From the Embers (The Born in Flames Trilogy) (27 page)

“Blood of black, impure and wrong,

Unbind my soul from where it doesn’t belong,

Third of three meant for the hold,

Open your soul and remold.”

We chanted this three times before the spell finally began to take effect. The Stone lit up, a beam of light shooting up to the cavern ceiling and out towards the cauldron.

Fenn caught me as I crippled into a ball on his lap. I felt my soul ripping in half, unable to move or speak. It took everything in me to hold on to his shaking hands. The darkness I had been attached to did not want to give up; it fought to keep its hold on my soul.

I bit down on my tongue, trying to refrain from screaming out, and blood pooled in my mouth. Shards of pain sliced through me as a dark light burst out from my chest where the heaviness of Zordon had always sat.

Through blurry eyes, I watched Fenn’s face coil in pain as, right before our eyes, our souls slowly wove together. Two small forms of light, in the shape of swans, swam out from inside of us and crossed necks above the cauldron. The minute they touched, I knew the spell was complete. The darkness inside me, the evil taint that I had so longed to be rid of, was no longer there. Only my love for Fenn remained.

The light quickly faded, and a large blast blew away the rock to our right, sending fragments flying around us. Zordon.

“Aurora,” Fenn shouted, already on his feet and pulling me up.

Painful screeching filled the air, immobilizing us in pain. This was not how I had imagined it ending—The Fates reacting harshly to our attempt at fixing their mess.

“You’ve got it all wrong,” I heard a familiar voice say.

I slowly opened my eyes. We were standing in the Hall where we had met the Counsel.

“Stay down,” Lexi said to me. She was right beside me and looked worried and beaten. I dropped to the ground, my mind racing as it tried to catch up. Fenn was on the other side of me. I scanned the room for any sign of Zane and then froze. He lay unconscious a few feet away from us.
He has to be okay,
I told myself.
He heals rapidly.

I nudged Fenn in the side and pointed towards Zane with my chin. The blood drained from his face. Without thinking, he scuttled forward on hands and knees. I crawled after him, trying to push away the sounds of Saeth’s voice.

“He says move again and he will burn you on the spot,” Lexi shouted out fearfully.

Fenn and I both froze. It was entirely possible now so why hadn’t he killed me already? I slowly turned towards the sound of screeching.

The light emanating off of Saeth slowly began to fade. I almost didn’t want to see, but I couldn’t pry my eyes away. Encased by a red-colored halo, he hid behind the hood of his robe.

The Counsel stood next to him, exactly how I remembered him. He sneered as he brazenly moved towards us. We had bested him the last time. His steps said we would do otherwise this time.

“You have undone the bind,” he pointed out with a note of glee in his voice. His hands came together in a clap of joy. “We must applaud you for that.” Another round of screeching assaulted my ears, and I dropped further onto my knees, trying to find sanctity behind the palms pressing against my ears.

I felt a hand on the other side of me and looked over. Lexi. She trembled from head to toe.

He circled around us now, glaring at us with disgust. “Zordon knows his soul has been ripped in half, and now he is hell bent on destroying everything you love to bring you back down to the realm.”

“The Orient,” Fenn said through his teeth. He squeezed my other hand. The threads of my control threatened to snap loose.

The Counsel stopped walking and bent over to meet Fenn’s eyes. “Such a predicament,” he said through mocking laughter. “Such a shame that you are stuck here.”

I looked over at Lexi, searching her eyes for any sign of retreat. It couldn’t end…not like this. The endless cackle coming from the Counsel broke what little hope I had left.

“What do you want?” I snapped at him.

His laughter ended abruptly, his cruel black eyes narrowing on me underneath furrowed brows. “I,” he said, placing his hand against his chest, “do not want anything from you.” His words rolled off his tongue in a snarl.

I prayed they couldn’t see the images whirling through my mind. He was vile and vicious and every second wasted was a second one of my own could die.

The Counsel turned to Saeth, “I am only here because he wants to speak with you. Your fragile ears are not meant to understand his words.”

“Get to it then,” Fenn retorted cuttingly. Angst rolled off of him in waves.

Lexi scooted closer to me, her robes dragging across filth and rubble. She leaned her head just close enough to whisper, “I don’t think they mean us any harm.”

I felt my brows pinch together.
Mean us no harm?

The screeching rang throughout the hall again. I couldn’t stop the awful gagging as my body tried to vomit. On cue, Fenn hunched over on his hands and knees, dry heaving. He felt every bit of pain I felt, as I felt his. The bind was surely intact.

“Stop it!” Lexi shouted through tears.

The Counsel laughed. “Saeth wants you to kill Zordon. After what happened, being locked away by his son’s hand, he will not be given another chance. This cannot happen again. This was never intended to happen.”

I looked up through watery eyes, spitting to rid the crude taste from my mouth. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have created Zordon in the first place,” I spat. “And maybe you shouldn’t have tried to overthrow your brother’s and sister.”

An unseen force slapped me. My eyes landed on Fenn’s face. Blood trickled from the same spot where I was struck. In that moment, as blood coated the inside of my mouth, I regretted being bound to Fenn. I regretted the fact that he had to feel every strike inflicted upon me. I spit again.

“It’s nice to be bound to someone you love, someone you care for, isn’t it?” the Counsel said mockingly. “Every hit you take, he takes. Every stab, every scrape, every broken bone, it is his as well. Do you regret it, Progeny?”

I looked up with hatred.

He smirked, the evil grin reaching his eyes. “You would be wise to bite your tongue,” the Counsel advised sharply. He stood rigidly, his fists clenched.

“What she meant to say was, if you would kindly stop wasting our time, then we could get on with killing Zordon” Fenn forced out, spitting the blood from his mouth from the hit we shared.

More screeching broke out as Saeth glided towards us, murder in his eyes.

“Please!” Lexi shouted as she watched both Fenn and I fall to our backs, writhing against the broken pieces of wall. White hot pain shot throughout my body, crippling me.

When the pain let up, the Counsel stepped forward. “Iliana has always intended for Aurora to kill Zordon,” the Counsel translated for Saeth. “Originally, his instincts were to protect his creation, the same as Gidius’. But after Zordon’s betrayal, he realizes he was wrong.”

“Why doesn’t he just kill Zordon himself? We made him mortal and removed the bond,” Fenn said. Blood drained from his ears, same as mine.

Saeth cocked his head to the side, watching us intently. It seemed he was contemplating his answer, unprepared for that question. The Counsel looked back at him, waiting for his next words. I braced myself, but nothing came.

“Sir?” the Counsel questioned, backing up a few steps to be closer to Saeth. The screeching resumed but only for a moment. Shock filtered across the Counsel’s face.

“Oh my god,” Lexi said under her breath, “that explains it.”

“What?” I asked, my stomach prickling with fear.

The Counsel cleared his throat, resuming his evil demeanor. “The night Saeth and Maison went after you when you were sent away by Astral, Iliana stepped in. She is the reason you escaped. She talked the other two Fates, Arcadia and Castien, into helping her.”

He leaned in further, his pupils dilating. “That same night, a spell was woven, binding The Fates to both of your souls, preventing them from being able to kill either of you. Free will was restored. It was her way of keeping her brothers in line.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t try to scare us into anything since you technically can’t kill her,” Fenn shot off.

The Counsel clicked his teeth. “Don’t be too hasty in your thinking, youngling. When Zordon is killed, Saeth could very easily end your existence.”

“That would be stupid,” I fired back. “Don’t back me into a corner.” I pulled on my necklace, showing the vial with the remaining elixir in it.

The Counsel laughed heartily. “Like you could get that into him,” he said, thoroughly amused.

“I got it into Zordon, didn’t I?”

The look on his face vanished.

“Is that all? Can we get back to our quest now?” Fenn stood, finally able to get to his feet.

Saeth’s voice rang out. The Counsel rolled his eyes. “One more thing,” he added. “It seems you both will be granted your titles.”

Fenn and I looked at each other.

“I hereby award each of you the title of Archion Mage,” he said dully before turning to leave the room. I wondered where they were going and where they other Fates were. Where Iliana was? Did she know? Was she pleased?

As Fenn pulled me into a hug, I thought back to the night so long ago when I was scared and lost, not understanding why The Fates were after me. Why they didn’t just take one of us out?

Because Iliana was a genius.

Chapter 24

The Edge of Battle

“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME up?” Zane croaked, inches away from us. The breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding rushed out of me.  We did it. We really did it.

Fenn jumped up and lent Zane a hand, pulling him to his feet. “What happened to you two?” He hugged Zane and Lexi.

“You mean before or after the beating from the Demon?” Zane said, rubbing his arm that was in the process of healing.

“Look, I’m sorry—” Fenn started.

“No need,” Zane said, putting his hand up to halt Fenn’s words. “We managed. Lexi’s a lot stronger than I thought. After kicking the Demon’s ass, she brought us back here.” He turned and threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a brotherly hug.

Her cheeks reddened a little. “It was nothing,” she said, eyes dropping to the floor. “We weren’t supposed to go any further, and we weren’t dead so we didn’t belong there. My magic simply allowed us to port back here.”

“Which is when we ran into even deeper trouble,” Zane finished for her, the cuts on his face fading before my eyes.

“All because of you,” Lexi snickered.

This time it was Zane who blushed.

“What happened?” I asked, looking between them.

“He was curious,” Lexi answered with a sidelong look in his direction. Zane looked away from us, his expression plummeting.

“For?” I asked.

“He found his Oraculus.”

“What?” Fenn said.

Zane looked back at us, his expression odd. Remorsefully odd. “I just wanted to sneak a peek,” he tried to justify, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“I thought you couldn’t read it unless you were dead.” I thought back to the first night Lexi had visited me in the other realm when she had explained all the rules to me.

A small smile picked up at the corners of his mouth. “Technically, I did die.”

My mouth sort of fell open. “So then…you were able to read it?” I thought I saw sadness flash in his eyes right before he looked away from me. It made my stomach tingle in a sickening way.

“Sort of.” His answer was short and to the point, and his tone suggested he didn’t want to discuss it.

“Because of his prying eyes, we were assaulted by the remaining Celestians, those who weren’t taken by Zordon. It was a crazy-losing battle until Saeth showed up. And then you guys appeared.”

After a long moment of silence, Zane wondered out loud, “Can you believe it?”

“It makes sense,” Fenn admitted.

“Everything makes more sense now,” I agreed.

“So where did he go?” Zane asked, rubbing his shoulder.

“I don’t know. Back to the other Fates?” I guessed. I grabbed the crystal from around my neck and whispered the words for Kaede.

“Progeny?”

“It is done,” I said, my grip tight around the necklace.

“That news couldn’t come at a better time. We are under attack,” Kaede said, his voice restrained.

“Where should we meet?”

“At the barrier. We are currently trying to port there. Are you okay?”

I hesitated. I wanted to talk to Astral. I wanted to tell him everything. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, deciding to wait.

“See you at the barrier,” Kaede said, and then the connection broke.

They watched me, the mood shifting. This was it. This was the moment we had been waiting for. The New Dawn.

“I feel like I have waited forever for this moment, but now that it is here, it feels like it has arrived too fast,” Lexi said as she pushed a piece of rubble away from her.

“I know what you mean,” Zane said. “For so long, I thought I would be fighting for my father, and now here I am, in this Hall,” he said, looking around. “I never thought I would see this place.” His words were filled with great meaning. He was better than he thought he was. I knew this. And by being around me, he knew this too. I gave him a half-hearted smile. There was an exchange of understanding between our smiles.

“We should get going,” I said, standing. Fenn took my hand, kissed the back of it, and then wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

I felt different. Like there was this huge amount of love inside of my soul. Like the shadows that Zordon had created had been cast away from me. I felt complete. This was the way it was always meant to be. As I looked in Fenn’s sparkling blue eyes, I knew that he was always meant to carry this bond.

He was my soul mate.

“Ready?” Lexi asked. We formed into a small circle.

“More than ever,” I said.

WE MET A BLACK SKY when we arrived at the rift. The edge of dawn was approaching, maybe an hour or so away, but there was no way to tell behind the swirling mess of dark gray clouds. My hands trembled at my side with the anticipation of the fight to come.

The final battle. 

The four of us stood with our arms around each other, staring off into the destruction of what once was. The other realm, my old home, was no longer recognizable. It had turned into a vast wasteland.

My heart stiffened. I squeezed Fenn’s hand, hoping we would make it through this. We had come so far with only one obstacle left in our way, and it was the worst obstacle of them all…Zordon.

“Whatever happens, I want you all to know how grateful I am to have you as my family,” Zane said, staring straight ahead. I looked over at him, and he turned, sending me a meaningful smile.

“We love you, brother,” Lexi spoke for all of us, ruffling his raven-colored hair. He laughed, his lips forming a permanent smile.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side,” I threw in. I wanted to say more, but the knot that had formed in my throat kept me from speaking.

“What a ride,” Fenn added, pulling Lexi and me into him. She play-punched him in the side and then ruffled his hair too. Their laughter rang together. I wanted to laugh too but was stopped by the force compelling me to turn around.

Astral was in my mind.

I turned and found him alone, proudly smiling in my direction.
“You did it.”

“Not quite.”
I looked up to the somber skies.

He chuckled.
“You know that it is always darkest before dawn. Don’t sell yourself short.”

The others stopped laughing and turned. “Astral!” Lexi shouted, running for him. It was the first time I had ever seen her act like herself around him.

He was surprised by the strong hug she pulled him into and chuckled. “You’ve all done a magnificent job,” he praised.

“I’d have to agree with you,” Zane said, laughing.

“Where are Kaede and Lev?” Fenn asked. 

As if on command, they appeared. Kaede hadn’t been lying about the gathering. An endless sea of soldiers wearing armor with my family crest painted on the front stood ready to cross into the unknown for me.

The Ancients held the outside of the formation in single file rows, their giant forms towering over the many Mages that stood at attention. In the center, Nymphs were dressed in silver-plated armor, and all around them were Sirens and Warlocks that must have come from Lev’s owed favors. I scanned our army until I had to use my dragon sight to see who stood beyond. Every race, every stature, every class—they were all here, brave and united.

All except one.

“The Priests?” I asked Astral as soon as I noticed their lack of presence.

He shook his head no, frowning a little.

“All of that for nothing,” I muttered, pressing my lips tight. What if Zordon had destroyed them? What if their last act was giving me the elixir? My heart felt like it was shrinking from all of the what ifs Zordon had caused. All of the lives he had stolen.

“They survived, Little Flame,”
Astral said, his tone bordering anger and disappointment.

It was hard to swallow that piece of information. I wanted to be relieved they had survived, but not at the price of finding out they had cowered away from the battle that will determine the fate of the realms.

“Progeny,” Kaede said as he and Lev walked up to us. Adam stood behind his father wearing a small smile.

My brows rose.
Please tell me something good.

Kaede looked over at Lev, nodding for him to explain their findings. Lev cleared his throat, his hands resting on the hilt of his sword. He wore animal skins around his waist. When he looked up, his hazel eyes looked directly into mine.

“As you can see, we were able to gather the alliances needed to strengthen our army. The favors owed to me were gladly paid with the returned hope of once again living in peace amongst one another. It’s well worth the fight.”

“But the indestructible army,” I asked urgently.

He smirked and stood a little taller. “A weakness was found through word in the Swamp, and we have prepared our forces. Though their skin is as thick as stone, they feel no pain, and their minds are immune to our spells, there is one thing Zordon forgot to include in his ‘creation’…free thinking. They are mindless and fight under the command of Na’shir. They are walking shells with no direction and no means to avoid a trap.”

“What do you have in mind?” I asked, thinking of the promise I made to Irisi. It wasn’t looking like I would be able to keep it.

“A grave big enough to swallow every last one,” he said with a smirk. He looked over his shoulder; I followed his gaze. Magic that smelled of the earth element radiated underneath the feet of each warrior. Lev turned back to me and smiled.

“We will prevail,” Kaede added with a knowing grin. “We’ve come to fight for the New Dawn,” he continued, bending to one knee, “and a New Dawn we will see once again.” He and Adam bowed before me.

“I owe you my life and more,” Lev said, his accent curling his words as he knelt down. This action caused a ripple effect throughout the sea of soldiers and supporters. They followed the movement, all bowing to the hope I brought. I glanced to my side and found Fenn, Zane, and Lexi bowing as well.

My first instinct was to turn away, to hide behind someone, but I couldn’t. These people looked to me. In their eyes, I was their savior, even if I didn’t see it myself.

“You are their savior, Little Flame. Now speak to them. Seal their hope and faith in you. Give them the encouragement they need before stepping into the battle for the realms,”
Astral said in my mind.

I found the top of his head lowered next to Kaede’s and took a deep breath. If there was ever a moment where I needed to be more than myself, it was now. I couldn’t back down. They had come this far, I had to meet them the rest of the way.

I looked out into the crowd, pressing my shoulders back. “Our realm has sat in the darkness of Zordon’s evil for far too long. He has taken from us what is not his to take. He has robbed us of joy and peace, all as an act of revenge against The Fates. And we will suffer no more.

“This fight will be the biggest fight of your life. We are not just fighting for peace, but for the end of a dark era. For the end of Zordon’s reign. You must look inside yourself and call upon the courage of a warrior now. Realize that fear is not our enemy. Our enemy is a man, like you and me, who once called himself immortal.”

I closed my eyes, feeling rage boiling within me. The face of every being he had hurt passed through my mind, strengthening the knot in my heart. My face stiffened as I finished through clenched teeth.

“Zordon is not untouchable. Every fight he has thrown my way, he has lost. He will continue to lose because we have what he doesn’t: unity, peace, courage, and love. Think of that as you cast down our enemies because I promise you, what lies on the other side of this battle is freedom from his darkness. What lies beyond this battle is peace. The New Dawn awaits us and we will take back what is ours!”

Battle cries erupted as the entire army stood and shouted, clanging their swords against their shields, shooting off magic into the sky like fireworks. One man stepped out from the crowd, his lavender eyes sparkling with pride.

“Dad?”

He laid his staff on the ground and pulled me into a tight hug. Kaede took over the army, shouting out orders while Adam ported down the center of the troops, delivering more commands.

“I’m so sorry I haven’t been here for you, Little Flame,” he whispered into my ear, rubbing the back of my hair. My eyes squeezed shut, locking in the overwhelming tears.

“It’s okay, Dad. I miss her too,” I said, burying my head in his neck. Nothing could replace the warmth of a father’s hug. I tried to relish in the moment as I breathed in his comforting scent. “I didn’t think you would show.”

“And miss the end of Zordon’s reign?” He chuckled and pulled me tighter before letting me go with a small peck on my forehead. “I am many things, but I am not a coward. I will stand beside you and fight for our New Dawn. Your mother would be so proud of you right now. There is so much of her in you.”