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Zoe
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It was Shay who carried me away from the battle, leaving Kieran and Vash to hold off the enemy for a few more seconds, so we could get a head start. After hiding, dodging, and trying to outsmart and outrun our pursuers for what seemed like an eternity, we finally stopped to breathe.
“So we try the one in Winter now?” I panted.
“Yes,” Finn said. “It won’t be guarded.”
“And you know this for sure ... how?” Sidelle asked.
“Because no one knows about it besides the Queen.”
“And you.”
Finn nodded but didn’t say anything more. He continued to walk.
“How come we didn’t go there first?” I asked, but I didn’t get an answer.
After a few more hours passed, we finally stopped to rest and to find shelter. We were weary from the demon attack, and I was hungry. I imagined Shay and Vash were, too, but neither said anything. After Sidelle went to look for a place to hole up for the approaching night, I huddled next to Shay and fell asleep in his warm arms.
When I awoke, it was pitch black. My body jerked with panic.
“Shh, Zoe,” Shay said. “It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re in a cave. We didn’t want to use any glamour for light, just in case the demons were tracking us.”
I nuzzled into him. “Okay.”
“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when we’re ready to leave.”
The next morning we started back on our trek to find the Winter porta. At some point when the sun was high in the sky, we stopped, noticing how the landscape changed up ahead, transforming into a wintery land. Ice crystals hung from every tree, and a blanket of sparkling snow covered everything. Gray mountains dotted the horizon.
Sidelle looked back at Finn and nodded. He stepped closer to the invisible border—though perhaps it wasn’t invisible after all.
“We’ll need winter coats, boots, hats, and all that, Finn,” Sidelle said. “And anything else the boys can carry in backpacks, like sleeping bags and blankets. That sort of stuff. Can you manage that?”
“Yes.”
With a wave of Finn’s hands, a snowstorm started to brew all around him, engulfing him until we could no longer see him. All of a sudden his arm shot out, and he motioned for us to step out of Summer and come closer to him. We glanced at each other, then at Sidelle, who nodded with determination. Taking the cue, I stepped out first. As soon as the first snowflake fell onto my head, I was covered in a hat, a scarf, a knee-length down jacket, and warm boots. Everything was in varying shades of dark blue. The outfit was nicer than any I’d had back home, and I appreciated Finn’s good taste in clothes. One by one, my friends emerged, decked out in dark blue winter gear. And just like that, the snowstorm stopped.
“Okay,” Finn said. “We should get started. It’ll be sundown soon, and we want to make it to Winter’s Pass before then. It’s just beyond that ridge.”
We stepped in line behind Finn, trudging through the snow, single file.
“Yeah, fine,” Sidelle said, walking right in front of me. “But can’t we just use our glamour to get there?”
“No. Mab would know, and we don’t want that. Not if we’re going to ...” He hesitated.
“Exactly where are we going?” she asked. “Where is the secret porta, anyway?”
“Um ... inside the castle.”
Sidelle froze. She stopped so suddenly I walked into her back. “Um, Finn? Did you just say the castle? You couldn’t have told us—me— sooner? How the heck are we going to get five of us into the castle and go unnoticed?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” he muttered. “Come on. Keep going.”
“Can’t we go back to Summer and get Oberon to help get us out?” I asked.
“We’re closer to Winter now, and we’d waste more time backtracking,” Finn said.
“Should’ve told us that earlier,” Sidelle mumbled.
We were headed toward Aesculus, home of the Winter castle. From Sidelle’s reaction that was a bad thing. I didn’t know how long it would take for us to get there, or what we would find once we did. I couldn’t even be sure Finn wasn’t leading us into a trap. How could have it come to this?
“Um, can one of you tell me what’s with the castle?” I asked.
“It’s where Queen Mab lives. She’s the ruler of Winter,” Sidelle replied grimly.
Finn slowed his walk to keep pace with mine. “It’s where I live, too.”
“You live in the castle?” I asked.
He glanced at me, smiling. “Yes, a prince generally lives in a castle, or at least they do in fairytales.”
“You’re a prince?”
He gave me a little bow as he walked. “Prince Finnegan, at your service. Delle is the only one who calls me Finn. You may, too, if you’d like. I apologize we weren’t properly introduced the last time we met, but I guess we were all pretty busy fighting demons and such.”
This was news to me. “You’re a prince? Is that why you know about the secret porta? Because you needed an escape route?”
“It doesn’t matter how I know about it,” he muttered, “but I’ll admit, I did use it to run away once.”
“Probably because he needed to bolt from all the one-nighters,” Sidelle said under her breath, but everyone heard her.
“I haven’t been with anyone since you—”
“Save it. I don’t want to hear your voice.”
We didn’t run into any demons along the way, so I hoped we had escaped them, though my gut told me that wasn’t true. All was quiet on Winter’s Pass. But the enemy was still in Fairyland. They were just biding their time.
The day had turned into another sundown when we exited the Mist and came upon Aesculus Castle, nestled between a snow-covered mountain and a bottomless cliff. A frosty mist blanketed the land, making it impossible to see more than a few inches ahead, so we had to be careful when we traveled along a strip of ice, the only road to get to the castle. The narrow pathway was suspended high above the canyon, which separated the frozen tundra from the city limits.
“I need to shield all of you, so you’ll go undetected,” Finn said as we neared the castle’s gates. “Sidelle, whatever happens, do not use your glamour. Understand?”
She nodded.
“Okay. Here we go. Let’s hope this works—I’ve never shielded this many. Delle, grab the back of my cloak and don’t let go. All of you, hold hands. I won’t be able to hold it long but hopefully long enough to get us inside.” He raised his hood, dropping it low over his face.
“That’d be good.” Sidelle’s voice dripped with contempt, surprising me. They definitely had some ugly history between them.
“I’ll make myself invisible,” Kieran said, and then his body disappeared.
“Okay. Ready? Let’s go.”
A cold shimmer moved over me, but I could still see everything. As we approached the massive iced gates, two guards stepped out.
“State your business.”
Finn lifted his hood and stared at each guard. “Don’t ever question me again,” he snarled, “or I’ll have your head. Am I clear?”
“Your Highness! I ... I did not see—”
“Move aside!”
The flustered guards quickly bowed and stepped out of Finn’s way.
We moved as one into the Winter garden of frozen trees, flowers, and fountains of cold bluish water shooting from spigots. The castle doors opened on their own, probably recognizing their Prince.
“My boy has finally returned.” The shrill female voice echoed off the ice walls, capturing my attention. Finn stopped and jerked his cloak off, mumbling something. He threw it at Sidelle.
“You need to hide. Try not to even breathe,” he said and shoved us into an alcove. “And keep this on as best you can.” He left us there and turned back the way we had come. “Yes, my Queen?”
“I’ve been wondering where you scampered off to.”
“Do you need something?”
“No, just checking up on you.”
No wonder he ran away, to escape his overbearing mother.
“I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
I never saw the Queen. She’d been able to speak as if she were standing in front of me, but she’d never materialized. Maybe it was something to do with the castle itself.
After a few moments of silence, we poked our heads out of the alcove. “Can we come out now?” I whispered.
“Yes, but let’s get to my room as quickly and quietly as possible.”
Finn walked with his head high, a look of determination etched on his face. I could tell by the reflection off the mirror-like walls that no one dared smart-mouth him.
We hadn’t made it far before a loud crash shook the whole castle.
“We’ve been breached,” the Winter Queen shouted. A tall, elegant woman emerged from behind an ice wall, long, black hair flowing behind her and past her tiny waist. Despite my terror, I couldn’t help noticing that her ball gown was an intricately embellished blue, the color of a glacier. “Everyone, to arms!”
“How in the fairies did they get here?” someone cried.
Blue flames lit torches along the ceilings, shining an eerie blue hue over everything. Winter knights in matching breeches and tunics appeared, carrying wooden shields and spears, and their chest plates glittered with something shimmery. Panic seized me; I assumed we’d been discovered.
Then I realized it wasn’t about us at all. “Demons,” I heard in Vash’s mind.
Guards ran through the castle while some went out to the courtyard to protect their home from the coming demon attack. I looked out a glassless window and gasped at the sight. Bodies of dead Winter fairies lay scattered across the white frozen landscape; the castle was overwhelmed by the demons storming through the gates. Judging by the sheer numbers of Marqs, Sammael meant business. He wanted no one left alive.
“We have to help them,” I whispered.
“Zoe, we can’t.” Shay tugged on my hand. “We have to get you out of Fairyland. Winter can take care of them.”
“Are you sure? Because it doesn’t look like it.”
The air sparked with electricity. A storm was brewing. The sky lightened as thick snow fell, blanketing the air in white. Blue charged ice spears flew directly at their targets and never wavered, but while packed snowballs thrust some of the DKs backward, the Marqs still advanced. Finally, an organized line of Winter fairies held the castle’s walls, and I saw the Queen standing at its center, fighting side by side with her subjects.
“Yes, we can, and we will.” Finn yanked my arm so hard I thought it might come out of the socket. “You’re too important to die here, Zoe. You need to be back in your realm.” He shoved me into Shay’s waiting arms. “Go with him and Kieran.”
“Can’t Sidelle call Summer for help? Fairyland is their home, too!”
He shook his head. “Most of her powers don’t work while she’s here, in the heart of Winter. She needs to go with you to open the porta. Besides, she can’t use her glamour out here in the open, or all of Winter will know that there’s a Summer fairy in the castle.” He shot another shard of ice down the hall at an approaching DK. “Zoe, leave. Don’t make me shove you through the porta. It goes easier on the body if you go voluntarily. Trust me.”
I hated the thought of leaving them like this; I knew I could help. But they were serious. I had to get out of here. “If I can come back, I will,” I promised.
“Whatever.” Finn turned Sidelle toward him. “Delle, follow this hallway to the end. There isn’t any glamour on the door so just push it open. Once you enter the bedroom, look behind the door for an ice-encased mirror. That’s the porta. Go!”
He stepped backward and resumed a fighting stance. Footsteps echoed down the narrow hallway, which was soon crowded with demons. We ran to the end of the hall, and I looked back, watching him battle his way forward, driving the demons back the way they came. His tactics were direct and precise.
He glanced back toward us one more time. “Delle, go.”
But the split second cost him dearly as he didn’t see the Marq on his right side. A black sword sliced through the air and scraped across his arm. Finn screamed in agony as blue vapor escaped the wound. I couldn’t stop myself. I pulled my arms free of Shay and Kieran and summoned my Light. When it had charged, I sent it flying into the oncoming demons. They halted a few seconds, probably wondering what the new purple light was, giving Finn enough time to regain the upper hand. Whatever glamour was infused in his sword seemed to be sufficient to stop them.
Purple ribbons, like the ones that had appeared when the Marqs had killed Keegan, swarmed the hallway, weaving together to create a solid barrier between us and them. Finally, with no other options, we left Finn alone with the demons. Now, we stood outside giant iced doors that led to the queen’s private chamber. Muffled shouts and grunts could still be heard from the other side of the purple wall.
Sidelle puffed out a breath. “Here goes nothing.” She placed her hand on the slab but nothing happened. Lifting one eyebrow, she gave it a shove and simply pushed it open. “Ha! He told the truth for once.”
A floor-to-ceiling mirror stood in the opposite corner. A blue light pulsed from it, providing the only glow in the room. Sidelle called her magic and forced her magic to form into her palm.
“Sidelle,” I whispered. “Finn said—”
“I just want to check that the queen didn’t use glamour in here.”
Her light cascaded to the floor, flashed once, then disappeared into a seam. The green spark traced its way up the walls and over the ceiling. I watched it dart around, searching. A moment later, the light shot out of the ground at my feet and hovered above her hand. It sprayed outward into the open space of the room; then the rays converged toward the mirror behind us, forming back into a ball. It pulsed three times and disappeared.
“So far, so good.”
The mirror beat with an old energy, and an uneasy feeling washed over me, similar to the feeling I’d had when I’d manipulated the token from Oberon. My fingers glided up and down the sides of the ice encasement. I stepped around to the back side, expecting to see my straight brown hair and eyes. Instead, the glass-like sheet of ice shimmered, looking like a drop of water had created a ripple on the surface.
This was the porta Finn had told us about. This was our way out of the castle.
Something clicked in my brain. Old magic. I removed the coin necklace from around my neck and looked at it, wondering. Mixed glamour and Angel Light. I fiddled with the coin, turning it between my fingers, thinking about when Oberon had said it contained his glamour.
“I’ve got it.”
“Got what?” Shay asked. “What are you up to?”
“I’ll send Oberon a message through this.” I held up the gold coin. “He said his magic is in it, and when I reformed it, my Light became infused as well. I can send him a message through this, so he will come and help Winter.”
“Zoe, we need to go,” Sidelle said urgently.
“I know, just give me two seconds. I need to get help. He needs to know what is happening here.” I closed my eyes. “Watch the door ... just in case.”
My body tingled, but even though the idea was mine, I had no clue what to do. I pressed my palms together, holding the coin between them, and thought about the message I wanted to send. In my mind, I saw the token and how it used to be a sphere, and I felt the energy of Oberon. Purple ribbons flattened into a sheet of paper, reminding me of a post-it note. I thought of an ink quill then started writing.
King Oberon,
We tried to leave Summer, but a Tree Nymph told us the portas were being guarded by demons. The Winter Prince told us of another way out, but it was risky. We found the porta in the Mist, and when we tried to open it, demons came through. We fled to the other porta the Prince knew of, but the demons followed us. Now Winter is under attack.
I know Winter is your sworn enemy, but it’s time to join together and stop evil from spreading deeper into Fairyland. You can battle Winter another time, but right now your battle is against Hell. Sammael has managed to bring his followers to your realm. Will you stand beside your sworn enemy and help them survive this attack?
If you do nothing and Winter isn’t able to hold them back, Sammael will come for you and your kind.
I believe you told me about the token for this purpose, and now I’m asking for your help. It is not for me but for your kind. Please send as many as you can spare. I fear the castle will be overrun soon.
Sincerely,
Zoe
I thought of an envelope and tucked the note inside. Then I opened my eyes and stared at the coin in my palm. The envelope hovered above it. I infused the paper and the token, sending the package on its way to Oberon. Instantly, the gold coin disappeared from my hand.