by Patti Larsen
“Syd.” Mom appeared with a strained smile of her own. “Hi, sweetheart.” I heard about Danilo, she sent in a tight touch of magic. Is everything all right?
Not really, I sent. But Piers is on it. I have something else to do, and I need Gabriel to do it.
Mom’s immediate tension only grew worse as the air of the room sighed and opened to the veil, my big drach friend stepping through.
Ethie squealed and ran for him, climbing up into his arms to grip his wide face in her tiny hands. She kissed him on the end of his nose before pressing her cheek to his. Max’s smile was genuine as he began to softly hum to her. She loved the musical sound of the drach language and sighed her contentment as he finished a short song.
“Max.” She hugged him around the neck. “Where have you been?”
“Busy, I fear,” he said as he crossed to me, my tiny daughter held carefully in his large embrace. “But I’ve mourned every moment away from you, dear Ethpeal.”
She sat up, wrinkled her nose at him. “Mom told you to say that.”
“Indeed she did not,” he said, diamond eyes glittering with amusement. “You know I adore you above all others.”
Ethie turned to me and stuck out her tongue. “Keeping him,” she said.
Fine by me.
“Darling,” Mom said, coming forward to relieve Max of my daughter’s insistent embrace, “I think your mother and Max are here to talk to Gabriel.”
Instant Ethie pout face. But she went to Mom anyway and stayed with her, watching with a fascination she didn’t seem able to control as Max knelt with great grace at my son’s side. Gabriel still had to look up into his eyes, but seemed more at ease. Max turned his diamond gaze to me and waited.
“Trinol,” I said, Max frowning at the name before turning his big head abruptly and looking at Gabriel again. “Our advantage. What if Gabriel’s power can help us track the pieces?”
My son’s frown wasn’t worried, just curious as he looked back and forth between us. I perched on the edge of the chair beside me and held his hand.
“Sweets,” I said, “when you open gateways, can you tell where you’re opening them? Do you have a destination in mind?” We’d talked of this briefly a month ago, when Mom started his training, but I’d been too busy to follow up.
“Sure!” His face brightened. “I can tell you who lives there, too.”
Max’s soft smile added to my hope. “If I allow you to feel something,” he said, “could you find more like it?”
Gabriel’s frown returned, but he shrugged. “I can try,” he said.
Syd, Mom sent, careful but stressed. Is this dangerous?
I don’t know, I sent, worry surging to replace my excitement. But Max and I are here. And we need to find those pieces.
Galleytrot joined us, a soft growl rumbling from inside him. I won’t let harm come to him, Syd. Whether he meant it as a reassurance or a threat, I had no idea. Chose to believe the latter.
Neither will I. I dug my fingers into his fur, scratching one ear. But I feel better knowing you’re here, too, big dog.
He’s your son, Mom sent when Galleytrot sighed agreement in a gust of hot doggy breath. Your choice. Just, be cautious. He’s enthusiastic still, and wants very much to please you. I worry he might push too hard if you ask him to.
Right. “Gabriel,” I said, pulling him to me, hugging him. “I love you. And no matter what happens, even if you can’t find what we’re looking for, I want you to know you are the most amazing boy with the most incredible talent. And I’m so proud of you I could just eat you up.”
He smiled at me when I let him go, softly stroking my cheek. “I know, Mom,” he said, joy pouring out of him. “I’ll do my best, I promise.”
I nodded to Max, power drawing close, ready for anything. Or, hoping I was, at least. The giant drach’s magic answered mine, a net of protection forming around Gabriel, pushing out in a second layer to guard Mom and Ethie for good measure. The Council power augmented those shields.
We were as ready as we were going to get.
The idea we might be stepping through a gateway in a second to retrieve a piece of Creator made my heart skip. Max reached out to my son and touched his mind ever so gently, the vastness of the drach consciousness held back with care.
This, Max sent. I felt the touch of Creator, the same feeling as the Stronghold’s personality, filled with so much life my soul stirred and danced. Gabriel’s eyes flew wide, a huge smile on his face as he bobbed a nod and turned away from us, power surging, gesturing with one hand.
And nothing happened. Gabriel’s face fell, frown returning, forming a scowl as he pushed and pushed. But a gate didn’t open and, from the frustration in his whole body, this had never happened to him before.
“I’m sorry,” he finally sagged in angry defeat. “I know how to look, I just can’t seem to get to it.”
“I have an idea,” Max said, showing me a flashed image of the Stronghold. “Perhaps a more intimate connection would make things easier.”
We left Mom and Galleytrot behind with Ethie, all three of them nervous though only the hound protested.
Don’t interfere, I sent. And protect my daughter.
It was clear Galleytrot was going to argue, until Mom’s power cut him off. He finally backed down with a deep groan of unhappiness.
“It’ll be fine, Trot,” Gabriel said, smiling and waving at the dog. “You’ll see.”
Oddly, Ethie just clung to Mom and didn’t demand to come along. She was usually so insistent on being in the middle of everything. But even she, at six, must have sensed how important this was and let us go without a peep.
Gabriel held tight to my hand as we crossed over the veil and into the statue chamber of the Stronghold. He released me the moment we arrived, walking closer, staring up with awe at the giant form of Creator.
“Who hurt her?” His little voice was soft, respectful, sad.
“She did this to herself,” Max answered him in his deep and musical voice. “To save us all, Creator gave of herself to assure our salvation.”
“She’s beautiful.” Gabriel took one last step, touched the toe of her intact foot. Shivered. “This is what you want me to find. Her pieces.”
Too damned clever for his own good. “You got it, sweets,” I said. “Feel like trying again?”
***
Chapter Twenty Six
My son stepped back from me, still looking up at the massive statue. He didn’t answer my question, but from the gathering of his magic and the focused, almost glazed, look in his eyes, he certainly did want to give it another shot.
Be prepared, Max sent, a hint of excitement threading through his power. I believe this might work.
My power still coiled, ready and waiting, engulfing my son in protective energy, so my drach friend didn’t have to tell me twice. But the moment Gabriel turned and gestured beside him, all of the power I had at my disposal didn’t seem to be enough to keep him safe.
With a rushing burst of energy, I was pushed back, away from my son, Max staggering next to me. A giant gateway opened, my child tiny in comparison, though from the blankness of his expression he barely knew what he was doing.
Max! This was a terrible idea, and the sinking, whirling feeling in my gut told me we’d pushed Gabriel too far in a place where he never should have been allowed to open a gateway.
Stop him immediately. Max’s magic battled side-by-side with mine as the two of us reached for Gabriel.
But it was far too late for that. My son slowly turned toward me while I hit my knees, force of magic expelling from the gateway he’d made like the gale force wind of an oncoming hurricane. I squinted against the dust and debris it raised, calling out his name, though my words were lost, ripped from my lips and carried away before they could make a sound.
But it was the swirling light in his eyes, white spirit light, that gave me the most fear, the way Gabriel’s body went rigid as the gateway behind him began to shift. At first it wa
s as black as the deepest night without stars or a moon, unnatural black, like the soul of one long lost to feeling. As Gabriel turned to me, images began to appear in the gateway, flashes of planes I’d never seen before, skies of blue and gray and orange and white, creatures and cities, purple oceans and giant expanses of desert the palest shade of turquoise. All beautiful, whipping past faster and faster as the power of the statue’s chamber gravitated toward Gabriel and fed him.
And fed him some more.
No amount of my magic could cut through what was happening, not even my sorcery. It was as though the very Universe moved through my son, spinning out every plane in his mind, through the gateway. It might have lasted thirty or so seconds but it felt like forever. The moment it stopped, the wind died abruptly and Gabriel, his now normal eyes rolling up into his head, collapsed sideways on the ground.
I felt deaf from the sudden silence, slow and stupid, shaken to the core by what I’d just witnessed. I rushed to him, even as the image in the gateway shifted one last time. I froze with my unconscious child’s body hanging limp in my arms.
Massive soldiers, dressed in some kind of medieval armor, stood in a thick formation in the center of a giant plane. Black shapes with vast wings wheeled overhead, spiked mountains stabbing the burnt red sky in the distance.
They began to march, coming right for the gateway, as the edges pushed outward, began to expand further. My heart galloped in my chest at the sound of their feet falling in precision, the clank of metal as they approached. The leader towered over them, helmet down over his glowing blue eyes, a wicked blade in his hand. Relentless, coming for us.
Max landed next to me, hitting the ground so hard it shook beneath us. Or maybe that was from the approaching footfalls of the army about to invade this space. His hands grasped my son, his energy pushing into Gabriel.
“Wake,” Max said with so much desperation in his voice I couldn’t breathe.
Max was afraid. Which meant I needed to be terrified, yup yup.
Gabriel’s eyes flickered, a soft moan escaping. “You must close the path, Gateway,” Max rumbled, still stuffing power into my son. I joined him, trying to bolster Gabriel. I sat up at the same time, wove shielding in front of the gateway, feeling the push of the army approaching and knowing there was no way, absolutely none, I would ever be able to hold them back. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands.
Oh. My. Swearword.
Twenty feet. I could hear them breathing in unison, like machines full of magic, each step absolute perfection of timing.
Fifteen feet. Gabriel groaned and twitched, trying to sit up, Max supporting him as I wove shield after shield in an attempt to buy us more time, only to have them shredded from the inside with casual precision.
Ten feet. Doom loomed over us as my son opened his eyes, looked up into the approaching army. And screamed.
The army stopped as one at the sound of his wordless shriek. The edges of the gateway sizzled, began to collapse as Gabriel’s magic rejected what he saw and triggered a closing of the way. The leader saluted, though whether to my son or all of us I had no idea. But I held Gabriel tight and rocked him while the gateway finally collapsed with a clap like thunder.
I just cuddled and swayed for a long time while he sobbed on my shoulder, Max sprawled out next to us, gray toned skin pale and translucent from shock.
“A close thing,” he finally said, not a hint of music in his roughened voice. “And my fault, Sydlynn. Gabriel, I am so sorry I even suggested this. I should have known better. My pushing in the past has led us to disaster before.” Max sat up, shook his head, hands linking together around his bent knees.
“Who were they?” I whispered the question over Gabriel’s head. “What happened?”
“Mom.” My son looked up at me, wiping at his wet face, though he’d calmed somewhat. “I didn’t mean to.”
I shushed him, kissed him softly. “You were amazing,” I said. “You did nothing wrong.”
“I tried to find the pieces,” he said. “But the Universe wanted to show me everything when I did.” Gabriel shuddered. “Everything, Mom. Remember sometimes I said I can see it all when I open gates?” I nodded. “I had no idea, really. I thought I was seeing. But this.” Gabriel wiped his nose on his t-shirt collar. “It’s so big, Mom.” He looked off into the distance, at the statue. “I was right there with her.” Awe filled his voice, no longer shaking with fear, just a different kind of wonder. “And then he came.” Terror returned in a snap. “And dragged me to the barrier between Universes.”
“Dark Brother,” Max said, weary and quiet.
Gabriel bobbed a nod. “I tried to fight him, but he made me cross. She fought with me, but it was too late, the way was open. Mom, if we hadn’t closed the gateway…”
I swallowed hard. “Who were they, sweets?”
My son shuddered, huddled against me. “The Order,” he whispered. “And they are invincible.”
“The army of Dark Brother,” Max said while I choked on my son’s words. “Our doom.”
I was so used to being the strongest kid on the block, the idea of having an unbeatable foe to face made my blood run cold. “They have to have a weakness.”
“They are in the other Universe,” Max said. “That is their only weakness.”
I spun on him, glared. “How do you know?” Not his fault, and he didn’t deserve my surge of anger in response to hating being afraid, but it had been a tough few minutes.
He let it go, obviously understanding my state of mind. “Because,” he said. “I encountered them once before. When the Universes split. Just before Creator saved us all.”
I hated first person evidence. “It’s been a long time since then,” I said. “Maybe something’s changed.”
Max paled even further. “Don’t even suggest it,” he said. “They were bad enough in the beginning let alone if they’ve somehow evolved.”
Just freaking great.
“Gabriel,” Max said, “can you tell us if any of the planes Creator showed you hold the pieces of her physical form?”
My son pulled free of me again, but didn’t move far. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s so jumbled in my head.”
Before I could stop him, Gabriel gestured and a gateway opened. But this one was soft, tentative, with little power behind it and I rapidly smothered it in shielding to protect him from the magic in this place. Whether it knew the havoc it almost wreaked or not, the chamber left my son alone. A field of pale blue grass, sky tinted softly green, appeared on the other side, a fat, rabbit-like creature with six eyes and four arms popped up and looked our way, nose twitching.
“Wait a second,” I said. “I know this plane, Gabe. You showed it to me the first time you told me you knew what you could do.”
His little face scrunched up in anxiety. “Sorry, Mom,” he said. “It’s just not working.”
The lazy rabbit creature returned to munching grass, clearly content with us as it watched from a short distance away.
Gabriel’s afraid, I sent to Max. Obviously reaching for planes that make him feel safe. Let’s give him a rest. My protective mother instincts finally kicked in and, for a moment, I wondered about myself. What kind of mom was I really to allow my seven year old to go through something like this? I had to be the worst mother ever.
Ever.
While I flogged myself for my wretched parenting skills, Max’s paleness faded and his face returned to bland calm. I wonder, he sent. “Thank you, Gabriel,” Max said. “For your bravery and for trying again though you were afraid.”
My son bobbed his head, strawberry blond hair soft under my hand as I stroked it.
“I wish I could have helped more,” he said. “Are we safe from the Order now?”
Max nodded. “Your mother and I will never allow them to cross to this Universe.” He sounded so confident even I believed him. “But there may come a time you are forced to face them. Do you think you can do that?”
What? No. Freaking. Way. But Ga
briel was nodding with that particularly stern and focused look he got that reminded me of Liam at his best.
“I’ll be ready,” Gabriel said.
We’d just see about that.
The boy needs to feel in control again, Max sent as the three of us climbed to our feet. Knowing he has the courage to face what happened is the best way to ease his mind. I’m not suggesting anything, Syd. Why did I get the impression Max wasn’t telling me everything? But I want him to have a healthy reaction to this near disaster. So he’s not plagued by fears later.
I’ll handle my son, I sent, snappish. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m a terrible mother.
You are a wonderful parent, Max sent, gentle and kind. With an extraordinary son who must learn to control his talent. Before it destroys us all. Imagine if that had happened when we weren’t with him. I froze in my tracks, hand tightening on Gabriel’s so hard he looked up, startled. I eased my grip, tried a smile. While unlikely without the touch of Creator, the possibility Dark Brother could reach him isn’t one to be taken lightly.
I pondered that as we returned to Harvard. Ethie was gone, Galleytrot lurching to his feet from where he lay at the threshold, guarding the door to her room. Mom emerged from her office with open arms to my son. He went to her, hugged her as my mother’s mind met mine.
How did it go?
You don’t want to know. I grimaced, let her feel my fear for him.
Ethie’s gone to bed, she sent. I’ll put Gabriel down with her and Galleytrot.
I wanted to go with him, to lie down next to my son and protect him. But when Mom led him away, Galleytrot’s big head leaning into my son after a judging glare aimed at me, Max’s power held me back. There is something I want to investigate, he sent. The boy is safe for now. Indulge me, if you would.
Hesitation almost held me back. I put the Universe ahead of my own flesh and blood. I should be fulfilling my mothering duties right now, not running off with the leader of the drach. But I had a job to do. The words I spoke to Danilo rang with me as I turned and nodded to Max.