Zodiac Academy 8.5: Beyond The Veil

My form flickered between the realm of the living and the space beyond The Veil, my chambers rising up around me as I fought to stay closer to the other side where I knew I was needed most.

I closed my eyes, sagging against the throne in the Eternal Palace, breathing heavily though I knew I didn’t have any real need of oxygen. But habits formed throughout a lifetime faded slowly even in death. I knew of some souls who never took a breath, never imagined their heart thumping in their chest, didn’t experience the sensation of touch at all anymore. But I preferred to remember what it had been like to live, to continue experiencing my existence with those sensations.

The chamber was empty, the others all still set on their missions to change fate, but I’d visited with Gabriel, I’d held his hand while he lay strapped to the Royal Seer’s chair, and I had seen the paths which lay before my daughters and their friends.

The door banged open and I looked up, finding Catalina there, her eyes wide with fear, long hair wild and tangling down her spine. She ran to me, Hamish Grus bounding into the room at her back in his Cerberus form, the roof raising to allow for the three headed beast.

“Did you find out anything about Lionel’s plans?” I demanded. “Is he laying a trap? Were you able to change anything?”

“I made it to him, barely,” Catalina replied, a frown furrowing her brow which spoke of nothing good. “He wasn’t thinking of me but then Lavinia spoke of being his bride and for a brief moment, his thoughts turned my way. I slipped through a gap in the void and made it to his side.”

Hamish growled softly, moving to stand closer to her, his huge leg brushing against her arm in a comforting gesture, but Catalina simply raised her chin, refusing to be shaken by the man she had once called her husband.

“I couldn’t stay for long, but he was excited, hiding something from the Shadow Princess, talking about some big Dragon celebration he is due to host tonight during the Hydrids meteor shower.”

“And?” I asked, terror for my children rolling through me.

Hamish shifted in a flash of movement, returning to his Fae form, drawing Catalina under his arm and smiling grimly.

“And my clever Kitty knew the scoundrel well enough to sniff out his lies like a snaffwaffer on the dawn,” he said. “She hunted in his drawers and found a ledger he had secreted away like a squirrel with a nut too many for its gnawsome jaw.”

“Meaning?” I prompted. Time was slipping by, the meteor shower fast approaching. I knew my daughter well enough to know that she would already be preparing to leave, to head to The Palace of Souls in search of her sister.

“He’s been crafting a list of his most powerful and loyal supporters – meaning the Dragon Guild. I found an invitation stuffed in the back of his closet. The bastard never did know how to set a good enough concealment spell to outwit me,” Catalina said. “The invitation was worded strangely. He was asking his Dragon Guild members to come to him and make the pledge they had agreed to. Hamish leant me some of his strength and together we managed to flip through the pages of the ledger within the confines of the closet. Merissa, I think Lionel plans to Guardian Bond every Dragon in the Guild, creating an army between him and any who try to end his reign.”

I stilled at the thought of that. Countless bonded men willing to throw themselves between Lionel and death, a shield of flesh and blood that would strike back at all costs. The emotional toll that would take on both Lionel and those he bonded to was insane, and yet there was a kind of cunning brilliance to the plan. Lionel knew he couldn’t win against the Vega princesses once they claimed their full power. Deep down he understood that, and this was his fear showing.

“He’s afraid,” I said, a slow smile building on my lips and Catalina echoed it, her grin a wicked thing.

“Yes. But not just of the Vega twins. I think he fears his new bride too. She wasn’t cowering before him, and she wasn’t simply bowing to his will either. There is a power struggle going on there and if Lionel thought he could crush it with brute force, then he would have attempted it already. The fact that he hasn’t speaks volumes.”

“And the fact that he has hidden these Guardian Bonding plans from her says even more,” Hamish agreed. “He plans to do this tonight while she is otherwise engaged in some devilishly dastardly act we couldn’t fathom. He wants that scaley army in place around him sooner rather than later, and as he said nothing of laying a trap or expecting an attack-”

“His plans are simply escalating because he’s afraid. He wants that army there to protect him from Lavinia,” I surmised.

We shared a look of conspiratorial victory. If Lionel was preoccupied with a threat from within his own palace, he wouldn’t be looking for one headed in from the outside.

“Gabriel still foresees a great failure in tonight’s plans for Roxanya and the Heirs,” I said solemnly, breaking that sweet moment of victory to pieces. “But I’ve been working within the palace, joining with the magic I left there in my lifetime, finding the hidden ways, seeking out the Nymphs and Dragons posted throughout its hallways. With a bit of help and some extra power, I think I’ll be able to form a safe path for them to travel.”

“Just tell us what you need and it’s yours,” Catalina agreed, Hamish nodding too.

The doors burst open, and we all looked towards Azriel and Clara as they strode into the room.

“Did it work?” I demanded, that queenly authority colouring my tone.

“A little. The Nymphs started in fighting, but it was quelled quickly, the leaders among them keeping control. I don’t think it’s going to work,” Azriel sighed.

“Well keep trying. We can’t expect miracles but every little will help.”

Azriel nodded and he and Clara headed away to continue their attempts with the Nymphs.

“So what now?” Catalina asked, looking to me for an answer I wished I could give. But we were out of time and this fate wasn’t going to shift so we needed another option.

“We’ll watch over them,” I said firmly. “I’ll bring you with me to The Palace of Souls and together with Hail and Darius we can unlock some of the magic hidden within its walls, guide them from danger as best we can and hopefully see them through this night, whatever horrors it may bring.”

“Where is Darius?” Catalina asked, and her son materialised as if in answer to her question, my husband right along with him.

“Well?” I asked.

“Roxanya has summoned the power of ether once again. She has created a dark artefact which will help her stave off death if it comes calling for her.”

“She succeeded in that?” I breathed fearfully, hope and fear mixing at the thought of Roxanya wielding such dangerous magic. But if the things Gabriel had seen about this night were even close to true, then I knew she was going to need every advantage she could get to survive it.

“She did,” Hail confirmed, pride clear in his voice and Darius smiled darkly.

“Let’s make sure it’s enough,” he said.

I quickly told them of Lionel’s plan to bond the Dragons to himself, and Darius cursed furiously.

“Come, we must hurry,” I urged, beckoning them all closer and they moved to me, taking hold of my hands and arms, gripping tightly as Hail and I focused on The Palace of Souls, the heart of our stronghold in the living realm, the place where our magic lived on most potently beyond our deaths.

Just as we were tugged toward it, Radcliff appeared, the Dragon shifter who had died before I’d ever even entered Hail’s life charging after us as The Veil swept around us and tugged us towards the palace itself.

“I want in,” Radcliff said as we arrived. “Call it vengeance if you must, but if there’s a chance to get one up on Lame Lionel here then I want to grip it by the balls and pull.”

“Charming,” Catalina muttered, earning a grin from the man whose life Lionel had stolen.

“Now what?” Darius asked as we found ourselves in a dimly lit hallway, distant footsteps announcing the arrival of someone who shouldn’t have been here.

“They’re coming,” I breathed, moving to the wall and pressing my palm flat against it, sighing as I felt the distant call of my own magic, the power which I had bound here all those years ago.

Hail placed his hand over mine and a distant rumble echoed through the walls as the palace awoke, greeting us like a waking house cat cracking open an eye and hoping for a belly rub.

“Xavier?” Catalina breathed and Darius took her hand as he felt the presence of those he loved drawing closer too.

“Max and Roxy are with him. How are they already here?” he asked.

“Time shifts to a beat of its own between here and there. A heartbeat for us can pass a week for them, sometimes more, sometimes less. The dead aren’t constrained by the passage of time but that means time has no loyalty to us in turn,” Radcliff replied solemnly.

“Meaning the path Gabriel foresaw is already in motion,” Darius muttered.

“But we’re here to open new passages for fate to select,” I assured him. “We just need to know which ones to choose.”

“They’re hunting for Darcy and Lance,” Darius said, looking from left to right as he tried to get his bearings. “Which path will they take?”

“That way.” Hail jerked his chin to indicate the most direct path to the throne room, but a sense of dread stole through me the moment he did so.

“Lionel will have guards posted throughout these halls. We need to open up a path that avoids them,” I said.

“Well wet my whiskers, why didn’t you say? I shall go forth and assess the scoundrels myself.” Hamish took off down the hallway Hail had indicated, and Radcliff took up the task too, taking a passage to the right.

“If we can lock down where the guards are stationed then we can lead them down a safer path – assuming our magic is powerful enough to do so,” I said.

“It is,” Hail growled, refusing to allow any other option.

Darius took off in the direction of Roxanya and the others, Catalina slipping through a closed door to our left and checking beyond it.

I closed my eyes and pushed my power into the walls themselves, Hail’s magic merging with mine until I spilled into them and could feel the entire building as if it was an extension of my own flesh.

Lionel’s followers lurked in some of the hallways, but most of them were beyond the palace walls, gathering in the amphitheatre for his ritual.

“There she is,” Hail muttered, and I felt her too, our daughter striding towards us with purposeful steps.

I reached out for Gwendalina and found her in the throne room as expected, Lance beside her and a single guard stationed in the room to watch over them.

“Xavier and Max just entered the hidden passages and split from Roxanya,” I murmured, flexing my power, feeling my way through the corridors surrounding us as our daughter drew closer still.

“Not this nelly way!” Hamish called and I could feel the cluster of Nymphs in the direction he’d taken.

“She’s almost here, but she isn’t focused on me,” Darius said from somewhere close by as he returned. “I can’t reach her.”

“It’s clear to the left!” Catalina called and I gritted my teeth as I delved deeper into the magic of the palace,

“I need more power,” I snapped.

“How?” Darius barked in reply.

“Come here,” Hail demanded and as Darius placed his hand against the wall beside mine, I felt the rush of his magic joining with ours.

I glanced at him, the determination in his eyes filling me with that same, undeniable need and as Catalina, Hamish and Radcliff all pressed their magic into the walls too, I found the strength I needed to take control of this ill-fated night.

“Go,” Hail growled, taking control of the cocktail of power, his ties to The Palace of Souls the strongest, making it easiest for him to take the lead.

A flash of icy coldness raced through me as I stepped away from the wall, leaving him in charge of the palace and looking around just as Roxanya appeared looking ferocious with her sword in hand and her gaze burning with the desperate need to find her sister.

I could feel more guards headed this way, fate twisting to catch her out, but I would fight that destiny with all I had.

She sprinted towards me, heading straight for the route which held the most guards and I held up my hands, willing her to see me, to hear me as I cried out for her to stop.

She raced straight through my insubstantial form, utterly unaware of me, not so much as slowing her pace, the pain of that fact cutting into me as it always did, but I had no time to dwell in self-pity.

“Hail!” I yelled but he was already ahead of me, a cry of effort escaping him as he drew on the power of the palace and the doors to Roxanya’s left flew open with a bang.

She whirled towards it, raising her sword in anticipation of an attack but when she found no one there, her thoughts fell to me. The memory of the last time I’d sent her a message in this Palace made her think of me and like a guiding star, I latched onto the grief she felt.

The power of that pang of longing gave me the extra strength I needed and I ran to the door, willing my power into the floor beneath my feet, shimmering silver footsteps appearing on the flagstones, guiding her after me.

Roxanya didn’t hesitate, darting through the door which Hail slammed behind her right before the guards I’d felt coming appeared around the next corner.

They didn’t see me as I scowled at them, cursing them for setting foot in our home and hoping the dark fate that had been prophesised for this night would fall on them instead.

I raced away from them, chasing my daughter as the others ran after her too, Hail opening another door which I sped through, leaving a trail of footsteps once more, guiding Roxanya through the palace as safely as possible.

Hamish, Radcliff, Darius, and Catalina called out warnings whenever they spotted more Nymphs and we skirted them time and again, leading her to the throne room without once coming into contact with any of her enemies.

Eventually, Roxanya made it to the throne room and we all fell still, panting with the effort it had required to affect the living realm so much. Each of us hoping with quiet desperation that she might be able to find a way to rescue Gwendalina and her mate now that she was here. But between Lance’s Death Bond and Gwendalina’s shadow curse, I feared what could be done to save them.

Roxanya moved to the throne room doors, reaching out to break the magic Lionel had placed upon them and Catalina caught my arm.

“Xavier is in need,” she gasped, her eyes fearful and I looked to Hail who nodded once, feeling his way towards her son through his connection with the palace.

“Gabriel is at risk too,” I added. “Seth, Geraldine and Caleb are hunting for him.”

“We can’t do any more to help Roxanya here,” Hail said, though I could tell he didn’t want to leave her. “Darius can stay to watch over her. If we want to help Xavier and Max, it will take both of us. Are Gabriel and the others safe for now?”

“Yes. So far as I can tell,” I agreed and Hail nodded, my word on it more than enough for him.

Darius looked to Hail in surprise, the weight of the trust he was placing upon him leaving him stunned.

“Save my brother,” he said firmly, his own heart clearly torn on where he should be, but we needed Hail’s connection to the palace if we were going to help Xavier. And Roxanya’s keen grief over Darius made him the best choice to help her here. If anyone could, then it would be him.

“Those are my daughters in there, son,” Hail growled, gripping his shoulder as he met Darius’s tempestuous gaze. “Don’t fail them.”

“I won’t,” Darius swore, gripping Hail’s shoulder in return, a powerful energy rippling between them which set the hairs standing along the back of my neck.

And with that we left him there, a single knight guarding his queen as we fell into darkness and raced towards another soul in need of our help to survive this cursed night.