A Dome of Blood Read online

  I could feel the energy bursting through me, like a thousand suns being born at once, taking over the vast emptiness of a young cosmos. It would take a while to get used to it, for sure, but I loved the general feeling. I doubted I’d ever need coffee again.

  Looking around, I saw that the expressions of my people spoke of excitement and relief. Everyone was so happy to see me. I must’ve been out for a while, for them to be like this.

  “How are you feeling?” Hunter asked me. The way he looked at me made me worry a little. I felt different, but did I look different, too? Or was he simply worried that something was maybe wrong with me? We’d all thought about potentially negative outcomes of this apprenticeship, anyway.

  “I’m good, I swear,” I replied softly. “How long was I out?”

  “A few hours, but… There’s something very different about you, Kale,” Grandma Corrine said, then gently cupped my face, tears glazing her eyes.

  “The Word fused with you, Kale,” Lumi interjected. “Your apprenticeship is complete. You’re now a swamp witch. The real deal. Like me.”

  “Yeah, even your eyes are friggin’ weird,” Elonora shot back, pursing her lips.

  I blinked several times. “They don’t feel weird.”

  Lumi chuckled softly. “They’re like mine, in a way,” she said. “But, Kale, I have to admit, even I didn’t have the amount of Word power surging through me that you do.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, while Grandma and Grandpa both hugged me, briefly, smothering me with kisses. They didn’t need to say anything. I could feel their love, like sunshine on my face on a good day at the beach.

  “Your witch genes definitely played a part,” Lumi replied. “I don’t know whether to admire you or be wary of you, if I’m honest.”

  I took a deep breath, relishing the plethora of sensations rushing through me. I gave Lumi a warm smile, then shifted my focus to Hunter. He didn’t move, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. I took it as my cue to step forward and drop a kiss on his lips. He tasted like honey and jasmine; he smelled of rumbling oceans and lazy summer afternoons in the wild. What an experience this was, living with the Word embedded in my very soul.

  It was incredible. I experienced everything at a different, vastly superior level. I could smell the tiniest changes in the air. I could feel the molecules on everything I touched—vibrating, working hard to keep the object or the body together. This was truly an extraordinary time to be alive, as far as I was concerned.

  The Word thrived inside me, and I loved it. I also feared it. The seconds prior to my awakening had compressed centuries’ worth of teachings from the Word itself. The final stage of my apprenticeship was, indeed, over, and I had been tasked with power like I’d never had before. Part of me was overwhelmed and downright terrified, but I was eager to explore it, to understand my limits, and, if necessary, to go past them.

  I was surrounded by people who loved me. And I’d come back to them because I was determined to save each and every single one of them.

  “Don’t worry, babe,” I whispered against Hunter’s lips, losing myself in his blue eyes. “We’re going home soon.”

  Lumi put a hand on my shoulder, prompting me to turn around and face her again. “Seriously, now, how are you feeling? Any pain? Any feeling of heaviness? Any physical discomfort whatsoever?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m perfectly healthy,” I said. “Don’t worry, Lumi. Everything will be okay from now on. You’re not the only swamp witch anymore, and that matters. I now understand how important this step I took was, not just for me but for everyone else. You see, if the last swamp witch dies, the Word dies, too.”

  Dmitri gasped. “Whoa. Hold on, isn’t the Word like… I don’t know, the energy that keeps this world together? I mean, this and all the worlds, for that matter?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “The more swamp witches there are, the more powerful the Word is, and most importantly, the more balanced the universe becomes.”

  “That’s new information,” Ben murmured, frowning.

  “I didn’t know that either,” Lumi mumbled, looking alarmed and aware of how truly important she’d been until now, and how valuable the both of us were to everything and everyone. “The Word told you that?”

  “Yeah. I had a crash course just seconds before I woke up. I was told that time is running out, and that I’m finally worthy of becoming a swamp witch and serving the universe. So, here I am,” I said, and chuckled softly.

  Draven exhaled, shaking his head slowly. “And to think how close Azazel once got to destroying the Word. He butchered all of Calliope’s swamp witches. Even he probably didn’t realize how important they could be.”

  “Mm-hm. Thankfully, I was out of town at the time,” Lumi said, raising an eyebrow. “That insolent fool. Thinking he was above the creation forces themselves…”

  “Speaking of which,” Elonora chimed in with a shy smile. “I think we need to get a move on and teach our Stravian insolent fool a lesson.”

  Just then, the urgency of it all came crashing back into me, much like it had done during my dream state. Elonora was right. We’d already been on a tight schedule, prior to my blackout. Looking around again, I found myself feeding on the prisoners’ hope. It beamed out of them like milky moonlight, and it made my senses tingle.

  Hunter squeezed my hand. “I’m here if you need me.”

  “Make sure everyone gets out,” I told him, then looked at Lumi and my grandparents. “You guys ready?”

  “We were waiting for you to finish your beauty sleep, cupcake,” Grandma Corrine replied.

  I laughed lightly. It was good to see her good spirit back. She was probably adjusting to this new version of me, much like everyone else—including myself. But, like most of my apprenticeship, our current circumstances didn’t allow for a smooth transition. I was to adapt quickly and take everything the Word gave me.

  This time, however, every spell I learned would stay with me. The words would never escape me again. The incantations would forever be seared into my memory, and so would the face of every single creature in this diamond dome. Their lives depended on me.

  “I’ll take the north,” I said. “You need most of the energy output for the bilocation spell there, and we all know I now have the juice for it now.”

  Lumi grinned. “That’s the spirit. I’ll take the south, then. Corrine, you do the east. We need a mother where the sun rises.”

  “I’ll take the west point, then,” Grandpa Ibrahim quipped.

  Seconds later, Rose disabled our collars with the first code she’d gotten from Amal—it kept them on, but they no longer prevented us from doing our magic. The second code was meant to take them off. We took our positions on the edges of the diamond dome. Just like they’d practiced before, the prisoners scattered around the hall, making sure to obscure the floor drawings to any outside views.

  I took a couple of deep breaths, the words of the bilocation spell already echoing in the back of my head. I knew what I had to do. My gaze wandered around the hall for a moment as I brought a hand up to the back of my neck.

  With my fingers resting on the tiny keyboard mounted on my shock collar, I prepared for the next stage of our mission.

  “I’m sorry I was late,” I said, making sure everyone heard me. “This is it, guys. The point of no return. From the moment we get this started, we cannot linger; we cannot falter; we cannot look back. Is that clear?”

  The crowd gave me a collective nod. My chest filled with pride and my heart swelled with determination, as I found Derek and Sofia smiling at me. Their nods of approval were my signal to press the deactivation code on my collar.

  Freedom was within our reach again.

  Elonora

  Nevis, Varga, my grandparents, and I stayed together. Vesta, Ben, Taeral, and several other fae took their positions under the hung sheets that had been tied to a couple of bunkbeds, ready to drill into the diamond floor, using the earth abilities.

  W
e were all ready.

  Lumi, Corrine, Ibrahim, and Kailani took their cardinal point spots. Lumi had taught Corrine and Ibrahim the spell’s verses. They put their arms out and closed their eyes.

  “Everyone, be ready,” Lumi announced. “Once your copies appear, you’ll have to be quick and coordinated. First, all prisoners will remove each other’s collars at once using the second code we gave you, then place them around the copies’ necks. With a bit of luck, the disconnection on the Perfects’ central screens will last a second, tops. A glitch, at best.”

  “Fire it up,” Ridan replied, eager to get out of here and to reunite with Amane.

  We were all pining for our freedom. Our crew, however, could only imagine the anguish that GASP’s founders and the fleet prisoners had been feeling, cooped up in this place for almost two weeks.

  “Word of life, giver of light and darkness,” Lumi started, swiftly joined by Ibrahim, Corrine, and Kailani in a perfect unison. “We summon you. A body is one, but a body can also be two. Where one stands, the other may sit. Where one smiles, the other may cry. We are one, yet we are none. Make it so that instead of one, we become two. Give us our golems, mirrored by ourselves. Give us two, instead of one. Make us two. Make it so!”

  The chant itself was a mere call to action, reaching out to the Word. The symbols on the floor were the true formula, each circle and triangle and swirl combining into a precise recipe to create solid copies of ourselves. In the ancient tongue of swamp witches, the copy created through a bilocation spell was called a golem. I looked forward to finding out what a golem was, exactly.

  It didn’t take long for me to find out.

  As soon as they completed the chant, the symbols on the floor lit up white. Seconds later, out of thin air, hundreds of figures emerged. Shapeless and colorless, at first. Gradually, however, skeletal structures were formed. Muscles were snapped on. Blood vessels and nervous systems shot through them. Organs and tendons. Cartilage and brain matter. Then skin, hair, and nails.

  Before I could breathe out, I was staring a perfect copy of me right in the face. The same green eyes, reflecting forests and eagerness to kick Ta’Zan straight in his pompous hind. The same long, curly blonde hair. The slightly sun-kissed skin. The smile of a devilish kid who survived into adulthood. Yep, it looked exactly like me.

  “Wow…” Nevis murmured by my side. “Was I always this… stoic?”

  I briefly glanced at his copy and stifled a chuckle, though my heart did skip a beat. His golem was as handsome and splendid as he was. His long, white hair was braided down his back. His slightly pointed ears carried a pinkish hue, always sensitive to the slightest temperature changes. His eyes were ice water. And his lips… I would’ve kissed those lips.

  “If you ask me, two of you might be better than one,” I replied.

  “I’m a handsome devil, aren’t I?” Varga croaked on my left, making me laugh hard.

  “Now! Collars off!” Kailani commanded us, her husky voice rippling through me like thunder.

  We didn’t wait to be told twice. I slipped my hands behind Nevis’s neck and pressed the right buttons on his collar keypad. It snapped open. With fluid movements, I slipped it off, then quickly put it around his copy’s neck. Nevis did the same to me, placing my collar on my copy—who, by the way, was staring at me in the eeriest way. Checking around me, everyone did the same with one another. Put the code in. Took the collars off. Locked them around the copies—all of them staring at their originals.

  I exhaled sharply, looking at myself.

  “It’s done,” Kailani said. “I can feel them all… They’ll stay here, unbothered, unresponsive.”

  “Our turn,” Vesta replied.

  The fae put their forces together. Nevis and I were the first to dart toward them, making our way through the crowd—now doubled and more difficult to navigate. According to our plan, Nevis and I were to lead the people into the tunnel and out on the other side.

  Vesta, Ben, Taeral, and a dozen more fae dropped to their knees and pressed their palms against the diamond floor. It lit up red underneath, as if a thousand lasers were burning through it. The ground started shaking.

  Instinctively, I gripped Nevis’s arm.

  “I’ll bet your copy is just as toned,” I muttered, giving him a sly sideways grin.

  His gaze softened on me, the corner of his mouth curling into a discreet smile. “Wait till you feel the rest of me,” he whispered.

  “Your Grace! That’s no way for a prince of Dhaxanians to talk.” I giggled.

  “Can we all just get out of here first, and then we can see about getting you two lovebirds a room?” Varga cut in.

  My cheeks caught fire. I’d momentarily forgotten about my brother. Varga didn’t let me go anywhere alone, especially not in the heart of such a hostile land. We braced ourselves as the fae used their connection to the natural elements to crack open the diamond floor.

  It gave out, eventually, collapsing into the dirt beneath. The hard crystal layer was the toughest for them to deal with. Ben and Taeral pulled the diamond slabs aside, while Vesta jumped in, sinking her hands into the dark ground.

  We all heard the ground moan beneath, then crackle and pop as the tunnel was drilled by the sheer force of nature bursting out of Vesta, our little and most valuable Nerakian fae. Of course, technically, she wasn’t Nerakian, but most of who she was belonged there, and Vesta liked referring to herself as such.

  I couldn’t help but feel incredibly proud of every single creature inside the dome. Every fae, every witch, every vampire and werewolf, every Mara and Bajang, every Druid and dragon, every Dhaxanian and incubus, every succubus and interdimensional hybrid that had joined us on this quest—all woes included. They were all warriors.

  And they all had the potential to change the entire world, from this point onward.

  I checked on Derek and Sofia first, who were with my grandparents and the rest of the founders’ crew. Ibrahim and Corrine maintained their bilocation spell positions, along with Lumi and Kailani.

  “Why aren’t they moving?” Varga asked, following my gaze.

  “The longer they stay there, the longer our copies will be charged and able to function without us present,” I said. “They’re trying to buy us as much time as possible before the Perfects catch on about the trick.”

  “Hunter!” Dmitri shouted after him. “Come on! We need you back here!”

  Indeed, we’d agreed that Hunter, Ridan, Dmitri, Jovi and Jax, and the rest of our younger crew would help guide the prisoners into and through the tunnel. Leaving their copies behind, the prisoners gradually moved toward the tunnel.

  “Come on!” Vesta shouted from below. “From here on it’s easy breezy for me. Let’s get them out!”

  “Grandma! Grandpa!” I shouted. “We’ll go ahead!”

  Grandma Corrine nodded. “We’ll close the line. Be careful, darlings!”

  Nevis and I held hands as we turned around and slipped under the bedsheet cover. Looking down, I saw that the hole was wide and deep. I always found myself in awe of what a fae could do. After all, how many of us could honestly say that we were able to manipulate the natural elements, that we had the power to reshape the entire landscape?

  “Ready?” Nevis asked me. The question was mostly rhetorical, but I knew that there was a part of him that meant it.

  “As I’ll ever be,” I replied.

  We jumped in, swallowed by the temporary darkness.

  I landed on my feet, my eyes instantly adjusting to the absence of light. Ben and Taeral were already down there, pressing their hands against the dirt walls and making sure the tunnel stayed firm while Vesta kept digging ahead.

  More fae would join them in minutes, as there were several nodes through the tunnel where additional power was needed to maintain its integrity. It was going to stretch for at least three miles, before ascending back to the surface and emerging smack in the heart of the jungle.

  Varga, Nevis, and I started running, taking th
e lead through the constantly extending tunnel. Behind us, more people dropped. All of them were prisoners with a second chance at freedom. A second chance at life. Vesta used her fire abilities with the help of a lighter she’d snuck in via an inside pocket, and planted two flames on her shoulders. It didn’t burn her, but it offered enough light for those who couldn’t see as well as I could to follow.

  From here on out, the trajectory of our actions seemed pretty simple and straightforward. We had to make sure that everyone got out of the diamond dome alive. I used my True Sight to check on the surface events. Most of the Perfects assigned to guard the prisoners from the outside had their attention diverted to the southwest entrance, where Herakles, the rogue Faulties, and the Draenir were making a lot of noise and causing a lot of damage.

  By now, Ta’Zan surely must’ve heard about it. More dangerous Perfects with deadlier weapons were bound to head over there. We had to do our part and leave this place as quickly as possible, so Herakles could pull his people back before they all got themselves killed out there.

  Once all the prisoners were out of the dome, Kailani, Corrine, Ibrahim, and Lumi were going to follow and close the tunnel behind them with magic. That left the copies behind, absently moving around, pretending to be us—enough to let our enemies think that we were still there, quiet and obedient.

  A second afterward, the charges would be detonated.

  I pressed the call button on my earpiece. “We’re leaving the colosseum. I repeat, we’re leaving the colosseum.”

  “Roger that,” Araquiel said. He’d finally learned our lingo, it seemed, and I couldn’t help but smile. “We’re almost done here, too.”

  “Amane? Amal? Where are you?” Ridan’s voice came on.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him running about a hundred yards behind us, keeping the prisoners in line as they rushed through the semi-darkness and followed us. Vesta had already shared her flames with the other fae, tossing sparks back for them to catch and use, lighting up the tunnel.