We work as one.
Realisation struck, the truth that had been staring them in the face, ignored, avoided for fear of what it might mean. Separated, they could not stand against the Old One. What they had been doing, dividing their attention between their friends and the battle for Mildeth, it was not enough. Maya’s mind was greater than either of them alone.
They needed to act as one. And yet…
We must decide, the Sovereigns shuddered. We must choose.
The thought struck fear into their souls, and for a moment Lukys found himself separated from Sophia, though her emotions still roiled alongside his own, raw, exposed. He saw her pain, her fear, but beneath that, a steely resolution.
We cannot abandon our friends, she whispered, and Lukys saw her attention was not on their battlefield now, but had turned to that dark place, where even now Erika and Cara and the others fought for their lives.
For a moment, Lukys watched the three fighting, their magic and power flashing in the darkness.
Then his mind returned to look out over Mildeth, at the thousands of lives joined in battle, at the terrible hatred shared by Tangata and mankind alike. Hatred that had been born from the mouths of men, crafted by callous rulers to bring war from peace. Maya was only the latest of the dark men and women to have exploited these peoples, to use them for their own purposes.
But what if that hatred could be healed, if the minds of humanity and Tangata alive could be opened, so that they saw one another not as the monsters of childhood tales, but the men and women they truly were.
What if they could bring peace from war?
If the Sovereigns could heal the wounds of centuries, not all the power of the Old One could tear them asunder again. Humanity, the Tangata, they would live on, would survive and prosper in a new world.
In that moment, Lukys realised it was not the battle beneath the earth that their fates rested upon, but the one before him. Turning to Sophia, he reached out to embrace her.
No, he whispered, and felt her frown, her confusion. No, it is our people, all of our people, that we cannot abandon.
What about our friends? she whispered back, though he sensed the swelling of her hope.
He kissed her then, and as he did so allowed their minds to unite, to become the Sovereigns, to feel that joyous sense of Oneness.
We must trust them to do their part, the Sovereigns said, even as they released their protection from the caverns, turning their attention instead to the battlefield. Our attention is needed here.
And together, the Sovereigns reached out to undo the destruction wrought by Maya, by Amina, by kings and queens and Sovereigns past, by all those dark rulers that had come before them.
35
The Queen
Light burned in the darkness as Erika and Amina ignited their gauntlets. The brilliance of their power reflected off those unnaturally smooth walls, catching on Cara’s scarlet feathers. Erika’s heart raced as her strength rushed into the strange links of the gauntlet, its power gathering, preparing to strike. In the City of the Gods, she had seen Maya resist its magic—but then Erika had been weak, exhausted. Let the Old One stand against her true strength.
She exchanged a glance with Amina, and the other nodded. There was no love lost between them still, but the queens would stand together, at least against this enemy. As one, they raised their magic, preparing themselves.
“Ahhh!” A cry of joy, of victory, burst through the chamber as Maya suddenly straightened…
…and Erika staggered, a weight suddenly falling upon her, a crushing darkness, terror and despair that burnt away all hope, all thoughts of resistance. Tears welled in her eyes and she watched as the power bled from her fist, slipping away until the light all but died. Only the softest glow remained, casting their world in shadow.
A whimper slipped from Erika’s lips as she sank to her knees. Sobs came from nearby and she saw that Cara had already crumpled, arms wrapped about herself, wings spreading to hide her face. The sight sent terror rushing through Erika, and she felt desperation, a need to act, to protect the young Anahera she had come to see…come to see as…
“And so we come to the end.”
Maya’s voice sounded in the darkness, banishing everything else from Erika’s mind, leaving only the despair. On her knees, she looked up as footsteps approached, as the terrible eyes of the Old One fell upon her.
“I admit, your Sovereigns resisted far longer than I thought possible.” She smiled as she stood over them. “But I knew their true nature would reveal itself eventually, that they would choose themselves over their friends.”
A cry tore from Erika as she felt the world shrinking about her, as childhood terrors rose to drown her, as she came to realise her every hope, every dream had been a lie, the foolish whims of a child. She had never been a queen, did not deserve the love of her people. She was no one, a pretender, a fool for denying the majesty of this creature before her.
“Still,” Maya mused. “I will have to deal with them eventually. Who knew my old rivals would be so cunning, as to find a way to thwart me even now, long after they were gone? I will have to prise that secret from their hosts before I rip them apart.”
The Old One leaned her head to the side as a whimper came from nearby, and the dark eyes fell on Cara. “So considerate of you to lure yourselves out here, so far from your friends and followers.”
Erika shuddered, shrinking further and further towards the floor.
