their sentry guards. There were underground tunnels connecting the palace to various locations across the empire, including a safe bunker where the emperor and his family would be housed, in case of emergency. This certainly qualified as that.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” I said as we stopped in front of the portal, its mist dark and gray.
Lumi prepared the coordinates for The Shade and completed the portal’s activation, while the rest of us watched her, lost in our thoughts. We were exhausted but pumped up, unwilling to let go, determined to keep fighting until we found our way out.
“You heard Kabbah. The Hermessi’s strength is growing,” Amelia replied. “Time is not on our side.”
“But it’s not too late. We have a location for Eirexis. It’s a lot more than what we got from Death,” I said, frowning.
“We don’t know what we’re walking back into,” Raphael chimed in. “Cerix could be hostile by now, for all we know. Emperor Tulla is a great guy, sure, but… if the Hermessi are running the show there, what are the odds we’ll have it smooth once we get there?”
“Minimal to none,” Eira replied. “But it needs to be done. I’m okay with it. You have my full support, as always.”
Looking at her, I once again realized how amazing she was. No matter what the universe threw at her, she kept a clear head and muddled through. Shills? Not a problem. Titans? Meh. Even as the Hermessi had come after us, she’d pushed through. Hell, during our conversation with Death, she’d been firm and, despite her fear, unabashed.
We were headed down a dangerous rabbit hole, the kind from which it was possible that none of us would emerge victorious, but even so, it was a path that had to be pursued.
The portal’s mist changed its color, from dark gray to deep blue, and Lumi turned around to face us. “Nothing ahead of us is going to be easy or harmless. We’re in for a world of pain, and it may be that not all of us will make it back to tell the story,” she said. “But it beats dying on our knees, at the mercy of these elemental sons of bitches. So, unless you’ve got something better to do, it would be my honor if you all joined me back in The Shade, where we can regroup and prepare for Cerix.”
“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re in.” Raphael chuckled.
Indeed, we were fully dedicated to this mission. I took Eira’s hand in mine as we stepped through the portal, following Lumi to Earth. And as the world warped around us, the witches’ wormhole taking us across dimensions and back into The Shade, I knew for a fact that I’d surrounded myself with the most extraordinary creatures. I was proud to serve with them, and I was eager to save the world with them.
Eira squeezed my hand and gave me a delicate, soft smile, and, in that moment, something sparked inside of me. Something changed, ever so slightly, and it put everything into a different perspective. I wasn’t doing this just for myself or my parents or my friends, or even purely for the noble sake of keeping millions of worlds alive.
No, I was doing this for Eira, because she deserved a life of her own, free of the Hermessi’s threat and away from the death and destruction that the ritual would’ve brought into her life. One way or another, Eira wasn’t going to die on this quest—if the Hermessi wouldn’t have allowed it because she was a Water heir to Cerix, Death had permanently stamped her until she found Thieron for her.
Whatever the end, Eira would live through it. So, I wanted her to live through the closest we would ever get to a happy ending: an averted ritual, a pleased Death, and at least three dimensions of the universe saved. Later, perhaps, I’d ask her out… It was a future worth fighting for.
Seeley
I didn’t even need to reveal myself to ask Phoenix for his help. His astral map had been carefully laid out across three screens, complete with coordinates for Mortis. I felt somewhat insulted, knowing that a living creature had learned about Death’s location before me. However, I took comfort in the fact that I wasn’t the only Reaper she’d kept in the dark about it.
She’d passed messages to me through other Reapers, and I’d spoken to her throughout most of my existence,