A few nodded slowly but dared not make a sound. I knew what that meant. I was being hopeful again. I'd been hopeful before, and the ritual had reached its end, nonetheless. Was I fooling myself, despite my ardent desire to live and to help my family, my world survive? Had it all been for nothing?
Needless to say, I loathed the uncertainty.
A voice came through the comms piece in my ear. Amelia.
"Sofia, are you there?" she asked.
I straightened my back. "Amelia. Yes. I'm here. We all are. The Hermessi—"
"Got the five millionth fae. We know," she replied. "But we're not done yet. It's not over yet. There's a small window left."
I exhaled sharply, fearing my own hope might fool me again. "What… What are you talking about?"
All eyes were on me now, as they watched me, waiting to hear the news. Would I be giving them good news, though, or bad?
"The Time Master. We found him!" Amelia said. "It's not as cut and dry as we hoped, but we're almost on Aledras. It's where the Spirit Bender took Death, and probably Time's scythe, as well. He needs his weapon to stop time for long enough for us to stop this before it takes off."
"I'm… I'm confused. How can you stop it now?" I asked.
"It won't be easy. But we still have a shot. We just need to get Thieron back to Death. The Word supports us to the fullest. It will get Death on board, too. It will join forces with her, if it must, to stop the ritual from entering its destruction phase. Which, by the way, is set to start from Aledras."
A short laugh escaped my throat, and I covered my mouth for a moment, utterly embarrassed, as Derek moved closer to me.
"What is Amelia telling you?" he whispered.
I looked at him, then at our daughter and everyone else. I thought of Nuriya for a moment, and of poor Sherus, too. "She's saying they're close to finding Death and stopping the final stage of the ritual before it's unleashed."
"Sofia, we're doing the best we can," Amelia added. "We haven’t given up yet. The Word is with us, and so are the First Tenners we've managed to get on our side. No one wants the ritual to happen."
Taking several deep breaths, I managed to stop my heart from pumping blood too fast through my body. I could feel a hyperventilation episode coming on. The last thing I needed was to lose consciousness in the midst of all this.
"Amelia, you do what you have to do," I replied. "I trust you. We all trust you, and Taeral, and everyone else who's out there with you. Do you hear me?"
She didn't answer right away, while I could almost hear the seconds pass us by.
"Tell Mom and Dad I'll see them again soon," Amelia said.
"I will. I promise."
"Oh, and Sofia? Just in case you or anyone else is thinking of giving up," she added, "tell everyone: Taeral killed Brendel."
The concept hit me like a runaway train. It slammed right into me, knocking the air out of my lungs. I leaned into Derek, who didn't hesitate to hold me. A grin stretched across my face as I looked at him, then at every other Shadian present.
The end was bloody nigh, right at our doorstep, but Taeral and his team had managed to do the impossible, against all the odds. If anyone could find Death and stop it all before it was too late, it was them.
Sure, we didn't know anything for certain. Not yet. But it looked as though life was not ready to surrender. Not while Taeral was still upright, his heart still beating, his mind and spirit still stronger than anything.
Taeral
"What can Death do, should we get Thieron back to her?" I asked, wanting to hear it from the Time Master again. He'd revealed something shortly after the last of the five million fae had died. Something that the other Reapers and First Tenners hadn't even known about, and the Word, speaking through Lumi and Nethissis, had confirmed it. I needed him to say it once more, for the sake of retaining my sanity.
"I've said it before, and I will say it again," Time replied, while our spell bubble shot toward Aledras at a dizzying speed. "If two powers of the universe combine, there's a chance they'll be able to stop the ritual from destroying everything. It's a little-known, obscure rule, and I have a feeling the Spirit Bender is not aware of it."
Dream giggled, beaming with pride as she looked at her time-controlling brother. "To be fair, you were always the nerd of our crew."
"I only asked the right questions, that is all," Time said, shrugging. He looked at me, his eyes peering into my very soul. "You must understand, it is not a recipe for success. It's just something I picked up by reading between the lines. We were all taught by Death that there are greater forces at play in the universe, and that she is but one of them. The Spirit Bender broke a pattern, and it got him the ire of the Word, as you can see."
Lumi and Nethissis stood still, their expressions blank and their bodies glowing white. "Perhaps I would never have intervened, had the Spirit Bender not taken Death. It is one thing to toy with the living and the Hermessi, but it is something else entirely to give offense to my sister. That is unforgivable, unconscionable."
"We have one last chance," Seeley said, drawing a bitter conclusion. "We may or may not get to win this, but we still have a shot. That's what matters."
The spell bubble breached the atmosphere of Aledras. The sky was white—a strange sight but not entirely unexpected. The entire planet was glowing, reacting to the ritual's completion. All the trees and oceans, the cities and the mountains… everything was shimmering, as if this world had been coated in mother-of-pearl. It was weird and scary as hell, because we all knew it was the beauty before the destruction.
The silence before the storm.
Nethissis cut a hole through the interplanetary spell's fabric with her bare hand. "The ghouls should all leave now. We don't want the Spirit Bender knowing we've got them."
Herbert didn't wait to be told twice. We were headed toward a frozen lake in the northern hemisphere of Aledras. The cold air swished through the hole, making my skin tickle with newfound delight. Whether it was the chill or the eagerness to face off with Spirit, I wasn't sure. But I welcomed the sensation. It meant that I was still alive.
The ghouls slipped out, vanishing into thin air as they spread and converged on the lake. Thankfully, they were all able to hide themselves—we were going to need them to act as the element of surprise.
"I'm just wondering here," Herakles said, prompting both Nethissis and Lumi to turn their heads. "Why don't you just fix it? I mean, you're the Word. All-powerful and whatnot. You've stepped in before. Why do we have to use ghouls and tracking spells and all this crap? Five million fae just… died."
"I am not your fix-all solution," the Word replied. "I am bound by rules. I do not bow before your mortal desires or moral codes. I go where and when I see fit. Frankly, your naiveté is endearing, but counterproductive. Death is somewhat indisposed. Otherwise, I would have been more incisive in my actions."
"Somewhat indisposed?" I asked.
The Time Master nodded. "The thing is that two forces of the universe need to be free in order to come together and override something set in motion by the likes of the Hermessi and other lower entities. By ‘somewhat indisposed,’ the Word means to say that—”
"Death is trapped," Dream and Nightmare said at once.
The Soul Crusher scoffed. "That son of a… I think I know what he did. I mean, I think I know what he used to trap her."
"And?" I replied, my heart stuck in my throat.
"I'd rather keep my thoughts to myself until we get there," he said.
"Typical," I muttered, gripping Thieron tightly and preparing myself for the descent.
The spell bubble went down, its speed gradually reducing until it reached the middle of the frozen lake, where two black dots could be seen, one larger, above the ice. The other… I wasn't sure.
"Get ready!" I shouted.
The crew got in position, as did the Reapers and Kabbah. The spell bubble vanished, and we tumbled across the hard ice, sliding and slipping until we came to a halt.
Ahead, the Spirit Bender stood, sneering at us. He was the first black dot. I couldn't see the other anymore. The pebble that had been embedded in the tracking spell hit the ice, suddenly stopping at a fixed point behind the Spirit Bender. That seemed unnatural, as far as physics were concerned.
"I thought you'd have given up by now," Spirit said, hands resting behind his back.
