Kull held both my hands in his. A few of the witch’s wraiths milled about, but none of them made eye contact with us. I pulled away from Kull’s hands, and he released me.
“Olive, can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Thank the gods,” he breathed.
He caught me in a tight hug, yet somehow he managed to be gentle. When he pulled away, I found his glacier eyes sparkling a familiar blue. I thought I might be human again, if just for now.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are we here?”
Kull moved back so I could see Silvestra. She stood over me, tall and imposing, her odd, colorless eyes seeming to look straight through me.
Of all the places we could have gone, this was the last place I would have chosen, but then I remembered something someone had said—something about my stepfather.
“Fan’twar?” I asked.
“We saved him,” Kull said, squeezing my fingers.
Hope filled my heart, but something had to be wrong. The egg had been ruined. How could we have possibly gotten him back?
“I never wanted the egg,” Silvestra said.
“She wanted what was inside,” Kull answered.
Silvestra moved aside, and I saw a sight that took me a moment to register. My stepfather lay sleeping beneath the enchanted ceiling, and curled near his tail, so small it could have been my cat, lay a tiny, black-and-gold-banded dragon.
“It hatched,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Silvestra answered. “The queen stole my egg many years ago, and she took it to a place where I could not find it, though I never stopped searching.”
“During the sacrifice,” Kull said, “the queen forced the egg to hatch, and she used the baby dragon’s first breath to initiate the spell.”
That explained the burn marks I had seen.
“But I don’t understand. She didn’t kill the dragon?”
“She had no need to,” Kull answered. “The queen only needed the power from its first fire. She had no use for it after that, so she returned the dragon to us.”
“But why didn’t she kill us? How did we escape her?”
“We didn’t all escape with our lives,” Kull said, his voice somber.
“Maveryck?” I asked, my heart sinking.
Kull nodded.
“How is Heidel taking it?” I asked.
He frowned. “Not well. She refuses to accept that he’s dead, although we both watched the elves murder him. I know his death must be especially painful for her, but she acts as though nothing happened.”
“That’s not good. If she can’t accept that he’s dead, then she’ll never be able to move forward and heal. Is there anything I can do to help her?”
“No, not now. She won’t see reason. When we went back for his body, we couldn’t find it. It was most likely removed by the elves, but she is certain Maveryck must have arisen and walked away.”
“But even if that were true, if by some miracle life could be restored to the dead, then wouldn’t he have come back for her? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I agree. I fear Heidel has endured too much trauma during her life. To be subjugated by Geth, raped and beaten, and then to lose not only him, but Maveryck as well, is too much for her. She cannot allow another traumatic event to enter her life or it will break her.”
“Sadly, I have to agree. There’s nothing anyone can do to help her until she accepts the truth. Perhaps given a few weeks, she’ll be ready to move forward.”
Poor Heidel. She seemed destined to lose the people she loved. It appeared her luck was worse than mine, and that was saying something. My heart hurt for her.
“What about my stepfather?” I asked. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine now, although if we had arrived any later, that wouldn’t be the case.”
I glanced up at Silvestra. I would never be able to forgive her for almost killing him, yet I knew that someday, I would. I would forgive her because Fan’twar wanted it. I had to remind myself that while she appeared human, she had a dragon’s heart, and dragons lived by their own code. It was well within her rights to kill the sky king, and while I wanted to be angry with her, I’d been raised by dragons and knew that lashing out would only cause more pain—an emotion I never wanted to deal with again.
“Can I speak to him?” I asked her.
She nodded and moved aside. As she turned to leave, her wraiths followed. Kull helped me stand up. Walking the path to Fan’twar on my shaky feet took longer than I liked, yet I couldn’t have been happier that he was alive.
We’d lost Maveryck but saved the sky king. One life for another. One taken, another saved.
Fan’twar cracked open his golden eyes as I neared him. I sat on the floor beside him, spent after crossing the room and too dizzy to stay on two feet. Kull knelt beside me, and we both glanced at the hatchling sleeping by Fan’twar’s tail.
The baby dragon had a short snout and glossy scales that sparkled with gold and black bands. I wondered at what she had already endured in her short life—to be hatched by the elves, her first fire used in a spell that would ultimately result in the planet’s destruction.
“You came for me, young one,” a deep, familiar voice said.
“Of course I did,” I answered, running my hand over the smooth scales covering his neck. His skin was uncharacteristically cold to the touch, even to my frigid fingers. I realized he still needed time to heal.
“You did well,” he answered.
I glanced at Kull. “Maybe. We still lost Maveryck, and the elves called Theht back. I’m not sure I count it as a win.”
“But Theht does not have the power to destroy our world. Without the sword, the elves will not have the power to control the goddess, and she will be forced to abandon our world, for she does not have the power to stay here.”
My stomach knotted. “Not yet. There’s something I have to tell you.” I glanced at Kull. “I have to tell you both.”
“Go ahead,” Kull said.
I exhaled deeply, wondering if I would be able to admit what I knew. “I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before Theht has the power she needs. She used my magic to put an asteroid on a collision course with our world. It’s only a matter of time before it gets here. As soon as the asteroid collides with our planet, she will use its energy to cross from her world to ours. And… she’s going to use me again, to destroy our world.”
My hands were shaking and I didn’t know how to make them stop, so I pressed them into my lap, but it didn’t help.
“I can’t do it,” I said, my emotions trying to break free. “You can’t let me do this.” I looked from Fan’twar to Kull. “You’ll have to stop me. It’s the only way to save us.”
“It’s too early to talk that way,” Kull said. “There’s still time to stop it from happening.”
“But how? Even Fan’twar said I can’t stop prophecy.”
“You cannot stop it, no,” my stepfather said. “But perhaps there is a way to better understand it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must find the one who spoke the prophecy in the first place. Lucretian—the first high druid of Faythander.”
“Is he still alive?”
“Possibly. He disappeared almost half a millennia ago, and no one has seen him since. But, he was last spotted on Dragon Spine Mountain, near this very palace. If anyone knows where he is, the witch is the one to ask.”
“And if I find him, do you think he can undo the prophecy and stop it before it happens?”
“Stop it? No. But he can explain it to you and perhaps help you find a way to fulfill it without the consequences you anticipate. And that is not all. Lucretian was the last known person to possess the sword of Dracon. It is the weapon that will destroy Theht—that I know. You must find Lucretian, and you must recover the sword. As you see, all is not lost, for if even the tiniest glimmer of hope can be found, then goodne
ss still exists. You will succeed, young one. That I know.”
I uncrossed my arms. With his words, I finally felt as if fear didn’t control me. Peering overhead, the bands of radiant stars reminded me of something else I’d seen, the truth of our universe.
“There’s something else,” I whispered, “something Theht showed me.”
“What?” Kull asked.
Studying the stars overhead, my memories turned to an image of the world splitting apart. “I saw the birth of our world,” I said, “but Faythander wasn’t the only planet formed that day.”
“What are you saying?” Kull asked.
“There are three worlds, not two. I think we finally know where the Regaymor come from, and where Geth took me when he imprisoned Mochazon, and where the bloodthorn tried to take me. The third world.”
I almost said the name of the world out loud, but I stopped. The fairies had told me its name was a spell, and I would only say it if I had to.
“All this time,” Fan’twar said, “I believed it to be a place in Faythander. I never thought to look to the stars.” He chuckled. “Well, even an old dragon can learn a new thing or two.”
“So you didn’t know?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I doubt anyone in the history of our planet knew this. Even Geth, I suspect, did not understand the truth of the alternate reality he had had discovered. You are the first to learn of this. You are special in more ways than you know.” He turned to me, his golden eyes intense. “You may think to be hard on yourself and believe you have failed. You have not. My life has been restored because of you. Theht has not destroyed our world yet because of your persistence. If ever a person could stop the goddess, it is you. It was no accident that Lucretian prophesied of you all those years ago, because if there were ever a person to beat a prophecy, it’s you.”
A lump formed in my throat as his words sank in. “I’m glad you have faith in me,” I said. “That means a lot.”
He nodded, then closed his eyes.
“Do you need to rest?” I asked.
“Only for a little while, child. Only for a while.”
As he breathed shallow, ragged breaths, I stood and backed away quietly. My own body hardly felt recovered, but at least I felt I could walk without fainting. With nowhere else to go, Kull and I crossed to the staircase leading to the balcony overlooking the ballroom.
My mind was a mess. I still carried a piece of Theht inside me, but I knew that as long as it stayed there, Theht couldn’t control our world, at least for now. The events that had happened in the last few days were hard to grasp, and even with Silvestra’s spell working inside me to restore my mind, I felt as if I would lose it again if I thought too long about the future.
We made it to the top tier, where we stood looking out through the opened glass windows with the smell of greenery in the air and the smooth marble railing beneath our fingertips. Above us spanned the universe, and before us, the world of Faythander, with thundering waterfalls, trees that stood like spires reaching for heaven, and life that filled every corner—a place so beautiful it resonated not just with my physical senses, but with my soul as well.
“Olive,” Kull said quietly. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you for quite some time. Well, since you arrived back in Faythander really, or perhaps before that… after we defeated the bloodthorn, to be honest—”
“Kull,” I stopped him.
“Yes?”
“You’re rambling.”
“Oh, yes, I am. You’re right.” He leaned with his elbows on the balcony railing, looking out over Faythander. Of all the beauty in Faythander, I didn’t think I could find anything more perfect than him. The way his eyes reflected the moon, the curve of his strong jawline, the wisps of his blond hair caught in the breeze. He was more than I deserved or expected, and I feared I would wake up and lose him, only to realize I didn’t have to.
“What I meant to say,” he said, “was that I was going to talk to you sooner. I wanted to ask you something.”
My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t want to let on what I suspected he would ask, and I also didn’t want to get my hopes us. Although he’d pledged his love to me, he hadn’t made it official. We weren’t engaged, and most people still thought of us as acquaintances and nothing else. Still, it was hard not to get my hopes up.
“It’s about Grandamere,” he said.
“Oh.” I exhaled, trying not to let the disappointment show on my face. “Is she all right?”
“She is well enough, but with her failing health, she has decided to move back into the castle.”
“I see. That’s probably a wise decision. It’s better that she live somewhere with people around to help her.” I eyed him. “Is that really what you wanted to talk to me about?”
He smiled, but I found nervousness in his eyes. “Well, this is bit harder to do than I expected.”
He took my hand and then knelt in front of me. My body broke out in a clammy sweat, and I didn’t know why, but I felt warm tears in my eyes.
“I want you to marry me, Olive. I know our lives aren’t typical. I know we’ve no business trying to start a family with a world in danger of being destroyed, but goddesses be damned, because if we can’t live and make a future for ourselves, then there’s no point in carrying on.”
His gaze was so intense I couldn’t look away.
“Will you marry me, Olive?”
Had he really just said the words? I hadn’t been in my right mind for quite some time. Could I be hallucinating? But his hands felt so real and warm as he held my fingers, and I couldn’t mistake that overwhelming sense of joy. No hallucination could mimic that.
“Yes. I will. Of course I will.” I brushed the tears off my cheeks as he kissed my knuckles, then stood and took my face between his hands. He kissed me slowly and gently, and I knew then that I’d made the best decision in my life. After he pulled away, he took my fingers in his and carefully slid a ring on my finger.
The cool metal warmed as it touched my skin. I stared, confused as I looked at the ring. Jewels sparkled in a faint, bluish glow from the silver band. Oddly, the bunches of tiny gems reminded me of the hydrangea flowers I remembered seeing in my grandmother’s garden.
I lightly touched the gemstones and felt magic within. “Are these…?”
“They’re from the flower we found in the wild lands. I saw how much you liked the jewels, and I thought they suited you. I’d been trying for so long to find a ring, but neither elven nor Wult nor even Earth Kingdom jewelry suited you. But this flower, it seemed when you saw it, it knew you. I know how strange that must sound.”
“No—actually, I had the same thought.”
He kissed the top of my head. “You like it, then?”
As I studied the ring, I felt its magic combine with my own. I knew then that this ring was different; it was meant for me. Kull knew it as well. It represented who I was now, who I had become, and my potential to become someone better. I didn’t know what the future held, if I really would destroy the world because of Theht, if I would be able to find Lucretian and discover a way around the prophecy, or even if we would have a world to live in. But with my stepfather’s life saved and a real future with Kull to look forward to, I realized I had an actual chance at happiness, and that was good enough for now.
“As for Grandamere’s cottage,” Kull said, “she’s given it to me. She said since I was the only one who ever visited her, she thought I should have it. With a bit of work, it would make an adequate first home for a newlywed couple, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” I answered with a smile. “But I think it would be more than just adequate. I think it would be perfect.”
“It might not be perfect. We’ll live next to the keep, you know. We’ll have to deal with my mother dropping by at a moment’s notice, and then there’s Heidel, who will demand we accompany her on any quest she can come up with and leave any time she chooses—and that’s not
to mention her temper we’ll have to put up with.”
I laughed. “Fine. Maybe it won’t be perfect.”
He gave me his lopsided grin, the one he reserved only for me. We looked out over the trees and I found the stars glittering—not the light cast from the enchanted ceiling, but real light. It didn’t seem probable that a star’s light, burning billions upon billions of miles away, could ever reach us, or that it could even been seen, yet it was there, so real I could almost feel its heat burning against my cheeks, shining just as brightly as the jewels on my ring.
I gently ran my fingers over the ring’s sparkling jewels, feeling a calming flux of magic, knowing that in the end, everything would be made right.
“We’ll have a future,” Kull said. “I don’t know how, but some way, we’ll survive this. And we’ll do it together.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
My heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who helped bring this book to life. First, I want to thank the ladies of Clean Teen Publishing: Rebecca Gober, Courtney Knight, Melanie Newton, and Marya Heiman. They took a chance on my books and helped the Fairy World MD series become a reality.
Next, I want to give a huge thanks to my awesome team of beta readers: Ann Jones, Julie Woods, and Tasha Priddy. I don’t envy their job of reading my early drafts, but someone has to do it!
I would like to thank Chelsea Brimer for being my devoted editor through four Fairy World MD books. (So far!)
My PA, Courtney Whittamore, who is a true blessing in my life and I thank God every day for placing her in my path when I needed her the most.
To Misty McDavitt, who possibly has the hardest job of everyone. She watches my kids while I steal a few hours to write. As I am the mother of said kids, I know that is no easy task.
To my group of fans who are growing in number—thank you all! Your encouraging words help keep me going through the tough times.
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