Branches of Life

We met up with the others in the study, finding them not in the same condition as we last saw them. Blackish-red blood was splashed across their clothes and skin, as well as their own blood from their various cuts and scrapes. Apparently, I hadn't been the one in need of Harmony this time. While our search of the tower had been uneventful, they came across nearly a dozen demons. Which turned out to be helpful, since one of them ended up leading them to the room where they had been making plans and spells. He killed himself before giving them anything else, but the room gave them everything they needed.

We all stood around a desk where Wyatt laid out a large map, one that I immediately recognized. It was our realm, I'd recognize that star shape anywhere. On the map, there was a circle drawn around the capital city of the LunEclipsepse court, right next to one of the neutral territories—well where it would've been if the map had been labeled. "Why is that court circled? Has that been their target this entire time?"

"There's no way they would've ever made it out of the Convergence point, much less make it to that court," Harmony muttered.

"That's because they weren't trying to get to their court. Each attack was a diversion. A way to keep the whole realm distracted and focused on the rift, while they plotted their real plan." Wyatt tapped the circle and looked up at the four of us. The others already knew what he was about to say, and based on their grave expressions, it wasn't good news.

It wasn't too surprising to hear the attacks had been a diversion. I'd thought the low number of attacking creatures was odd. And the timing of the vampire's attack—right before dawn—seemed off.

"This realm they live in, wasn't chosen at random or for its scenery. It, like our realm, is a gateway realm. Connecting to many other realms. And they've somehow figured out how to create a rift to ours." Wyatt paused, letting us take a moment to absorb this information.

"Motherfucker," I muttered, bracing my hands on the desk.

"Do you know if they've already created this rift?" Koa demanded, not wasting time trying to deny Wyatt's claim or question how it was possible. His fingers clutched the edge of the desk so tight, the wood groaned in protest.

Wyatt nodded gravely. "I felt it being created."

"So that means you can find it," Starling said, yanking her hair back into a bun.

While Wyatt answered Starling's question, telling her it was in this region, I started down at the map. There was something about this map that drew my attention. "This is a perfect rendition," I whispered as realization dawned on me.

Wyatt's words cut off as he looked at me. "What?"

"The map." I tapped it for emphasis. "It's a perfect rendition of our realm. All of the court's territory lines are correct. This was drawn by a Mythic. Can you get anything from this map?"

A frown pulled at Wyatt's eyebrows as he considered the map for a few seconds. Digging through his bag, he pulled out a pouch. He dumped the contents onto his hand—shimmering blue dust—that he blew over the surface of the map.

The dust settled on the right of the paper and formed a shimmering blue handprint, above the demonic writing.

Wyatt swore under his breath as his hand hovered over the handprint. "Now I know why they chose the Lunar Eclipse court. That's Meric's signature."

"Who the fuck is Meric?" I asked.

"He is Emperor Leo's brother," Starling whispered, coming to stand beside me at the desk.

"Makes sense," Koa mused, rubbing his chin. "He's always been a power-hungry asshole."

"We need to warn them. If we're not too late already," Starling said, reaching for her wristband.

"We warned both the council and the emperor," Ander replied.

"How far away is this rift?" I asked as coiling tension wound its way through my body.

"It's at least eight miles." Wyatt sighed, and a sense of hopelessness filled my body. That was too damn far, and with this nightmare-fueled mist, who knew what we would encounter. It didn't matter if it wasn't real, it would slow us down and weaken us. The only good thing about all of this, was now we knew why the demons hadn't ambushed us—well those of us that searched this tower. It was because they were busy creating a rift and ambushing the Lunar Eclipse court. Which I'll admit, wasn't really good news.

"I think I'll be able to get us within a mile of the rift," Wyatt said slowly, the careless confidence he usually spoke with wasn't present. He didn't sound unsure exactly, just cautious.

None of us objected as he made the portal. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to distract him or jinx this portal. One mile in the mist way preferable to eight, and if we played our cards right, we could be in our realm in less than six minutes.

Wyatt's portal was smoother than all of the others, dropping us into the white nothingness of the mist. It all looked the same to me, and if it weren't for his confirmation that we were only a mile away, I would've never known the difference between here and where we were before.

Our sprint through the mist wasn't entirely uneventful. Within a couple of minutes, Koa—who had been right beside me—suddenly slowed to a stop. His eyes glazed over as he stared into space.

"That's how you looked before," Starling supplied, waving her hand in front of Koa's face.

I didn't want to even think about what he could be seeing, all I knew is that I needed to pull him out of it. I called his name a few times shaking his shoulders. When that didn't work, I pulled out the big guns and slapped him across the face.

I was such a sweet mate.

His body jerked and his eyes finally focused on me. My heart clenched at the sight of pure terror painting his face. Winding his fingers through my ponytail, he pressed his forehead against mine, shutting his eyes. Beneath my palm on his chest, I felt his heart pounding. His breaths were heavy, like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

"It's alright. You're okay. Whatever you saw, it wasn't real," I whispered, cupping his face with my hand.

After almost a minute, Wyatt interrupted us, telling us we need to find the rift. He seemed almost reluctant to do so, or maybe that had been my imagination

After another few minutes of sprinting, the fog got to Ari as well. I didn't waste time trying to slowly pull her out of it like I had before. I smacked the shit out of her face, as she would do to me if our roles were reversed. She came to with a start, and same as Koa, looked utterly terrified. We gave her a few moments to pull herself together, I even apologized as I squeezed her into a tight hug. Her laughter was forced, as she hugged me back with shaky arms.

Not even a minute later, I felt the thrumming energy of the rift. Relief washed over my body at the thought of not only getting out of this region but this damn realm. It didn't matter that as soon as we were in our realm, we'd probably have to deal with an invasion. We would be in our realm. We wouldn't have to worry about our magic use or the damn weather and lands working against us.

The fog thinned out as we reached the edge of the region, and the river came into view. Across from us on the other side of the river, sat a large cliff face. Hovering in the air at the edge of the gray concrete was the glowing blue rift.

There wasn't any ounce of hesitation from any of us. Just an overwhelming desire to leave this realm and never fucking return. One at a time, we touched the rift and left this miserable place.