Chapter 23: The Great and Terrible: Chapter 23

Monstra roars filled the enclosure, fierce, piercing, and violent. Leona and I jogged…ran…sprinted through the narrow corridor, our panting breaths joining the chorus. My new ring burned, and adrenaline spiked. But…

Guilt pursued me and soon caught up, ravaging my determination to escape. Since the beginning, Jasher had protected me from danger. He might be a monster, but every time I’d needed him, he’d come through for me. Had saved me from the beasts. Rescued me from cannibals. Fed my pet rabdog. Remained my guide through Lawless Forest when he could’ve and probably should’ve ditched me. Killed his brethren to spare me.

How could I ditch him when he needed me?

“I can’t do this.” I slowed, stopped, and released the mayor. “I can’t leave Jasher behind.”

Leona jogged in place and waved me on. “Come on! You’ll die if you go back.” Fear drenched her words. “He’s strong enough to take care of himself.”

“One monstra against ten?” Probably more by now. I had no doubt others had rushed in. “I can’t leave Jasher behind,” I repeated with a firmer tone. Decision made. I threw my arms around Leona, giving the other woman a hug. “You go and find your sister. Maybe one day we’ll see each other again, and you can introduce me to her.”

“Moriah—”

“Goodbye, mayor.” I turned on my heel and stalked toward the cell. Confidence solidified with every step. Yes, this was right. As I lifted my head, tingles erupted over my body. I didn’t have to glance down to know the liquid armor poured over me. My father’s armor? Had he— or his spirt?—joined with me? Because I could feel love and peace, true power, radiated from each piece.

A hilt materialized in each of my hands, and I held them tight. Blades stretched into swords.

My ears twitched. The roars ended, giving way to scrabbling sounds, as if the monstra now chased me. Oh, yes. The beasts turned a corner, gunning for me. Realization and horror beat at my composure. They’d gotten past Jasher. Had hurt him, possibly killed him.

Righteous fury consumed me, bringing a rumbling growl to my throat. I surrendered to instinct and quite possibly Ahav himself, allowing a force greater than myself to infuse my cells. Flames rushed over me from head to toe. I didn’t need to see it to know the hat burned to ash, leaving behind a golden halo. Those flames even spread over my swords. If my life had a been a movie, an action soundtrack would’ve played in the background.

Words burst from me. “I am Princess Moriah Shaker Ori’Emet, only daughter of Queen Sandrine and King Ahav, and you will pay!” Like Dorothy, I’d had the ability all along. I’d just had to tap into it.

The Guardian wasn’t great and terrible. I was.

The moment the beasts reached striking distance, I acted. Moving with the grace of a dancer, I wielded the weapons. Off with a monstra’s head. As it died, I spun and decapitated the next. Thick green blood sprayed over the corridor walls.

The remaining monstra attempted to glom upon me, but I ducked, dived, rolled and struck without pause. They died like their brethren, one after another. Not a single beast managed do more than scratch me. Though winded, I stomped over the bodies and strode from the destruction, ready for anything thrown my way.

Light shone at the end of the tunnel. I picked up speed and prepared for the next battle. But when I exited, entering the cell, no one waited to challenge me. I scanned the devastation. Monstra bodies and body parts filled the area. Thick pools of green blood collected here and there.

Where was Jasher? Worry cooled the heat in my veins. In seconds, the halo and armor faded. The hat did not return. My weapons vanished too, and there was no willing them back. A concern I’d need to deal with as soon as I found my Tinman. The only creature still intact and breathing attempted to rise, but not to harm me. A gaping wound in his chest prevented him from succeeding, and he sagged to the floor.

“Jasher?” I croaked.

Wings and scales faded, bones retracted, and the man I loved reformed naked. His hair was a mess, his eyes were glazed, and his skin tattooed with a tree and its various face-flowers.

“Jasher!” I cried, rushing over to crouch at his side. He was ashen. The gaping wound in his chest hadn’t healed with his transformation. His sternum had been cracked down the middle and pulled apart, exposing his organs. His beautiful heart barely beat. Was even slowing…

Who could survive this?

No! No, no, no. I wouldn’t let him die. I refused. I petted his cheek, demanding, “You will heal, Jasher. Understand?”

A slow, pained smile formed. “You came back.” He coughed, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. frowning. “You shouldn’t be here.” Again he attempted to rise. But again, he lacked the strength to do so.

“Y-you’re going to be okay.” I dug out the serpens-rosa and popped a grain onto his tongue. Don’t be too late, don’t be too late, don’t be too late. The mantra played inside my head on repeat. But seconds bled into minutes and nothing happened.

Maybe he required a stronger dose?

I didn’t hesitate. Though I’d dreamed of smuggling a grain back to my father, I refused to let Jasher die while I possessed the power to save him. I fed him the last grain, and my mantra changed. Please work, please work, please work.

Once more, seconds passed with no change. I gathered his limp hand in mine, drew it to my face, and kissed his battle-roughened knuckles. “I will never forget you. Will always…” My throat tightened on the words. “Get better. Your princess demands it.”

He dragged in a sharp, ragged breath. Then he roared. But color spread over him, health and vitality chasing away infirmity. The split bone drew together and knitted, along with muscle and flesh.

Relief obliterated my worry. The liquid armor reappeared. My weapons, too. Fear kept them at bay? “Where’s your brother?”

“With Ian. Reese pretended to deliver the final blow.” As Jasher sat up without problem, I sheathed the swords and threw my arms around him. He hugged me back but said, “You should have let me die, princess.”

“Never. Now where’s the Guardian?” Perhaps I should end Ian and his chosen protégé before returning home. A princess protecting the people her queen mother had so adored.

“I don’t know.” Determination hardened Jasher’s voice. “But I do know where the portal is, and how to activate it. I’m forbidden from using it, but that hardly matters anymore. You can go home today.”

Jasher stood in all his naked glory and helped me to my feet. Twining his hand with mine, he led me out of the dungeon, up flights of stairs, through hallways. Along the way, we discovered multiple royal soldiers lying on the floor, either dead or dying. The stench of death stung my nostrils.

I pressed my free hand over my mouth. “What happened?”

“The Guardian is worked into a rage.” Jasher stopped to confiscate clothing from one of the fallen. Anguish etched every part of him. “This is what happened to the soldiers who came before us. He claimed the corruption of one proved corruption in all, and they needed to be extinguished.”

A form of manipulation to keep them in line. Evil on every level. Were the replacements being trained even now?

The entire palace rocked suddenly, nearly sending me to my knees. An alarm screeched to life. “What’s happening?”

“The rebels must have breached the dome.” He swiped up a discarded sword. “Let’s go.”

He took the lead, and together we sprinted up other flights of stairs.

With every floor we cleared, I was able to glimpse out of a window. War had indeed erupted outside the palace. Royal soldiers against rebels, and the death count was rising. The soldiers must not know what the Guardian had done to their brethren.

Soon, we ascended so high I spied only clouds. Despite my father’s aid via the ring, my limbs began to shake and burn, and I lagged. Didn’t help that the castle shook again and again, coinciding with the explosions occurring outside. “How much further?” I asked between sawing breaths.

“Almost there,” he promised, taking my hand and tugging me along behind him. At the door, a set of closed double doors loomed.

He released me and pushed through. We entered a capacious space, and the air instantly electrified, raising the fine hairs on my body. Like the throne room, there were no furnishings, but a surprising centerpiece could not be missed. A clear glass tube large enough for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder while inside it. The base anchored to the floor and the top cut through the ceiling. Great whirling sounds emanated from it. Perhaps because a tornado spun without cease, banging against the glass. Off to the side was a small pedestal with buttons. The control panel?

Must be. Jasher raced to it. With the press of a few buttons, the glass parted, creating an opening. Wind kicked up, whipping through the room. Locks of my hair flapped about, and I stumbled back.

Jasher battled the gusts to return to my side. “All you must do is enter.” He had to shout to be heard over the roar. “If I retraced the former path correctly, you should land where you were taken.”

My stomach knotted as he twined our fingers and steered me to the tube. At the entrance, we paused and peered into the wild whirlwind. He released me, and a cry lodged in my throat. Here it was, the moment of truth. All I’d fought for. All I’d wanted. But I continued to hesitate.

Jasher set his knuckles under my chin and urged my attention to him. We locked eyes and spoke without speaking, both of us seeming to say the same thing. It’s okay. Thank you for everything. I’ll miss you. I must do this. I understand.

He pressed a soft kiss into my lips. “Don’t come back. Not for me. Promise.”

“I’m coming back.” My mind mimicked the fervency as the wind. “If I go home, will I cause someone from home to be brought here in a tornado?” Wait. If?

“No.”

“But something will happen? To cause balance?”

His nostrils flared. He closed his eyes. “The portal doesn’t demand balance but blood. The Guardian uses the deaths of sacrifices to operate the device. And since they are dead before they are killed, we don’t consider it an actual death.”

That explanation made no sense for this trip. There were no substitutes here. Unless…

One of many.

I balled my fists. Now I understood. Jasher was the sacrifices. Alive, and yet for all intents and purposes, also dead. But his life and death mattered to me. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, sacrifice him or anyone else. Not even to save my father. As I’d told Patch, the end never justified the means.

“I’m staying,” I bellowed. I would find another way to reunite with my father. Until then, I could help my mother’s people. The Guardian must be stopped. The sooner the better.

Jasher blinked at me, as if he didn’t believe what he’d heard.

Movement from the corner of my eye. I followed it and jolted. The Guardian raced into the room, his royal robe stained and wet with crimson. He made it to the control panel just as I computed what I was seeing.

“No!” Jasher yelled, releasing me, intending to stop his leader from doing whatever he planned.

Before he’d taken his second step, the cyclone sucked both Jasher and me inside. We spun around and around without hitting the glass, gaining momentum until being catapulted out of the tube.

Dizziness overwhelmed me. I tried to grab Jasher only to lose sight of everything but whizzing lights. Even those blurred together and expanded…

Boom! In a burst, the beams swallowed me, and my world went dark.