“Can the rest of us get through?” Delmare asked. She stepped closer, but the portal didn’t close.
“I think so, now that we opened it,” Theo said. “Follow us. We don’t know where it’s going to take us.”
“I can get us back, I’m sure,” Emma said.
“Let’s hope,” I said. Emma and I fell in line behind Theo and Odette, and the others gathered around us. I held my breath as I walked through the portal, hoping that it would take us to the Alicorn Court, and not a place where we’d end up trapped.
When I stepped out of the portal, it was like entering into another world. The eight of us gasped in unison as we turned in place, trying to take in what we were looking at. The grass below our feet was amethyst, while the skies lit up a teal blue, with a sapphire sun that gave everything a cool glow. Around us grew turquoise willow trees, and a river of silver rushed by. I could hear the tweeting of birds echoing against stone walls as we gazed up at a palace made of clear quartz. We were in some kind of courtyard, in a faerie land I did not know by name.
“Look!” Kiara pointed, and through the fog, a figure emerged. She was wearing a soft velvet robe that draped behind her, a crown that looked like it was made of starlight upon her feathery hair.
“Lady Iris!” Theo’s eyes widened as she approached.
The lines in her face creased, and she smiled. “Hello, Theodore. Odette.” She greeted them kindly, like a mother would. “You have passed the first test. Welcome to the land of the Alicorn Court.”
Theo stuttered. “You— you’re one of them!”
“Yes. I havedrycablood. My mother, my grandmother, and her mother before her have all served on the Court,” Iris said. “It was my duty since I was a little girl. I’m so glad that you finally found us. I wish I could’ve led you here myself, but the magical oath I took to the Court years ago prevented me from telling you of its location. But no matter— here you are.”
“Where are we?” Emma asked as she looked around.
“You are inside an illusion. A creation of our own minds,” Lady Iris said. “Many years prior, the firstdrycacombined their powers to manifest another realm, a place where the Alicorn Court could conference in solitude. Through the ages, this place has been sustained by the magic of the Court. So long as one member of the Alicorn Court is still alive, this place will continue to exist.”
“So you made another world? Are you gods?” Odette squeaked.
Lady Iris smiled, like the idea was humorous. “We are not gods. This castle and its surroundings are all we have the power to create, although unlike back on Earth, food does not nourish here and drink does not sustain us. We can only remain within the confines of the illusion for so long before we must return to Malovia. These days, the Court only uses this place for meetings— and to hide our most precious treasure.”
Lady Iris turned. She wound through the courtyard, and we began following her as she led us up a winding set of steps that went inside the castle. Once we were within the castle, I saw that the insides were bare— there was nothing within except the gleaming clear quartz that made up the building, cast blue by the light of the sapphire moon.
Lady Iris began to explain as she led us down the hallway. “The goddess Neva, the Specter Doe of Shadow, entrusted the Alicorn Court with the alicorn stone, believing we would bestow it upon those who needed it the most. For centuries, the Court has kept it hidden here, and it has waited all this time for you.” She inclined her head to Emma.
“You knew we were looking for the stone,” Emma said. “How?”
“Each of us has the ability to see into the future, Miss Sosna. It is in ourdrycablood, and a requirement of being on the Court,” Iris said. “We know you are the Worldweaver, and need the Crystals of Harmony to reopen the portal to Edinmyre.”
“Why couldn’t you just give us the alicorn stone if you knew we were looking for it?” Theo asked.
“It’s not that simple.” Lady Iris shook her head. “A fae has to show they have the qualities that exemplify the stone. It is the way the magic works. The alicorn stone will not permit us to simply hand it over to you. You have to first find it, and then prove that you are worthy of it. It is the power that the gods set upon the crystals before they scattered them across the two worlds. Every Crystal of Harmonymustbe earned.”
“So how do we prove we’re worthy?” Emma asked.
“Youdon’t,” Iris said. “Only an alicorn— or should I say,alicorns— can harness the alicorn stone.”
Her gaze turned to Theo and Odette. Her meaning was clear. This was a test they would have to endure alone.
Theo laced his fingers with Odette’s. He grasped her hand tightly as he said, “What must we do?”
“There is a trial to obtain the alicorn stone, set by the members of the Court,” Iris said. “We will use our magic against you to test your worthiness. If you pass, the alicorn stone will be yours. If you don’t… well, let’s not talk about that.”
“A trial?” Odette squeaked. Her eyes grew wide with fear.
“Yes, and there is no time to prepare,” Lady Iris said. “If you wish to obtain the alicorn stone, you have no choice but to fight.”
Chapter Twenty
Emma
Now? Like, right-this-second now?
