Joined (The Secret World Of Atlantis 4)

Chapter 5 - Racing With Time

An eerie silence falls upon the room. It’s so quiet, that one could even hear a needle drop. All of our gazes are directed to the Guardian, gaping at him in horror. I can feel my heart racing nervously as the man’s words slowly begin to sink in.

Father is the first one to react. “How did this happen? Is anyone searching for her already?” he asks, a hint of anger in his voice. The Guardian seems distraught, but still manages to answer the question.

“There was only two of us in front of the cell, because it was lunch break, and we always eat in shifts … She got out with the help of one of the guards, that was bringing her food, Your Majesty. She got into his mind somehow, and he fought us all to help her get out. Unfortunately, we didn’t stand a chance once her magic wasn’t being blocked anymore,” he explains, his expression darkening at the memory. He must be pissed that she managed to fool everyone again. I mean, it’s not like I’m not pissed. Or everyone else in this room for that matter!

I get up, earning myself a flood of confused gazes. “What? I am not just going to sit around here and wait for her to escape. We need to find her, now! We can’t let her get to a portal, no matter how strong her powers are!” I declare, my hands trembling with contained rage. I can’t believe that b***h fooled everyone again! She must have manipulated that poor guard with her mind powers. Darn it!

“Arya, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. She is dangerous. We barely managed to seize her at the Ball, and she was unprepared,” father states slowly, making me blink at him in surprise.

“That’s precisely why the Guardians need our help, don’t you think?” I disagree, making him shut his mouth. That’s what I thought. “So, is anyone going to help, or are you just going to sit and wait for the news?” I ask, looking around my family. Eros is the first one to stand up beside me, followed suit by Elena, then my grandparents, Demitri and Emilia.

The Guardian watches the scene, clearly feeling discomfort as he witnesses me challenging my family like that. As father lets out a heavy sigh, standing up himself, the rest of them joining his example. Even Flora, after a long moment of hesitation, of course.

Father then turns his gaze to the Guardian, a solemn expression on his face. “Lead the way,” he instructs him. On our way out, a servant rushes towards us with a pile of warm capes loaded in her arms. The poor girl can barely see across it, but she soon uses her magic to make the capes stand up by themselves and float to their owners. As soon as I feel it wrapping itself around me, I send the servant a grateful look. I might be filled with adrenaline right now, but I know I would freeze the moment I stepped out, if it wasn’t for her.

We rush across the bridge, that leads to the city, but the moment we find ourselves in the crowded streets of Dairelis, I begin shaking my head. “This won’t do. We need to use our wings!” I yell towards my father through the noise. He looks at me like I’ve just suggested that we all jump off a cliff.

“But … Most of us haven’t used our wings in years,” he responds, looking slightly ashamed of himself. My face falls.

“You’re a flyer! How can you not use your wings?” I ask, shaking my head in disbelief. I then glance at my Eros, Elena and my cousins, making a decision. “Fine. We will use our wings instead. It’s the only way for us to find her. That is if she hasn’t flied away yet,” I say, putting a determined look on my face.

Father widens his eyes, shaking his head sternly. “No way, Arya, I am not letting you kids risk your lives!” he turns me down, but time is already slipping out of our hands.

“I wasn’t asking for permission. We’re doing this, one way or another,” I tell him. He already means to use his authority as the leader of the Kingdom, but he must realize that won’t work on me. “Father, there’s no time to argue. I know you’re worried, but we’ll be careful. Let us help in a way that actually counts,” I try to reason with him, my eyes pleading him.

The moment he nods in agreement, I turn to my cousins, Elena and Eros, explaining the plan to them. Nahuel decides to stay back with everyone else, but everyone else agrees to help. My eyes land on Flora, who looks incredibly pale, but still nods in agreement to every word that comes out of my mouth.

I share one last look with my father, nodding at him, before we part ways. The six of us walk in the direction of the square, where we can find enough space to spread our wings. Elena goes first, pushing herself off the ground elegantly, followed suit by Emilia, Flora, Demitri, then me. I look backwards to see Eros’s golden wings glistening, trying to catch up with us.

As I feel the cold wind brushing against my feathers I almost regret suggesting this, but then I grit my teeth determinedly, deciding not to get a little cold get to me.

We fly in formation, changing position of the leader every now and then, so none of us get too tired. The citizens are staring at us, and I’m not sure whether they have a clue of what is happening and why we’re circling around Dairelis so persistently. I can soon see the rest of our family, as they reach the Courthouse, talking to a few guards that witnessed the whole thing. Or might have even been victims, judging by how weak they seem even from above.

“I’m going down to ask what they’ve said!” I shout through the wind, waiting until everyone nods at me in understanding. It’s a miracle they did.

Be careful, Eros tells me as I change my position, directing myself into the ground.

I always am, I respond, already seeing my father turning his face upwards. The moment our eyes meet, I can sense that something’s wrong. I land a bit further away, where the street is empty at the moment, then make my way towards my family and the guards.

Before I even ask what is going on, father already speaks up, saying: “The guards have told us that after a brief fight Zara spread her wings and flew towards the south.” My face darkens. I can’t believe this.

“Do they know where she went?” I ask, hoping that they might at least have some sort of clue for me, but father shakes his head. Oh, for the love of Olympus! Why did she head south? What could she possibly find there? Then, it dawns on me. “She is trying to get to the portal,” I realize, my eyes widened in horror.

“I beg your pardon?” father breathes out, seeming completely dumbfounded.

“She is trying to get to Earth. I don’t have more time to explain, we need to hurry and stop her before it’s too late!” I say, already turning around and gathering some space to return to my flying group, when uncle Kaspar yells something behind me.

“I thought your wings were white!” I hear him calling out.

I turn my head, smirking in response. “They were!” In the next moment, I already push myself off the ground, not waiting for an answer.

As soon as I join the formation, I explain to everyone where we’re heading. Flora and Emilia both seem terrified. “We’re heading into the Gray Woods?” Emilia squeals. I can barely hear her because of the wind howling around my ears, so I simply nod in response, making her face grow very pale.

But now no one says anything out of one simple reason. I wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway, since we’re flying as fast as our wings can carry us. Do you know the exact location of the archway from above? I ask Eros, hoping that we’re not heading there in vain.

I haven’t been there many times, but I believe I do. At least approximately, he answers, making me feel a bit more relieved. Finally, one good thing in this whole mess.

Good. Then you will take over the lead, when we get to the Woods, I say, glancing back at him. He gives me a determined nod in confirmation, and I turn back forwards.

A few minutes later, we finally get closer to the forest, and I can feel that same unpleasant feeling in my gut again. Does this mean that Zara is near? I look over my shoulder, slowing down a bit, to give Eros a chance to fly to the head of the formation, where he replaces Demitri.

My shoulder blades are already burning, but I keep pushing myself. I know I will be in pain tomorrow. It will all be worth it if we manage to catch Zara now.

We soon begin lowering ourselves down, and I can see Eros flying through a bigger gap between the treetops. I am the last one to go through, grimacing in pain as a few thin branches cut my wings like sharp needles, but after a few manoeuvres between the trunks, we are already landing on the ground.

In a split second, we all put our wings away, looking around to see where we are. This isn’t where the archway stands, but I remember this place. It’s where Eros flew us out of here. He managed to get us back to the same spot. It isn’t long to the portal from here.

We all follow him wordlessly, looking around at all times to keep each other’s backs covered. The last thing we need is Zara surprising us right now. I truly hope she hasn’t found the archway yet.

Just as we reach the top of the hill, from where the archway is visible, I can feel Eros tensing up. He sees her. I am by his side immediately and we already power a few stunts towards her back, but she’s too quick. She avoids the blasts, which hit the tree beside her, burning four holes into its trunk.

I already get ready to fire again, when she conjures an enormous black hole, that flies towards us, threatening to suck us in. Oh f**k. How do we get rid of that?

Luckily, Eros already has an idea and throws an equally big fireball at it, making the flames swallow it, before dissolving into thin air. I hear Flora letting out an angry growl, as she attacks Zara, all her hurt evident on her face. I get her. I truly do. She thought Zara was her best friend. I would lose it too if the same thing happened to me.

But what she does next, leaves us all wide-eyed. She runs towards Zara, and we follow after, not wanting to her to get hurt. She keeps throwing powerful stunts her way, but Zara makes every one of them dissolve into a shower of sparkles, a wicked smirk plastered on her face. “Did I make the baby mad?” she mocks her, as she keeps blocking her attacks.

Flora screams in agony, fury and despair, gathering a big fireball inside her hands. She throws it at her with full force, but Zara has it flying right back at her, making me gasp in horror.

“No!” I yell out, extending my hand to push the spell back to Zara with the help of my air magic. The fireball stops midst air, slowly beginning to slip backwards. However, I know I won’t be able to hold it much longer.

Eros feels me struggling and joins in, helping me push the fireball back at Zara, while the others start attacking her with stuns again. I already think we’re going to win, when suddenly, all the spells we’re throwing her way, dissolve into dust.

I already see something bad is going to happen by the murderous look on her face and yell: “Get down everybody!”

In the next moment, she gathers her powers and unleashes them all towards us. Her stun is so powerful, that it hits us all even as we just lie under it. Everything goes black for a moment, but I fight the darkness, refusing to fall out of consciousness in a moment like this.

But as I finally manage to pull my eyelids up, I already see the swirling portal inside the archway and Zara with her back turned towards me. As if feeling my gaze on her, she turns her head over her shoulder, a sly smirk spreading across her face. “Losers,” she mocks us, as she steps into the portal.

I direct my hand into it, gathering the strength I have left to throw a stun after her but it’s no use. She already disappears through it. I scream angrily, crawling towards the archway to follow her, but just as I reach it, something strange happens. Instead of the familiar swirl, there is a stone wall covering the usually empty space of the archway.

I direct my hand into it, making a harmless spell fly towards it, but the moment it hits the wall, the stone glows, making it bounce right off. I stare at the archway in horror, already trying to pull myself up. This can’t be right. How did she seal the portal?