As quickly as he had been my ally, Pyrite was my enemy again. His looks numbed and an icy chill coursed through me. Against my will, I began untangling the rope. I stepped away, unable to do a thing as his Puppeteer power controlled my actions. From deeper in the palace, I heard fighting, the sound of Ivory’s non-violent promise being shattered. If they didn’t get back to me in time, it was all over.
That’s when something really strange happened.
In a flash, a burst of electrified light shot through the wood of the God Tree, shocking Melodia into instant unconsciousness, sending Pyrite and I to the ground. A dark burn ran from the ceiling all the way to the ground where the Sapphire leader was slumped. She was alive, but a smoking, jagged line was burned across the side of her face. I stared with disbelief. Pyrite’s slack jaw confirmed this phenomenon was far from normal.
Sharp and Piranha snapped back to attention, taking a deep breath like they’d been underwater. Glass had fallen on the floor by the throne and was beginning to pull himself up. Footsteps sounded from the east entrance of the throne room.
Willow appeared in the doorway and froze. “What…what happened?” he stuttered, eyes locked on the grisly disfigurement. The others, blinking away the hypnosis, registered the sight, and the same question burned in their eyes.
“I…don’t know,” I whispered.
Willow’s posture eased and he took a calm breath. “Divine intervention, perhaps.”
Pyrite bolted from the ground, Willow’s words instilling him with certainty. “That’s right. I think the God Tree did it. She’s marked now.”
The air warmed as the negative energy was wiped from the room. Ivory’s aura had finally joined us. She limped in, supported by Marrow and the singular Teal-and-Tungsten. Floating behind her was Molten, the fire-wielding Sapphire sister with bright red hair and a protruding fang. Olivine was keeping the woman levitating with an outstretched hand, like she had done with us on the day we first met.
I allowed myself a sigh of relief.
It was a chaotic reunion as we all tried to explain what had happened. Molten had ambushed the Topaz leaders, but her intent had been to distract them while Melodia carved her name. After Glass introduced himself, Pyrite and I conjectured about Melodia’s bizarre condition.
Ivory’s mouth gaped at the sight of her cousin, unconscious and scarred, the knife still open in her hands.
“Doctor Glass, can you help treat her burns?” Her bell-like voice was tinged with sadness. Melodia’s state was no one’s fault but her own, but they were still family. Glass was happy to oblige.
Marrow sported a burn of his own on his left shoulder, courtesy of Molten. His scarred face softened when he saw his half-brother. “Pyrite. Thank the Reaper. Are you hurt?”
My godfather shook his head, still dazed. Marrow offered a solemn nod, a nonverbal apology for leaving him in the clutches of the dark voice.
Ivory knelt by the body of the king and used a gentle touch to shut his ever-staring eyes. “I hope this means the worst of the danger is behind us. All that’s left to do now is carve my name so the border can be reopened, and we can have access to our clan once more.”
The feeling conveyed in her light was one of relief, our goal accomplished. It made us let our guard down.
The tree shuddered. I thought it was a reaction to the storm on the outside, until the wall splintered into many wooden arms.
We didn’t notice him shadowed in the doorway, and he was too quick for us to react. The limbs knocked Ivory out cold and immobilized Marrow and Olivine in a wooden cage. Teal-and-Tungsten split to avoid the limbs coming after them, but it managed to wrap around their ankles anyway. A dozen tendrils spouted from the wall of the Divine Pantheon, latching around the wrists of Dr. Glass, holding him captive.
No longer held by Olivine’s power, Molten fell to the ground and blinked back into consciousness. She saw her sister, marked by lightning, and made for her side.
A burly man with braided brown hair and dark blue skin silhouetted the threshold, eyes glowing wild and gray. He was Oil, the man who had nearly killed Mercury hours earlier. Sharp and Piranha attempted cutting through the overpowering limbs, but even more erupted from the ground. If I didn’t disappear soon, we would be crushed to death.
The wood stopped dead before I could do it. A white light flashed in Oil’s eyes, and his hands fell to his side.
“Undo this,” my father commanded. The limbs around us started to uncurl.
At the same time, the fiery head of Molten turned with a devastating glare. With Oil’s distraction, she’d been able to revive her sister. A ring of fire burst from the ground, surrounding the Pantheon wall, where Glass was still latched by the wrists.
“Dad!” screamed Sharp, but the Divine fire was impossible for her to cross.
“Please stop!” Pyrite pleaded, the fire inching closer and closer to him. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
The flames rose. My friends and I were still not free of the trap, and Sharp hacked the wood with her blades, desperation in every breath. I looked at Pyrite and saw my own face. My own sickening fear. Neither of us knew what would happen once the name was written.
“I can’t move!” Marrow tried to pull his thick body from a gap in the branches. Something must have happened to Olivine, or she could have freed us all. “Badger, shroud yourself and your friends before it’s too late!”
“No!” Sharp’s voice pierced the air, full of a horror I’d never heard from her before. She’d almost cut through the branches and was trying to pull herself out. I knew what was going through her mind because it was going through mine too. What if we can’t get to Glass in time?
The lights flickered, but no thunder followed. I couldn't stop myself. I pulled Sharp back and disappeared with the others. The air blackened, and the Unseen filled with smoke.
She tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her. Not that it mattered. This twisted energy had a weight that prevented us from moving. My lungs were clogging. The darkness was absolute. Even in the Unseen Dimension, a slimy, inescapable horror crawled over my skin. I closed my eyes, held my friends close, and prayed the Goddess and the Reaper would save us.
The energy dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, replaced with the orange of Ivory’s Charm. The wooden traps fell away as Olivine gained consciousness. I brought us back to the real world.
The fire lowered. There was no name carved under the symbol for Charm, only a black smoking mark. The sisters, as well as Oil, were nowhere in sight. They fled as soon as the tree rejected them.
Glass was face-down on the ground.
Sharp ripped her hand away from me and stumbled towards her unconscious father. She hovered over him, eyes pleading. Everyone else crowded around. Ivory, pulling her weakened body from the ground, met my gaze and gave me a non-verbal order.
I returned to the Unseen.
Determination pulsed through the soul lights, Sharp's especially. The edges of the souls merged, their energy filling the air with hope. If I could do what I’d done with Mercury, maybe my power could save his life. I reached my hand out to touch his light. All I needed to do was talk to him.
There was nothing, no light at all. I stepped backwards. Maybe I needed to get a better look. Surely, he wasn't…
I backed into something, hot like a fire yet cold like a deep frost. Relief flushed over me when I saw it was Glass himself, smiling at me. But…something was off. His armor was replaced with a more comfortable set of robes. Less age lined his face. A white light emanated from his center.
“Badger,” he whispered. “It is nice to see you here.”
