"As many of you know, my brother Dath'Racul was also murdered, defending the life of one of the Fates. And we honor him."
I create a great bonfire with my magic, the fire burning brightly and providing heat to all around it. It is a fire that will never spread, but will always bring warmth and comfort to those who come here. Racul will be remembered.
"And finally, Ra'Terr gave his last moments of life to aid in saving this world from destruction. To save your lives. And we honor him."
In discussing with Brock how to honor her siblings, this was the hardest and required the most thought. I pull a strand of Darkness from my soul and cast a shadow in the shape of a dragon over the land near us. Anyone who walks through the darkness will feel the power of their own shadow self rise up in them, and will be encouraged to embrace that part of them to become whole.
"We come to the end of our ceremony," Brock says, "but there is one last thing that must be done. I am leaving the Otherworld."
There are gasps and protestations. People crying out asking who will lead them?
She waits until they die down before calling me over to her.
A lump forms in my throat as I walk onto the stage and take my place by her side, tugging at my purple cloak from my past life which Matilda altered to fit my current life.
"Eve Oliver is the Maiden Fate reborn."
This brings a few gasps, but I'm pretty sure that rumor has already spread everywhere.
"She contains within herself all the elements of each of the dragons."
That gets people talking.
"And she has saved our world, twice. First when she expanded it. Second when she stopped my mother from destroying it. Her life is bound to this world and to you. As my last act as High Dragon of the Council of Dragons, I name Eve Oliver my successor on this world and Guardian of the Otherworld."
She pulls from her robe a staff made of a deep black wood with a crystal tip. "Do you accept this responsibility and all it entails?" she asks me.
"I do," I say.
"Then it is done. Eve, Guardian of the Otherworld, High Priestess of the Council of Dragons, Maiden Fate Reborn. My people, you have a new leader, and I know you will be in the best of hands. The Age of Dragons is over, but a new age has arisen, and it is one for all the people of the Otherworld."
A great cheer fills the forest and I can't help the tears that flow down my cheeks. I look to the brothers, all five together, a family as we were always meant to be, and I feel their love and magic pouring into me.
Later that night, after much celebrating, drinking and eating, we return to the castle with Brock, who looks as tired as I feel. "Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" I ask, for her sake but also mine. This goodbye will be hard.
She nods. "My people are waiting for me. My kingdom, in my true world, does not have a leader. Given my mother's frame of mind, perhaps they have not had one for a very long time. Now that I know my people here are safe, I need to take my place as Queen there."
We walk into the library where Zara and Alina are playing in the crib together. Matilda is asleep in a corner chair so we do not wake her. Liam picks up Zara and holds her close, kissing her forehead, then passes her to the other brothers.
And then she's given to me, and I hold her tightly and whisper words only meant for her before I hand her to her aunt.
"I wish she could stay with us forever," I say, "but I know she needs her own kind."
More tears flow, and the Earth Dragon looks on sympathetically. "I will bring her back for visits," she says, as Alina begins to cry when she realizes her best friend will not be returning.
Liam picks up his daughter and rocks her to soothe her feelings.
"And what of the girl," Brock says. "Ana?"
"She has shown no signs of the monster since that night," I say.
Liam nods. "All of my examinations have indicated that in her death, the monster part of her died and the child yet lived."
"A child who is part unicorn, part dragon," Brock says.
"Yes. And maybe one day she will exhibit shifting abilities," Elijah says, "but we have seen no evidence of this."
"So you will keep her and raise her?" Brock asks.
I look to the brothers and nod. "Yes. She is family now."
Brock smiles. "Very well. If she ever does show signs of shifting into a dragon, don't hesitate to reach out. She may need guidance from us to know herself."
"We won't," I assure her.
Tension coils in me as our time nears to an end.
And out of the corner of my eye, I see a small form sneaking through the shadows behind the Earth Dragon, wielding the unicorn horn dagger.
I hold out a hand and cast a shield, just as Ana strikes against the dragon, and trap her in a barrier before she can do any harm.
There's chaos for a moment as Sebastian pushes Brock out of the way and everyone stares wide eyed, shocked at the little girl holding the weapon mid-air, ready to kill the last remaining adult dragon on this world.
I remain calm.
And approach the child. "Ana? Can you hear me?"
But she doesn't respond. Her eyes are black pools floating in silver and I know she’s not acting on her own accord.
She never was.
"Callia, show yourself!" I shout, and then I repeat the words Lilith taught me. The mother of all vampires did not discover how to defeat Amora in her time away, but she did bring back some very useful information. And it helped me put all the pieces together.
Callia appears, locked in a barrier much like the one holding Ana, looking angry and confused. "How did you summon me against my will?" she demands. She thrashes, but no amount of force allows her to escape.
"You can't leave or hide any longer. You have been behind the murders the whole time, haven't you?"
Her eyes shift, and she realizes that everyone can now see her. Her mouth is agape as her new reality settles in on her. "I… how did you know?"
"I never believed Ana was acting out these attacks on her own. She was having night terrors and talked of an imaginary friend. I suspected she was being controlled, but didn't put the pieces together until Lilith returned from the dragon world with some very interesting information about the war between the unicorns and the dragons, and a specific ability the unicorns had to control other sentient beings, making them particularly dangerous. She found a spell that I could use to bind you here."
Callia turns to Brock, rage simmering in her dark gaze. "You killed my brothers and sisters. You all did. You massacred us out of fear, and then your mother killed me to hide her secret. You all deserved your fates."
Brock frowns. "Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence. I could justify what we did by pointing out what your people did to an entire generation of our eggs. And maybe you could go back further and argue we deserved that. Does it matter? If we continue this path there will be no more of either of our kind left."
Callia spits. "There are no more unicorns left. I was the last one."
I point to Ana. "There is her. She is part of you and part of the dragons, yet you would use her as a weapon to murder? A child? Your child?"
Callia's face drops as she sees her daughter, truly sees her. Ana's eyes have returned to normal and she looks as she truly is, a little girl who is lost, alone, and scared. And tortured by the memories of what she has done under the control of someone else.
"Gods, what have I done to you my child? What have I done?"
Callia drops to her knees. "Most of them are dead and yet I feel no relief. No hope. No peace. I am stuck forever in this hell Amora sent me to when I would not let her kill our daughter."
Brock turns to Callia. "I am tired of the wars. Of the fighting. Of the killing. We will not be friends. And it will take me lifetimes to forgive what you have done to my family. Just as it will take you lifetimes to forgive me for what I've done to yours. But perhaps we can try? For our children's sake?"
Callia’s eyes flick to the side, shame fillin
g her face. "I do not know how to stop, but I agree, the bloodshed cannot continue. Vengeance has not given me what I'd hoped, but neither will forgiveness, I fear. I am too lost for both."
She turns to me. "What will you do to me now? Where will I go?"
"Where you deserve," I say softly.
The Punishment
“If you are seeking, seek us with joy
For we live in the kingdom of joy.
Do not give your heart to anything else
But to the love of those who are clear joy,
Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair.
For there are hopes: they are real, they exist –
Do not go in the direction of darkness –
I tell you: suns exist.”
~Rumi
The tension between Callia and Brock is thick, and with the dragons leaving this world and the unicorns extinct, Ana is now all that's left of the two races, and none of us know what that will mean for her as she grows into her own powers—if she has any left at all.
Only time will tell what the future holds for the child.
We stand by the ocean near the castle, the five Night brothers, myself, Ana, Brock and Zara, and Lilith who has just arrived.
Callia awaits her fate nervously.
"Are you sure this will work?" I ask Lilith, for the umpteenth time.
"Yes," she says with slight exasperation. "I obtained this spell from a solid source."
It is meant to open the door to the world of spirits, but I'm nervous as I begin the incantation. So much could go wrong. The last thing I want to do is create a tear in the fabric of reality and unleash the undead into the Otherworld.
We just narrowly avoided an end of world scenario. We don't need a ghost apocalypse now.
But we have to do something with Callia. She can't stay in this world as she is. She's a risk to others and she cannot heal while living in limbo.
The Night brothers stand near me and I channel their power with mine as I speak the ancient words. They are unfamiliar on my tongue, but Lilith and Brock both helped me learn the proper pronunciation.
As I speak, my hands begin to glow and a streak of light and darkness woven together spreads, creating a portal that peels open, and producing a window into the realm of the dead.
"It is time," I say to Callia.
I could force her into the portal, but I remain hopeful that won't be necessary. It will be better for her own soul's journey if she steps in on her own.
She looks around, fear etched in her face.
She has clung to hatred and revenge for so long, she knows nothing else.
Brock can barely look at her, but as Callia takes a step forward, something within the portal shifts as a green landscape of rolling hills comes into focus. And then I see them.
Hundreds of unicorns prancing and playing. One gallops over to the portal and shifts into a beautiful woman with deep mahogany hair and matching skin. She peers through, as if looking into a dream, and then she drops to her knees. "My Queen."
Callia startles, then steps forward, reaching out a hand. "Lumara? Is that really you?"
Tears stream down both their faces as the Queen of the Unicorns steps through the portal and joins her people after millennia apart. They take hands and walk towards the others. When they reach the glade, they shift into their unicorn forms and Callia is surrounded by her people.
Brock's face is hard, impassive, as she watches this, and I can only imagine what she's thinking or feeling. Callia, who killed her siblings, now gets to be with her kind. And Brock is alone.
I glance at Lilith, who seems to read my mind and nods.
I concentrate and the scene shifts to one of mountain tops and endless skies. And five dragons flying against the backdrop of a beautiful, warm sun. Brock gasps and moves closer. "My family," she says, softly.
"Would you like to speak with them?" I ask.
She reaches her hand out, nearly touching the portal, her eyes misting over. "Can I?"
I nod and move away from the gateway so she has some time alone with her siblings.
I take this moment to enjoy the crashing of the waves against the shore, and Cole joins me, his arm sliding around my waist.
"Are you coming to say goodbye again?" I ask without looking at him.
I've been in fear of this moment since the battle with Amora. He saved us, saved the world, by showing up. I couldn't have done that spell without him. Without all five of them. When I expanded the lands here, I was building on what already existed. I had enough power to do that. But this time, it was different. I had to stop the destruction of the Otherworld, which basically meant rebuilding it from within. I needed every element amplified to accomplish that. Cole was integral in that.
Since then he's stayed, though he is often missing for long periods. Each time, I expect he won't come back, but he does.
But I've been waiting for the final goodbye.
And here it is.
He moves to stand in front of me, his dark gaze capturing mine. "I've spoken to my brothers," he says softly, his lilting French accent like music. "And if it's all right with you, I'd like to stay."
My eyes widen. "For good?"
He nods. "Forever."
Tears blur my vision and I hug him fiercely. "Of course it's okay with me," I say. "We are all meant to be together."
We walk hand in hand back to the portal and Brock is saying her final goodbyes. Ava'Kara is there in human form, gazing longingly at her daughter. When she sees me, she smiles. "You have done well, my friend. This world is in the best of hands with you."
After saying her last goodbyes, Brock turns to face us with tears in her eyes. "We must go now. My world awaits."
We've already said our goodbyes, but we exchange one last hug and watch as they fly into the sky through the tear Brock opens. When it closes behind them, I sigh and turn to finish sealing the portal I created into the world of the dead.
But just as I'm about to, Lilith puts a hand on mine. "There's one more who wants to come through," she says, her gaze distant.
I wait, watching as the portal shifts once again and standing by a cottage is… Adam.
I cry out, and step closer, wanting desperately to go through and hug him once more. Cole takes my hand to keep me in this world as Adam moves closer to the doorway. "Evie," he says softly, his big blue eyes so achingly familiar. "I am so sorry I left you the way I did."
Tears stream down my face. "Oh, Adam. I wish you were here," I say. "I would give anything for you to be back with me."
"It's all okay, sis," he says. "I'm healing. My heart and soul are healing. And someday I will come back to you. Someday we will be together again. Just know, I'm safe. And I'll love you forever. It's always going to be you and me against the world."
"See you soon, then," I say. "I'll be looking for you."
He smiles. "We will always find each other. We always have."
And then he is gone.
Epilogue
“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First, to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without fear.”
~Rumi
1 year later
Lily and Kaya gaze deeply into each other's eyes as they take their vows to one another. We are in the center of the majestic grove surrounded by trees. They are both dressed in full dryad style, with wildflowers and vines flowing from their beautiful gowns.
Alina, barely walking, totters nearby, with Moon to keep her steady, and she randomly tosses rose petals at people.
All our friends are here to celebrate the mating of these remarkable dryads.
"I now give to you the beautiful mating of Lily and Kaya, forever bound by love, by respect, by compassion, and by the elements that shape our world."
They kiss and our friends cheer, tossing flowers at the happy couple.
The ceremony was short and sweet, but the afterparty will last all night, as is tradition.
There ar
e tables set up with drink and food, mats for resting when people need to, and music for dancing. It is festive and lighthearted, and everyone we care about is here.
This last year has brought so much change to the Otherworld. A new form of government, rebuilding areas that were destroyed by Amora, and a shift in the way everything is managed.
It hasn't been easy. Many have been resistant to change. But slowly we are showing people that the best way to move forward is actually going forwards, not backwards. We can no longer live in the past if we want a world where everyone is safe and happy.
Ana comes over to me carrying two drinks and hands me one. "It was beautiful," she says shyly.
She is still coming out of her shell, and her healing will take time. But she is finally excited to start school with other kids her age.
I watch as the Gargoyle's daughter plays with Alina. The Ifrits join them, their new baby in hand. He's six months old now and already bursting into flames at random times. Alina loves him and is one of the few kids who can actually hold him without injury. Fortunately, the Gargoyle's child is immune to fire as well, being stone and all.
Lily and Kaya dance in blissful synchronicity, swaying to the music, lost in their love.
Lilith comes to me, a smile on her lips. "Will there be a wedding in your future?" she asks.
I laugh. "I'm not entirely sure what the logistics would be to marry five men at once," I say. "But I think our bonds are pretty well established without all this."
This year has brought a lot of personal healing to our family. The Nights and Matilda have sorted through their complicated history. The brothers have had ups and downs with Cole, but all in all we've made it work.
Lilith moves on, to chat with others, and Cole joins me. "Did I hear something about a wedding?" he asks.
I slide an arm through his. "I don't think we need one to make what we have count, do you?"
He looks down at a me. "No, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about. I want to bind myself to you, as part of the Order of Druids," he says softly.
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