The Last of the Firedrakes (40 page)

“You are brave, little princess,” Morgana said as she hit me with another lightning strike. It broke my shield and hit my left leg.

I fell to the ground on my knees in pain.

“Yes,” said Morgana, “kneel before your queen.” She cackled.

A wind had picked up, and Morgana’s hair whipped around her face as she held up her hands, palms facing outwards, to deliver another blow. She struck me with a fire strike that burst through my shield and burned my arm and leg, but it was not a killing strike. She was still toying with me. I screamed in agony and fell face forward onto the hard, moss-covered floor. My nose was bleeding, and shooting pain ripped through my left arm and leg.

“It is unfortunate that you got away from me the first time, Aurora,” said my aunt with a sneer. This was the first time she had called me by my name. “Your mother used up the last of her powers to stop me from getting to you.”

She hit me with another burning fire strike while I was on the ground, and fresh pain shot through my body again.

“It was she who made the portal and sent you away to the other world,” Morgana went on. “If you were not wearing that cursed amulet, I would have found you much sooner.”

I barely had any strength left. I tried to heal myself, but only a flicker of magic now remained in me.

I maneuvered myself to my knees, blood streaming from my nose and leg. My arm was burning, and I pulled at the magic around me to try and create some semblance of a shield. I could feel the magic surrounding me, but however much I tried to pull it into me, it wasn’t enough.

“I stabbed your mother through the heart myself,” cackled Morgana. “And it took nearly ten Drakaar assassins to kill your father. But he was finally cut down as he tried desperately to save you both. If your mother’s power weren’t concentrated on trying to save you, she could have saved herself and him.”

Morgana hit me with a crushing strike. I screamed in agony and would have clutched my chest if I could, but my hands were still bound behind my back.

This was too much. I couldn’t bear it anymore. I could picture my mother giving her life to save her only child, and my father, who must have tried to save his family only to be cut down by dark magic. My dream flashed in my mind. I could see my mother standing still, eyes flashing silver, protecting me with her magic as Morgana came at her with the curved dagger.

Morgana was the one who had destroyed my life. She was the cause of all my pain, and she was the one who took my parents from me and destroyed my family. She was a monster, evil to the core, and she had to be stopped.

This thought gave me strength to fight on. I faintly heard Kalen’s voice calling my name. I tried to get up, but I was hit with another lightning strike that shattered my shield and left me writhing on the floor in excruciating pain.

Morgana was laughing at me. “Yes, get up, Fae-Mage,” she goaded, “show me what you’ve got.”

The Shadow Guard were also laughing, while Snow called my name in my head. I barely heard them. I had had enough. I shut out the voices, the fear, and the terror that were invading my mind and looked inside myself, to the safe place where the source of my power lay. A faint light was still flickering and struggling to stay alight.

I tried to sense the magic around me, but I had no strength to pull it to me. I couldn’t even remove my amulet. But I had to do something. I couldn’t just give up and die. People were depending on me. And, for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of responsibility. I was no ordinary person. I was the true Queen of Illiador. I was a fae- mage with unlimited power. But where was that power now?

I closed my eyes and silently called out for help. I had no idea if there was even anyone to hear me. Imagine my surprise when I actually got an answer.

My eyes snapped open. It wasn’t Snow. I would recognize her voice anywhere. I had no idea who it was, but this voice was deep and distinctly male, and a sense of calm washed over me as I listened.

“Rise, Aurora,” said the voice that only I could hear. “You are a fae-mage. The amulet doesn’t control you; you control the amulet.”

I tried to make some sense of this in my already fuzzy mind. “What do you mean?” I asked the voice, still trying to push myself up from the floor. “My hands are bound. I couldn’t take off my amulet if I wanted to.”

I had long since ceased to be surprised by mind communication, and this voice seemed to know what it was talking about.

“Your powers are different from others. You can do what no one else can,” said the voice. “You don’t need your hands for magic. It is your mind, your will, and your innermost soul that control your power. Imagine the amulet disappearing from your neck and put it somewhere else.”

“How?” I asked quickly.

“Do not try to pull the magic to you,” said the deep voice. “Open yourself to the power around you, and you will see what I mean.”

I pushed myself to my feet with all the energy I could muster.

Morgana looked at me with her eyebrows raised. “Back for more, little niece?” she said, grinning manically.

But I ignored Morgana and concentrated on the deep voice that was speaking only to me.

“Imagine the amulet has disappeared from your neck. Push all your magic and your will into that thought,” said the voice.

I did as I was told; I gathered my magic and pushed my will into imagining the amulet disappearing. Nothing happened, and I tried again.

“Who are you?” I asked silently, but the voice was gone, and I got no answer.

Morgana hit me with a fire strike. The pain was excruciating, and my skin was burnt all over. Angry, red welts had formed on my arms and legs. I was in agony, but I concentrated harder. I calmed my mind and imagined the amulet gone from my neck. I pushed the last of my magic into that thought.

I glanced at Morgana, who was now raising her hands and gathering all her magic to deliver the final blow, the magical strike that would kill me instantly. But I didn’t break my concentration. I held the thought firmly in my mind and braced myself for whatever Morgana had in store for me.

Suddenly, much to my utter astonishment, the chain around my neck started to get hot, as if it was resisting my magic. It vibrated faintly, but finally my magic held out, and the amulet disappeared from around my neck.

It was like a veil had been lifted from my magic. I quickly drew my shield around me and searched outside myself for fae magic. I was not surprised this time to find the power that lay around me just waiting to be tapped. I gradually opened myself to it, careful not to force it. Magic started flowing into me in gentle waves, filling me with power and strengthening my shield. Morgana raised her hands to deliver the final blow. Lightning was sizzling in her palms. I opened myself wider to the magic surrounding me. Power filled my senses, and my shield grew in strength.

Morgana hit me with a powerful lightning strike, which would have killed any who stood before it. But my shield was resilient, and it was still growing.

Morgana looked surprised for the first time. “How is this possible?” she said faintly, more to herself than anyone else. She looked furious, and she shot numerous fire and lightning strikes at me. Morgana was powerful, but her magic didn’t even shake my shield.

In the same way as I had done with the amulet, I imagined my ropes gone. They immediately disappeared, and my hands were free.

“No, no, no,” Morgana screamed. “This is impossible. I was watching you. You never removed the amulet. How did you free your hands?”

I shrugged, offering her no more explanation.

Morgana had her shield up, and I lashed out at her, shattering her shield and hitting my aunt with a powerful push strike. She flew backwards and landed in a heap against a crumbling stone wall. Morgana shrank back under a hastily constructed shield.

I could see from the look on her face that she was getting worried, and my power was still growing. Magic was seeping into my very pores, flowing into me in waves of potent power. My feet left the ground. I could feel the magic all around me, lifting me up, and it was all mine to command.

“No, no, this is not possible,” Morgana kept saying, over and over again. “You were wearing the Amulet of Auraken. It is impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” I said without emotion, advancing on her slowly, a ball of silver fire growing steadily in my palm.

“Kill her, kill them, kill them all!” screeched Morgana to the Shadow Guard as she scrambled backwards and away from me.

I turned from Morgana for the briefest of seconds to see Kalen being hit on the head by one of the guards. He fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. I looked on, horrified, as another Shadow Guard slit Snow’s neck.

Fresh, crimson blood streamed down the pegasus’s beautiful white mane and coat, and she collapsed onto the moss-covered floor of the ruined castle, the life slowly draining out of her.

“Nooo,” I screamed in terror, and moved to run towards them.

In the split second that I was distracted, Morgana took the opportunity to disappear.

I was left alone with the Shadow Guard, who had slowly started advancing on me. There were more than twenty of them, but now, suddenly, I had no fear. I had faced my greatest enemy, Morgana, and won.

My mind shut off the rising tide of despair that was growing inside me. All I wanted to do was to get the Shadow Guard out of the way so I could attempt to heal Kalen and Snow, if they were still alive.

I gathered all the power swirling within me. Waves of shining white light were coursing through my veins, and I lashed out at the Shadow Guard with all the magic I could muster. Silver fire exploded out of my palms and struck two of them, the ones who had slit Snow’s neck. They screamed, and the acrid smell of burning flesh stung my nostrils. I watched, a little horrified at what I was capable of, as two of the Shadow Guard were enveloped in sheets of blazing silver fire.

Immediately my shield was bombarded with red bolts of energy, and I was momentarily pushed back. I turned to the rest of the Shadow Guard, who had now started advancing on me.

I strengthened my shield and moved towards the Shadow Guard. They may have been men once, but the dark magic that they practiced had changed their features. Soulless eyes, black as night, and white, skeletal skin barely covered the last vestiges of humanity that they had left.

The Shadow Guard were relentless and powerful, but with my amulet now gone, my shield was slowly becoming impenetrable. Strikes of red energy blasted at me and bounced away.

I looked down. My feet were inches from the ground. I could feel the magic in the air all around me, helping me. I was now completely surrounded by the Shadow Guard, who were trying to get through my shield.

I was filled with an overwhelming need for revenge for what had been done to Snow and Kalen. I gathered my power, letting the fae magic flow into me, fueling my mage power and strengthening it. The lingering Shadow Guards shrieked in terror when I unleashed the full intensity of my powers and struck them down with wave after wave of silver fire until there was nothing left around me except smoke and ashes.

28

Return of the Dark Queen

I ran over and checked Kalen’s pulse. It was faint, but he would live. Snow, on the other hand, looked like she had breathed her last. I left Kalen and knelt down next to Snow, tears streaming down my face as I held her lifeless head in my arms. She had no pulse, and there was so much blood. What was the use of all my powers if I couldn’t save the ones I loved?

I buried my face in her mane and wept. My mind was trying to go over everything I had learned in healing class. I had to try and do something; maybe she wasn’t completely gone.

I put my hand over the gash on her throat and proceeded to try to heal her. I opened myself to the power around me and channeled it into Snow. She was still lifeless, and I concentrated harder, searching around in her body, concentrating on trying to find some sort of life to start the healing. After an agonizing few moments of frantic examining, I found it, a faint flicker of white light. It was like a silk thread, so fine that I had to strain to catch it.

I concentrated harder and pushed more magic into Snow. My hands had now started glowing, and slowly whatever I was doing started working. Veins began mending themselves, muscle and tendons regrowing. Bit by agonizing bit, Snow’s neck began to heal.

Suddenly the deep voice in my head spoke, and this time it was even more urgent. “Stop this, Aurora. It is forbidden.”

I stopped, but only for a moment. I then continued my healing as I spoke. “Why should I? If I can use my powers to heal her, why shouldn’t I try?”

“The pegasus is on the threshold to the otherworld. If you bring her back now, and I am not sure that even your powers are strong enough to accomplish this task, there will be a price to pay,” said the voice sternly.

“I don’t care,” I said stubbornly, refusing to listen. “If I can somehow heal Snow and bring her back, whatever the cost is, I will do it.”

“Then let it be so!” said the deep rumbling voice. “But you have been warned, Princess Aurora. This kind of magic always demands consequences.”

“I will deal with it when the time comes,” I said, determined not to let Snow die.

The voice was silent again. I turned my concentration back to what I was doing. My magic was slowly starting to heal Snow’s neck, and now the last bits of tendon, muscle, and skin were reforming. I pushed more healing power into Snow, and her eyelids fluttered. I sagged with relief and decided it was all worth it when Snow opened her eyes, got up, and shook her beautiful white mane.

“Thank you, Princess,” she said simply. “But I fear you don’t fully understand the magnitude of what you have just done. The magic you performed here has never been performed before. Even Auraken Firedrake has never been able to successfully bring someone back from the otherworld.”

I laughed with joy, and happy tears rolled down my face. I didn’t care. I had done it. Morgana was gone, and Snow was alive.

“What have you done?” said Kalen, horrified, scrambling over the stone courtyard towards me.