“Not bad, human,” Blair said.
“Wow, does that mean Uncle Ansel’s going to get his powers back?” Moira looked back, her eyes wide with expectation.
Ansel remained silent throughout Dawn’s theorizing and for a long while after she finished.
“Say something, Ansel! Have you noticed a change? Do you feel any different?” Blair prodded.
“I suppose the reversal wouldn’t be immediate,” Dawn added quickly. A knot tightened in her stomach; Ansel was taking much too long to respond, and when he answered, his tone was devoid of even an ounce of enthusiasm.
“Thank you for your efforts, Dawn, but the spell has already been completed and cannot be reversed. While I traded my powers for Amber’s soul—”
“You what?!” Blair interrupted.
Ansel ignored the outburst. “Vance traded his soul for power. I’m not the only one to have experienced the effects.”
“But what if it took some time to nullify the spell?”
“I’m sorry, Dawn… I felt Amber’s soul when it left her body. It passed behind me… warm… familiar…”
“What you felt wasn’t her soul. It was me, coming to join you!”
“What has been done is done,” Ansel stated flatly, signifying the end of the discussion.
She wanted to say more, but the group had come to a stop. Moira pointed at a circular scattering of light high above where they now stood. It took Dawn a while to realize the ring came from the daylight hole which had been blocked by…
“Hay! From the stable,” Moira explained.
The stable housed the opening to Crimson Cavern.
“Does Vance know of this entrance?” Dawn asked Ansel, stunned.
“Not yet.”
“Daddy never comes to this stable,” said Moira.
Ansel kneeled on one of his knees before the child and gently brushed her golden curls away from her face. “Darling, I need your help. Take Dawn to Nymion Clearing… in the way you know best. Can you do that for me?”
Large dimples adorned her cheeks. “You can count on me, Uncle Ansel!”
Dawn could tell she thrilled at being useful to her beloved uncle.
“Watch this!”
Moira bounced into the air and twirled into a massive, magnificent bird the same color as Ansel’s handkerchief. The bird flapped her wings and spiraled upward before it dived back down to hover above Ansel’s proud, beaming face.
Next, Ansel turned to Dawn with eyes that seemed to safeguard a sea of secrets. She did not flinch when he took her hand into his own, but her heart ached when she felt his rough scars. At the same time, a warm tingle traveled from his palms to hers and again, the image of the deserted beach at sunset flashed before her eyes. What is happening?
He leaned into her ear so that only she could hear. “Remember… the soul will go to wherever it calls home.”
Those were the Etherian’s words.
Then, he backed away with a sigh and a mysterious twinkle in his eye. “Trust in the flight!” he said as the brilliant indigo bunting swooped down and pulled her into the air by the shoulders.
“Ansel! Aren’t you coming with us?” She reached down for him.
He waved and smiled but did not respond.
Why isn’t he coming?
“You have to leave, Ansel—”
But she and Moira had already burst through the hay-covered opening into the frigid night air, startling two horses in the adjacent stalls. The bunting let go of Dawn, rolled in the air gracefully and morphed back into human form.
“We will go around the back where the guards can’t see us,” Moira said when she landed on her feet next to the daylight hole. Without a moment’s delay, she exited the empty stall to quiet the horses’ fluttering.
“Looks like Quinn and the guards haven’t yet noticed—”
“Stop!” A high-pitched voice reverberated in the still night.
Moira halted in her steps. A flare of yellow light lit up the stable and the face of their uninvited guest, blocking their only way out.
“M-Mom! W-What are you doing here?”
Regina took slow, deliberate steps toward her daughter, her face an icy mask of cool disappointment. “I should ask you the same… You have stolen a prisoner from Crimson Cavern. Do you not know the consequences of such impulsive actions?”
Before Moira could formulate an answer, Regina acted, engulfing the child and Dawn in a giant air cocoon. The outside sounds dimmed, and a thick layer of fog obscured the stable from view. Dawn thrashed inside, trying with all her might to break free.
“Mom, no!” Moira screamed from inside the cocoon. But Regina ran to the last stall where the cave entrance was located and opened the door. Meanwhile, a giant, red-beaked, bateleur eagle shot through the daylight hole with such power it nearly punched the ceiling.
“Gotcha.” In one flick of her wrist, Regina encased the eagle within another bubble of air, forcing the bird to morph back into Sumrect form.
Irked, Blair fought against her enclosure, but the surrounding air acted like a wormhole, absorbing anything and everything she threw at the encasing.
“Ansel! Regina’s coming!” Dawn cried in horror as she watched Regina disappear down the cave entrance.
✽✽✽
Ansel needed no warning.
When Regina landed on her feet with poise, she saw him waiting patiently in the shadow of the cave, leaning against a stalagmite.
“Did my erasim work?” Her tone altered to match the genuine concern shining in her eyes.
“Like a charm. Thank you. I’m forever grateful to you and Moira from saving me from unimaginable suffering.”
Regina approached the Sumrect who had been a constant worry all these years. Her surah. Has he really turned human? She studied his handsome face, partially hidden in the darkness. She did not mind the sacrifices she made if he would only speak those words she wanted to hear.
“Take them away from this cave, Regina. Please.”
They were alone. Save for the sound of dripping water, all was silent.
It is now or never.
“Forgive Moira. She knows not the terrible evil that dwell in this place. Take them away from here, please,” Ansel implored.
Regina continued to inch forward, ignoring his plea. He needed to know the truth. Perhaps then, he would change his mind.
“It was I who killed the Etherian and stole the contents of her portal.” She paused and waited for Ansel’s reaction.
None came.
“I couldn’t let Vance discover your secret,” she went on, her bottom lip trembling. “I couldn’t let him harm you in any way… Ansel, I just need to know…”
Though the question festered in her psyche for years, she had never asked for fear of the response she might receive. Not knowing the truth insulated her from hating the Sumrect she once loved and helped keep alive an ill-founded sliver of hope.
“Look at me,” she demanded when she was no more than a foot away from the prisoner.
Ansel hesitated before raising his apologetic eyes to meet hers.
“Did you ever love me? Did you ever think we could have been… had you not met her?”
A soft splash of water behind Regina stole the heavy silence.
Holding her gaze, Ansel gave the answer she had always known deep down but dreaded to hear. “I respected you and marveled at your abilities, Regina… But no… I’ve never loved another the way I loved Amber.”
The truth punched her in the gut.
It was all Regina needed to eradicate the hope and sympathy she harbored for her surah over the past eleven years. Perhaps Vance was doing her a favor by ridding the world of this beguiling creature once and for all so that he would cease to haunt every hidden crevice of her desires. Eyes alight with newfound fury, Regina bound Ansel from head to toe and sent a column of silver flames roaring through the cave entrance. The flames tore through the stable roof, illuminating the entire Estate grounds. And as Vance’s guards
stormed into the stable a minute later, Regina laughed.
Chapter 25
Night melted into day. Disguised as a middle-aged man, Myles gripped the centinum hidden inside his jacket. To his right, Max, Basil and Kai, also in disguise, stood vigilant and ready among a boisterous crowd that had gathered before the gates of Crimson Estate. On his left was an enthusiastic Oakley, who had begged to join the effort despite Francesca’s reluctance. The longer they waited, the more excitement brewed in the crowd.
“I wonder what led the Atma to want to kill his own brother,” an onlooker behind Myles spoke in a voice loud enough for a few townspeople to jump and turn around.
A woman with a pixie cut sniffed. “An insider from the Estate told me the brother had sold his soul to the devil and lost all his Sumrectian powers overnight.”
“I heard he got caught being involved with another resistance movement,” a young man offered.
“That didn’t end well for him, did it? He is foolish to try again.” Next to him, an older gentleman grunted in disapproval. “What I don’t understand is why make a public showing of his execution.”
“To remind us just how deranged and powerful he is,” Myles said through a clenched jaw.
“Absolutely unnecessary. As if we need reminding. I will not stand here and watch this abomination. Sumrect or not… the killing of life is not something I wish to see. Excuse me.” The gentleman squeezed his way out of the crowd. A few around him agreed and followed suit.
But with every person who left the scene, ten more joined, and so, by noontime, the crowd of people stretched from the east perimeter of the Estate to the western edge.
Myles scanned the crowd nervously. Sprinkled within were resistance members, each concealing a centinum obtained from Nymion Clearing the night before and preparing to storm the front gates when the time comes.
He slipped his hand into his pocket to check on the Eye. The glass felt cool to his touch, which meant the signal had not yet been given. Still, as the clock chimed the twelfth hour, he tensed his muscles and clutched the centinum closer to his body. Anytime now.
✽✽✽
Vance counted the chimes to twelve. At precisely noon, he marched out the front doors to greet the onlookers. The crowd size amused him; turnout was much better than he expected. Look at all these humans who came to witness the last living moments of Ansel Cassadian. He paused to take in the wondrous scent of victory hanging in the air.
A small group of people afforded him the proper greeting by applauding, but the rest fell silent at the sight of their Atma, who had been more a mythical character rather than a flesh and bones ruler. Many in the crowd had never laid eyes on him until now.
Vance held his hands out to quiet the half-hearted welcome. In an amplified voice, he began, “Today, on the twentieth of December, Ansel Cassadian shall be executed for engaging in multiple treasonous activities including incitement of insurrection, unlawful entanglement with an Etherian and breach of the accords set forth fifty years ago.”
“We have gathered here at this hour, on the grounds of Crimson Estate, so you may bear witness to justice being served to the greatest evil our world has seen in a very long time. Rest assured that as long as I am your Atma, evil shall not be allowed to flourish at Tempeia or anywhere else on this planet.”
The crowd maintained their silence.
Vance hung his head in an outward display of remorse. “Regrettably, due to my brother’s illicit actions, the Etherians have demanded payment for his unlawful behavior. Because of Ansel, one hundred Crimson workers must be offered to appease the Etherians’ ire, or Tempeia will suffer the destruction of reality as we know it.”
A sea of gasps rippled through the people.
Vance held his hands up again to silence the onlookers. “Though I’m saddened by this most unfortunate situation we have landed ourselves in, I find comfort in recognizing that one hundred souls are a small price to pay for the peace and protection of all my Tempeia citizens.”
“Small price to you because you couldn’t care less about us humans!” one of the onlookers shouted.
Vance took a step forward, narrowing his eyes. He could not identify the speaker from where he stood.
“If you offer yourself up for sacrifice, I will gladly trade you for a Crimson worker,” Vance said coolly, scanning the people at the front gate where the voice originated.
No one else dared to speak in opposition.
I thought so. Vance turned to his right and motioned to his Sumrect soldiers waiting by the cave entrance.
“Bring out the prisoners!”
✽✽✽
Chained at the feet, the human workers emerged from the cave and waded through the slush in a ten-by-ten formation, flanked on all sides by massive, brown leather clad Sumrect guards. They came to a sluggish halt in front of the house, some shivering in the icy wind, some whimpering in fear.
Dawn stood stony-faced in the very back, Steve clinching on to her right arm. The flippant nature with which Vance dismissed the loss of lives made her blood boil despite the freezing cold. No matter what, she was not going to let Vance sacrifice Henry and the one hundred human workers. She searched the rows and rows of prisoners for her brother, and it was not long before her eyes found him in the second row.
“Henry!” Her scream shattered the unnerving silence.
At the sound of her voice, Henry spun around with conflicting expressions of joy and fear on his face.
“Don’t be afraid, Henry! I won’t let that monster harm you—” She cut out mid-sentence, straining against Vance’s control.
He bared his teeth at her and growled to Steve, “Bring the human to the front. I want her to see up close the consequences of disrespecting the Atma.”
“Should have kept your mouth shut!” Steve sneered, pulling Dawn away from her position by the gold-tipped gate. She felt the prisoners’ stares as she strode past them. On the way, she locked eyes with Henry for a moment and gave him an assuring nod—they were not giving up without a fight. Every step forward brought her closer to the evil that needed to be stopped. And even though their chances of victory were slim to none, she clung to the possibility with every fiber of her being.
Vance glowered at her when she arrived at the front of the formation. Beside him and Quinn, a white-faced Regina stared blankly into space, not sparing Dawn a glance. The front doors were wide open, and just inside the entrance, the hooded Etherian lurked in the shadows, his face resembling death, his hands white as the fallen snow.
“It’s time,” Quinn announced to the Sumrects behind him, “to bring forth Ansel.” The guards nodded and marched into the house where Praeus stood.
Vance resumed his speech to the onlookers. “As a gesture of gratitude to these brave souls for their invaluable sacrifice, my workers will be presented with the opportunity to watch the Sumrect who have inflicted the lamentable fate upon them be exterminated.”
“We have lived in terror for too long…” He bowed his head briefly. “And the time has come to put an end to fear. The time has come to shed the shadow of unbridled power.”
Stepping aside from the front entrance, he allowed the two Sumrects sandwiching a chained Ansel to pass through. A third guard followed behind, carrying a long-barreled silver weapon.
Ansel’s eyes locked on Dawn’s as he passed, and in an instant, her tangled mind cleared, her frantic heart stilled. She experienced an unexpected calm. It was the calm of knowing a yet inexplicable truth that had withstood trials much worse than this, a truth that had transcended the confines of time. She lingered in the peace of that knowing, bathed in the understanding that come what may, they would not end today.
A guard yelled, and Ansel turned away to mount the makeshift platform next to the one hundred prisoners.
Two Sumrects, one small and round, the other tall and slim, positioned Ansel at one end of the platform while the greasy-haired, eagle-nosed executioner took his post at the opposite end. He wiped the long sil
ver barrel so that it glistened under the midday sun.
“My fellow citizens of Tempeia…” Vance motioned to Ansel. “I present to you my brother.”
Ansel paid no attention to the introduction. Instead, he squinted up at the sky as if he expected something to arrive.
“Do you have anything to say for your actions?” Vance asked.
Ansel shifted his gaze to the throng of Tempeia citizens by the gate. He laughed as he cocked his head to one side. “Eanon, if you now decide to place value in what I say, then heed my words… You may end me today, but you will never quash the human spirit in the immigrants you try to oppress.”
“Enough!” Vance threw a quivering finger at the greasy-haired executioner. “Kill him.”
Time to act. Dawn wrapped her fingers around the Eye of Elektron in her pocket. Immediately, it responded with warmth to her touch.
Just as the executioner leveled the silver barrel and aimed the centinum at Ansel’s chest, Steve vaulted into the air and rolled into a gigantic bateleur eagle, holding Dawn in its claws. Great job, Blair, she thought.
The bird’s deafening screech caused the executioner to lower his weapon and look up at the bizarre sight of a human hanging from a red-beaked eagle. Chaos exploded on both sides of the gold-peaked gates. From her elevated position in the air, Dawn saw the Pathfinders make their way to the front of the clamorous crowd and began firing their centinums at the Sumrect soldiers. Basil must have successfully distributed the weapons to them last night, she thought, shifting her gaze to the platform below.
When she was directly above the platform, Blair let her drop down before diving nose first toward Ansel. Her enormous beak broke the chains around his hands and feet with ease. Then in one fluid motion, Blair zoomed back into the air just as the Sumrect soldiers began firing balls of electricity at her. Yet the eagle remained just out of reach, twisting and turning into higher altitudes, a long train of electricity trailing behind her.
The Eye of Elektron: A Clean Urban Fantasy (The Sumrectian Series Book 1) Page 27