I could tell Kade had been reading my emotions, if not my thoughts. He grabbed my hand and together we touched the crystal. That told me he was all in. He would also risk everything for Violet. For me. She was that important to me and I was that important to him.
The mecca shot into me so hard I let out a strangled cry. Somehow I managed to hold on. I could feel Kade filtering the energy so it wouldn’t affect me as much, but it was straining him. We needed to do this quickly. Channeling the energy into what I needed, the portal began to open, the faint image becoming clearer by the second, trees and bushes appearing before us.
Someone gasped behind me, then Nikoli said, “I didn’t believe you could actually do it. We’ve always been taught that only fae can open portals to the Otherworld.”
Yeah, we’re part fae, I wanted to say, but that was a whole other conversation for another day.
“Go! We can’t hold it much longer,” I shouted. Blaine seemed cemented to the spot, staring at the image, but at my command he grabbed Monica’s hand and nudged Victor’s shoulder.
“We’ll head west before doubling back toward the east so we can meet up with you in a few days,” I heard Blaine say, before he stepped through. Finn ran in after them.
I’ll stick with them for now and keep in touch, he said. That way we can communicate easily between our groups. I hated being apart from him, but it was a good plan. He’d keep them safe.
Take care, old friend!
Nikoli and Nix went through next, and I noticed Kade’s forehead had broken out with beads of sweat.
“Arianna, go!” he bellowed, letting go of my hand, his other remaining on the crystal.
“No way! We go together!” I shouted, snatching his hand back up. The mecca was buzzing so loudly now I wanted to cover my ears.
I heard the door in the sitting room crash open. Now or never. On the other side of the portal, Nikoli and Nix were waiting for us. The magic born had a ball of orange fire in his hands, gearing up for some spell, hopefully to help keep the portal open while we jumped through, or maybe to stop anyone else following us.
On three… Kade said. I readied myself and tried not to think of what would happen if the portal closed while we were halfway through it. Most likely it would slice our bodies in half.
Stop thinking!
“One … two … three!” Kade shouted and we pulled our hands off in unison, stepping around the mecca crystal and charging at the open portal. As we neared it, it began to shrink.
“Jump!” I yelled, both of us taking a leap at the same time. We hit the portal just as Nikoli’s orange ball of fire slammed in from the side. The closing of the entrance slowed, his power keeping it open for us. As I passed through the portal opening, I heard that voice again, that familiar voice that had been in the mecca for weeks.
Arianna, I loved you dearly. Forgive me.
I hit the cold hard dirt with enough force to take my breath away, rolling a few times before coming to a halt. Lying there, I had to take a moment to catch my breath. Not just because of the fall, but because of that voice. It had been so clear this time. I knew who it was now. Without any doubt … it was the Red Queen. All this time she’d been trying to communicate with me through the mecca.
Dammit! We might have gotten our answers if I’d known that. I could have tried harder to find out how it was even possible for her to speak to me from the afterlife. But I was in the Otherworld now, and there was no time for me to deal with the Red Queen.
Jumping to my feet, I was up in time to see the portal crush the last of Nikoli’s orange ball spell. It was almost closed now, but I did see Selene running into the room with her guard. She took one look at me on the other side and screamed so loud I heard it in the fae lands. Then she was gone.
Earth was gone. We were in the Otherworld, and I had absolutely no idea how we were going to get back home once we found Violet. A problem to worry about later. For now we had a mission and I was focusing on that. Breathing in slowly, calming my nerves after the last thirty minutes of adrenalin, I let myself really see the land we’d arrived in, taking stock of threats and such that might be in the vicinity.
It was beautiful here, quiet and peaceful. I could sense energy in the land beyond what Earth had, a true natural force that quietly flowed beneath us. Rolling green hills, towering trees which seemed to expand out into the horizon – not to mention a plethora of flowering plants. It was pretty and it smelled good. And all of this beauty hid a deadliness which could get us killed.
In the distance, about five hundred yards away, I caught sight of Blaine and the others. They had wasted no time moving, and we needed to go as well. Thankfully, our travel bags had remained on our backs, even through the fight. We had everything we needed. It was time to go.
Nikoli and Kade started to stalk around, scouting the land. Nix was on Kade’s shoulder, not wanting to fly up yet. When we traveled, though, she would be our first line of defense against any attack. Through the trees I could see a few small huts that made up some type of village, and farther beyond it a huge white-stone castle.
Kade turned to me, his face more serious than usual. “Does it seem a little less vibrant than the last time we saw this world? The plants are sick. I can feel their pain.”
He was right. The last time the colors had almost been too much to stare at. Taking a much more thorough look around, I realized that many of the flowers were wilted, the trees and grass browning in some patches. The sky was also a sickly bluish green, which was different to what I remembered. The mecca was definitely affecting these lands.
A snarly voice came from behind us: “Announce yourself! You know protocol!”
I slowly turned, not wanting to startle them into an attack. I cursed myself for not pulling my hood up, but thankfully my long hair mostly covered my very non-pointy ears. No doubt I was a mess, covered in blood and dirt, which would not help alleviate suspicions.
When the fae came into sight, I was a little surprised, but managed to keep my expression from changing. I hadn’t been sure what to expect, but the four-foot creature with thick brown, wrinkled skin and pointy ears was not it. He had a humanoid shape, but clearly was not one of the fae I was used to seeing. His face had the texture and structure of a brown nut, with two very green eyes that seemed to be one pure color, no pupil to break it up. I scanned down to his toes and saw he was barefoot, with wide hairy stumps for feet. Weird, coarse looking, brown tufts of hair sprouted out at various places on his body.
Let me know what you want to do, Kade said, waiting at my side.
Let’s see if we can talk our way out of this before we attack.
Our conversation was cut off as the creature cleared his throat and took a small step forward. “Announce yourself,” he said again.