Osmund swung off the back of the boar he rode and strode forward. A second stream of light burst from his chest and connected him to the Fairy Queen. The diamond in her scepter flashed with blinding light.
Elric felt a wrench in his chest, but he staggered away from it.
The queen turned to Flame, who lay over the still body of Shadow. Flame cried out as a stream of light burst from the symbol on her back, and connected directly to Wynn, then flowed through Wynn’s link and back to the queen.
Elric felt the tug in his chest again, and he pulled away. The queen turned back to him. She glowed like the sun as she gazed upon him.
“My son,” she whispered, “I need you.”
Warmth, laughter, and a profound feeling of love and protectiveness poured through him. He watched as the light around the queen grew brighter. Her son. Not the extra. Not the one who was expendable. He looked at Wynn, his sister; Osmund, his mentor; and Flame, who had risked everything too because she also felt this connection.
Family.
Power flowed through him. He was a part of this new family. He exhaled as the cord of light burst from his chest and connected him to the queen.
Mother. Wynn. Osmund. Flame . . . Family.
The light connecting them flowed up the queen’s arm and into the scepter. The diamond glowed with the brightness of the sun. It reached out into a hundred threads that touched each of the fairies. Their power flowed back like a flooding river. Zephyr, Elk, they were all connected.
The elves sang louder, and the power flared again, the glow of it raining down and touching the elves as well.
“You will never threaten this realm again,” the queen said to the Grendel. She pointed the scepter at him, and the light shot forward, piercing the shadow that protected what remained of her brother. The Grendel seemed to shrivel before Elric’s eyes as the voices raised in song grew louder. Elric felt swept away in the stream of power, and clutched the ground as it washed through him. The clouds and shadows that formed the Grendel’s body pulled inward, sucked into the core of light that had pierced his heart. The storms above shot bolts of lightning into the ground, but they dissipated into the air without triggering the terrible thunder.
The Grendel screamed and howled. The clouds above him whipped with wind.
Elric thought about the love he felt for Wynn, the admiration he felt for Osmund, the strength he saw in Flame, and he gathered those feelings. The cord to his heart grew brighter and he let that love flow through the stream of magic coursing within him. This was his family. This was where he belonged. He gave the power of that love to the queen. She needed it, and for the first time he admitted to himself that he needed it too.
The clouds above dissipated as the voices of the elves rose, their song filling with joy and hope.
With a final cry, the Grendel became consumed by the glow of the scepter. He writhed until he became a dark mass. The queen waved the scepter and he pulled toward it. With an explosion of light and color, the darkness disappeared. The queen lowered her staff. The once clear blue diamond had turned opaque, dark, and murky; a storm of smoky malevolence trapped within a solid chunk of obsidian.
The cords of light slowly faded, and the queen took a deep breath. She hung her head for a moment, and touched the dark stone. Elric could feel her sadness through the magic still connecting them. But then he felt a pure, bubbly wave of Wynn’s joy. The queen turned and looked back toward them. Wynn ran to her and wrapped her in a big hug. Elric dropped the sword, but he felt very weak and also relieved.
The Grendel was gone. He was finally gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Elric
OSMUND RAN OVER TO JOIN them, limping and swaying on his feet, but he laughed as he used his ax as a cane. The queen smiled at him and drew him in toward her side. Wynn hugged him, and he ruffled her hair.
Elric turned to Flame. The sound of her sobs reached him even through the cheers of the elves. Lexi and Zephyr came over the hill. Lexi knelt beside Flame. Blood stained the tigereon’s white stripes as she lay in the grass.
Zephyr found Elk and his hands glowed as he tried to heal their fading master.
Elric ran up next to Lexi. “Is Shadow dead?” he asked.
“Not yet, but it’s bad.” She rifled through a bag and pulled out a vial of liquid. She poured it into the tigereon’s wound. The cat hissed.
“Don’t touch her!” Flame shouted, her face streaked with tears. “Get away from her.”
“I’m trying to help,” Lexi answered.
The queen knelt beside her daughter and placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Estaria?”
The queen blinked as she looked at the scars slashing across her daughter’s face and eyes. Her dark eyes were now speckled with the reflection of the light of a million stars. Her starlight dress made the edges of the queen’s icy skirts glow. Flame remained hunched over her tigereon, stroking the dying beast’s head.
Flame’s tears fell as she tucked her head against Shadow’s neck. “She can’t die,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “She saved my life. She raised me. She is my only friend.”
Wynn came forward and took the queen’s hand. “She’s a good tigereon,” Wynn said, her own face streaked with tears. She reached out and pet Shadow’s hip. Elric felt the sting of his own tears as he too stroked Shadow’s beautifully striped fur.
“Then we must save her,” the queen said. “There is only one way.” She stepped back and transformed again into the giant white bear. Lexi motioned to the elves nearby.
“Help us get her up,” Lexi said. Together they hoisted Shadow onto the
