(Quick recap: The Duchess killed Lyras parents and has Virgo hostage. Lyra had to kill The Anima, which she did, and has now absorbed all her powers). 

40. 

Finding our way back to the throne room was easy, like we had collected memories of the hallways in our minds. In some ways, we had. With each step closer out into the world, my mind opened and with it the new powers of The Anima. Every organism in this Plane was connected, curling over one another like vines. They glowed with knowledge and a raw intensity that sent warm shivers down my spine. My whole body tingled, alive with the minds and thoughts of the people. I knew now that no knowledge could be hidden from me. The door between the earth and myself had opened completely and it would not shut until I died.

Something scratched at the back of my mind, a voice amongst the vines reaching out to me. I snapped my attention to it, eyes widening as it was brought into focus.

"Beast?" I said aloud, "What is it?"

My vision came into focus, draining from the maze of voices in my mind into the real world. The stone hallways came back into view. Beast trotted uneasily beside me, his wings dragging uncomfortably on the ground. Our connection had only grown. Each time his feathers swept across the floor, I felt the vibrations as they were sent up his wing. It tickled him; a sensation he felt was rather unpleasant.

"It was hard to reach you. I was getting worried."He spoke softly, brushing his big body against my leg.

I passed my fingers through the fur on his back as we continued walking.

"Sorry, I must have gotten lost for a moment. What were you saying?"

I felt his unease increase. If he wanted to, he could search my mind for the answers. But, I had the feeling the idea made him uncomfortable. The blood stone was throbbing in my chest, frozen in its place atop my heart. The muscle beat evenly, unfazed.

"We need a plan. How are we going to get your sister back without her getting hurt?"The genuine worry in his voice was interesting; it seemed our connection had grown to value family connections as well. "We have no proof that you killed the Anima. And I don't think The Duchess will take kindly to that."

"We have all the proof we need, Beast."

I outstretched my palm and the vines walls around us convulsed. The vines shuddered and hitched, breathing a deep sigh as I released them from the wall. They stretched outwards, desperately reaching for my body as if I was their life force. In every way, I guess I was.

"This world will listen to me now, Beast. To us." My voice was low, almost inaudible, but I knew he heard me.

"To you, Lyra. You are the new Anima." His spine shifted uncomfortably under my fingers as we paced closer to the throne room.

"Yes," I stated simply, unaffected by the weight of his words, "and you are a part of me. That means it also answers to you."

I reached out and touched one of the vines. It burst into a million colours, flowers erupting down its length with the silent will of my mind. I smiled and looked to Beast. He remained painfully unsure, unwilling to test his new strengths.

"We can analyse what this means for us later, Beast. What we need now is a show of power, and we've got it."

I dismissed the vines with a flick of my hand, returning them to the constraints of the palace walls. Something still lingered in Beasts mind; a question. If we killed The Duchess, would that make us the new rulers of this Plane? Beyond that, with the Shadows settling into their new home, would it make us the rulers of the Shadows too?

Unsure of the answer myself, I brushed the question aside and boxed it away from my anxiety.

"Come on." I gripped Beasts fur and quickened my pace.

After only a few more moments, we hit the throne room doors. The soft patter of Gryphon paw prints came to a halt. Together, we breathed a deep and heavy sigh. This was it.

The vine walls parted, snapping and breaking, as they tore from one another, desperate to let me through. The room came into focus, but my senses were in overdrive and my brain absorbed the information all at once. The Duchess remained perched atop the thrown, two guards at her side. Another two guards were by the other exit door. A singular guard held a knife against Virgo's throat. Although, his hand was relaxed and the sword at his side was strapped to his belt a little too tightly. The tears on my sisters cheeks had dried and an angry scowl now pulled the corners of his lips down. The bag that contained the heads of my dead parents had not been moved. Decomposition had begun and the smell of old eggs and rotten meat spread throughout the room, trapped by the hideous land which marked their death. The sun and faint noises from the outside world streamed through the far door that remained guarded. The rest of the room was dark, but that didn't mean I saw any less.

The bloodstone throbbed and the Umbra's power surged forwards. In the corner of the room there was a new presence, an addition of power absent hours before. Pressed tightly between two large goblins armed with poisoned blades was Alvar. Sweat slicked his hair back, revealing the large scar that ran across his eye. His eyes were alight with anger and tinged with an afterthought. He planned on making a move on the Duchess.

"Idiot." My mind hissed. The red stone beat angrily, momentarily overpowering The Anima's powers.

I shared the image and my irritation with Beast before focusing back onto the Duchess and her Guard's grip on Virgo.

"You are back... and yet I do not see the head of The Anima." The Duchess sighed and flicked hair out of her eyes. "That was the deal, a head for a head."

"You are in no need of a head." I called out, eyes trained on The Duchess' face but permanently in line with the guard holding my sister captive.

"I am not?" She asked and gestured to one of the guards. "I assume that means young Alvar here is also no longer in need of a head?"

The guard holding him began to cut into the skin of Alvar's neck. The blood spurted quickly out of the gap in his neck, yet he did not cry out. His eyes, dark and un-motive, stared straight into mine. He knew I would not be so careless as to let him die. So he let the blade sink deeper into his skin, unaffected.

"You mistake the absence of a body as failure." I clucked my tongue and gave the Duchess and irritated sigh.

The Duchess lifted her hand and the guard stopped cutting into Alvar's neck. It healed quickly, my power automatically seeking to heal one of its own.

"She is dead then?" She asked, her voice trill.

I stared at her, eyes unblinking. Once more, I looked to my sister. Her curls now clung to her neck with sweat and her brow was furrowed in anger. She would not meet my eyes, looking to the floor as if it was the thing driving her hatred. I sighed and reached out with my mind. It was easy to access her thoughts; her mind was unguarded. From it spewed blame for the death of our parents. My name flicked in and out of sentences, as did the Duchess and did the guards who wielded the blades. But above all, she blamed herself.

"Do not be afraid, Virgo." I spoke quietly, whispering it into her mind. Her eyes widened and her gaze lifted from the floor, "In a moment, all those responsible will be dead. All you need to do is remain still."

Virgo stilled, her throat taunt against the blade.

"Yes. She is dead." I turned to The Duchess, "And now, it is your turn."

I released the power from within, demanding the earth to answer my call. The vine walls woke and lashed out, grabbing a hold of each guard surrounding The Duchess. The coils wrapped around their arms and legs, pulling them backwards and restraining them on the walls. The ground opened and more vines burst through, wrapping themselves around the sword hands of the guards holding Virgo and Alvar. They too were pulled back against the walls, suffocating under the strains of the vines.

The Duchess cried out and stood from her throne. Whipping her head around, she screamed at me with menace. With a simple wave of my hand, the earth erupted beneath her feet and roots grew around her ankles and legs, tying her to the throne. I flicked my wrist upwards and more roots grew around her neck and torso, restricting all movement except for the blinking of her eyes.

The blood stone throbbed and I chuckled. Seeing the Fae who stood against me suffer warmed the pit of my stomach. It was the kind of pleasure one may feel after eating a delicious hot meal in the depths of winter.

Virgo ran towards me, her body a wild tangle of limbs as she leapt into my arms. I held her close, squeezing her small body against my chest. My chin on her head, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Alvar crept slowly over to my side, but did not attempt to break the embrace that held my sister and I together. I lifted my arms to hold Virgo's head tight against my chest.

Then, my focus back on the vines, I squeezed. The men on the walls began to scream. The vines pulled tight, twisting and squeezing against their limbs. First, the skin broke. There was a horrifying squishing sound as the vines then tore through skin. Blood spurted from their wounds, spraying the floor with blood. Virgo squirmed in my arms, but that only made me hold her tighter.

"Lyra, what are you doing?" Alvar cried out, but his voice was barely audible.

The screams of the guards died down as the vines cut into the skin of their throats. The Duchess gazed at me, flinching against her throne. A little voice chanted in my head that it wasn't enough. So I kept going, revelling in the dense cloud of terror that surrounded my aura. With a final squeeze, the bones of the guards broke and their limbs tore from their bodies. While their arms, legs and torso remained suspended by the walls, each head tumbled from their necks and rolled onto the floor. The cut left an uneven and mangled stump were a neck was once formed. It was not as clean as it had been on my mother and father; a blade was precise in ways a rope was not.

Virgo has stopped squirming when the screams finally ended. I cocked my head to the side, satisfied with the result of the events playing out before me. But the little voice at the back of my head still wanted more. It was high on the rush of adrenaline that came with taking a life. It was exhilarated and pleaded for another release. The only outlet lay before me, still tied up by very vines that had taken the lives of her guards.

I swept my hand to the side and the vines uncurled from The Duchess' body.

"Lyra, what are you doing?" Alvar shouted, starting towards me.

I kissed Virgo on the head and whispered calmly in her ear that she needed to go see Alvar for a moment. She didn't speak or move her head but she ducked out of my grip and headed straight for him. Alvar stopped, grabbing Virgo by the hand and leading her further away from me.

"You better know what you're doing."

Alvar muttered under his breath on the other side of the room. But I heard his words like he had spoken them directly into my ear. Irritation grew an ugly thorn inside my stomach. His affection for me had been dampened by the display of violence. He did not understand the necessity for it, or the justice that was created by the action. I could now feel the earth, all its needs and desires. More than that, I could also feel the moon, the shadows, and all their needs and desires. For each violent action that had been made against the Shadows, someone had to answer for it on the First Plane. The more violent the death, the more blood spilt, the less people had to die. Killing those Fae in such a violent way had already balanced out the actions of the first massacre against the Shadows. And the death of The Duchess would balance the death of the King. Sam would be crowned King and the Fae could move forwards.

The earth had somehow already shown me the changes it wanted to be enforced; things I would have to ensure are followed by the new King.

I turned my attention back onto The Duchess. The vines had almost completely unwrapped themselves from around her body. Her eyes darted around the room, no doubt plotting an escape. Although she was covered in sweat and marked where she pulled against the vines, she was still beautiful. It was so unnatural, how beautiful she was, and yet also frightening. There was power with beauty, a confidence in one's actions and self, spurred on by the praise of others. There was no doubt that if I were a male, she would be able to weasel her way out of this situation. But, unluckily for her, my heart remained trapped by a warriors hands, even if his was no longer trapped in mine.

Smiling, I crouched down to The Umbra's height as she remained atop the throne, to afraid to move.

"Do you believe me now? Do you believe that The Anima is dead?" I cocked my head and waited for an answer I knew wasn't coming. The Duchess licked her lips in nervousness.

"Do you still think it was necessary to cut off the heads of two innocent mortals? To kidnap a defenceless child?"

I sighed and leaned back, glancing over at Virgo. She wasn't looking at me though, she stared at something on the ground in the distance.

"You probably still think it was a good plan you had. I mean, what are two mortals and a child to you? If you can kill your own husband then you can kill anyone, right?"

Again she didn't answer. An image flashed. I saw my parents decapitated heads once more. I saw the rotting flesh and the bloodied stump of their necks. My mind played tricks, the flesh seemed more rotten upon memory. This time there were maggots in their eyes and the stench of their greying flesh burned the insides of my nostrils. Lost in the image, I didn't see The Umbra suddenly leap from the chair. I didn't see the blade that flashed in her hands. And I didn't see her stab me, but I felt it.

The blade rammed into my chest, grating against the bloodstone and slipping into my heart. The Anima's powers faltered, unable to heal the wound with the blade still inside my chest. I gasped and flailed, reaching for The Duchess. My hands fell short and her hands slid around my neck.

Suddenly, I am gasping, clawing desperately at my neck and straining to catch a breath. The pain in my chest doesn't hurt as much as the lack of oxygen to my lungs. I'm heaving and heaving, legs kicking out in a wild panic as my body realises it still isn't getting any oxygen. The Duchess squeezes tighter, so tight I fear she may replicate the deaths of her comrades and decapitate me. Alvar is holding Virgo back, but his face is stricken with fear and desperation. Beast is retching and for the first time I am experiencing what its like to truly be linked to other being. My gasps begin to shorten and all I can think is that this is what it must feel like to die. I'm dying because I played with my food, dangling the chance of life in front of The Duchess like it could be easily obtained.

As the last of my breaths leave my chest, I feel my face turn purple. I'm hot and I'm cold and I'm fine. I'm fine because The Duchess' grip has faltered around my sweaty neck and my power is creeping back into my veins. I take one breath, two, three and I'm still hot. I'm hot because the bloodstone throbs in my chest and the power is beating as one with my heart. For the first time, I give in. I give in completely to the power of The Umbra, allowing it to cascade out of me like lava. The Duchess' eyes widen as she realises the middle of my chest has begun to glow bright red.

The hand around my neck loosens. I smile with my mouth and yet it feels like, somehow, I'm smiling twice. The presence lingering at the back of my mind has engulfed me now, rising as the stone throbs brighter and brighter. The light explodes. The Duchess is gone before I can blink, obliterated to ashes by the red light emanating from my skin. Just like that, she is gone.

I pull the blade from my chest and am quickly healed. My heart reshapes itself and begins beating steadily. Unsurprisingly, the blade appears to be covered in the same goo the Umbra attempted to use to disable my power in the Shadow Plane. Kicking it away, I rub the last of the black substance from my chest.

"We really need to get rid of that stuff." I mutter to myself, shivering as my powers are slowly restored. It seems each time I encounter it, my resistance grows. This time, it takes no time at all for me to feel normal.

I blink once, twice, three times before the shock sets in. Suddenly I am laughing, laughing because it was over, because we had done it. I laughed at the stupidity of it all, laughed at the outrageous nature of my entire experience in the First Plane. Suddenly, I am no longer laughing. What were we supposed to do now?

A large furry body crashed into my side, knocking me off my feet. My body acted on its own, flinging my arms around the large neck of the beast who I had been tied to for life. Emotions poured off Beast; relief, happiness, pain, guilt, and love, so much love. I laughed into his fur and held him tighter. I breathed deep into his feathers, loving the musky, earthy smell that was attached to each strand.

I let go of Beast's neck and steadily rose to my feet. Alvar and Virgo were no longer standing in the corner of the room. I frowned, my power sending out a quick surge through the ground to find their feet. Alvar was gone, out in the fields with Lucius and the rest of the Shadows, informing them of the events that had unfolded. The cold shoulder he was giving me wasn't unnoticed, but it was unimportant. Virgo had priority. My power spiked, I swivelled around, and Virgo was kneeling beside a brown sack in the middle of the room. She was crying.

I approached cautiously, aware that the remains of the people I had only just killed hung around the room like decorative wall art. Virgo's shoulders shook and tears cascaded down her cheeks. I felt each drop as it hit the ground. Each one felt like a sewing needle piercing the skin.

"Oh Virgo, I am so sorry." I knelt down beside her and placed a delicate hand on her back. Her shoulders continued to shake.

Although her eyes were blurry with tears, she did not look away from the heads of our parents. She stared them straight in the eyes, the dead open eyes that gazed not at us, but through us. Wherever they were, they were not coming back.

"Virgo, honey?" I called softly, trying to coax her to look at me, to look at anything but the heads.

She lifted her shoulders and shrugged my arm off her back. That hurt more than any blade ever could.

"This is your fault." She murmured, still staring.

"I know."

I clutched my hands into fists, terrified at the prospect of Virgo hating me, not talking to me. But somehow, even as I stared at the dead eyes of my father, I could not bring myself to sad anymore. I tried to will myself to cry, to share in Virgos emotions, but I was stuck. The bloodstone throbbed again, blocking me from experiencing any negative emotion aimed at myself. Although I spoke the words, my body knew that this was not my fault.

What am I saying?

I shook my head and frowned, unclenching my fists. There it was again, that dark presence controlling my thoughts.

What are you doing to me?

"They're dead because of you." Virgo said again, stronger this time.

Finally, she broke her gaze to lock eyes with me. The fury, the disappointment, the fear, all her emotions were captured in her eyes. I didn't need to read her aura to know she would be angry at me for a long time, perhaps even forever.

"I know." I held her gaze, trying to show her that I would accept the responsibility, that I wasn't going to shy away from it, but it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted her parents to be alive. "I know and I am sorry."

"How could you let this happen?" Her eyes dropped, voice cracking, and she fell backwards onto her behind.

I sighed heavily and sat back with her. How was I supposed to explain everything to her?

"It's a very long story, Virgo. One I am not going to tell right now."

She was just so young, so young, that I feared telling her everything in that moment would crumble her. I knew she had abilities, like The Anima had said, and so some things about this world would be familiar. But not all of it, not the dark parts of it. She had yet to even recognise the dead bodies around the room; she was so focused on our parents. I doubted she even realised I had killed The Duchess, for she had not run to me when it was over. All she knew was that our parents were dead and I was to blame. Selective sight appears in trauma I guess.

"I know you don't understand what is going on. There is so much I need to explain to you, and I will, but just give me today, okay? You need food and rest. Everything else can wait, okay?"

She nodded weakly and wiped a ball of snot from her nose. I laughed.

"I love you so much." My voice nearly broke as I pulled her into a hug. She was stiff, refusing to hug me or share in my affection, but I held on anyway, "I won't let anything happen to you."

The earth seemed to hum in agreeance. From now on, there would always be someone, or something, looking out for Virgo. No harm could ever, would ever, come to her.

There came a thudding of feet. From the weight of impact on the earth and the tiny pieces of information the dirt gathered from the imprint, I knew it was a human. I looked up to greet the sweaty face of Lucas as he came bounding into the room. He paused for a moment, heaving and gasping for a breath. Then, as if suddenly reminding himself of another train of thought, he began to run towards us once again.

"Lyra- you've got to come see this!"

I broke away from Virgo with haste. Standing quickly, I pulled Virgo up with me and crossed the room quickly.

"What is it, Lucas?" I sensed the urgency in his voice but I felt his fear the most. It surrounded him like a black haze, clouding his thoughts and judgements.

I felt the earth beneath my feet and pinpricks travelled up my legs, sending me the information I was searching for. Outside the gathering of Shadows and Fae collectively felt the same emotion; fear. No, not fear... cold, unforgiving terror.

I flicked my gaze back up to Lucas. He wasn't even looking at me. He didn't look at the bodies hanging from the walls. He didn't even look at the decapitated heads scattered across the floor. Like the eyes of my dead parents, he looked throughit all.

I sent a signal into the earth for answers, sending my powers through the ground. It was silent. For the first time since I had gotten my powers, the earth was completely unresponsive. It did not want to speak to me. Whatever it was, I had to experience it for myself.

I turned to Beast first.

"Beast, can you take Virgo somewhere safe? Get one of the Brownies to get her some food and water. Also, if you could arrange for the complete bodies of my parents to be found, we will hold a funeral for them when we can."

Beast sat up from across the room where he had been giving Virgo and I some privacy. He sent back his agreeance and expressed unease at the presence of Lucas. He felt what I felt; fear so strong it could shatter the binds of sanity.

"You need to come outside now!" Lucas repeated. I tore my gaze from Beast and nodded uneasily, gesturing for him to lead the way.

"I will see you later." I called to Virgo. She had turned away and I knew she had ignored me. My only hope was in the flicker of emotion that ran through the haze of sadness in her aura. She liked Beast.

I allowed Lucas to pull me towards the outside of the castle, but couldn't help but be irritated by his touch. Something about it made The Umbra's powers stir with disgust.

Out in the open, all the Fae, Shadow or not, were clustered together by the tree line. Alvar, Sam and Lucius were among the crowd, but I could not see them. They too were petrified with fear. The calmness of the earth prevented me from panicking, my intrigue lighting up like a shopping centre Christmas tree.

Lucas pulled me into the crowd, his hand becoming sweaty in my own. We pushed past the Fae, who whispered and shouted and pointed all at the trees. The tension built until I felt like I would burst, the whispered rising as we got closer and closer. And then, finally, finally we broke through the crowd and stumbled out into the open.

In front of us laid a vast forest of trees, like all others which surrounded the First Plane. It offered protection against those humans who may accidentally stumble through a portal and attempt to expose the entire race. Before, the trees seemed to go on forever, a maze which kept this place a secret for all of time. But now there were breaks in the trees, breaks in the forest were light filtered in. Now the forest was just a simple cluster of trees. Now, the national park which laid on the other side of the portal, was just at the edge of the tree line.

The portals were down. The veil between the worlds was destroyed.

"How did this happen?" I whispered in horror, my fingers quivering over my lips.

The earth rumbled, like it was laughing, and sent me a single image. It was me, by the lake in the Shadow Plane, breaking the portals between this the Shadows and the First.

I stumbled backwards, my face etched in the same horror felt by all other Fae present. In breaking the portals between the Shadows and the First, those which held the humans and Fae apart had also fallen. Every Fae civilisation, scattered around the world, once hidden by the veil provided by the other dimension, were revealed.

Humans, two or three at first, were growing in numbers just a hundred yards away from us.

They could see us. The humans could see all of us. 

- end of book 1 - 

(unedited)

((sorry this is really unedited))

(((Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)))

xx Charli