Fates Divided: Halven Rising

Elena took in the sophisticated laboratory her uncle had built beside the single-story home he and Deirdre shared. “This place is amazing.”

Deirdre’s thin face widened in a proud smile. “Most Fae rely on magic for their abilities. Your uncle embraced magic and science. He would have found a cure had they not…” Her voice trailed off and a blank look crossed her eyes, as though she still couldn’t believe he was gone.

“I’m sorry, Deirdre—for your loss.”

She blinked and looked over. “He would have liked to have met you, Elena. I’m sorry he didn’t get the chance.”

“Me too.” Elena stared down, wondering if she’d have any family left when this was all over, and praying Deirdre and her mother would survive.

Her aunt drew back her shoulders. “Let us not lose more lives. We must get to work.”

Deirdre paced to the opposite side of the room and pulled down beakers and petri dishes lined in perfect rows in a glass cabinet. “What else do you need?”

Elena took in the six microscopes against the back wall. All modern, all capable of in-depth cellular magnification. “This is more than enough. Oh—well, there is one thing. Can I take a sample from your nose?”

In the end, it took longer for Elena to figure out how to operate her uncle’s fancy microscope than it did to solve the riddle of the virus.

Once Derek had discovered information linking Marlon’s flu research to Fae, he’d given Elena a quick tutorial on flu strains. Not enough to be an expert—but enough so that she had an understanding of how they worked. Flu viruses contain keys, or knobs, along the surface that connect with locks on healthy cells, and that’s how the virus spreads.

According to the data Derek had pulled from the thumb drive Marlon kept stashed away in the locked cabinet of his lab, Fae cells sealed their locks at the sight of a virus, and that was how Fae avoided communicable disease. But with the Fae virus Marlon created, the cells didn’t seal their locks. They allowed the virus to enter, killing the cells at a rapid pace.

Derek’s theory was that Marlon’s virus put some sort of glamour over the diseased cells, so that the healthy cells didn’t recognize them as a threat. And F-18, the ingredient Marlon had obtained from her uncle Beorhtric, had been used to achieve it.

Elena looked up. “Deirdre, have you ever heard of something called F-18?”

By the time Elena and Derek returned to Marlon’s lab on campus, the blast had nearly killed them and had taken out all of Marlon’s ingredients. But maybe in her uncle’s laboratory, where F-18 had originated, she’d find it among his possessions.

Deirdre was lying on a chaise her husband kept in a corner of the lab, her face to the wall. She turned and peered over.

Elena gasped. In the two hours since she’d arrived, her aunt’s eyes had sunk more and her checks had hollowed. The skin of her face was thin and gray, and her body trembled lightly beneath several woolen blankets.

“I’ve never heard of that name, but then, I am not a scientist. Beor’s supplies are stored along the back wall.” She lifted a bony finger and pointed to a wall partially hidden by stacks of neatly organized wooden crates.

Beor must have been Deirdre’s pet name for her husband.

Elena rushed over and inched the crates aside. Her aunt wouldn’t make it much longer. She had to do something now.

She scanned the shelves full of glass bottles and jars. Several containers were labeled in a strange language, but everything seemed ordered according to the English alphabet. Some contents she recognized: elements from the periodic table, and common herbs and flowers.

F-18 sat next to eucalyptus.

Elena grabbed the glass container and carried it to Deirdre. Her aunt’s eyes were closed, so Elena placed a hand on Deirdre’s shoulder, and flinched. Intense heat radiated off her aunt’s body, bleeding through clothes and blanket.

Deirdre’s eyes fluttered open.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re weak, but do you recognize this? Some background on what it is might help me formulate a cure.” Elena held up the jar, which contained large broken leaf bits like those in the eucalyptus bottle.

Deirdre nodded. “It is—” Long, wet-sounding coughs seized her aunt.

Elena reached for a glass of water from a side table and placed it to Deirdre’s lips once the coughing had subsided. “Drink first.”

Her aunt sipped the liquid and shut her eyes. “Allon,” she breathed. “The leaves…come from the allon.”

Elena studied the leaves, dryer than the brittle fresh leaves Derek had picked from the Ancient Allon, but close in appearance. “Are you sure?”

Deirdre gave her a weak smile. “Yes. I would know them, even if I couldn’t see them.” She laid a thin fist above her heart. “I feel them here. They are a part of us.”

And that was probably why the tree’s leaves could be manipulated to destroy Fae.

The solution Elena couldn’t quite reach back home came down to this one tree found only in Tirnan. The tree capable of giving life—and taking it, if used in the wrong context.

All allon contained magical properties, not simply the Ancient Allon growing through the center of the Old Kingdom castle. Marlon had taken the precious leaf given in good faith by Beorhtric for scientific purposes, and used it to destroy Fae.

After examining the foliage under a microscope, Elena came to a conclusion about its makeup and poured the leaf bits into a bowl. She used her power to manipulate the molecules and reform the dried leaves into fresh ones. Then she extracted the watery sap they produced.

She mixed the sap with her aunt’s diseased cells.

Pinpricks erupted beneath her skin, a rush of power and heat forming in her hands, but this time when she released her magic there was no painful kickback like there was in Emain. Her amplified powers simply crossed space and did what she asked, transmuting the molecules into a new pattern—one that would produce a virucide that blocked the virus from entering healthy Fae cells.

Elena rested her hands on the counter and stared at the sap that looked the same, but now possessed a different molecular structure. After drinking and surviving the infusion of Ancient Allon leaves, her abilities had in fact stepped up to the level she needed to transmute and create a cure.

Whether she’d transmuted the sap correctly was another question. The sap would need to be tested, and she knew just how.

Before she gave the virucide to her aunt, Elena mixed it with more of her aunt’s cells. The sap worked in a healing wave, blocking the virus and allowing Fae tissue to heal. So quickly, in fact, Elena missed it the first time she viewed it through the microscope. She had to place her eye at the eyepiece before applying the virucide the second time in order to catch the reaction.

Elena let out a deep, shuddering breath. She’d done it. And there was no time to celebrate. Pretty soon, it wouldn’t matter what she’d accomplished if she didn’t distribute the cure quickly enough.

Using a dropper, Elena placed a single drop of the allon virucide into her aunt’s water glass. With her hand behind her aunt’s neck, she brought the water to Deirdre’s mouth.

“Drink. It will heal you.”

Deirdre sipped the elixir and within minutes sat up straight. Her color changed from pale gray to just pale.

“How do you feel?”

Her aunt’s brow puckered. “Hungry.” She stared at Elena warmly, a healthy glow suffusing her face. “And much improved. Thank you, dear niece.”

She cupped Elena’s cheek with her hand. “You’ve risked much for those who’ve shown you so little kindness.” Deirdre stood carefully, walked away from the chaise, and began rifling through drawers. “Now we must help the others.”

Elena gazed at her aunt warily. “Maybe you should take it easy.”

Deirdre smiled over her shoulder. “I am fine now, thanks to you. But we must move quickly if we are to disperse the cure in time.”

Elena stared off. “I’ve been thinking about that. Leo said the streams and rivers of Tirnan connect. The virucide is natural—derived from the allon—it won’t hurt people.” She looked up. “Is it possible to put it in a main water source?”

Deirdre nodded slowly. “The lakes. Every kingdom, including Sunland, owns a large lake connected to numerous rivers. We could pour the cure into the three lakes and tell people to drink the water.”

Elena bit the inside of her lip, a skittish sensation filling her stomach. “The Sunland lake should be easy to access with you by my side, but what about the others? Derek and I weren’t exactly welcome when we entered the other two Kingdoms. In fact…” Elena looked away, worried about how her actions in Old Kingdom might hinder her ability to help the Fae and get to Derek. “I betrayed Osulf Niall. He’s going to want my head if he sees me. Is it possible to enter his land undetected?”

She would enter his land no matter what, but it would make life easier if Niall didn’t find out about it. At least, not until she’d poured the cure in the water and escaped with his son.

“If Niall doesn’t know I’m there, it will make getting Derek out easier,” she added.

Her aunt paused in her packing and looked over. Worry etched her eyes. “Are you certain Derek will come with you?”

Elena’s lips parted. “Of course he’ll come. He wants to go home as much as I do. Niall is forcing him to stay.”

Deirdre walked over and squeezed Elena’s arm. “Yes, very well. We will go and find your boy. It is unusual, the connection you share, but who am I to judge? I was originally an Oldlander, I married a Newlander, and now I live in Sunland. We are a family of mixed heritage.”

“That goes without saying. I’m Halven.”

“Excellent point.” Deirdre smiled then laid out clean clothes while she worked out a plan. “I will tell my neighbors to spread the word about the water. We have someone in town with your mother’s abilities who can notify the other kingdoms about the cure once we’ve had a chance to release it. I fear you are right about Niall. He must not discover our plans until we’ve implemented them and escaped. For this to work, we will need quick transport to the other kingdoms. A portal is our only option. Unfortunately, the kingdoms will notice once we enter their land. We will have little time before they find us and attack. Escape will be a problem.”

“Derek can help us with that.”

Deirdre shook her head. “His mental ability will keep him hidden, but you and I will be exposed.”

“Derek’s abilities have grown.”

Her aunt’s brow rose. “Oh?”

“Derek drank from the tea of the Ancient Allon leaves as well. Believe me, this could work. His abilities have become very powerful.”

“Good. We will need them. Between the portals, the antidote you created, and Derek’s powers, we just might save the rest of the realm and make it out alive.”