by Rachel Xu
If I . . . decide to live . . . how can I ever defeat Morack? I already made a pathetic attempt and was nothing but a fly to him. And even if you gave me powers now, I have no training in how to use them.
“You will not need training. With the gift of powers comes all the wisdom and memories of the past guardians. . . . ”
A pause.
“And there is one more thing, child.”
Yes?
“Do you realize what will happened if you kill Ian's father?”
Yes . . . I kill Ian too. But are you certain?
“Lily, you must not let Ian distort your longterm vision. If you choose to live, destroying Morack must be your first and foremost responsibility, despite the cost. His death is the only way to save both of these planets.”
I choose to . . . to live.
“A wise and self-less decision. Now . . . this will feel strange—”
The darkness around Lily burst into explosions of color and light.
Images spun through her at the speed of light yet her mind retained them all—a millenia of memories flooding her brain, weaving their way through, and settling themselves in as if they were her very own. And though she retained all of her original memories they were different now somehow, as though she had been sleepwalking all these years gone by. She could recall them but they seemed a faint shadow, antiquated and detached. Like another life. In contrast, her memories at Auguste's estate were as vivid and solid as ever.
She felt as though she was made solely of energy—full of power beyond imagination—power that in an instant she understood thoroughly and could manipulate according to her will without the slightest effort.
She was ready.
With a feeling of utter dismay, Ian jumped off Morack's back, rolled across the grass, and watched as the Beast finished rising to his full height on its dozens of centipede legs.
How could this be? The sword remained skewered in its brain, sticking out the back like a single porcupine quill—a mere toothpick.
Ian's worst fears had been confirmed: Morack was truly invincible.
Without warning, the ground beneath him rumbled and shook as a bright light exploded all around.
Ian covered his eyes and ducked down. The Beast screeched and hissed as the light passed over and through both of them like a tsunami.
Then, as quickly as it had come, it vanished, and the earth stopped shaking.
Ian opened his eyes and straightened, blinking rapidly. He followed the turning gaze of Morack, whose giant green eyes were bulging with evident shock.
Across the lawn ahead of them, on the flagstone path leading up to the entrance of Auguste's estate—where Lily's crumpled body had been laying slain—was a woman standing upright and glowing bright like the sun.
Ian squinted and shielded his eyes against the searing light but could not look away. The woman's hair stood out all around her as though floating in water and lightening bolts coiled around her body like a brood of vipers. Her eyes were completely white and shining even brighter than her body.
“It can't be—” the Beast hissed in an otherworldly voice. “Serena is dead!” He scrambled backwards in retreat and Ian took quick shelter in the woods next to Varkis who was peering out through the bronzed pendant leaves of a willow.
The glowing angelic woman stepped toward Morack and lightening shot out from her body, engulfing him like a python constricting its prey.
Morack squealed as cracks splintered all over his protective plates, the kinks glowing orange like furnace-hot coals. The lightening cords tightened more and more around his body until finally, with a sickening crunch, his insect bodice sliced into a dozen strips, all the pieces tumbling to the ground with a thump and a splat.
The light around his deli-meat remains did not leave but continued to glow brighter until all the chunks were nothing but ashes—and even the ashes themselves disappeared, leaving nothing behind but an enormous black char which crossed the expanse of the front property.
Like a vacuum, the glowing woman sucked all of the light and energy back into her body and the light faded away until she had fully returned to her human form.
Ian gasped. “Lily—”
She looked exactly as she had when Ian had first met her; except without a single blemish. Her skin was porcelain and her hair silk.
He came out from beneath the willow but stopped short when her eyes locked on his. There was recognition in them, but also what seemed a terrible sadness. How could she be so sad when Morack was finally destroyed for good?
Then he remembered.
One by one across the yard, Morack's remaining followers, who had not been absorbed, were turning to dust and ash. He was suddenly dizzy and looked down at his own figure. Smoke was rising from his body and twisting upward as though it was emanating from his very pores. The pain that suddenly followed was so intense, he nearly vomited, but he didn't want Lily to see how much he was about to suffer.
Sweat trickled down his face but he refused to scream in agony, though his body felt like it was going to explode.
He dropped to his knees without breaking eye contact with Lily. Though it took every last drop of strength and resolution, he smiled at her with resignation and a real sense of peace, relieved beyond measure that she was safe and alive, and that Morack was gone forever.
His strength sapped, Ian collapsed onto his side.
With a cry, Lily rushed up and knelt beside him as dark spots filled the corners of his vision. Her sea-green eyes shimmered with tears. She put her arms around him and held him against her as his life drained away. He was too weak to hold her back and his arms hung limply at his sides.
If he could have any wish, it would be to tell her the truth—that he hadn't betrayed her. But his parched lips could not open to speak.
Lily's heart constricted as Ian's eyes dimmed and his body sagged against her. She gently rolled him onto his back and his eyes sought hers again, trying to lock gaze. She ran her fingers lovingly across the side of his face and leaned down to kiss his lips one last time. She had the power to heal but knew it would do him no good: she could not help someone with the darkness inside.
The smoke rising from his body had turned from gray to pitch and she waved it away so she could still see his face. The smoke had an acrid scent of metal, of charred blood.
He grimaced. “I love you, Lily, I'm so sorry,” he said in a nearly inaudible voice, eyelids twitching then sliding shut. She waited for them to open again, longing to see those dear eyes one last time.
But they didn't.
He was gone.
The burden of her responsibility as a guardian now settled heavily upon her as she imagined living a long life ahead without Ian Hawke, the man she had grown to love. The thought was too much to bear and she laid her head upon his chest and sobbed freely. She knew within a few minutes his body would turn to ash and he'd be gone forever.
Something crackled and she clutched him even tighter, knowing he was about to disintegrate.
She pulled him up into her arms and kissed his dry, cracked forehead. “Rest in peace, darling. They will tell your story in Alvernia for centuries to come! I will never, ever forget you.”
A crunch and his face shifted.
“No!” She couldn't bear to watch but couldn't bear to look away either.
But instead of turning to dust, the skin of his face was moistening, cracks vanishing and a rosy blush warming the baby-like skin from beneath. As new blood flowed through his veins, like an opening of a dam upon a desert, his lips and nose and brows returned to their original fullness and luster: and he was as handsome as ever.
His brown eyes opened fully, clearly, and he clasped her hand in his own warm palm against his chest.
“How—how is this possible?” Goosebumps raced up her arms and down her back. Not a single piece of information in her millennium of memories provided any explanation for it.
A smile touched the corners of his li
ps. “My mother had a pure heart,” he said in a husky voice, “there was no darkness in her. By killing Morack you have purged my body of all the inherited evil that came from him.” His voice was full and strong now. “For the first time in my life I feel . . . ” He began to sit up. “I feel clean.”
“Morack's curse has been broken—” she cried out in awe.
“Lily.” He searched her face. “I need to tell you—I need you to know that . . . that I—”
“I know,” she said softly, squeezing his hand. “I know you didn't really betray me. I can see that now.” She thought back to the scene in the forest when Varkis had carted her off and she'd turned back just in time to see Ian about to ram a dagger into the unicorn's breast. Callamous was in on it, she realized now. They had staged it together.
Obvious relief washed over his features and he exhaled roughly. Then he stood and pulled her to him, lifting her up to her feet and embracing her fully, nuzzling his nose into her hair. She laid her cheek against the crook of his shoulder as joy surged in her heart.
Eventually Ian broke the embrace and held her at arms length, his strong hands warming her shoulders and sending tingles down her arms. They stared at one another for a long moment and then burst out laughing.
The dog-man limped up to them then, a smile twinkling in his eyes though his broken jaw still hung at an odd angle. He slapped Ian on the back with a big hairy palm.
Lily reached out and touched his jaw with the tips of her fingers and it immediately snapped back in place. He rubbed it and moved it around a bit, and then his lips rolled back, exposing his teeth in a wolfish grin. With a smile she stepped away from the two of them to survey the surrounding area.
Others who had survived the battle were now approaching and gathering around, cheers on their tongues and the very air full of celebration. The sky had cleared and the sun was shining down on them all, warming their backs.
The sound of a door slamming shut grabbed her attention and she looked toward the mansion as Hannah came charging down the front steps with a shovel in hand. Blood and animal hair stuck to the edge of the blade but Hannah appeared completely unharmed; her disheveled hair and sullied dress the only signs that she'd been in any sort of fight.
She reached them panting. “One of those little buggers had me cornered in the dining room,” she said breathlessly. “I thought I was done for but he suddenly turned to dust—just like that. Dust!” She held the shovel at her side like a pitchfork and threw her shoulders back with confidence. Then her eyes widened as her gaze moved from Lily to Ian. “Well, upon my word—” she said. “Ian, your scars are gone!”
Everyone laughed and Hannah looked bewildered.
Lily spent the next few minutes healing the wounded and dying. She came upon Callamous laying in a heap beneath a willow tree, too severely injured to heal himself and nearly dead. She laid her hands upon him; instantly mending his wounds. He clambered up to his hooved feet and let out an exuberant whinny.
A crowd had gathered around.
“Long live Lily—guardian of Alvernia!” they shouted.
She smiled gently, moved and humbled by their gratitude.
Sirens sounded ever so faintly in the far distance and the cheers came to an abrupt halt, everyone on sudden alert.
The smoking disaster area must have been spotted by an airplane.
“It is time for us all to go home,” she said in a voice that lifted on the breeze and reached every ear. “Gather all our fallen comrades and do so quickly—we must bring them back to Alvernia with us to give them a proper burial at the palace. We will build a memorial so that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Miriam stepped forward through the crowd and approached Lily, her wings whole once more and a smile on her face, a tall male Oreala at her side. Ian approached as well and handed Lily the keys to the trunk. There was no need to speak. Then, one by one the creatures, at least thirty in total, began to respectfully gather up the bodies of their comrades and filed after Lily into the mansion through the arched oak doors, heading up the stairs for the attic as fast as their legs would carry them. There was no time to waste.
Varkis picked up Mae's crumpled body from beside the trunk and was the first to pass through into Alvernia.
Within less than five minutes, the final creature had passed through, leaving behind only Ian, Hannah, Mike and herself.
The sirens were loud now—they were entering the driveway. Soon the mansion would be swarming with police and firefighters. Sunlight filled the attic through the gaping hole in the wall.
“Here we are,” she said, “at the end of one journey and at the beginning of another. Once we go through I will close the portal forever. Who wants to stay and who wants to leave?”
“I'm coming,” said Hannah without hesitation.
Mike rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the open door leading out of the attic to the staircase. “You know, those cops will just arrest me if I'm the only person they find here,” he said. “And how would I explain it? Besides, there's nothing keeping me here. I want to see this place called Alvernia. There are ladies there, right?”
She laughed. “Of course there are. Get going.”
Mike took Hannah's hand and helped her through first, following after her.
Ian took her hand. “You ready?”
“Yes.”
The cops would find lots of blood and ashes and a decimated mansion, but there wasn't a single body left behind and any lab tests performed would reveal next to nothing as most of the creatures were from another world. Any traces of human blood they found would likely be written up as an unsolved murder mystery. Hannah, Mike, Ian, and Lily would all be presumed dead. And as for the trunk, once Lily and Ian were through and the portal closed, it would be locked forever; nothing but a wooden base inside. The only thing left of value was Ian's tree full of jewels. Perhaps this would all go down in history as the case of the missing jewel thieves.
“Good-bye,” she whispered to the room; to planet Earth.
Voices sounded below in the front entrance corridor.
They climbed into the trunk and Lily pulled the lid shut above them.
Chapter 39
Passing through the portal was like stepping through a door.
There was no swirling whirlwind of a tunnel, no colors. Just one moment they were climbing into the trunk, the next they were climbing out in Alvernia.
They stood on a plateau of a mountain overlooking the land.
The ground was parched and dry. The great forest should have filled the expanse as far as the eye could see, but was nothing but dead tree trunks sticking up out of a foul-smelling bog.
The sky above was overcast and everything was cast in a gray hue.
The others around her who had not been to Alvernia in many years looked around them with sorrow. Mike was pale, a look of grave indecision on his face, probably wondering if he'd made the right choice after all. Varkis stood with furrowed brow and slumped shoulders.
Ian put his arm around Lily's waist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We mustn't despair. One day it will be restored to its former glory. It just needs time to heal and be replenished.”
“But even if the land heals, we're all that's left,” Varkis cut in gruffly, his voice thick with emotion. “We can't repopulate the planet.”
“Take heart,” Lily said, both to Varkis and everyone else huddling on the platform with them. “We've come too far to give up now. Appearances can be deceiving.” With that, she stepped away from them all and walked to the edge of the plateau. Lifting her arms up in the air, she closed her eyes and began to sing.
The notes at first sounded like a flute but they morphed and changed into a full-bodied instrument entirely her own. The music of her vocal chords wafted down into the valley below. It was as if she'd bottled joy, peace and hope and transformed them into a melody. As she sang her body transformed, glowing so bright it was soon only an outline. The
song hit a high note and the light burst forth from her, expanding and filling the entire landscape for as far as the eye could see.
The ground beneath their feet moved and the parched soil grew moist. Cracks sealed and like a time-lapse video, grass and sprouts burst through the dirt and flowers blossomed, releasing their fragrance. Down the mountain it spread, turning the bog land into a shimmering lake surrounded by mature forest; the gray sky at first mottled with blue and then fully blue; clouds dissipating like rapidly melting snow.
When she finally put her arms down, the light faded from her body, leaving her tremulous in its wake. Ian approached and took her into his arms. She turned to look up at him, smiling peacefully.
He kissed her temple.
A cheer erupted around them and they laughed, breaking the embrace.
“Hey, listen everyone—” Mike cut in. “Do you hear that?”
Somewhere off in the forest was the sweet trill of a bird song.
Callamous stamped a hoof, snorting. “Look over there,” he said, nodding in the direction of a distant meadow. “Unicorns!”
Sure enough, a group of unicorns appeared from behind boulders and trees; many other creatures and humans gathering with them as well.
There were survivors after all—hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, of all shapes and sizes, heading their way—coming out of their hiding.
Lily rested her head against Ian's shoulder.
Morack's reign had come to an end.
Forever.
It was time to begin a new life, with her true love, as a guardian of the beautiful planet of Alvernia.
The End.