Chapter 19

When the doors closed behind me, it was the first time I'd taken a breath since I'd gotten to Isramorta. The castle was so different than the Tempest or even Slate Lands. It was a big square room with extremely high ceilings. There were rectangular openings that would be windows on all the walls, but the thick flow of lava on the outside of the castle was the only view from each of the openings.

"I'm Morgana." I didn't know if I should offer her my hand or not, but it felt good to finally say my name to someone.

"Lundra." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me. I didn't know what to say but I found when I couldn't figure out what to say it was best to say nothing at all. "Well, are you going to tell me why you're here or not?"

I looked at the door. "First, are you sure Avalon won't come after me here?"

She smirked. "He wouldn't dare. He's powerful enough, but this is my castle and my clan. He's lucky to be accepted as part of it. He wouldn't jeopardize that."

I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Very well."

"So, again, what business do you have here?"

She was a stranger to me but the only people I knew of were Malotte, Linford, and Carlotta. And they'd helped me as much as they could. If this Amazon goddess of a woman was going to help me, then the only thing I could do was tell her the truth. "I was dragged into this world against my will by Avalon—that prick. And now I'm on the run from him and King Dacio. I need to get to the Swamp Lands and Malotte told me you could get me there to where no one could follow."

"Before I decide to go against the King and help you, I have a few questions to see if it'll be worth it."

"As long as it gets me away from them, then you can ask me whatever you'd like."

"Were you part of the selection for his bride?" The glowing lava gave her dark skin a warm sunny glow.

"Not by choice. None of this was by choice. I've lost my family, my friends, my job. I don't belong here. I belong back on Earth, not here."

She arched her eyebrows at me. "You're from Earth?"

"Yes." I nodded, hoping she"d know what I was talking about. "I've seen this world and the way the people struggle here, the way they're bound to the clans and separated from each other . . . It's cruel, and I want to go back."

"There is no going back for one such as you." Her eyes were nearly pitch-black, but when she looked at me, all I could see was the flow of lava reflecting back at me.

I knew I wasn't going back home but hearing it over and over didn't make the pain hurt any less. "One such as me?"

"This way." She turned and sashayed away from me toward one of the lava-falls.

She opened her hand and red sparks flowed down toward the lava pooling just under the window. A smaller pool of it rose and hovered out between us. "Step on it."

"You want me to step on lava?"

She shrugged. "If you are who I think you are, then yes."

"And if I'm not?" I looked at the smoldering and swirling liquid, trying to decide if I was about to lose a foot or not.

"Then we will know you are not who I think you are." Lundra was different than any demon I'd encountered so far. There was an inner strength about her that hadn't been beaten out by the years of struggle for the demons of Istramorta. There was strength in her graceful movements and the confidence in the way she walked with her head held high.

I wanted to trust that she knew something about me that I didn't know about myself. But in truth, I had nothing to lose by trying. No other elements seem to have an effect on me, so why the hell not. I lifted my leg and stepped on the lava. I expected it to catch my weight. Instead my foot started to go straight through it. Lundra let more sparks fly from her hand and the lava firmed under my foot enough that I could step up with the other.

She hopped on next to me and the lava began to steam beneath our feet. The hot air forced the lava to rise, and I found myself teetering as the lava moved higher. It rose to a small opening in a wall high above the room we stood in. She stepped off the lava, and before it disintegrated under my feet, I leapt off after her. We were standing in a long, dark black hall that led to a single balcony. The walls were made of cooled lava rock, as were the floors. The building was sparse at best but still had a dark, fiery ambiance where the glow of the lava light illuminated everything.

Lundra didn't turn and look back at me. She just walked toward the opening and I followed. She pointed across the river toward the Air Lands and to the castle in the mountains. There stood Herlandis, the leader of the Tempest Clan, staring right at Ashington Castle. Lundra placed her hands on the half-wall of the balcony and leaned toward him.

"Every day I stand here at sunrise and sunset to see my husband. Never to touch or speak. Never to be with him. The heart . . . it wants what it wants. Mine has longed for him for fifty years. Families have been torn to pieces and trapped with no word of each other. You now know of this hell. And what will you do about it?"

Herlandis watched her with pain coating his features. His eyebrows were drawn low over his eyes and his lips were pursed with the effort it took to hold himself there, like being away from her was the most pain a man could endure. It was the pain of a husband losing a wife. The torture of being so close yet so far.

"But what will I do?" If I could find a purpose here, something to make me feel somewhat whole and possibly piss off Avalon and Dacio in the process, I would do it.

"Come."

She didn't wait for me, she just walked away. I tried to keep up with her long strides. She led me down one hall and then another. I only paid attention when she shoved open a set of doors and we stood in a room with no windows and a single pool of lava in the middle of it to illuminate the walls. On the wall across from the door was a huge tree depiction in a dark carving. The branches extended up the wall and over the ceiling. Eight women held hands and surrounded the tree, each of them wearing a loose-fitting dress.

The dull hum of pain buzzed in my head, and I tried to shake it off. "What is this?"

"It is the sacrifice."

Her words sounded so familiar, and the pain grew more intense. I pressed my hands to the sides of my head and hunched over. "Why? Why does it hurt?"

"Because you are holding back the memories." She started to walk around me in a slow circle and words flowed from her mouth like a river.

"What memories?" My knees gave out and hit the floor.

"The eight were the ones to save us. They sacrificed themselves to save all of Tarrea. Let the memories flow over you. For if you know, then the future will grow brighter. Listen to me and hear my words." She sucked in a deep breath. "By my blood, make thee whole. Sever the bonds, claim his soul."

Her words didn't make sense to me, but I heard them echoing through my mind. They grew louder until I couldn't hear anything. The pain exploded and I was drawn into my mind so fast my body toppled over and I hit the ground. My mind raced with memories that dragged me under.

I took the chalice with both hands and spoke a vow I knew would bind me in this life and the next. "A gift returned in kind. My blood and soul, I will bind."

I knew why I was here and what was about to happen. Through my whole life, I'd always known death to be beckoning me and now I would answer the call. My heart ached for the love I would leave behind. But Avalon had always been for the people and put them first. My one regret is that I hadn't gotten to say goodbye to the one man who showed me what love really was. For that I would be grateful. For that I found the courage to end this war for us all . . . for Terrea.

The Sacred Tree had been desecrated, the roots stolen out of an act of selfishness and a grab for power. The tree that brought life to this world was now a dark, grayish blue. They'd once been vibrant and colorful with pink and white flowers. It was time to right the wrongs of the past. We'd all drank from the chalice and taken our blades, and now as one we pointed them toward the tree where the bastard who'd done this to our world was trapped by the branches . . . Valandrial

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE," we chanted together. "SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

Violet mist coiled around Valandril's hands, filling his palms. I was once from his vampire court before I'd been turned demon, before the explosion that changed half the vampires of our world . . . including me. I knew he was going to try to use his power over nightmares on us, but my sister was just as powerful. I squeezed her hand and she let her own magic flow over her arms. My faith in her would never waver. She'd tried to save me, and for a short time, she'd succeeded, only pausing death for a moment before it took me too.

I grinned and shook my head as we chanted together, "BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

All at once we brought our blades down to our right hands, then dragged the sharp tips across our palms. Pain coursed through my body, but I was used to pain and blood. I switched the blade to my other hand, and along with the other, dragged it over my skin. It burned down my arms and I felt my skin part. The smell of blood filled my nose and the blade turned to ash in my hands. It fell like a drifting mist down the water, surrounding me. All that was left was a single gemstone in my palm. My blood coated it dimming the vibrant color.

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL," we chanted a fourth time as the sacred pool rippled and pulsed with our power.

Burning. So much burning. It felt like fire spreading through me. I'd grown immune to the elements of the demons, but this was inside me, burning from the inside out. If I dared to scream or let the agony show, it'd make this unbearable. I grabbed onto Rhode's hand and held it for dear life. In the past, when my pain grew unbearable, I forced my mind to think of the one thing that brought me joy . . . Avalon.

The way he smiled.

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

My sister trembled beside me, and I held on tighter. Her pain was my mine her blood was mine. Forever we were in this world together or we would part it together. So much power flowed with us and over our bodies. Blood burst from between our grasped hands. It poured into the sacred pool beneath us. Crimson rivers sliced across the surface like oil on the water, together yet never mixing.

Magic flowed from each of the girls like the tree beckoned our power to use it for what happened next. There were streams of bright pink. Hydrangea blossomed across the water from the dragon kingdom. Shadows of wolves ran along the water and ice followed in their path. Blood sizzling like molten lava poured into the crystalline waters. Sky blue mist swirled in the air just like Rhode's had. We all acted as one, calling on our parts of the world for strength. Each of this power was a piece of us, the eight who would make the ultimate sacrifice.

My eyes roamed over each one of us, knowing the end was coming. Yet the excruciating pain hadn't stopped, and I felt my own petals want to rise and fly out over the rest of us. But if I let them go now for even a moment, they'd all die with just a single touch. I tried to hold back as much as I could. With this one act, we would save Terrea . . .

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

Our blood hit the trunk of the tree and it swelled as though it took a deep breath. The branches swayed and stretched. Thick roots rose from the book and coiled around Valandril's body, squeezing him so tight. His arms were yanked backwards until his bones snapped. Valandril threw his head back and screamed. Narrow strips of roots slithered across his limbs and chest, digging bloody valleys into his skin.

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

One more time. Just one more time. One chant from each of us and this would end. We could do this. I knew we could. Our strength, together, was like nothing I'd ever felt or seen.

"BY MY BLOOD, MAKE THEE WHOLE. SEVER THE BONDS, CLAIM HIS SOUL."

Roots shot up from the water and hammered through my skin. I threw my head back, closing my eyes and letting the pain rip through me as the roots wound their way up my arms, tearing away my flesh. Tears spilled over my cheeks, and I let them flow, silently waiting for this to end. I felt my sister at my side, her hand in mine, her blood in my veins. We'd always been like one, and I would never leave her just as she would never leave me.

Determination coursed through my body just as more pain came. My back bowed and I tried to take myself someplace else in my mind, to my days and nights spent wrapped in Avalon's arms, I remembered what it felt like to be held by him, the way his taste lingered on my lips even after he'd gone. I'd give anything for just one more kiss from him before I left like this. I'd been selfish with him, taking his love and keeping it for my own. Now all I had was the memory of us to try to disassociate from my body being ripped apart by a thousand splinters.

"On the night The Veil shall open, nightmares claim thy sacred tokens," Abba chanted from behind me, her voice warm and singing with power in my ears. "But magic stolen comes with a cost. For by His hands blood will be lost. Bound in war, triumph is hopeless. Thy future lies in death and darkness."

Bright, golden light billowed from between our grasped palms, and I felt the sacred pool tighten around my ankles. Roots and branches slithered across me. They wound up and down my arms like ivy and connected us all. I could not see where my body ended and the others' began. Beneath them, my skin burned, and I couldn't stop it from happening. The roots crawled up my neck and over my head and I closed my eyes. Soil from the bottom of the pool claimed my feet. I couldn't move. I was being buried alive. Icy water rose up around my body. I prayed it'd stop the burning, but all it felt like was shards of glass against my muscles. All at once it crashed back down, and I couldn't find my breath, couldn't move. The end was near. Death was my life and it'd been chasing me for some time. I knew it's call. Knew the feel of it deep within my bones.

"Yet on the Eve thy battle ends, eight fierce souls will make amends." Abba's voice grew louder, like she knew the pain would drown her words from our ears.

This was it now, and I felt it settle over me—its dark cloak ready to claim the air I breathed.

"Hand in hand, they shall unite. A pact in blood, heiress to fight."

The trunk of the Sacred Tree trembled and roared like a dragon as it spread open in the middle. Thin roots slithered like snakes from within the trunk, then sank its jagged tips into Valandril. He screamed as his bones snapped and sliced through his skin. Just when I thought we would watch the tree rip him to shreds, the roots dragged him inside the opening in the trunk . . . and then swallowed him whole, leaving behind an echo of a scream.

The tree was taking back what he stole, draining the life and magic from his soul.

Magic exploded out of the tree, shooting in every direction. It was a cloud that rolled like a wave in a stormy sea. The whole world trembled and roared as the Earth shook. Flashes of light in every color shot straight up into the sky. The trunk of the Sacred Tree turned a brown as rich and vibrant as the shades of red, pink, blue, and purple.

Satisfaction coursed through my body. I held on long enough.

"When gifted power pays sacrifice, Mother Terrea shall repay the price." Abba grinned up to the stars and the flash of magic in the air. "Blessed be her soul reborn. Seek from where the Earth was torn. To bring peace to all lands that burn, in fifty years eight heiresses will return." Abba's voice was softer now, farther away. "The lines of fate have been spoken, on the night The Veil shall reopen."

Bright white light filled my eyes, and my last thought was, "Goodbye, my love. Thank you for showing me what love was."

The last thing I pictured was his face as I held onto my sister one last time.

The world around me faded to black and I knew, I knew in that moment, I'd made death wait . . . until now.