Crystal Crowned [ARC] (16 page)

“Now isn’t the time,” Elecia muttered from the other side of the Westerner. Her eyes were fixed forward.

“How are we going to get through?” Fritz asked outright. Their horses had slowed to a walk as they stared at the ominous and impenetrable barrier.

“I doubt they’ll just let us pass,” Elecia stated as she eyed Victor’s guards. She pointed to the small collection of structures built by and out of the crystal. “I also doubt that Victor would put just anyone here. They’re likely half-mad with taint, and even if they’re not, they’re certain to be the most loyal.”

“It doesn’t look like the walls stop, either.” Vhalla raised a hand to her brow, squinting in both directions. Even if they could go around, it would take them days in either direction. Time they didn’t really have.

“So what do we do, Emperor?” Jax asked.

“We watch,” Aldrik decided, pulling his horse to a stop.

They followed their sovereign’s orders, setting up on the edge of the road. They squinted in the distance, staying among the tall grasses of an unkempt field. Vhalla absentmindedly brushed out Lightning’s mane with her fingers.

“Why did Victor even make a gate?” she said suddenly. Her comrades jumped at the sudden break in the silence. “He wants to keep the East and West from helping each other. I think we can be certain about that. Split up the continent, break it down one piece at a time until everyone kneels.” No one argued with her. “So why make a gate at all? Why not just a wall?”

“That’s a good point,” Fritz agreed.

“He needs to move his men as well,” Vhalla continued her logic. “If he crushes the East by pouring all his forces here, then he’ll need to get them to the West, which explains why it’s on the main road.”

“Why wouldn’t he just destroy it when he needs to?” Fritz mused.

“Management of troops, being able to control entry points; maybe it exhausted him too much to build the wall that he didn’t want to take it down.”
Now that was an interesting thought
, one she shelved to muse over later. “So if he wasn’t planning on returning, his forces would need to be able to move themselves.”

Vhalla squinted at the gate, putting her thumb on the uneasy feeling that had surrounded her from the moment she saw it. It reminded her of the Crystal Caverns, the one Victor had forced her to open using Aldrik’s magic. Vhalla couldn’t keep herself from seeking out her Emperor, her heart aching dully at the thought of their lost Bond.

Then another thought came to her. “Aldrik.” She waved him and Elecia over from where they had been talking. “I know how to get in.”

“You do?” Elecia sounded surprised and impressed, but not skeptical.

“He’s tuned the gate to his magic, to open and close it, like—” Vhalla swallowed hard. “Like the Crystal Caverns.”

“It’s possible.” Aldrik’s jaw was taut at the mention of the caverns.

“It’s the only way to open them; he’s the only one with enough power, immunity, and crystal knowledge to do it.” Vhalla couldn’t stop herself from wondering if she would’ve been able to help open the gate if she still had her magic. But she didn’t dwell. Her magic was gone, and there was no possibility of getting it back now.

“So are you saying there’s no hope of opening them unless Victor decides to stroll by?” Jax asked.

Vhalla shook her head. “That wouldn’t make sense. Because if he was going to come back and open them himself, why make a gate at all? Fritz is right, he could’ve just destroyed it then. He must’ve left a key, a crystal vessel with the essence of his magic in it that the gate will respond to, allowing the troops to move back and forth as needed.”

“So what would this crystal look like?” Elecia asked.

“It could be in any shape, but you wouldn’t find it with regular sight. If I—If I still had my magic sight, I’d look at the magic on the gate and then find a spare crystal that matches it. These men and women must be half mad with taint; Victor couldn’t have made it too hard for them, so I imagine it’s somewhere fairly obvious.”

They were all silent for a long moment.

“Fritter,” Elecia said suddenly.

“Fritter?” That name was new.

“I’m going to need illusions. And yours are just wonderful.” She flashed Fritz a brilliant, toothy smile.

“Mine are all right,” Fritz replied with modesty.

“Elecia?” A marked concern had set up shop in Aldrik’s voice.

“What?” she sighed in exasperation, giving her cousin a hard look. “It’s not as though you can go. You’re our Emperor
and
you don’t have magic sight. You wouldn’t let her go—” Elecia motioned to Vhalla, “—even if she still had her magic sight.”

“I have magic sight and am not the Emperor or Empress,” Jax said suddenly. “Let me go.”

“No, the fewer people the better,” Elecia insisted. “Plus, you have your own obligations: you need to protect our Empress. Isn’t that your responsibility now?”

Jax didn’t argue. He sidestepped closer to Vhalla.

“Fritz will make an illusion just after nightfall to send them on a wild goose chase. I’ll use the confusion to sneak in and find this key. How do I make the gate open once I have it?”

“You should just need to make contact with the gate.” Vhalla rubbed her shoulder absentmindedly.

“Easy enough.”

“I don’t like it,” Aldrik announced. “It’s too risky.”

“Ah yes, and shall we sit here and wait for it to become less risky as the world is spiraling into chaos around us?” Elecia shot back in all her snarky glory. “Aldrik, I am going home. I want to see my mother and grandfather. I want letters on my father’s status.” In Aldrik’s silence, Elecia turned to Fritz. “Are you in?”

“I, um . . .” His blue eyes darted between the two nobles.

“You are,” Vhalla encouraged her friend, placing a palm on his shoulder. She addressed Aldrik, “It’s the best chance we have.”

“Is this what you choose?” the Emperor asked her.

Vhalla smiled tiredly at his sad eyes. He knew what he was doing. More training, more grooming, more assurances that she would be ready for the crown that he would place upon her brow in Norin. If she said no, her friends would remain safe for a while longer. Perhaps, with enough time, they could conceive a new plan.

“It is.” There wasn’t a trace of doubt in her voice. No matter what turmoil brewed within her, she didn’t let it show. Aldrik never betrayed his uncertainty; she wouldn’t either. “We will move tonight.”

Elecia gave her an approving nod before immediately launching into a conversation with Fritz about the type of illusions she needed. Vhalla tuned them out for a moment. She watched the sun set over the gate and knew it would set on their fates all too soon.

Come nightfall, Elecia had almost completely changed and reequipped herself. Her father had not let her leave Hastan without a good set of leathers and an even better set of steel. She had two blades strapped inside her boots, a small dagger on her hip. The woman checked the weapons ten times over, militant that they were just so.

The rest of them followed suit. The Western army had been honored to spare weaponry for the Imperial company. While they didn’t wear heavy plate for ease of mobility and wanting to remain inconspicuous, they all had some leather and steel. The five of them left their threadbare travelling cloaks at the roadside; once they passed into the West, it mattered less to keep a low profile.

Vhalla, Jax, Fritz, and Aldrik mounted as the stars winked into existence. Elecia remained on foot, hidden by the tall grasses.

“Start the fog,” Elecia commanded Fritz. “Slowly at first, let it thicken when I’m halfway.”

“You got it, boss.” Fritz failed in his attempt at levity.

“The rest of you, don’t forget my horse.” She tilted her head toward the rider-less steed. “I’m running through the gate, but I want to ride to Norin.”

“Be careful,” Aldrik ordered.

“Don’t be foolish enough to start doubting me now.” Elecia grinned and took a couple steps away. “You, both of you,” she pointed to Vhalla and Aldrik. “Just focus on getting through. Especially you, Aldrik; our world needs you to rally behind. No one else can fill that role.”

Vhalla knew what Elecia was really urging Aldrik to do. So did Jax, judging from the way he inched closer to her. Their Emperor couldn’t be reckless on her behalf. Vhalla patted the dagger on her thigh thoughtfully. One way or another, she wouldn’t let that happen.

“Stay close to me,” Aldrik whispered softly to her.

“I will,” she promised.

The dim light of the half moon was fading. Elecia crouched low, almost on her hands and knees, and began her slow trek through the fields leading up to the gate. It was a longer distance than Vhalla had originally thought, since they had stopped far enough out that they wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Elecia slowly blended in with the earth as she inched forward; eventually she became completely invisible in the darkness. Fritz squinted, watching a distant point, where they assumed Elecia would be. As he focused, a fog began to rise from the fields. Fritz slowly lifted an open palm and the clouds intensified.

“Won’t they realize it’s magical?” Vhalla breathed, not wanting to risk breaking her friend’s concentration.

“If they look carefully, they can.” Aldrik gripped his reins. “We’ll have to hope they don’t have a reason to look carefully.”

The gate was growing hazy. The torchlight of the encampment surrounding it faded to floating orbs in the mist.

“We should move.” Some mental timer of Fritz’s had clicked into its next cycle.

Slowly, they inched their horses through the fog-filled expanse. For the time being, they remained on the fields, the soft earth masking the horses’ hooves. Vhalla struggled to remain as still and taut as possible so her saddle didn’t rattle and ruin everything.

Crossing half the distance, they stopped again. Sweat rolled off Fritz’s brow. His hand was balled into a white-knuckled fist and the world held its breath between each of his soft pants.

Suddenly he sprang to life. Fritz drew his hand fast across his body, as though he was throwing something off into the distance. Upon the road, hazy figures appeared. Up close, they looked like nothing more than dense fog, but from the gate they would certainly be seen as riders.

“Emperor,” Fritz spoke between gasping breaths. He was using an unfathomable amount of magic. Vhalla wondered how long he could hold such a complex illusion for. “Throw flame from there to the gate, on my mark.”

Aldrik followed Fritz’s nonverbal gestures and gave a sharp nod. There was a whole shift in the Emperor’s form. Vhalla watched him transition from the man she adored into the Fire Lord the world feared.

Without further warning, Fritz cast his arm forward, nearly falling out of his saddle in the process. He grunted at the unseen magical exertion. The shadows began their phantom attack.

Aldrik flicked his wrist, sending a tongue of flame from the illusion soldiers to the camp. It was more effective than expected as one of their non-crystal shelters burst into flame. Cries and shouts filled the night air, followed by a screech that rattled the heavens. One of the beasts had left its perch in response. Large, leathery wings flapped, and the gleam of talons was barely visible through the haze.

“Come on,” Fritz pleaded.

“Come out and play,” taunted Jax with a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.

The beast swooped down off its perch, gunning for the illusions. Fritz swept his palms to the side and the fog riders dodged effortlessly. He pushed the magical burden to the right side of the camp and a good many of Victor’s loyalists poured out.

The beast cried, ascending once more to circle the sky. Vhalla wondered if it had somehow seen what was happening. Or if
Victor
had seen what was happening through his magical connection with the crystals. Its screeches could be a language in their own right, and it was trying to convey to the soldiers below the truth. If it was, she hoped no one could understand it.

Aldrik snapped his reins without word, trusting the three of them to follow his lead. They charged together, a second blurred streak through the fog. Fritz struggled to remain upright in his saddle, but he hung on.

The distorted and formless blur of Victor’s camp gained shape. Things had been set up to stay. Buildings were erected rather than tents, and latrines had been dug. Vhalla scowled at the crystal jutting up from the earth. Such a thing should’ve never existed.

The moment their horses crossed over onto the pristine stone of the East-West Way the soldiers who had remained in the encampment were alerted to their presence. Shouts rose only to be echoed by those who had chased the shadow riders. Vhalla’s head whipped back to Fritz. The Southerner was blinking, bleary eyed, his body halfway limp.
The thinning of the fog wasn’t just her imagination.

Her heart raced. It pounded in her ears louder than Lightning’s hooves, and, for a brief moment, it gave her the illusion of the Bond. Vhalla gained strength from the beautiful lie.

The other beast launched off the gate, and fire arced through the sky. Aldrik and Jax moved in unison, creating a protective canopy of flame above them, thwarting the monster’s attack and setting buildings to flame at the same time.

With a flash of light, the gates sprang to life. Vhalla let out a holler of laughter in relief. There was no sign of Elecia, but if the woman had made it this far, she’d see it through the rest of the way. The massive doors sighed as they pushed against the ground, easing open.

A burst of desert air hit Vhalla’s cheeks, and she’d never felt anything sweeter. It was as though, despite everything, the wind still reached out to her. That it knew her Channel still lived deep within her, seeking it out. It called, promising that her future was there in its dusty breeze.

“Single file!” Aldrik bellowed. The heavy doors were moving slower than a glacier.

“Close the gate!” a man shouted from a high crystal ledge.

“Not on your life!” Elecia proclaimed, triumphantly. A dagger protruded from the man’s eye, and the Western woman threw the corpse aside, adjusting her bandana proudly.

“If you have time to pose, you have time to get down here!” Jax called up to her, throwing out another arc of fire.