CHAPTER 22
The ground below us in the Deep shook again, shuddering like a beast stuck with arrows. I drew myself up. I lifted my wrist and Ash flew down from the rafters, landed lightly, and then moved to my shoulder.
“All of this, all of it is a distraction to keep us from going after Viv,” I said.
Talan grunted. “You think?”
“Don’t sass her!” Peta snarled. “You should be helping her, asshole, not making it harder for her to do her job. Whether you like it or not, she, you, and two of your siblings are going to stand shoulder to shoulder against Viv, now.”
Goddess love Peta. I could always depend on her, if no one else.
Dolph made a movement with one hand, two fingers pointed downward and a quick swirl. In a flash, the Enders were around me, a protective ring. “She is our queen now, protect her with your lives,” Dolph said.
The other Enders nodded, their eyes solemn.
Dolph made a motion with his head for me to follow him. I didn’t move. “No. No more lives for mine.” I held a hand out to Peta. “Are you with me for a bit of a ride, cat?”
She groaned. “I hate water, you know that.”
I smiled at her. “It is not our enemy any longer.”
She twitched her ears back and forth and then leapt for my arms. I caught her and put her on my other shoulder.
“Dolph, get the Undines to safety as best you can, but do not leave the Deep.”
He stared at me. “What?”
“Do not leave the Deep. The madness that takes our kind after years has been ramped up to mere hours,” I said. “Get them to safety as much as possible.”
Dolph shook his head and then bowed. “As you say, my Queen.”
It sounded strange from his lips, but I put it aside. I called up the power Realm had given me, wove it through the ocean outside the window and swept it in. A wave hovered through the opening like a surfboard waiting on me. I stepped on it, my feet as solid as if I stood on the earth. I turned to Talan. “After Vivica is dealt with, you and I are going to discuss your training methods and what you did to Shazer.” I couldn’t hold back the anger in my voice, the pain he’d caused me by killing Shazer. Even if Shazer had said yes. “I understand the need to stand together and that is all that is keeping me from doing anything rash. For now, are you with me?”
His jaw twitched once, anger flaring. “I am with you, Larkspur.”
“Then come on. I may need your help.” I held my hand out to him, a show of trust I didn’t truly feel, but Peta was right. Talan would stand with me against Viv.
Carefully, he put his hand in mine and I pulled him onto the wave.
Another flick of my wrist and Ash dropped to me. I settled him on my shoulder; for now, we were together, even if it was not as I would have wished it. I would not leave him behind.
With a single, simple thought I pushed the water out the tall window, which in turn took us with it. Talan swayed and I kept my hand on his, steadying him.
“I hated it when Realm did this,” he muttered.
I wondered if the idea had come through with the power Realm had handed to me.
All thoughts of Realm, though, were washed from my mind as I took us higher with the water, so high that we were above the spires of the Deep. Surrounding the world of the Undines were human warships circling like sharks around an injured, helpless whale. Only we were far from helpless.
A deep, cold rage began to churn in my belly, a rage that was not my own.
Realm might as well have been egging me, and the power he’d given me, on.
“Easy,” I whispered to the power in me. “Easy.”
I might as well have brought some of Realm with me. I could sense him as strongly as if he stood by my side. I clutched Talan’s hand a little tighter. “Your brother’s power is not what I expected.”
“No, he was always a bit of a hothead. Strange, considering he was full of water,” Talan muttered. I could feel his eyes on me, but I kept my eyes on the warships. I needed to find the one with the main leader. We hovered where we were for a minute while I looked over the ships. I finally settled on the biggest with the most guns and men.
“There, we will start there.”
“Wait, what?” Talan howled the words as I snapped my fingers and we dropped down the water as if it were a giant slide. Our bodies picked up speed, faster and faster as we approached the ship. Guns were trained on us; I could almost feel the heat and smell the black burn of gunpowder. I snapped my fingers a second time and the water kicked us up into the air at the last second so we hovered over the deck of the warship.
“Peta, shift,” I said. We needed to make an entrance. We needed the humans to see we were strong enough to take them out if we chose.
We dropped through the air, Peta shifting as she leapt from my shoulder, Ash taking flight and circling our heads with a screech. The three of us landed hard enough to dent the metal of the ship’s deck. I stood from a crouch and brushed off my clothes as if I had all the time in the world. When I finished, I addressed them with a voice I’d heard only my father use. Commanding, imperious.
“Where is your leader?”
A burly man pushed through the throng. “I am Admiral Epson. We have orders to wipe you out.” He yanked out a gun, fast for a man of his size, and pulled the trigger. I snapped my own hand up and sent a blast of fire to meet the bullet midair. The flames were so hot, the metal munition melted and fell to the ground.
“I think perhaps you should have a discussion with me before you decide to follow through with your orders,” I said, venom in my voice.
As I spoke, I sensed a great… change in the world. My connection to the earth flared, screamed, and flickered. I slammed a hand into Talan. “Viv has Frost.”
He groaned softly.
We were running out of time, but I had to deal with this now.
“Admiral Epson. Let me be very clear. I could destroy all your ships and kill all your men without breaking a sweat. Whoever sent you on this mission did so to make sure war was started between your people and mine. We do not want war. But if it comes to us, we will defend ourselves, and it will be you left on the bottom of the ocean floor.”
His eyes narrowed and sweat slid down the sides of his face into the high collar of his stuffy shirt. “I have my orders.”
“And they are wrong,” I snapped. “Continue arguing with me and I will sink this ship, right now. I will end this conversation and go to the next in line to see if he has more brain cells in his fat head than you do. Because apparently, you are not grasping the severity of the situation.” With each word, my voice rose in volume. Fury and fear tripped through me, feeding the emotion with every syllable. “There is more at stake than a few lives. This is the world we are battling for. I am battling the one who would cause war, the ones that would enslave you and your men. Would you stand against me or with me?”
I could have used Spirit to impress on him the importance of my words, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Either he grasped what I was saying or he wasn’t worth my time.
He swallowed hard. “I cannot disobey my orders.”
“Then hold off. Stay where you are, but send in your torpedoes no more,” Talan said. “Give us time to prove that you have been played falsely.”
Admiral Epson looked at him, then slowly bowed his head. “Time. I can buy you some time. Twenty-four hours.”
It wasn’t a lot, but it would have to be enough. I had to believe it would be. I nodded and flicked my hand again, lifting the boat out of the water, holding it on the edge of a wave. The humans screamed and clutched at the ship. “If I hear of any breach of your word, I will sink your entire fleet. Are we clear on that?”
The admiral’s face paled. “Clear as a bell.”
I let the ship slide slowly into the water. “We will be back in fewer than twenty-four hours.” I brought a wave over the edge of the ship, holding it steady so Peta and Talan could step onto it next to me, then carried us back to the Deep.
“That was an impressive show,” Talan said. “But how tired are you now?”
I gritted my teeth and took us to the center of the Deep, depositing us on the steps of the doors that led into the throne room. I sent the wave away and sagged as I released the power of the water.
“Exhausted. But if I hadn’t done that, they would have fired on the Deep for sure.”
Talan nodded and then shook his head. “Are you sure Viv has Frost?”
Frost, the Original Terraling, the one who stood at the head of my family. I didn’t know how to tell Talan the full truth. “She doesn’t just have him, she’s killing him.” I paused at the doors with my hands against them. I bowed my head and searched out my connection to the earth. The feeling of coming home, of being where I belonged was no longer there.
But I wasn’t entirely sure Frost was dead. There was a flicker still in him, a flicker of life. I put a hand on Talan. “We have to go now.”
“Wait, can you find him?” Talan tightened his hold on me.
“If she’s killing him, he’s no longer in the oubliette,” I said.
Peta shifted into her housecat form and leapt to my shoulder. “You think it’s possible?” She picked up on my thoughts before I voiced them as so often was the case.
“This is the only hope we have.” I pulled Spirit around us and locked onto the image of Frost as I remembered seeing him. Ash’s talons dug in hard to my shoulder.
“Can I take them both?” I asked Talan.
He glanced at Ash. “Set him on my shoulder. That may be enough to even it out.”
I nodded and offered my wrist to Ash. “Ride with Talan. And peck his eyes out if he is an ass.”
Ash butted his beak against my head and then hopped to my wrist, and from there to Talan’s shoulder.
Once more I wove Spirit through the four of us and set after Frost.
I braced myself for Talan’s memories, so when none came I was pleasantly surprised.
A simple thought rolled from him to me.
I know how to keep my memories to myself. Most don’t as they have no control over Spirit.
We swept through the world, across so many miles like they were nothing, and then we were no longer moving. But neither were we with Frost. At least, not that I could see.
We stood on the outskirts of Death Valley.
A place I knew all too well.
This was where Vivica had taken Frost down. A place I’d called home for several years. There had always been a strange vibration in the valley, a sensation that I was being watched. I’d chalked it up to my father keeping an eye on me, making sure I didn’t break any more rules. But what if it was because Frost had been there, nearby in an oubliette?
I blinked and let go of Talan. “Why can we travel directly out of the Deep?” I asked the question as I strode in the direction where my tiny hut had been. A place to start, that was all I needed.
Talan kept an easy pace with me. “Viv shattered that protection on the Deep. I don’t know how, but she did it I think with Finley’s help. That was how I got in.”
“And placed my spear there?”
“Yes. I was fairly sure you would show up there eventually.”
I didn’t like that he could read me so well. “You didn’t know?”
“I did. You are always going to your friends, to your family, to try to save them first.” He shrugged. “I knew it was only a matter of time before you went to the Deep to try to stop Finley from starting a war.”
“And why didn’t you stop her?” Peta snapped. “You could have done something with all that power of Spirit.”
“I saw the ties that Viv had put on her. I knew they were literally everything that made Finley who she was, and that untangling them would make it so she was nothing but a shell.” He shrugged again. “I am not a killer.”
My jaw tightened and I threw a punch, a perfect left hook that slammed into the side of his face. He stumbled back and went to his knees.
I glared at him. “And Shazer? Was that not a murder? Does he not count because he’d been alive for so long?”
Talan’s hand went to his jaw. “Finley and Shazer are two very different creatures. Shazer’s fate was written in stone the second he—”
“Don’t you make excuses for what you did!” I took a step. “I may be a killer, but so are you. You just don’t want to admit it.”
He stood slowly, and then gave me a tight nod. “Fine. You are right, I killed him to keep us all safe. The same reason you killed Finley.”
Her name, and the truth of the situation, I didn’t like and couldn’t change. I was a killer, and I was damn good at it. Nothing would change that now. We started walking again, keeping a good distance between us. An uneasy truce was all we had now. He may have been my uncle, but in my mind, he was far from family.
We were closing in on the hut I’d stayed in for so many years. Two of the sides were busted in and the forge and anvil had been stolen. None of that mattered, they were just items. I moved to the center of the room and beckoned the earth up around my feet. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my racing heart. Racing because I was afraid we were too late. Again.
“Are you sure he is here?” Genuine concern was in Talan’s voice. I had to remind myself this was his brother we were looking for. A brother he had searched for, for thousands of years.
“She took him out to hurt him.” I added softly, “Which means there could be some of his blood on the ground near the oubliette.” Maybe I couldn’t Ride Spirit right to Frost’s feet, but I could still find him. There was always a way.
I just had to think the impossible.
Peta clenched her claws several times. “You think you can trace the blood?”
“It has ties to the earth like nothing else,” I said. “Ties to my own bloodline.” I wove Spirit and Earth together, blending them gently, carefully, until there were almost no seams between the two powers. I pushed them into the earth and sent them in a wide arcing spray searching for Frost. I held my breath while the power threaded through the desert like lightning seeking a mark.
A reverberation came back to me ever so softly, a bare quiver that if I hadn’t been watching, I would have lost it completely. “I’ve got something.”
I grabbed Talan and jerked Spirit through us, taking us to the place where the reverberation had come from. The sides of the valley were made up of broken and jagged rocks like the teeth of a gargoyle as they snapped down, shattering against the valley floor.
At my feet were flecks of blood that all but glowed in their vibrancy. “Peta, can you follow this?”
She was off my shoulder in a flash and raced up the slippery and winding slope. I raced after her with Talan only a step or two behind, Ash winging ahead of us all.
He let out a hunting cry that chilled my heart.
The fear we were too late and Frost was already lost to Viv was enough to keep us moving, even though we all knew… there was no way.
“Here!” Peta leapt on top of a boulder and disappeared over the other side. Ash sat on one of the large boulders, his golden eyes wide and full of sadness.
I climbed over the rock and found myself looking at a hole that barely covered the edges of the oubliette. Crafted from materials that were anything but natural, the oubliette blocked an elemental’s ability to connect with their power. A punishment to make you pay penance for any wrongs you may have done.
I put my hands on the earth and used the ground below the oubliette to push it out until the door became clear. I grabbed the handle and jerked it open. He had been stuffed back in, but his blood, his blood had been what I’d locked onto.
Reaching inside, I found Frost’s hands, and as gently as I could, pulled him out. Talan stepped up and helped me lift his brother into the light. We laid him on the ground on his back.
In his chest was a dagger still pulsing with each ragged breath he took. The dagger was bejeweled with emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds, and the blade was thin like a razor. Horror at what I was seeing flickered through me. “Mother goddess, how do we get this out of you without doing more damage?”
“You don’t.” Frost whispered the words, his face twisting with pain. “You finish what she started, Lark. You must take my power. You must be the one to stop her. Mattie will give you her life and power next.”
I bowed my head. I’d known all along, much as I hated it. “And what happens if she kills me?”
Frost opened one eye. “You cannot let that happen. It is not her death that you seek, but a remaking of the world.” He drew a slow, careful breath and the blade shivered. “Her death is only the beginning, Larkspur. There is more that this world will face.”
“More?” Talan spoke gently to his brother. “Frost, how can there be more?”
“This world is dying, little Talan.” Frost winked at him. “And while Vivica brought on some of it, some of the damage can be laid at the feet of the humans. Their wars will wipe us all out. They must be stopped. A reset… Lark must reset the world.”
I bit my lower lip. “Frost, maybe we can save you, yet.”
“No.” He took my hand and put it on the hilt. “I see Olivisha’s flame in you, and the power of the ocean behind your eyes. You are strong with the earth already; my power will open a whole new level to you. Use it with love, use it with compassion. My life will seal this to you as my siblings also gave up their lives.”
“Wait!” Talan cried out as Frost pushed my hand downward, forcing the blade the rest of the way through his heart.
I jerked as a rush of power slammed into me, and for just a moment, I could see all the world. I could feel it like the breath in my lungs and the blood in my veins. I could see the animals and the plants and feel each one of them as they fought to survive every day. And more than that, I felt the humans… creatures of the planet we were created to protect. They were destroying everything, and no power on earth would ever convince them otherwise.
I blew out a breath and the power pulse in me eased. I bowed my head. “I’m sorry, Talan.”
“Do not be. It… none of this is your fault.” He bent over his brother and pulled the knife out. “You are the one, Lark. I knew all along, but fought it because I knew it would mean the end of my family. The end of my life, and I am a selfish bastard. Even I know that.”
I turned to him. “What are you saying?”
“You need to complete the five elements. I can give you my strength now, and then you must find Matarrah. Mattie. Tell her I love her, that she was my favorite sister.” His violet eyes were full of sadness as he placed the tip of the blade against his chest.
Peta let out a soft mewl. “No, Talan.”
“Yes, Nepeta. You know I am right. She is the one. She will find a way to save this world. Though I did not realize it would be this way. Viv will never expect it, and this will give you the best chance at defeating her. Raven will help you, so will Cassava. We thought… we’d hoped that releasing my siblings would be enough, but I knew there was more to you than that. I am sorry about Shazer… I thought… I thought I knew how you would react. That breaking you down was the way to build you back up. I am truly, truly sorry. I should have listened to Raven. I should have listened to you.” He took my hand and placed it over the handle of the knife. I didn’t pull away. I knew he was right. I could feel it in every fiber of my being.
“You will become a true hybrid, Lark. You will have all of us with you, in spirit to face her. You will not be alone. It is the only way to stop Viv.”
“This isn’t really about Viv anymore, is it?” I asked. Frost’s words reverberated through me and I could not deny the truth in them.
He shook his head. “The world needs you, Lark. Viv was the catalyst. She’s set the humans against one another and against us. You must find a way to stop it, to undo all the damage she’s caused. Even after she’s dead, the threads of deceit and death she has woven will continue. The humans are already using the weaponry the world fears. There will only be you to stop them.”
I swallowed hard. “How?”
He shook his head. “That I do not know. Perhaps my mother will guide you.”
I nodded, feeling the weight of the world, in the most literal sense, lay across my shoulders. “You trust me enough to go on my own?”
He shrugged and then smiled. “Raven was right. You figured out most of this on your own and I just ended up getting in your way, thinking I knew better. It’s a problem I’ve had for years.”
He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. There was not the heat that had resided in Realm’s kiss. With his lips on mine, he pushed the blade into his heart. His body jerked and Spirit in all its terrible beauty cascaded over me.
I didn’t know what to expect. With the other three elements, their power had been obvious, keeping in truth with their strengths. Spirit lay over me like a warm blanket, a security I could not see, but only feel. Talan’s voice whispered softly in my ear.
We are with you, Lark. You are not alone, and to the end we will see this through together.
I caught his body as he slumped toward me, his eyes closed, his heart no longer beating. Peta cried out, her sobs filling the air. My own emotions were all over the map. I had every reason to hate Talan, yet I couldn’t. I could feel his loss like the sharp edge of a blade, like losing someone I thought invincible.
I held his body a long time, at least an hour, while Peta cried softly. I cried with her, not only because of what was lost, but because… a part of me had thought he would be there at the end with me.
And now… now it would just be me and Viv.
I laid Talan next to Frost and called the earth over them, putting their bodies deeply within the rock where they would never be disturbed. Peta lay on the spot where I’d placed them, one paw over her head, her shoulders shaking. Her pain suffused me and tears leaked from my own eyes. “I am so, so sorry, Peta. I know you loved him.”
“It is not your fault. But I thought… I lost him once and it gutted me. To lose him a second time even though I am not his familiar any longer, it is a pain I would not wish on anyone.”
I bent and scooped her into my arms. There were no words that would soften the blow to her heart. Ash landed on my shoulder and ducked his head, pushing his beak into the circle. She reached around him with one paw and tugged him into the cradle of my arms. He stretched a wing out and spread it over her back. The closest thing to a hug he could offer, and the sight about broke what was left of my heart.
We stood there for a few minutes, but I knew we didn’t have long. We’d waited too long as it was. We had to go.
“Peta, we have to find Raven. He is the last one who can help me with this madness.”
“Then let us go. Let us leave this place of death.” She pressed her tiny cold nose against the hollow in my throat, her hot tears tracking down my skin.
I wove Spirit through our three bodies and swept us away, toward Raven, wherever he was.
I wanted to believe there would be no more death, that I was done with it for a time. But I knew better. I knew these deaths and this pain were just the beginning.