Chapter 2
ONE BY ONE, the Keraastar Knights gathered in the meeting room. Luke had been Menolly’s bartender at the Wayfarer years ago when we first started our Earthside adventure. Now, he wore the aquamarine spirit seal. Amber was his sister, and she, too, had been claimed by one of the spirit seals—the topaz. Venus the Moon Child had been the shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride and he bore the fire opal. Chase Johnson had been the head of the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team, but he had left the job he loved to join my ranks, and I had given him the amethyst seal when he took his vows.
Others had quickly come to light since I had claimed the Keraastar diamond.
Tanne Baum, our friend from the Hunters Glen Clan, now wore the emerald seal. To my chagrin, Bran had ended up with the Smoky quartz. I wasn’t thrilled that Raven Mother’s son was among my knights, but I couldn’t counter the will of the seal. Two others had come into the fold: Clyde, a bear-shifter, and Lisa, an FBH—a full-blooded human. They bore the citrine and the sapphire seals, respectively. Only the ruby seal was left unclaimed.
We gathered around the circular table. My sisters, Delilah and Menolly, were there, as well as Smoky, Trillian, and Morio. Shade was also there, and Nerissa, Menolly’s wife. Rozurial and Vanzir were in attendance, and Aeval, Titania, and the Merlin. Aeval’s belly was swelling—her pregnancy was showing now, and Vanzir was doing his best to learn how to be a proper baby-daddy in preparation for the event.
I took a long breath. “As you know, the Merlin has translated the ancient scrolls and we know what our next step is. We’re heading to Otherworld. Once we find the last knight, we will be able to bind together in the way the prophecy foretold. I don’t know exactly how, so please don’t ask. We’re going in on faith, because faith is all we have.” Faith, and a bumpy road map that had been written during the Great Divide.
Chase was the first to speak. “I admit, when I was first called into service in the Keraastar Knights, I was devastated. But I’ve had time to adjust. I’ll stand with you…Your Majesty.”
I held his gaze. He meant it, I could see that in his eyes. He meant every word and he would back me up to the end. Chase might not have been happy about what happened, but he would be my staunchest supporter now that he was involved.
“Chase speaks for all of us,” Luke said. “We stand at a crossroads in history. Whatever we can do to help, we will.”
They knew what we were up against.
Shadow Wing was the Demon Lord ruling over the Sub-Realms. He had been waging a war against the portals for the past few years now, attempting to break through so that he could take over both Earthside and Otherworld. My sisters and I had found ourselves on the frontlines of the war. Recently, we had lucked out, managing to gather all of the spirit seals.
We also had others on our side, including Trytian—a daemon—and his father’s army, who also were moving against Shadow Wing. But in the end, the only thing that mattered was that we stop the Demon Lord in whatever way possible, as quickly as we could.
I looked at each of my knights in turn, holding their gazes. They stared back steadily, unblinking, willing to follow me into the depths of hell if necessary.
“That’s it, then. Tomorrow, we leave for the Golden Wood. The ritual must take place under the new moon, which falls two nights from now. We only have a short window of time before then.” I turned toward Myrddin. “Would you take over?”
“We’ll be making for Erastel’s End,” the Merlin said, spreading out a map of Otherworld on the table. He pointed to the Golden Wood, which lay north of Y’Elestrial, my home city-state.
“Erastel?” Chase asked. “Who or what is that?”
Aeval fielded that question. “Erastel fought against the demon hordes in the long past. She was one of the ancient Fae. Actually, one of the Great Fae warlords. She was a warrior queen during the Great Divide.”
The Merlin nodded, using a pointer to tap a place on the map.
“Aeval is correct,” he said. “Erastel was the one who insisted that when the Spirit Seal was broken, the pieces be given to the Elemental Lords. As time went on, she saw that they were losing track of the seals, and she undertook a vision quest. She foresaw the rise of Shadow Wing and what would transpire, should he manage to get his hands on the seals, and he would break through the portals. The other Fae Lords laughed at her fears, so she acted on her own.”
Titania cleared her throat. “After the Great Divide, Erastel left the cities and went to live in the Golden Wood. Erastel’s End was her fortress. She lived alone for the most part, though her descendants still walk those forests. She had three children, and they spread out, uninterested in keeping up her lineage.”
“What happened to her?” Amber asked.
Aeval frowned, shaking her head. “Without the other Great Lords to stop her, over time Erastel fashioned a spell. She had grown strong with her magic, strong enough to bind time and history with her weavings. She created the spirit of the Keraastar Knights. She then sought out the center of the seal—which wasn’t considered one of the nine stones. The diamond was the stone that connected all the others, but its power was focused on binding things together, and Pentangle had taken possession of it at that time. Pentangle listened to Erastel’s concerns, and she agreed that the vision was real, and gave her the diamond.”
“Pentangle is the Mistress of Magic,” I said for the benefit of those who might not have heard of the Elemental Lady. I had met her several times and each time, she had left me speechless with her power. She was magic incarnate.
“Erastel bound the diamond to the spirit of the knights, then wove the gem’s destiny tightly to the other seals, uniting them all into a single focus. When she was done, she fashioned two scrolls—the Maharata-Verdi and the Maharata-Vashi. Both were created to guide a future Fae Queen to the diamond, which she hid in the Tygerian Mountains. Erastel entombed herself with it. She never really died, but faded into a ghostly guardian. When Queen Camille faced her, she won the gem and became the long-awaited warrior queen.”
I caught my breath. I hadn’t known about the background of the diamond, or how everything had fit together. The gem and the scrolls had been in hiding for thousands of years.
“Erastel’s End is what remains of her home. The ruins are all that’s left. Once a year, on the new moon nearest the autumn equinox, the stars align and it’s said that she returns to her home to see if anyone has come to claim the destiny. And once the Fae Queen arrives on that day, the final knight will come forward.” Aeval fell silent.
I looked at the calendar. “The night after tomorrow is the new moon. We have to leave at daybreak, and travel through the portal that stands on the outskirts of Erastel’s land. Smoky will come with us, as will my sister Delilah and her fiancé, Shade. Menolly won’t be able to, given we’re traveling in daylight. I don’t know how long the ritual will take, or how it will unfold, but we’ll return once we’re done.”
Amber frowned. “My daughter—I don’t want to take her into danger. She doesn’t have to come, does she?” Amber had been pregnant when she first had found her spirit seal, and the magic had changed the child’s DNA, though in what ways, we weren’t sure of yet.
“No, the nursemaids will take good care of her while we’re gone.” I held Amber’s gaze for a moment, and she nodded. “Are there are any other concerns?”
“Is anyone else coming with us?” Delilah asked.
“I will not, since I am pregnant,” Aeval said.
The Merlin cleared his throat. “I’ll be coming along. Since I was able to translate the scrolls, I might be of use if you find anything else there that needs translating.”
There were no other questions, so after a long discussion on what to pack and what conditions we’d be facing, we adjourned.