Chapter 28. The New Queen

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“This is the first test,” Veronica said. “If they rip me to shreds out there, we’ll know they’ve decided they don’t want me to be their queen.”

“Let me go first,” Silvan offered. “If they attack, I can at least defend you long enough to get yourself back inside and bar the doors.”

“This is going to be my city, Silvan,” Veronica said, turning back. “If I’m going to rule it one day, I can’t be afraid of my own people. They’d call me the Cowardly Queen.”

“True. A Queen should never be afraid. But have you lost your mind?”

“Maybe I have,” Veronica said back, widening her eyes and raising her right eyebrow.

“If even one person out there decides to draw steel, there won’t be anything anyone can do to stop them. You’ll be at their mercy.”

“Good. I have to give myself over to them if we want this to work. Like you said, it’s not about me, it’s about this power in the Crystal. Besides, what’s the worst they could do? Kill me?” Veronica laughed as Silvan’s face drained of color. “Come on. It’s time to pay Darko and Tonila a visit. Open the doors.”

“This is a bad idea,” Silvan said.

“That’s an understatement,” Molly added.

Shawn and Dylan pulled on the rusted bars together, breaking the seal on the double doors that made the old entrance to Copper Lanes. Mist and cold air poured inside, bringing the stench of charcoal and rotten flesh with it. When the doors were fully opened, Shawn saw a world dripping with rain and death, thousands of people gathered in the streets between the tall towers. There was hope among the glinting eyes and wet bodies now. Something different from what it had been before. Something better.

Veronica stepped out into the cobblestone streets, the crowd parting to let her enter Copper Lanes. Shawn watched with tightened breath as she melted in among them, like she’d been theirs for all her life, unafraid of what they might do. The people were dirty, wet, dressed in torn clothes, worn shoes, hair greasy and thick like frayed rope. Some bowed, others dropped to their knees and prayed, some even offered gifts.

“Queen Veronica,” a woman whispered, voice shaking as if she was in the presence of a god. “Queen of the Reborn.”

Veronica smiled at the woman and grabbed her hand as she went by. “Not yet. But you’ll be there when I am?”

The woman smiled back at Veronica, looking as if she’d found a lost happiness. “I will,” the woman said, nodding. “I’ll be there over the birth of my first child.”

A man dropped to his knees in Veronica’s path, shuffling forwards one leg at a time. “I have a son,” he cried, tears falling down his face. “I lost him to the fires two years ago. Can you bring him back to me?”

Veronica stopped and looked deep into the man’s eyes. “I can,” she said. “But not yet.”

“When?” the man asked, quietly begging for an answer. “Can I speak to him through the emerald fires like you did beneath the city?”

“Once we’re strong enough, I can do anything,” Veronica said, looking at the people surrounding him. “But right now we’re too disorganized–but that is going to change. With all of you standing beside me, we’ll be able to change the course of history, change the world together. Make it into what it was supposed to be.”

The hope continued to spread. Veronica moved past the man, leaving him to kneel in the wet streets. “And the time has almost come for those days to fall upon us,” she shouted after she’d gone deeper into the ocean of bodies. There were hundreds of people sick and diminished from Gray Death in the gutters, reaching out to Veronica the same way the living had, but she ignored them like they were nothing more than flies.

Shawn went out first with Molly, then Dylan and Silvan followed. They went by the man on his knees, treating him like a ghost. When they’d gone past the dying and dead in the gutters and caught up with Veronica, Shawn looked ahead, down the road leading to Darko’s Tavern. Their path thinned into a hallway of onlookers. There were thousands of people waiting ahead, a sea of bodies broken by a black slash of cobblestone. All eyes were on Veronica, hungry and watchful like a valley of starving crows.

“Fuck… There’s thousands of them,” Silvan said under his breath. “Do you see the way they’re staring at her? They really think she’s a god.”

“Isn’t it grand?” Dylan asked. “All the years of fighting and never forgetting, and this is where our dedication has brought us. Here we stand on the edge of the future–and is it ever looking bright.” Dylan smiled, turning to Shawn and Silvan. “Think of all the lives we’ll save. Think of all the enemies we’ll kill.”

Molly looked at Dylan, eyes like burning coals. He stared back at her, then his smile died away. Some unspoken message seemed to have passed between them. An understanding that perhaps this wasn’t the future they’d wanted.

“We’ve come so far. We should allow ourselves to enjoy it,” Dylan suggested. “Besides, she’s doing the right thing. We all know that.”

“She is,” Shawn agreed. “The people in the Death Realm have to be helped. We can’t let anyone stay in that place.” A Protector would help them, Shawn told himself. I’m a Protector, aren’t I?

“Yeah,” Molly said. “But is this the really right way to do that? By getting all this attention? If anything goes wrong…”

“It doesn’t matter if it isn’t the right way,” Silvan said. “The cork has been popped. We can’t go back. We have to steer into this storm if we want to survive it.”

Veronica was far ahead, descending the hill and touching the wave of arms that reached out to embrace her as she went between them. She was smiling and laughing as the people shouted compliments and love to her and her ideas for the world. She looked high on their approval, soaring through clouds like a bird, like she’d waited her entire life to get that love from them. Veronica disappeared into the mass of arms, then appeared again, lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd like a war hero. They carried her down the wet streets as people cheered and screamed and threw flowers at her, like she was some kind of god coming back to life. But to Shawn’s ears, the noise was eerily similar to the sound a pack of prowling wolves made when they’d found a fresh kill. And Veronica was howling with them.

“I guess we have our answer on if they’ve accepted her as their queen…” Silvan didn’t seem enthused.

“Yeah… Now let’s make sure she doesn’t lose her mind before she gets to that throne,” Shawn said.

“Too late for that,” Molly said.

* * *

Veronica floated down in the dozens of hands clinging to her arms and legs, her body as light as a feather as her boots fell to meet the ground. She bent her knees when she came back to her own strength, then went up and turned back to face the crowd behind her. At her back the canal was splashing and whispering below as green water lapped across its walls. “I see the longing in every one of your eyes. The longing to gain back the freedom of knowing your loved ones are safe and alive and back home. That’s all anyone wants–to feel happy, and whole, and to be together again. I know we’ll bring that world back. We don’t have another choice.”

Tears welled up in the men and women’s eyes. Sobbing voices moaned and wailed as some called out Veronica’s name. “Veronica!” “She’s a god!” “We don’t deserve this gift!” While others called out for those their hearts begged to see. “I miss my parents…” “I want my children in my arms.” “Where is my wife? Bring her back to me. please.”

Veronica looked at all of them, drawing in their pain. “I know the pain you feel. I know the losses you have suffered. I’ve suffered too. And I won't let anyone else suffer again.”

Veronica turned from them as the cries and screams grew to their peak, slowly turning into cheers and claps as she went farther away. “We need you! You’re braver than the king!” A tiny girl shouted after Vee, her voice as high as a squirrel’s. “You can beat death!”

Veronica’s back straightened as she entered the Forge, Dylan and Molly trailing just behind. Shawn and Silvan came inside last, watching the crowd and ensuring they wouldn’t follow.

“Your Queen will return soon enough,” Silvan shouted as he drew his sword. “She has some business to attend to in regards to securing a future for us all. So stay back, for your own safety.”

The smiles faded as the hope in their hearts dimmed. A few men nodded and gathered the people they still had left, urging everyone to move on. The few that remained just stood and stared, or sat cross-legged on the cobblestones, in the muck and pouring rain, huddling close to fires and using blankets like umbrellas. The people dying of Gray Death seemed as lost as they ever had, merely blending into the background like they’d become part of the garbage and discarded ruins around them.

“I best stay down here,” Silvan said. “We have no idea how many of these people are really our enemies. You go with Veronica. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid up there. She’s not going to be pleased with them.”

“I’ll try,” Shawn said. “If you need help out here, just shout my name. I'll knock em’ down like bowling pins.”

Silvan ruffled his brow. “What’s a bowling pin?”

Shawn closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Nevermind… Just shout if you need me.”

“Will do.”

Shawn turned and went inside the Forge. The building was almost empty, other than a few mercenaries drinking in the back. Most of the candles were dim, and long, dancing shadows stretched across a room painted in red firelight reflecting out from the logs burning inside the mantle. Veronica, Molly and Dylan were standing at the bar, staring into Zander’s eye.

“Where are they?” Veronica asked slowly, sounding on the verge of murder.

Zander let out a long breath. “Upstairs, Vee. Where they always are.”

Veronica seemed to be boiling beneath an icy surface. “You wait here. I want to talk to them by myself.”

Dylan turned to Veronica to argue, but she put up her hand and stopped him. “Just do what I said.”

Molly and Dylan turned from the bar and went towards Shawn. “Come on,” Dylan said. “We wouldn’t want to get in her way.”

“Not Shawn,” Veronica said. “He stays with me.”

Dylan’s face twisted up like a broken screw. “Him?”

“Yes, him,” Veronica said, shoving her face towards Dylan’s. “Got a problem with that?”

Dylan shook his head, betrayal hiding in his eyes. “No, not at all.”

“Good,” Veronica said, without a hint of sarcasm. “Now go stand outside.”

Dylan glared at Shawn, then turned to Molly. “Let's go. Our Queen doesn’t need our help anymore.”

Dylan let his shoulder bump Shawn’s as he walked by. Shawn stepped back and stared as he and Molly left through the front door of the tavern. Veronica said nothing as she watched, and when they were gone, she took Shawn’s hand. Her fingers felt icy, enough to burn Shawn’s skin. He looked into her eyes and saw the green flame dancing.

“I like it better when it’s just us. Don’t you?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah, no offense to them, but I do prefer you much more.”

“Good,” she said. “I prefer you, to.” Veronica turned and led Shawn up the stairs to Darko’s office. When she got there, the thick door was closed. She let go of Shawn’s hand and pounded on the door with her fist. “Darko! Your queen has come to visit!” She pressed her cheek against the door and closed one eye, sticking her finger inside her exposed ear. “I can hear you talking to someone!” Veronica leaned back and grunted as she put her boot into the door, knocking it open with a stiff kick. The door swung in and slammed against the wall inside, knocking a mounted sword of its holder as well as a steel helmet just beside it.

Veronica went inside Darko’s office. “Darko! I'm here. Aren’t you going to say hello?”

Darko was behind his desk, fingers pressed together. Tonila was standing at his side. In the blood stained chair Chen had died in was a man with black hair. He turned to Veronica and paused, then looked back at Darko.

Darko’s eyes dropped to his desk and he shook his head. “I apologize, but we’ll have to conclude this another time. I’ll send payment as we agreed.”

The dark-haired man nodded, then stood and slowly marched towards the door, his boots thumping against the wood as he went. He stared at Veronica with eyes like stone, never saying a word. When he’d gotten past her he turned his head and adjusted his hood, descending the stairs.

“Who’s the tall and brooding stack of rocks?”

“This oughta be good,” Tonila said as she moved away from Darko and sat in a metal chair, sliding her sword out of its sheath. She knocked the tip against the wood floor and grabbed a sharpening stone off Darko’s desk.

“Where have you been?” Veronica asked as she went closer to Darko’s desk, smiling. “I’ve sent for you. Did my messengers not arrive?”

“They arrived,” Darko said, turning his chair so he could look out the window. He seemed uninterested in the conversation.

“One of them never returned,” Veronica said. “Did you kill him?”

“He’s not dead,” Tonila replied, her tone bent by disappointment. “But I told him I’d cut out his tongue if I ever saw him again.”

“Charming,” Veronica said, bitter with sarcasm. “It’s not like these meetings are hard. I just need to make sure we’re all moving in the same direction. We’re taking over a kingdom afterall.”

“Taking over a kingdom,” Darko repeated with a laugh. “It sounds so fantastic I can hardly believe it’s real.”

“That’s because it isn’t,” Tonila said. “It’s a fantasy. Closer to dream than reality. Just like everything she’s ever done.”

The green fire in Veronica’s eyes flared up as soon as she heard the words. “Are your eyes working properly? Look out your boss’s window. The people of Copper Lanes are calling my name.”

“Yeah, maybe now,” Tonila said. “Soon they’ll be calling for your head.”

Veronica tilted her head. “I think you’re jealous.” She leaned in close to Tonila. “How does it feel to watch your power over the city slide away like a snake shedding its skin? I bet it hurts, huh? What was it you said to me once about being a Rat? I’m not a Rat anymore. I’m a queen.”

Tonila glared up at V from the top of her eyes. “You’re blocking my light, Rat.”

Veronica leaned back and laughed, but her smile quickly disappeared.

“Veronica…” Darko said, pausing to bite his lip. “You don’t seem to grasp the danger you’ve put us all in. You promised those people a future. What are they going to do when they find out they aren’t going to get one?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What are you talking about?” Veronica asked, her grin fading.

“You know as well as we do that the Death Realm changes things, Veronica,” Tonila said. “Maybe those people really will get their families back one day–if you can manage to get your claws on the Black Crystal, and that’s a big if. But if they do it won’t be who they remember. And when those degenerates and killers out there find that out for themselves...” Tonila slid the stone down her sword with a sharp hiss of steel, her eyes gleaming gold in the light.

“You’re wrong,” Veronica said, the green flame in her eyes burning bright. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

The idea had shaken Shawn. If the people who came out of the Death Realm were different than they’d been before they entered, would they still be worth saving? The answer had to be yes. Shawn didn’t know what else to think.

“You can’t control these people,” Tonila said. “That was a pretty good trick you pulled down in that old cathedral, I’ll give you that. But that’s all it was, just a trick. And one day they are going to wake up.”

“It wasn’t a trick. It was a glimpse of the future. My future,” Veronica said through her teeth as she bit off each word.

Tonila leveled her eyes back on the edge of her sword. “Even after torching half the island, not even the king could stop a disease. What makes you think this disaster will turn out any different?” Her eyes went back to Veronica’s.

“Didn’t you see how happy they were when I showed them what my Crystal can do? Those people love me. They believe in me. They called me a god. I’m going to give them the world they deserve. The world my father and sister took away from them. Even if it kills me again.”

Tonila let a burst of laughter escape her nose. “If you say so.”

Veronica clenched her fists. “I’ve gotten this far. You think I can’t find a way to solve this? You’re wrong. Those people out there are going to give us the keys to the island. I will sit on Talmoria’s throne, and I will make the world stronger than it used to be. When all those lost people are Reborn, no one will be able to stop us. Are you going to be with us when I get there?”

Darko stopped looking out his window and twisted towards Vee. “You don’t need our help. You never have. Why are you even asking us?”

Veronica’s determination broke, and her eyes fell. She swallowed as she tried to come up with an answer. “I…know you,” she said, looking back up. “We have history. I trust that more than strangers. I need people I can depend on to stand behind me.”

Darko laughed under his breath. “I still remember the night you first came to us. Do you remember, Vee? On the surface you were just another pathetic peasant girl crying in the rain, begging for someone’s charity. But when I looked closer, instead of a peasant I saw the daughter of a King. Lost, abandoned, forgotten. You were furious at your father for how he’d cast you aside. He’d chosen one daughter over another. I thought you were going to ask us to kill him. And I might have done it if you had… Do you remember exactly why you were so angry with him?”

Veronica’s eyes went to Darko’s, a darkness burning within them. “Yes. Of course I do.”

“You told me he was going to start a war with the Torch-Wings using your sister’s ability to see and trap them. You thought they were going to destroy the future of our island. You thought your father was rushing ahead blindly without giving any thought to the consequences of his actions.”

Veronica stared at Darko, stiff as stone.

“And you were right. He destroyed our island. He halted any forward progress Talmoria might have made. Instead of battling a disease, he salted the earth and forests with flame… Now, what makes you think you’re any different than him?” Darko asked. “You have no idea what kind of world will be waiting for us on the other side of this divide. No one does. There’s never been a land without death. And there’s a very good reason for that. To rebirth the dead would be a mistake.”

Shawn could understand Darko’s fears, but if there was some way to save those people in the Death Realm, Shawn knew they had to try. Leaving the dead to suffer until the end of time was worse than any risk they could take.

“My father and I are not the same,” Veronica said, shaking her head. “Not even close. My father tried to destroy a race of creatures that couldn’t even fight back! And my sister was foolish enough to help him. He was afraid, and he didn’t know what else to do. I’m not afraid. I know what I have to do.”

“That’s what worries me,” Darko said. “You have too much ambition, Veronica. It’s going to get you killed one day. Permanently.”

“My ambition is going to rebuild a world that’s been destroyed.”

“Is that so,” Darko said, nodding. “Are you aware that you aren’t the only one with a plan for the future of our island? I think the Protectors have one of their own. Your father has one as well.”

Veronica tilted back her head and laughed. “Another of my father’s plans? Should I be embarrassed or ashamed? I’m more afraid of the Protectors.”

“It’s not the Protectors you should be afraid of,” Tonila cut in. “I heard your sister’s back in town. Guess you two will have a lot of catching up to do–now that she’s being groomed for the throne as well.”

A betrayal was born in Veronica’s eyes, like a fiery demon spreading its wings in her mind. Shawn felt his stomach tighten into knots. He could hardly even breathe. If that was really happening, Manie being made queen, then another war had just begun.

“What a bright future Talmoria must have in store,” Darko said, his voice like a demon’s whisper. “With two queens on the throne, we could get twice as much accomplished.”

“My father thinks Manie can be the Queen?” Veronica asked with a laugh.

Her smile vanished as quickly as it had come. She paused in that question as a hollow rage glazed over her eyes, like the thought had completely consumed her mind.

Tonila smiled as she slid the stone down the sharpened edge of her sword. “She always was his favorite.”

Veronica’s eye twitched. “Why?” she asked, almost breathless.

“Well, considering you’re dead, and she isn’t, I’d say the answer is plain as day.”

“But there’s…” Veronica’s eyes flashed to Shawn, then back to Darko and Tonila. “...there’s nothing wrong with me. If anything–what I went through made me stronger. I was reborn.”

“And so were we,” Darko told her. “Don’t act like you still feel whole–like that place didn’t take away a piece of who you were. I know what it feels like. It’s an itch of frustration at the back of your mind. A hollow space where you used to keep those happy memories that made life seem worth living. And now there’s just a hole where they used to be. A dark and empty corner that gets deeper every day. And no matter how hard you try, the only thing you’re able to squeeze out of that place is anger, and sadness, and regret. The only thing the Death Realm can make stronger is our weaknesses.”

Veronica looked dead as she stared into Darko’s eyes, like every last shred of her soul had fled her body.

“Your sister is going to be the Queen, Veronica. Not you. Not the Reborn. Because that’s how things work on this island. Power gets transferred from one hand to the next like a pitcher of water being emptied into another. A thousand years have passed–a thousand years this Kingdom has stood as one–and you think that’s going to change now? Do you know how many men have walked this road you’re traveling? Tens of thousands. Do you know how many times they succeeded? Not once.”

“I’m no man,” Veronica said back.

“No, you’re just a girl,” Darko said. “A girl with her eyes in the stars.”

“What’s happening in Copper Lanes is a revolution. This is what the people want. And not you, or my father, or my sister, are going to be able to stand in the way this time. A new world is being born out there. A world I’ve been fighting for for as long as I’ve been dead and alive. It is my destiny to become the Queen. I’m not going to let my destiny pass me by a second time.”

“You have no destiny. None of us do. I could have had you killed a thousand times since that night I met you. I still could–even now. Tonila could cut you and that boy down before you’d even known the order was given. There is no such thing as fate. Only choice. Choices we have to live with for the rest of our days. You’ve made yours. And I’ve made mine. Tonila and I are cutting loose from this disaster you’ve unleashed. Take the throne without our help.”

Veronica looked stunned. Her eyes at first questioned the intentions of that statement, then the gaze seemed to turn inward. “Whatever, fine,” she said, looking up. “Like you said, we don’t need you anymore. I got what I wanted.”

“Good,” Darko said. “Then I hope you’re satisfied.”

Veronica smiled. “When this is over, I’m going to make you see that I was right, and you were wrong.”

“I look forward to it,” Darko said. “Maybe by then you’ll have gained some wisdom.”

Veronica’s fingers balled into fists. She became more still as her brow sharpened and her lip curled back to bare her teeth.

Tonila stopped sharpening her sword and looked into V’s eyes, pausing. “Got something to say, Rat?”

Veronica seemed ready to unleash her rage, then she shook her head and let her fingers go flat. “No…” she whispered. “Not tonight.” Veronica turned and went to the door, leaving Darko’s office without looking back.

Shawn watched her go, listening to her footsteps pound down the stairs. He looked back at Darko and Tonila, both of them staring in his direction.

“Shawn, wait a moment,” Darko said. “Before you go, hear what I have to say.”

“What?” Shawn asked, unsure if he should.

“If you let Veronica continue down this road, she will destroy everything that Talmoria has ever been–and there will be no way to reverse it this time. If she takes hold of this power to rebirth the dead, it won’t be long before every man woman and child on the island is firmly under her control.

“She’s trying to save them,” Shawn said, angry that they’d accuse her of that. “Not enslave them. This isn’t about power. Veronica is trying to do what’s right. I wouldn’t be helping her if I didn’t believe that.”

Darko stood from his chair and moved closer to Shawn. “I’m no fool, boy. I can see the blue flame in your eyes from here. You’re a Protector. I know this isn’t what your commander would want. Veronica is not who you think she is. She’s like her mother. I met Shaleah on a few rare occasions, and each time I did I saw a ruthless ambition in that woman that drew up a fear in me I still cannot explain. Shaleah was willing to do anything–absolutely anything to secure the power she thought she deserved. She’d betray anyone, kill those who stood in her way, level a city to ashes–all if it meant she could gain more power. And I see that same ruthless ambition in her daughter. Veronica is the same as Shaleah, Shawn. They share the same blood, and they share the same conviction to fulfill their goals.”

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing,” Shawn said. “Veronica’s trying to use her ambition to help people.”

Tonila let a burst of air from her nose. “I guess he is as dumb as he looks.”

“You can’t really believe that. You knew Shaleah…”

“Yeah, I did, and I still feel the same. Veronica is nothing like her.”

“Let me ask you this–did your kind and selfless queen utter even a single word of protest when that defenseless man was being beaten to death in the cathedral for daring to question her intentions?”

Shawn thought back and remembered that she hadn’t.

“As the blood ran down over his face, and the boots and fists and clubs turned his bones to powder, did she even look concerned?”

Shawn felt sick to remember the sight. The smell of sweat, the sight of blood, the fury in the air. It made him dizzy to remember. And it worried him that they were right. Veronica had looked excited by what she saw. Never afraid. Never questioning the violence.

“No…of course she didn’t. Because that man was standing in her way. And that’s what will happen to anyone who does the same.”

The thought cast a dark net across Shawn’s mind. He looked up into Darko’s eyes, knowing there was just as much evil in him. “If my commander was here now, he’d have you both executed. You killed a man’s daughter because you didn’t want to face justice for crimes you know you’ve committed. I can never trust a word you have to say.”

“Evil is as much a force in this world as good, Shawn. How we use that power is what matters. In my world, doing what’s right makes you weak. I used my power to become strong, to keep this rotten slice of the world from getting beyond anyone's control. Veronica is going to upset that balance forever.”

“You’re wrong about her,” Shawn said. “I’ve seen the Death Realm. Those people are being tortured by their memories. If changing our world is what it takes to save them, then there isn’t another choice. This is what we have to do. You’ll just have to make some sacrifices and get used to it.”

“That girl is going to get us all killed,” Tonila said. “Just like how she got her friends killed by us. She never knows when to stop, never knows when she’s reached too far. Get away while you still can.”

“She knows where the cure to the Gray Death is. There is no getting away until I have it. That’s why I walked into this living nightmare. I could have stayed in the North and been safe. But I chose to come here.”

“You think a cure is going to solve all the world’s problems just like that? Like it’s all just that easy?”

“It’s a good start,” Shawn said.

Tonila looked at Shawn from the top of her eyes. “Then go find it,” she said as she scraped a line of sparks off the edge of her sword with the stone. “And see how far that cure gets you when an army of undead comes marching to your doorstep.”

The words drew a chill up Shawn’s spine. He imagined a field of blue-eyed soldiers fighting an unbeatable wave of men and women as they poured through the giant horned gates he’d seen hidden beneath the mansion. It would be even worse than when they’d fought Goroth.

“There will be no getting away if you follow her to the end of this road,” Darko said, his voice like the ushering in of night. “Your life will belong to her. Just like ours do. We’re all just her puppets, now. There is no escape from this future she means to build. Play along, or die. That will be the future she has to offer.”

“I don’t know what to say to convince you that you’re wrong,” Shawn said. “But you are.”

“Don’t say we never warned you,” Tonila replied, scraping another sheet of sparks off her blade.

Darko shook his head, and Shawn’s confidence wavered. In their eyes he could see a glimmer of the reflection of his own insanity, and for a quick moment it scared him. “Even if you’re right…there’s nothing I can do to stop Veronica now. King Dukemot has the Black Crystal and all those people out there believe she’s going to take it from him. And Dukemot will bring her back from the Death Realm no matter what I do. She’s his daughter.”

“Then destroy it,” Darko said. “Isn’t that how you defeated Goroth and Duncan at the Battle for the Beacons? Erase this power from the land forever. It’s the only way to ensure it never happens again.”

“Destroy it?” Shawn asked, almost afraid to even let those words pass his lips. He turned back to be sure that Veronica was really gone. He looked at Darko and Tonila. “But it has the power to bring back the dead.”

“The power to bring back the dead? Or the power to imprison the dead in a fate worse than death? Rebirth is not a gift, Shawn. It’s an extension of the Death Realm’s curse.”

“But what will happen if I destroy the Black Crystal? Will all those people in the Death Realm be trapped there forever?”

“There’s no way to be sure,” Darko said. “Another possibility is that they will all be set free. We’ll likely never know.”

“But you were Reborn, too, weren’t you? Aren’t you afraid of not knowing what’s going to happen if I do this?”

Darko and Tonila looked at each other, and for the first time Shawn saw something other than anger in their eyes. It was sorrow he saw, sorrow so fierce it was able to break the hard shields of their stares like shattered ice.

“We died a long time ago, Shawn,” Tonila said, turning back. “We’re just ghosts now. And if you let Veronica open the doors to the Death Realm, you’ll just be turning this world into that one. A world of ghosts. It won’t be better.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Shawn asked, fear boiling up in his heart. “I just met Veronica. Getting to the Black Crystal from Dukemot before she can open the Death Realm isn’t going to be some simple thing to accomplish. She’ll be watching me night and day. And she’ll know if someone tries to take it before she does. She hardly lets anyone even see the Turquoise Crystal we found in the forest.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way she looks at you,” Tonila said. “She loves you, Shawn. Which means she trusts you more than anyone. You might be the only person left alive who can get close enough to stop this.”

Shawn could see Manie’s blue eyes burning in the back of his mind, like she was watching his thoughts. “But I don’t… I love Manie, not Veronica.”

“Then fake it,” Tonila said. “Tell Veronica what she wants to hear. She’ll believe it because she wants it to be true. And then when you get your chance, you take it from her and make sure it can never be used again.”

“We’ve already seen the effects one mad queen can have on the population of an island,” Darko said. “Do we really want to see another? Maybe for once her father is right. Manie really may be Talmoria’s last hope.”

“I’ve always believed that,” Shawn said. “Since the moment I first met Manie, I knew she was somehow stronger than the rest of us… But Veronica is right, too. Something should be done to help the people in the Death Realm. Maybe they can get back to who they were if we give them enough time. Maybe they can get better.”

“No, Shawn, they can’t,” Darko said, frustration burning in his voice. “There is no coming back from what we’ve been through. Tonila and I have been alive again for twenty years. Veronica’s been back for thirty.”

Shawn was stunned to hear him say that. “Thirty years?”

“We don’t age, we don’t get sick, we never tire, we never forgive... We stay unchanged, like a statue standing through time. There is no getting better for us. We’re lost. We died.”

Shawn rubbed his eyes, trying to think. He imagined his father wandering through that terrible place, wishing someone out there would set him free from his nightmares. How can I be thinking about betraying Veronica? Betraying my dad? She’s my friend. He’s my father. “I don’t know… I want to do what’s right.”

“You don’t have to make any promises,” Darko said. “I’m sure you’ll decide what’s right for yourself when the moment arrives–one way or the other. But try not to forget what’s at stake. This Crystal will change the world for tens of thousands of years. Probably more. So choose this future wisely.”

Shawn let out a breath of air, wishing for the simplicity of his home in the cul-de-sac. “I’ll try my best,” he said.

“Good,” Darko said. “That’s all you can do. Now I think it’s time for you to go. Your queen will be expecting you.”

“Will I be able to talk to you again?” Shawn asked.

“No,” Darko said, disappointment dragging his eyes to the floor. “I expect not. Veronica will not be happy with our disobedience. She’ll want to punish us. And there’s only one way she can do that.”

The Death Realm. It seemed too cruel a punishment to send someone there on purpose. But he believed she’d do it to them. “I’ll try to stop her from hurting you.”

“No,” Darko said. “You mustn’t let your intentions be known. She’ll sniff you out the instant you make a wrong move. She’s smarter than you, Shawn. Much smarter. And she’ll kill you if she thinks you can’t be trusted. She’ll make you one of us. One of the Reborn.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Shawn said, threatened by the idea.

“It will if you aren’t careful,” Tonila said.

“He’ll find a way to save us,” Darko said. “Like he did in the North… Goodbye, Shawn. And good luck.”

Shawn let his eyes hover over Darko and Tonila’s, wondering about their true intentions and seeing them for what they were for the first time. Ghosts. Reflections of a past that was gone. Shawn noticed the golden hourglass on Darko’s table was emptying into the bottom. Only a few grains of sand were left to fall.

“Goodbye,” Shawn said as he turned and left the room. “I hope, not for the last time…”