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The green light turns blacker than night and shoots straight up over their heads, shattering the glass ceiling of the greenhouse. A small scream echoes from the trees and my father knows somewhere a young me is in here. He hopes I’ll stay wherever it is I’m hiding while he tries to fix this. His emotions are panicked as he looks up at the black cylinder rising from the alter.
He knows his magic is too far into the spell to reverse. High above, where the blackness has stopped, the sky rips open with a blinding light. My father says a different incantation, trying to close the tear between worlds, but it’s no use. Black shadow demons fly out of the tear in the sky into our world and my father’s panic spikes. He knows he must stop this at once. The creatures that would come through a spell such as this would be unstoppable and if the rift isn’t closed soon, there will be too many, and they’ll destroy our world completely.
“We must stop the spell!” my father calls to the king.
“I can’t move my hands!” the king replies, his eyes frantic.
“Neither can I,” my father says. “The spell is tied to us; it won’t release us until it’s finished. By that time, our world will be overrun by those creatures.”
The king looks up at the sky, then he sets his jaw and says. “Kill me.”
“No!” My father shakes his head at the horror of what his closest friend is suggesting. “There must be another way.”
“Time is wasting,” the king argues. “I can’t move, but you can still use your magic. Kill me now! It’s the only way and you know it.”
He’s right. My father is heartbroken because he knows it’s true, but he still hesitates. Not only does he not want to kill a friend, but he also knows once he does, he will be killed too. This is suicide as much as it’s murder. He also fears the consequences it will have on the kingdom and us children.
“Do it!” the king commands.
“I’m sorry, my friend,” my father says.
The king nods. “I know. So am I. They’re strong, you know. We have to believe they’ll be okay.”
“They’ll have each other,” my father says.
The king nods and lifts his chin. An invitation—a final order. My father says an incantation and sends a death blow of his magic straight to the king’s heart, killing him instantly. A painless death is the only mercy he can offer his old friend. The spell is stopped the moment the king dies. The tear is already closing.
A terrified boy screams from somewhere in the greenhouse and my father’s heart breaks for young Daimis. He’s horrified he had to witness it, and even more horrified for what he knows I will have to witness next. There is no way the Steel Guard will let him live after what he’s just done.
My father looks around for me, even as the first sword stabs into his flesh, the Regent’s blade. He holds in his cry of pain for my sake. He won’t make it any harder on me than it has to be. He looks up and just before the tear between the worlds closes, a form falls from it and lands at the Regent’s feet.It’s the creature, the Ogieer.My father realizes quickly that no one else seems to see the thing.Of course they can’t, they’re not dying; my father is.But as the creature climbs up the Regent’s legs, to his back, and then embeds its claws into his skull, my father understands that the shadow demons aren’t the only threat that came into our world. The creature tips his head at my father in thanks before whispering into the Regent’s ear. The Regent nods and sinks his blade again into my father. His only fear now is that he will die before he can find me. He falls to the ground when he can no longer keep himself upright. The pain is consuming everything but his determination.He’s so strong.
A scream from a young me pierces the air and my father follows the sound to see his baby girl in the bushes holding tightly to Daimis’s hand. Tears run freely down my young, round face; my eyes are so blue they almost glow in the dark. My father thinks he’s never seen anything more heartbreakingly beautiful and regrets he can’t be there to watch me grow up.
But he can’t die until he’s performed one last spell, the most important one of his life. He knows that the creatures who entered our world will only be controlled by the magic which brought them here, and so he can’t let his magic die with him or there will be no hope. He says the final incantation with every last bit of energy he has and sends all his magic in a bright ball of light to me. It carries with it all of his hopes and dreams for Daimis and me. He knows some of the magic will go to Daimis through our clasped hands and he is glad for it because Daimis and I are the hope for the future of all the lands. He knows it will protect us the way he and the king couldn’t. He watches his magic absorb into Daimis and me and dies with that hope in his heart.
I’m thrust back into the present, panting, tears streaming down my face, heart in pieces. Daimis holds me in his arms, and I cling to him, balling my hands in his shirt as sob after sob racks through me. He cries with me over the loving fathers we lost, and the answers we’ve been seeking for so long. My father was never evil, he didn’t let the shadow demons into this world, and he didn’t murder the king in cold blood. He was only trying to protect Daimis and me.
Chapter26
Dragons
My mother was able to observe everything we experienced in the spell and once we cry and hug, and cry some more, we agree we need to eat something and get some fresh air. My mother and Daimis leave so we can all change for dinner. Momma said she would send a messenger to have Tuuk and Elsie meet us for supper at one of the local establishments.
My mother sends for an attendant to help me dress. I protest the assistance, telling her that I can get into my leathers just fine on my own. But my mother tells me they are being laundered, and besides, fighting gear is not proper dining attire.
Shortly after, a young fae woman, named Faleene, with bright blond hair and pale gray eyes arrives with a few clothing choices in my size. Which ended up being quite helpful with my injury. She even healed it a bit more before putting a new bandage on. That’s when I learn that she’s not just quiet, but a mute. She used signs with her fingers to cast the healing spell, which I didn’t even know was possible.
I take note that if she is to be helping me regularly, I’ll have to learn her signs. I pick the simplest of the outfits, something that won’t make me stand out too much, a silver-colored, scoop-neck dress, with delicate pearl accents on the long sleeves and down the back. It’s fitted in the bodice, showcasing ample cleavage, and lets out in the skirts, a common enough design, though very well made, and with finely woven material. She puts a pearl necklace on me and styles my hair in intricate braids that she tops off with a silver tiara incrusted with pearls and diamonds to match the dress.
I meet Faleene’s eyes in the mirror. “That’s not necessary,” I say, making sure she can read my lips. I gesture to the tiara.
She creases her brows, and signs something that I don’t understand, but her expression lets me know she adamantly disagrees.
“It’s beautiful, but I’m just going to dinner, not a ball.”
She shakes her head and signs again, gesturing to me and then saying something more. Her eyes imploring me, her expression almost reverent.
“She’s telling you that you are Crystal Falls’ lost princess, blessedly returned to us, so it is in fact quite necessary,” my mother says walking over to us. She’s wearing a beautiful white and gold gown with sewn in diamonds that sparkle when she moves, and a magnificent crown of diamonds sits on her head. She wears it with a regality that makes it clear who she is.
