screamed and tried to pull her hands away from the glowing green hole of swirling earth before her. But she was stuck fast and only managed to buck wildly.
“My love!” King Fionn shouted and jerked frantically, trying to reach his wife, but he was stuck as well.
King Guirmean threw his head back and cried out in agony, water rushing up from his pool to coat his forearms in shining blue light. Beside him, Queen Nora whimpered and crumpled against her husband, the tiny antennae-like fronds at her temples drooping down her cheeks. Guirmean tried valiantly to support her even as he fought and moaned in pain.
The trauma traveled along the circle of faerie royalty, every element turning on the kings and queens who ruled them. The great monarch butterfly wings of the Air Royals shivered as if wracked by wind, wing dust painting the air currents, and the Dark Royals wept under the weight of terrible emotions as their element crept up their arms with sinister determination. Fire leapt up Arach's arms and whipped at his face. Scales covered his body but they began to disintegrate into tiny particles as the air between dragon and fire went hazy.
“Arach!” I ran forward, but Azrael grabbed my wrist in an iron grip and yanked me back. “Let me go!”
“I cannot. You would burn with him, my love,” Az said gently.
“What's happening?” I demanded. “Are you doing this?”
“No, it's not me; I swear it,” Azrael vowed somberly. “I would have warned them if I'd known this was their plan. The magic has changed and doesn't want to be what it once was. It won't be tamed. Not by them.”
A memory flashed through my mind then—of Arach seen under the magic of a pair of god goggles. His essence was pure fire but at the heart of him—at the heart of every faerie—there was a brilliant white light. Faerie told me the light was pure magic. But the light that had tried to consume me, the light of the wild fey magic, was gold. Was it because the magic wasn't pure? Had the Earth tainted it? Were the elements too wild within it? Or was it a type of magical evolution? Whatever the reason, Azrael was right; this wasn't the same magic that had first arrived on Earth.
“The magic is draining them,” Cian said in horror. “It's taking their power instead of bowing to their will. Oh, sweet spirit, what do I do?”
Cian raced to Queen Bronagh and King Ruari of Earth, those closest to him, and grabbed their shoulders. Silver light descended from his palms and surged into them. A flash of light blinded me as his magic hit that of Earth and when I could see again, Cian was on the ground, unconscious.
“It's too late,” Azrael said in the grim, hollow voice of the Reaper. “They have doomed themselves.”
“No! Azrael, please, you can help them, can't you? Please! The magic listens to you.”
“The only way to save them is to unite the elements in a single well,” he said. “The well of all elements. Maybe then I could control the magic.”
“Then do it. Please, Azrael!”
“I can't do it alone. Not when I must counter what they've done.” Az met my stare gravely. “I'll need your help. You must use your sway over the elements to appeal to them and help me gather them here. They need to trust that we're doing what's best for them. Can you help me do that, Carus?”
“I...” My lips trembled as I admitted, “I don't have control over the elements anymore. My star pushed out the magic.”
Azrael's eyes flared bright and that other force stared at me. “I know. I have known from the moment of your rebellion.”
“You knew?”
“I didn't want to force you, my beloved,” he said sadly. “But now, you must choose again. Accept the magic or watch them die.”
I made a broken cry as I swung my gaze to Arach. His burning dragon stare met mine and he shook his head, even as scales lifted from his skin and burned away.
“Don't,” Arach ground out.
“I accept it,” I whispered without looking away from Arach.
Azrael suddenly yanked me against his chest, closed his wings around us, and covered my mouth with his. Magic poured into me with his breath, stroking me with his tongue and tasting me before it dove deeper. My star started to awaken but I pushed her down with sheer will and desperation. She faded into darkness. My beasts cried out and my