Galena
Chapter Twenty-Six

By mid-morning, a Knight came rushing into the cell, grabbing Jace and Maggie by their arms to force them to stand. They looked at the door to see Heath standing there. He wore his Garzil uniform with the cowl pulled down, so they could see his face. His eyes had no life in them like Maggie was used to, they were stern and empty.

Maggie wanted to call out his name, but her throat closed, and her mouth wouldn’t release the name. She was afraid to see him this way. She looked over at her brother whose eyes were locked on Heath too. Jace knew this ruthless side of Heath. Maggie wondered if Jace was afraid of him, but she couldn’t tell. He stood strong next to her, ready for where they were going.

“You’ve been summoned,” Heath said with no emotion. His eyes went from Maggie then to Jace. Then motioned for the Knights to unchain them. They pushed Jace and Maggie forward to leave the cell.

“Heath, this isn’t you,” Maggie said, stopping in front of him and trying to catch his gaze.

“Silence!” he spat out, “Walk.” He pushed her arm to force her to walk.

Maggie’s eyebrows curved down as she became upset, not knowing why their blood bind wasn’t working. She brushed into her brother, who glanced down at her. His eyes trying to tell her it was okay.

They were led to the main hall where the energy was so strong Maggie and Jace felt overwhelmed. When they rounded the corner before entering the throne room, they saw why. They stood before the light of Valo. The amount of magic pouring through the tunnel was becoming unbearable for them to keep standing next to it.

A figure then emerged from the other side. Vanessa dragged her hand along the light. Her hand surged with the energy she pulled off it. She walked up to them and grinned, leading them into the throne room, where the two finally laid eyes on Garos.

His form was that of a human’s, but he was taller than the average man. His body was pure energy - blue, purple, gold, silver - all forms of magic flowed throughout his body. One thing that stood apart from him and the other energy beings was his eyes weren’t stars, they were hollow. He wore a royal uniform and electricity came off his fingers and mouth as he spoke.

“It’s time,” he let out. The sound boomed through the room and left off with an echo. He looked off to the side and Jace and Maggie followed where he gazed off to.

“Mom!” they exclaimed, going to rush to her but was pulled back by the Knights.

Vivian stood against the wall and shook her head to them. Her eyes filled with tears and horror as she stared at her children. She clutched her hands under her chin and looked back up at Garos.

“The poison wore off after many years,” Garos continued, looking away from Vivian, “but it damaged this shell. I require a new one and only that of a royal is strong enough.” He motioned for the cuffs to be removed from Jace and Maggie. Once the cuffs dropped from Jace, Kard appeared in his hand. Garos flicked his hand, throwing Kard from his hold.

“He doesn’t appreciate that,” Vanessa growled, going up the platform to stand beside Garos. “What do I get for bringing them to you, my love?” she asked, dragging her hand across his chest. Tiny streamers of lightning flashed where she touched.

Garos turned to her and dipped his head down. As their lips touched, magic flowed out of him and into her mouth. The blue magic streamed down her veins, glowing as it found a place to rest. She turned back to the guest and grinned again, her eyes still glowing from the exchange of power.

“Bring the boy here,” Garos commanded.

Jace’s eyebrow rose and the Knights pushed him forward.

“I have a better idea,” Vanessa said, turning back to Garos and trying to turn on her charm. “Take me instead. I will grant you more power than what this city has to offer.”

Garos snickered at her. The same reaction Jace and Maggie had given her when she spoke of this idea last night. “You do not hold the capacity that Valo’s children do.”

“Oh, contraire, love,” Vanessa said, dangling the amulet in front of him. “Remember this?” she smiled at Garos’ attention on her, “I’ve kept it with me ever since you gave it to me. My goal was always to help you. Even if that meant giving you my body to live.” She leaned towards him, “Kard will have no choice but to come to us now.”

“You actually believe her,” Jace scoffed. “Amulet or not, she will still have magic in her for Kard to reject,” he said, trying to make it sound good. “I, on the other hand, have no magic. I already possess Kard. So, when you take me over, you’ll be good as safe.”

“Did you not hear what I told you? This amulet allows me to possess both magic and Kard,” Vanessa growled at him. Her lip raised in disgust.

“And you’re willing to take that chance?” Jace asked, staring at Garos. “You know she shared a bed with me,” he continued, seeing the magic in Garos turn red, “I took many chances with her and look what she did to me. Threw me out on the curb after getting what she wanted.”

Garos’ eyeless gaze went to Vanessa, who stared at Jace with a smug look.

“Look at her,” Jace continued, “Do you really want that?”

Vanessa yelled and pushed Jace back with her magic. He flew across the throne room, landing at Maggie’s feet. Maggie dropped to her brother’s side while Vivian ran towards her children. Vanessa threw her hand out, pulling the magic out of her. Maggie and Jace rushed to their mother, but Vanessa was quick. She hit them again with great force, then turned to Garos, who growled at her. He lunged to send his hand through her chest, but she slammed her hand into his stomach first.

“If you won’t give it to me willingly. I will take it myself,” she spat out, draining Garos into her. Her body pulsed bright blue and purple. Her eyes filled with energy and the patch that covered her missing eye fell to the ground - the lightning sizzled within the hole of her skull.

Jace climbed to his feet and called for Kard. He raced towards the magic still being pulled from his mother and sliced the sword through the stream. It cut the chain linked between the two and Vivian dropped to the ground.

“You are once again in my way, Creed!” Vanessa screamed, throwing her hand to the side.

The magic streamed out creating an extension of her and pinned Jace to the wall. It held his arms and legs in place; another piece held onto his neck. Vanessa let go of Garos once the body of Prince Auron dropped. She threw her head back and began to laugh maniacally.

Maggie watched in horror as her brother struggled and her mother laid on the ground motionless. She struggled to stand as the last of Vivian’s magic slammed into her. Maggie screamed as the magic absorbed into her body, racing to fill the remaining places within her. Her skin glowed a faint purple from consuming the last of her inherited magic.

“Now for one more piece,” Vanessa said, her eyes glowing with fascination at the amount of power that poured into Maggie. She held her hand out to Maggie, beckoning the magic to be pulled from her.

Maggie began to scream as she felt the magic being drained. Her arms began to turn purple as the magic drained. Maggie’s eyes desperately searched around her, she could feel the portal to the Nothingness opening.

Just then the magic between them pulled another way.

Heath held his hand out and let go of the connection once Vanessa stopped draining Maggie. “You will not touch her,” he said, glaring at Vanessa from across the room. The sound of Maggie in agony triggered the blood bind – reminding him who he was and who he had to protect.

“Now I remember why I hate necros,” Vanessa said with piercing eyes.

“And I’ve never liked you, sweetheart,” Heath answered. He formed a ball of dark magic in his hand and threw it towards Vanessa. It only knocked her back a step and she began to laugh at the tingle it left on her skin. Heath let out a deep sigh. “Okay, let’s try this one,” he mumbled, putting his hands together. He pulled them apart to create a larger ball of necro magic and shot it towards Vanessa.

Vanessa pushed her magic through her palms and the two energies clashed. Heath kept his hands out in front of him as he streamed his magic at the attack. Vanessa’s magic pushed him back, but he held his stance. Vanessa’s eyes dropped to Maggie and a smirk crawled to the corner of her mouth. She threw her other hand out to attack Maggie, but Heath reacted accordingly.

He leapt in front of Maggie, blocking Vanessa’s attack. As he landed hard on the ground in front of Maggie, Vanessa whipped her hand around and, like the extension of magic that still pinned Jace, she threw a stream of magic at Heath. The magical hand wrapped around his legs and threw him violently into the wall behind Maggie.

Maggie watched him drop to the ground. She went to go to him, but her body froze from Vanessa’s magic connecting to her again. She yelled in pain as her magic began to be drawn out.

Vanessa stepped off the platform, closing the gap between them. “I’ve waited for a very long time for this,” she began, her face glowing from the magic she took in. “I thought everything fell into my hands before, but this is too perfect.” Her eyes glowed brighter as the purple went down Maggie’s body.

Maggie’s eyes darted around the room again. The portal to the Nothingness was open. Voids would be coming for her – she needed to do what Nainen asked her to do before it was too late. She had to take the magic back from Vanessa and keep draining her long enough for Nainen to come for her brother.

Maggie stared at Vanessa’s moving mouth. She couldn’t hear what she was saying – she could only think about what would happen after she consumed all of Vanessa’s magic. Her eyes fell to her mother’s motionless body then she looked up at Jace who concentrated on calling Kard to him. She saw the sword shake as he forced his will to it – his eyes glancing up at his sister every few seconds. The look in her eyes kept his attention and he began to shake his head, yelling inaudibly.

Heath’s words began to ring in Maggie’s ears: Focus and rely on your powers. He was so against her doing what Vivian said in her book, but in the end, he knew it was the only way. Nainen felt the same, but she had a plan for Maggie and Maggie believed in it.

Slowly, Maggie took a step forward and watched Vanessa’s eyes widen, seeing the determination in Maggie’s face. “You have toyed with the ones I love for too long,” she forced out, narrowing her eyes on Vanessa. “People died by your hands. Valo brought peace to Galena so that he didn’t have to witness someone as vile as you.” She began to raise her hand, “It stops here.”

Maggie threw her hand in front of her and Vanessa blocked her. The two streams of magic fought back and forth. Both Maggie and Vanessa slid backwards as each other pushed their power into their attack. Maggie focused on the magic within her. She pushed harder and took a step forward.

Vanessa’s eyes widened again, and she pushed harder to match Maggie’s strength.

Maggie took another step and slowly her magic slipped into Vanessa’s stream. Her magic raced through Vanessa’s and wrapped around Vanessa’s hand, coating her entire body.

“No-!” Vanessa forced out. The energy surging through her began to drain. “This isn’t how it was supposed to be!”

Maggie fought harder to ignore the strong pulses of pain hitting her body as Vanessa’s stolen magic surged into her. She watched Nainen appear, floating behind Vanessa. She nodded to the Yhden and Nainen held her hands out, beckoning Uros to her.

Vanessa could feel Uros pulling away from her. She wrapped her arms around her, begging him not to take her power from her. “We were meant to conquer the kingdoms together!” she yelled and turned to see Uros gliding into his sister’s arms like a wounded child returning home.

Nainen nodded to Maggie and turned to leave with her brother.

Anger forced an ear-piercing scream out of Vanessa. Kard flew off the ground and into her hand. “You’ll pay for this!!” she screamed again, rushing to Maggie and throwing the sword’s blade into Maggie.

As Maggie felt the piercing pain enter her abdomen, she pushed her hand into Vanessa’s stomach, sending a massive energy spike through her. The magic shot through Vanessa as Maggie stumbled backwards to the ground.

Vanessa dropped Kard and cried in pain as the magic instantly invaded her body and shot out wherever it could. She screamed again, watching Voids coming for her. Vanessa had become a full-bodied Void, but Jace wasn’t going to let her go that easily. He was dropped from her hold as soon as Uros left her body and he charged towards his sister and Vanessa. He called Kard to him and sent his sword into Vanessa’s back. She let out a ghostly scream and burst.

Jace turned to the Voids circling him. “Who’s next?” he yelled at them all, his eyes piercing them. “I will make you all have the same fate as her!”

The Voids stepped backwards, disappearing into the portals they came out of. Jace swung around and found Heath cradling Maggie in his arms.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” Heath cried, pulling Maggie into him. He cried into her shoulder.

“It’s as Nainen saw it,” they heard and looked up to see Emma.

Marie was stepping through the portal behind her.

“Can you heal her?” Jace asked, going to her. Tears flood his eyes.

Emma looked up at him, feeling his pain. Her eyes were a deeper blue than normal and her skin glowed white. She went to Heath and Maggie and knelt beside them. Jace dropped down to the ground with her. “Nainen told me that I would heal a person I loved,” Emma continued. She looked at Jace, “I thought it was you, but I love Maggie too.” She lightly tugged at Heath to lower Maggie to the ground, so she could see her. Emma gently placed her hand on Maggie’s stomach where blood soaked through her clothes. “She has an important role in my life as well. She became my best friend.” She began to glow brighter as she poured the Yhden’s healing powers into Maggie.

Marie watched her nephew leave the room. He was brushing his hand through his hair and the look on his face was pure distraught. “All of this was meant to happen,” she let out, standing beside Jace.

Jace stared at Emma, as she poured magic into his sister. “Is Emma glowing from Nainen’s powers?” he quietly asked.

Marie nodded, “She began to glow a few hours ago. She watched everything and waited for the moment Nainen told her to go.”

“Regardless what mom wrote or what Yhden thinks, it should’ve been me Vanessa went after, not Maggie…” Jace let out, watching the blood lift from around Maggie’s stomach and disappear. “I’m meant to protect the people of Galena and the High Advisor. And I failed her.”

Marie shook her head. “Have faith in the power of Yhden, Jace.”

Jace felt a brush of energy go past him. He turned away from the others and stepped away from Marie, watching his mother stand on the throne platform embracing her brother. He walked up to them. “Mom?” he let out.

Vivian turned to him and he stepped closer to them. She touched his cheek. Her body had dissolved into this energy form that stood before him. He couldn’t feel her touch, but knew it was warm. She gave him a soft smile then looked around him to look at Maggie.

“Will she be okay?” he asked, looking back at his mother.

Vivian gave him a wink then turned back to join her brother but stopped. Next to her brother stood Jonathan. She ran into his arms and he swung around with her. They stopped to look back at Jace. Jonathan gave his son a nod, then took Vivian’s hand. Vivian slipped her hand into his then took her brother’s hand. She looked back at Jace, smiling at him again. As they stepped through the white portal that appeared, wind began to blow into the throne room.

Jace turned around to watch magic flow from the tunnel of Valo and into the Garzil Knights. Their black uniforms turned white and the symbol of Garos faded into the chest plates. Jace stepped off the platform, towards his sister. The magic raced out the wide doors and windows into the city and towns around, returning the people’s magic.

The darkness that took over Galena had finally lifted, and Maggie was sitting up.

Jace rushed to his sister and he pulled her into a tight hug.

“I saw mom,” Maggie said into his chest.

“Me too,” Jace said, smiling at her.

“She’s with our father,” Maggie returned his smile and Jace hugged her again.

Jace pulled away when he saw Heath rush back into the room. Heath dropped to his knees and pulled Maggie into a sobbing hug. “Thank Yhden…” he cried into her.

Maggie held him tight and when she pulled away, she saw the emotion back in his jade eyes. “It worked,” she said, giving him a small smile and looking down at her ring. Heath let out a laugh and pulled her into a kiss. When they pulled away again, Maggie looked at his uniform, “It’s white!”

“Galena’s magic has returned,” he answered, pressing his forehead onto hers.

Heath helped Maggie to her feet. She went to Emma, giving her a hug and thanking her.

Marie interrupted them by saying she sent the surviving Vorks into Len to tell the people the news. She added that they would need to make an appearance as the crowned King and High Advisor.

Jace looked to his sister and held out his hand to her. They began to walk towards the balcony, but Jace stopped and turned to Emma. “You’re a part of this, Em,” he smiled, taking her by his side, “You too Heath.”

Heath smirked and joined them, stepping next to Maggie.

Cheers poured out from the streets below and Marie used her magic to pull open the curtain.

Jace and Maggie stepped onto the balcony and Jace held up Kard, making the crowd cheer louder. The thoughts of the Garzil and Garos slowly faded from the minds of the people. They only saw Jace and Maggie as their new King and High Advisor.

Their cheers of ”long live the royals" echoed through Valo. Their beloved Monarchy was back, and magic freely flowed from them as celebrations broke out everywhere.

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