“If the angels got a way to cross over without dying, then I don’t know about it,” Chancey told us. “And none of us are dying and coming back with the state the afterlife is in right now. Everyone who dies is getting stuck in the in-between, trying to get into the Blessed Haven.”
“What if… we sent someone who didn’t intend to return?” Liam wondered. “Someone who could get a message to the mutabeecha?”
“That’s not an option, Liam,” Sophia told her husband sternly.
“I’m not suggesting any one of us go,” Liam replied sourly. “I’m saying we might be able to relay a message by contacting a spirit or ancestor who can help.”
Eddie stepped forward. “It’s a good theory, but how are we going to do that with the state of the spirit realm? We can’t contact just anyone, let alone make the journey ourselves without perishing. We’d get stuck between worlds like everyone else the Warden has killed. Unless someone besides the Elves has magic that can get around this, because we don’t.”
“The Astromancers do not hold a solution to this problem that I am aware of,” Takahashi said.
Lucas tapped his fingers on the table. “I’m afraid the witches won’t be of much help, either. As a reaper, I can open portals to the afterlife, but only when I’m reaping a soul, and to reap a living being would damage their soul beyond repair. And that’s only when the gateway to the spirit realm is open. With that doorway closed, the Warden has destroyed any chance of the witches reaching the afterlife. But I believe there’s merit to Oberi’s idea. The witches draw their magic from their afterlife, Alora, and seeing as we’re still casting magic, there must be some connection remaining. It’s not one that souls can travel across, but it’s an indication that there are still threads of power moving between realms.”
“The fae might have a way in,” Kallie offered slowly. “But it’s going to take time. Isn’t it, Mom?”
Everyone in the room shifted to face the fae, and Queen Emmaline spoke up. “Maybe. We have to be prepared for the possibility that the Warden will get through our shield before we can even reach the afterlife, let alone speak with the mutabeecha to seek their aid.”
“How much time do the fae need?” Doctor Mack asked.
Queen Emmaline drew a breath. “A month, at least. Maybe two.”
“We may have a chance if we start right away,” Doctor Mack said. “My powers as a Seer are a combination of empathy and foresight. I can connect with people and see the path that they’re on, though I am not a prophet. I cannot see what will happen, only what could happen. From what I can discern from my visions, Doctor Taurus returned to the Blessed Haven after his attempt to get through our shield failed. He is in the afterlife now killing gods, and the chances of him succeeding are nearly inevitable. Once he’s done there and taken dominion over everything, there will be no escaping him. Ilamanthe will be the last thing that remains, and he will return to tie up loose ends and put an end to us all.”
“If the world ends, we’re done already, because our resources will run out,” Marcus said. “He got what he wanted from the demigods, so there’s nothing more he could possibly want from us. What loose ends does he have to tie up?”
I gritted my teeth, because the answer was obvious. “Ava. The Warden can’t stand that she’s the one that got away. That’s why he came knocking on our door immediately after he crossed through the Elven Gate— to get to her. But her shield was too strong, so he gave up to pursue a fight with the gods. He knows that once he can take them down, there’s no longer anything stopping him from reaching Ava.”
“But she doesn’t have magic anymore,” Marcus rambled. “She’s not a threat to him.”
“It doesn’t matter, because he’s still obsessed with her,” Kallie countered. “As long as she lives, he can’t let it go, because he’ll never be okay with the idea of being beaten by her. It’s not enough to let Ava sit behind this shield and starve to death. He’s so egotistical he’s got to kill her himself.”
“Maybe there’s more to it than that,” Danny theorized. “Haven’t you guys wondered how Ava’s so strong that even in godhood, the Warden can’t break through her shield?”
“You think I haven’t thought of that?” I demanded. “This shield is the strongest one there’s ever been. Ava combined the magic of all supernatural races into it, something that’s never been done before. Even you combined your blood magic into it so that anyone who attempted to break the shield would have their magic drained. That makes it incredibly strong, but it shouldn’t hold up against gods. Looking back on it, though, I realized something. There’s power pulsing through that shield that didn’t come from us talented supernaturals or demigods.”
I’d felt it when I helped create that hole in the shield, but I didn’t understand it then like I did now.
I went on. “It’s the same type of power I felt coming from the tree at my grandfather’s funeral, which means there was godhood power being channeled into that shield. The boundary between us and the afterlife has been closed off, but there are remnants of godhood powers still on the earth, like the powers within the elder tree. I believe Ava siphoned some of that magic when she was combining everyone’s magic, and some of that godhood power went into the shield.”
“Which is why the Warden has to go to the afterlife before destroying Ilamanthe, so he can kill the gods, end their power, and get through our shield to finish the job,” Doctor Mack agreed. “Killing the gods is going to take him time, so we have a short period before Doctor Taurus damages the realms completely. If we are able to reach the mutabeecha and open a time vortex, there’s a chance we can end this war before he does.”
“How small of a chance?” Marcus asked.
“Small enough that you may want to start saying your goodbyes,” Doctor Mack said regrettably. “But isn’t a small chance enough to at least try? What other option is there?”
Kallie turned to her mom. “You’re not going to lie down and let the Warden do what he wants with what’s left of our world. Not after what he’s done to the fae.”
Queen Emmaline’s voice was determined as she replied, “If there is a way for me to get through to the afterlife, I will find it, and I will do it. I am the Worldweaver. There is nothing that I will allow to stand in my path. But doing so will be no small feat. I won’t be able to do it alone.”
“This is a fool’s errand,” Ivy insisted. “We’re all gonna die trying!”
“It’s that or die lying down,” I pointed out. “If the Warden takes us down, then at least we went down fighting.”
Queen Emmaline raised her voice. “There are no other options. There is a boundary that separates the fae realm of Edinmyre and the fae afterlife of the Great Hunting Grounds, which one must cross in order to reach the land of the dead. The living can’t get through it, but if we can break that boundary, we will have a chance of making it to the afterlife and back.”
“How does that work?” Chancey asked. “Didn’t the Warden already break the connection to the afterlife?”
“What I’m referring to is different from our connection to the afterlife. I’m talking about a connection to a different realm entirely, though a boundary Doctor Taurus hasn’t touched,” Queen Emmaline explained. “Edinmyre is its own fae realm, essentially its own planet, which exists physically just like the Earth. The fae afterlife, the Great Hunting Grounds, are a spiritual world connected to the rest of the Blessed Haven, but it exists within Edinmyre itself. There’s a boundary that prevents the living from entering the spirit world, but if we can get past that boundary, we can reach the Great Hunting Grounds, and through it, the Blessed Haven.”
