by Kristen Pham
Instead, she turned her steps toward Silva, running at first, but slowing as she came closer. She reminded herself that she was another Fractus supporter going about life as usual.
But she couldn’t hide her immediate reaction when she reached The Horseshoe. A handful of the buildings were rubble, including The Society of Imaginary Friends. Others were streaked with black, either from lightning cast by the Fractus or the black substance dredged up from Plymouth.
The Horseshoe was eerily empty for the middle of the day, except for a few Fractus who were patrolling the grounds.
Without warning, a storm of fire ballooned out from the windows of the Weapons Guild, engulfing two of the Fractus hovering nearby. They were incinerated. A high whistle filled the air, and Valerie heard thudding footsteps rumbling closer.
Fractus began charging the Weapons Guild, battering the front door and sending lightning again and again into the stone walls. There was a rhythm to it, as if the Fractus had rehearsed. This had happened before.
It dawned on Valerie that the citizens of Silva were fighting back against the Fractus even now. The scorched state of The Horseshoe was a testament to the ongoing battles. Reaper’s hands were fuller than she’d guessed.
Valerie took advantage of the mayhem to pass through The Horseshoe and head toward the spot that Willa and Steven had blown open into Plymouth.
The closer she got, the more Fractus she ran into. At first, she ducked her head, afraid of being recognized. But everyone was busy with their tasks, and she welcomed the bustle. Being one face in a crowd was a better disguise than even the one Roza had given her.
At the edge of the pit, she peered in and saw that the vast lake of Carne had diminished significantly. Had it all been sent to the pool in the Atacama Desert, or did Reaper have other uses for it, as well?
She followed a group of Fractus down into the pit and saw that many of the tunnels were filled with workers, both Fractus and Groundlings who had been forced into slavery.
“They’ve found another well of Carne,” one of the Fractus whispered to a friend.
The woman who had spoken was one of the Knights who wanted to leave the Fractus to join the Fist and was remaining only on Valerie’s command. They would finally have a role fighting for the Fist in the upcoming battle.
The Knight continued, “We tried to hide its discovery from Reaper, but one of his new generals found it with us. Don’t think the vivicus would have liked it if we killed the general and kept this magic from Reaper, but it’s probably what we should have done.”
Valerie considered revealing who she was, but decided against drawing attention to herself. And their opinions weren’t unique among the members of the Fist. The longer the war raged, the more unreasonable her desire to capture instead of kill enemies seemed to many.
Valerie caught sight of Reaper in one of the tunnels, rubbing Carne between his thumb and forefinger as if he could tell more about its properties by touch.
He turned, and his gaze froze when it stopped on her. His face went white. Valerie was certain he recognized her, but he immediately created a portal and stepped through, cutting off the Fractus who was speaking to him midsentence.
Had she seen Reaper frightened before? She didn’t think so. But rather than wait to see if he returned, Valerie scrambled up one of the ladders that led out of the pit and back into Silva.
She took her first deep breath when she reached the trees, but it was a breath she took too soon. Reaper was waiting for her, his hair a little damp. His face had regained its color, and his old confidence had returned to his posture. Panic flooded through her so forcefully that she heard a buzzing in her ears. His narrow-eyed gaze left her with no doubt that he recognized her through her disguise.
Valerie reached for her daggers, and Reaper let out a snort. “I defeated you when you wielded Pathos. Will you now try to kill me with those dim little daggers, or can we talk like grown-ups?”
“I’m surprised you can see me, given the beating Summer gave you,” Valerie said, hoping to throw him off balance.
A snarl flashed across Reaper’s face. “Nothing I couldn’t fix.”
“What do you want?” Valerie asked, summoning her magic.
Reaper eyed her as if she was a puzzle piece and he was figuring out where to put her. “What if we made a deal?”
“No.”
Reaper took a step closer. “What if you didn’t have to be an orphan any longer?”
Valerie’s mind had been racing with possibilities, and nervous energy made her jittery. But at Reaper’s words, she stilled.
Reaper took a step forward. “Oberon is in the ether, where even I may not call him back. But your mother lives, in a way.”
Valerie wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking what he meant, but her feet wouldn’t move, so she could attack or run, either.
“I knew she might be a useful tool to control you or Henry or Oberon, so I have kept her in stone these eighteen years. When I saw you, disguised to look older, in Plymouth today, I thought you were a ghost, or that she’d gotten free. But I checked the place where I stashed her, and she stands there still. That’s when I knew it must be you.”
Valerie’s heart pounded, her elation and horror so mixed together that she had trouble focusing on anything else. Then she remembered who she was talking to. “No deal.”
“I’m not asking you to join me. Only that you tell your people that you are stepping down as their leader, and then you disappear. Surely, you don’t think you’re so important that the Fist will fall apart without you?”
The chance to live away from this war with her mother? The dream was so sweet that Valerie’s heart ached at the thought.
“No.” She’d meant to shout the word, but it came out a whisper.
“I keep my promises. If you refuse, I won’t destroy her statue. I will leave her in it forever, so she is unable to join your father in the ether. There will be no peace for either of their souls.”
The emotion that crashed through Valerie reminded her of her vivicus power in its intensity, and the pain it brought. Her face was numb, frozen, as if her lips refused to speak the words that would leave her mother buried alive forever. So she shook her head instead.
Reaper’s face remained neutral, but Valerie saw the tree near him dissolving, and guessed that he was angrier than he let on.
She drew her daggers, ready to fight him, though it seemed cruel that she would die and join her father while her mother remained entombed in a prison of stone, alone.
Reaper’s lip curled in distaste. “I will not make a martyr of you today. Run, little vivicus.”
And she did.
At first Valerie raced blindly, trees snapping in her face as she crashed through the woods. Henry was in her mind, trying to sort out what was happening, but her thoughts were too disheveled to put into any kind of order for him, so she let him know she was unhurt and then shut him out.
Thai was visiting his family today, introducing them to Emin, and Valerie was glad. Sometimes, it seemed that all she had to share was misery, and she’d rather keep it all to herself.
As her burst of energy subsided, she made her way back to The Horseshoe, not really caring if anyone else saw through her disguise. She yearned for a fight. Her steps took her to the Healers’ Guild, and the doors opened at her touch.
She made her way down the hall to the little room where Gideon still lay, as distant from her as the moon. When she opened the door, he was thrashing in his bed. Before she could call for help, she saw that Nightingale was at his side, pressing wet cloths to his friend’s forehead.
Nightingale eyed her warily, and Valerie remembered her disguise.
“It’s Valerie. I’m wearing a glamour. Are you trying some new kind of magic treatment?”
Nightingale wrung out a cloth. “It’s water. I’m cooling his fever down. Sometimes, we have no more tools than humans.”
A cowardly part of Valerie wanted to turn around and leave, bu
t instead, she made her way to Gideon’s bed. “What’s happening to him?”
“I don’t have answers. No one has ever had so much of the dark fairy dust in their system and survived. But thanks to your vivicus power, he has a fighting chance. And right now, he’s fighting hard.”
Gideon began groaning, his head thrashing back and forth.
Valerie smoothed back the sweaty hair on his forehead. “How long has he been like this?”
“It began two days ago. I was hopeful, because his pulse was stronger. Your friend Dr. Freeman came by and suggested some treatments that we tried. But if his fever doesn’t come down, it will weaken his body, and he will be unable to expel the rest of the dark dust.”
Valerie leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I won’t ask you to fight, because I know that you’re incapable of doing anything else.”
Valerie took over sponging Gideon’s forehead, and Nightingale quietly slipped out the door.
Valerie gripped Gideon’s hand. “Something awful happened today. If you knew, you might not forgive me. I don’t know what the right thing to do is. I need you here to help me, to lead with me. I was never meant to do this alone.”
Gideon’s eyes opened, but he didn’t see her. His gaze was searching until it paused on her face.
“Adelita. My love, you came back for me,” Gideon said, lifting his head a bit.
Then he fell back on his pillow, still. Panicked, Valerie searched for his pulse and rested her ear on his chest. She almost cried when she heard his heart beating strongly. But when she shook him, he didn’t move.
Valerie called softly for Nightingale in the hall, and he hurried into the room to check on Gideon.
“Is he any better?” she asked him.
“His fever has broken. I still don’t know if he will wake, but now he has a chance.”
Chapter 37
Valerie whispered her full name as she returned home, and her body relaxed, relieved to be in its natural form. As she got closer, she saw someone practicing basic blocks and punches in the shadowy twilight.
As she approached to see who it was, Thai’s hand touched her shoulder.
“Emin’s been out there all day practicing the moves I showed him. He’s determined to get it perfect. Reminds me of you.”
Valerie couldn’t think of a better compliment, and she almost leaned back so that her head rested on Thai’s chest. But she couldn’t let herself keep slipping into Thai’s arms. It was too selfish.
“I missed you today,” he whispered in her ear, and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. “Where were you? With Chisisi and Skye?”
Valerie tensed, knowing that telling Thai the truth would turn into a fight.
Thai surprised her by chuckling in her ear. “Don’t tell me. I can feel how rigid you are, and I’m guessing you were doing something more dangerous than you should have been. Tell me you weren’t confronting Reaper.”
If it was possible, Valerie went even stiffer, and Thai turned her to face him. All of his laughter was gone now.
“Why? If you don’t care for your own life, do you at least care what it would do to me, Henry, Emin, and Cyrus if you got yourself killed?”
“Thai, I’m fine. I took a risk, I’ll admit, by not bringing support, but I knew I’d attract less attention if I went by myself. I couldn’t live with myself if someone got hurt because of my decision when I was capable of executing this mission by myself.”
“You may not be committing suicide, like Henry, but there is a part of you that thinks you don’t deserve to live, to be happy. Every time I think you’ve changed, that you see how precious you are, you prove me wrong.”
“I wouldn’t—”
“How can I forgive you for putting the life of the person I love the most in the universe in unnecessary danger over and over again?”
“I’m sorry,” Valerie said, but Thai was already striding away from her.
He didn’t understand. Her life had less value every time she used her vivicus power. Some mornings after she saved someone, she struggled to tie her shoes. She wouldn’t be whole for long. Maybe it was better if she died in the war, rather than torturing everyone by slowly dissolving afterward.
Valerie was empty, and she sagged where she stood, tempted to curl up right at the base of the tree she was resting against.
Her gaze turned back to Emin, who was still practicing, even though only the stars provided any light for him now. His focus and intensity took her out of her own mind, and she walked toward him.
“I think you’re ready for your next lesson,” she said.
Emin ran up to her, and she could see how sweaty he was in the starlight. “I was waiting till we were back in Silva, at the Guild of the Knights of Light, to start, but then I decided that with you here to train me, I could start now. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s okay,” she replied, pushing his hair off his forehead. “But what’s your rush? Is it because you’re worried that you’ll have to fight the Fractus?”
The thought of Emin being afraid made her wish that she could wrap him up in her arms, but he surprised her by shaking his head.
“No, I’m not afraid. But seeing you leading the Fist makes me sure that I want to be a Knight. I’m going to be strong and help everyone, like you.”
His gaze was adoring, and Valerie couldn’t help smiling at his hero worship. If he only knew.
“I have something for you,” she said, tugging the Laurel Circle off of her thumb. “This ring is special. My mentor gave it to me to help me be a good Knight.”
Emin examined it, and his voice was filled with awe when he answered. “It’s really for me? Don’t you need it anymore?”
“This ring tells you when fear is holding you back, and I think that’s one lesson I’ve learned. I’m still afraid lots of times, but I’m able to push through it when I have to.”
Emin pulled a chain that he wore around his neck out from under his shirt and unfastened it so he could slip the ring on. It hung next to a delicately crafted silver leaf.
“From Mom,” he said when he saw her looking at it.
“It’s beautiful. I know you’re going to be an excellent Knight, Sir Emin.”
“Can Knights still get hugs?” he asked.
Valerie swept him up in her arms, hugging him and tickling him until he giggled. Then she put him back on his feet and held his hand as they made their way back to the house.
“You might want to be like me, Emin, but I’m trying to be as strong as you. So keep training and trying and fighting, and so will I.”
Valerie awoke the next morning to the sun streaming in. A leaf blew into her room through her cracked window, and settled on her pillow. She picked it up, and Grandmother North’s voice filled the room.
“We found a way to prepare the object you requested sooner than expected. Come to Arbor Aurum immediately.”
There was a little pause.
“And bring my grandson.”
Emin was awake now, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Are we going on an adventure?”
It had been a long time since Valerie had considered her life an adventure, and she smiled at Emin.
They chased each other through the forest and ascended the leaf to the cities in the trees. On their walk to Arbor Aurum, they played I Spy, and Valerie embraced being eight again.
But as soon as they entered the bustling city, they both became solemn.
“Grandmother North might change her mind about wanting to see me if I’m too loud,” Emin said, his tone very serious.
“Then we’ll tickle her until she screams,” Valerie said, making Emin giggle.
Valerie saw North’s stately gait as they made their way across the winding branches.
Her eyes were bright when she saw Emin, and she placed her hand on his head. He threw his arms around her waist, and after a charged moment, North’s face relaxed and she hugged him back.
Three boys around Emin’s age approached, bouncing a little
on the balls of their feet with excitement.
“You’re back! Where’ve you been?” a boy with long hair threaded with gold asked.
“Is it true that you’re training to be a Knight?” the second asked.
Valerie smiled. “Go ahead and play with your friends. I’ll find you when it’s time to go.”
Valerie waited until he scampered off before she spoke to North. “Not that I’m complaining, but how did you get the object to bind Earth’s rules so quickly?”
“Come with me,” North said, and began walking.
Valerie followed, and North led her up steps in the side of a tree. She remembered the path from her last visit to the Sky Garden. It was alive with colors that contrasted the blue, cloudless sky.
Three other People of the Woods were waiting, and Valerie’s steps slowed. “What’s going on?”
North turned to her. “We conceived of a new way to create an everlasting object that will contain the spell that binds magic on Earth.”
“Not we, you, North,” one of the People, a woman with slightly pointed ears, said.
North inclined her head in acknowledgment. “The object must come from you, vivicus. You have the ability to renew life, and if we can create it from the essence of your magic, it can always heal itself from any harm that might befall it.”
Valerie wondered how much it would hurt, but didn’t say so. “What do I have to do?”
Another of the People came forward and put a crown of flowers on her head.
“Rest,” he said.
Valerie breathed in the scent of the flowers around her head, and she became weak-kneed. She barely had time to consider that it might be a trap before she collapsed. The People of the Woods laid her on the table.
“This will hurt,” North said. There was no emotion on her face as she spoke. “But it must be done if we are to have a chance of driving back the Fractus. I couldn’t risk that you would fail us again, like you did when you let the Byway be destroyed.”
Valerie would have undergone any pain to achieve the same goal. But being forced into this made her strain against the paralysis the flowers had given her. She couldn’t so much as wiggle her fingers, and her helplessness made her frantic. The edges of her vision went black as memories of being locked up in foster care flashed through her mind.