“So for us who are not so magically inclined. Can you explain what the hell you two are doing?” Snow asked as she finished drawing a circle in the ground per her mate’s instructions.
Stephanie did the same finishing her symbol and then stepped away as Brynie did the third and stood between the two wulves. It was a little more difficult with the darkness above their heads but they made due.
Ryza and Sehren both stood within the circle holding books in their hands and pointing to symbols of their own as they discussed the directions and orientation of them. But Ryza perked up her ears and nodded slowly. “I’ll let Solaris finish making a mess of things and explain it.”
“I am not the one making a mess this time Shina. I recall you ruining several of these circles when we performed this spell prior.”
“And yet you are the one still holding us back,” she smirked and he laughed going back to work. “I apologize girls.”
“It’s fine Ryry. We’re used to it,” Snow said and Stephanie nodded agreement. “But seriously. Keep the explanation simple.”
Ryza nodded toward them both. “Some magics require more than just a powerful source. They need a circle like this to better channel its excess energy and focus it on the spell at hand. And for what me and Solaris plan to do, we can’t afford things to get chaotic.”
“That was both an answer and not one,” Stephanie said glancing at Snow.
“It really wasn’t. Try again Ryry.”
She sighed pressing a hand against her face. “Right. Sehren and I are using this circle to channel a spell. We’re going to send our spirits, our souls, to where we believe that Daze is going.”
“You’re sending your soul? Does that mean you can’t be hurt or?” Stephanie asked worry entering her eyes.
“We can be hurt there, but that’s why me and Sehren are going together.”
Stephanie glanced at him and frowned, “And why can’t we come with.”
“It’s like Snow said, neither of you are magically inclined. Claws and teeth won’t be that useful in a realm you’re not physically in.” Ryza explained. Sehren looked at her for a short moment but didn’t say anything.
Both wulves made low growling noises unhappy with that answer. But finally, Snow said, “Be careful.”
“You don’t have to say it,” Ryza said gently.
“We do,” Stephanie responded and then they both looked at Sehren. She tried not to glare at him before finally saying. “Keep her safe.”
“Of course,” Sehren bowed his head. “You will not lose your mate as long as I am there to send her.”
“You know I tire of you two acting as if I’m a defenseless,” she said narrowing her eyes. But Snow and Stephanie were unperturbed. Standing over her they both wrapped their arms around her and she sighed enjoying the warmth. “We’ll be careful. I promise.”
“Good,” Snow whispered and kissed her gently.
“What about me? Can I help?” Brynie asked waving her hand.
Ryza chuckled but shook her head, “I’m afraid not. You’re a little too young right now. But soon you’ll be my student and I’ll show you many things.”
“We’ll be here keeping your body safe,” Stephanie said after getting her own kiss.
Sehren stepped out of the circle closing his books, “Hopefully nothing happens. But if something does happen, you’ll have Nero and his family will be there to help you.”
“I can tell none of them are happy with being on standby,” Ryza noted.
“No, they aren’t but they understand the situation we’re in. And if I’m correct they’re going to need to be ready for a fight.”
“A fight?” Snow asked tensing slightly.
“This will bank on whether or not I’m wrong. And I hope that I am,” Sehren said again.
“Does he also speak so cryptically?” Stephanie asked.
“Only when he doesn’t want to wish something into existence,” she replied. “Are you finished?”
“I am.”
“Then let’s get started.”
Ryza stepped away from the pair of them and her hands lingered on theirs for as long as she could. She sat down in the circle and Sehren sat in front of her. They both rested their hands on their legs and shut their eyes. Then they started to chant. Though their words were similar it was like they each had their own accent on the same song. Sometimes they spoke the same enchantment while other times they were speaking different words.
And while they chanted the circle below them began to glow an angry red. The light engulfed them and then vanished. The pair of wulves and the young mage looked at them confused. “Did it work? Are they still here?” Brynadette asked.
Snow sniffed the air, “Yes and no.”
Sehren and Ryza both opened their eyes and they both realized the change in their environment. They felt the hostile air they were intaking and the sharp ground they now stood. The darkness that enveloped them was suffocating and they could barely see.
In the distance, the clouds had bunched together and created a massive storm complete with a tornado rampaging. But as they watched they realized that they couldn’t feel any of the pressure from it. It was like they were ghosts and just passengers in this aggressive world.
Sehren turned and looked in the opposite direction of the storm and saw the mountain. Without the clouds to mar it he saw the top of it, a flat plateau illuminated by the lightning flashes.
Ryza coughed closing her eyes, “I thought our spirits were the only things that came here. Why does it hurt to breathe still?”
“Because this dimension is different from the material. In this one the body means nothing and the soul is everything,” he said conjuring his staff. “But our magic can even the odds.”
“Fair enough. Then let’s be off. We’ve got a mountain to investigate,” she coughed and started walking.
“Come now Shina, you expect me to let you continue like that?” he asked pressing a hand to his head. When she looked at him he waved his hand, golden light trailing behind it. The light swirled until it solidified as a tall golden shovel. “It may not have been what you used in life, but it seems wrong for us to go into danger without you having one.”
“It’s a little gaudy don’t you think Solaris?”
“It’s the gesture that counts.”
“It’s a gesture very appreciated,” she took the shovel and the thrill of power that raced up her fingers made her tail jump. “I assume there are some tricks within this.”
“Nothing more than a little amplification of your magic. At the very least you’ll be able to breathe easy.”
She chuckled leaning it against the ground, “Thank you Solaris.”
The pair walked, staying close as they traversed this empty world. As they walked they realized a few things didn’t apply in this world that applied in the regular. One of those being the fact that they didn’t get tired from physical exertion. The pair of them broke into runs and neither of them felt out of breath despite pushing themselves as hard as they could. But when they tried to magically speed up their process, they felt a drain so deeply that they had to stop. So without magic they ran to the mountain top.
Climbing a cliff Sehren slid over to the edge and paused looking down. “For a separate dimension I can’t write home about the view.” He laughed and Ryza leaned against her shovel.
“Only you could be in this godforsaken dimension and be comfortable making jokes,” Ryza said fighting the urge to laugh with him. “But yes it is a strange place. I haven’t been able to feel anything even resembling alive here.”
“Isn’t this still your realm Shina?” Sehren asked.
“As comfortable as I am with manipulating the soul, what we call a soul is not what the things here have,” she folded her arms then smirked at him. “Might be a perfect lecture for one of your classes.”
“Haha,” he replied getting back to his feet. “Though with that in mind, I didn’t think I’d see you be a teacher.”
“I’m very picky about my students Solaris. But I believe that girl is very special.”
“I think you’re correct,” he replied. “Though I must say. Your girls were kinder to me than I thought they might.”
“What do you mean,” she asked getting ready to climb again.
“Most are not quite so kind to the former lover of their spouse.”
Ryza made a face. “I told them everything when I came back. Every hardship, every success. Every down and every up. So of course I told them about you. Snow didn’t care much. She said we all had our pasts and was just concerned with being my present and future. Stephanie wasn’t happy about it. At least not obviously. She didn’t like it but she accepted that it was my past. She’s still wary of you but she’s willing to work together.”
“I had picked up a bit of that. But your love for one another makes me very happy. Is that why you lied to them?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Her ear’s flicked away from him.
Sehren smiled. “Come now Shina. You don’t have to pretend to me. Their claws would be just as powerful as any spell we could cast. The soul recreates everything.”
Ryza paused glancing back at him and sighed, “This is going to be more dangerous than they know. I don’t want to risk them again. Besides, the two of us can handle this.”
They started climbing slowly traveling the mountain. They’d managed to climb another cliff and then started running a winding path. Breaking into a run they climbed. They jumped a sudden gap that appeared underneath their feet and nearly skid across on the other side.
Ryza looked at her friend over her shoulder. “Did you ever find someone else?”
“No. Not really,” Sehren said. “And not because someone couldn’t match up to you. You were the exception to the rule Shina.” He laughed when Ryza gave him a teasing look. “Being a teacher has been the reward enough. Seeing my students succeed and grow. Becoming their friends. Teaching some of their children. That’s been more than enough joy for me. And I’d do whatever I can to protect it. I actually have a student now named Silva. I think you’d like her.”
He started to say more but the ground shook below their feet. They both felt a wave of magic race over them and they both sank to the ground.
“What the hell was that?”
“My fears becoming real. We need to be up there now. Hold on Shina.”
He spun his staff around quickly and the two of them both glowed before being lifted off the ground. Ryza looked at Sehren and though his face was calm she could see he was more focused than he should have. They flew to the top of the mountain and landed on the edge. It was a massive space of stone, cleanly carved away by something massive.
Standing on the other side of the mountain top was Daze. He turned to greet them his arms spread and sword shoved deep into the rock at his feet. Sehren and Ryza tensed ready for some sort of attack but Daze wasn’t hostile. In fact he looked overjoyed.
“Sehren. Ryza. I had an inkling that you two would find your way here eventually.” His voice was octaves deep, almost rumbling the air with each word.
“What did you do Daze?”
“Guess my brother,” Ryza growled and tapped the shovel against the ground. But Sehren walked forward and stood in front of his brother. Daze looked at him, meeting his eyes and they were the same height. Identical features.
“The fact that you’re here tells me that Alison was unsuccessful in stopping you.”
“They were formidable but. Well they couldn’t truly stop me. They couldn’t even delay me.”
“We will stop you.” Turning his staff he stamped it against the ground. “I know why you’re here.”
Daze raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure you want to do this Sehren?”
“The last time we clashed you retreated,” Sehren replied.
Daze’s smug look faded at the edges as he raised his hand. The sword materialized in his palm, the orbs gleaming along the center of the blade. “I don’t quite remember it like that.”
“Then let’s jog your memory,” Ryza said turning the shovel in her hands and pointing at him. But she whispered back to Sehren, “Do you have a plan Sehren?”
“Several. Do you want to take the lead?”
She smiled, “Oh no. I’m following your lead this time my friend.”
Glancing at her he smiled but turned his staff around and slammed it into the ground. The rocks erupted from the ground and surrounded Daze like a cage. Ryza thrust both her hands forward and hands erupted from the ground.
Spirits climbed out of the ground grabbing onto Daze and covering him in their scrabbling parts. The spirits turned bright green and exploded shattering the prison. The pair of them covered their faces and Sehren looked at her.
“A little aggressive Shina.”
“But not enough. Not even an appetizer.”
The smoke dissipated leaving the white glowing aura of Daze behind. Tilting his head back and forth he looked at them. “My turn.”
He swung and nil crawled from the ground, leaping at them. Sehren turned the staff and flames washed out of both ends, covering the nil in a sea of fire. Most of them screeched and died but others climbed over them and flew toward at them.
Turning the staff Sehren tapped the ground with another end and spears of rock shot out of the ground stabbing them out of the sky. Ryza on the other hand kept her gaze on Daze who had raised his hand. The ground shook and he shot into the sky on a pillar of rock.
Daze clapped his hands like thunder and blades appeared at the edge of the plateau. Spinning rapidly they flew toward the pair, eviscerating the nil on the way to their targets. Ryza shoved the shovel it into the ground, walls of bone appearing around them in a perfect circle. The blades whined as they slowly cut through the bone.
Sehren dropped his staff and it spun around the edge of Ryza’s bone wall creating a golden disk. They both stepped onto it and flew after Daze. It didn’t take long for them to catch up, meeting Daze’s expectant gaze.
Ryza hopped forward, thrusting the blade at Daze. A howl rang out as a trio of spectral green wolves manifested, ready to tear him apart. Daze blocked one wolf with the blade while the other two hit shields of light. Turning he swept the sword cutting them all in half.
“Let’s see you handle this,” Daze said looking at the pair of them.
Spinning around he pointed the sword at Ryza and her eyes went wide before flooding with blue light. She stumbled backward slowly and bared her teeth. Fur flowed over her body and she dropped the shovel against the disc as she quickly lunged for Sehren. He wasn’t fast enough as her claws tore across his side.
But he thrust his hand forward and pressed it against her forehead. Golden tendrils leaped from his fingers to envelop her. She moved backward her hand going through his chest slowly, the fur reversing and her height going away. She stood beside him gasping confused for a short moment then sighed.
“That trick never gets old Solaris.”
“I hope not. Because it’s my trump card most of the time.”
The wind picked up and they both turned back to their opponent. Daze held his hand to the air and the sword was glowing brightly. Rain pelted down on their heads, heavy and hard like sleet. Ryza crafted a barrier around them to ward it off but Sehren saw what his brother was doing.
He was waving the sword around, the tip trailing lightning. The sky opened up with a massive boom of thunder and a roar echoed above their heads. Daze swung down and a tornado descended upon their heads.
“Don’t try to block this one Solaris!” Ryza shouted over the roar of the wind.
She picked up her shovel and turned it in a quick circle. Green spectral hands appeared underneath the disc, grabbed them both, and threw them far out of the path of the tornado. Sehren commanded what wind he could to send them flying away in a more controlled way.
Daze leaped off his stone column and grabbed Sehren by the front of the shirt. Turning on the air he spun and threw him back to the column. Vanishing in black light Daze appeared on the rock pillar, snatching Sehren from his fall and shoving him into the stone. He pressed the tip of the sword against his throat.
“As far as distractions go, I’d call this one a rousing success.”
“A distraction?” he repeated and Daze snapped his fingers.
The wave of power that swept over them both was even more intense than what they initially felt. It was as if the fabric of this reality had shifted. Sehren looked over the edge of the pillar and saw them appear one by one. Three massive humanoid creatures with excessively long limbs. Their faces were fully obscured by eyeless horned masks with, wide grinning mouths.
The demons stood up and Sehren knew the creatures were infinitely far away from them and yet he could see them clearly. They had to be hundreds of feet tall. So he looked back at his brother he saw a flash of something in his face and eyes. Something beyond the magic he demonstrated.
“What have you done Daze?”
Daze crouched and kept the sword in place as he grinned, his teeth sharper and his skin turning to scales. “Obsidon. I’ve taken them into myself. Bent them to my will fully. And together we will lay waste to Arkoria. And from the ashes, I’ll rebuild it as its only God. The faults of The Father. I’ll never repeat them. The great leader? The free lady? The queen of Cerise? All failures. I’ll be the god that Arkoria is meant to have.”
“You’re insane.”
Daze stood over him, his palm glowing like a blacklight. One by one the demons vanished around them and Sehren’s eyes widened. Before he could speak Ryza landed on the edge of the pillar and lunged with a clawed hand.
Daze ducked avoiding the attack and spun around. He swung with the sword and it cut across her chest. A spectral hand pulled her back just enough to avoid the wound going too deep, but her wolf eyes widened. She slid to the edge of the pillar leaning on her shovel.
“Ah yes Shina.”
“You don’t call me that,” she snarled.
“Right. Ryza is your name,” he held the sword out to her. “Sehren and you were fond of each other once upon a time. Killing you will be satisfying.”
“No!” Sehren shouted reaching toward her but Daze was already swinging his sword.
Sehren watched him, watched her, and grimaced. He held his hands in front of his chest and suddenly the entire area was filled with golden light. Time slowed to a fraction of a second. But it was more than that. Time wasn’t moving slowly, it was moving backward incredibly slowly. Sehren panted as he stood up unaffected by his own spell.
Slowly he walked over to Ryza and touched her by the neck and the golden light wrapped around her. She gasped as she was freed from the spell and the pain in her chest came. Scowling she grinded her teeth together and looked at him then Daze. “What have you done Solaris?”
“Slowed things down,” he said, voice strained. “But this won’t hold my brother for long. This is just buying us time.”
“What are you doing Solaris?” Ryza asked softly going toward him and touching his cheek.
He smiled at her. He smiled at her in a way that was sad but also glad. Ryza had seen that smile once before. The day they parted ways for the last time as Ryza waited to go back to her proper time and Sehren’s journey took him across the country. It was the last time they saw each other for over forty years. But Ryza was sure that this time would be much much longer.
Ryza shook her head quickly, “No. No no Solaris. What are you doing?”
“Giving you and the others a fighting chance. At best I can give you a day,” he coughed going down to his knees and she crouched holding him upright. “You need to go back and warn them. Warn Noria. The Free City. The Sanctum. Unite them. Because the only way we can survive this is together.”
“We can warn them,” she said forcefully but he was already shaking his head.
“My spell ends when I leave. This is the end of the road for me,” he smiled at her again and reached up slowly and stroked her cheek. “There are great consequences for those who meddle with time.”
“Solaris!”
“Goodbye Ryza.”
Before she could protest further, he lowered his hand and took her hand pressing against it. The golden glow of his magic started at her palm and then traveled her body. She was stuck mid protest when golden light flooded her eyes. When it faded, she jumped to her feet in the Free City startling Snow, Stephanie, and Brynie.
Ryza looked back and forth before settling on Sehren’s body still sitting and his eyes closed. He looked peaceful as if he was meditating again. Ryza looked at him and then looked at her hand seeing a golden pocket watch with a long chain. She fell down to her knees and let out a long forlorn howl. Snow and Stephanie felt her pain as they stood at her side.
“Ryry. What happened? Are you okay?” Stephanie asked quickly.
Snow stared at her back though and shook her head, touching Stephanie’s shoulder. Snow went to Ryza’s back and wrapped her arm around her shoulders tightly, kneeling behind her mate. One of Ryza’s hands touched Snow’s squeezing it tightly. But Ryza stood quickly looking at the two of them.
“We can’t waste his sacrifice. We need to gather our friends. Our allies. We have a lot of work to do girls.”
The Harlequin Library 