The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (58 page)

Beside Valentine stood Cyrus, his body stiff as a corpse, with the string of an eidolorbe wound around his one organic arm. The chain that ringed his neck dragged across the floor to the other side of the room, where it was held by the Angel Nestor himself, concealed from the balcony behind a purple curtain. His great white wings shuddered with agitation as he watched Valentine manipulate the dead king into making his speech. The Angel’s long and terrifyingly beautiful face displayed only the most delicate hint of discontent, his eyes narrowed to slits. Annette caught sight of them and made a small choking noise, backing up into Simon. Nestor’s head shimmered to the side, his white hair stained by the blue light from the balcony.

“It can’t be―” Nestor’s voice was musical, dangerous, and astonished.

Valentine turned to identify the interruption and stopped speaking at once, the silver bowl slipping from her hands and crashing to the floor.

“Seival’s hands…” Nestor’s eyes widened, looking like two moons in the shadowy room as he beheld Hector for a moment. All at once he rushed forward, his white arms outstretched.

Knowing he had no chance of teleporting them to safety with Simon’s magic so depleted, Hector grabbed his companions by each of their shoulders and threw them out of the way. A confused murmur spread through the crowd below as the king failed to resume his speech. Hector helped Annette and Simon to their feet as Nestor struggled to regain his footing. The Angel’s movements were sluggish, his expression belabored.

“Get them!” Nestor commanded Valentine as his wings shook with rage, sending a shower of feathers through the air. “Don’t let them be seen!”

With blazing eyes Valentine leapt over the mess of the broken bowl and threw herself at Annette, sending them tumbling to the ground. Nestor yanked the chain at his feet and Cyrus shook into his unnatural movements and lunged for Simon. His ghastly white face and dead eye remained still, even as he caught Simon around the shoulders and held his metallic, clawed arm against Simon’s throat, the sharp fingers drawing pinpoints of blood. Hector scrambled past and attempted to pull in what remained of Simon’s magic, but the meager amount was not even enough to conjure up a spark. Before he could try anything more, Nestor was there, holding out his stony arm in an attempt to catch Hector by the front of his shirt. Seeing his last chance for survival, Hector made a mad dash for the balcony.

Annette and Valentine continued to struggle on the floor, spitting insults, pulling hair and scratching at each other’s faces. Simon cheered for Annette as he struggled under Cyrus’s metallic grip. Nestor tossed the chain aside and trailed after Hector.

“
Stop!
” the Angel commanded in a voice that held the same force as Annette’s when she evoked her power of persuasion.

Hector’s limbs slowed as the Angelic power washed over him, but as he struggled against it feeling came rushing back in an instant.
He’s tired
, Hector realized.
He doesn’t have enough strength.

He sprinted past the purple curtains, hoping that Argent or Penny were still in the crowd somewhere. His mind focused on getting to Penny; if he could reach her, he would be able to perform magic once more and maybe save all of their lives.

Hector burst onto the balcony and a collective gasp rose from the crowd. He did not stop running until he was past the body of the king, swiveling around just in time to see Nestor throw back the purple curtains and step out onto the balcony behind Hector, his lips thin and his face as white as snow.

Screams of both confusion and joy erupted from the goblins in the crowd at the sight of their deity. Hector backed up until he felt the stone railing and leafy vines that clung to it against his back, and gripped it for support as Nestor advanced. The Angel caught Hector by the folds of his shirt and the crowd below burst into a cacophony of mixed sounds, crying out as Hector was lifted into the air.

“How dare you interfere, Nelvirnee scum? I thought I had eradicated the last of your people, but I suppose a few insects will always slip through the cracks,” Nestor hissed as Hector kicked out in midair. Nestor dropped him and with a harsh jerk of his foot flipped Hector onto his back. He laid his foot on the center of Hector’s heaving chest.

The Angel’s hair and wings created a misty, ethereal glow around him in the night. Nestor’s eyes remained fixed on Hector’s hands as a calculating smile curled his lips.

T
he crowd had gone into a fit. The rangers tried to quell the disaster, but many of the goblins could not be controlled.

From only a few hundred feet away, Penny beheld the scene in stark, helpless horror, clutching herself around the shoulders. When Hector had burst onto the balcony she had not dared to believe her eyes, but now that the shock had worn off and she saw Nestor bearing down on him, something changed within her.

All reason drained from her mind, and a deep sense of instinct took over. Penny shot through the crowd, elbowing and shoving people out of the way, dipping and ducking when she could not bully her way through. Though her body felt heavy and wracked with pain, she would not stop. Emerging from the writhing mass of goblins, she caught sight of the vines that draped down from the balcony and over the street. Not bothering to look for a better solution, Penny scaled the fence below the vines, kicking back at the rangers who snatched at her ankles.

With a shaky spring upward, Penny leapt up and latched on to the low hanging vines. She held on for dear life, her crushed hand howling with pain. As soon as she gripped the plants she felt herself slipping, but it took one look at the spiked fence beneath her to get her climbing up with all her might. The rangers below her waved swords and spears in her direction as she threw one hand over the other in a desperate attempt to reach the top. A few of them tried to climb after her, but she fought them back with a few well-timed kicks. When her shivering hands touched the stone of the balcony, a second wind filled her shaking limbs and she dragged herself up and over the railing in one clumsy motion, tripping head over heels as she landed on the platform. Nestor looked up as Penny scrambled to her feet.

“D-don’t―you―dare!” Penny screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at the Angel.

Eyes glued to Penny, Nestor took his foot off Hector’s chest and stepped toward her. “You…it
is
you…” he hissed, his eyes wide with shock.

“Th-that’s right!” Penny swallowed, taking a step backward. “It
is
me! You thought I was dead, didn’t you? Guess you’re not as smart as you think you are,” she taunted, sounding leagues braver than she felt. Though her face displayed a defiant sneer, inwardly she was moments away from fainting due to sheer terror.

“Penelope,
no
! Get to safety!” Hector yelled as he attempted to get back to his feet, but Nestor turned and swatted him away, his palm connecting with Hector’s nose. His glasses were knocked askew and a stream of blood spurted from his nostrils as Hector fell back.

“
Don’t…move
….” Nestor ordered with obvious strain, and Hector froze on the ground, his eyes horrified. Hector looked to be fighting against the command, but could not overcome it. Nestor turned back, facing Penny with a deep, seething anger that made her heart thump an irregular beat.

A flash of color distracted both of them, and Penny turned to see Annette streaking out from the back room, her face sporting a nasty bruise and a few scrapes. She threw herself at the railing and took a deep breath, then bellowed at the crowd below, “RUN AWAY, ALL OF YOU!”

It took mere seconds for the hordes below to stop their various movements, turn around, and stampede in the opposite direction.

Valentine burst from the room beyond and ran forward, grabbed a thick handful of Annette’s hair and attempted to throw her to the ground. Annette struggled, kneeing her in the ribs. Valentine stumbled back toward the railing, gasping for air and glaring at Annette, one of her fingernails broken as blood dripped from the side of her face.

“You loathsome
brat!
You think you’ve won just by sending them away? You think it’s over? You think that I’m just going to―wah―aggh!” Valentine’s eyes grew wide as her back hit the railing too fast and she toppled over.

Annette rushed forward and caught Valentine by her ankles. “Valentine! Hold on, I’ve got you!” Annette yelled, straining to hold her.

“Lord Nestor―please―help me!” Valentine begged as her ankles slipped from Annette’s weak grip. Annette groaned as her strength gave out and Valentine fell from her grasp.

Nestor turned, listening to Valentine’s piercing scream cutting through the night until it was silenced by a telltale crunch. Annette turned white and froze, unable to look over the railing.

No longer interested in Valentine’s demise, Nestor turned back to Penny and advanced like a serpent preparing to strike. She rushed into the palace, Nestor following and gaining on her. As she plunged into the darkness of the room beyond, she was shocked to come face to face with Simon who, though restrained by Cyrus, was attempting to get his wand from out of his pocket. He looked up in surprise as Penny shot by, their eyes connecting for a split second. He yelled her name as she continued on through a door, but she did not stop.

Penny glanced back as she bolted through another door to see if Nestor was still behind her, failing to notice the staircase in the middle of the room. Her stomach did a flip as she went careening forward through the air and rolled down the flight of stairs, the granite rattling her bones until she came to a violent crash at the bottom. She gritted her teeth through the unrelenting pulses of pain and attempted to stand just as the noise of wind on feathers whooshed above her head. With a flutter Nestor landed before her. Penny blinked her watering eyes to behold the irate Angel.

“It truly is you. Penelope Fairfax…I thought I might have been mistaken, that day you stumbled into my chamber. I was under the impression you were dead. But it appears you have somehow outsmarted me, and for that I applaud you―and I must admit, meeting you again after all these years is a touch exhilarating,” Nestor said, sounding almost cheerful.

Penny discovered she could not contend with the pain of trying to move. Nestor smiled and to her great terror took a seat on the step beside her. His huge wings folded behind his back as he stared at Penny.

“I’m sure you’ve wondered―it
was
indeed me on that night so many years ago. I had found you after searching for so long and I would’ve succeeded in abducting you, as I had originally planned, if Adrielle hadn’t been so keen on meddling in my affairs. It took years and years to figure out how to remove that seal she put on you―it was a genius bit of magic on her part, really…hiding you away so I could never find you.” He reached out and cupped her face. She shuddered at the contact and gasped, her entire body aching with the strain of breathing.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? To everyone? I thought you were supposed to be a…a
guardian
of life. Why would you―?” Penny breathed, but stopped when she saw the look of utter shock on Nestor’s face. His lips parted as he looked at her.

“You mean to say that…you don’t know? Adrielle told you nothing?” Nestor’s moon-like eyes shone into her and he laughed, an eerie, hollow sound. “You’ve no idea what this is about? Oh, poor creature―you have been playing with things far beyond your comprehension. I must confess, I did not expect this at all. This changes things quite a bit,” he said, more to himself

Penny stared at him, bewildered.

“You must know that I never meant you harm personally, no. It was all because of my stubborn siblings…come now, I will heal your wounds.” Nestor leaned forward and put his fingers to Penny’s forehead. With a shudder and what seemed like a huge gust of wind, Penny felt the sharp pains leave her body. The bruises and cuts from her scrap with Phobos disappeared, along with the soreness from her fall. Though the pain had left, the heaviness and dizziness remained, weighing down on her more than ever. Penny stood and examined her body in disbelief, then noticed the plants on either side of the stairs. Moments ago they had been green and healthy, but now they were a crusty brown pile of wilted leaves.

Nestor put a hand on her shoulder. “Come and stop this foolishness now. I promise I will tell you everything as soon as I can. I’m sure you’ve been more than curious,” Nestor said, his face unfeeling. Penny was reminded of the wrought iron mask from her dream.