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  Before Tim can answer my mother, I ask him, “Tim, was Celeste able to make this mirror?”

  “The Queen should be answered first, Tim,” a sour-looking councilwoman interjects. I honestly can never remember all of these people. Never say never, I guess I will have to learn.

  “No, it’s okay, answer Dina first. There has to be a reason she asks, right, daughter?” my mother defends.

  “Yes, when I run my finger over the symbols, I feel magic, but it’s different. It tingles ever so slightly and doesn’t feel familiar, but my body responds to it,” I answer.

  “Oh, let me see!” The sour, dark-haired councilwoman ambles down from her seat and takes the mirror from me to examine it. “It is nothing but a basic mirror. I sense nothing from it.” She declares and murmurs go up through the room.

  I snatch the mirror back from her, offended by her behavior. “I don’t think you would sense anything from it because I think it is mage magic!” Turning to Tim, I ask him again, “Did she make it or not, Tim?”

  “She tried to make several, but they all failed. She can use these without a problem, but she did not make them, and she cannot make any more of them. We found a small crate full in the tower attic in the west portion of the library. Celeste spent years sifting through everything in Lorcan. She knows every corner and secret better than I.”

  “Thank you Tim, that is what I thought,” I respond as I give the sour woman a glare that could kill. “Now if you will, please answer my mother’s, Queen Maris’, question pertaining to portals.” I see my mother give me a nod of approval.

  “Portals take more magic, but they are also easier to create. All you need is a piece of the place you want to go and a symbol left in that place.”

  Queen Maris leans forward, “What does the symbol look like?”

  “It looks like a three pointed spear,” Tim responds.

  “Okay, that is enough for now, council adjourned,” my mother says, slamming a gavel down upon her desk. The room erupts in talking. My mother leaves her seat and heads for us. “All of you follow me now. That includes you, Tim.”

  Chapter Four

  Queen Maris moves briskly down the hall, Trey, Rhett, Bee, Tim, and I follow her. Her dress and hair billow behind her making it look like we are following a goddess of old. I am not sure I can ever be half the queen she is.

  We pass Vex in the hallway, and Mother grabs his arm without saying a word, pulling him along. We turn and go down hallway after hallway. Many of them gradually descend into the bowels of Lorcan. We came to one last hallway wider than all the rest and it is comprised of even more stairs. We continue until we arrive at two large doors identical to the ones protecting the outside of Lorcan. Identical to the doors that the portal opened in front of, and where my beloved Aunt perished.

  “Where are we?” I ask in a whisper.

  “We never knew what this room was for, but I guarantee Celeste has figured it out. Tim, did Celeste tell you of this place?”

  Tim shakes his head no, his limp plain brown hair flops around on the top of his head. “I am sure she did, though.”

  Mother points to a giant wheel attached to the outside wall. “That opens the doors. Trey and Rhett, would you mind?”

  Both of my men jump into action. My men . . . I am already claiming Rhett, too. Interesting how this mage magic is working with my mystic needs. I no longer have the fight in me to deny Rhett. Rhett was blackmailed by my diabolical sister, Celeste. His betrayal towards me was an attempt to save his son’s life. Yeah, I guess I can forgive that slight. What else could he have done?

  Trey and Rhett’s arms flex as they struggle to open the heavy wheel, “Do you think Celeste has enough power to move that on her own?” I ask.

  “No, Celeste is a dedicated mystic, but she is a mid-level talent, at best,” Queen Maris replies.

  “Ah, that makes sense as to why she loves alchemy so much,” Tim interjects. He appears to be enjoying himself.

  “I think the major concern here is who she had helping her open that big old door.”

  “No doubt one of her dumb husbands,” Bee sneers.

  “Ha! They are dumb. No one would blame her for running off to be with that boar King Maddox, even if he wasn’t king.” My mother lets out a hearty laugh that I never expected to hear. I guess there is a first time for everything.

  “Where are they?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. They left before you arrived. Your sisters disappeared the day you arrived. Everyone left, and Lorcan is falling apart. I am not sure how much support I even have in the council anymore. If Gayla’s eldest hadn't gone with Celeste she would have been High Mystic, but alas, nothing is going as it should.” Her face goes somber, and I see another small glimpse into how tired she is.

  “I didn’t even think to ask about my sisters. I only woke this morning . . .” Part of me is experiencing guilt because I didn’t think to ask. It is heart-wrenching that my Mother has lost all of her children except for me.

  The door opens into a massive dark room. Our footsteps echo as we step inside. “Dina, can you light the torches and make quick work of this?”

  I take a deep breath and start with the one closest to the door. From there the torches light one by one all around the very large room. It is the size of the amphitheater in Cargil, but there is no seating. In the center is a giant statue of a spear with three points.

  “That is the symbol in the book that talks about portals!” Bee’s excited voice bounces off the walls, repeating her words.

  Tim stands with his jaw hanging. “This room can fit a small army.”

  “Right, well Dina and I will close it off,” Mother says in her to the point kind of way.

  “W-what? How? If we seal the doors they will eventually get through,” I reply.

  “Well, good thing I am an old enchantress and you, my daughter, have a talent for fire. I will lay a spell, you follow behind me and breathe your fire into it before it hits the ground. Focus on the energy, so it doesn’t leave a hole.”

  “What will this do?” I ask

  “It will create a barrier and burst into flames if someone other than you or I enter this room.” She smiles at me.

  From the way it sounds, portals still can open into Lorcan, but there is nowhere else where an entire army could move in all at once. So, this is something we need to do, and apparently, it is something we need to do without including the council. My best guess is because we don’t have a clue who we can trust within the council.

  “Okay, everyone stand in the doorway and do not interrupt us. Do not break our focus.” Nerves rush through me at her words. Nothing so big has ever been asked of me before. I am suddenly terrified that I will fail her. I never cared before this moment whether I sank or swam in the mystic world, and now I need to swim. Not only do I need to swim, I need to swim better than all other mystics. Talk about pressure.

  I stand watching my mother as she gathers her energy. I can clearly see it swirling around her in a mystic purple. Closing my eyes, I call my magic, preparing to follow her and do as I must.

  “Ready? One. . . . Two.... Three. . . .,” Mother says before she mutters words barely audible beneath her breath. The swirling mystic energy moves down her arm to her pointer finger. I realize it is time for me as the energy exits the queen. Taking a deep breath, I blow my fire with the intent on it joining with my mother’s chant.

  I have to keep focus, but I will never forget the image of my fire wrapping itself around my mother’s spell. It fits together perfectly. I rush to take another breath to continue blowing without breaking the chain. It is in that moment, I realize I will need more energy.

  The room around me and the floor beneath me pulse with the familiar thrum of the node. Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . I try to remind myself it is dangerous to pull from the node without being prepared, but my body needs it, and it is calling me. Like a mother calls to their child.

  The node first connects to my feet, sending shocks
of energy through my legs, into my solar plexus, and back out again in the form of fire. I am not absorbing the node energy this time. This time, I am acting as a conduit as pure node energy flows through me.

  I no longer need to take a breath to keep the fire coming. Now it exits in a thin golden line of fiery power. I continue following my mother at just the right pace. The intent to protect Lorcan and keep us safe is all that is going through my head, my body, and my heart. The node answers, and the node agrees. Lorcan must be protected. It is a sacred mountain. Twin to Lumbai. How do I know that?

  Time no longer applies to me, so when we finish circling the outer edge of the giant portal room I keep going until I hear my mother’s voice, “Well done, Dina. Now send the power back.”

  No, I don’t want to send the power back. The node is calling on me to keep Lorcan safe. This is my mountain, my mother node.

  “No . . . . It’s mine.” I reply. Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . echoing through my bones. I lift my arms and feel the static electric pulse of miniature lighting bolts crackling between my fingers. I marvel at the experience of being pure power.

  “If you don’t send it back, it will have to continue on to something else. Send it back now!” Queen Maris demands in her queen voice.

  I have disconnected myself from those that I love. The node has chosen me. I am the protector. I will keep Lorcan safe.

  Trey

  I have never seen power such as this. Dina looks ethereal as her hair billows around her, and her dress rips to shreds by the energy rippling through her. She stands . . . no floats, before us, barely clothed. Her beautiful body is exposed to the elements lashing around us.

  The room has filled with such a force of wind that it seems a storm, itself, has brewed within the bowels of the mountain. The node feels angry.

  “Get Queen Maris out,” I yell over the noise to Vex.

  Vex grabs the queen who fights violently and screams. “No! No! I will not leave her! I will NOT lose another child! NOO! Vex! Stop It!”

  I watch as Vex gets a good grip on her waist and drags her into the hallway. Queen Maris is tired, or I am not sure Vex would have been able to take her with such ease considering she is one of the most powerful people in all of Aster.

  The other is the woman now floating two feet off the ground, mad with the power coursing through her body. I look to Rhett, the only other person dumb enough to stay. He looks back at me with a face full of concern. He loves her. I don’t grasp how or why, or even when, but for some reason, he is drawn to Dina the same way I am.

  “What does Dina need protection from?” Rhett asks the question over the wind. I repeat the question to myself, Why does Dina need protection? We are her guards meant to protect her from herself. Rhett is brilliant.

  Rhett acts before I realize what we need to do. He runs past me and through the mess of magic surrounding Dina and wraps his arms around her waist pulling her to the ground. I follow right behind him adding my weight to hers.

  The moment I touch her, a burning sensation rushes through my body. I will certainly die. I have to, I am burning from the inside out. Or, maybe not? A calm sense of love and comfort follows the burning. It is accompanied with a pulse . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . .

  Dina

  I no longer see life as I did before. Instead, I see life as a web of power connecting every node to each other beneath the ground. Lines of energy are interwoven like a giant spider web, and I am a part of it. The energy is crackling through me, and it is euphoric.

  I can see everything going on at each node. My vision goes white, and I zoom in on a blonde woman and a portly extravagantly dressed man. As the energy becomes more focused, so does the image. I look upon the two people devoid of emotion. When the woman looks up from the map that lays before her on a large table, I recognize her as Celeste.

  I ignore her and the man with her and zoom my focus in on the table. There is a map of a long mountain range. Near the sea in the mountains is a red marker, Lorcan. I follow my eyes on up the range to another red marker, Lumbai. Figures of soldiers line up at the foot of the mountain as Celeste plans to move on through the mountains into Lumbai.

  Lumbai . . . . Lumbai . . . . The name echoes through me with each thrum of the node. Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . .

  My vision goes white again, and a person appears, standing upon the top of a mountain. I have been here before. The wind whips through his cloak sending the tails of it flying in all directions around him. His hair has grown some since I last saw him.

  “Dina? Is that you?” he asks into the wind.

  I am not sure? Am I Dina? Using the power from the node, I tickle his chin which brings a chuckle out of his mouth. His broad frame moves with each laugh. He laughs like the mountain he is. Gabal. This man is mine.

  With that thought the energy wraps around him in a tight embrace. I will protect him, too.

  “I am coming to you, Dina. Be patient.”

  Chapter Five

  My body is heavy, feeling dead after the energy leaves me. I can hear voices talking softly around me, but my eyes are struggling to open. Instead, I try to push the weight of something off of me. When I realize someone is lying on me, my eyes open, and I notice both Trey and Rhett asleep on me. Trey on my left side and Rhett is on my right.

  I wiggle free from their embrace. My movements cause them to wake from their slumber. I look around the room and observe my mother sitting on her knees, sobbing. Her long dark hair hides her face like a curtain. A single stripe of silver hair has appeared on the side of her head.

  “Mother?” I ask my voice barely more than a whisper.

  Her head snaps up, and as she sees me a whimper escapes from her. She dives forward on the ground and crawls over pulling me into a tight embrace. “I thought I lost you.”

  “No . . . . I am here.” I pause, thinking back on what happened. “The power from the node took control. I remember everything, but I didn’t see it as myself. I saw it through the node . . .”

  “We will talk about it later. What is important is you survived.” I nod to my mother and look up and glimpse Rhett and Trey standing behind me. They each hold out a hand to help me to my feet.

  “Where is everyone else?” I ask.

  “You strengthened my spell so much that we are the only ones who can enter or leave this room now. I assume since Trey and Rhett are now extensions of you, they can also come and go.” That makes sense.

  The images I viewed through the node flash through my head like a reminder. It brings the realization I am always connected to the node now. Fear rushes through me. How can this happen? What am I?

  “Lumbai. Celeste isn’t coming to Lorcan first. She is going to Lumbai!” I say.

  “What? How?” my mother asks.

  “I saw it. The node showed it to me.”

  “We will deal with it in the morning. You need to shower and refuel.” Queen Maris, my mother, brushes off what I said. I hope she takes me seriously. I am aware of Celeste’s immediate plans, and warning Lumbai is the right thing to do.

  I stand, “I'm fine.”

  “Trust me, you aren’t.” My mother leaves it at that as she staggers towards the door.

  Trey and Rhett rush to her side to help her. Once again, I am reminded how fragile my mother is becoming. I pray for her strength because I don’t think I can handle Aster without her. I am only nineteen cycles old.

  Bee, Vex, and Tim are all standing on the other side of the door, waiting. No one says anything. Instead, there is an unspoken intensity between us all. We don’t understand what has happened. As far as we know it has never occurred before.

  The walk is too much for Queen Maris. Vex picks her up and carries her up the stairs as we climb out of the bowels of Lorcan. The first half of the journey I am fine, then all of a sudden, my body gives way to fatigue. Before I even notice my fatigue is visible, Rhett scoops me up into his freckled arms.

  I lay my head upon his
chest and experience the same comfort and safety I do within the arms of Trey. Rhett’s heartbeat is in time with mine which is also in time with the node beneath the world. I lose track of where we are and where everyone else has gone. My mind is blank with fatigue. I have all the worries in the world in this moment, but none of them are plaguing me while being comforted by Rhett.

  Rhett carries me through the sitting room and to my bed. I scan for Trey in the room, but Trey has gone missing. It is as if Rhett reads my mind because he answers my thoughts. “Trey is watching Tim and getting a warrior assigned to him for the time being to make sure he doesn’t switch sides again.”

  “Tim won’t. I don’t think.” Why didn’t Rhett do that instead of Trey?

  “Trey also said we might like to spend time together. I realize you haven’t officially chosen me like you did with Trey, but I am still marked as yours.” He holds up his palm that has a swirl scar in the center.

  I bring my hand up to his to compare the identical markings. The energy between our two palms is electric. Unable to resist the pull, our hands clasp together.

  The energy rushes through me. It is so similar to when I sleep with Trey. My head rolls backward as my body absorbs and then returns some energy back to Rhett. Wow . . . .

  I open my eyes and observe Rhett with his eyes closed. His face has taken on a euphoric glow. I don’t quite understand what is happening, but I am guessing he is experiencing magic for the first time.

  When he opens his eyes, he takes one step forward and places a hand on each side of my face and pulls me into him. When our lips connect, I instantly turn into my mystic mode. The energy shoots back and forth between me and him. He is getting something from me which is unlike any mystic relationship ever known.