Embracing the Flames (34 page)

I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him as I said, “Yes, your Majesty.”

“Did he speak to you?” he asked, this time sounding hopeful. My stomach coiled. I was about to disappoint him again.

“No,” I said shamefully.

“He won’t speak to anyone,” Naveena added kindly. I looked up at her and managed a half-smile.

“We’ve sent Imperials out to search for your mother. We can only wait and pray,” Darian confessed. “As punishment for your disobedience, the Council has decided to ban you from fronting the attack on our Chasm. Until we find your mother, you must remain protected for you are the last heir to the throne.”

I felt my lips turn southward. I didn’t even try to fight him on this. I looked over at Fenn whose face changed many shades of red.

“The war is only days away. Since you have been gone, Zordon’s armies have successfully tromped the outsiders. What hasn’t been murdered or taken prisoner has fled to our Chasm,” Darian continued. “We’ve taken in as many as we could. Our blacksmiths have worked around the clock to produce enough armor to cover each and every warrior, but with all the newcomers, I’m afraid we won’t have enough in time.”

“If I may, your Majesty,” Gabe spoke. The King nodded. “I know a few allied families that are scattered across our island. If I may be granted leave, I can gather them. A few excel in the art of blacksmithing.”

“Go at once,” the King commanded. Gabe bowed and then disappeared through a portal. “The Polar Magium has been contacted and is preparing as well. When the war begins, they will come to help.”

“And the Necromancers?” I asked, thinking of Irisi and her people.

“We have taken in those who have given up their dark ways,” Darian confirmed.

“Irisi?”

“Her clan is here, but she is still held captive by Zordon’s people. Her clan has requested that we help, but with the war on the brink, we have no one to spare,” he replied in his gentle, deep voice. The sadness that filled his green eyes tugged at my heart.

It felt like everyone I came in contact with was doomed. I silently vowed to myself that when all was said and done, Astral, my mother, Irisi, and Gwen would all be returned home. At least I hoped.

Moments later, Darian was interrupted by Gabe falling through a portal. Blood was gushing from his right side. He coughed before he spoke, blood spraying out from behind his teeth. “No time, he is coming. Sound the alarm,” he painfully urged and then a hand, shaped of black smoke, reached through the open portal and yanked Gabe back through.

I couldn’t separate my scream from Naveena’s.

Chapter 29

A Mother’s Deceit

SOMEHOW, I HAD ALWAYS KNOWN it would happen this way. Between the screams and the panic and the horns blowing to alert everyone, one thing remained true—the war had begun.

I was pulled from Fenn and Soothe, from my own free will, and tucked away in a room I had never seen before. It was far below the Courtyard, deep inside the heart of the volcano. My grandparents took me there, carrying me with their claws, flying as fast as they could.

“You must stay here, understood?” Darian threatened with a growl. His already giant form seemed to grow with his anger as his stomps shook the cavern. I nodded without hesitating. “Do
not
let her leave,” he ordered Naveena. And then he disappeared.

I was frozen. I couldn’t even think. I needed to be fighting. I needed to be by Fenn’s side. I ran for the door, but Naveena’s dragon sense was expecting that. A block of ice appeared in front of me. I shifted and opened my mouth, letting flames pour out to melt the ice. But who was I to go against a queen?

A blizzard formed around me, lifting me off the floor and whirling me around the room. I fought hard against the blowing winds and frigid snow, flapping my wings as hard as possible until I finally became steady inside the storm.

“You must calm down,” my grandmother urged, her ice blue scales almost standing at end. “Save it for the fight. For when we need you.”

I ignored her and opened a portal to take me to my room. When I jumped, it was like hitting a wall. “That sort of magic won’t work in here. A safety precaution,” she warned, her heavy footfalls nearing me.

“Figures,” I muttered helplessly. She ended the blizzard, but I turned my back on her and stared at the door, straining with all my dragon sense for any sign of commotion from above.

I didn’t even plan what we would do if this were to happen. I didn’t know where Fenn was. My stomach grew tight with worry. I reached out to him and sensed that he was okay.
Think
, I told myself.
You can get out of here, just think.

I felt a searing heat on my back and then it clicked.

I needed to cross over to Zordon. 

I closed my eyes and thought about the connection. My eyes grew heavy as the heat built right behind my heart.
Come on
, I begged myself. I focused on the pull, and slowly the black began to creep into the corners of my eyes. Right before I disappeared, I turned just in time to smile at Naveena.

When I opened my eyes, I was teetering over the edge of the Chasm. I shifted and jumped into the air before the gusty winds had a chance to push me to an untimely death–by-lava. My grandparents would never trust me after this. 

The song of battle closed in around me like a choir of Reapers. Shouting and screaming melded into one ungodly sound as the smell of blood rose up to the heavens, carrying a warning to The Fates.

Zordon’s army was closing in on the edge of the Chasm, all armored in black sporting the symbols of The Fates; Zordon’s family crest. Black flags also carried the crest, bobbing up and down through the fight below.

Swords barbarically greeted each other with a metallic clang, sending too many to the grave. Elemental magic cascaded down from the armored Imperials as they tried to disarm the infantry of twisted Mages and the rest of the army that Zordon had accumulated.

The enchantments of the Chasm held as far as Mage magic was concerned, but it didn’t prevent physical combat. A never-ending row of archers shot flaming arrows at the Imperials who focused their powers on three chained Cyclopes placing wooden planks that would serve as a bridge for Zordon’s men to walk across. There would be no porting in the Chasm.

I wove through the torrential rain, colossal pieces of hail, and unyielding gusts of wind that the Imperials used to take down a Cyclops, searching for Zordon, but he was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t here. At least, not anymore.

A flash of a large hand smacking me from the sky crossed my mind and then a Cyclops’ hand appeared. I dove just in time to avoid the smack that was intended for me and two Imperials flying on either side of me.

The Cyclops was batting left and right as if swatting flies, trying to pull the Imperials from the sky. The rain from the water dragons surrounded him in a massive bubble, cutting off his supply of oxygen as the boulder-sized hail pounded relentlessly at his large body.

At that moment, everything froze. These were my people. They were fighting for me, for my future. I had to do something, to show them that their fight wasn’t in vain. I had been waiting for this—the moment where I could prove myself worthy.

Desperate to help, I focused on the gurgling lava below and commanded the molten fire to rise up. This was my power, only something I could do. The battlefield quieted somehow as everyone stood in awe, watching a power that had yet to be seen.

I felt the strength from my amulet pour throughout me, willing me along. I was determined to show that I could be counted on. One of the water Imperials caught on to what I was doing and began to freeze the bubble that surrounded the struggling Cyclops.

Under my command, the lava rose higher and higher, becoming an impenetrable wall of liquid fire. Heat radiated off of it, sizzling with clouds of black smoke.

I focused on my rapidly depleting energy.
Calming thoughts
, I told myself, and I envisioned Astral by my side. The image of his wise eyes helped me stay calm. Slowly, I began to feel peace, exhaling deeply. I was doing it. I was becoming the Progeny. Right on time.

I pushed for another surge of energy to move the lava, but I faltered, free-falling for a few seconds before I regained enough strength to keep myself from slamming into the earth. I focused and tried again. The lava rose higher this time, as I mixed my dragon power with my Mage energy. I would not fail.

The lava hovered right above the Cyclops’ head. He looked up, confused. I ordered the Imperials to stand back, and then, with a faint smile, I let the lava fall.

Waves upon waves of molten heat swallowed the Cyclops’ frozen body whole, shattering him into pieces and leaving nothing in his wake. The board he had been holding disintegrated as well, causing the Necromancers and Mages trying to cross to fall into the pit of lava below.

The Imperials closest to me regally bowed their heads in my direction. We had succeeded in putting a huge dent in their plans. We needed to move our focus to the Cyclops’ to prevent them from creating the bridges that led to the opening of the Chasm.

I picked up more lava and managed to take out the other two Cyclopes before the sound of a battle horn hauntingly echoed off the Chasm.

I watched in horror as a blanket of black covered the fields below. The Shadows. More Cyclopes were closing in with planks of wood. Warlocks and Harpies followed close behind. The army’s battle cries grew with excitement as every step brought them closer to us. I tried to pick up more lava, but something caught my eye in the distance. Fenn. He was fighting alongside of Zane, using his sword to push back a row of Necromancers that were relentlessly trying to cross a plank closest to the opening of the Chasm.

I swooped down to the plank, letting fire pour from the very depth of me. It covered the Necromancers, their pained screams sounding like music to my ears. Fenn looked up and winked at me, a coy smile appearing before he and Zane picked up the burning board and dropped it into the Chasm below.

I turned and saw overwhelming destruction. There were too many. Ten more Cyclopes, each carrying a plank, had replaced the three that were already defeated.

I saw red.

I left Fenn behind, soaring as fast as I could in their direction, leaving a trail of fire through the air. The Imperials followed me, dishing out as much of their elements as I dished out mine. This had to end.

I picked up more lava, hurling it towards the Cyclopes while spitting fire on the Necromancers and Warlocks below me.

My amulet flickered, and I faltered once again. The Imperial next to me looked over, his serpent-like eyes questioning me. I shook it off and continued forward with another wave of lava but couldn’t seem to manage. Something was wrong. I felt myself being pulled away, and before I could do anything about it, darkness consumed my sight and sent me plummeting towards the lava below.

When I opened my eyes, I was back inside the room I had escaped. I awoke to a cool breeze — the door was open, and Naveena was nowhere to be found. Someone had pulled me back here, but how?

I stood, trying to ignore my trembling muscles. I had overdone it.

I peeked around the door, straining to listen for any signs of life. But I heard only dead silence. I had no idea where I was so I turned left, hoping that it would lead me back to the Courtyard. Each passageway seemed never-ending and offered no light at the end. I was beginning to think that I would never find my family. But then I heard something.

A woman’s voice, very faint, just ahead. I closed my eyes and focused on my Foresight. Gwenevere’s face surfaced.

I rushed forward, trying to focus on what she was saying. She was talking to someone. I heard my name. And then I felt a familiar darkness. As I neared the voice, I felt the heat from my amulet trying to heal me. I shifted, finishing the process, and sighed with relief as a surge of strength coursed through my body. 

“I summoned her like you asked. You will spare them or the deal is off!” It was Gwen’s voice. She turned in my direction as I rounded the corner. “Aurora,” she gasped, “you surprised me. What are you doing here? Everyone is above, preparing for the invasion.”

I cautiously stepped forward. “I can ask the same of you. Where have you been and why are you down here?”

She fumbled with her dagger, avoiding my eyes. “I, uh, I was trying to find Fenn when I was taken by the Lord of the Undermarket. Gabe saved me.” She was lying.

“Oh yeah? Fenn and I were taken as well. What a coincidence. So what are you doing down here? Who were you just talking to?” I felt dread sneak in as I tried to maintain a safe distance from her and her dagger.

Her face went white.

Then it was as if a new person emerged, someone I had never met before. I swallowed hard. “You really shouldn’t ask so many questions, Aurora,” she said to the ground. “It’s how people end up getting hurt,” she glanced up at me and finished, “or even…killed.” That last word seethed through her teeth like acid.

I backed up as she took a step towards me. “Gwenevere…” I charged, “what’s going on?” I didn’t want to believe that she had turned, that Zordon had tainted her, but even now I could feel it. I could feel his evil surrounding her.

Her mouth twisted, her smile corrupted with betrayal. “The end,” she said cruelly. “Why do you think I had you summoned here? Oh, look who’s decided to join the party.” She pointed behind me.

I turned too slow as arms wrapped around me. I struggled, but it was of no use. Whoever was holding me was too strong. “Don’t fight your mother,” Gwen laughed bitterly. “That’s bad manners.”

I felt my face drain. “Mom?”

“Oh no, she’s not technically in mommy mode right now,” Gwen patronized. “She had to be put under. She was a hard one to tame.” She strode past me and out into the passageway as my mother forced me forward.

“Na’shir has been captured and released the hold he had on his people. Their magic now pulses freely within the Chasm. And with enough dark magic from Irisi, I was able to have her subdued with the Temparo spell. She is under my command now.”

Energy raced wildly through my veins as my palms lit up. Gwen stopped. “You’re really going to try to undo my spell?”

I stared defiantly at her. She laughed. “Go on then, try it.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Refutum Vehemtia!” I shouted, pushing every last ounce of power I had into the spell. My mother’s eyes wavered for a split second, but then she shoved me forward, pushing me to where Gwen wanted us to go. Irisi’s dark magic was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

Gwen’s chilling laughter filled the hallway. “See.  You have so much to learn. Too bad you don’t have much time left.”

“Gwenevere, this isn’t you,” I pleaded. “You have to fight against it.” She spun on her heel and was in my face in a matter of seconds. Magic shot from her hands, draining me of my own against my will. She was depleting me.

“Don’t tell me who I am! I will be the Queen of the New Dawn. I will be everything I was meant to be. And you will never be a part of my son’s life. You don’t deserve him. I’ve lost two children since your return. You killed my only daughter!” Her head shook wildly as she fought with the invisible demons that haunted her. “Now, I prefer to hear nothing else from you,” she said, her energy flowing from her palms. “Silentaro.” A tear fell as my lips sealed together. “Come,” she said to Eralise.

My mother let up on her grip and turned to face Gwen, her empty eyes unquestionably obeying. As if she had done this a thousand times before, she walked forward and faithfully waited while Gwen began to chant, “Appareo.” Her once green energy now poured a crimson red from her fingertips.