novelxo Chapter 34 - the Gateway
I was taken aback by the amount of bloodshed in the first few moments, as these Ardanians were all on the same side. They weren’t fighting an enemy — but rather their own kin.
There were friends and families on this battlefield, and although they likely tried avoiding each other, that resulted in them turning on the others even quicker. They were fighting for survival, killing as many potential threats as they could, before they or their own would take the fall.
The snow had already turned scarlet as I grabbed onto Myrtha’s shoulders.
“The gateway,” I urged her, “please, Myrtha. Please try now.”
Myrtha squeezed eyes shut and focussed as hard as she could. I whispered details to her. About my house, about my village, the mountain, my brothers. I described it as vividly as I could.
“Do you feel the tingling? I asked her, when I couldn’t think of anything else to describe.
Myrtha didn’t reply, now visibly trembling with exertion. And then, she let out a small whimper, and her eyes fluttered open.
I held my breath in anticipation, looking around for puddles of liquid silver. But instead, I found puddles of liquid rubies. All around us, the snow had melted, making room for the hot, red blood of the fallen. And one was forming around Myrtha’s feet.
“No!” I screeched, jumping forward, and catching Myrtha in my arms. There was a dagger between her ribs.
“Noooo,” I cried again, “Myrtha!”
I looked around, but the dagger’s owner had already run off. I fell to my knees, clutching Myrtha to my chest.
Then, Phaedra was at my side. “Get up,” she yelled, wielding a sword to fight of yet another attacker. “Get up and run!”
I looked down at Myrtha. Her bright eyes had turned dull, her hands slackened at her sides.
“I didn’t look out for her,” I whispered, “I should have protected her. She wasn’t looking because of me—”
“Serin, GET UP NOW!” Phaedra screamed, and I did.
I gently put Myrtha down, and kissed her forehead, but then I got up. I looked around at the crimson snow around us, and my vision turned red too. An anger rose inside me, slowly turning my insides sour. I didn’t have a lot of time to let myself be poisoned with fury, as I saw a few large Ardanians running my way, spears raised.
I let out a scream of rage, and raised my dagger. I realized I stood no chance against them, my dagger wouldn’t be much of a defense against their spears, but I refused to go down without a fight.
One of the Ardanians pulled back his arm, in preparation to hurl the spear my way, and I felt my blood begin to boil within my veins. The Ardanian stopped in his tracks — spear still raised. They just stopped running, stopped their attack.
I looked at Phaedra, and found her glittering eyes stare back at me in confusion. Stars for eyes.
Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Phaedra was a Royal Alchemist —she turned regular metals into silver and gold— ‘She who summons riches from the void’s silence will materialize the quiet and grant the people’s wishes.’ Summoning riches — materializing quiet…
“Phaedra!” I screamed over the sounds of weapons clashing together, and Ardanians dying, “you do it! Open up the gateway! It’s you!”
Phaedra whipped her head around to look at me.
“I know you can do it,” I whispered, “I believe in you. Open it up.”
Phaedra looked around. The Ardanians that had come for us were still frozen in their attack.
“Please, Phae,” I begged, “send me home.”
More Ardanians came running, each coated in blood. I willed them to stop — willed them to let me live. To let me leave. Phaedra’s face mirrored their confusion as they too stopped running.
“Now,” I whispered, “open it.”
Phaedra closed her eyes, and I urged her with every fibre of my being, to find her powers. I willed her to open a gateway — willed her to free me. And there it was. Amongst the puddles of blood, there was a puddle of silver.
“You did it,” I whispered, stepping toward it. “You did it, Phae.”
“Go,” she said, and as I bent down to look at my reflection, I heard Thoridor’s voice inside my mind.
“You did so well,” his voice echoed, and for a moment, it filled me with dread and yearning.
“You figured it out,” his voice spoke, and I looked around to find him.
“Go now, Serin,” he urged me, “don’t spill your chance. Get out of here, blood wielder, free yourself.”
And with those words I felt a strong force push me forward, toward the swirling silver. And as I gave in, I pictured Tophyn’s face. I pictured Nysander, my home, my village, the mountain, the forest, my goats, our garden, the creek. I focussed on everything that once had felt like home to me, and just hoped Phaedra had done the same when she opened the gateway.
I yelled one last thing before I sunk into the stinging liquid. It had tumbled from my lips before I had fully grasped what was happening — before I had thought of whom it might have been directed at. “I love you.” The words hung in the silent air as my body broke the surface, and I dove head-first into the unknown.
The now-familiar feeling of sinking and falling took over as I went deeper and deeper into the liquid, until it once again began to clear into water. I swam as fast as I could, filled with a sense of hope I had not thought I would ever feel again. I swam toward the stripe of light in the dark below me, fighting with all my might to hold my breath — closer…. closer. And then my head broke through, and I gasped for air. I wiped the water from my eyes as blinked against the blinding light — daylight. And then, my surroundings slowly came into view.