Chapter 17

The ceiling collapsed like a deck of cards as the morquals came crashing through, roaring like demons escaping from the bowels of hell. Debris battered my shoulders and head, just as a dark wave of power walloped us from above, sweeping us all off our feet and sending us flying across the tower in opposite directions. A woosh escaped me as I landed painfully on my tailbone, sliding the last few feet to crash into the stone wall with a crack so loud I thought my back snapped in half. The low groans in the back of my throat were part pain, part terror. The dark queen was here.

I watched in despair as Asha followed her morquals through the destroyed ceiling, floating down elegantly like she was freakin’ Mary Poppins. Her wings vibrated quietly like a hummingbird as she landed lightly on her feet, surveying the destroyed room and brushing the dust from her shoulders with disdain.

I shifted from the wall, groaning again as agony walloped my back. I could only see Jill from my landing spot. Like me, she was moving and trying to stand, but a ribbon of blood ran down her temple, making her attempt a little wobbly. I wasn’t sure where the others were. Hidden behind the large chunks of rock and in the shadows, out of my line of sight. I just prayed they were all okay.

Asha’s gaze bounced around the room before pinning me, her expression glacial as she stepped toward me. “I see you all tried to start this party without me.”

“Yeah. You weren’t invited. Still aren’t, but you crashed it anyway. Rude.” I forced myself to my feet and peered through the settling dust, using sarcasm to fight down the fear at her presence. I thought that was clever. She didn’t. She leaped the remaining span between us, and I was rewarded with a slap so hard I felt my lip split. Geez-us, she wasn’t playing. But even with my heart threatening to burst from my chest, I simply moved my head to the side and spit out the pooling blood, refusing to show her my fear.

Her jade eyes glared at me as she sneered a little, like she knew exactly how much I was cowering on the inside.

“I am disappointed in you, elemental. In all of you. Especially you, my son. Uh, uh, uh, none of that now.” She tsked in disapproval as Starke emerged through the mist, sword in attack mode. Like she had eyes in the back of her head, she caught him in her web without even shifting her gaze from me. His sword ripped from his grasp and flew across the room, clashing against the prism with a resounding clank. So much for trying to take her down unaware.

“And where are the rest of your little friends? Come out now. Don’t be shy.”

Just like Starke, Zoe and Sash were pulled from the shadows, only this time by Asha’s gold dressed guards. I hadn’t seen them arrive. They must have arrived by air morqual as well. Which didn’t bode well for our troops. If Asha and her morquals, along with her personal guards were here, who was left outside? I cut that train of thought off. I had to focus on the here and now and worry about our people outside later.

The guards shoved Zoe and Sash my way as Starke was dragged by his mother’s magic and thrown at my feet like yesterday’s empty coffee cup. His knees hit the ground hard, but he quickly drew himself to his full height, glaring at his mother with the promise that he would break her neck if given the opportunity.

Silence filled the chamber as Asha paced back and forth in front of our disheveled group of supposed heroes. So much for the plan. I glanced around at my bloodied companions, doing a double take as I noticed Athena was not here. They hadn’t found her yet. Did Asha know she was with us? I didn’t dare meet Asha’s gaze. I didn’t dare allow her to see the tiny spark of hope that still flickered inside of me at knowing my grandmother was still at large.

A sigh escaped Asha as she stared us down. Like a frustrated mother about to scold her errant children. She stopped her pacing and faced us, hands on her bony hips.

“Even after all we have been through, all you have learned, all you have endured, you still try to restart the prism on your own terms. I have heard that humans are extremely stubborn and pigheaded. Hard to be taught or trained. I can see every aspect of that is true. I would find it extremely amusing if not for the fact that my own foolish son was also cut from the same cloth.”

She stepped toward Starke, and I swear her tiny frame grew in stature as she moved so she stood nose to nose with him. “You tried to restart the prism? You? Like you truly believe you deserve to control this multiverse? Someone who doesn’t even believe in the sanctity of the Fae race? I expected so much more from you, boy. But alas, you are just like your patriarch. One huge, stupid, disappointment.”

Her statement was harsh and meant to cut deep, but Starke didn’t even blink at her hateful words.

“Your disappointment is my delight, Mother.” He drew out ‘mother’ with such cold disdain even I shivered. If Asha was affected by his demeanor, she hid it well.

“Hmph,” she tossed into the air, turning her back and dismissing him. She paced again, studying us all like she was debating what to do.

“I commend you for getting this far. I admit it was a good plan, having the approaching troops protect mages cast in your images. I hadn’t realized any mage on Endova still possessed enough power to pull that off. My mistake. I do not err often. It took much magic. Magic that I assume was supplied by Galt and his kind?”

None of us answered her, but she didn’t need an answer. Her tinkling laughter echoed about the room as she wagged a finger at us. “That overgrown hound has always been a thorn in my side. It will be a true pleasure to have my little pets roast him for dinner later.”

She stepped over to the nearest morqual. It lowered its head, and she stroked its nose. I would have been truly disturbed at its unnatural purring and affection if I wasn’t more shocked and upset at the words coming from her mouth.

“Are you threatening to kill Galt? Are you saying he’s been captured?” the question crawled from my throat since I really didn’t want to hear her answer but needed to know.

She turned to me in feigned surprise. “Of course that’s what I’m saying. All of your foolish rebel army has been dealt with. Such a pathetic attempt. Did you really think you stood a chance against me?”

My heart shrunk to a pea, even as my head lectured me not to believe her until I saw it for myself. I tried to listen to my inner voice. I needed to believe everyone was still alive and okay for my own sanity. I reached out, trying to connect with someone. Anyone. Just as I was about to give up, a tiny shiver of power radiated over me. Familiar power. Was it my grandmother? Was she hiding in the shadows, waiting to make her move? Was it Kara trying to tell me help was on the way? I glanced quickly to Asha to make sure she hadn’t felt it She didn’t appear to. She stood with her head cocked to the side, still glaring at us, her long tresses hanging over her shoulder in luscious waves like she’d just stepped from a beauty salon instead of a battlefield.

“Now, I think we have wasted enough time. This futile little uprising of yours is over.” She snapped her fingers. “Elementals, to me. We’ve kept the prism waiting long enough. It needs your essence to reset to full strength so we can power our cause.”

She stepped toward the prism, faltering to look back over her shoulder as none of us followed. There was no way in hell I was helping her start that prism, because if what I had just felt was true, then someone was still out there rooting for us. I needed to stall her.

“Reset it?” I snarled at her, allowing my anger to dictate where this was going. “You mean you want us to feed it so you can harness its power to take over the multiverse and enslave or kill anyone not Fae. That’s not a cause. It’s a ploy for totalitarianism and genocide.”

She didn’t deny it. She didn’t even flinch when I said it. She merely shrugged, puzzlement etched into her smooth face. “Tomato, tomahto. The end result was always going to be the same. It is predestined. Inevitable. You were always meant to restart the prism with me at your side. No one else. I was always meant to control the multiverse.”

“So you say, you crazy witch.” Zoe stepped forward, finally overcoming her shock. Anger vibrated from her in waves, shaking her entire body. “But because of you and your damn creatures, I lost my parents. Because of you, I lost everything I ever loved. My home is on the brink of destruction. Every single being I know with an ounce of magic, abused and suffering because you’ve taken away their power to defend themselves. I will not help you. I refuse to help you. You will not be the one to restart that prism unless it’s over my dead body.”

“Z,” Jill warned, reaching for the girl with a shaky hand. “Don’t.”

“No, no. Let her speak.” Asha watched Zoe’s outburst, amusement etched in her face. “Please, come forward, little one. Tell me how you think you will stop me. Tell me how you will refuse.” She clapped her hands in glee. “I do love a good fairytale.”

“We all refuse to help you.” Starke stepped in front of Zoe, pulling his mother’s attention away from the girl on purpose, like he knew she would pay for that outburst. “You must realize that. Not even you can be that blinded by pride.”

I moved on instinct to stand with Starke as another pulse of familiar magic tingled at the base of my spine. My gaze instinctively jumped to Asha, but she was still glaring at Starke, obviously unaware of what I was feeling. Her projected anger hid the magic wafting to me. Good. Let’s keep it that way. But if that is you, Granny, you better make your move soon.

“It does not matter what you think, traitor,” she spat at him, anger twisting her face with ugliness as her glamour faded for a slight moment. “You are of no consequence to me.”

She sucked in a breath, trying to bring herself back under control. Patting her hair into place, she plastered a smile on her lips, her beauty back once again. I felt another shimmer of power, and the ground underneath my feet shook a tiny bit, like something was happening, but I still didn’t know what. Asha’s smile faltered for a moment, like this time she felt it too. Hurrying to divert her attention, I stepped toward her, brandishing my sai.

“Damn right. What Zoe said. Over my dead body as well.”

It worked. She turned her anger and frustration on me, the little movement of power overlooked.

“Over your dead body is not an option. We all know that. But how about over his?”

Before any of us could predict what she was about to do, a vine ripped loose from the array of bushes crawling up the side of the tower. It whipped past my head and slapped against Starke’s throat, making him gag as it tightened its grip. Knowing she was back to her old strangle your enemies with vines trick, I leaped at him. Grabbing his legs, I tried to keep him grounded, but he slipped from my grasp as he vaulted into the air. His legs pedaled furiously as he struggled to pull the suffocating vines from his neck.

“Let him go,” I screamed, trying to pull enough power to my sai to cut him down, but Asha thwarted me at every attempt, sucking my magic like a leech. I ran at her, screaming like a banshee, knowing his only chance was to break her hold on him.

One of her gold clad guards jumped in front of me, grabbing my arms and trying to hold me back. I brought my knee up hard into his crotch. Didn’t need magic for that move. He doubled over. I swung at him with my sai, punching him so hard I heard his jaw crack. The other guards ran at me, but all I could see was Starke fighting for his life, and a wave of hatred and violence washed over me. Nothing like I had ever felt before. I’d had enough of this. Enough of Asha hurting the people I loved. I wanted to hurt her back in return.

On instinct, I ducked as the blunt end of a sword hilt swung at me. Not to kill but to slow me down. I whirled low to the ground and slammed the pointed end of my sai into his leg. He screamed in pain as I leaped back to my feet, ready to bloody anyone else in my way.

The little tingle of magic I’d felt earlier suddenly exploded into a volcanic burst, washing over me in waves as the solid oak doors crashed in under the weight of the approaching army. Our army. Bish, Kara, Satoga, Rach, they all came pouring through like the first ray of sunshine after a week of torrential rain. I didn’t stop to think, I absorbed the magic flowing at me from Galt leading the pack of wolven and Fae alike. The magic acted on its own, and within seconds, it manifested into a blade of ice at the end of my sai. I aimed at the vine still strangling Starke, sending the blade twirling through the air. It cut like a hot knife through butter and Starke fell to the stone floor with a thud.

With the roar of thunder filling the tower, my people piled inside. Bodies collided with bodies. Wolves assaulted morquals. Faeries confronted guards. It was complete and utter confusion. The stench of blood and burnt flesh assaulted my nostrils as I pushed my way through to Starke. He was already getting to his feet, even as my grandmother morphed from the shadows. Now she decided to get involved.

“We are out of time,” she hissed, ignoring the chaos happening around us. “This is our only chance. Asha will overpower us. For us to win this battle, we must do this now.”

I ignored her, my gaze jumping to Starke.

“I’m okay,” he croaked as he reached for his sword still lying on the floor. “Do it. I will keep you protected throughout the ritual.”

They were right. I glanced over my shoulder. Even as Galt blocked the unending bolts of Asha’s magic, I could sense him weakening. Without the ley line to power him, they would fall to Asha sooner than later. I also knew Starke was as good as his word.

As if Asha was aware of our intent, she threw a powerful attack at Galt, sending him spiraling clear across the room. Grinning ghoulishly, she turned her attention back to us, striding across the span only to pull up short at the sight of my grandmother.

“Athena?” She failed to hide her disbelief. “You dare to be here?”

Bish and Kara sideswiped her from the left as Starke and Galt flanked her right, assaulting her with magic attacks from all directions.

“Keep her off us,” I screamed as I ran toward the prism. The others followed me, no questions asked. They knew what they had to do. Just like before, our weapons lifted to the prism as if to pay homage. I allowed the surge of power coming from the prism to encapsulate me. There was no time to question it. No time to question if it was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.

“Allow the prism to merge with you,” my grandmother yelled over the noise of battle. “Hurry!”

The prism drew us closer. As soon as my weapon connected with the column, electrifying magic flooded my body. A rush of power coiled in my gut, and I felt my back arch. The power spread, sweeping over me, rushing into my legs, my chest, my arms. Everywhere.

And just as my body filled with the magic, so did my mind, blazing with a kaleidoscope of images. Strata of planets, stars, oceans, mountains, it all combined into a frenzy of motion, like I was watching the beginning of the universe all in a matter of seconds.

Life. Birth. Renewal.

The prism was all of that and more. Its power pulsed through me, growing in leaps and bounds. My heart thumped furiously in my chest, making me stagger under its weight. It felt like I was about to have a heart attack.

My senses heightened. I could hear the underlying sounds of battle around me. The cries of pain. The sound of steel against steel. My grandmother reciting the restoration ritual under her breath. I could feel the individual terrified heartbeats of everyone in the tower. I could smell their fear. And Asha’s burning hatred and desire to stop us. But none of it seemed to matter at this point. The thrumming magic coming from the prism as it fed on our essence was all that was important. The other elementals connected to me; they were truly my brothers and sisters. We were disciples of the prism.

And just when I felt like it was too much, like my mind or body wouldn’t handle anymore, silence descended. Everything was still the same in the tower. Everyone was still at each other’s throats, but outside of time. Like we, the elementals, were preserved in that exact moment with the prism floating in a moment of pure bliss and beauty and peace. Tears filled my eyes as the splendor and elation of the prism enveloped me. This was how the multiverse was meant to be. This was how it had to be. The prism demanded we do better. We had to do better.

And then, the moment of divination passed. A darkness started to seep into my heart again as the feeling that something wasn’t quite right whispered in my brain. It didn’t last long. The prism, done with us now, let us go from its grasp like a slingshot. I stumbled back, expecting to see it do something. Anything. Light up with a blinding lifeforce. Hell, burst into flame. Do something. We had just fed it our damn souls. But it remained the sluggish mimosa of opaque it had been when we first entered the tower. It didn’t work.

“Something’s wrong,” I yelled as the sounds of the battle raging at my back took precedence once again. I watched in disbelief as one of the morquals took off in flight, swirling up to the open ceiling, attempting to flee while wolven fell off its back like rats deserting a sinking ship. I caught sight of Starke at the edge of the melee attempting to keep the enemy away from us with his waning power. I frantically screamed at him, “It’s not working.”

Unfortunately for us, Asha heard me too. Although she was battling Kara, Galt, and at least half a dozen more Fae, she actually turned to grin at me. Like she wasn’t in the least worried about the battle. Suddenly, the area around her exploded with a flash of light so brilliant, all I had time to see was my people flying head over heels before the intensity made me shield my eyes. Blinking furiously through the tears, I caught sight of her striding out of the light straight toward us. Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Hands held palms up and glowing, she made a beeline for us and the prism.

“No, don’t let her recite the spell,” my grandmother shrieked in horror. “She is trying to unite you with the prism. Stop her!”

Stop her? Like freakin’ how?

Even though we couldn’t hear her words, we could physically feel them. The closer she came, the magic pulsating from her pushed us toward the prism with invisible hands. I tried to push back, but it was like fighting against hurricane force winds. For every painful step I took forward, her magic sent me back three. Her power herded us toward the prism, our weapons lifting in unison once again, trying to connect with the stone.

“Fight her,” I shrieked at the elementals. “We can’t let her do this.”

“Refutos.”

The whispered spell came from my left. I managed to twist my head enough to find Jill straining against Asha’s magic, attempting to keep her whip from connecting with the prism.

“What?” I yelled at her over the noise of the fracas around us.

“Refutos.” Jill spoke it louder this time, and Asha winced as the spell hit her.

Right. The spell Olla had taught her to repel magic.

“Refutos,” I shrieked, attempting to control my sai with the spell.

Didn’t take long for Zoe and Sash to catch on. They joined in, all of us screaming at the top of our lungs like we were at some heavy metal concert.

“Refutos,” I yelled again, creating a power that felt palpable around me as the hair on my head began to blow about.

Asha flinched back like we were hurling stones at her, and I couldn’t help but smile smugly.

Take that, bitch.

“Keep it up,” I yelled at the others. “It’s working.”

“Argh!” Asha screamed in frustration and raised her hands toward us with effort. At first, I thought she was pleading with us, but I was so wrong. The little bit of control I thought we had went all to hell as she started pulling magic from us. I literally could see the wisps of power she was siphoning off us. I could feel the weight of my sai burning in my arms as the muscles weakened more and more. At this rate, she would drain us dry in seconds.

Bolts of energy rammed into Asha from two different angles. She flew up into the air and twirled across the room like a spin top as Starke and Kara united to protect us.

“Athena, cast the restoration spell again,” Starke’s voice broke through the intense throbbing of my body. He looked as battered as I felt, a cut over his temple dripping down into his swollen eye. He limped towards us, barely able to hold his sword above his waist. That last attack had pretty much taken everything he had; he was running on empty. “We must hurry and do this together.”

My grandmother didn’t waste any time. The ancient words began spewing from her mouth in a jumbled shriek, Starke joining and combining their power.

The words did nothing. I felt nothing. No power emanated from the prism. I watched, terrified as Asha came at us again, all attempt at maintaining her glamour gone now. She looked like the wicked witch of the west, her yellowed crinkly skin hanging loose on her pointy bones, her once luscious hair hanging in strings around her head. The only thing I recognized from her earlier self was the spark of hatred and anger gleaming bright in her eyes.

“You think you can beat me, Athena?” she screamed as she approached, hands held out to the side as wisps of black magic curled at her gnarled fingers. “You think you can all outsmart me?”

Starke and my grandmother kept reciting the spell at our backs.

“You cannot take this from me. This is mine. The prism is mine. The multiverse is mine. I will crush you all for this. I will rip you apart for your betrayal. No one betrays me and gets away with it.”

The power at her fingertips began whipping into a wild wind. I felt its presence even from halfway across the room. Even as the power she threw at us hurled our way, I knew it would hurt us real bad. I closed my eyes, tensing myself to have that power rip us all apart, just like she threatened.

“De-ta vitam!”

Starke and Athena’s melded spell bounced around the room once more. I wanted to yell at them they were too late, but my voice was just as paralyzed in fear as the rest of me.

There was no warning. One moment I was a petrified lump of uselessness. The next,magic blossomed at my back with such intensity, such force, that I gasped out loud as it flowed through me, invigorating me with an energy I’d never felt before. Something flurried inside of me, demanding from deep within. It was all encompassing and frighteningly beautiful, bonding with every living cell in my body. I knew immediately it was the prism coming to our rescue. Starke and Athena had awoken it.

The wave of pure and ancient magic emanating from the column collided with Asha’s dark magic inches from my face. I saw the moment they hit. It was like watching water consume fire. Asha’s magic curled in on itself as if in slow motion. It rebounded off the golden wave of pure energy and bounced back through the air.

She didn’t stand a chance. The dark magic hit her with all the force and hatred she had aimed toward us. Her eyes opened wide with shock as her once full lips flapped like a broken kite in the wind. The magic encased her, black veins rising to the surface of her loose skin. Her once luscious hair turned as white and brittle as straw before our eyes. Her skin sagged even more, if that was even possible. She appeared to age a hundred years in mere seconds. But still, Asha’s sharp eyes searched us out with venom. They stopped on my grandmother. Her once upon a time friend. The venom slowly faded, replaced by… confusion? As if she couldn’t quite understand what was happening to her.

“This… was not… the p—” she croaked, seconds before her skin turned to gray ash. Cracks rippled in her flesh, spreading quickly. It looked like every cell in her body had suddenly been sucked dry of any moisture, and she started… disintegrating was the only word that came to mind. The royal blue suit she had been wearing crumpled in on itself, falling to the floor and leaving behind a human ash shadow. Slowly, the fine powder that had once been the dark queen dissipated into the air.

Silence ascended on the tower as the battle instantaneously ceased. Most had seen what happened. Those who hadn’t, felt it. Especially Asha’s soldiers. They reacted the moment she was gone. Some fell to the floor as if in pain. Others just stopped fighting, staring around as if they weren’t quite sure of what was happening. The remaining morqual squawked as if someone was carving out its heart and shot off though the open ceiling, following its companions.

None of us tried to stop it. We were all too much in shock and disbelief. Asha was gone. Was this really over?

I turned to look at Starke and my grandmother for confirmation, but all I saw was the glow emitting from the prism. The dizzying array of colors and lifeforce was almost too much to look at. My heart felt full, like it was about to burst. Like everything was right with the world again.

Galt approached my side, the pulsating lights reflecting off the tears in his dark eyes. His fur was matted with blood and interlaced with cuts, but he didn’t even appear to notice. His whole attention was on the prism, the reverence on his face unmistakable.

“Auctor… back,” was all he said, but there was an immense amount of power in those words.

“Damn right it is,” I muttered before the whole room exploded with a roar of triumph. I glanced around, hoping to catch sight of all my people. I found Bish and Kara on the other side of the tower helping a limping Rach. Olla was already using her reemerging magic to help heal some of the injured. Even goat-man was smiling as he helped Baylor and his merry men round up Asha’s guards. I didn’t get to see much else as Jill, Zoe, and Sash stampeded me, arms encircling my neck. They started jumping around in a circle, pulling me with them, elation shining bright on their faces. I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. The joy and relief were contagious, and I got caught up in the celebration of life.

Still grinning, I untangled myself from their arms and searched for the one face I needed to see right now. I spotted Starke leaning wearily on his sword. He looked as bad as Galt. His left eye was swollen shut and already bruised. Deep red blood dripped from his temple and down one cheek, but to me he’d never looked better. He started limping toward me the same time I headed for him. His smile spread from ear to ear, and he swept me up in his arms as soon as we closed the gap between us.

“We did it, little rabbit,” he breathed against my lips.

“Yeah, we—,” was all I got in edgewise before his mouth covered mine. I didn’t care who saw us. Let the whole room watch. We had just won a war, and dammit, I would celebrate any which way I wanted. And kissing Starke? That was what I wanted.