Chapter 9
Survive the Darkness
Survive the darkness…Has not my whole life been a journey through darkness with only the candle of hope to light my way?...Ah, wasteful contemplation. So much time consumed for this very moment…Will I….Can I succeed? Is that even humanly possible? Ah, but I must for there is no recourse. A raven on its flight faces many trials but at last finds home though it might cost him dearly...
Thinking. A simple process, one that eluded Magus this day.
Like an erratic storm gathering overhead, his thoughts wheeled about, making coherent reflection nigh on impossible. So many lost years in preparation, in the building hatred. So many nights spent with a book in his lap that his sleep-deprived eyes skimmed through, a hunger unquenchable even in the early morning hours. So much time that the sorcerer had begun to wonder, if only within the deepest recess of his soul, that this moment would never come to pass.
Yet today was the day. The day of Lavos.
Violet robes swirled about his ankles as the dark wizard stepped within the Earthbound compound. The sight of it did order his mind enough to sneer at the run-down inhabitation. Such an undignified crowd, thought Magus, as he eyed the skeletal citizens in their filthy rags and unkempt, dun-colored hair.
What a miserable hovel. He was a man of the world; he was use to much better. Still, those emotions were tinted more with anger than disgust. His magicless days had left a scar on the former prince. Or, more to the point, how the Enlightened teased and tormented him about it. "A Zealian prince with less magic than an Earthbound…" they'd mused. "Did you ever consider looking for an Earthbound with features as ugly as yours?"
The shadow sorcerer glowered, the old hurt haunting him. Few ever broached Magus about that these days. They wouldn't dare—not after the young prince had decked a rude Enlightened who'd said that too loudly. Still, the dark wizard could recall their whispered words, their furtive glances.
Neither Earthbound nor the Enlightened treated him with any respect. The former hated his statue as prince and his arrogance; the latter considered him a pariah, an insignificant aberration.
Oh, if Magus could vent his fury on all those who annoyed him, well, there'd be too few people in all of Zeal and the Terran Continent to keep the race going.
Focus, he chided himself. All that was in the past, almost literally. The sheer volume and diversity of his magic named him a master of the Art. His dictatorship had nearly encompassed Guardia, had not a whim of fate diverted him. With a single word he could make stone dust, burn whole villages and tear mountains down.
And all of that would be meaningless if he could not win this one battle now.
Two small Earthbound children tossed a crude ball about. Magus sidestepped them as if they didn't exist. He'd rarely engaged in 'play' as a child. That was not deemed proper for royalty and he'd no one but Schala to play with anyway. Schala was often whisked away by their mother for days at a time. Magus had thought that merely a part of her duties but took into account Queen Zeal's word about keeping them apart.
Queen had always deployed deception and that proved to be especially prevalent as Magus turned a corner to glance into the Elder's hut. It was with a little surprise that he witnessed Dalton seize his sister, utter his threat to the room's occupants, and vanish with her in a shaft of green light.
Fire raged in the sorcerer's head but he cooled it with a splash of common sense. Magus darted back into the antechamber of the cavern breathing down his anger. The duplicity was hardly a surprise. Clearly his mother did not trust him with task of nabbing her daughter. "Damn you, Ceres! Damn you to the Void!"
Hmmm, the Void…I've no doubt you're already headed there. Say hello to Jarl when you get there.
Pulling out his morbid thoughts, the blue-haired prophet prepared to return to Zeal. He halted as Janus stumbled out of the room, hindered by his over-sized robes. He too was furious but unlike his older self that anger was splayed upon his face. Not noticing a rock, the young prince fell, face-first, into the ground. Magus made no more to help him up. Not that the stubborn, proud Janus would accept a hand anyway.
You and I are too alike…But being the same person that would make sense.
"And where do you think you're going, Janus?"
"I'm a prince," he snapped, puffing himself up and trying to appear defiant. It was a useless gesture. "My business is my own." As a shadow darkened Magus's face he hurried on. "But if you really must now I was just going to ask Schala what's for breakfast."
"It's evening."
Janus winced. "Eh, dinner I mean."
Why do I enjoy tormenting myself so? Did he truly despise himself as to take pleasure in self-inflicted pain? Dismissing the thought, the prophet swept up the young prince in a single hand. "Don't you remember what we agreed to, prince?"
Janus struggled to loosen the grip. It only tightened. "I didn't agree to anything. You just read things the way you wanted to. Now let me go or I'll go complain to my mother!"
The dark wizard quoted back the discussion. "I remember it word for word. It's a gift really. I can see words if they are writing now in my mind." Now was that the truth he wondered or was it a memory from he was now…Or his younger self? Ah, time and her secrets!
"I also remember my words, prince. The spell of transmutation can not be easily erased. In fact, I might not be able to remove it at all…"
The caused Janus to gulp.
"Now run home," Magus said sweetly, releasing the boy. Janus did just that. Would the fool of a child listen? The dark wizard figured so. He'd diverted that particular current of time's river, placing stones in the path. Now came time to finish the damn, to change the flow of time altogether.
Two dark crimson eyes lifted to the moonlight seeping from the cracked ceiling.
He saw no sundial; knew no spells to tell time. Yet he felt the moment.
Magus did not warp out of the Earthbound cave. He would not waste the energy on such trivial things with the encounter with Lavos looming. If he hoped to fell the beast, the former prince would need every last reverse of magic. As if walking in a dream, Magus left the caves and out into the wintry terrain. Why the designers of the Sky Gates decided to build them so far from the Earthbound compound, and on the surface to boot, was beyond him.
Once inside, Magus wrung his hands to stave off the cold. Maybe he should have employed some magic for his return to the Zeal Islands. Sighing, the dark wizard stepped onto the blue disk. The transportation disorientation barely affected him now. The closer to the moment the dark wizard came, the farther he threaded from reality.
Before the self-professed prophet knew it, he had passed into the hallway to the Throne Room. The magically sealed door posed no problem to one possessing the pendant. As he entered, the light automatically burst to life for him. Empty of inhabitants. None lavished on the throne now.
No, likely they'd transported to the Ocean Palace already, as evidence by the sapphire portal shimmering in the middle of the room. Like a swimmer preparing for a dive, Magus took a deep breath. Then he took the plunge. Straight in. The sensations that surrounded him were no strangers to the dark wizard. Still, it was a reminder of his deadly mission.
After a moment of suspension, Magus emerged into a brightly-lit antechamber. Even the wonders of posh Zeal Palace could not compare to the sheer majesty of this place. If he considered the Kingdom of Zeal the sea then the Ocean Palace resembled a glacier. Cold. Beautiful. Deadly. Evil. Magus felt that evil seep up form the blue-and-red tiles into this heart.
Queen Zeal…You are a fool. Do you truly believe you can use Lavos to achieve immortality?
Of course, you can't spell immortality without mortality.
As Magus walked through the lavish halls, red lights gleamed in regular intervals like eyes over a campfire. Several pedestals marked each chamber and antechamber with aureate statues. He stepped among the dull brown tiles, wary of the glowing pits. Should the dark wizard lose him balance and fall the scorching matter might incinerate him…or do nothing at all. It was a not a curiosity he wished to take to task.
Red, blue, and yellow gargoyles perched on more pedestals. For any not deemed worthy of the rite of passage these demon-creatures would spring to life and make short work of trespassers. And if the pits and gargoyles didn't do the offender in, one could be sure the massive stone guardian would. Magus whistled, uncommon of him. His mother had been thorough.
Not thorough enough though. She missed one thing—him.
Apparently the congregation has passed on ahead, as Magus noted the use of the myriad elevators. He swept under a gold walkway and passed by another cluster of gargoyles. Like the others, they paid him no heed. Not that it would matter if they dared anyway. Magus was at the pinnacle of his power.
Again, that question fringed on his mind: would it be enough.
A highly inconvenient time to be worrying about that, he knew.
That was especially true considering the fact that the door to the Mammon Machine loomed before him. Magus tugged at the pendant, hoping to draw strength from it as he had in the past. For so long he'd slaved to have this one chance and here, now, the dark wizard could barely scrap together the courage to pass over that dreaded threshold.
Like a breath upon his cheek, the Black Wind…
Then there was laughter. His mother's laughter. Magus gritted his teeth and withdrew the pendant so that the light from its sapphire flashed on the archway. For him, the door opened. Head held high, Magus walked in, his purple robes rustling against like-color carpet. His mask was firmly in place—his face betrayed none of the trepidation inside.
Slowly, the sorcerer lifted his head, blue hair slipping from his hood. A representation of Lavos itself, the statue shimmered a thousand colors. Yet despite the way it burned his crimson eyes and pale skin Magus found himself unable to blink, much less turn away. If not for the queen's throaty inquiry he might have remained there, a statue himself.
"Beautiful, I know…" she was saying, "I'm pleased you've come to join us in this glorious moment…To witness the birth of Lavos…"
Lavos. That one word snapped the dark wizard back to reality. He glanced at his mother, her smile jubilant, malevolent. Before she could admonish him for the lack of decorum, or worse, Magus genuflected briefly. The queen nodded, pleased, and then started toward the Mammon Machine. His next comment halted her in her tracks, however.
"I have waited for this moment since I was eight years old."
Ignoring his mother's puzzled expression, the self-professed prophet rose and turned his attention to his sister. Magus could see the black circles under her eyes, stripped of her youthful vigor. As if his own eyes had weight, Schala glanced up. She frowned, her face saying a thousand words…
I forgive you…but I will never forget…
Magus forced his gaze elsewhere though that hurt worse than Masemune's blade. He'd cut through the web of lies Jarl had spun around him and had, quite literally, sent him to the Void. He'd ensured Janus' salvation, diverted the boy from the dark path he'd fallen into. He'd finally cultivated a business relationship with the queen so he could be able to face his lifelong enemy.
But he failed at the one task that truly mattered—bridging the gap to his sister. For though Schala might be a stone's throw away she might as well be on Woe Mountain. Jarl's deception burned away the delicate trust he'd fostered with her.
Stop! You cannot despair for Lavos will scent the weakness and destroy you. Save your sorrow for later; they'll be time enough for that.
Her eyes gleaming, drunk in the moment, the queen barked at her daughter, "Schala, raise the Mammon Machine to its limit!"
Hands trembling, Schala cast her gaze about for an exit. Her face drained of color when she realized there was none for her. At that moment, Magus remembered Alura, body ravaged, life snuffed out in one terrifying instant. How had she'd felt as she realized her doom was upon her; was Schala fearing the same? Worse, was she right to fear?
Ah, sweet darkness…what if, in my confrontation with the monster, she should be slain?
Why had that awful possibility not occurred to him before?
"Schala!" Queen Zeal's beautiful face was twisted. "You dare disobey me?"
Head bent, Schala whispered, "All right, mother…" Shutting her eyes, the princess channeled to her spectrum of magic. Despite being several feet away, the dark wizard could feel the power as it seeped up from the tiles and invaded her body. The energy was distinctly familiar, akin to his own.
Akin but not identical…Like light and dark…
Suddenly his sister started shaking, her body too fragile for the power it wielded. Losing Schala to Lavos might be a premature fear, Magus realized as his lips pressed together. The energy flowing into her might rip the princess apart right then and there. Part of him was screaming to haul her away and flee from their mother…
Abandon my mission to slay Lavos…?
As if that same power afflicted him, Magus twitched, indecisive. He'd been so steadfast in his course before…
In an undulating wave the magical energy sprang from Schala to wrap around the Mammon Machine. Again, that light stung his eyes and the dark wizard grimaced, wondering how she bore it. If the mere presence of the light hurt him how did she feel with the power the surging her body?
"Oh…what bright splendor!" The queen cried.
Bright, yes, thought Magus. Splendor? I think not.
Crying out, Schala swayed at her feet. Unable to halt himself, the so-called prophet took a step toward her. The princess's ice-cold gaze kept him from continuing, however. Again, Magus cursed Jarl, Dalton, his mother, himself. Again, he questioned the wisdom, the very sanity of his self-imposed task.
His mother sighed in rapture. "I can feel it! The pulse of eternal life!" She threw her head back in laughter, a sound that grated her son's ears.
Light that was more darkness than the shadows themselves flooded into the room from the Mammon Machine. Such was the intensity that it nearly drove Magus to his knees. Even for him, a child of war and death, the experience left him feeling unwholesome. Fear tingled up his arms as he looked upon the waves of shadow-light.
What has the seeds of my hatred and vengeance wrought? Have I….Have I fallen to the same dark lusts as the Enlightened themselves!
It was too horrifying a concept to consider and yet there it was surrounding him as the blanket of malevolence….
"D—Dark force…" Schala was gasping, face ashen. "…Wild energy!" Her knees buckled and she slumped to the floor.
Ignoring the looks the attendants shot him, Magus again made his way to his sister. Their confusion and her anger be damned. He would take her in his arms and whisk her away. It was simply too dangerous for Schala to remain, the dark wizard understood now. Once she was safe, he would hurry back and face the demon that was responsible for this personal Void.
What madness am I thinking…How can I possibly accomplish that?
One of the attendants spoke, voice shaken. Magus was not the addressed, however. "The Mammon machine…Your majesty, it's too dangerous!" Light blazed from the statue again, causing everyone but Queen Zeal to shield their eyes. Magus cursed as the pain drove into his skull with all the force of a hammer blow.
"Mother!" Schala shouted.
"Don't stop, Schala!" The queen continued to face the statue. Delightful insanity lit up her eyes far more than the evil light could. "We're almost there! Immortality shall be ours! Zeal will have the glory it deserves!" Again, her back arched and again came the laughter. "Too long I have waited…"
Too long I have waited…Who said that before, Magus? The dark wizard found himself shaking. He wasn't so sure of his mission anymore. The stark vision of his mother's madness imprinted itself onto the dark wizard an image of his own growing insanity. His deceptions, manipulations, his blind thirst for vengeance…
Was it really any different from his mother's? From the Enlightened? From Jarl's?
Just when the sorcerer thought things couldn't get worse, naturally fate decided to defy him. The sound of a door opening drew his sickened gaze away to fall upon three arrivals, pulling him from the dark revelations. A boy. A frog. A princess. Such was the incredulous of the moment that Magus could do nothing but stare and gasp.
The Time Travelers….Yet again!
How did they get around Schala's seal?
"Stop!" Marle cried, waving her arms, blonde ponytail swaying. "Stop this!"
Glenn nodded, green fingers clutching that dreadful Masemune. "We shan't allow thee to meddle with Lavos, Queen!"
Again, Magus's gaze was drawn aside, this time to the sound of rustling robes. Schala was rising, hope shining in her eyes. "You're…! Help!" Those few words seemed to sap her remaining strength for she crumpled down to the tiles once more. The dark wizard longed to go to her but kept himself in check.
He could not, however, check his tongue. "Schala…!"
The power was killing her…The game he played was stealing her life to feed his need for violence. Throughout the long hard years, Magus had assured himself that the demise of Lavos would bring peace to his soul…But what peace would there be if he lost her in the process? Again, part of him warred to get her out of her and the other part fought to stay the course.
"What are you doing, Schala!" their mother demanded. "I need your help here!"
Marle clapped her hands. "Crono, use the knife!"
Glenn seemed to catch on to whatever she was saying for he added urgently. "Yes, Crono, use the old man's knife to stop the machine!"
The old man's knife…? Magus gasped as a familiar pain stabbed into his side. He turned to view Crono as the boy withdrew a dagger. Crono raised it high, light glinting off its slender blade. Then he hurled it at the Mammon Machine. It hit with a loud clang and imbedded in the steel.
"Tis…the Masemune?" Glenn spoke the thought running through the dark wizard's mind.
Damn it…How? How is that possible…More twisted time frames…Damned fate!
Then it came, the Black Wind. Louder than anything the prophet had ever heard before it shrieked across the room. Magus was floored by the force, almost literally. That too, had a familiarity and one that filled the dark wizard with a roar of emotions—elation, fear, anger, sorrow and a feeling of finality.
"It's…it's coming!" Though his voice was barely more than whisper it sounded like a scream in his ears.
"No, no! Stop!" Schala's face paled, to match her deathly brother's visage. "The sword alone can't stop it!"
The air bent visibly, a twisted version of viewing the sky through heat. The pain and power rammed into Magus's body like a toppling pillar and his fingers flew up to his temples. He cried out unbidden, eyes squeezing shut. What chance did the sorcerer have if the beast's roar alone did him such damage…
When the prophet opened his eyes the sight before him sent his mind careening to the past. The massive tortoise shell body, the red menacing red eyes, the unbelievably wicked power that might drive a faint-minded innocent mad at the very touch…It came back in a rush and he heart pounded as he interposed the past with the present.
Lavos had been summoned.
Before Magus could begin to sort through the twisted joy at the moment coming at last warring with the questioning of sanity, his mother cast a spell. Just a quickly the image of Lavos vanished, replaced by an odd dark nothingness. Though the instant was to brief even draw breath the dark wizard somehow sensed that some time had passed.
When the chamber rematerialized so did his view of the time travelers—but not as they were. All three lay on the marble flooring, groaning in pools of their own blood. Despite the fact that Magus very much wanted to be the one to slay the creature, this did not cheer him. Had long had they lasted…a minute, two maybe?
And if they couldn't kill Lavos and he couldn't defeat them…
Stop that right now, Magus. You're stronger than you were. Wiser. More powerful. Like a soldier's mantra, the former prince reiterated those words silently. Calling upon his magic, Magus turned to face the beast. His hand closed around the clasp of the Cloak of Concealment. "I've waited for this…"
With his mother climbing the beast and his sister on her hands and knees, Magus tore the garment off. The Black Wind stirred his long blue hair like waves atop a sea. "I've been waiting for you…" he said softly. With a ring of steel, he drew his scythe. "I swore a long time ago…That I'd destroy you!...No matter what the cost!"
And what a cost it has been…how much will I sell to send this damn thing back to the Void?
Though his voice was clear his mind swirled as chaotic as the dark light itself. This is it, this is it, this is it…the moment, my moment….The day, day of Lavos! Magus took a steadying breath afraid he would burn his energy before the bout. All the trials of his life flooded him as he spoke coldly, hatefully. "It is time to fulfill that vow." He smiled as he hoisted the scythe. "Feel my wrath, Lavos!"
There was no need to fear. There was no doubt in his mind that Lavos would be his greatest challenge but the doubt he'd had to take him down was also gone. He was the most powerful wizard this eon and many others. Doubts were for the weak. He was not weak. He was Magus.
Queen Zeal laughed. "What do you think you can do?" She snorted and caressed the creature. That gesture made her son frown. "A false prophet…You'll be snack for the great Lavos!"
Despite her obvious aversion of him, Schala crawled forward. "Mother, please stop, this power can only end in ruin."
"Get away from there, Schala! The almighty life force of Lavos lives in all of us…" The dark wizard's frown deepened. He did not like to be categorized with that beast. His mother shifted on the back of the monster, her hands clenching. "You are a part of it! You cannot change fate now!"
Dark energies spread out from Lavos and Magus recoiled instinctively. The princess also retreated, throwing up her hands. Their mother laughed as she said, "Oppose me and I will destroy you also!"
"Help!" Schala fell away, the raw power of Lavos taking its toil.
The prophet longed to make sure she was alright but he could afford no quarter now. The queen's attention was on him now, and with it, Lavos'. "Come, prophet, feel the power of Lavos!" The sheer second of distraction, even to glance Schala's way, was too much for a beam struck the dark wizard and dropped him to his knees.
Magus screamed.
Excruciating pain seared through his senses. Not just pain the physical concept—though there was plenty of that—but pain from many heartaches and torture he'd endured all his long years. The loss of Schala. The terror of living in Ozzie's castle. The unspeakable horrors of war, both inflicted and dealt by him.
As if drawing on his suffering, Magus could feel his magic seep away. "My powers are being drained!" he gagged, one hand draped across his knees to keep from falling face down. "I won't be…beaten. I survived the darkness to defeat you, Lavos!" Blocking out the agony of his past and his present, the dark wizard shattered the spell, shards of light flying from his form.
He rose, scythe in hand.
"Take this Lavos!"
Leaning forward and floating few inches from the ground, the dark wizard rushed the creature. The scythe reflected the unholy light as he swung it at Lavos. In the instant Magus attacked, he felt the resistance but could not reverse his stroke fast enough. "Uh, what…It doesn't work!"
Then came the horrifying moment of realizing he'd failed. He could not pierce the monster's shield, barely scratched it even. Like a wave, the power hit him, hurling Magus ten feet in the air. The scythe flew from his fingers and struck the floor a heartbeat before he did, his cape floating up then to wreath his lower body.
I…failed!
Now the pain was such that the dark wizard couldn't even scream, couldn't even crouch. Unbidden came the moaning from his mouth and the blood from his wounds. He'd broken several ribs he knew and ruptured at least one vital organ.
I failed?
"Foolish one!" His mother hollered. "Your measly power can't touch Lavos. This is from me to you…" Magus groaned as shards of light grazed his eyes. "You shall enjoy eternal life…as a part of Lavos!"
Eternal life…as a part of Lavos…
Yes, indeed, there were worse things than dying…
Living, for one.
I failed. I failed. I failed. The concept was too foreign for Magus to consider but he did for he had. He heard the cries from the time travelers, the cries of sister and the laughter from his mother. Even as he lay there, the dark wizard understood that Lavos became ever stronger, drawing upon the magical energies of all those present.
And what would happen when the beast's power could grow no more…
"Magus!" The sorcerer barely had the strength to turn to regard the frog. "Thou art mine to defeat!"
The absurdity of the comment almost made Magus laugh. Almost. He had no energy in which to afford the gesture.
"Haven't you given up yet? What do you hope to do?" It took the dark wizard a full minute to understand that the queen was not addressing him. Why would she—he certainly could pose no threat now…But then who?
"You challenge me with that battered body of yours?"
As Magus titled his head, his mouth gapped at the sight of one of the Time Travelers rising. It was the boy, the leader, Crono. His mother was correct about battered for Crono shook even as he stood and left a bloody footprint as he approached Lavos. Still, his green eyes flashed with…What? Hope? Determination?
Sapphire and white light haloed the boy as he was lifted a dozen feet from the floor. His shadow cast over his friends as if as a shield from their enemy. So intense was the light that Crono could not be seen at the center, could barely be glimpsed at all. Magus marveled at the power, a highly advance level of Luminaire, the Light of Destiny.
But even that was not enough.
The power from Lavos invaded that beautiful light and reaction was violent and immediate. Magus gripped his ears as the combined energy howled, drowning out the Black Winds. To the dark wizard's right Marle and Glenn cried for their friend to cease but whether cared not to, or could not, Crono did not, the light burning as newly-minted Dreamstone.
Living in Ozzie's castle, Magus had seen many a gruesome sight, committed many in fact. But even he gasped at what happened next. As if thrust into a burning pit, Crono's body disintegrated, leaving not enough of him to smoke. The…dust sprayed onto Magus and he shook it off, chilled.
The prophet groaned. He'd lied to himself that mere practice and dedication could make any difference. Crono's demise made that very clear. His lust for vengeance blinded Magus to the truth and his arrogance goaded him on to show the Enlightened their foolishness. But he couldn't fail—for he didn't have a chance to win.
"I….can't beat him….Lavos….!"
Laughter and roars filled the chamber as if to herald the doom upon him. The chamber trembled under the sheer power wielded within its walls. Tiles dropped from the ceiling and the floor rumbled. The new disaster seemed quite at home with all the other disasters facing the prophet.
"Oh, Crono, no, no!" Marle sobbed.
Using his sword as a crutch, Glen kneeled, muttering. "We must plan our escape! The palace crumbles!"
And where to will you run, oh dear frog…? Magus laughed softly. Escape…The idea was ludicrous. The entire building was self-destructing. No one could hope to flee the length of stairs and hallways in the Ocean Palace before being buried under tons of stone and the very ocean itself.
How often had he referred to the Zeal Kingdom to an ocean?…Powerful but deadly.
"This power can only end in ruin…"
How right Schala was.
Schala…Magus rolled his head to view her. Her blue robes clutched tightly about her she looked like an angel visited by Death. Beautiful yet that beauty was wasting away soon to be smothered under Lavos' power or the collapsing chamber. I will tell her, he thought. I will tell her what I should have told her long ago. I will tell her I am her brother…His heart caught in his throat at words running through his mind.
Sadly, he conceded to himself. I did not hide the truth to protect her from the shock—I hid it to protect myself from the hurt should she reject me.
In midst of the shaking walls, the queen's insanity and Lavos' roaring, Schala struggled toward him. There was no anger in her eyes now, only deep abiding sadness. Perhaps his valiant efforts, however futile, softened the sting and maybe, just maybe, she'd seen a little of the brother who'd taken the Guru's hats and kept a purple cat.
Magus wiped blood off his chin and crawled to his sister. The pain was making him ill and faint but he fought it every step of the way. Let this be his one victory, one small joy that Lavos could not take away. Pain lanced up his side, forcing the sorcerer wrap his arms around his torso. As he opened his mouth to speak, blood poured out. He nearly choked on it.
"The last of my pendant's power will send you to safety. I know you can't forgive her but…"
What? What is she saying…Send me…away?
"Please don't hate our mother, or our kingdom. I'm so sorry!"
Our? Our mother?
"Now off with you!"
The realization of what the princess was saying hit Magus at roughly the same moment as the light from her pendant did. The world vanished beneath of cone iridescence and spun in sickening circles around the sorcerer. His lips opened in a silent scream. Like he'd reverted to a boy of eight, he shouted her name over and over.
He was separated from her…again.