Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning

I WAS SUCKED THROUGH a vortex, blinded, choked. Some other magic had a hold of me alongside the stardust and for a moment I couldn’t breathe at all.

My knees hit soft earth and my arms were immediately yanked behind my back and my legs immobilised beneath me. I took in the unfamiliar cliff top I knelt on and the jagged black rocks which burst up from the dark sea to my left. An old crater fell away beneath me with grass clinging to its banks. At the heart of it was a blackened patch of stone which shone like ink.

Fear thundered through me as Orion crashed into the grass beside me, writhing against his fiery binds. 

“No no no,” he ground out through his teeth. He twisted his arms so violently that he managed to hook something out of his pocket half a second before more people materialised around us.

“What’s happening?” I begged as Orion stilled on his knees, his gaze full of recognition as he stared across the field before us. He said nothing and panic gripped my heart as the wailing wind blew between us. “Lance!”

Tory and Darius slammed into the grass beside me and I sucked in a breath, turning to my sister with wide eyes. 

“Are you okay?” I asked and she nodded quickly, though rage and fear were written into her features.

“Fuck!” Darius spat, staring past me to look at Orion. “Hurry, Lance,” he hissed.

“On it,” Orion growled, his brow fixed in concentration and hope flourished in my chest.

Lionel Acrux materialised before us with dead eyes that roamed across us. 

Fae appeared around the crater from the glittering depths of stardust in navy blue robes. They wore gnarled wooden masks etched with grotesque faces and hollow eyes that made panic spill into my blood.

Lionel turned to greet them and Orion and Darius shared a look that said, now.

Orion twisted something into his palm and blood leaked between his fingers. He shut his eyes and murmured under his breath so fast I couldn’t catch the words. Black veins spread out from his wrists and a spark of light snapped the magical binds holding him in place. He sprang to his feet, throwing an arm out to release Darius from them too, casting a storm of magic at Lionel in the same instant.

Hope burned brighter in me as Lionel tumbled into the crater, catching himself with air before he hit the centre and twisting around to face them with a snarl. I gasped as every single one of his followers raised their hands, but Darius and Orion’s moves almost looked rehearsed.

Darius ran for the cliff while Orion cast a shield around us so powerful that it glowed with pure energy. My heart stuttered as a tumult of hellfire rained down on it from the surrounding Fae and I winced instinctively, tugging forcefully at my binds. 

Come on, come on. 

My heart tumbled in time with Darius as he leapt off of the cliff, disappearing over the treacherous edge.

Oh my god. He’s abandoning us!

Orion dropped one hand and cupped my cheek. His magic pushed against my skin and I knew want he wanted without any words passing between us. I let my walls down instantly, giving him what he needed so my power swept into him and the shield glowed hotter. Tory shifted to try and help, moving up onto her knees and pressing her arm to mine. Her magic gushed into me and I passed it to Orion, our chain of power so fierce it burned through me like lava.

Lionel took charge of the fight and fire surrounded the globe, lighting the entire surface of it in blazing flames 

“Holy shit!” Tory shouted over the clamour of noise.

“Just hold on,” Orion said through his teeth. “We won’t keep them back much longer.”

“What?” I cried in alarm, but he didn’t answer.

More Fae arrived beyond the crater and every time a new one appeared, they joined the fight against our shield. Orion couldn’t spare a single second to free us from the magical binds in case the shield faltered, but I could see him looking our way, his brow taut as he tried to think up a way to manage it.

“Darius will give us a chance to run. We’ll have five seconds. I’ll break your binds then you must follow me over the cliff.”

“The cliff?!” I echoed in horror.

“Darius will catch us,” Orion swore and Tory and I nodded, having no other choice but to lay our trust in the Fire Heir.

Darius’s beautiful and terrifying Dragon form swept up from beyond the cliff, soaring over the heads of the robed Fae and unleashing a blaze of fury on them. Half had to stop and shield while he tore up the ground between them, his fire so intense it burned a mark on my retinas. The other half doubled their efforts in battering our shield and I gave everything I had to Orion, refusing to let our defenses fail.

Two more Fae appeared beside Lionel and my gut jolted as I recognised them. They were unmasked. Orion’s mother, Stella, had her hand firmly clamped onto Darius’s brother, Xavier, who was as pale as a sheet, his eyes full of horror as he gazed up at Darius overhead.

“ENOUGH!” Lionel bellowed. “Or Xavier will die!” He kicked out his son’s knees, drawing a silver knife from his robes and holding it to Xavier’s throat. A pit of sickness filled my gut as Darius let out a roar of pain above.

Orion shook his head in horror, looking to Tory and I on the ground. Darius released another bellow and Orion clasped the mark on his arm, his magic falling away and the shield dying with it. 

“No!” I begged.

“I’m sorry,” he choked at us. “I have to. For him.” He buckled forward, holding his arm and Darius came to land beside him with an almighty thud that sent a quake right through to my bones. He shifted back into his Fae form and Stella held out robes for him with a triumphant smile. Darius shrugged them on before storming toward his father. “Let him go or I’ll kill you.”

Lionel was pressing the blade to his son’s throat so hard it was almost breaking the skin.

“An idle threat,” Lionel purred. “Now do as I say or Xavier will die. Do not think I will hesitate even for a moment.”

“I already put your mother in her place tonight for betraying your father, Darius, let’s not cause anymore unnecessary bloodshed,” Stella said overly sweetly.

My breathing grew ragged as Darius retreated, his shoulders shaking with fury.

Stella smiled at him, leaning in to caress Lionel’s arm. “It’s almost time,” she whispered excitedly, gesturing to the moon which was on the cusp of the Eclipse then her eyes flashed to Orion. “Will you join us willingly this time, baby boy? Or will you treat your own mother like dirt once again, pretending you’re so noble when your own hands weave dark magic on a daily basis?”

Orion’s hands balled into fists like he was refusing that fact, but I knew it was true, I’d seen it for myself.

 “I’ll do as Lionel asks,” he growled and I tried to meet his eyes to work out if he meant that. 

Please don’t abandon us.

I knew we were here for a reason, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Lionel lifted the blade from his son’s throat, shoving Xavier toward one of the masked men behind him. “If Darius makes wrong one move, kill Xavier without hesitation.”

“Yes, Commander,” came a gravelly voice from behind the mask.

My throat thickened with disgust. How could Lionel be so callous to his own flesh and blood?

Darius moved beside Orion and they shared a look that terrified me. It said they’d given up. That they were bowing to Lionel’s whims and I simply couldn’t bear it.

“Four years ago, we stood on this very spot,” Lionel spoke to his strange followers and I fought against my binds once more, sensing Tory doing the same in my periphery. “We failed to enter the Shadow Realm, but this time will be different. Stella, bring me the scriptures.” He waved her closer and she took a long scroll from inside her robes before passing it to him. 

My mind churned with what he’d said. The Shadow Realm? Didn’t Orion say that’s where the Nymphs come from?

Lionel continued, “We believe we made an error before in translating The Tenebris Scripturas – the dark scriptures. The word pure is interchangeable with many meanings in the tongues of old. One of which…is royal.” He turned to face us and ice inched into my very soul.

“No,” Orion snarled. “You can’t lay a finger on them, Solaria wouldn’t allow it!”

“I rule Solaria, Lance,” Lionel spat at him. “So bite your tongue or I’ll rip it out of your mouth.”

My heart jolted at his tone. We needed to get out of here. But I couldn’t see any way to do that. I couldn’t move and my magic was locked down. Tory gave me a desperate look and I shook my head to tell her I had no ideas.

The silver moonlight bathing us suddenly fell away and everyone looked up. The moon was cast in a dark red shadow as it hung ominously above; the Lunar Eclipse was upon us.

Lionel tore his robe from his back, bellowing, “Begin!” and every one of the Fae raised their arms toward the night’s sky, beginning to chant in some dark language I didn’t know. It scratched at my ears and twisted my insides as they spoke some powerful spell which I knew for sure had to be dark magic.

Lionel turned sharply and an enormous Dragon ripped from his flesh, his scales like molten jade and his eyes as red as blood. He took off into the sky, the size of him terrifying to behold as he climbed higher and higher, beginning to circle above like a giant bird of prey.

The Faes’ chanting grew louder and Orion and Darius drew closer to us, their eyes dark with fear.

A roaring, ripping noise seemed to tear the sky apart and a blazing light grew brighter and brighter on the horizon, appearing to create a fissure in the fabric of the heavens.

My lips parted in terror as a meteor crashed through the atmosphere, a fiery blue tail painting a line across the star-spangled canvas above. It was coming right for us and I began to shake, moving against Tory as we shrank away from the oncoming comet.

It collided with the earth right at the heart of the crater before us, carving deeper into the ground and making the cliff tremor violently beneath us. Lionel soared toward it as the heat of the impact swept over us, making me wince as dirt and debris flew into the air. 

Lionel released a line of Dragon Fire which scored against the meteor and the rock burned with dark purple flames. It turned to liquid before my eyes, melting down into a molten onyx sludge which bubbled and sparked. As the intensity of Lionel’s fire increased, the liquid started to glitter and the stars above seemed to shine brighter for a moment, making me squint against the glow. I gasped as the liquid fell apart and turned into a huge mound of stardust under the brunt of his tremendous power. 

Lionel ceased the fire and roared his triumph to the sky. I finally caught my breath as he came to land beside us, shifting back into his Fae form. Stella promptly cloaked him then turned to us with a frenzied gleam in her eyes which were so like Orion’s it made my insides twist. “Stardust made on the night of a Lunar Eclipse takes the traveller to the Shadow Realm. Those of pure blood can survive the transition…so you’re our lucky little vessels.”

“How can you do this, after what happened to your own daughter?” Orion spat at her and my heart lurched.

“Clara?” I whispered and Stella’s eyes snapped to mine.

“Don’t you speak her name.” Her eyes filled with pain and she clutched at her heart with one hand while pointing at Orion with the other. “And don’t you dare blame me, my boy. She made her own choice, she wanted to go. She wanted to be a part of it. Unlike you who scorns me at every opportunity. Who turned his back on his own mother.”

Orion said nothing, his jaw ticking but I could see a grief in his eyes that weighed a thousand tons.

“What do you want?” Tory demanded of Stella.

Stella looked to Lionel and he waved a hand in agreement, seeming anxious to move on.

“The Fifth Element,” Stella said with a keen desperation in her eyes. “The Element of shadows.”