Door in the Garden of Shadows

by April Canavan

  Mykah couldn’t remember the exact words, the exact stories. All she could remember was a faint strain of music that pulled at her heart and seemed to loosen the hold that the puzzle had on her soul. When she felt the strings let go, she started to hum the melody. It grew in her throat, an ancient tune filled with the power of the fae until she couldn’t feel the strings of the puzzle anymore; only then did she opened her eyes. It was gone, just for a moment, but in that moment she knew that they would have to find Moira. The ancient fae queen would have answers to the questions they had.

  She looked at her friends, who were staring at her like she had grown another head.

  “Mykah…” Peyton’s voice broke her reverie, and she stopped humming. Her friend looked scared, and her eyes were shining with the intensity of the animal that she was.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Her voice quivered, and Mykah immediately touched her face and hair in a moment of insecurity.

  “You’re shining. You’ve never looked more fae.” Christopher stood up and approached her with caution. She could see the silver in his eyes dancing. He reached out and touched her hand, and in his eyes she saw what she looked like.

  Her skin was glowing with the same golden radiance that her mother once had. Her hair was a deeper red than it ever had been. Even though her features were physically the same, she had never held the same fae power that others had. It was pulsing through her now. There was a powerful radiance was pulsating from her body, coming from her core. When she tried to hold it in, keep it for herself, it just pushed against her hold. So she stopped, she let all of it move through her and into the others, and she felt wonderful.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it. Should you really be touching her, Christopher?” Adam couldn’t hide his trepidation. “I think you should back away. Stop touching her.” His voice shook, and Mykah knew that they were all a little afraid of the power that was pouring off of her.

  She saw the power released in waves envelope the room, and it devoured them all. It rejuvenated their own waning power, and she saw the changes in them. Christopher, the closest to her, shone with a silver hue from his skin. His eyes were swirling pools of molten power, and suddenly the room smelled of vanilla. As the magic seemed to seep into each of them, they changed.

  Anaid’s hair grew a life of its own and started to float in the air as though she was beneath the ocean. Her navy locks swirled and bounced, and the face of the last water elemental became luminescent as she felt the power pour through her veins. Mykah looked at her hands, and there were streams of water were bouncing between the elemental’s fingers.

  Ben’s skin took on a green tinge and scales appeared to cover his body momentarily. The wings that sprouted from his back surprised everyone in the room, and after spreading to an impressive span, they folded back into themselves and disappeared. He opened his mouth letting a ferocious growl escape his lips. The scars faded from his face, leaving his dark skin smoother than it had been in years. The power rippled over him, and Mykah could see the satisfaction in his dragon’s eyes.

  Even the others in the room farther from her seemed to absorb the magic. Both Peyton and Maddox looked like kittens being given a treat. His arms were outstretched, and the power fed into his body, filling every orifice. The scar on his chin did not fade, however. He looked directly into Mykah’s eyes, and she saw that his were shining as well. The power looked good on him. Peyton, on the other hand, was shivering. The power rolling around the room was petting her inner beast, coaxing it out into the open. In a flash, her body tore at itself. It was a painful transformation, but in a matter of seconds, her wolf was standing where she had been. The fur was still sticky, and yet it fluttered under the influence of the power filling the room. The tattoos that covered her body were minor discolorations of her fur in this form.

  Both of the forsaken rulers were holding hands, their silver hair floating on its own. Aubrey was screaming in silent pain, and Adam was attempting to reassure her. Before Mykah could step forward to do something about the pain, the queen of the damned stopped. She stood, and Mykah could see the death roll out from the hidden spaces in her body. Adam helped his sister stand on her own and then let go of her arm, and it was then that she noticed the king of the damned had undergone his own absorption of the power. His ordinarily turquoise eyes were brighter than usual, more aquamarine than anything, and the shadows of the room seemed to flee from his presence.

  The only one who seemed relatively unaffected by the power in the room was the Goblin King. Lachlan just stood and watched the power touch the others, and sweep by him. Mykah took note of the gap that the power left around the goblin, and he just looked into her eyes and grinned. Everything avoided contact with the Goblin King, most likely in fear of being trapped in the Shadowlands.

  While she felt the power seep from her body and into those of her friends, Mykah couldn’t help but question its very existence. It was as if by humming the simple melody, she had released a part of the curse, and with it some of the power that it had drained from her in the last five years. It was beautiful. Mykah had never felt like she had more of a connection with the land or magic around her. As the waves settled and the power receded back into her body, she felt refreshed. She felt as though nothing would stand in her way.

  With the last fading ripples of power, the others took note of their own changes and looked at her as though she was the final grand prize. She just sat there in silence and wanted to disappear into herself. If they could find Moira, they could get the rest of the story and then they could make a plan on how to release the magic that was being trapped. Maybe they could even find a way to save her soul and her life. There was only one problem, Moira was hiding somewhere away from the fae realm and didn’t want to be found.

  “I know what we have to do.” She said once they were all silent. She went to the ice chest that Peyton had brought in the night before and grabbed a beer. There was no way they were about to go into fairytale territory unless she was on her way to getting drunk.

  “Well if the princess is drinking, I’m pretty sure that we’re all going to need one. The last time I saw her drink, I’m pretty sure she threw up enough to ruin a human’s appetite for a year.” Peyton, ever the friend, got up and retrieved a handful of beers to give to the others as well.

  “I think we need to find an ancient fae. My grandmother, Moira. I think she can answer everything.” She went on to explain what she remembered of the story her grandmother had told her as a child, though admittedly there wasn’t much to say.

  “Is that what you were humming, the hymn of power?” Christopher was looking at her with raised eyebrows.

  “I’m not sure what it was, but my grandmother used to sing it to me whenever I saw her. She always told me it was important, and now I think she was trying to warn me in the way that the older fae used to. She was trying to prepare me for this to happen. She told me once that I would be hot–headed and let my blood speak for my soul. What else could that mean but what had happened in the grove? I think if we find her, she can give us the answers. Not only to find the solution for my problem but for all of the fading magic. If we could heal the harm that’s been done, it would fix everything.”

  “Well I think that’s a great idea, there’s only one problem.” Christopher stood up and finished off his beer before speaking again. With a burp, he tossed the can into the trash. “We have no idea where the old bat has gone. She disappeared, and the rumor is that she went somewhere into the Lost Realm of the fae. No one goes there, it’s been dead for hundreds of millennia. Plus, it’s where the ancients go to die.”

  While she didn’t contradict him, Mykah knew that Chris was wrong. She had spent time in that place with her grandmother. She had walked the trails, spent time in the eternal gardens. With a secret smile, she spoke up, “I guess we’re going to the Lost Realm then.” Mykah knew that they wouldn’t leave her alone now. They were about to have an adventure, the thing they had all wanted as children
. Playing in the gardens, they had made up grand adventures, reasons to explore the worlds.

  “Well shit, someone better tell the Fae Queen that we’re not going to be around for her month of festivities.” Adam got up and offered his hand to Aubrey. “We had better check in at home as well. Make sure that they know one of us will be gone for an extended period of time.”

  “Okay, lead the way, and don’t think I’m just going to let you bully me into staying home for this. I think we should fight for it.” His sister took his arm and let him guide her out of the door. Before they left, she stuck her head back through, “Let us know when you plan on leaving. I don’t think we can travel there magically, though. Since it’s the place between the two fae realms, it’s a place that negates all of our abilities.”

  “Of course, I’ll let the brownies know to start some travel packs. We can leave tomorrow.” Mykah referred to the lower echelon of fae, who usually handled things that had to do with taking care of the court. They had spent the majority of the day together in the library, and undoubtedly they all had things that they needed to take care of if they were going to leave the Malice Court soon.

  Everyone else was getting up and preparing to leave, but Mykah couldn’t help feeling a bit desolate. She had just gotten home, and now they were all going to embark on a mission to try and save not only her life but pretty much all of magic as well. What would they find as they traversed the fae realms? What would they do if they could not find Moira or the old fae couldn’t provide them with the answers that they needed?

  Once the others had left to go say goodbye to their loved ones and prepare for the journey, Mykah knew that as much as everything was changing, it was staying the same. Not even a week ago, she was sitting in an apartment living as much of her mortal life as she could. If that damn vampire, Dante, hadn’t swept into her life she would have been content wasting away to a faded slip of what she should be. Now she just had to deal with the marshmallow, who probably wouldn’t care that she was leaving. If no one told him, it wouldn’t even be his problem. Just like that, she had the perfect solution. Seriously, though. He hadn’t yet made an appearance all day, so what was it to him if they were gone.

  After she went down to the kitchen and spoke to the brownies, she felt a lot better. Gillian, the head cook, had always been welcoming, handing her snacks and patting her head to make the princess feel like she could come and go anytime. They had said that making packs for the nine of them would not be a problem and they would even include a few of her favorite snacks from childhood. The brownies weren’t less than any of the other classes of the fae. They were homebodies, and taking care of others made them happy. In the fae courts, everyone contributed. Everyone had different responsibilities, and Mykah loved the people who cared for her. She kissed the cook’s cheek and rolled up her sleeves to help out.

  “What are we making, Gilli?” She asked the withered old woman standing in front of a large bowl, mixing whatever was inside it with her bare hands.

  “Ma petite, I’m making bread for you and your companions to take. If you want to help, you can do this, and I’ll start on preserving the meat you like.” Her voice hoarse with the years that have gone by, Gilli had lived longer than most members of the fae court.

  She had ruled the kitchen for over five–hundred years, and she did it with both an iron will and the temperament of a sweet old lady. There was a reason that no one demanded anything from their kitchen, and instead asked gently for it. Gilli had once prepared an entire meal to get revenge on a member of the dark fae court. She had used her own exceptional kind of magic to make him sick at the dinner table, but so hungry that he couldn’t get up. It had been disgusting, and hilarious at the same time. After that, she had not been insulted again. While they made bread and other sweets for their group to take, Mykah couldn’t help but look at the weathered skin of her friend and wonder if this would be the last time she was here.

  “Have I ever told you about the day you were born?” Mykah stopped what she was doing as Gilli spoke quietly through the kitchen.

  “No. You were there?” She had never heard that, and she sat down to listen to what the other woman would say.

  “Well, of course I was. Your mother and I were very close, before her death.”

  “I didn’t know that.” Feeling like her entire world was turning on its axis, she knew that she needed to hear Gilli’s story.

  “You wouldn’t, child. After the queen passed, there was no reason to share our friendship. It was ours, and you and I created our own special type of relationship over the years.” There was a sparkle in the older woman’s eyes that hadn’t been there before.

  “Yes, we did.” Mykah smiled at all the memories that she had.

  “Hush. Let me tell my story.”

  “Go on, oh wise one.” The words hadn’t even left her mouth before a loaf of bread came flying at her face.

  “Zip it, pipsqueak. The day you were born, so much had happened. Insurrection had driven your father away from home. Your mother was worried, and Jessica wasn’t yet old enough to be any comfort. I sat with her and held her hand until the worst of it had passed. In the end, when she was pushing, and you were there, so much blood came with you that we knew she wouldn’t survive. You weren’t breathing. You were blue, and with her last breath, your mother cast a spell of such love and longing that I thought the castle would implode with the magnitude of it. Everything was shaking, and when I had given up hope; that is when you screamed.” Mykah listened as Gilli stopped talking to take a breath and wipe her eyes, where tears had streaked down her wrinkled skin.

  “And all of the shaking stopped. Everything stopped, and there was only silence in the world. Except for the wails of an infant. The blood was gone, and so was your mother. For a long time, I thought that I had hallucinated the blood, but every time you would hurt yourself as you grew up, the blood would vanish. I knew that there was something powerful at play there. The ancient magics were forbidden, but I kept quiet. I couldn’t have anyone hurting my girl.”

  “Please, Gilli. You can’t tell anyone.” Mykah whispered, fear gripping her heart.

  “Child, you know better than that. I’m telling you this because I know you’re so afraid. There’s just something you need to know about the power you and your sister have. Yes, I know about her as well. There has been so much talk about magic leaving this world, that our prophecies have gotten lost in time.” She wiped her hands on her apron, and settled down into a chair next to Mykah, grasping her hands.

  “If ever the lost magics return to the realms, the fate of magic will fall with their users. That is our prophecy. Or rather, a relevant prophecy. You, my dear, you and your sister hold the fate of magic in you. I have no doubt that the Blood Queen has an ability that the vampires have not seen since the dawn of the new millennia. I know that you are scared. I wouldn’t know what to do if it were me. You should find Moira; you’ll learn more from her. And if she doesn’t have an answer for you, she will find one. There was never a fae as wise as her, not in all the years of the Malice Court.” Speechless, Mykah didn’t know how to respond.

  Even as Gilli was kissing her cheek and sending her to bed, she knew that there was something more to learn. If the lost magics were returning and the prophecy was right, it meant that Mykah could stop the end. She just needed to find the missing pieces.

  As she crawled into bed an hour later, exhausted from finding the right amount of gear to take, and packing weapons that she hoped she would never have to use, Mykah couldn’t help but feel like there was hope. They would be quite a sight though; the forsaken, the light fae king, the goblin king, the last water elemental, a dragon prince, a warlock, a werewolf, and the dark fae princess. Her eyes closed, she drifted off to sleep; the key still hung around her neck pulsing with a power that she hadn’t felt in the years since everything had changed.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Mykah hadn’t even gotten dressed the next morning when people started to wal
k into her room. At least Peyton had the decency to bring breakfast when she came waltzing in with Matt. The werewolf and the warlock looked like they had gotten the best night of sleep in their lives, and she was instantly jealous. Grumbling to herself, she took the food that they offered her and settled back into the nest of blankets on her bed.

  Refusing to discuss anything before she had a proper meal, she would have preferred to kick them all out. Instead, she watched with an astonished smile as one by one they all filtered into her room and made themselves comfortable.

  “You guys do realize that I haven’t even taken a shower yet. You’re going to be waiting for a while before I’m ready.” She managed to say before she threw a book at Adam, who was in the process of stealing a pillow from her bed to make himself a makeshift bed on her floor.

  “Hurry up. Adventure is waiting, and I don’t know about you, but I want to get the hell out of here.” Chris was sitting on the edge of her bed, and she found herself giving up the struggle. She pushed herself out of bed, and after grabbing a change of clothes from her closet, she gave the people scattered around her room a mock salute and went into her bathroom, locking the door behind her.

  Once she had showered, braided her hair, and was dressed in the comfortable jeans and t–shirt that she had grabbed, Mykah looked in the mirror and prepared herself for whatever was lying ahead. She fondled the key that she still wore around her neck, and silently asked for the strength that she would need in the coming days. After she had braced herself as best as she could, she went back into her room, where it seemed that everyone was discussing how they were going to travel.