by White, Gwynn
The crazy thing was, I knew he actually believed it. He thought he was doing the right thing and keeping people safe.
“You don’t seem to realize that the means don’t justify the ends. And, on top of that, those ends aren’t just for everyone,” I spat.
“That’s just another way of saying life isn’t fair. No, it’s not. Grow up, Princess. You’re naive to think that it is. Life isn’t a level playing field. People don’t get what they deserve, good or bad. And sometimes you have to do things no one else is willing to do to make this a better place for us all. The fairies have been freed after five hundred years of enslavement. The witches’ treachery has come to light. Whether you want to believe it or not, the galaxy is a safer place now.” A bell chimed from the hallway speakers, and he waved at the two soldiers he’d assigned to watch me. “Escort the Princess back to her viewing box.” Then he turned and returned to the Assembly Chamber.
The soldiers led me back to my glass prison. Down below, the nine elves, the judges of the Galactic Assembly, were taking their seats.
I wondered what they would do. They were going to find Jason guilty; there was no doubt of that. But how would they punish him? Chances were good it would be something like hard labor. Or combat service at some dangerous post. Those were the Galactic Assembly’s go-to punishments. But Jason was a prince, so they would probably lessen the sentence.
“The Assembly has reached a ruling,” Doran spoke, and the conversations in the Assembly Chamber died out. “Jason Chanz’s crime were not only against the witches of the Avan Empire. His crimes were against the Galactic Assembly itself. This is particularly true of his abuse of the portal system, which endangers every law-abiding citizen in the galaxy. So in line with the seriousness of his crimes, we have voted for execution.”
22
Portals
I was horrified by the Galactic Assembly’s decision. It wasn’t right. It couldn’t be.
As the audience filed out of the Assembly Chamber, I stood there, frozen. I didn’t move until Aaron stepped into my glass box and set his hand on my back. That jolted me out of it. I pushed him away. The other two soldiers ran at me, but I blasted them back, powered by adrenaline and the lingering Phantom magic in my blood. I had to get to Jason. I had to save him.
“Hold her!” Aaron shouted.
More Diamond Edges in power armor streamed into the glass box, surrounding me. A wave of power exploded from me. The armored vampires hit the walls, the glass cracking from the impact. A few more blows, and it would shatter.
They came at me again, more cautious this time. I lifted my hands, readying my magic to blast them through the walls.
That magic never came. It was gone. My own magic filled the power vacuum, flooding my system. My mind cracking, my body overloading, I stumbled forward and hit the floor.
I felt apart from my body, detached and distant. There was a constant shake, soft and steady, the sounds of several bodies rushing down a hall, their feet clicking against the smooth floor, the whistle of deep breathing and the whisper of voices.
The foresights were dragging me under. Whenever I managed to float into actual consciousness, a wall of pain hit me so hard that I was thrown back into the dreamlike trance. The physical pain—a pounding beat of drums so heavy I felt it would break through my forehead, the sharp canyon of pain that shot tremors down my legs, the dance of needle pricks across my arms—that was nothing compared to the lightning show of thoughts which whipped through my head as the last of Vib’s serum sweat and bled out of my body, opening the floodgates to my own turbulent magic. The magic of madness.
A tsunami of images flowed into me. It was a horrid collage of blood and death, and the people of Pegasus were at the center of it all.
I saw vampire soldiers enter the Chrysalis palace in the middle of the night, bashing through doors and windows with their armored hands. One of them drew a gun and shot Jason’s mother. She fell dead to the ground. Jason’s father soon followed her to the grave. The vampires walked over their bodies.
Suddenly, the cord was cut, and the flood of images stopped.
I jerked awake. When my vision cleared, I wasn’t on Pegasus anymore. I was in my bed at home. Father sat at my bedside.
“What happened?” I asked, my head still pounding.
“You were caught in a trance for three days,” he told me. “We weren’t sure you would ever wake up.”
“Where’s Jason?”
He didn’t answer.
“Is he dead?” I jumped up and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. “Tell me, Father.”
“He’s alive.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Shortly after Jason was brought to the police station on Lear, he broke out of prison. He fled to Pegasus. His family is shielding him.”
It was all happening just like in my foresight.
“And the Galactic Assembly?” I asked.
“They are still trying to decide what to do.”
I told him about my glimpses of the future. When I was done, he rose and went to stand by the window. He stared outside, his eyes troubled, reflective.
“What are you going to do?” I asked him.
“Terra, I know Jason is your friend, but you must realize that we cannot stand against the Galactic Assembly. We wouldn’t survive.”
“They cannot kill Jason. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He trespassed, using stolen keys.”
“Those weren’t stolen,” I told him. “Major Pall gave them to us. He was using us—using us to get back at the vampires’ enemies, at the witches. The vampires played us, Father. They played everyone. Don’t you see that?”
“I know,” he sighed. “But I’m not sure there’s anything we can do about it.”
The door opened, and Chimera stepped into the room. “The Galactic Assembly has come to a decision. They have declared Pegasus a rogue world. They are sending in the galactic police.”
I jumped out of bed, kicking off my blankets.
“You need to rest, Terra,” Father said. “You’re still weak from your episode.”
Weak from my fit of madness, he meant.
“I have to see Jason,” I insisted.
“That’s not possible,” he told me.
I pulled on my boots and rushed out, pushing past him and Chimera. I ran to the Gateway of Portals in the enchanted gardens that surrounded the palace. The Gateway was a round, gold-and-red brick building with a domed top. Blossom-heavy branches draped down, hugging the structure so tightly that it nearly blended into the background. Thick rose vines climbed up either side and over the rounded top of the wooden arch that led to the Gateway’s sole entrance. Blood-red rose petals blended with gently falling cherry blossoms, and the resulting mixture of red, pink, and white confetti poured down from the archway in a continuous stream of floral snow.
I went through the doorway. I walked down a dark hallway, then passed into the central chamber, a cavernous circular room lit by a massive chandelier that hung down from the ceiling in a web of sparkling strands. Firelight spilled out from the crystal ornament, pushing the darkness to the outer edges. Past the light, hidden in shadow, a series of archways lined the room’s outer edge, each one a portal to another world. There was no greater concentration of portals in all the galaxy—not even in the palace of Everlast. The Gateway was truly one of our galaxy’s greatest wonders. And the mages of Elitia had it.
I stepped through one of the portals, activating my portal key. The sweetness of Laelia dissolved, giving way to the thick, nutty musk of Pegasus. I ran, passing between ancient trees with rippled bark and silver-green leaves. The soft mulch of forest debris slopped beneath my boots. Above, the sun pierced the forest canopy in slivers of fractured light, but even the shadows in-between simmered with the famous Pegasus heat.
The heat beyond the forest was even worse. As I neared the grounds of Chrysalis, the heavy air stuck to my skin like a hot, wet blanket. A band of mages in lea
ther armor jumped out of the trees, blocking my path.
“Why are you here?” the leader demanded. Eggplant-black hair brushed the tops of his shoulders and crested his brows. It contrasted beautifully with his bronze skin.
His name was Braeden Falls, Jason’s cousin and captain of the Chrysalis guards. And he had an arrow aimed at my head.
“I’m here to see Jason,” I told him.
Suspicion gleamed in his golden tiger eyes. “How do we know this isn’t a trap to recapture him?”
“Jason is my best friend. I’d never do that to him. You know me, Braeden. I’ve been coming here for eighteen years. You know I’d never betray him.” I stepped forward, my hands raised in the air.
He pulled back on his bow. “Things have changed.”
“Let her pass.”
I turned at the sound of Lana’s melodic voice. She was walking down the path behind Braeden, the path that led to the palace. Jason’s sister was dressed very differently than the last time I’d seen her, on the evening of my and Jason’s betrothal. The Princess of Pegasus wore a brown leather dress with a wide belt. Dark ribbons fastened her bodice and crisscrossed down her long leather sleeves. Under the skirt of her dress, she wore tall leather boots. She held a bow in her gloved hand; a bundle of arrows was strapped to her back.
“You shouldn’t have come, Terra,” she told me, her emerald-green eyes meeting mine. “It’s not safe here.”
“I had to come.”
She gave me a small smile, waving me forward. “Come with me. I’ll bring you to Jason.”
“How is Jason?” I asked her as we hurried toward the palace. “What happened?”
“Jason came here to say goodbye to us before he left our world forever, but we refused to let him go,” she said. “We stood against the Galactic Assembly’s decision, against the Galactic Assembly itself.”
We entered the palace. Jason and his parents stood in the open, empty expanse of the dining hall.
I rushed up to Jason. “The Galactic Assembly has sent the vampires, their enforcers. And they’re going to kill you.”
Jason met my eyes. “You have foreseen this?”
“Yes. You have to get everyone out of here. Go into hiding.”
Danielle looked at Edward. “She’s right. The vampires’ numbers are too great. Even without the use of their tech, we would not survive their attack.”
“There are hidden worlds.” I pulled a portal key out of my pocket. “An untouched planet. My father discovered it and kept it secret, saving it for an emergency. This is that emergency.”
“If this world is so secret, how do you know about it?” Edward asked me.
“Because I’m nosy and can’t resist the urge to go digging in my father’s safe.” I put one of the keys in Edward’s hands, closing his fingers around it. “Go. Please. Be safe. The portal can be accessed from the Red Woods.”
He bowed his head. “Thank you, Terra. You are a true friend of Pegasus.”
Then he, Danielle, and Lana rushed out of the hall, leaving me alone with Jason.
“Will they be able to get everyone out of here in time?” I asked him.
“We knew this would happen. My father already sent away most of our people.”
“To another world?”
“To several worlds. He isn’t the only one who’s been saving up secret worlds. We’re splitting up to be safe, making it harder for the Galactic Assembly to find us.”
A heavy weight pressed down on my chest. I thought I would drown from the guilt. “I’m sorry, Jason. I should never have brought Aaron along.”
“It’s not your fault.” He closed his eyes. I could feel him using his other senses. “My father is gathering the last of the palace guards now.”
“You want to stay here and fight, don’t you?”
“I would have gone into exile to save my people, but now that they are hunted as I am, I refuse to let them suffer. I will destroy the Galactic Assembly before I see Pegasus fall.”
“You are no match for all those soldiers,” I told him.
“I am not afraid of vampires.”
“You know you have to go and protect your people. If they’re going to survive, they will need your strength and magic.”
“I know,” he said, his forehead crinkling up in utter frustration.
“You must go now.” I handed him a portal key like the one I’d given his father. “Lead them to safety, to planets not controlled by the Galactic Assembly. Pegasus will only truly fall if you are all dead. As long as the people of Pegasus survive, your world lives on in their hearts.”
He took my hand. “Come with me.”
“Jason, I…I don’t know. I don’t want to give up my family. But I can’t give you up either.”
“We will start a new family.” He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing it softly. “We’ll find your brother.”
Something shattered in the palace. Windows? Gunfire thundered.
“The vampires are here. You have to go now.” I pushed him toward the door. “They’re not here for me. I’ll hold them off until everyone gets away.”
He held onto my hand. “Come to me, Terra. Promise me you will.”
Tears rolled down my face. “I promise.”
He gave me a quick kiss, then he ran into the hallway, motioning for the guards standing there to follow him. I felt the smooth ripple of a portal—and then nothing. The people of Pegasus had escaped. I was alone in the castle—alone with the vampire soldiers. I went to meet them head-on.
I didn’t make it far. Two mages—Ruby and Topaz—stepped into the dining hall. And they looked ready to fight.
“How did you escape?” I asked them.
Ruby’s bright red lips spread into a dazzling smile. “Who said we were ever trapped?”
My heart thumped. “You knew this would happen,” I realized. “All of it.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Well, how do you see the future?” she asked me.
“I’m a Prophet.”
“So are we.”
“We? All of you? All of Vib’s mages?
“Yes, together—joined in Synergy, sharing powers, working together—we can wield amazing magic. We don’t need accessories to augment our magic.” She lifted her hands to show she wasn’t wearing any magic-enhancing accessories. “We only need one another. Distance cannot tear us apart, for we are bound together in an unbreakable bond. My brothers and sisters and I are one, now and forever.”
Wow. Vib wasn’t kidding around. He really was building a mage army.
“We can even tame the power of Prophecy,” she told me. “We control it, not the other way around.”
“How?”
“Together we are stronger than one mind. We tether one another.”
“This is Vib’s work?”
She smiled. “This is only the beginning of Vib’s work.”
“Come with us,” Topaz said, holding out his hand to me.
“Where?”
A happy smile spread across his lips. “To see Vib.”
“Vib is in a galactic prison.”
“Not for long,” said Ruby. “Now, hurry. The vampires will be here soon.”
“You’re hurting,” Topaz said. “Vib can help you. As he’d helped all of us.”
“Using fairy venom?”
“Yes.” Ruby smiled. “It is the key, the path to salvation.”
“Not for the fairies,” I retorted. “They don’t deserve this.”
“It is selfish for them to hoard the venom only for themselves,” Ruby declared.
She was as mad as Vib.
“The fairies are free now. There will be no more experiments. No more serums,” I told her, triumph ringing in my voice.
She shot me a pitying look. “So the witches lost their pets. That means nothing. It is all going exactly to plan.”
“To plan? What plan?” I demanded.
“Vib’s plan, of course.”
So Vib had known
this would happen, that the people of Pegasus would be hunted. And he hadn’t done anything to prevent it. Quite the contrary, he’d pushed the stream of events along. The events that would lead to this horrible conclusion.
“Why?” I asked Ruby.
“Why what?”
“Why did Vib want this to happen?”
She smiled at me. “For you.”
“Me?”
“Vib wants you. And he knew you would never come with us, would never make a new life with us until your old life was shattered.”
Dread dropped like a rock in my stomach. I’d thought it was Aaron, that he had orchestrated everything. But, no, that vampire was just a player, like the rest of us, a puppet in Vib’s grand scheme. Vib had been manipulating us this whole time.
“I’m not coming with you,” I told his children.
“Don’t be stupid,” replied Ruby. “He offers you salvation, the key to controlling your gift. Without him, your powers will eventually drive you mad. You know that. He can save you from that fate.”
“No. He is not the solution. He is the problem,” I ground out.
The doors on the other end of the hall swung open, and vampire soldiers stormed inside.
Ruby frowned at me. “You are a fool, Terra Cross. You could have saved yourself so much suffering.”
Then she and Topaz touched the bloody keys on their wrists—they must have hidden them inside their bodies—and jumped through the glowing silver portal. It snapped shut behind them.
There was no portal here in the Chrysalis dining hall. I’d have known about it. They’d made their own portal. Crazy as they were, Ruby and Topaz were right about one thing: Vib was powerful. But he still wasn’t the answer.
The vampires moved toward me, huge soldiers in black battle armor. One of them broke away from the line. His helmet shield slid back to reveal Aaron’s face.
“I had a feeling I’d find you here,” he said. “You can’t stay away from trouble, Terra. You’re drawn to it.”
“Maybe trouble is just drawn to me.”
Frustration cracked his hard facade. “Why couldn’t you just stay out of it? Now you’ve just made things worse for yourself.”