This time the Shadow listened to her, surrendering to her control.
The disorienting force abated instantly and Alex fell to her knees as the ground became steady under her once more. She opened her eyes and they widened in surprise. The Shadow Ring had done exactly as she’d ordered, delivering her directly to Raelia, but it wasn’t the Raelia she’d been expecting. Instead of the snowy landscape, she was in a moonlit clearing.
Moonlight.
As in, nighttime.
What…?
Not only was it nighttime, but there was also no trace of snow. The landscape looked exactly like it had the very first night Alex had stumbled upon the clearing months ago.
“Enter in, if you dare,
As one who’s been to Meya;
Be strong of mind and pure of heart,
For your journey began at Raelia.”
Alex jumped to her feet, swayed on the spot and pressed a hand to her throbbing head. She knew who the singing voice belonged to, even if she couldn’t see the owner.
“Lady Mystique?”
“Hello again, Alexandra,” the old woman said, appearing in the middle of the circle.
“How—how did I get here?”
“You activated the Shadow Essence in your ring,” Lady Mystique said. “A dangerous undertaking, especially for one so full of Light. But you managed to gain control over the Shadow, and now you’ll be able to do so with much less resistance in the future. Two Walks remain in your ring. Use them wisely.”
Alex shuddered at the idea of ever having to use the ring again. “What I meant was, where’s the real Raelia?”
“You’ll be back there in a moment, child,” the old woman assured her. “But I wished to speak with you, to give you a warning, before you’re reunited with your friends.”
Alex wasn’t sure she could handle any more bad news. “What is it?”
“It won’t take long for Aven Dalmarta’s power to rise again, despite Meya’s best efforts to resist,” Lady Mystique said gravely. “There are too many Garseth hiding out in the city, ready and willing to serve him. King Astophe and Prince Roka will need all the help you can give them.”
“Me? What can I do?” Alex asked. “My part in all of this is over. I was supposed to keep Aven from getting through the doorway, and look how well that turned out.”
Alex was barely holding her emotions together. It was as if shock had finally settled on her and she was completely numb. She couldn’t think about anything, least of all what Aven was going to do next.
“Alexandra, listen to me,” Lady Mystique said. “Your role has barely begun. You have much left to do, more than you can possibly imagine. You must—”
“No,” Alex interrupted with a firm shake of her head. “I must nothing. In the last hour I’ve given Aven free access to Meya, I’ve watched a classmate die and I’ve been attacked by my best friend—who I’ve now lost to my worst enemy. I’m sorry, but I can’t have this conversation right now.”
The old woman’s face softened and she reached out to take Alex’s hand in her own. At her touch the throbbing pain in Alex’s head disappeared, along with all the other aches from her fight with Jordan.
“I know you don’t want to hear it,” Lady Mystique said softly, “but it’s important that you listen to me. You must train, Alexandra. You must train with the Meyarins.”
Alex stared at her. “What?”
“You must build your stamina,” Lady Mystique continued. “You must learn how to call upon the Meyarin blood in your veins at a single thought, without hesitation. It won’t take Aven long to realise how you managed to escape him and why you fight so well. He’s cunning, dangerously so, and when the time comes, you must be ready to face him—and win. You can only learn so much with a human instructor, regardless of how capable your Karter is. You need to learn how to use your Meyarin abilities from a Meyarin.”
“That’s not—I can’t—” Alex took a deep breath and tried again. “I don’t want to fight Aven.”
“I know, child, I know,” Lady Mystique said, squeezing Alex’s hand. “But when the time comes, you may be the only one who can.”
Alex struggled to control her emotions, overwhelmed by the weight of responsibility she felt resting on her shoulders.
“There’s something else you need to know,” the old woman said, her tone gentle but firm. “They are words written of old. To what they refer, no one is certain. But I believe you must be made aware of them.”
She released Alex’s hand and pulled a faded piece of parchment from her coat. It was withered and crumpled and looked as if it had survived more years than should have been possible.
“Open it,” Lady Mystique urged.
Alex hesitantly did so, finding a beautiful script in an unknown language, with a translation directly underneath.
When Day and Night combine and fight
Against one Enemy
Then Dark and Light shall meet mid-strike
And set the Captives free.
She read it a few times before turning her eyes back to the old woman. “Am I supposed to know what this means?”
Lady Mystique just looked steadily at her. “You will when the time comes.”
Alex didn’t have the strength to fight for more information. She tried to hand the paper back, but the old woman said, “Keep it.”
“What happens now?” Alex asked, looking around the clearing.
“Now you go back to your friends. They’ll need you in the coming times, just as much as you’ll need them.”
Alex felt her throat close painfully, but she forced out a whispered, “What’s going to happen to Jordan?”
Lady Mystique stared at her for a long moment before she answered, “That will depend on you, Alexandra.”
With her declaration still echoing in Alex’s ears, the old woman disappeared, as did the darkened clearing. Alex’s head spun at the abrupt change in landscape and she closed her eyes. When she reopened them, it was daylight again, and she was standing in the middle of the snow-covered Raelia.
And she wasn’t alone.
appear ed.
Twenty-Six
The clearing was full of people—beautiful Meyarins, mostly—and all of them were looking at her with startled expressions. But her attention was solely on her two friends sprinting her way.
“Alex,” D.C. sobbed, slamming into Alex and wrapping her arms around her. “We thought—We thought—”
D.C. couldn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t have to. Her fierce embrace said enough, as did Bear’s tormented face when he reached them and circled his arms around the both of them.
“Jordan?” Bear whispered against Alex’s hair.
Alex knew what he was asking. She wished she could tell him what he wanted to hear, but she couldn’t. She shook her head and held her friends close as her own tears began to trickle down her face.
Alex felt Bear shudder in anguish and she absorbed D.C.’s sobs as they racked through her entire frame. The three friends held tight to each other while they grieved for their friend, remaining like that until someone cleared their throat nearby, breaking them apart.