Emma slammed a fist on the table. “I don’t even understandwhyDroga wants the Crystals. He’s a god. He has infinite power. What use are they to him?”
“Lady Magdalina might’ve told me, before she died,” Finlay said regrettably. “But she made me take a vow not to tell you until you were ready for it.”
“Fin, just give it to me straight,” Emma said tiredly. “I need to know what we’re up against.”
Finlay gave a heavy sigh. “Well, ready for it or not, I think you have the right to know. No point in continuing to wait.”
We waited anxiously on his words, before he said, “Droga wants the stones because he can use them to create portals to other worlds.”
“Worlds?” I asked.
“Yes. Different planes of dimensions, different universes,” Finlay said. “Even as a god, he can only travel between Earth, Edinmyre, and the Underworld. He doesn’t have the power to go anywhere else… at least, not without the Crystals.”
“So he’s not just interested in taking overthisplane of reality. He wants to conquer others,” Emma said, her voice growing with impending fear.
“That is his main goal,” Finlay agreed. “As fae, we know there are other supernatural planes of existence— other magical realms out there that exist separately from our own. We haven’t discovered them yet, but it’s certain that Droga wants to rule over all of them.”
I couldn’t imagine the kind of chaos and grief that would cause. To not only destroy our world, but to ravage others… his greed truly knew no bounds. There was more at stake than just Malovia, or the fae. Entire universes could be in jeopardy if we failed to stop Droga in time.
“We can’t let that happen,” Emma insisted. “We’ll use the Crystals to stop him!”
“It won’t work. They’re not tools for mortal fae, even talented supernaturals,” Finlay insisted. “During our hunt for the Unseelie stone, Lady Magdalina was certain of one thing, and she made sure to ram it into my head; the power within those stones is uncontrollable. You get those Crystals anywhere near Droga, he’ll take them. Every time you use the stones, some of their power is drained. They don’t have infinite power. The gods only put so much magic into each stone, and although the power they hold is immense, if they’re pushed to their limit, they will eventually run out of magic. Then you won’t be able to use them to open the portal.”
“So we never can learn how to use the Crystals of Harmony,” Emma said in defeat. “They’re not meant to be wielded for any other purpose but to reopen the portal.”
“Exactly. Only a god or demigod can use their power without draining them— which is why Droga can’t get his hands on them. You’ll be able to use the stones to open the portal to Edinmyre, because you are the Worldweaver and that is your ability alone,” Finlay said. “But as for using them to fight… forget about it.”
“The girls used the Crystals to fight at the battle of Arcanea University, but we didn’t know at the time that using them was siphoning away their power,” I said grimly. “We were lucky we didn’t completely spend their magic.”
“But the Unseelie stone still works, and I used it in the Contest. I’m a stronger sorceress now,” Emma objected. “I bet I could—”
“You could utilize the power in each individual stone for a short time, like you did in the Contest, and like your friends did when Arcanea University was attacked,” Finlay said. “But if you used them against Droga, the power required to defeat him would be immense, and drawing from the stones to do so would render them useless. Therefore, you wouldn’t be able to use them to reopen the portal, which makes the entire thing pointless. In fact, if used improperly, they might even kill us.”
“Like what nearly happened to Delmare,” I said. “She tried to defend Stefan using the dragon stone during the battle of Arcanea University, and it backfired on her. She still has the scar on her face.”
“What use are the Crystals if we can’t use them to defeat Droga?” Emma snarled. “If I go down, I’m taking him with me!”
I hurried to calm her. “It’s all right,onawilke. We’ll figure something out,” I said.
She crossed her arms and looked away from me. I felt sympathy for her, but worse was the terror that we could be helpless. We couldn’t allow Droga to obtain any of these Crystals, including the Unseelie stone. If he did, he’d hop from universe to universe taking over different worlds, until there was nothing left free and everything was under his control.
We were fighting against more than the end of all fae. If Droga remained in power, the end of alllife, on this planet and others, could be a reality.
And we were the only ones standing in his way.
Chapter Four
Emma
The revelation of how to unite the Crystals of Harmony was darkened by what Finlay had told me. Droga wanted to control more than the fae— more than this planet. His sights were set on being the ruler of dimensions and planes of reality we didn’t even know about.
It was too much to fathom— my mind shut off whenever the possibility was brought up. If the weight on my shoulders had been the world before, it was entirerealmsnow. I didn’t know how I managed to keep going under that kind of pressure, but somehow, I survived.
I’d improved considerably over the past few months. I was able to walk most places now, and take the stairs a few times a day. I could take down little meals without throwing up, and I didn’t sleep all hours of the day like I did before.
I could even do small spells. I’d worked on casting here and there when I felt like I had the energy, and I was able to do easy illusions. My ribs and bruised organs had healed, although I still moved gingerly at times, as I could feel the remnants of their aftereffects.
I hoped within the next few months I’d be able to cast great magic like I could before, though I was beginning to worry I’dneverget back to normal. It was taking me such a long time to recover.
