“What’s the plan?” Roya asked with a hoarse voice. Her gaze remained unblinking and fixed on Seda.
Seda smiled once more and took a deep drink from her mug before saying, “I’vealwaysloved this stuff.” She set the mug down and stood. “The Rising foretold of the Darkened. For this to work, I need to remember how to fly.”
Chapter 46
Jason
Jason and Mordred made it back to Jason’s apartment unseen. He knew that the Monster King would soon wonder where he was and travel through the mirror looking for him. They didn’t have much time.
“Sara!” he shouted as he opened the door. “We need to go.”
Sara walked out of the bedroom, looking like she had been crying. Her hair, usually pristine in a tight braid, was now wild around her face. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
“What happened?” he asked as he ran up to her and held her in his arms. “What’s wrong?”
Sara was a White Witch, a member of the Coven of the Wilds. The day he met her, he knew it was fate. He knew she was the one the Oracle spoke of. She carried verdancy magic deep within her bones, passed down from her mother. Only women could bear such magic, a trait that skipped generations until a baby girl was born.
“It’s Benny,” she replied. “He’s no longer with us.”
“What—” he began as an ache tore through his chest. His son, his baby… it couldn’t be true. “How do you know?”
She raised her dirt-covered palms in the air. “I was spoken to.” She cried out and buried her face in his chest, painful sobs breaking through whimpering moans.
He ran his hand from the back of her head down her back. “Do you know what happened?” He tried to stay calm and composed for her, even though he felt like everything was collapsing around him, as if he were drowning in rapid waters—unable to swim up or breathe.
She pulled away and looked at him with watery eyes, burning with rage. “There’s a force stronger than we know building north of here. We need to escape, Jason. The magic of the dome is crumbling tonight.”
He looked at Mordred, settling his face into a neutral, calm expression. “Let’s go to the woods past the Gardvord. Our girl will return soon. She has to.”
They madeit past the Guardvord, into the woods, where the hidden doorway was covered in vines and shadowed by trees. The city limits stopped just beyond, and the vast border wall blocked their exit.
All of the main exits were now guarded, and it would be any moment that the alarms would ring out, indicating that the Monster King knew he had escaped with Mordred. But he had a plan, one devised and set up long before Mordred was thrown in that dungeon. A way to help free the people once the dome fell. All he had to do was click that button in his pocket. It was his one way he knew how to help save as many lives as possible until the Darkened arrived.
Jason pulled the device out of his pocket and looked at Sara and Mordred.
“Ready?” he asked. “Once the wall crumbles, we hide. I don’t know how strong these will be. Be prepared to run.”
Sara and Mordred nodded, panting through ragged breaths from their journey here.
The city’s piercing alarms began to pulse through the air, manic and desperate, matching the frantic heartbeat in his chest.
The Monster King now knew he was betraying him. He knew Mordred had escaped with his help.
The world shuddered as a crashing sound erupted against the dome, shaking the ground violently and echoing through the sky. Jason looked up and saw the magical barrier quiver, releasing a loud, resonant sound that pierced the air.
The Jotnar were attacking the dome. It was about to fall.
They ran as fast as they could back into the trees, ducking behind and readying to push the button. They slipped when the dome wailed in the sky and shook the ground beneath their feet, causing Jason to drop the device in his palm.
A deafening, piercing sound knocked Jason unconscious as the world shook once more.
He felt someone shaking him, and he opened his eyes to see Sara over him. “Please, please. Jason!”
Mordred pulled him to his feet, and he stumbled. He held onto Mordred as he glanced over his shoulder and looked up at the sky.
The glittering dome had vanished, bursting like a bubble. All that remained was the clear sky above, lit up by the vast full moon and twinkling stars. The air felt cooler and fresher than it did before.
He reached for the ground, picked up the device, and finally pressed the button.
