Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight
Sorrow and Starlight: Chapter 24

I saw infinite outcomes, all of them drenched in blood and housed in agony. The sleep deprivation was taking its toll on me. I couldn’t control where my visions went, my mind slipping too closely to those I loved even as I tried with all my strength to keep from looking their way.

The worst part of my ever-weakening state was that I saw my own future. The fate that was looming at my back and towering over me, engulfing me in its shadow. There was no way to escape it, no path I could perceive that would stop Lionel Acrux from gaining access to my visions through the use of his Cyclops servant, Vard. As soon as my mental defences fell, he would make it into my head and pick through every vision I had foreseen within these walls. I would hide what I could, but there would be no way to conceal all of it and with access to my visions, only the worst could come of Lionel’s plans.

The only small mercy I had was that Lionel Acrux couldn’t crack into my head with Dark Coercion, and it had been a fucking pleasure to see him lose his mind over that. The power of the Phoenixes thwarting him once again was a beautiful damn thing and I thanked the stars for the Phoenix kiss which marked my ring finger, protecting me from becoming little more than a vessel bound to his will.

I bucked against the restraints binding me to the glass throne at the heart of the Royal Seer’s Chamber, finding my way back to the present moment for a second, a snapshot of walls lined with portraits of Seers from years past, my own mother’s eyes cast in paint watching me suffer through every moment of this, before the intensity of my own Sight dragged me away again, this place designed too perfectly to keep me seeing.

The cuffs on my wrists held my magic at bay, even if I’d had any power left to use, so I had no defences to draw on, I was simply a slave to The Sight.

This ability of mine could be a curse in life. I’d had to bear witness to countless deaths, seeing my wife and family all succumb to bloody fates time and again, whilst trying to think clearly enough to find a way to avoid it. But ever since this war had started, those visions had increased significantly, and the burden of this gift had become greater than it ever had before. My family and the rebels had been relying on me, and I’d failed them, unable to see Lionel’s destructive plan before it was far too late. And now I was trapped here, about to be wielded as a weapon against them.

A fate flickered through my mind of me trying to cave my own skull in on the glass throne, throwing my head back against it until I could no longer be used as Lionel’s instrument to bring about death on everyone I held dear.

My pulse quickened as I saw those attempts fail, then of my neck being strapped tight to the seat and a chain cinched around my forehead too. Immobilised. No, that wasn’t my answer. And I was relieved by that, not wanting to leave this world yet; there was so much life to live if only I could find a way for us all to claim it. As my mind slipped that way, I fought to hold back the visions, but my energy waned and I fell into the future the stars offered me.

I saw an island of land floating in the ocean and my heart clenched with need as I saw the faces of the people I adored. They were still alive, exhaustion in their eyes, but determination too. Fate wheeled left and right, changing before my eyes so I couldn’t perceive their location or the direction they were taking, and I thanked the fucking stars that they were acting at random. They could be anywhere in the oceans of the world, and I couldn’t find them, so long as they didn’t make any mistakes, any solid plans.

They were safe, for now.

My mind skipped onto Orion and though his fate was somewhat shrouded in shadow because of Lavinia, I felt his pain and saw the lacerations on his body as he lay in a cage in the throne room. I could feel the fight in him and knew my friend could withstand the torture he was being subjected to, but with each passing day that slipped by in my mind’s eye, he grew emptier, colder. It seemed Lavinia was attacking some part of him that was deeper than his flesh, and anxiety burned through my veins as I watched him beginning to fade. His determination turning to acceptance, then to numbness then finally…nothing. He was carved out from the inside, the fire of his being dulled down to barely more than a flickering flame, and I couldn’t see a way back from it.

“Brother,” I sighed, desperate to reach him through the fabric of the present and the future, to give him the hope I saw fading out of existence in his eyes.

I turned my gaze to Darcy as I had many times before, but only darkness was offered. Nothing had changed. Whatever had happened to her was something steeped in shadow, something I was unable to see an answer to. And maybe that was a blessing in disguise.

A hand slid tight around my throat and a needle stuck in my neck before something icily cold plunged into my veins. I jerked back into the present moment, finding Vard before me, pocketing the syringe he’d just injected me with and releasing me.

“Hello, Seer,” he said, and my gaze was drawn to his left eye socket, which was empty thanks to Geraldine.

“Get on with it,” Lionel’s sharp tone sounded beyond him, but Vard took up my entire view, from the grisly black hair that hung lankly down to his shoulders, to the hungry smirk on his lips that made me feel like fresh meat before a wolf. But I was no meal for him to devour, I’d fight with what strength I had left, though even as I thought it, exhaustion swept through me, diving ever deeper.

“What have you given me?” I demanded, but I suddenly realised what it was as I lost my connection to my Harpy Order.

“Just a little Order suppressant,” Vard said.

“I can’t go much longer without recharging my magic,” I said breathlessly, my muscles shaking from the exertion of using my Sight for such a prolonged time. I needed to lay in a sunrise and let my power replenish, I needed sleep to let my mind rest from all it had perceived. It was too much. It was going to kill me if this didn’t stop soon.

“Do it,” Lionel commanded, ignoring my words, and Vard’s empty eye socket slid towards his other eye, the two meeting in the middle and merging into one large orb at the centre of his face. Though there was damage to it on the side where he’d lost his shadow eye. It was bloodshot and filled with ugly red and blue veins that seemed to cause him discomfort as he blinked.

He reached for me, his palm pressing to the centre of my forehead, and I forced a mental block up against him on instinct, but it was a brittle thing now, already subjected to so many attempts to break it that I realised my time was up.

I held on for as long as I could, the rush of his power crashing against my mental shields, a roar leaving me as I gave every last scrap of energy in my body to this one task. It was no good though. Like water bursting through a dam, my walls came tumbling down and Vard got into my head, his power sweeping through me greedily and a grunt of satisfaction leaving him as he took charge of my thoughts.

I tried to hide any visions that contained those I loved, but he was ready for me, latching onto them every time I made those attempts and forcing them to the forefront of my mind. I watched in horror as he took them, stealing them into his own mind and muttering, “Yes, yes, yes,” as he kept taking everything I had foreseen, sucking it into him like some horrid vacuum hollowing out my head.

“Stop,” I snarled, fighting against my restraints, but there was nothing I could do. Nausea fell over me and I started to tremble in the grasp of his power as he took and took and took.

“Finally,” Lionel said in relief, his eager voice closer than before. “Take everything, Vard. Leave no vision behind.”

“But it could kill him, sire. He is already waning,” Vard said just as a seizure took over me, my limbs going rigid and shockwaves of pain exploding through my limbs.

“I said take it all,” Lionel snapped. “If you kill him, I will tear out your liver and feed it to you. Is that motivation enough?”

“Y-yes, sire,” Vard stammered in fear, his power pressing deeper into my head.

I felt death coming with him, starlight glimmering in my periphery. All I had to do was turn into it and I could step beyond the Veil. I was losing consciousness fast, that starlight brightening and the whispers of the celestial beings who ruled me drawing nearer.

Take heart, son of fate.

The stars’ voice was gifted to me along with a sliver of strength that I latched onto with the last of my energy, not knowing why they cared to offer me anything at all now. But I wasn’t going to question it when I hovered on the brink of death.

Somewhere between the pain and the dark, I found life again. My eyes cracked open, and I had no idea how much time had passed, only that Vard was now on his knees, his bulging Cyclops eye wide and his mouth agape as he watched my visions play out for him. Lionel’s hand was on my shoulder, healing magic rushing from him into me and despite desperately needing it, I flinched away from him with a curse.

“Can you see the rebels’ location?” Lionel asked eagerly.

“They are on an island, sire,” Vard said excitedly. “But…oh.”

“What is it?” Lionel hissed.

“They are moving at random, sending the island this way and that to evade prediction,” Vard said, flinching in preparation of a strike that didn’t come. “Perhaps Gabriel will perceive more in time though.”

Lionel clucked his tongue, moving to stand in front of me and gazing coldly down at me. “Well I can’t have you go mad, Gabriel. So I have an opportunity for you this morning. The sun is due to rise in just under an hour. Fortunately, that is the exact time I have planned a celebration for the press.”

“No,” I gasped as I saw what he meant.

“Yes.” His lips curled up cruelly. “Some of the rebels we captured have been quite useless to the crown. Their minds held very few helpful memories, and as traitors, there are only two fates left for them. The more promising subjects have been selected for a special…project we are undertaking. I will have you brought to the amphitheatre for the executions of the rest as a thank you for your service to your king.” He turned away from me, grabbing Vard’s shoulder and dragging him out of the room, the door snapping shut behind them.

My head dropped forward, my breaths coming heavily and my heart weighing down my chest. I’d failed everyone. Perhaps I should have killed myself before Lionel took me, because if they could find a way to wield my visions against my family, I was the reason they might find themselves in early graves.

I released a bellow of anguish, my muscles bulging against my restraints as murder sang my name. If only I could see a way to killing that monstrous fucking Dragon. If only the stars would give me an answer that would see him dead before he could rip that same vision from my head and learn of his demise in time for him to stop me.

“Give me a chance. I’ll die for it if I have to. One fucking chance,” I demanded of the stars, but they were deathly quiet.

The door opened again, and two large Dragon Shifters ducked through it in their Fae forms, moving to untie me and drag me along. I didn’t bother to try and fight them, too weak to do anything but let them pull me through the luxurious corridors of the palace until eventually we stepped outside.

The sky was paling with the oncoming dawn, and I looked up at the stars as they began to fade from the night sky, watching quietly from their nest of darkness. I’d once been told that the stars were unbiased, that they only punished us if we invoked their wrath, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that I’d done to deserve this. The only comfort I had was that there had been times in my life where things had seemed incredibly hopeless, and somehow the stars had offered me light in the end. Were there still paths before me that could offer us salvation? Or was I on the final road available to me, all lights around me flickering out until I was left in obscurity?

I was taken to the amphitheatre, its high, curving stone walls towering above me through the gloom before I was hauled through a wooden door at its base.

The cold swept over me, the air damp and the way forward lit with fiery torches on the walls. Somewhere beyond the dank passage I was in, prisoners were screaming and praying to the stars, the sound of our approach rousing them. My heart tripled its pace as we passed a corridor and I caught a glimpse of rebels locked in cells, cuffed hands reaching through the bars and wild, fearful eyes meeting mine. But I had nothing to offer them, no safe haven to give.

“Where is my wife?” a man screamed in demand. “Her name is Mary! They took her – where did they take her?”

A flash of bright lights and wicked magic speared through my mind, a woman tied to a table, begging for mercy. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, bile coating my tongue in its wake and my limbs trembling as the vision faded. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I was taken up a flight of stone steps, then out into the wide ring of sand at the centre of the amphitheatre, stone seats circling up around it.

The Dragons dragged me over to a cage of night iron at one side of the ring, unlocking it and pushing me inside. My legs gave out and I fell to the ground as the door clanged shut behind me, and they left me there alone.

The bed of sand beneath me was so soft, and the days of being kept awake to weaken my mind fell upon me all at once. I crashed into sleep, letting it guide me away on silver wings, so familiar to me that I wanted to curl up in their silken feathers forever.

“I love you, Gabriel. You’re my little star, my guiding light.”

The words felt like a long-forgotten memory stirring from the recesses of my mind, and they gave me the comfort of a boy in the arms of a loving Fae, because some part of me knew who they belonged to. My mother.

Blood.

Just as the dawn had arrived, the Nymphs had drained the rebels dry. Eight of them in total. Men and women, courageous Fae who had died to the cheers of a crowd and a press team recording every minute of it, live streaming it to drive fear into the hearts of anyone in the kingdom who might dare go against their king.

The rebels had been made to suffer, forced to fight the Nymphs hand to hand, and some of their limbs had been ripped off before they were given the reprieve of death. Their magic had been stolen by the Nymphs, the huge creatures fighting to claim the hearts of the strongest Fae among them, and I’d winced away from the final moments of the bloodbath.

I’d had to watch it all from the cage at the ring’s edge, and the smug looks Lionel threw my way told me he was enjoying making me watch.

There was only a small measure of relief in the feeling of sanity that had been returned to me because of the newly risen sun, magic swelling in my chest at last. It wasn’t like it was much good to me with the cuffs on my wrists, but it drove back the madness in my mind and let me think more clearly again.

Lionel sat up straight on his throne with Lavinia at his side, several large Dragon Shifters around him with magic flickering threateningly in their palms. Mildred was among them, wearing a silver breast plate, her chin tilted up and her undercut jaw grinding threateningly. Lionel wasn’t taking any chances anymore, and I had no doubt he was sitting within a firm air shield, and plenty of other defensive spells too.

The crowd applauded as the Nymphs finished their squabbling and started dragging the bodies away into the underground chambers of the amphitheatre, leaving bloody trails behind them in the sand.

Lionel got to his feet, brushing his fingers over his throat to cast an amplifying spell before he spoke.

“Our victory runs deep. Today, we continue our celebrations while the last remnants of the enemy rebels run scared into the wilds. But rest assured, I, your mighty king, will hunt them down. I shall not sleep until every last insurgent is crushed and Solaria is safe once more. And to ensure the protection of the people from the traitors who remain at large, I am passing a new law. The rebels are comprised of the lesser Orders in the most part, from Pegasuses to Minotaurs, Tiberian Rats, Sphinxes, Heptian Toads, Experian Deer Shifters and many others. It is my duty to restrict their power until the threat of the insurgents can be eradicated. So, any Fae under the classification of a lesser Order will now require a permit to shift or use their Order gifts in public. Any lesser Fae found using their Order forms aggressively will be arrested without question.”

A knot of horror formed in my chest at him using the rebels as an excuse to control more Fae, to strip away the rights of people he saw as less than him. It made me sick. And he was a fucking liar too because the rebels were made up of every kind of Order, and they were all willing to die to secure each other’s rights.

“All hail the King!” Lavinia cried, rising to her feet and hugging Lionel’s arm as her words were echoed in a fierce roar around the amphitheatre.

Lionel and his entourage slipped away through a door behind his throne and magic sparked against it as it shut, a telling sign that no one could follow.

The rest of the crowd started to leave, filing out of the stadium, some jeering me as they walked by, while others refused to meet my eye. A pale faced toddler met my gaze as his mother carried him in her arms, and my jaw ground at the idea of bringing a child to such a bloody event. I missed my own child with all I was and knew I could never subject him to the atrocities I’d witnessed here today.

It was a relief when the crowd was gone, the silence a blessing after so long stuck in the Royal Seer’s Chamber, forced to endure more visions than I ever had at once. When I was that deep in The Sight, sometimes it didn’t feel like I was me anymore. I was just a vessel for the stars to channel their perpetual plans, the possibilities of fate cycling through my mind, a thousand mysteries for me to decipher.

The responsibility of it all left me drained. I knew I might be holding vital answers, potential paths that could help my sisters win this war. The task of figuring out which roads could lead them to an advantage rested firmly on my shoulders. But right now, all I wanted to do was close my eyes and never have another vision again.

I rested my forehead against the bars, my hands curling around them as I bathed in the silence, certain it wouldn’t last much longer. I didn’t need my gifts to predict that Lionel was not even close to done with torturing me for visions he could use against my family and Solaria as a whole.

I blinked my eyes open at the sound of approaching footsteps, finding Orion being led across the sand by two large men in navy robes, his hands cuffed and a collar of shadow around his neck, but there was a look of relief in his gaze as he spotted me. He wore a tight white t-shirt with the symbol of a jade green Dragon on his chest, the words ‘Just a Guy Who Loves His Dragon King’ arching over it.

One of the men unlocked my cage, swinging the door wide before promptly turning away, heading back through a heavy metal door, and locking it tight behind them, leaving us alone. I glanced around in confusion, calling upon The Sight despite how wrecked my mind still felt, but when I sensed no danger, I rushed forward and wrapped my Nebula Ally in my arms.

He clasped me tight, a weighted sigh leaving him. “Hey Noxy.”

“By the stars, Orio, are you alright?” I asked, drawing back but keeping hold of his shoulders as I searched his expression.

The Sight slammed into me, and I winced as I saw him bloody and bruised, laying on the stone floor of a cage, a vision that had plagued me since I’d arrived at the palace. I couldn’t see anything more than that for him, not even who caused it, which led me to draw the conclusion that Lavinia was responsible.

“Well, I’m wearing this cunt of a t-shirt and it’s not even the right size. So I’d say I’ve seen better days,” he said, clasping my arm as he frowned. “What hell are they offering you?”

“They want my visions, of course,” I muttered. “They’ve taken all I’ve seen. I held up my mental shields for as long as I could, but I…” I dropped my gaze as guilt stole through me and Orion gripped my arm tighter.

“You did all you could.”

A lump rose in my throat as I nodded vaguely, knowing that was true, but it did nothing to ease the pressure in my chest. I looked around at the high walls surrounding the sandy ring, and when I looked to the future to see if we could escape that way, I saw us being captured by the Dragon guards posted in the grounds. I didn’t have access to my Order thanks to Vard injecting me with Order suppressant, so I couldn’t fly us out.

A vision snapped through my mind of Orion biting my wrist and my brows lifted.

“You’re here to feed on me,” I said in realisation.

“It must be more than that…” He glanced around the blood-stained ground, the quiet all too pressing.

I called on my gifts again and took a step back as I sensed the truth in what I saw. “Lionel believes I might perceive more of your fate, to see whether you have some plot against him while you’re here, or any plans you may have to escape that he can thwart.”

Orion’s shoulders dropped. “Well, I guess this is my lucky day,” he said dryly. “I have neither.” His eyes sparked in realisation of something, and he looked to me in shock. “Wait, you don’t know that Darcy is here, do you? You can’t see her.”

“She’s here?” I gasped, lurching closer to him. “What’s happened to her?”

Orion’s face became grave and he started to recount the curse and how the Shadow Beast had taken possession of my sister in the battle, turning the tide against us by forcing her to fight against her own people. It killed me to know Darcy had gone through that, and now Orion was offering himself as a sacrifice to save her from this atrocious fate.

“I’ll stay here until the three moon cycles are up,” he finished darkly. “I have no plan except that, but with every passing day, I fear the Shadow Beast lays a deeper claim on her. On her magic too.”

I turned my Sight towards my sister’s future, but there was nothing I could grasp. It was murky, draped in shadow. If there was any chance of her coming through the other side of it, then I was useless to predict it.

“Thank you,” I said thickly. “For doing this for her. Though I wish there was another way.”

“Me too, brother,” he said, and a cold wind swept around us as we stood together, shackled to the darkest of destinies.

“I’m so sorry about Darius,” I said. The moment I’d seen the truth, my heart had broken for Tory, and sadness had engulfed me.

Orion’s features flinched in pain, and he nodded sadly, saying nothing, though his desolate expression said everything.

“Have you seen the others? Are they safe?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ve seen them. They’re together, though thankfully I can’t see the direction they’re taking or their plans. My family are well versed in how to avoid me predicting their moves when they want to, so I hope they’re teaching all the rebels to keep every decision random.”

“Leon will be great at that,” Orion said, cracking half a smile and I mirrored him, releasing a breath of amusement.

“He’ll be driving everyone mad with his acts of randomness,” I said.

“He’ll take it way too far,” Orion agreed, and my chest lightened a little.

“Let’s hope they all have a plan to strike at Lionel that I will never see coming. I would dearly love to be surprised by the sight of his head suddenly exploding, or a spear puncturing his chest.”

A door opened on the other side of the amphitheatre and Lionel appeared in all his finery, his jade green robes sweeping around his body as he strode towards us, head held high and a gleaming golden sword at his hip.

Vard scampered along in his wake and three huge Dragon Shifters in their Fae forms walked at his back, towering over him and casting long shadows in the morning sun.

My spine straightened and Orion moved to stand at my side defensively, though without our magic we were pretty much fucked if things turned nasty.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Lionel asked smugly as he came to stand in front of us.

Neither of us answered and he regarded us coldly.

“Well then, I shall cut straight to the point. Lance, I have your mate just beyond those doors, chained and at my mercy.” Lionel pointed to the tall wooden doors at the far end of the arena.

Orion strode forward in a threatening stance and Lionel’s hand whipped out, slamming into the centre of his chest to stop him in his tracks.

“Let her go,” Orion snarled, his fangs bared in warning.

“One more move, and I’ll give the order for her to be killed.” Lionel sneered. “And I’ll make sure she’s back in her Fae form, naked and begging on her knees before she dies at my hand. Lavinia is not here to stop me this time.”

The words made him snap, and Orion threw himself at Lionel with a growl tearing from his throat and a bid for murder in his eyes. He hit an air shield and in the next second Lionel drew his sword, the morning light catching on the gold before he slammed it through the centre of my friend’s chest.

I shouted out in terror, lurching forward to catch Orion as Lionel yanked the blade back out, leaving a gaping, bloody hole behind it.

“By the stars,” Lionel exhaled. “I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time.”

Blood spilled from Orion’s mouth, his knees hitting the sand and the weight of him taking me down with him. He fell onto his back across my knees, and I clasped the wound on his chest, desperate for the magic in my veins that I couldn’t harness.

“Hold on,” I gasped in panic, fear and pain blossoming through me unbearably fast.

“Free. Her,” he managed to say, his eyes blazing at me in a furious demand for me to agree. I was already nodding, feeling this goodbye coming upon me too quick, the shock of it leaving me raw. His eyes turned to the sky and stars glittered within them as they claimed his soul, stealing him away from me before I’d even had a chance to say goodbye…

I blinked and the vision faded, finding Orion in front of me again, solidly there, still alive.

“Fuck,” I breathed, fearful of the vision I’d just witnessed.

“What?” he asked, just as the door opened at the end of the amphitheatre and Lionel appeared with his jade green robes sweeping around his body as he strode towards us, that gleaming gold sword at his hip a promise of what was to come if I couldn’t change the hand of fate.

“Do as I say, unless you wish to die here and now,” I hissed at my friend, and he nodded quickly, trusting my visions and my ability to change what I had seen.

Vard hurried along in Lionel’s wake and three Dragon Shifters walked at his back.

My spine straightened and Orion moved to stand at my side defensively, just like I’d seen him do before.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Lionel asked smugly as he came to stand in front of us.

Neither of us answered and he regarded us coldly.

“Well then, I shall cut straight to the point. Lance, I have your mate just beyond those doors, chained and at my mercy.” Lionel pointed to the tall wooden doors at the far end of the pit of sand and I readied myself for what was to come.

Orion strode forward in a threatening stance and Lionel’s hand whipped out, slamming into the centre of his chest to stop him in his tracks.

“Let her go,” he snarled, his fangs glinting.

“One more move, and I’ll give the order for her to be killed.” Lionel sneered. “And I’ll make sure she’s back in her Fae form, naked and begging on her knees before she dies at my hand. Lavinia is not here to stop me this time.”

“Orio, stand down,” I barked, grabbing his arm to draw him away and his muscles tightened as he held himself back from his impulse to attack. He glanced around at me, and I gave him a firm look that spoke of the terrible fate that awaited him if he didn’t listen.

He retreated, returning to my side, his fingers flexing as he ached for magic and a kill that neither of us were going to get today.

“Good boy,” Lionel said mockingly, fate shifting and a breath of relief escaping me as Orion’s future spilled out ahead of him once more, no longer cut short here and now.

Lionel snapped his fingers and a pair of high wooden doors groaned as they opened at the far end of the arena. A beast of shadow was dragged out of it by chains around its throat, four Nymphs hauling it onto the sand as it fought to get free of them.

Orion lurched forward, shouting my sister’s name and sending my heart into a riot as I realised this was the monstrous creature she was bound to, that this monster was her. This was her curse, and it was a terrifying thing to behold.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just let her go,” Orion begged in earnest, catching on to the threat in the air.

“First of all, I want you to kneel for me,” Lionel said slowly, savouring the power he held over us all as he gestured to the ground at his feet.

Orion’s muscles bunched but I gave him a look that told him to get fucking moving and he didn’t hesitate any longer, dropping down on his knees before Lionel.

Darcy roared, thrashing against her restraints and I met her gaze, finding her soul right there in the beast’s eyes. She was present, not lost to the Shadow Beast as Orion had described during the battle. Maybe she could fight this yet.

I gave her a look, trying to convey that I would do everything in my power to protect her and her mate, and I stepped closer behind Orion.

“You will sift through his fates, Gabriel,” Lionel instructed. “And Vard will syphon your visions from you while you do so. You will leave no stone unturned; I wish to see every fate in his future.”

Orion shuddered and I took a moment to see what might happen if I refused, finding myself holding a bleeding, dying Orion once more and deciding there was no other option but for me to do this.

“I’m sorry, Orio,” I murmured, and he let his head hang forward, ready for me to do what I had to. Vard hurried forward, slicking his tongue across his lips like this was whetting his appetite.

The Cyclops touched the back of my head and I shut my eyes, praying I wasn’t going to find anything in Orion’s mind that could give Lionel more ammo for his war.

The first thing I felt were my friend’s mental shields but they began to bend, allowing me in. But before I could begin to see into his future, a bubble of thought slipped into my vision. Its edges were almost undetectable, and I quickly created a path through my own mind that Vard’s Cyclops Invasion could not touch. It was delicate, complex shielding, and I had to focus hard to keep it separate from him. Carefully, I let part of my mind slip into that thought, keeping the rest of it from Vard’s clutches.

“If I see anything that can help us, I’ll place it here and keep it from Vard,” I spoke to Orion through the connection of our minds.

The pressure of casting such complicated magic was high, and I wasn’t sure I could manage it only that Orion and I already had a close connection which would help us work together in this.

“Get on with It,” Vard snarled impatiently.

I let the first vision rush in, seeing Orion in agony after some terrible torture as I had countless times since I’d arrived in the palace. I let Vard have that, grimacing at the awful knowledge of what Orion had been going through and was still yet to suffer through. The next visions were much the same, but many futures were wrapped in darkness, impossible for me to see at all. Then, among the pain, the cold, hard floor of the throne room and the torment my Nebula Ally had to endure, a glint of something different caught my mind’s eye, and like a cat before a shard of light, I leapt towards it.

I continued to feed Vard the images of blood and terror while carving this other vision out and feeling Orion’s mind shielding it too, offering it extra protection from the hungry Cyclops at my back.

When it was safe within a pocket in my head, I let it play out, watching as Orion slipped into the walls of the palace and delved deep, deep down beneath it through a secret passage. At its end was a bright silver door with a huge coat of arms at its centre, the Vega crest twinkling with age old magic.

I saw Orion beyond that door, and inside were countless treasures, a long-forgotten throne, and answers to something I couldn’t fathom but which was endlessly important. The lasting moments in the visions showed Orion with a book in his hands, the cover woven from bronze feathers, and the look of hope in his eyes gave me more hope than I’d had in weeks. When this moment arose, I could sense the time he would have to find his way in and out of that mysterious place before anyone came searching for him. Hours. Three at least.

I focused hard and passed the vision to Orion, the grip of his mind taking it from me while I worked to pass Vard more visions of my Nebula Ally beaten and bloody. I could see his anticipation over getting into those tunnels, his desire to find me and break me free.

“You cannot free me this way. The tunnels do not lead to me.”

I sent those words through to him as a vision of their own, then released my grip on his mind and stepped backwards with a jerk, knocking into Vard, sending him crashing onto the sand with a curse.

“My bad. I didn’t see you there,” I muttered.

“Very funny,” he spat, shoving to his feet while Lionel looked to him impatiently.

“Well?” he demanded.

“Nothing, sire,” Vard snivelled, brushing sand from his knees. “Lance Orion’s future holds only suffering.”

“Good.” Lionel stepped forward, clapping Orion mockingly on the cheek. “Let me tell you this, Lance…the moment Lavinia leaves an opening for me to kill the Vega girl, I will execute her so viciously that you will beg me to kill you after. And I will grant that request, do you hear me?” He raised a finger, pressing it to Orion’s heart and my friend snarled as Lionel scored a target there with fire, singing a hole in his t-shirt and leaving a reddened burn in his wake.

“Yeah, I hear what you’re saying loud and clear,” Orion said. “You’re Lavinia’s little bitch.”

“How dare you speak to me that way?” Lionel hissed, raising a hand to strike him with magic, and a vision of death crossed my eyes that had me momentarily bound in terror.

“What are you doing, Daddy?” Lavinia came flying down over the high walls of the amphitheatre on a cloud of darkness, descending from the sky and drawing Lionel’s attention to her as she came to hover beside him. He jerked away from her, and my muscles tensed with the instinct to fight. “You’re not playing with my toys without me, are you?”

She landed in front of Orion, cocking her head to one side, and caressing his arm like she was petting him. He remained in place, but his muscles went rigid, and a growl rolled from my throat in response, drawing her death-black eyes to me.

“Hello, little Seer. Are you jealous of the attention your pretty friend is getting? I can always make room for you in my playroom too.” She reached for me, but Lionel lunged forward, yanking me to his side possessively.

“Take Lance. Do what you want with him. I have work to attend to.” Lionel tossed me into the arms of his Dragon guards.

I looked back at Orion in fear as Lavinia lashed a whip of shadow to the collar at his throat, then to Darcy in the form of the Shadow Beast as she continued to fight against her restraints.

Vard scampered after us and the Dragons forced me towards the exit. As I was hauled away from Darcy and Orion, I held onto the knowledge that I’d given my friend a vision that could hopefully be of some help, though how he would have a chance to get into those passages, I couldn’t yet see. But perhaps that meant Darcy held the answers, for her fate was shrouded in shadow, and maybe this time, that darkness in her would let in some light.

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