From the Embers (The Born in Flames Trilogy) (30 page)

Just as the claws of death began to rake across me, I closed my eyes and pulled a dagger out. My eyes flicked open and I plunged it in his side. He rolled off with a scream, finally letting me go. I sat straight up, gasping for air as my amulet started healing me. My skin burned and throbbed where his hands had been. I scrambled backwards, putting as much distance as I could between us. 

He yanked the dagger from his side and threw it to the ground with disbelief in his eyes. I made my way to my feet, still trying to catch a steady breath. He climbed back to his feet, his hands filling with dark energy.

This was it. I could see it with my Foresight. Determination filled his eyes, and we both prepared our final blows.

I threw up a protection bubble as he shouted, “Morbus Animatus!”

“Afflictum!” I countered as my bubble disappeared from his spell. My spell landed in the center of his chest, knocking him down to his knees. His body arched backwards as I held the steady flow of my magic coursing through him.

“How stupid can you be?” I asked, my anger flaring up. “You still think you’re impenetrable?” His fingers curled into themselves. “Oh that’s right,” I kept on, “you’ve never had to use a protection spell before, have you?” My blood boiled as the need to make him pay for all that he had done consumed my thoughts.

“Stop!” he managed to scream out as another round of energy pounded into him, blowing him backwards. I stalked over to his twisted form and kicked him in the face. His body rolled from the force, and he tried to push up on to his palms, only to fall face first into the dirt.

I grabbed him by the hair and rolled him back to face me, sending another jolt of cruel pain into him. Through the pain, his eyes found mine, murder written in them. But he wasn’t going to win. He could see that reflecting in my own eyes. He had done enough. My mind filled with all of those who had died and suffered because of him. And now Zane.

I commanded his body to rise up and then slammed it back into the ground as my flames grew higher and wider, reaching out for him in the shape of fingers.

“Rory!” I heard Fenn shout as he pounded on the invisible barrier, but it wasn’t going to stop me. Nothing could stop the desire I felt to kill Zordon.

I relinquished my hold on the spell. “Get UP!” I shouted out.

He scrambled to his feet, crouching as he turned to face me. I waited for him to speak, but there was nothing as he started to back away from me.

“I am going to kill you now,” I said with a growl. “I am going to take back everything that you took from me. Put up your bubble.” I threw mine up around me.

He stuck his chin out. “I have never, and will never use such a weak means of protection. Oblitero Mortifico!” he shouted. My bubble absorbed it.

The second my bubble absorbed it, he shouted out the same spell as I released every bit of flame I had in me. My fire burned through his spell, and within an instant, it was over. His body was covered in flames. I didn’t turn away as they consumed his body, sending large tendrils of black smoke up into the air. I couldn’t. I had to be sure that it was really over. Zordon was dead.

As his body turned to ash, my world slowly came to a halt. The storm inside of me that had been building from the beginning—all of the fear and the stolen moments—had finally unleashed. I plunged my hands into my hair and pulled, screaming out all of the pain, misery, joy, and heartache that came with finding the end.

I fell to the ground, sobs racking my body. It was over. It was really over. This person, this man who had been bound to me from my birth, darkening all of the happiness in my life, was finally gone. The demons that had chased me fled. I was free. I had fulfilled my destiny.

The war was won.

I felt Fenn brush the outskirts of my mind, trying to soothe the aching joy inside of my heart. “You did it,” he said in my mind.

The image of Zordon’s body burning and the smile that had planted itself on my face as I watched played back in my mind, threatening to steal the joy away from me.

“Who am I?” I said out loud, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable. Madness crept into my mind. “A murderer? Am I no different from him, Fenn?” I said frantically. “He had something to prove. He wanted to show The Fates that he was the master of his own destiny, that they weren’t right. But I tortured him. I enjoyed his death.”

“He didn’t care who he took out in the process, Rory. That’s where you differ. Come back to me.”

“I wanted him dead. I wanted him to suffer, to feel the pain of everyone he has robbed from me,” I admitted, shamed as I buried my face further into my hands, wanting to scrub away all the hurt with my nails.

“And by fulfilling that need, you have saved us all,”
he coaxed.
“You were the strongest—the one who could carry this burden, Rory. You are the Progeny.”

I blinked back my tears, wiping a blood-stained hand across my face in a daze. He was right. I am the Progeny. The one deemed to carry this weight. The weight of knowing too much. Of knowing that there is a darkness in all of us. Of knowing that even The Fates can screw things up.

I felt the barrier lift around us as the last of Zordon’s body burned into ash. A slight breeze careened through the air, lifting the ash and carrying it over the battlefield where Zordon’s army remained, now overtaken by our army. It was really over. 

Fenn was by my side in a heartbeat, pulling me into him. At the bottom of the hill, Lexi held Zane’s unmoving form. I let go of Fenn and stumbled down the hill, catching myself a few times as my feet slipped out from under me. Fatigue was setting in fast. Lexi’s watery eyes met mine. She turned back to the field below, and my eyes followed. The sun was steadily rising, its golden presence the beacon of hope we had so longed to see, pushing away the remaining bits of shadows and clouds.

Rays of healing warmth spilled over the battlegrounds and cleansed our skin. The Celestians sent what was left of Zordon’s men to the Inferno.

Fenn walked up behind me as I dropped down to Lexi’s level. I scooped Zane up and ported him to the Elder Priest Terron. He stood next to Astral who watched the Priests heal all they could of our men.

I laid Zane at his feet. “Heal him,” I said, keeping a calm composure in my voice.

Terron looked at me as if I had insulted him.

“HEAL HIM!” I shouted angrily, this time choking back my tears. “I know you can do it!”

Terron shook his head in regret, his hands hiding under the long sleeves of his robe.

I fell to my knees, wrapping Zane up in my arms and cradling him to my chest. Sorrow clogged my eyes with tears. So many times he had been betrayed by his father, and no matter what, I couldn’t keep him safe. I couldn’t watch him live the life he deserved.

“Please,” I begged, feeling like my entire being was splitting in half. I felt Fenn next to me, wrapping his arms around my sobbing form.

“There has to be a way,” I heard Astral say to Terron. His voice shook with emotion. I blocked my mind from his, refusing to let him try and calm me like he had so many times before. Zane deserved to be mourned.

Terron looked uncomfortable. “The only way lies in this elixir,” he said as he pulled a vial from mid-air. “We have yet to use it so I am not sure it even works.”

I yanked it from him. Right as I tilted Zane’s head up, pressing the vial to his lips, a hand appeared. It rested under my chin, bringing my eyes up to hers. Iliana.

Her beaming smile of kindness and sympathy had a certain sadness that tore at my heart. I knew what she was going to say. What was going to happen.

“Aurora,” she said softly, her head tilted to the side, “this is not your decision. You cannot do this.” She took the vial from my hand, and it vanished, stealing away my only chance to bring my friend back.

“You can’t do this to me!” I cried out, slamming my fists into the ground. I felt so tired and lost. Wasn’t I supposed to be happy, to have found peace?

“The path of a true hero is never an easy one,” she answered. “You were deemed the Progeny for your internal strength.”

I jumped to my feet, filled with a burning fury. “Bring him back! Bring my mother back! Fix all the wrong! You’re a Fate, you can do it. Look at all of the damage! Haven’t I done enough to prove myself? I’ve fixed all of your brother’s mistakes!” I shook from head to toe as I met her square in the eyes, waiting for her anger to show. But it never did. She only held sympathy for me.

My shoulders slouched over, and more tears rested in my throat. I searched for Fenn. He watched helplessly on his knees, just as torn and broken as I was. “Tell her,” I pleaded, my head pounding.

I grabbed Zane’s hand and brushed my cheek with it. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to him, and then I let his hand fall.

“You knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Astral said, reaching out for me. I let him scoop me up into him. I didn’t have any fight left in me to resist. I felt something shutting down inside of me—the last bits of myself disappearing as I realized what the New Dawn really meant.

The end of my purpose.

“I can ease your mind if you like. I hate to see you hurt like this,” Iliana offered.

She didn’t get it. This wasn’t hurting. This was sinking into feeling nothing. This was losing who I was and everyone who meant anything to me all for the sake of our realm. This was pushing past every barrier I had built to keep myself from going too deep. This was seeing the same pain I felt reflected in those who still remained, like Lexi and Fenn.

And in my darkest moment, when I thought there was no hope left for me, Fenn found me. His thoughts brushed against mine, sending images of our happiest times. Images of what he hoped for our future surfaced, showing us happy, peaceful, with little ones running all around.

“I love you,”
he said in my head.
“Let me be your happiness. Let me protect you from this.”

And I did.

Chapter 27

Moving On

WE SPENT THE DAYS THAT followed the war gathering the fallen and holding ceremonies in their honor at the Orient Lyceum. Even in the wake of so much death, there was so much hope. Or so I was told.

The ceremonies were larger than anything I had seen before. Underneath the light snowy sky, grand ships with high purple sails sailed in from the west and anchored in a circle around the hovering island, waiting for the bodies of the fallen to be brought onboard.

When the last body was ported, the ships were enchanted to set sail in all directions. The Imperials and my grandparents waited on the edges of the island, bowing their heads and sending their elemental power into the sky as their way of showing respect. They took to the air, circling the island for a while before returning home.

“We are proud of you,” Darian said after the Imperials had taken off. “You have saved our race from Zordon. It will take some time to rebuild, but we will get there.”

“Of course,” I said as I hugged his leg. Naveena rubbed her snout against me, and I turned and hugged her, telling them both how much I loved them.

My father walked up to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Will you return with us?” he asked. I hadn’t really thought about where I would go to spread my roots. I guess I never really thought beyond Zordon.

“We have some things we want to take care of first, but we do plan on ending up there,” Fenn spoke for me. He pulled me into him, our thoughts constantly touching.

Myrdinn’s smile was sad when he looked at me. We had both lost so much but were still expected to keep moving forward. He reached out and put his hand on my arm. “I love you, Little Flame. Come home soon.” He left with the remaining Draconta to help rebuild the Obsidian Chasm.

After their departure, Kaede made a very long and heartfelt speech, followed by Lev who spoke of his plans for the New Dawn. I couldn’t say what it was all about. My thoughts wouldn’t leave the ship that carried Zane’s body away. I felt Fenn’s hand on mine, squeezing me back to the present. I looked over at him in a catatonic state.

I stayed for as long as I could that night, perched on a throne next to Fenn and Kaede. But when the festivities started, and the tables filled with food and laughter, I retreated to my room. There was nothing for me to celebrate, at least not without my family and friends who had passed.

Lev left the next day for Pyre Island where he rebuilt his Lyceum and resumed his rightful reign as Liege. I heard that the Lyceum he built was grander than anything seen in this realm. We were invited to go with him, but I couldn’t bring myself to step foot on that island. Not now.

Kaede called another meeting in his advisory room and explained to us that the rift between the realms was irreparable. This problem required a solution. It was a problem that I didn’t want to approach.

“I can speak with The Fates,” Astral offered from beside me. Since the war, he had tried to stay near me at all times, keeping a close eye on my emotions.

“No…we need to figure this out on our own. The Fates have done enough,” Kaede replied. I couldn’t agree more.

I asked about Sayer and the rest of Zordon’s men, hoping that none had escaped into the other realm. I didn’t want the realms sealed unless we knew that no other darkness had seeped through to the other side.

He assured me that all of the prisoners taken from the war, including the Shadows and the Dark Saar, were sent to the Inferno under the command of The Fates and that the Celestians had scouted the other realm with the sole purpose of finding any who had not yet returned to this realm. Even Sayer had been caught and punished for his crimes and betrayal. He was found hiding in the cave behind the waterfall. I thought that would satisfy the pain I felt, but it did nothing for me.

My shoulders slouched even further.

“Get some sleep, Progeny. We can handle this for now,” Kaede said after studying my face.

I absently nodded and left with Fenn apologizing for me. That night, Fenn told me that he had had enough. It was the first one-sided argument we had ever had. “You’re acting like a zombie,” he yelled at me, tugging at his hair after slamming the door to our room shut behind us.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could say as I sat on the bed and stared at the wall in front of me.

He kicked the dresser. “Stop saying you’re sorry! There is nothing to be sorry for, damnit!” He turned and dropped before me, pulling my hips towards him. “You need to stop feeling this sorrow, this pity. You are making all of their deaths futile. They wouldn’t want this.”

I stared straight ahead. How would he know what they wanted?

“Because it’s what I would want for you,” he said, reading my mind. He was always in my mind now, leaving nothing hidden between us. “Why are you acting like this? You’ve changed.” He sounded hurt. His words sparked something awake in me.

I looked at him. “I have changed, Fenn. Pain does that to people.”

He didn’t waste a second. He gripped my waist, forcing me to look down at him. “They died doing the right thing, Rory. Honor that by living a full life.”

I knew he was right. I also knew I wasn’t giving him a fair chance to mourn because I was wallowing, but I didn’t know how to mend what was broken inside of me.

His grip tightened on my waist. “I can help you if you will just let me,” he coaxed.

He kissed me. I couldn’t resist the need to kiss him back, feeling a fire ignite inside of me. He was the only thing that seemed to pull me from the dark place inside of my soul. I wanted to take back the hurt I had placed on him and show him that I was still present, still in love with him. So I gave myself to him completely, letting the weighted strings lift away as our love began to mend what was broken.

When we woke, I felt a little renewed. Fenn kissed my forehead and pulled me closer to him, snuggling beneath the warm blanket. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Kaede had said the night before about the rift. I knew we had to do something, and I needed to at least try for Fenn’s sake.

After a serious conversation about how I was going to try to stop carrying all of the emotions on my own and share them with him, we got dressed and made our way to the advisory room. Adam informed us that Kaede, Banjamin, and Mizu had come up with an idea the night before.

In an attempt to fix the issue of our races crossing over before the seal was in place, Kaede had left the Orient that morning and headed into the non-magical realm in search of leaders to whom he could speak. He left his army along the rift, preventing any from crossing on either side until he could work out a solution.

“I’m surprised he didn’t ask us to go,” Fenn said, stealing the words from my mind.

“He didn’t want to burden you any further,” Adam admitted. He avoided my eyes. A lot of people must have felt that way with the way I had shut myself off. I forced out a smile at him.

Fenn scratched his head. “How is he going to find the right person to speak to? Hell, I don’t even think I know who to speak to.”

Adam shrugged and then laughed. “He’s going to wing it.”

“Have you heard anything else about my mother?” Fenn asked. Gwenevere and Gabe deserted the battlefield shortly after Zordon was put to an end, successfully covering their tracks. Day after day we were told the same thing—nothing.

But today Adam’s expression changed. “Gwen and Gabe were found and captured by the Priests this morning.”

Fenn stiffened beside me.

“Are they all right?” I asked for him.

“They’ve been excused of their crimes by The Fates and cleansed by the Priests. The torture they had been put under weakened their minds so deeply the dark hold never fully lifted when Zordon had been turned mortal.”

“We should go and visit them,” I offered, turning to Fenn.

“No,” he said firmly. “They will come to us when they are ready.” I couldn’t argue with that logic.

“While we’re on the subject, we’ve also heard through the grapevine that Irisi forgave Na’shir, and they are happily running their clan in cohorts with Lev. Lev wasn’t lying when he said he could bring back peace among all of us as a realm. He must have some kind of magic in his words.”

“He has a heart,” Fenn simply stated.

We both looked at him, knowing that a leader who cared, who was smart, and who had been through peace and war was the best kind of leader.

We talked about a few random things until we knew the conversation had ended. “I’ll catch you guys later,” Adam said, hugging us both.

We decided to visit Mily who had busied herself with learning everything she could from Masami. She slowly accepted all that we were and even more slowly made her peace with the loss of the triplets. That had become another weight that Fenn and I had agreed to carry together.

“Are you going to stay?” Fenn asked her a few nights after our return. We knew she needed to decide soon because we couldn’t leave the rift open forever. I wasn’t sure what I wanted her to do.

She smiled and patted his cheek. “Where else would I go? There is nothing left for me there.”

“That’s wonderful, Mily,” Fenn said, kissing her forehead. “Kaede said you would always have a home here. We are so happy you are staying.”

She looked around, nodding. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

Though I was happy to have her back in my life, she was right. Most of America had been turned into a wasteland. The other countries, though affected, were able to pull together and recuperate.

She reached out for my face too. I was grateful to at least still have her as my mother.

“She can never be replaced,” she said to me, sensing my internal struggle. Silent tears fell at the memory of my mother, Eralise.

“Thanks for understanding,” I said awkwardly. I leaned over and hugged her tightly.

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS PASSED in a blur. I made my way around the Lyceum, willing myself to sit in the company of others. We waited and then waited some more for Kaede to return with word on what the next step would be. Time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once, making it hard to figure out where we should go.

After spending an afternoon staring at myself in a mirror in the bathing room, my eyes landed on my jade necklace. On it rested the remaining bit of elixir.

The moment I touched it, Iliana appeared next to me. She didn’t say anything; she simply smiled and nodded as my thoughts turned to Lexi and the conversation we had had the previous day. About why she couldn’t indulge Brohm’s advances because of her duties as a Celestian. As an immortal.

I darted from the bathroom wearing only my towel and ran down to the pavilion where Lexi stayed. “Open up!” I shouted as I beat on her door. Her face was alert when she opened it. I bombarded her at once with a jumble of words meant to explain the solution to her problem. Her face slowly changed into incredulous joy.

“I can take it?”

I nodded, handing it to her. She stared at it for a long time, contemplating, and then she tilted her head back and swallowed the remaining contents of the vile. She was mortal within minutes and hugging me as normal tears spilled down her face.

“Go get him,” I said, feeling like I had finally repaid the debt of my choice between her life and Fenn’s. She ran past me, shouting for Brohm who was working in the sand gardens. Iliana appeared in front of me, still smiling. In that moment, I found what I had been searching for from the moment I took Zordon’s life. I found what I had lost.

I could still make a difference with my life. My purpose didn’t end simply because Zordon was gone. I still had more to do. More people to make happy…more love to share.

I ran out of Lexi’s room, and for the first time in weeks, the tears that fell were filled with happiness. When I made it back into the Lyceum, searching for Fenn, Soothe stepped from around the corner and cleared his throat, motioning for me to follow him. He had stopped by a few times to check on me, particularly on my worst days. When he came to my room, he always stood in the doorway, never entering and never saying anything. He just watched me cry. I thought maybe I had disappointed him somehow with my emotional reaction.

“I see you’re feeling better,” he commented as I followed him out to the pavilion. He dug his hands into the pockets of his robe. “Young love has that effect.” He sucked in a breath of fresh air, turning his face to the sun.

I felt my lips twitch with a smile.

“I came to say goodbye,” he said. He stopped and turned to face me. He had grown a shadow of a scruffy white beard on his face, accentuating the pallid features of his skin.

“Are you following Lev?” I guessed.

He smiled. “Do you have Seer abilities in you?”

I laughed.

“To answer you outright this time,” he said, rocking on his heels, “yes, I am going with Lev. He asked for me to be his Seer, and I gladly accepted. I think it will do me some good now that The Fates have restored my powers.”

I hugged him before he could say anything else. He seemed surprised at first, but then he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight.