Chapter 25

After Levi finished inspecting everything on Arrow, he turned to where Areion and Navarre’s horse awaited him. Reece looked over to where Angeline and Elizabeth stood next to Allestaine. Angeline gently caressed the necklace Harrison had wound around her wrist while she gazed somberly into the direction he rode off in. Elizabeth held Mozart, and from where Reece sat on Arrow, she could hear him humming in a low cello tone as he stared longingly at her. Reece shook her head, knowing poor Elizabeth would be listening to a depressed Mozart serenade her while she was gone. Reece continued to sit patiently on Arrow as she waited for Levi to say his farewells.

Levi walked over to where the three women stood together as Areion and Navarre’s horse followed closely behind. He embraced his mother. “If all goes according to plan, we will return with father and have these beings destroyed within the week,” he said.

Allestaine nodded. “I wish all of you great safety and courage.” She reached out to pet Navarre’s horse on his nose. “I look forward to seeing your master upon your back again, Haestron.”

The horse nuzzled Allestaine in response, and Reece saw the tears began to form in Allestaine’s eyes.

Levi turned to Elizabeth and embraced her. “Good luck with this little guy,” he said while rubbing Mozart on his head. Mozart fluttered his wings in response. Levi glanced back at Reece with an amused expression before he turned to greet Angeline. He reached for her hand, and she gracefully placed it in his. He bent over and kissed the air over it. He rose up and looked down into her concerned, yet hopeful eyes. “Do not fear for him, Angeline. I always make a great, personal effort to ensure his safety on our missions; I will do especially so during this one.”

Reece watched as tears pooled in Angeline’s eyes once again. She gave Levi a small curtsy. “Thank you, Emperor Levi. But my wish is that all of you are safe on this journey to recover our brave emperor,” she returned humbly.

After a nod of acceptance, Levi turned and hoisted himself up onto Areion’s tall back. Reece gave a reassuring smile to the three ladies who looked at her with concern as Levi directed the horses out through the army of Guardian warriors. As Reece turned to follow his lead, the crowd began cheering loudly from behind them. When she was at the front of the line, Reece looked back once more toward the palace, in awe of the crowds of people watching them leave.

Levi trotted Areion to where Harrison sat in conversation with King Hamilton. “Gentlemen.” Both men halted their conversation and looked at Levi. “Let us go and retrieve our emperor,” he instructed. With Levi’s command, they were off, riding swiftly north through the forest, out and away from Pasidian Palace.

They rode toward the only barriers in Pemdas that had powerful waterfalls and rivers running along their outer boundaries. Reece was relieved when she was informed that these waterfalls existed, because if they did not, she would have been forced to open the portal from within the lands of Pemdas. She knew very well that if she had to open a portal inside of the protective barriers, it would leave Pemdas more vulnerable than ever before. If anyone from this other galaxy were to find this portal and travel through it, it could place the protective realm in great danger.

Even now, she wouldn’t explain to Levi the true reasons as to why she needed to use the waterfall as an energy force. She couldn’t risk the idea of him demanding that she use the stone for her absolute protection. She knew Mordegrin wanted the stone, and bringing it with her would leave it at a great risk for Mordegrin to take it from them.

Mordegrin was correct: the stone would have conserved the power she held within her; however, she knew she would not be harmed. The water would supply enough power to aid her, and it would work excellently as a conduit. Regardless, she knew this process would possibly drain most of the powers she received from the stone. Luckily, combining those powers with the energy of the water would ensure she would be able to accomplish the task without losing her life in the process.

Her biggest worry was that losing her new abilities as they were entering this new, uncharted galaxy would leave her vulnerable, and she would have to fight to use her talents again. She knew she had the strength within her to use the training techniques Galleta taught her if she did, in fact, lose the stone’s powers while opening the portal.

The horses lunged over the barriers, and they rode alongside the gray, misty void for close to an hour until a rapidly flowing river came into sight. They followed the river through the trees until a large waterfall appeared before them.

This is it, she thought. Before she could go any further, Levi was off Areion and walking over to her. Reece dismounted Arrow as he approached. Levi took her hand and led her away from the army of men, all slowly approaching this location from behind them. Arrow, Areion, and Navarre’s horse followed them. Once they were somewhat alone, Levi brought Reece into a tight embrace. He held her like this for a few moments before stepping back and staring into her eyes.

“Reece,” he said in a deep voice, “you know that I love you beyond measure, and so much more than my own life. To have you do this outside of my presence and protection distresses me greatly.” His eyes penetrated into hers.

She nodded. “I will be okay.” She caressed his cheek. “I will be the only one who will feel like going through the portal is taking forever while I’m opening this gateway. Once I’m successfully through it, for you it will only seem like I’ve been gone for a brief moment. As soon as you see the water begin to ripple after I have entered it, that is when the portal will be fully opened. For you and the men, going through the portal will be as instantaneous as it is when you travel to other dimensions.” She smiled. “Although I’m not sure if there will be any blinding flashes of light,” she teased.

Levi’s lips quirked up in humor. “Are you positive that you can endure this alone?”

“It doesn’t matter. I told you already that I have to do it by myself in order for it to work. If I don’t do this, we will never get your father back. I’ll be okay.” She stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. She stared intently into his unwavering eyes. “You have to trust me.”

Levi’s jaws clenched, and Reece could sense his trepidation. “Levi, please stop. Don’t do this, not now.”

He let out a breath, and his eyes remained locked onto hers. Suddenly, she was secured in his arms, and his lips were on hers, kissing her ardently. She immersed herself in his fierce and dominating kiss, letting his powerful embrace and everything about this strong exchange of emotions fuel her confidence. Her hands gripped the well-defined muscles of his sturdy back.

She reluctantly slowed their kiss and tried to withdraw from Levi. She softly moaned, and then gently placed her hands on each side of his face, encouraging him to withdraw from her.

“Levi,” she mumbled to him through their kiss.

He responded by finally allowing their lips to separate. He brought his strong hands up to rest on each side of her neck. His thumbs tenderly caressed back and forth along her jawline, while resting his forehead against hers.

“I do not know if I can bear for you to do this,” he said in a weak voice.

“Don’t fall apart on all of us now,” she returned with a soft laugh.

“We will be right behind you.” He lifted his forehead from hers, letting his lips brush over her nose and her forehead.

His grief-stricken eyes looked into hers. She had told him too much about what she knew she would experience going through the portal. She was grateful when his eyes closed and he softly exhaled. She knew it was time for him to turn his emotions off and embrace his Guardian warrior mentality.

He removed her from his embrace and stepped back. When his eyes reopened, they were set with determination and unyielding purpose. She no longer felt the anguish emitting from him; he had seemingly become a completely different man. His sapphire eyes were fierce, and Levi appeared to be a man ready for war.

She smiled in relief, but the warrior standing tall and commanding before her did not return her smile. Instead, he nodded. “It is time to open the portal,” he said firmly.

Reece inhaled and followed him as he returned to Arrow. “Let us retrieve the emperor,” was all he said as he helped her onto Arrow.

Once on the horse, Harrison walked Saracen over to where Reece waited as Levi secured a leather belt around Reece’s waist, strapping her to the saddle.

“Reece,” he grinned, “are you ready to do this?”

“Go where no Pemdai has gone before?” Reece’s lips quirked up in response. “Yes, and I’m sure you’re more than ready to get this all over with.”

Harrison’s grin brightened. “Beyond ready to put an end to all of this.”

Once Levi finished securing Reece to the horse, he walked to the front of Arrow, gripping the horse’s harness with both hands. Arrow grunted and nosed Levi in the chest in response. Arrow’s massive hooves began rising up one by one. He ran his hand down the center of Arrow’s face, and Reece watched as Levi’s expression softened.

“Everything okay between you two, Levi?” Reece asked.

Levi’s eyes were much brighter as he gazed up at her. He brought his hand to her leg, softly squeezing it. “Arrow is prepared to take care of you as I would.” He reached for her hand. “Be safe, my love.”

Harrison brought Saracen closer to Reece, leaned over, and brought an arm around her shoulder. “Time to work your magic,” he teased. As he pulled back, he nodded toward the waterfall. “Do not forget, we must ride for at least two hours without stopping once we enter this new world.”

“Arrow and I will keep moving once we are through the portal. I just hope you all can keep up with us.”

Harrison smirked. “Oh, we will.”

Levi walked to his horse, and in a swift, powerful motion he brought himself up onto Areion’s back. He nodded at Reece. “Whenever you are ready.”

Reece guided Arrow slowly into the swiftly moving river at the base of the waterfall. She stared into the waterfall and inhaled deeply, absorbing strength from the energy emanating from it and being pulled by gravity into the river below. Overcome with great power, she persuaded time to halt. As she did, the waterfall froze in that instant. She closed her eyes, and with every ounce of power she possessed within her mind, she created the passage for her and Arrow to enter into the waterfall. She guided Arrow toward the frozen water. It softly rippled, which confirmed she had created the opening correctly. She had to go through it to fully open the portal for the other Guardians to enter in from behind her. Once directly in front of the entrance, the waterfall vanished, leaving nothing but a dark opening for her to complete the process of opening the portal to the other galaxy.

Now, time to alter physics and reality. Reece knew this would be the most frightening part for her, but she had to continue to mentally alter time in order to open the portal. Arrow stepped through the dark entrance, and as he did everything changed.

Defying Earth’s natural physics fought Reece’s mental strength with brutality. She maintained superior focus as she no longer felt Arrow beneath her or his presence at all. A brief moment of utter loneliness gripped her entire being before it was replaced by a wave of heat surging through her body. A fever? No. A fever was mild compared to the scorching heat her body currently experiencing. She felt her mental strength swiftly draining from her.

Her body was scorching. She felt as though she were on fire, sitting in the middle of hot flames, being burned alive. With what was left of her mental strength, she suffered through these feelings of excruciating anguish. Instead of panicking, she forced her mind to escape the pain. It diminished somewhat, and she was able to concentrate on getting through this first part of the journey.

It felt like days had passed while she experienced this pain. Finally, the horrific experience was coming to an end, and the consuming fire ceased. The torture of the fire was replaced with the torment of becoming freezing cold, and she could not take in air. At this point, she wished she had the stone’s power to help her, but she inwardly knew this was a small price to pay. If Mordegrin had the stone in his possession, the result would be far worse from what she was experiencing without it now.

It seemed to be an eternity of experiencing the feelings of suffocation before she finally gained power to take in oxygen again. She inhaled deeply, and for the first time of not suffering while opening this portal, she questioned Arrow’s whereabouts. She couldn’t feel him beneath her. All she could sense now was that she no longer carried the power of the stone within her. How much longer? What was I thinking? I may not survive this. Fear consumed her weakened mind. She was freezing cold, and she began to turn numb. Loneliness devoured her, and panic ripped through her. The darkness of this void became heavier, and her feelings of abandonment increased. I can’t do this. Where am I? She wanted to scream for help, and she tried. When she opened her mouth, no sound came out. She tried to breathe to calm herself and regain power over her mind again, yet she didn’t know how to anymore.

The air was thick, and everything was black. I couldn’t do it. Am I dead? she thought, feeling that she was lost somewhere in this gateway, never to be recovered. The silence, darkness, and emptiness took her last bit of hope away.

After what seemed to be an endless amount of time being lost in the barren, black nothingness, she heard something. It was the faint sounds of a horse’s hoofs clicking on a hard surface. Suddenly, it sounded as though broken glass were raining down all around her. High-pitched noises came and went from all around the darkness.

To her utmost relief, she felt Arrow beneath her, confidently walking through this dark place. She reached out in absolute gratefulness and roughly patted him on his strong neck. Her vision returned, and she could see Arrow’s head in front of her, briskly nodding up and down as he aggressively walked straight ahead.

“We did it, Arrow!” she shouted hoarsely. “We did it, boy!”

Arrow whinnied in response, and soon after a large, bright opening appeared. Arrow picked up his pace and with a steady gallop swiftly brought them out of the dark place they were in. When they exited the portal that Reece had successfully opened, they stepped out into a deep snow drift. Arrow didn’t waver, but he galloped at full speed through it. Reece inhaled joyfully of the brisk air. She was cold, but she felt alive. A thunderous roar from behind prompted her to look back. As she did, she saw Levi on Areion, leading hundreds of Guardian warriors through the portal.

As he approached alongside while Arrow raced violently through the snow, Levi grinned widely at her. He directed Areion in front of her and took the lead racing the horses through this harsh, snowy terrain. Once Levi was in front of her, the horses maintained an aggressive speed. Reece started to feel the result of exhausting all her mental power by opening the portal without the stone. She was freezing cold and wondered if she could endure these brutal temperatures for the next two hours. If I could withstand opening the portal, I can endure this. I have to.

The portal was opened, and the Guardians were well on their way to recover Navarre and defeat their new enemies.