I sighed inwardly. It seemed baffling to me that the fae didn’t want to get to the bottom of this mystery. They had been guarding these creatures for all time. Didn’t they want to know what they were?
My cellphone started buzzing. Making my apologies, I left the room. It was Mona, and I answered it immediately.
“Any news?” I asked.
“The portal’s moving…” Her voice came in ragged breaths. “You need to get down here… All of you.”
With that, Mona hung up.
I ran back into the room, my heart in my mouth as I announced the news to the group.
“We need to go—now,” my father said.
“What?” Sherus bellowed.
“It can’t open without us there!” my father replied impatiently. “There’s more danger that way—we don’t know what’s opening it.” My father turned to me, his eyes determined. “We need to gather everyone. You, Rose, fetch Kiev and his siblings, Brock, Vivienne and Xavier, Shayla and Eli—tell them to come at once. Get the rest of the parents together – Claudia, Yuri, Ashley and Landis. I know they’ll want to be there for this – but tell Claudia to keep her temper reigned in. Caleb, make sure Ibrahim and Arwen are on their way, I had asked them to meet us here after the meeting. Then speak to the werewolves, let’s take three—Micah, Kira, and Bastien. And we might need dragons—talk to Jeriad, Ridan and Azaiah, and whoever else they wish to bring. The more of us the better. I will fetch River, Grace and Lawrence. Corrine, ask the witches for help—there are plenty who will need to be vanished to the island.”
We all nodded, moving from the room as swiftly as we could. Before I left I turned to look at my husband in relief. We’re finally doing it. He returned a small smile, but his eyes were troubled. His look was a reminder that we still had a long way to go till our children were safe—this was just the beginning.
Benedict
The vulture soared across the sky, and I felt sicker and sicker with every passing second as we approached the cove. I had fought with Hazel to be allowed to come, and eventually Tejus had intervened on my behalf, saying that I was safest with them, and not riding with the others. She had eventually relented, letting me fly on the back of Tejus’s vulture. I was glad—he rode at the front of the line, faster and more furious than the others. I had to hang on tightly to his robe not to be swept off.
“Are you all right, Benedict?” Tejus turned around, checking I was gripping on.
“I’m fine!” I yelled over the rushing wind.
“She has no power over you—neither does the entity, not anymore. Do you understand?”
He had obviously sensed my fear, but I was grateful for it. I needed to hear those words—I needed to remind myself that I wasn’t at their mercy any more, and I was damned if I was going to let Queen Trina and the entity manipulate a bunch of kids the way they’d done to me.
“I understand.” I nodded, my heart fluttering with anxiety anyway. I still wasn’t looking forward to coming face to face with the queen again, let alone the entity if he managed to rise.
Tejus nodded, turning his attention back to the vulture. I could see the cove appearing in the distance—it was partially blocked by swirls of mist that hung low over the ocean, but I recognized the horseshoe shape of it and the dark forests that surrounded the rocks, leading back all the way to Hellswan castle.
“Don’t let anything happen to my sister,” I announced suddenly. I needed to say it just in case.
“Never,” he replied.
I believed him. As long as Tejus lived, my sister wouldn’t come to harm—he would protect her with every last breath in his body.
“We’re close. I’m going to land behind the cove. We can follow the path up, and that will lead us to the temple.” He pointed at the small one-man track, nothing more than a sand-covered gap in the rocks, that wound its way down to the cove.
“Why are we not landing on the beach?” I asked, confused.
“I want the element of surprise. I suspect Jenus was left at the palace to direct us here, so we need to be cautious.”
That made sense. It also delayed our arrival at the cove, and suddenly I wanted that more than anything—my heart rate was spiking, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I desperately wanted to be brave, to be as courageous as Tejus and Ash, but I was terrified.
Tejus swooped down silently, the bird shooting through the air like an arrow.
We landed on a small clearing that led down to the path. The rest of the birds landed, and we all disembarked in total silence. Ruby and Ash had shared a bird, and they walked toward Tejus with questioning eyes. In whispers, he filled them in on the plan—we were to go single file up the path, fanning out when we reached the cove, keeping them trapped until the rest of the army arrived.
I reached out and squeezed Hazel’s hand. She squeezed it back, then released me quickly—I’d forgotten about her hunger.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
She smiled. “I’ll get it under control soon, don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried.”
She was quiet for a few moments, smiling into my eyes. She looked like Mom in that moment, and for the first time I could really see the resemblance between them. I’d never truly noticed it before. Maybe it was because Hazel seemed a bit older to me now. I felt we were much closer than we ever had been. How could it be any different? We’d been through so much.
“I don’t want you to be here. I want you to be miles from here,” she whispered.
“Tough. I’m sticking it out.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“So are you.”
My grin faded as Tejus beckoned to us—it was time to get moving.
“I love you,” Hazel reminded me.
“I know. I love you too.”
I let her lead the way, and we walked swiftly over to the start of the path. Tejus looked at Hazel, his expression unreadable. Then he turned without saying a word, moving silently between the rocks.
The walk down to the cove was a short one. It got wider as we progressed, and soon I could hear noises up ahead. I almost came to a standstill as I recognized the low, melodic chanting. It was the Acolytes. The words, running together as one low drone, were barely distinguishable, but I had heard that sound night after night in my dreams, echoes of it haunting every waking hour. I felt nausea rise up inside me, and the acidic burn of bile at the back of my throat.
The sentry guard in front of me moved out from the pathway to stand along the back of the short cliff face, and I got my first full glimpse of the cove.
The Acolytes, about thirty in all, were kneeling at the shore, all chanting in the low drone I’d heard from the path. Queen Trina stood in front of them, standing at the edge of the shoreline, arms outstretched, facing the ocean with her back to us.
Hanging in the air above her, further out toward the sea, black rags were suspended in the wind. I watched as they fluttered from side to side — tossed about as the breeze whipped around the walls of the cove and then back again. I squinted, trying to work out what they were. My stomach lurched.
The kids.
The black shapes were children — hanging like rag-dolls in the air, heads bent down to their chests, their arms and legs swaying limply to and fro. They hung in a perfect circle over the water, the formation turning slowly as the ocean roared beneath them.
“They’re above the portal—she’s trying to open it,” Tejus muttered.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the earth started to tremble. The temple, down in the landslide in front of us, cracked, its stone entrance falling with an almighty crash. I thought the Acolytes might turn around, but they stayed in their trance-like state, droning on. The rocks of the pathway we’d just left started to collapse in on one another, making the gap smaller – if it fell any further we’d be trapped.
Behind the kids, I could see more rips starting to appear in the sky—jagged tears that exposed more of the night’s sky, like an endless abyss waited for us
on the other side of this dimension.
“We need to stop them. What do you suggest, Tejus?” Ash turned to his commander.
Tejus was silent, looking out to the ocean where the water was being whipped into a frenzy, his face pale. I could see my own fear reflected in his eyes – that we had come too late, that Queen Trina had succeeded in raising the entity.
That we didn’t have a hope in Nevertide of getting out of this thing alive.
Rose
The tar was burping and bubbling, the gap that let in chinks of daylight gradually widening till the tar was drawn back completely, and the bluish, swirling mists of the portal floated upward—the wisps of the portal’s tunnel mingling with the choppy waves.
“Do we have any idea who’s opening it?” I asked Mona.
She shook her head. “No, which is what I’m worried about.”
Maybe it’s one of the kids. Maybe they’d managed to find a witch or jinni to help them on the other side.
“We should still take the advantage,” my father replied. “If there is a threat then we need to contain it…and I want to see my grandchildren.” My mother nodded, her green eyes anxious but resolute.
“Do we have any idea if the power opening it is a benevolent one? Or is this dark magic?” Sherus asked, still uneasy about GASP’s decision to explore the portal.
“I don’t know that either,” Mona replied. “The only way we’ll know is by getting to the other side. The one thing I can tell you is that the magic is powerful…and it feels old.”
“I don’t like this,” Sherus muttered.
“You’re not the only one,” Nuriya muttered. “But what choice do we have? This is family.”
Lidera looked sideways at her brother. “Sherus. If whatever is on the other side of this portal is a threat to the fae, then we need to investigate. Our people are relying on us. We can’t let them down.”
Sherus didn’t reply, but with a small nod of his head he acknowledged his sister’s words.
“Are we ready?” my father asked, glancing around him one last time at the members of GASP who were assembled. It was a huge operation: Caleb and I, my mom, Ashley and Landis, Claudia and Yuri all standing closest to the portal, with the witches, jinn, fae, werewolves and other vampires closely behind. The dragons hovered above the portal, waiting for my father to give the signal to go down. We all nodded.
My father went first, followed by my mother, Mona, Kiev and then Caleb and I.
The blue mists spun around us, fast, blocking the light that I had seen emanating from the dimension we were traveling to. The portal started to get darker—the blue mists turned a dark navy, and then a charcoal black…
“What’s happening?” I called out, hoping Mona could hear me.
I started to hear the sound of ragged breathing. At first I thought it was coming from me, that I was starting to get frightened, but then I realized it seemed to be coming from inside my head, then all around me, till I was hardly aware of anything apart from the deep, laborious sounds of breath.
What is that?
The walls of the portal started to shake. I felt Caleb’s hand grab mine. Something was horribly wrong.
In the next moment, I heard a voice. As clear as day, as if, like the breathing, it was coming from inside my own head.
Welcome, the voice whispered, cloying and soft. I have waited an eternity for this day to arrive. That you will be here to witness my rise, foolish fae king, means more to me than you could possibly know…
I tried to spin around in the weightless mist, seeking Sherus out, but he was nowhere to be seen—there were too many of us hurtling down the portal. What I did understand, from the flickers of the shocked faces of GASP, was that the voice had not just been in my own head…everyone else had heard it too.
Fool king, you have brought your own visions to life. Soon my imprisoned children will be released, in this dimension, in your dimension, and on Earth. We will reign with terror you don’t yet comprehend, with the ruthlessness of the darkest souls, the glory of what is most corrupt. Prepare for anarchy, for bloodshed, for the tears of your children, your children’s children and every generation of the fae until your species is eradicated from the annals of time.
The voice faded away; the portal lightened back to the bluish swirls and stopped shaking. I looked around me wildly, this time searching for my father. His hand was clasped tightly to my mother’s, and when our eyes met, his flashed in a silent warning. He was unnerved—but it wasn’t going to stop him reaching the other side of the portal. He wouldn’t turn back. Novaks never did.
Hazel
As the earthquake continued to rip and shudder through Nevertide, we stood against the wall of the cliff, all eyes on Tejus as we waited for his command.
“They’re opening the portal using the children—we need to break the focus of the Acolytes. Ragnhild, take the guards and attack them from behind. Do whatever you deem necessary to break their trance.”
Ragnhild nodded solemnly, removing his broadsword from its sheath. Tejus turned to the ministers, who were staring wide-eyed at the children slowly circling the ocean.
“Catch the children when they fall—they’ve been drained completely, if they fall into the water they won’t come out alive.”
“We risk being seen by Queen Trina,” one of them mumbled, and I frowned briefly at the typical lack of ministerial courage, or willingness to take any kind of action that might endanger themselves. Obviously, the queen was dangerous, but the whole of Nevertide was at stake here!
“Leave Queen Trina to me,” Tejus replied curtly.
“Shouldn’t we wait for the rest of the army?” the minister asked again, then quailed under both Tejus’s and Ash’s glares.
“We don’t have time,” Tejus snapped. “The rest of you, guard the periphery of the cove; I don’t want any of the Acolytes escaping.”
I glanced over at Ruby, taking a deep breath. Her blue eyes calmly met mine, reminding me of the day I had seen her in the trial arena, when I’d thought she was already safe at home. Maybe today we’d get that chance again. We were ready.
She took Benedict’s hand, and we fanned out slowly, careful not to make a sound, surrounding the cove. I prepared myself mentally for my own task, one that Tejus wouldn’t be pleased with, but I would do anyway. If any of the Acolytes managed to escape, I wanted to be ready to throw out a protective barrier toward Ruby and Benedict, stopping them from coming to any harm. They were my priority. Julian would be arriving with the second wave of the army, and I was grateful—he’d be in less danger that way.
I turned my attention to Tejus. He and Ash stood at the front of an arrow-shaped formation of guards and ministers, ready to attack. Tejus was crouched low, waiting to hurl himself forward when the time was right. He reminded me of a black panther, coiled before leaping to attack its prey. His face was set in a snarl, his gaunt, rugged looks making him appear dark and deadly—once again reminding me of a creature more animal than man.
Ash and Tejus lunged forward, running toward the chanting Acolytes, leading their men. Tejus drew a sword from his back, lifting it up in the air and then bringing it down with a single, elegant swipe. It sliced through the neck of the nearest Acolyte, sending his head flying in an arc through the gray sky.
The fight had begun.
The chanting was replaced by screams. The Acolytes, with deadly speed, jumped up from their positions and turned to attack the oncoming army. Tejus fought his way past another Acolyte; neither side having much time to syphon, they were relying mostly on the weaponry they had. I’d mistakenly believed that the Acolytes weren’t armed—instead, each drew out long daggers from their forearms that had been concealed by the sleeves of their robes. Wielding one in each hand, they launched themselves at the Hellswan guards.
The fight was bloody. The war cries and the high-pitched howls of the injured pierced the air, merging with the ferocious roar of the ocean—and then the throaty laughter of Queen Trina.
Tejus fought off another Acolyte who had attacked him from behind, and ran toward the queen.
She held out her arms to Tejus, almost as if she wanted to embrace him. I watched as he stumbled, almost dropping his sword as the pain of her syphoning tore at him. She continued to laugh, her eyes shining brightly, the dark mane of her hair whipping upward with the wind, making her look more like a vengeful god than a mad queen.
“You’re too late, Tejus!” she cried. “It is done! He will rise—he will rise and end you all!”
Tejus staggered forward, not willing to give in, no matter how excruciating the pain.
“You could have basked in this glory, Tejus – if only you had loved me!” She screeched at him this time, her jubilant mood swiftly being replaced with one of spite and hatred.
Ignoring her cries, he held his sword aloft, determined that it would meet its target. Even from this distance, I could see his face paling and hear his groans of effort as he rose time and time again. Each time she syphoned harder, knocking him back down on his knees.
I can’t watch this.
I took one last look at Benedict and Ruby and then crept around the side of the cove, keeping out of Queen Trina’s sight. There must be something I could do to help weaken her. If she carried on like this, Tejus wasn’t going to make it. I could almost feel the power emanating from her as I approached—she must have been taking her energy from the entity, or the children. I’d never been able to sense another sentry’s power before. The hunger leapt up inside me. My mouth started to water, my stomach knotting itself. Now I didn’t seem to be moving of my own accord, but instead driven by a much more base, primal need to devour the power and energy contained within Queen Trina. It was a heady sensation, and I could feel my own power raging inside of me, desperate to be set free.
I was behind Queen Trina in a moment, standing between her and the children, the sea lapping up against my feet. In the distance, the rest of the army had arrived, guards and villagers clambering down the cliff edge and the fallen rock to join the battle still raging with the Acolytes.