Save Aether (The Trinity Key Trilogy Book 3) (27 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

Julia

As Danu’s power drained, so did her ability to maintain Subterria. The aether lights flickered, casting shadows all around the girls. Buildings crumbled under the force of the battle above. Julia led the way through the streets until they reached Danu’s palace.

Julia’s stomach dropped, when she saw Eli, Victor, and Gideon standing guard at the doors. Although Danu had revived them, she hadn’t healed them. Blood flowed from a gash on Eli’s head from where the ice had struck him. Danu’s dwindling power held them in place. She stood behind them grinning.

Julia inched forward and put her hands up in submission. “Eli, it’s me Julia.”

“Kill them,” Danu grit through her yellowed fangs and disappeared into the palace.

Theo called out to Victor, “You don’t want to hurt us. I know you don’t. You’d never hurt your sister or me. I know you, Victor.”

He growled at her, but a flash of reluctance crossed his face. Julia could see him struggling against Danu’s persuasion. Eli took staggered steps forward. The pain on his face tortured Julia. Her smirking Eli was in there somewhere trying to break free. Danu’s power dug in deep. With a shake of his head, he and Gideon charged at the girls. Using the sword, Julia encased them between four thick walls of ice. They smashed into the barrier, unable to break through.

Julia’s action triggered Victor into action. He grunted and ran at Theo. With Maera’s scepter in hand, she hit him with a thin jolt of electricity. His muscles contracted, and he fell over in a twitching mass. Theo knelt beside him.

“I’m sorry, Victor.”

“He’ll be okay. We need to get to Danu.”

Danu sat on her throne smiling. Her illusion was back. Her courtesans and serpent men surrounded her. She’d outsmarted them. Her army above ground were the unwilling victims of her power. The army below was far more dangerous. They chose to fight for her. Theo’s parents and Victoria stood in front of the throne like a living shield.

“I knew you’d come back to me, Daughters,” Danu trilled.

The girls stepped closer. Danu lifted a finger, and Theo’s mother fell to her knees, screaming.

“I think you’re close enough,” Danu yelled.

Lawless cackled beside her with his arm in a sling. “Kill them… kill them all.”

The girls stopped moving forward, and Danu released Theo’s mom. Marjorie sat on the floor crying and trembling. Danu leaned back in her throne and tapped a fingernail on the arm.

“You see, my children. I’m a fair and forgiving goddess,” Danu cooed. “Come back to me, end this war, and we’ll rule the world together.”

Julia looked at the courtesans. “She’s not a goddess. She’s lied to all of you.”

The courtesans and serpent men laughed at her. Danu joined them. Julia knew if they saw her true form, they wouldn’t be laughing. She felt a slight pull and knew the sorceress was testing their strength. Danu’s eyes fell on Julia’s ring.

“Where did you get that?” she wheezed.

“It was a gift,” Julia sneered. “From my grandmother… my
real
grandmother.”

“Give the rings to me, or I’ll kill them all,” Danu hissed, pointing at their families.

Theo and Valera touched their rings while their eyes remained fixed on their families. Danu sneered. Valera’s mother hit the ground with a sickening thud. Seizures contorted her limbs. Valera screamed, and Victoria’s body went limp.

“Is she… dead?” Valera whispered.

A low moan passed Victoria’s lips. “She’s alive,” Julia said. “We can’t give Danu the rings.”

Theo looked between her mother and father. She mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” Tears streamed down her mother’s face, but she and Theo’s father nodded at her and smiled. Theo sobbed, and released her ring.

“No,” Theo shouted at Danu.

“What did you say to me?”

“I said NO!”

Danu’s courtesans gasped and chattered. The serpent men hissed and growled. Danu was losing control of them. Her illusion of beauty slipped, and her followers cowered away. Even when she replaced the spell, her faithful few scattered. Lawless was the last to stay at her side. Danu shrieked in rage. She struck down anyone who ran, including her precious Azure Serpents.

In a fit of fury, Danu lashed out at Theo’s mother. Before Danu could hurt his wife, Theo’s dad pushed her out of the way. He looked back at his daughter as Danu’s spell struck him in the back. He fell to his knees, smiling. His mechanical heart pumped one last time and stopped. His lifeless body collapsed. Theo’s mother crawled to him, weeping. Theo screamed.

Danu’s last true follower attacked. Lawless slammed into a distraught Theo, knocking her down. He lifted a knife above her head. Behind him a gunshot went off, and Lawless dropped the knife. A gaping hole in his chest oozed. He rolled off Theo and died. Victor stood in the doorway, gun drawn. He ran into the room and helped Theo stand. Danu tried to flee the room, but Theo hit each doorway with a bolt, crumbling the rocks above and blocking Danu’s escape.

In the fray, Julia took the Trinity key from her pocket. She held up Ealga’s Sword to Maera’s Scepter and to Aeda’s Sextant. With the power of the rings, the key, and the relics, the girls called out to the three sisters. A mist rose from the ground. Julia felt Ealga’s presence before she saw her form rise from the fog. Ealga, Maera, and Aeda stood with them. Danu’s daughters stalked their mother. Danu struck at them with every ounce of power she had left, but nothing could touch them.

“I command you… I command you… to stop!” Danu yelled.

Ealga’s ghostly form swept forward. “Mother, you no longer command… anything.”

“It’s time you came with us, Mother,” Aeda touched Danu’s shoulder.

Maera turned to Victor, “Leave now. Take them and go.”

She nodded toward Victoria and Marjorie. Victor picked up his mother and urged Theo’s mother away from her husband’s body.

“I can’t leave him like this… I can’t leave Theo,” Marjorie pleaded.

Theo kissed her mother’s cheek. “Go, I’ll be right out.”

A tear rolled down Maera’s cheek. She walked over to Theo’s father and touched his head. In a beautiful display of lights, his body burst into particles of pure aether. The aether swirled around Theo and her mother before floating up through the ceiling.

“He is free now,” Maera whispered. As Theo’s mother reluctantly left with Victor, Maera touched Theo’s cheek. “You must use the key. Put us to rest, forever.”

Danu tried to run, but the sisters had a hold of her. Julia, Theo, and Valera held the Trinity Key between them. They merged their power with the key and each other. A cloud of pure aether flowed from them to Danu. She cried out in pain as the aether formed a block around her and her daughters. The first Trinity smiled at the last Trinity until the block of aether obscured their faces. Julia felt the remaining power of Danu snap. Julia placed the Trinity Key on the floor and struck it with her sword. It broke into three pieces.

Massive sinkholes formed in the ground. Without Danu, the palace couldn’t stand. The ground above fell on the throne, smashing it to rubble. Julia grabbed the key shards, and the girls ran from the room. Theo stopped at the door. Dust and debris covered the block of aether. An earthquake rattled the city, opening a fissure under the crystal. It fell into the depths of the earth.

“Goodbye,” she whispered.

Theo wiped her face and left. Valera melted the ice walls around Gideon and Eli. With Danu gone, her spell was broken.

“I’ll explain later. Right now we need to run.”

Julia grabbed his hand, and they made their way through the city. The monuments to Danu crumbled and fell. The already war-torn industrial district turned to dust. The aether lights went out. Thrown into darkness, they poured aether into their rings. The stones glowed, lighting their path.

The palace caved in. Fires broke out in the districts as machinery bled oil and ignited. The remaining buildings burned or disintegrated. A fissure opened in the streets, spewing hot gasses. Lava bubbled to the surface. It was as if the earth were swallowing all of Subterria.

Boulders and rocks blocked the main gates. The debris exploded under the power of the three girls. Sunlight streamed down the ramp, and Julia heard voices calling to them.

“Hurry,” Nessie and Victor stood at the exit, urging them to move.

Julia stepped into the light. Both armies were gone. Only the dead littered the fields. The
Cornelius
hovered above them. Nessie led them to rope ladders. They grabbed hold and the ship lifted them before they reached the deck. The ground convulsed, and Subterria imploded. The island sank into the Atlantic abyss. Steam rose from the open wound as the seawater doused fires and solidified the lava.

Julia climbed the ladder. She wanted nothing more than to leave Danu behind forever.

The deck was filled to capacity. Subterrians stood there, still dazed from Danu’s broken spell. Families looked for loved ones. A mass of children cried, and the forsaken elderly cared for them. The crew worked around the displaced and lost.

“After people came out of their stupor, we loaded the living on board the ships we had left. We’ll travel to Aetherland Isle and figure things out from there,” Nessie spoke behind her.

Julia turned around and saw her grandmother. Parmelia held Julia in her arms. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m here, grandma.” Julia’s voice quivered. “Danu’s gone… for good.”

After a few minutes, Julia stepped back and wiped her face with the back of her hand. There were so many people on deck, but she knew that they’d left people behind.

“How many got out?”

“Casualties were low,” Nessie said. “Victor even brought out the children and old people.”

“There were so many on the fields…” Julia murmured.

“You need to rest now,” Parmelia said, leading Julia away.

She found a spot on deck for Julia to sit. While her grandmother doted on her, Julia looked around for Theo and Valera. Theo was crying in her mother’s arms. Julia’s heart broke for her. Nathaniel was a good man. Julia thought about what Maera had done for him. It made her think about her own parents, especially her mother. Perhaps, somewhere in the atmosphere, her mom was made of pure aether.

“Julia…” Eli’s voice made her heart jump.

He inched toward her as if afraid to touch her. She scooted over and patted the ground. He sat down, and she examined his head wound.

“Ouch, that hurts, you know,” he complained.

“Well, you deserved it,” she teased.

His face grew serious. “I’m okay, really. Julia… I’m so sorry. I saw myself holding the gun and aiming it at you. I tried to stop myself, but it was as if I’d lost control.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Eli.”

She cuddled next to him and dozed off to the voices of the survivors of Subterria.

*

Just as the Elders predicted, the world of Aether struggled with the loss of their goddess. As fake as she was, she gave them something to believe in. Without her, they didn’t know who they were.

A week after Danu’s defeat, Julia still reeled from the aftermath. When the
Cornelius
docked at Aetherland Isle, she saw firsthand the consequences of Danu’s power. Several of the children from the cells didn’t have family to take care of them. Victoria set up a temporary orphanage in the hopes of reuniting families, but too often they discovered that their parents died in the fighting or were taken to Pacifica.

With Subterria gone, hundreds of homeless left Aetherland Isle bursting. Refugees slept wherever there was room. Those who were sick or injured were taken to the warehouses, which became hospitals where people were healed by the best doctors in Aether. Theo did her best to use her powers, but even aether couldn’t heal certain wounds. The death of her father had left her broken-hearted.

“Grandma.” In the aftermath, Parmelia had shown what it meant to have family. “What happens now?”

Parmelia took Julia’s hand. “We know we cannot control you girls. We can only advise you. Aether will turn to the three of you for help as they did Ealga, Maera, and Aeda. Although, it’s up to you how you go forward.”