but it had been so long that he barely recognized her.
“Princess Citrine?” he asked.
She looked up at his cry and grinned, but it wasn’t him she was smiling at.
“Sis! Is that really you?” Princess Sapphire asked.
She slashed down several Blackblades in her way and ran toward the warrior princess. Otto ran with her to make sure that none of the Nether Elves would attack her from behind, but they seemed to ignore her in favor of fleeing. The two princesses embraced.
“I thought I would never see you again!” The relief was palpable in Princess Sapphire�
�s voice. “I thought you would end up like Ruby!”
Princess Citrine pulled back from her. “Why? What happened to Ruby?”
“Princesses!” Otto shouted as the few elves that had not run gathered for a final assault. “We can talk about this later. Right now your assistance is needed!”
Princess Citrine’s grin widened and she stretched her arm. “What a pain they are. You’d think they would’ve learned their lesson by now.”
Following Princess Citrine’s lead, they formed an arrowhead and advanced into the army. With two master sword wielders at the flanks, Princess Citrine’s ferocious fists in the middle, and Princess Emerald picking foes off from a distance, they cut through the final line of Nether Elves like a sharp blade through parchment.
When the battle was over, Otto and the princesses stood victorious.
Chapter 22: Vision
When the last of the Nether Elves had fled into the Nether, Princess Emerald came out from behind the stairs where she had been sniping at the elves and hugged Princess Citrine. Otto smiled at the sight while cleaning his sword. After the reunion had been finished, Princess Citrine looked at him.
“Who’s the shiny fellow?” she asked.
Princess Emerald smiled wide. “See?”
“This is Otto, the Royal Paladin. Our father put him in charge of our protection during this journey,” Princess Sapphire said.
Princess Citrine raised an eyebrow at him. “Good job you’re doing.”
“I say, my quest is and has always been to track down the Midnight Queen. As far as I’m concerned, these two were just tagging along in the hope of finding you.” Otto shook his head. “In fact, I have a mind to send you three back to Crystalia Castle right now.”
The glares that they gave him made him shut his mouth.
“You’re not sending us anywhere,” Princess Sapphire said with an amused smile. “Besides, there’s a lot we have to talk about.”
“That’s right; you said something about Ruby.” Princess Citrine caught Princess Sapphire’s gaze. “What have I missed while imprisoned? And what happened to Ruby?”
The Midnight Queen Page 10