“Ethan!” Tears beaded my eyes. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. Ethan was down. I couldn’t take on Elijah and Gabby by myself. I needed him to rise up and fight!
But he couldn’t anymore. The duel with Elijah had taken too much out of him. I fell to my knees at his side, and my hands fisted in his white fur.
Ethan shuddered. “I couldn’t do it,onawilke. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered. A tear ran down my cheek. After everything we’d done, everything we’d sacrificed… it was all for nothing.
Gabby had rejoined Elijah. The black wolf stalked toward us with a raised lip, head down, his fangs streaked red with Ethan’s blood.
“I’ll tear off your remaining leg,” Elijah growled. “Along with all your other limbs.”
Ethan whimpered in pain. He couldn’t fight back. Elijah had bested him. A shiver of terror ran up my spine.
This was all over. We were going to lose.
Gabby raised her hand. A red ball of magic, one equal to the spell I’d created in the last match, shone in her open palm. “Say goodbye, losers.”
I threw my arms around Ethan and held on tight. I closed my eyes and prayed that it would be quick. I didn’t want to feel any pain, but more than that, I didn’t want Ethan to suffer.
Lady Magdalina’s words forced their way into my mind.Call upon Milonna for help.
I didn’t think it would help this late in the match. I didn’t see how. But I was out of options, and I wanted to stand a good chance at getting into the Great Hunting Grounds if I was really going to die today.
Goddess, help me,I pleaded.Show me the way.
When I spoke those words from my heart, it was like the match paused. A soft feeling entered my chest, and my eyes fluttered open. Elijah and Gabby faded away. So did the arena. Even Ethan vanished from my side. Everything dissolved as I rose to my feet. The world around me became silent and steady.
I was standing in a beautiful forest in the middle of springtime, golden light enveloping me in a warm, sunny embrace. I heard the sound of birds, and the leaves whispering, and the rushing sound of a brook as water trickled against the rocks. I even think I heard the voices of women far in the distance, laughing and singing against a new dawn.
Milonna was there. She looked the same as she had last time— a beautiful white doe, with twisting tree branches for antlers, a halo of light surrounding her form. The weakness and fear left my body as she proceeded toward me with graceful steps. As I stood in her light, peace came over me, giving me the feeling of coming home.
You cannot give up, Worldweaver,Milonna said gently. Her voice sounded musical and soft… like that of a mother.Your time has not yet come.
“Goddess, I can’t beat them,” I said. My head hung in defeat. “I’ve tried everything, and I’ve failed. Ethan and I can’t win this. We don’t have the power.”
The power to become queen is inside of you,Milonna whispered.You need only to bring it to life, and face the sun.
Milonna reached out and closed the space between us. Her soft muzzle met the place where my heart beat against my chest, and a radiating light burst from her touch.
When her nose caressed my heart, something incredible happened. The forest around me vanished. Milonna was gone, and the arena came rushing back.
Ethan was still on the ground, and Elijah was still in his wolven form. Gabby was at his side, the spell still burning in her fingers.
But I was looking down on them this time, not up at them. I was hovering above the ground, my feet dangling upon thin air. Both Gabby and Elijah were gazing at me with open mouths— I suddenly realized I was at least twenty feet above them.
I hadwings.They were in the shape of snowflakes, different shades of shimmering sapphire sparkling like diamonds across the length of their span. The edges of them were fringed with white, like frost, and the moonlight bounced off of their reflection, creating small rainbows that dazzled throughout the arena. They were the largest wings I’d ever seen on any sorceress— twelve feet on either side— and glowed with a silver light that moved fluidly. They beat of their own free will, keeping me suspended over the challengers below.
Ethan weakly raised his eyes. A brightness illuminated his gaze as he took in the sight of me hovering above him, like a noble protector.
He was proud of me. That was enough to make me want to fly. I no longer felt tired or weak. Now, I felt strong.
Elijah bared his teeth and growled. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he barked at Gabby. “Go get her!”
Gabby snapped her mouth shut. She brought out her wings, and beat them furiously as she rose to my height. Magic burned in both of her hands now. She fired both shots at me, but instinctively, I rolled to the side. My wings kept me aloft, and steadied me in the air as her missiles flew by and exploded behind me.
She immediately sent several more shots, but I looped in the air and dived, avoiding each one. I didn’t know how to fly, but it was like the feeling came naturally to me— like skating did. I’d paid attention in Flight class, even though I hadn’t gained my wings yet, and I applied the information I’d been taught as I spun out of the way of Gabby’s spells. She screamed in rage as each of her blasts missed me, her magic failing her.
I smirked. “My turn.” I searched inside me for my light— the power Milonna had given me. From within, I was able to draw out a flickering ball of sapphire.
