The first thing Tasia and Rodi did when they got to Iris was rush directly to the castle while Yvonne and Doug went into the main city that lay around the palace wall. Terror beat hard inside Tasia and Rodi alike for they had left their children at home. Seeing the palace laying in ruinous disarray did nothing to alleviate either of their fear.
"Majesties!" Renee scrambled as hard as she could toward Tasia and Rodi. "What has happened?" she asked fearfully. Her face was streaked with dirt and her skin bore the evidence of wounds. "Everything has been destroyed! The only place that has not been touched are the apple orchards!"
That did not surprise Tasia. Her orchards grew the rare Witch's Apple, and as the name implied, they were powerful. She and her birth mother had tended the apples for three decades. The sheer force of their majik had made the orchards into a sanctuary. "We don't know what's going on, but gather every last survivor and make camp in the trees where you will be safe. Hurry!"
Renee rushed off quickly as Tasia and Rodi ran into the remains of the castle. The air had filled with terror and grief, and it wasn't hard to see why. Monsters ran everywhere unchecked and tore apart anyone they could get their claws on. Some of the monsters were familiar echoes from the battles of Tasia's past as a Defender. Others were wholly new.
She squared her shoulders and summoned her sword to hand. The divine ritual blade had been in her lineage for millennia, and it looked as powerful as it was. Rodi summoned his own impressive weapon—made by Raine as a Ruler with the Metal element—and stayed beside Tasia as she cut her way through.
Something about the scene felt violently painful to Tasia. Across her mind, she saw flashes of another destruction, another falling kingdom, and another onslaught of evil. She could hear the spirit weeping inside her mind. Is this what you saw, she asked mentally. Did you see this once too? There was no answer, but she hadn't expected one. The spirit was still weak despite growing stronger by the day. "Anna!" she shouted. "If you can hear me, answer me!"
A sudden blast of majik lit up the darkened atmosphere. She recognized the signature and scrambled that direction swiftly. She would not lose her children!
The monsters kept closing in. Anna kept Daelan close to her and worked to keep him safe. Ever since the castle had blown up, she had been shaking from the inside out. If she hadn't just suddenly seen what was about to occur, she and her brother would have been killed. They had found the sturdiest point in the grand dining room and ducked down beside it just before the explosion hit. Only their corner had been spared.
Monsters prowled the edges looking for them but had not yet come around the side. Inevitably, they would, and she did not know what she would do. She could use her majik as a concentrated blast to attack something, but the moment she did that, more would find them. She had to keep Daelan safe! If only she had Illusion majik; she could have used it as a disguise to block them from being found.
A monster finally noticed them and began to creep closer. Blood dripped from its cavernous jaws. Daelan began to cry and Anna clamped a hand over his mouth out of fear of drawing more attention. The monster crouched and lunged, and she clamped her eyes shut as she bodily protected her baby brother.
Nothing happened.
She cautiously opened her eyes and saw the monster hovering in midair. It had been frozen into a solid chunk of ice that shattered apart. Standing between where it had been and the kids was now a pale and insubstantial figure of a woman. She wore the familiar armor and Mask of a female Alurian Defender. Though Anna had only seen her as a child before, she knew exactly who she had to be. "Sabirah?" she whispered.
The ghost turned and knelt in front of her. I may be dead, Sabirah said, but I am no less in possession of a Seed, nor am I any less a Lead myself. My Ice Flower Element can attack and defend alike. She smiled. Just like our mother, right, Anna?
Anna felt a real smile arrive. "Yes."
Sabirah lifted her hands and revealed she held the lock and key necklaces that Anna had sometimes seen her—their—mother wearing. Sabirah slipped them over Anna and Daelan's heads, and the pendants glimmered with Chaos power. These will protect you. Durante and I have limited reach, but we can do at least this much.
Her head came up quickly at the sound of another monster approaching, but she had barely turned around before the lunging beast got cut down by another ghost. He wore an unfamiliar uniform Anna had not seen before, but his blond hair and handsome face looked familiar. Older, though, and much kinder than she had last see it, though. She looked into his eyes with the same lack of fear she had before, and found nothing except beautiful, wonderful, emotion. "Thank you," she told him.
Hey, Durante said as he knelt to ruffle her hair, I still should be thanking you for helping us back then. I won't let anything ever hurt you, okay?
Be safe, Sabirah said softly. Call us if you need us, little sister. We will come as fast as we are able.
The two ghosts dissolved, and Anna clamped a hand around the key tightly. She could do this. She had stared into the eyes of madness once. She could do this! She scrambled up to her feet and kept Daelan behind her protectively. She reached out demandingly for the majik inside her body and unexpectedly felt a strange and powerfully hot surge in her blood. It made her briefly stagger, and she shook her head hard. She did not entirely know what had happened, but her majik felt . . . stronger.
She saw a monster lunging toward her and fearlessly released the biggest blast of majik she could, which streaked from her hands as a silver glow. It drove the monster back several steps and did heavy damage. The beast came around again on a second advance, but made it barely a foot closer before a swinging sword brought it down permanently. "Are you okay?" Xavier demanded.
Anna and Daelan rushed to him and grabbed onto his legs tightly. Daelan began to cry and Anna felt on the verge of tears as well. "I want my mommy!" she wailed against his waist. She trusted Xavier. He was learning majik, too, and he reminded her of her grandfathers in some ways. He just made her feel safe.
"We'll find her," he promised. He swiftly cut another beast down as it lunged for them. "How many blasts can you throw? It softens them up for me and we can perhaps get out of here to the orchards."
Anna gulped down nerves. "I don't know but I'll find out." She lobbed another blast that, again, didn't destroy the monster but did make it much easier for Xavier to cut it in half. How long the teamwork would last, they did not know. An entire horde had started closing in around them. Xavier was surprisingly good with a sword, but there was no way he could handle this alone.
"Get away from my children!"
The whip crack of Tasia's voice across the field carried a terrible power and promise of retribution: the voice of Karma, she who was Judgment itself. The monsters froze briefly and then backed away from the three they had surrounded. Xavier's eyes slowly widened as he saw Tasia walking forward. Her body blazed with the brilliant gray and lightning of Chaos power. "Holy icy hells," he whispered.
"Mama!" Anna and Daelan rushed forward as one.
She fell to her knees and gathered both close, and her entire body shook with lingering terror. "Oh god," she said into Anna's hair over and over. "Oh god, you scared me!" She framed Anna's face with a trembling hand. "How did you get out, baby?"
Anna's lips trembled as well. "I saw it. I saw that something bad was going to happen. I grabbed Daelan and w-we hid where it would be safe."
"You saw it." The fact that her daughter had Future Sight was not a surprise to Tasia, or to Rodi. It had been sleeping inside their daughter for many years without a need for it to awaken. Her Ghost Sight, given that it was not as rare and had been critical in the last war, had been known by the entire family while the other had stayed a secret. Tasia lightly touched the pendant Anna now wore. "Did you grab this on the way?"
Anna shook her head. "Sabirah and Durante protected us when a monster attacked and gave these to us for protection. And I . . . I don't know. Something. Inside me."
Tasia somehow smiled. "You just evolved to a wizard. Unlocked more potential. You grabbed the Sensing skill and the Illusion Flower Element when you did. You are going to be quite the doctor with Sensing to join your two healing skills! And as for Sabirah and Durante, I thought they may come here." She hugged Anna again. "I heard Sabirah's voice inside my mind crying out that something was coming. She and Durante have returned to Chaos, but their spirits are strong enough to linger. Of course they would come protect you. You helped save them." She passed Anna to Rodi and then gathered up Daelan. "Hey there." She pressed her lips to his forehead and rocked him gently. "Hey there, my little prince. You okay?"
"Uh huh." He clung onto her tighter. "I knew you'd save us."
Rodi looked up at Xavier. "Thank you for protecting our children."
"It was my honor." Xavier knelt beside them. "I came running as fast as I could, hoping I could help, but I wasn't able to do much. Anna threw majik blasts while I cut through things."
"It's a very effective combination," Tasia assured him. "Strong enough witches and their non-majik or non-magic allies have done that for millennia." She got to her feet with Daelan cradled close in her arms. "We're going to a safe place on Protea. All of us. There's nothing we can do here like this."
Xavier shook his head. "I will remain here to fight. It is the least I can do."
She nodded slightly. "I will leave it to you. If anyone asks, tell them the queen appointed you as Captain in the Royal Knights—a post we had not yet filled, in fact. After saving my children and helping save my people, you will more than earn the position. Be safe, Captain." She felt the 'other' inside suddenly trying to reach out, but she firmly held the spirit back. Let him go, she thought softly. You are in no condition to aid him right now. At the least, she thought as she watched Xavier walk away, that explained a lot.
* * * * *
The other planets truly were in no better shape. For the Elder Cultivators, it felt doubly painful to see the kingdoms fall like this. It sent all of them back in time to the Royal Era and the painful prophecy that Shanae had lived under her entire life. Had they come this far, endured this much, only to see it all come to nothing?
All castles had been destroyed. Every city had been torn apart. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost. Land decayed and withered. Nothing grew. The skies were broken and consumed with evil magic. The sun did not shine, not even on Protea and Delphinium who sat closest to the sun. For Iris and Statice at the furthest edges, it almost seemed as if the sun did not exist. If there lay only one tiny bright spark of hope amid the ruin, it was that the worlds had not been poisoned. They did not need to be frozen. There could still be a chance to fix it all.
While the Resurrection Cultivators went into the castles themselves, the Elder Cultivators went into the towns. There was little they could do, though. Everywhere they looked, they saw people whose lives had disappeared. Storytellers across ages enjoyed using a catastrophic event to drive their plots—even Tasia had—but it felt more bitter and heart wrenching in reality than anyone had believed it could be.
It was only Kellie, Raine, and Logan that arrived on Daffodil. Tyson had been left on Protea in a healing sleep until Anna could mend the last injuries on his soul. Kellie only had a moment to truly be afraid for Devin. As soon as they reached the edge of the palace wall, he came running toward them. He looked a little ragged, but intact overall. "Dev!" She grabbed him tightly and hugged him fiercely. "Thank god you're like your father!"
"Hard to kill?" he asked against her shoulder as he hugged her just as tightly.
"Yes, and many people have tried, trust me!" She framed his face with her hands. Her heart ached as she looked into his eyes and saw the innocence gone forever. A child of Defender Cultivator never had much chance for innocence, especially if they knew the role their parent filled. His reprieve had been painfully short. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." He looked around and, despite his best efforts, his lower lip quivered. "Where's Dad?"
"You know that thing about him being hard to kill? Someone tried. He's recovering. We'll go to him as soon as I check the city." She looked at Raine and Logan. "You check the castle." She grimaced. "What's left of it."
Raine lightly touched a deadened pink daffodil. The ground had been covered in them. Her check-up with Siobhan had revealed nothing wrong with her body. "Maybe that's why," she said softly. "Destiny knew this would happen." The stench of Death clung to everything and seared her nose. The flower of her world represented rebirth and new life, and having Sensing on top of that meant that she had as strong a sensitivity to life and death as her father had had to time-space. This time, however, she could find almost no life to sense.
* * * * *
On Gladiolus, Juliet and Nathaniel went right into the main city to evaluate the damage. It wasn't hard to determine, though. The air no longer smelled of cookies and pasta. Fear and despair clung to every eave instead. Storm and Kari went directly into what was left of the castle. She had no idea what he was looking for, but he clearly had a precise destination in mind.
As they fought their way through the castle, she felt dimly glad for the years of patient training from Storm and Tasia alike. She was predominately a healer—physical—but she had become quite adept at fighting with her hands and feet. Her sole magical skill as a Caretaker could summon or banish storm clouds, which she used equally to provide her Cultivator with additional lightning to throw.
Storm may have had Finding and Pattern Mastery skills, but his body had been honed to be a weapon. He wore a black sash of his own when working out. He only occasionally chucked a lightning bolt as he instead punched and kicked his way through. "You know," he said conversationally at one point, "this was completely not how I wanted to spend my thirtieth birthday."
A sentiment likely shared by LeAnn as the two youngest Resurrection Cultivators both had birthdays in the beginning of October, with Storm being only days older so LeAnn was the overall youngest—Proteans tended to be the youngest of their given generation, actually. Shana was youngest of hers, too.
Kari grimaced. "I had your gift already but I suspect it's destroyed like everything else." She kicked a monster that loomed too close. "Why haven't you put on your Mask and called your armor?"
"I'm not sure I can," he admitted grimly. "That's what we're going to check." He found a hidden trapdoor in the floor of the former kitchen and pulled it up. He dropped down inside, and Kari followed closely. When the top closed behind them, it became pitch black.
She called up a ball of majik to give light—any witch could—and discovered her husband kneeling on the floor. He glowed with the same yellow and green magic that colored locks of his hair. He held his hands clasped in front of him, and she had the feeling he may not be there consciously anymore. She knelt beside him and gently covered his hands with hers. The contact allowed her to see what he did.
Between one blink and the next, she realized she could see something else entirely. It looked like some sort of giant chunk of citrine that pulsed and throbbed with the Thunder Flower Element. Yellow gladiolus flowers grew out of it all over the surface.
Before her mind could try to evaluate she saw, a chill roughened her skin. She could see something black and evil dripping from the ceiling. It was thick and sticky like tar and twice as foul in stench. Where it dripped onto the gemstone, the stone stopped glowing. When it had been consumed entirely, it died with a painful scream as if being torn apart. Something cracked loudly like an entire planet breaking apart.
She blinked and was back to herself. Tears rolled down Storm's cheeks. "Stormy." She pulled him into her arms and held him tightly. "What was that?"
"The Core of Gladiolus," he whispered. "It's being destroyed. That's what we saw. We need to go to the others and tell them. All the worlds must be suffering the same. We have to stop it."
* * * * *
Siobhan and Edgar were returning to the castle on Delphinium when both felt an evil presence. It was familiar and unwelcome, and it sent chills down both their backs. Siobhan instinctively moved and planted herself in front of her husband without thought. His hands curled around her waist as much to give comfort as to potentially move her in case of danger. "You're dead," he said sharply to the air.
A low sinister female laugh answered him. "Oh, but am I, Evan?" A swirl of ugly power revealed the image of a creature burned into their memory. She bore no resemblance to any living being, and had nothing in her appearance to make her tolerable to look on. Disease had eaten her flesh to reveal bone, and putrid colors clung to the nettles that made her hair. Slime oozed from her body and could be left from her feet where she walked, as if the malevolence inside her just could not be contained. "Miss me?" she purred.
Siobhan lifted her chin sharply and suddenly looked every bit the legendary Apex of Light she had always been. If her heart quivered with fear, she fought it down. Just Edgar's hands on her waist gave her bravery enough of a boost to get through. "If one misses a toothache," she retorted a bit sharply, "then perhaps I missed you."
Famine stared at her with hatred lining her face. "I see your tongue has not changed in five thousand years. Are you going to face me alone, dear queen? Where's your precious brother and Defenders to protect you?"
Her lip curled slightly. "I'm sure they'll be just all sorts of happy to join us, Famine. And too bad for you, but there are twenty Defenders now for you to contend with. You don't stand a hope of ever defeating us!"
Famine's low, sinister laugh sent a chill down even Edgar's back. "Ah, but they can't destroy me, can they? Only you can, precious Apex of Light. And, if I recall, your destiny was to destroy me and die in the process, wasn't it? Sounds like I still win in the end, don't it?"
"Destiny can be changed. I'm stronger than I was!"
"And so am I!" With a last cackle, Famine disappeared
"Oh god," Siobhan whispered. She turned into Edgar's arms for comfort, and as he held her fiercely, she buried her face against his shoulder and let the tears well up. "Oh god."
* * * * *
Shana left the manor to find Rocky standing in the small courtyard outside the front. The manor had a great deal of land as well as a personally large size with dozens of bedrooms. Enough room for their family and all of their friends as needed. As Shana had said, the manor had been spared in the shockwave though the gardens out back looked a little stressed. "How is he?" he asked without turning.
"Resting. He'll be fine once we have Anna here. She's as strong and courageous as her mother."
"There's a lot of that going around," Rocky murmured. "LeAnn had no hesitation in charging right back to Protea City to check for survivors." He let out a ragged breath. "How many survivors do you think there are?"
"Many billion." A soft wind blew her hair around her face, and her pink eyes looked cool and controlled. "More than enough to give the enemy plenty of fear and despair to feed on. Enough to carry on life if we can win. Enough to give the people hope that could so easily be destroyed." She looked over her shoulder. "Isn't that so?"
Rocky's entire body tensed as he saw the shifting swirl of something rolling forward. One might have called them shadows, but they bore absolutely no resemblance to any Shadow Flower Element be they Light, Dark, or True. The entity could not be called darkness, either. He simply . . . was. An ominous figure who loomed over the nighttime and turned natural nightmares into something to be feared and loathed. Who fed on the worst of emotions inside all souls. The first Evil itself. "Nemesis," Rocky said softly.
"It's been too long, Prince Robert. Or should I say King Robert." Nemesis' guttural voice had never changed, and it barely pierced the air for no element wanted to sustain it. The sound of it had been permanently burned into Shana's ears and buried in her blood.
"Former." The 'former' seemed a misnomer in the regal way Rocky gave a bow.
"My mistake." Nemesis crept closer toward Shana. His hatred for her had only grown over the last few millennia. She looked more beautiful than he remembered. The blush of her youth had faded and in its place was a fully-grown woman hauntingly beautiful enough to tempt anyone, and as regal and graceful as the goddess she would be. "You look just like Shanta."
She bared her teeth in a smile. "Thank you. Now why don't you come a little closer and let me send you back to the Underbelly of the Plane where you belong." The Underbelly of the Plane acted as a hell of sorts that housed the most terrible of existences. Nemesis and Famine had been trapped there once, broken free, and then been destroyed.
"I wasn't in the Underbelly this time." He started to swirl closer but stopped when a warning glow of sunlight from her Nature Flower Element rippled over her skin. "Shall I tell you where I've been all these years?"
"In another dimension," came Tasia's icy voice. "Weren't you?"
Nemesis turned sharply to see the Iris Dual Cultivator standing behind him. He studied her intently and saw a woman no less beautiful than Shana, and no less powerful. When he looked into her eyes, her chocolate eye seemed to swirl with a shadowy power that went on to infinity. Black and white lightning flickered. "Ah," he purred. "The Apex of Chaos. How did you know?"
"It was a guess. You just confirmed it." She glided a step forward and forced him to retreat. "You won't touch Shana again."
He cackled gleefully as he whirled around. "She claims she would protect you but she is your true destroyer in the end! At least I offer a quick and painless oblivion! You will die at her hands!"
"If I do," Shana said very softly, "then I know I die at the hands of someone who loves me." Beside her, Rocky said nothing.
"Oh what irony this is!" Nemesis cackled again as he began to disappear. "If you feel brave enough to come face us, come seek us out on All Hallows' Eve. We will be waiting if you think you can destroy us! Until then, enjoy watching us bleed the life out of your worlds!" With that, he disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived.
Shana let out a breath and looked at Tasia. "That was an interesting guess. How did you get there?"
"Logical deduction from my Pattern Mastery." Tasia's eyes flickered in a way that meant she was still inside the pattern. "I heard Chaos calling out that 'it' was coming, and I know you and Siobhan sensed your destined enemy. And, also, Aluria was affected. Then, too, was Uncle Tyson's collapse. That means that a dimensional wall entirely crumbled. That these enemies appeared right after it means that they were behind it."
"And?" Rocky asked quietly. "What else?"
"It's just suddenly made sense." Her gaze lowered. "Why it is nearly always in October that trouble happens. It is because October is a month when the walls between planes thin. A time when dimensional walls hover closer to the surface. And in those moments, evil can eke into our universe from the place where it has been hiding under our noses all along. Each time we destroyed evil, we did not send it to the Underbelly; we sent it back to where it had come from. Weak and unable to return, but still there. The ugly seeds Nemesis planted at the beginning of it all as the first evil . . . they have finally born fruit. Every vestige of evil in the universe finally just . . . spilled out."
"Shit," Rodi said softly as he walked forward with Anna and Daelan. He blew out a hard breath. "Great. Just great. Speaking of Tyson, how is he?"
"Not good." Rocky knelt to Anna's height. "He needs you, honey. His soul was wounded and you need to heal him."
"Okay." She hurried over to him and then blinked when he scooped her up. "I can walk," she said in exasperation. "I'm eleven now, Uncle Rocky, and a wizard!"
"Even big girls can be carried. I still carry Shana and Siobhan around, don't I?"
As they disappeared inside, Tasia said idly to Shana, "You're fairly unconcerned to be hanging out with your destroyer."
Shana gently cupped her cheek. "Because you love me as much as I love you." Their hands clasped together as they turned and went into the house, and Rodi followed with Daelan in his arms.
Inside, Anna and Rocky sat on the stairs with Tyson. He had been in the process of coming downstairs when they had caught him. Now he sat quietly while Anna touched his heart and glowed with soft silver majik. He could feel her majik gently sealing the wounds and making the pain ebb. She would be a force to be reckoned with when she grew up. He gave her a quick grin. "Will I be able to play the piano again, doc?"
A smile lightened her face. "You couldn't play the piano to begin with. You're tone deaf!"
He glared at Rocky as his friend muffled a snort of laughter. "Kiss my ass." He scooped up Anna and gave her a fierce hug. "You're an awesome kid." He hastily let her go as she turned a familiar sick tone. "Bucket!"
Tasia had already been moving and she quickly spread a hand across Anna's tummy. "Nope, not this time." She spread tender healing of her own that eased the sickness before it could claim her daughter. Only she and Siobhan could actually heal the sickness endured by a spiritual healer, though any healer could ease the effects after it. "There," she said softly. "Better?"
Anna nodded firmly. She was willing to endure the sickness and bruising inevitable in her gifts because it meant she could help others feel better. That did not mean she minded when her mother or aunt nipped it in the bud before it happened.
The front door opened and Kellie walked in. "Am I a widow yet?" she asked.
"Nope, not yet," Tyson apologized. "I'm still here to harass you." He went down the stairs to hug her close. He buried his face in her hair and wrapped her presence around him. "I'm sorry, Kel."
"You better be!" she whispered fiercely against his shoulder.
Shana glanced around and saw Devin holding back a bit. A familiar look lingered in his eyes. She looked at Anna. "Honey, take Daelan and Devin into the kids' room upstairs. There are books and games to be had. We'll send Relisha and Percival along to join you when they arrive."
"Okay." Anna took her brother from her father and then led Devin up the stairs to the room in question. The door shut softly behind them.
It wasn't very long before everyone had reassembled. "How bad is it?" Rocky asked Storm. He visibly looked the most pale. "You look like you've seen something horrific."
He sat down on the bottom of the stairs and leaned back against Kari. "I saw what is happening to our worlds. Aluria too, I'm sure."
"What about Aluria?" a redheaded man suddenly demanded from the doorway. "Honestly, I thought overland travel was a bitch, but inter-dimensional is worse!"
"Hi, Phoenix," Tasia said dryly.
"Yo." Phoenix Hinojosa walked into the room, and he was followed closely by his fellow Defenders from Aluria. Despite a shorter than average height, he was remarkably strong and his orange eyes, tanned skin, and reddish orange hair perfectly suited his Fire Flower Element. Seven members of the team wore formal uniforms marking them as Defenders, but two of the team wore royal dresses, and the last wore an outright Ruler gown as the Ruler Cultivator of Aluria; she was, in fact, Dual. With the team came the three familiar Caretakers to the three royals, but there was also a new face. Phoenix caught the boy's arm and pulled him forward. "You should know everyone. This guy is new though you've heard him mentioned. Luc Carter. He's already ready to be knighted, but still too young at fourteen for that. That said, given that the rest of our Caretakers have been dispatched to aid people, we brought him along as help."
"Shana! Tasia!" Starlight Aluria hurried forward to clasp hands with Shana and Tasia both. "And Siobhan." All four clasped hands together, and Starlight's edelweiss-green eyes looked grave. Her silver hair appeared far messier than usual though she still wore her crown. At barely five-two, she was shorter than even Siobhan but had a similar shape due to her own magicality, and they even had the same Illusion element. "If it was as bad here as it was on Aluria, then things are truly terrible."
"Based on the level of destruction we can see from here," Vincent Laurie muttered as he peered out the door, "I think we can say things are really bad." His dark pink eyes held clear frustration as he blew out a breath that stirred his violet hair. Tanned skin and a six-foot height made him look almost related to Shana and Edgar; an irony when he personally protected Sunlight Aluria, she of the Nature element. He himself had Air. "To coin a phrase from Sunlight, things suck."
"An apt summation, despite Sunlight being a terrible influence on you," Jeo Cross muttered. He was the second to youngest of the Alurian Defenders and had ivory skin, pale blue eyes, and blue hair that suited his Ice Flower Element. He was one of three dedicated to Starlight's own defense. Phoenix made up another as her twin soul mate.
"Find a place to sit or lean. This may take a while." Shana had no shame. She sat down on the floor. She wasn't alone, though, as several Resurrection Cultivators and most of the Caretakers did as well. Why use up chairs when they were perfectly comfortable on the ground?
Jeo, Phoenix, and Starlight stood together with three others. Starlight's husband, Raven Aluria; Luc; and the youngest of the Alurians, Rose Johnson. Raven contrasted Starlight highly with his black eyes and hair and brown skin, and while not handsome, he had strong appeal. Luc made a brighter figure beside him with light brown skin, dark orange eyes, and peach hair. He stood with his arms around Rose protectively. Rose, at barely eight, had been forced into her role young but still possessed the will of any Defender and took her duty as a Glass element to protect Starlight very seriously. She had olive skin, pine green eyes, and pale brown hair that promised to catch eyes as she got older.
Vincent moved to sit higher on one side of the curving staircases, and his partner in protecting Sunlight, Yuiki Furukata, as well as Sunlight herself and her Caretaker husband, Felix, went with him. Yuiki possessed the Water element and had eyes as blue as any lake, coal toned skin, and black hair. Sunlight looked nearly identical to Starlight given their being triplets, though she had pink hair and a stronger frame. Felix had tanned skin, bright gold eyes, and vibrant blue hair—and enough strength over his five-nine height to bodily haul his wife out of any trouble she frequently got herself into.
The other side of the staircase gained the third Alurian triplet, Moonlight, her Caretaker, and the final two Alurian Defenders, Kiegan MacDouglas and Lilac Andery. Moonlight also looked identical to her sister except for gold hair, and her body type hovered somewhere between her elder and younger sisters; her Time element had her sometimes filling both physical and magical roles. Vargas, her husband, was a striking figure with fair skin, black eyes, and smoky gray hair. Kiegan and Lilac personally protected Moonlight, and their Metal and Thunder elements served that well. Kiegan had a lively face with dark cream skin, yellow eyes, and blond hair. Lilac had skin more sienna in tone, blue eyes, and purple hair that well fit her name.
Once everyone had settled, Siobhan offered, "Tell us what you saw, Stormy."
Storm let out a hard breath. "I harmonized with the Core of Gladiolus. It's being eaten by the evil. I could see it happening, and I don't mean I got an out-of-place vision. It was actually happening—though the end might have been a bit metaphorical, or maybe my own gifts telling me the logical end. It's bad. Worse than anything we've seen before." He looked at Tasia. "Put on your Mask. Try to see what happens."
Tasia obligingly stood and removed her Mask from her bracelet. She enlarged it and put it on . . . and nothing happened. Magic rippled over her Mask with purple and yellow color, yet her armor did not appear. "Damn it." She removed the Mask again and looked at it closer. Tiny hairline cracks ran through the entire surface warningly.
"Is . . . is the Core that important?" Kimber asked. "I feel stupid asking, but I don't think I've ever really gotten the entire complexity of a Core of a world."
"To best describe it, I would say it is the very soul and life of a world," Clara said softly. "Its beating heart. It gives each world a will and a spirit, and it holds the chosen Flower Element as well as the flower and magic of the world itself. From the flowers of the Core, the Seeds that exist inside all Cultivators of that world are harvested by Destiny. As long as a Core lives, a world lives. Rulers are critical to this for their presence gives the Core the ability to make more flowers. No flowers, no Core, no life."
"So that's why Aria was suffering so badly," Rodi murmured.
Rocky nodded. "And explains why the false Seed Shanae created via my Illusion magic was just enough to support Protea until Shana and Edgar got reborn. I gave Protea a way to keep producing flowers, though it could not necessarily produce magic."
"Correct to both." Clara wrapped her arms around her knees. "As for Defenders—and Duals—we are a little different. The Core chips off a little piece of itself to become our Mask."
Tasia's eyes sharpened even as Storm's did. "So," the sorceress said slowly, "the evil seeks to create destruction by going right for the source. A slow, insidious death where people know the world is dying and can only wait for destruction. All the more fear to feed from."
"And," Storm picked up just as slowly, "since we can't call armor and our Masks are visibly cracked, that must mean that the damage has been occurring slowly over time and is now echoing out. Every battle with evil must damage the Core in some fashion; that's why we have different tiers in power. When we evolve, the Core is evolving to fight back."
"Then what do we need to do?" Sunlight demanded of Clara. "Obviously, you're the one who knows everything. You may not be Librarian anymore—grats, Racine, by the way—but you're still as old as the worlds are! So tell us what we need to do to save our worlds! There must be something to be done to make the Cores healthy and whole again!"
"To begin with," Clara hedged, "once the Core is purified, the evil will not be able to withstand staying on the world. All dredges of evil will have to gather together to try one last time to overwhelm the forces of good."
"Clara," Shana said quietly, "what has to be done?"
"I have every suspicion that if Tasia uses her voice in conjunction with her arcanistry, she might very well be able to completely destroy all evil," Clara said quickly. "If we can manage to win this battle, it might be the last. Erasing all evil in this generation as we always believed may happen."
Siobhan slammed a hand against the wall and made the entire manor shake. "What do we have to do?!" she shouted. "Just tell us!"
Clara's eyes closed helplessly. "Someone has to die."
No one moved, spoke, or even breathed. Then, finally, Rose asked, "Why?"
The words spilled out of Clara in a rush as if she had always known, and feared, that someday she might speak them. "An Activated Cultivator must return their Seed, and therefore their life, to the Core that birthed them. This rush of returning magic after years of giving it away will restore the Cores to the purity and power they held at the beginning of Time. Any remaining Cultivators of the same world will become empowered beyond measure—especially Defenders. Their Masks and armor alike will strengthen to incredible levels."
Alexandria straightened her back. "Then we'll do it. The Elder Cultivators will make that sacrifice. The Resurrection Cultivators are far too powerful to be used this way. They need to be the ones to stay behind to be empowered. Though, having them be more powerful is a frightening thought." As calm as her voice sounded, her fingers laced to Diaz's for support.
Shana blew out a hard breath. "Protea and Delphinium appear to have two choices each."
"No," Tasia said softly. "There is no choice. You must remain to defeat Nemesis and Siobhan must remain to defeat Famine." Her eyes moved to Edgar and Rocky. "Your brothers are not so restricted, and so very conveniently have always been Activated even when they rightfully should not have been. Literally never before has any generation had more than one Activated Ruler at a time. When you and Sayena were born in the Royal Era, your brothers had been expected to automatically Deactivate, yet they did not do it."
Storm took a sharp breath. "The reason for your births," he whispered. "It has to be an Activated Cultivator. Taking out everything else about your generation, your actual magic as a Ruler perfectly matches to the Ruler magic of the rest of the Elders—even your sisters. It is the sum total of Shana and Siobhan being Duals and Apexes, as well as the others being just Duals, that makes them all stronger magically than either High Prince."
Rose frowned. "I don't know if I understand that."
Rocky found a smile for her. "It's not as complicated as it sounds. Magical capacity as Rulers alone is completely shared across our entire generation. But the female Rulers are also Dual, so that naturally doubled the capacity for them. And then Shana and Siobhan are Apexes, and that makes them infinite. In some ways, maybe, Edgar and I are more skilled because we made our magic do things that normally Rulers cannot do, but skill is not usually what is referenced when we talk about strength. Someone who can cast a lone shield for days versus someone who can cast three different types of defensive actions for only a few hours is still the stronger."
"And that's why," Storm said softly. "That's why you two High Princes were born. Not merely to strengthen the Apexes, but to . . . to do this. To be the ones to help ensure the end comes as we want it."
"Then that's what we will do." Rocky's eyes met Shana's and some unseen message passed between them. His eyes flickered to Tasia. "There is a reason for every existence. I accept that this is likely the reason for mine."
"Yes," Tasia said so softly almost no one heard her. "We all have a purpose." She took a deep breath and looked at the Alurian Defenders. "What will you do?" she asked gently. "We will need as many of you in the final battle as possible."
"We don't know," Starlight said honestly. "I suppose we will figure it out when we get to the Core. Uhm, how do we get to the Core?"
"You will effectively dive deep into the very land of each world to the hidden place where a Core is kept." Clara made a slight gesture with one hand. "Wherever the 'heart' of the world is will be the entrance to the descent into the planet's Core. It will become a trial of the chosen heir's mind, body, heart, and soul." She chose the word 'heir' deliberately for she refused to call them a sacrifice. They made this choice willingly—and choosing how they would leave the living world had not usually been a luxury afforded any Cultivators of the past.
"Do we have to go alone?" Virginia asked.
"No. In fact, it is probably best if the Resurrection Cultivators accompany us."
"And us," Logan said strongly. "We're going too."
"And so are we," Sam concurred. "What good would it do for a Caretaker to remain behind while their Cultivator passed on to the Realm? That's not how this works. Every Cultivator that has ever fallen, has fallen with their Caretaker by their side. For all the firsts our generation has brought, that will not be one of them." His hand covered Clara's softly, and their fingers laced together. No one needed to ask what he meant. His meaning seemed painfully clear.
"I suggest we spend whatever time we need preparing. We will know when the moment comes. Visit a place of memory and remind yourself of something important to your existence, as a sort of thank you for having a Seed and having this life. And then, when you are ready, descend into your world's Core." Clara let out a little breath. At the least, she finally fully understood Racine's presence as well. She had always thought there must be a good reason why a new Librarian would be born. If Racine had not been there, then Clara's sacrifice would have risked letting the Hall of Records be completely defenseless except for Tasia's own influence. Racine's presence ensured a full Resurrection Cultivators team and a still fully protected Ephemeral Plane.
Destiny had, indeed, been planning this for a long time. How long, Clara didn't know. She was almost afraid to ask.
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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