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Ella cowered on the floor; her hands held by invisible bonds. She couldn’t move, couldn’t get away. How could this have happened? I haven’t done anything wrong!
“You have failed in your sacred duty to keep the balance between the realms. For this, you will be punished,” a man’s voice called, echoing around her.
She couldn’t see any individual faces, but knew there were people there watching her, judging her. She felt the heat of their gazes as their accusing eyes stared at her.
“The Esrac destroyed our city,” said another voice. “Hundreds are dead. You brought them here...”
Next came the screams. A blur of faces all condemned her for the evil she had brought to their world. She tried to open her mouth, to apologise and tell them she had never meant this to happen and had only created the gate as a way of exploring other realms, teaching others magic, and giving them the knowledge that had been passed down and through the generations as was an avatar’s duty. Instead, her device had only brought death and suffering to their world. Lucan’s warning rang through her mind. He had told her they should never go back to the Esrac home world. Oh, how she wished she’d listened to him now!
She tried to move, to get up, but her limbs refused to comply. As if the weight of all the victims’ emotions held her in place. Was this it? Would she be forced to suffer for this for the rest of eternity to pay for all the lives Esme and her people had taken?
She screamed, trying to summon her magic, but nothing came to her, not even the deep-seated power she had used to create the gate. She was alone, trapped, and the darkness around her threatened to swallow her up.
Ella gasped as something tightened around her throat, choking her and leaving her lungs screaming for air.
“I curse you both in this and every future life...”
Ella woke up gasping for breath, taking in huge gulps of air. Sweat plastered her hair to her face, arms and neck. Her nightgown felt wet all the way through, and her heart pounded in her ears.
“La?” Fidget appeared beside her and scurried over to her lap, worried.
She sat up, still choking, and touched her throat, half expecting to find something there. The first rays of dawn were creeping in, bathing the room in a cool glow.
She might have been cursed for her failure then, but she didn’t know why she had to suffer for it now. “Just a stupid dream,” she muttered. “Not real...” She shook her head to clear it.
Was it all because of the Esrac coming through? Had she let them through the gate back then, just as unintentionally as she had done recently?
She still had so many questions and very few answers.
Ella stroked Fidget’s head as he stared up at her with wide, blue eyes.
“Damn it, I need to get out of here,” she muttered, picking the dust bunny up and clutching him to her chest. As well as wanting to end her entrapment, she worried for the innocent thousands who remained unaware there was an Esrac on the loose.
Were Luc or the Senate even doing anything to find Esme? It didn’t sound like it, but how could she help fix the problem by being stuck in here?
The front door buzzed, and Fidget wriggled out of her arms to sit up, nose twitching. “Food?”
“Later.” Ella pulled on a robe and hurried to the door, wondering who’d be calling by so early. As she headed for the front door, she hesitated.
What if they had come to punish her? If the chancellor had made her mind up, Ella knew she would either lose her powers or be put to death. She turned to stare through the huge glass windows. Could she somehow get past the force field they had put there to prevent her from escaping? It was a three-storey drop, but even that would be better than what the Senate had in store for her. Fidget somehow managed to get in and out through her windows when they were open. Could she do the same?
She headed over to the window and pressed the panel to open it. The glass slid aside, and static flashed when she reached out, signalling the force field still held in place.
“Fidget?” Ella whispered, and motioned for him to come over.
The dust bunny scurried across the wooden floor and leapt up onto the windowsill, staring up at her. “Food?” he squeaked again.
“Fidge, I need you to go outside for me. Can you do that?” She glanced back over at the door as insistent knocking replaced the buzzing.
If the troopers had come for her, the front door wouldn’t slow them down for more than a second. She needed to hurry.
Fidget’s pointed ears drooped as he realised he wouldn’t be getting any treats, but he scurried out onto the ledge beyond the shield’s parameters. The force field had no effect, apart from making some of his long fur stand up in places.
So that’s how he sneaks in and out.
Another burst of knocks echoed down the hall, this one louder than before.
Ella took a deep breath and climbed onto the windowsill. She had no idea where she would go or even how to get out of the city, but she’d worry about that later. She just had to get away from this place before they came in.
“Ella?”
She froze, recognising the sound of the muffled voice. Luc. What’s he doing here?
Ella moved away from the ledge and turned on the video screen, gasping when she saw Luc standing there. She thought about letting him in, but hesitated. Part of her wanted to see him, but another part dreaded it. She let out the breath she’d been holding. At least it wasn’t the troopers. But why had he come now, after all this time?
Ella moved down the hall, pressing the control panel to let him in. “What are you doing here?”
Luc looked paler than usual and had dark smudges under his eyes. He looked as though he’d aged ten years. “I’m leaving soon. I came to—” His shoulders slumped, and she knew why he’d come.
“No! You can’t take my powers away. You can’t! I won’t let you.” Ella backed away. How could he do this to her after all they’d been through together? Hadn’t he cared for her at all?
“Ella, it’s the only way I can keep you safe.” Luc’s jaw tightened. “Without your powers, you’ll be free. You won’t have to stay locked up, and you’ll be safe from the Esrac.”
“How do you know that?” Ella demanded, her fists clenching. “What’s to stop more of them from coming after me? This isn’t because of them, is it? I know there’s more you’re not telling me.” She shook an accusing finger at him. “You said we were cursed because we failed in our duty, and that we’re doomed to keep paying for it until we restore the balance between the realms. Taking my powers away makes no sense if we ever have a chance to break it! How can I fix my mistakes without magic?”
Luc’s eyes flashed, and he took her hand. “Because this way you’ll be safe from the Esrac and the curse.”
“You might as well be killing me anyway,” she snarled. She tried pulling away, but his grip on her wrist tightened.
Before she had a chance to react, Luc muttered words of power, and Ella felt something inside her snap. She raised her hand to try and summon her magic, but nothing happened. She panicked, clinging onto the thought she still wore the band the troopers had put on her a month ago, so maybe it hadn’t really left her.
Was that it? Was that all it took to take away part of her soul?
She’d expected something more, flashing lights or the agony of something ripping through her chest, yet she felt nothing but a cold emptiness.
“It’s done,” Luc said, unclasping the shackle and letting go of her hand. “How do you feel?”
“How can you even ask me that?” Ella turned away, tears filling her eyes. “How could you do this? Don’t I mean anything to you?” She covered her face with her hands as tears dripped down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I—”
“Get out! I’ll never forgive you for this,” she snarled. Grabbing a candle off the table, she threw at him. Luc ducked. She heard the tinkle of broken glass as it hit the wall behind him.
“The force field is down, you’re free. The Chancellor has said you can go back to working at the University.”
Right, just what she needed, to spend time stuck in a lab cataloguing dusty artefacts belonging to the civilisation she had helped wipe out. It’d be another prison, just in a different part of the city. She’d been praying for the chance to go back to her old life, but deep down, she knew that would not be possible now. Too much had happened for her to go back to that. Now she wanted to get away from the city, away from Luc, away from everything.
“Why would she let me do that? They say I killed Griffin!” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I convinced them of your innocence. Now you don’t have magic, the Chancellor no longer views you as a threat. There’ll be restrictions and conditions on what you can do in the city, but at least you won’t be locked up anymore.” He reached for her, but she shoved his hand away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Ella...”
“Get out!”
This time, Luc left without saying another word.
Ella crumpled to the floor, feeling tears that would no longer fall prickle at her eyelids. She felt numb inside now. Even when she had been forced to hide her magic, it had always been part of her, another limb. Now that it was gone, she didn’t know what to do.
What even was she now? Human or an avatar without power?
Fidget jumped onto her shoulder, wrapping his long tail around her neck. “La, no cry,” he mumbled.
She stroked his head and stood up. “Thanks, Fidget.”
Now she was a free woman, she’d be damned if she just sat around and cried. Magic or no magic, she wouldn’t feel sorry for herself. She had made mistakes, she’d find a way to fix both her past and present ones.
Ella took a quick shower, dressed, and threw supplies in her pack. She didn’t care how she got out of the city, she’d walk if she had to.
“Come, Fidget. We’re out of here.” Ella hesitated when she reached the front door, half expecting guards to appear. To her relief, she saw no one.
Taking a deep breath, she took a cautious step into the hallway. Then another.
Nothing repelled her. Luc had been telling the truth there. At least, the force field had been lifted.
Ella took off down the hall and ventured outside, breathing in the familiar smells of the greenery and flowers that lined the street. The Chancellor would no doubt summon her for a lecture soon, but Ella didn’t plan on sticking around that long.
She ran through the cobblestone streets with Fidget at her heels, racing toward the great library. Within minutes, she burst through the double doors, her eyes scanning the counter for Sara. To her disappointment, someone else stood behind it.
Ella hurried on through endless rows of books, wishing she could call out for her friend. She didn’t want to draw any more unwanted attention to herself. People were already staring.
Instead, she headed into the vault. “Sara?” she yelled as she made her way down the spiral steps.
Sara gasped as she scrambled up from the floor. “Ella, you’re here.” She bit her lip. “How?”
“Luc let me out. I’m free!” she cried, twirling. “I just came to say goodbye.”
Sara’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “What? You can’t leave! Don’t you have to get permission for that?”
Ella waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t care, I’m going home.”
“What happened?” Sara asked, searching her friend’s face. “What did Luc do to get you out?”
The familiar ache in her chest returned. “He stripped my powers,” she spat. “I can’t believe it, but I’m not letting that get in my way.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to protect you.” Sara put down the pile of books she’d been holding.
“Protect me? Ha!” Light shot from her hand as her anger flared, making a vase behind them explode. Ella stared at her hand in disbelief.
How could this be? Luc had stripped her powers...hadn’t he?
She laughed despite her confusion, relief washing over her.
“You still have magic! I thought you said Luc—”
“Maybe it didn’t work.” She frowned. “Or maybe he didn’t really do it.” She ran her fingers through her long hair in exasperation. “He’s so confusing!”
“What will you do now?”
Ella hesitated. Her first instinct had been to get out of the city as fast as she could, yet part of her wondered why Luc would convince her her powers were gone without taking them. “I...I don’t know,” she muttered. “I need to figure out why Luc would do that.”
“Maybe you should talk to him,” Sara suggested.
“Maybe.”
Just as she expected, Ella was summoned to the chancellor’s office later that day and given a list of all the things she could and couldn’t do now. When the chancellor seemed satisfied, someone performed a scan that showed whether she had magic or not. To Ella’s relief, the scan came back with a negative reading.
For the next hour, Ella searched everywhere for Luc, and even resorted to trying to call him on the link. He didn’t answer, and she could find no sign of him.
Eric came to visit her that night for dinner, bringing a bottle of wine. “How does freedom feel?” he asked as he rooted through her drawers for a corkscrew.
“Pretty good, but it has restrictions.”
Restrictions I don’t intend to stick around to put up with.
She’d find Luc, even if it meant going to his apartment and waiting for him there. She’d wanted to do just that earlier, but the chancellor insisted she go back to work at the University, albeit in the archives, cataloguing everything. She would no longer have access to the lab or any of its equipment, and the Chancellor had revoked both her scholarship and archaeology apprenticeship. She’d been demoted to nothing more than a file keeper with no hope of career progression or escape—her record meant she could never secure a job anywhere else.
“Let’s have a drink anyway,” Eric said, popping the cork. “How about we go out and celebrate?”
“Go out? No thanks, I’m pretty tired.” Ella glanced at her link, hoping Luc had answered her messages. No such luck.
Where was he? Why wouldn’t he answer her calls? Deep down, she suspected he knew she still had her powers, but if he didn’t, what would he do?
She wouldn’t let him try to take them again, not without a fight.
“Fine, I’ll make us dinner.” Oblivious to her inner turmoil, Eric headed over to the kitchen area and turned on the auto cooker.
Ella laughed. “You’ve never been able to cook!”
“Hey, I’m a man of many talents.” Eric pressed a few buttons on the auto cooker to bring up the list of ready-made meals stocked in it and the cooking times for each one. “I must admit, I thought you’d want to see the back of this place.”
Believe me, I do, she thought, fiddling with her link again. A dial tone echoed in her ear, then ended. Why won’t he answer?
“It’s probably best we stay inside anyway,” Eric continued. “At least until Luc’s found that thing.”
Panic rose like bile in Ella’s throat. He was hunting the Esrac Queen alone?
“Eric, I’ve got to go.” She shot up from her seat, swinging her pack over her shoulder. “Sorry, I can’t do dinner tonight.”
“Why?” He frowned. “Is it because of Luc? Please don’t tell me you’re still into him. The guy dumped you.”
“I dumped him,” she corrected.
Eric crossed his arms. “I can’t believe you still love him after everything he’s done.”
“I didn’t say that,” Ella said.
She turned to go, but he grabbed her wrist and tried to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” Ella cried, shoving him away.
“I am...I—”
“I’m leaving. Let yourself out.” Ella turned and stormed off without another word.
