by Meg Xuemei X
And if I ran now, I’d never have another chance to come back. I’d never find the means to defeat the angels, and they would forever hunt me.
I had no choice but to follow its ominous summoning, my heartbeat thundering like a horse’s rapid hooves in my ears.
“Your…Highness,” Lexa managed in her trembling voice. “Something’s wrong…you…should leave…and let me finish…this.”
I shook my head and kept going as the terrifying, abyssal power crackled in the air. It was nothing like the earth magic.
Lexa’s breath grew rapid. She was a fearless warrior, but even she couldn’t resist the rising dread inside us and around us.
I didn’t know how we reached the end of the vault as I stared at the long stone hallway stretching before me. Feeling as if I was trapped in a nightmare, I treaded toward the only room with an open metal door.
As I neared it, I realized there was no door but an entrance that appeared like a door. A symbol of two crossed flaming swords was etched on top of the metal doorframe. On the left side was angelic inscription: All who enter shall perish. On the right was: Except the chosen son and daughter.
Son and daughter were both in singular form.
I wasn’t that daughter, but I would go in. I had to finish this.
Heat waves poured out of the room and hit my face as if the sun burned in front of me.
“Princess, let me go in first,” Lexa said anxiously.
“You aren’t going in,” I said. “I am.”
“I’m your bodyguard!”
“Then you should know how to take an order.”
I took a deep breath, dark fear clinging to my bones.
I entered.
Lexa passed by me in a flash and was ahead of me. I turned to her. “Lexa, I said—”
“No way will I let you do this alone, Your Highness,” she said. “You can kill me later.”
I pushed deeper into the steam, yet a chill filled my chest, making it nearly impossible for me to breathe.
I stopped. Then the mist surrounding me suddenly lifted.
Suspended in front of me was the splendid liquid fire, the same one that had erased a whole superior species in a nanosecond.
The blue fire flowed in a circle like a snake of fire biting its own tail before it climbed up and turned into three-dimensional helixes.
The fire never dies. The fire never goes off. The fire is more beautiful yet terrifying than anything in the universe. Just as the Dragonian oracle had described.
I looked upon the Forbidden Glory.
Two flaming swords spun around the sentient fire, guarding it.
They could end me at any time.
In the hologram, Prince Seth had held a flaming sword and stabbed it into the ground. Was that how he’d unleashed its power?
How could anyone tame such a glory?
How could I ever deactivate or destroy it? I was once again completely, hopelessly out of my depth.
I tried to even my breathing to slow my heart, or else it might explode the next second.
The angel’s flame leapt.
I staggered back.
One of its guarding swords left its position, turning its sharp end to my heart.
An attack mode.
My mouth was as dry as the desert sand.
I could not outrun the Glory. I knew this. It would pierce my heart from behind the moment I turned my back toward it.
So I anchored myself as the flaming sword darted closer.
Following it, the blue fire flowed toward me.
Perish. A word hung in my mind.
I’d been a fool to come to seek it out, but my doom had been set in place when the angels had come to my world and broken down Mysth’s magical walls.
I didn’t shut my eyes. Instead, I stared into the blue fire like peeking into the brilliant face of death.
“No!” Lexa cried. She’d seen how it had destroyed the super beings. She lunged in front of me to shield me from the terrifying fate.
If she had succeeded, we would both be dead. We would both be ashes.
I needed her alive to return and tell my people and the Dragonian rebels about what they would face.
I’d moved before Lexa could step up in front of me and grabbed her wrist. Using her lunging force and weight, I flung her back through the air.
The flaming sword pierced through the back of my hand into Lexa’s wrist where I held it. Yet I didn’t feel pain, perhaps because of the adrenaline rush.
As Lexa flew backwards through the open entrance, I threw a hand in front of me as if I could ward off the flaming blade.
The blue fire engulfed me in an instant, its blazing claws impaling and torching my insides.
The air in my lungs boiled like spewing lava.
I opened my mouth, my scream stuck in my throat. Unbearable heat sprang through my every passage, leaving pain, wounds, and terror in its wake.
The invasion was more horrific than anything I could have imagined.
Forbidden Glory wouldn’t grant me a quick death.
It was searching for my very essence—my soul—and in the meanwhile churned out my darkest desires and deepest fears.
No one and nothing could save me.
There wasn’t even a wrinkle of Earth Mother’s great magic in me to shield me from the wrath of the Forbidden Glory.
“Princess!” Lexa screamed and charged back into the room toward the fire that had swallowed me whole.
But the entrance had sealed. Lexa slammed into the invisible fence again and again, stabbing her dagger at the barrier, clawing at it, and crying my name in frenzied rage and fear.
I willed the flaming sword to pierce my heart and end my agony, but it only wheeled around me to imprison me, its heat singeing my hair and skin.
The blue fire possessed me totally. It burned me and burned me.
Yet I still stood.
No, that was impossible. No one could withstand the power of the Forbidden Glory.
I must have died.
If death had kissed me, what else could the angel’s flame do to me?
It shouldn’t be able to touch me or hurt me again.
As if answering the defiance in my after-death consciousness, the flaming sword snapped in menace and its blade cut my face.
I recalled how it had peeled away the flesh off the advanced, armored beings. I had no doubt it would wipe out my people while I watched in the afterlife.
Rage took me. I roared.
Death must have its own power.
A white fire erupted in me, pushing against the blue flame. In death, I saw my true essence. I was also made of fire. I could swim in the center of the scorching sun, and no fire could harm me again—I was part of the elemental fire.
The heat in my lungs and veins retreated.
The angel’s flame phased out of my body, though still pivoted around me.
Then the vault room that hosted the Forbidden Glory vanished, as did Lexa. Her screaming and crashing against the barrier were left behind in the old world.
It was now just me, the white light in me, and the blue fire encircling me amid stars.
They said that immortals went to a different realm than mortals after death. Had I come to the dimension of the immortal dead? Where were other dead immortals? Would I meet my empress mother?
Countless stars filled the backdrop of space like a river of lanterns.
The unbelievably lovely sight made me miss the twilight realm of Mysth. Sadly, I could no longer take care of my people, who would all perish. The twinkling stars whirling around me weren’t a wondrous sight anymore.
Regret and hollowness hovered in my heart.
Give it to me, the blue fire demanded as it encircled me like a ring of ribbon. And I’ll let you live again.
You’re lying, angel’s tool.
It wanted my very essence. It wanted to drain the magic energy in me.
You can kill my flesh, I sneered, but you won’t have my soul.
The blue fire shot toward my eyes. Could it blind the dead?
Bring it on, baby!
It was about to engulf me, violate me, and burn me all over again.
White light surged out of me and smashed into the angel’s flame.
I threw all I had into the light. Cold and hot sweat soaked me as I chanted in an ancient fey language of which I had no understanding.
A magical shield sprouted and cocooned me like layers of impenetrable vines. Then brilliant brightness filled me like an intense sunbeam.
The white light and the blue flame crashed and entwined. Both screamed in fury and pain. I threw up my hands to cover my ears, even in my death state. Then the two entities calmed and conversed in a more civilized manner. Their languages, violent yet beautiful beyond anything, were like nothing I’d ever heard. They were like the oldest melody from the origin of the universe.
Just as I thought I’d like to stay in this universe with them for eternity and listen to their mysterious lovers’ talk, the river of stars whisked away from me and became a distant memory.
I blinked. I was back on Earth, standing before the Forbidden Glory.
The blue liquid fire twirled quietly in a spiral, guarded by the two spinning swords of flame.
I touched my face. My skin was intact.
Had it all been a hallucination? The awful burning had felt so real.
Lexa was still screaming my name and ramming her weight against the unseen barrier. Then she stopped, her mouth agape and her eyes wide, wild, and bloodshot.
Forbidden Glory hadn’t killed me, but its flame had searched and seared my every cell. It was never interested in me; it wanted only the great earth magic it had thought was hidden in my very essence.
I didn’t know how I knew this, but I knew.
And something mythical, beyond my comprehension had transpired when the white light and blue flame intertwined, fought, and at last talked.
As I came back alive, I had no memory or understanding of the secret tongue they’d spoken. Only terror and angst remained within me.
I backed away slowly from the Forbidden Glory and its guardian swords.
As soon as I stepped backwards out of the room and joined Lexa, I said, “Run!”
She didn’t need to be told twice.
We ran.
And the alarm rang in the vault room.
Chapter 9
PRINCE SETH
I reached the vault building.
The guardian angels milled around the hall, frantically searching for the trespassers.
“Your Highness,” the archangel rushed to me, “we didn’t see any invader. Could it be a false alarm since no one can really break into the vault? We aren’t allowed to enter, but we’ll broaden our search outside and round up suspects, if there are any.”
I waved him away as I headed straight to the vault room. The door opened at my heat signature. The archangel behind me peeked inside curiously.
I turned to him with a stern look. “Anything else?”
He stepped back. “No, Your Highness.”
“I’ll take care of it from here,” I hissed.
The door shut in his face.
I strode toward the innermost room where the Forbidden Glory dwelled.
The princess’s scent wafted toward me, and her perfume was still flesh.
I quickened my pace, my heart pounding and sinking. What if she’d become a pile of ashes? That foolish girl!
I stopped short at the door.
The inscriptions on the left side of the doorframe remained the same: All who enter shall perish, but on the right, it was no longer Except the Lord of All Angels and the chosen son, as I’d last seen, but Except the chosen son and daughter.
I was the chosen son.
My lord father had no daughters.
Then a thought clicked. The Princess of Mysth was called the Earth Mother’s favorite daughter by her people.
It had marked her as she’d entered the room of fire of death.
I shut my eyes. I’d gone to such lengths to secure her safety for one night with me. And then she’d had to bring her own demise upon herself when I’d been away for only a day.
As painful as it was, I had to face reality.
I opened my eyes and entered the room.
The blue fire leapt high, recognizing my presence. The flaming swords slowed their spinning. They had no need to guard the Glory from me.
The princess had lingered here. She’d stood in front of the Forbidden Glory and gazed into the fire. But there wasn’t a hint of ash on the floor. There wasn’t much burning smell either.
The princess had survived and fled.
Forbidden Glory had let her live.
That had been a first. How?
Relief, rage, and curiosity all rose in me.
Did it prove that the great earth magic was in her and shielded her?
But if the elemental magic had manifested in her, why hadn’t Forbidden Glory harvested it?
Maybe the Glory had wanted to taste her first, and then Rose had managed to crawl away. How badly had she been hurt?
Worry nagged me. I had no means of knowing if she lived or not. I had to find her before anyone else reached her. I didn’t have time to seek another hidden door inside the vault or drag the Dragonian head engineer here to interrogate him. The best place to look for Rose was to go down the tunnel through my library.
I stormed out of the vault.
The archangel hurried toward me. “Your Highness?”
“Nothing is missing,” I said. “No one breached the vault.”
“His Majesty and…his general will come to investigate as well,” he said.
“Tell the king that it was a glitch and you hold no blame,” I said. “Also tell him, if he enters the inner vault room, the flame will cook him to a meat pie.” And I left.
Every angel knew that the Forbidden Glory would kill whoever faced it, unless I said the ancient words of power to preserve those I chose.
But Princess Rose had encountered it and seemingly escaped.
I flew low in the sky, worry still twisting my insides. My unexpected concern for her was no more than protecting my own interests. She was the promised lamb to me, so I needed to keep her alive for my pleasure.
I dove into my library through the high ceiling.
The princess’s scent drifted toward my nostrils as I approached the archway and the hidden door I’d hacked open. She was near, and she was going to come through that door.
I waited on the other side like a big bad wolf ambushing a naughty little pig.
Chapter 10
PRINCESS ROSE
Lexa removed the device from the slot in the tunnel wall, and the manhole sealed above us. I pressed a hand against the wall to ease my labored breathing. Lexa offered to carry me since she’d seen how drained I was.
“I’m fine,” I said, gathering my strength.
Lexa held the lit compass, her other hand pulling me to run with her in the long tunnel.
For a moment we didn’t speak, and then she broke the silence. “I thought you were done. I thought we were all done. I thought Mysth would soon be leveled by the angels because you….” She choked.
“I’m here,” I said. “Even if I’m gone, Mysth will keep going.”
“The most horrible fire engulfed you, but it couldn’t consume you. It couldn’t hurt you!” Her wailing voice now filled with awe and pride. “Your Highness, you are truly the one the prophecy said would come.”
“Just because the Forbidden Glory didn’t burn me to death, it doesn’t mean I have Earth Mother’s magic.”
“The magic shielded you,” she insisted. “It’s in you and no one else, Morning Star of the Mysth! Your humble servant had the honor to witness it.”
“Lexa,” I said in a tired voice, “if I had the magic in me, I’d have turned the angels to ashes. Coming to Atlantis was my first worst crisis. You had no idea how afraid I was.”
“Maybe it was a crisis to y
ou, but not to Earth Mother. I hate to say it, but maybe you’ll have to go through the true trial of fire for the magic to rise.”
“Trial of fire?” I snorted. “Didn’t I just go through that a few minutes ago? And where was a wink of Earth Mother’s magic? I didn’t feel it in me.”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Lexa whispered. “No one else could have lived through that kind of angel fire, but you did.”
“You have no idea,” I said.
Forbidden Glory hadn’t incinerated me, but I’d experienced the full effect of being set ablaze. I’d tasted the excruciating burning pain, and the horror was still raw in my mind. So at least I’d allow myself to feel a little hysterical.
“You’re worthy to carry the Goddess’s magic,” Lexa said softly. “You’re courageous, and you put your people above you. You’re the princess, yet you stepped in front of your insignificant guard to shield her.”
“You are not insignificant,” I said. “And I knew the fire wouldn’t hurt me.”
“You had no way to know.” Lexa shook her head. “You didn’t even believe the magic was in you. But Highness, I plead with you not to put anyone above you again under any circumstances. As long as you live, Mysth stands a chance. None of us matter more than a hair on your head. If Hector finds out about this after we get back to your chamber, he’ll skin me alive, as will Souline.”
“We won’t tell them then,” I said. “How’s your wrist?”
Before Lexa could hide her hand with her long sleeve, I’d seen the gaping black hole in her wrist where the flaming sword had pieced through my palm and into her flesh. However, there wasn’t any burn mark or wound on my hand.
“It’s nothing, Your Highness. I’ve had worse.”
“I hope it didn’t damage the nerve,” I said. “I’ll have Souline take a look at it the first thing when we get back.”
“You tossed me in the air effortlessly. I hadn’t expected that you’re a warrior princess, and you’ll be the first warrior empress in Mysth’s history.”
None of the princesses or empresses of Mysth before me had had to fight for her life. We were born into different eras and, unfortunately for me, the angels had come to mine.