Crusade Across Worlds (3 page)

So what happened with Princess Nhazual?

The princess is not the first who faulted in
the disclosure of the Gift. She is, however, the last. Like so
many, Princess Nhazual was weak-willed when it came to love. She
was poisoned by her gullibility and deceived her people for the
promise of something that would never be.

What do you mean?

Nhazual chose betrayal over her sacred
vows.

Another princess steps forward.
Only the
Supreme Rulers and their families know the location of their Gift.
They pass the knowledge down, but always with the sacred vows. It
assures that the sanctity of the Gift will be protected and
honored, that they are from the Mother and should always be put
first, before anything. Before love. Before life.

So what happened?

The third princess moves closer, lining up
next to her sisters.
The Mybyncians craved what Reuzkimpart does
now, what several have coveted throughout all existence—use of the
Gifts. But they are given without the intent of being used. Life
must exist without their aide; it is how it must be. They are a
temptation, a test for all. It is designed so that they are never
to be sought, never a necessity to sustain life.

But many children come seeking them,
the second princess adds,
some for personal gain, others hoping
to make the world a better place.

But progress must be made without them.
To use them would disrupt the balance and rewrite history. It is a
power none can handle… unless guided.
A quiet moment passes
.
Are you ready, Fallon?

I close my eyes.
Yes.

Open your channels. Accept the truth that
time is an illusion; space is an illusion. You are both here and
not. See the Nerwolix of three thousand years ago. Find it in your
mind; find the crisp Eckle trees. Smell the fresh Yulus. Can you
see them?

I inhale. The dry air from the Arosin cave
circles inside me, but I focus on blurred images as the knotted
trunks emerge. Lime leaves sway, their round bottoms scraping the
ground and I inhale again, breathing in the subtle nectar. A cool
wind plays down my skin, sweeping the sweet scent closer as the
trees form around me.

Can you see it?

Yes.

Can you see her?

With a blurred hand, I pull back a rounded
Yulu and peer past a hazy Eckle Tree. But there are only more.
Trunks upon trunks blur out at the edges with soft Yulus gently
swaying into one another.

Can you see her?

The leaves sweep the ground as a soft wind
plays. It’s quiet. I wait and watch the Yulus sway until a sweet
scent fills the air. And she appears. Stepping past one of the
blurred Eckles, she’s golden-skinned and young, possessing a
strong, slim figure. She’s dressed in an emerald gown with a
tight-fitting bodice and a wide skirt that scrapes the dirt.
Brownish-blonde curls cascade over smooth shoulders and her eyes,
wide and blue, seek answers. They’re darting about. She’s looking
for something. For someone.

Can you see her, Fallon?

I can almost believe she’s here, right in
front of me. Like I could reach out and touch her. I’m in the
Nerwolix forest of three thousand years ago, inches away from the
last person who betrayed her Kingdom. And she doesn’t even see
me.

Fallon?

I see her.

Good. Follow her.

Nhazual spots something over my shoulder. I
look, but there’s nothing there—only the Nerwolix forest, blurring
and fading into itself. It’s distorted, but clear enough to make
out. I hold my hand in front of my face, focusing on the blurred
edges. This is so weird. I’ve done this before—occupied a different
time to watch prior events unfold—but I never get used to it.
Especially the part where others can’t see me.

There’s less than a foot between Nhazual and
I, but she has no idea I’m here.

This day belongs to her, not me, and maybe
if she knew someone would be watching three thousand years later,
she would do things differently. Maybe she would make a different
decision. Still focused on the something in the distance, she
pursues it.

The edges of her emerald dress blur as she
darts through the forest in a quick and accurate trot. I’m right
behind her, following as she ducks left and then right, over
exposed roots and under low-hanging Yulus. She knows this route
well; she’s taken it often. Nhazual is eager to get to the
destination and I wonder how much farther we’re going. I wonder
what will be there, waiting for us once we arrive. I wonder a lot
of things. The Lost Princesses wanted me to see this moment for a
reason.

Suddenly the trees part and Nhazual stops at
the clearing’s entrance. It’s them—the Nhazual flowers. All around
me. She falls gracefully into the field of pink and green, her body
hidden in their lengthy stems.

I stand behind her. There’s no one here.
Nothing here—just the pink and green buds coming to my hip as a
heavy perfume settles around me. Craning my neck, I watch the blue
sky smudge overhead and then turn my focus back on the princess. Is
this it? Am I just supposed to see her in this—?

Nhazual pops up. She’s startled. Frightened
even.

But so is he.

Sage-skinned and in a knee-length purple
loin cloth, he reaches for his dagger. Then stops. A corner of the
miyon’s mouth turns up and they both stare at each other for one
long, endless moment. Standing a yard away, he’s halfway hidden by
the camouflaged flowers, his face softening with each passing
second. She’s not a threat. She’s a local. A beautiful local. So
much so that he sheathes his weapon and swims his way toward her,
dividing the barricading fauna. Nhazual doesn’t move. A blush
blooms on her confused face but watches him with interest, the
question plain across her features. Should she run? Should she
stay? He’s not only a stranger. He’s a Mybyncian.

They’re different.

Foreign.

He reaches her, stops, and judges her
reaction. Quite still at first, she’s trying to decide what to do.
In her hesitation, the miyon plucks one of the long stems and
presents it to her. Nhazual’s blush deepens as she takes the flower
between two fingers. But her eyes never leave his. They watch one
another for a long moment and eventually, his charm gets the better
of her. Nhazual smiles and he mirrors the gleeful expression.

The image sweeps away but I’m still here. I
look down at my hands. The edges are hazy, like the lines have been
muddied. It’s the same with my Converse and the ends of my jeans.
Everything is a distorted version of itself and for a second, I
don’t know what’s happening. Where did Nhazual go? Where did the
miyon go?

Concentrate, Fallon. Find her
again
.

Everything is blurry, indistinguishable.
Trees fade into one another, smudging at their edges but there’s a
bright red blur. I focus on it and everything sharpens into a new
scene. It’s Nhazual. She’s pressed to an Eckle tree at the edge of
the clearing as the miyon cradles her face. He leans in to kiss her
before stroking her loose tendrils, which have escaped her unkempt
up-do. Breathless, she places her hands against his chest as his
slide down to her ruby skirt, gripping her with sage fingers. I
watch them kiss for a moment longer before everything blurs again,
washing away this moment.

The green fades to darkness and when the
image re-sharpens, we’re no longer in the forest, but a tunnel—a
long, dark passageway that threatens suffocation. I know this
place. I’ve been here before. Nhazual rushes past, her sapphire
gown billowing behind as a small creature follows alongside. Barely
reaching her hip, it has dark hair and a curved back, his head
slightly dipping between his shoulders. I immediately recognize him
as Curhio, the deformed Nerwo that lives in the mountains.
Nhazual’s Pass
. That’s where we are. The tunnel through the
mountains that connects the northern terrain with the southern—it’s
where we met Curhio when the Vermix invaded Nerwolix nearly three
months ago.

The princess drops to her knees and wraps
her arms around his tiny, misshapen frame. The embrace lasts a
second and she’s off again, leaving Curhio behind as she dashes
into the night with glee.

She runs for the miyon and they hold each
other on impact. Pulling apart, he clasps Nhazual’s hand and leads
her through the blurred Eckles of the nighttime forest. I follow as
they emerge into the field of pink and green flowers. He kisses her
between words, smiling as he points north. Nhazual shakes her head
and he points south. She shakes her head again, frowning. She’s
about to say something but the miyon closes the gap between them.
He brushes a lock of hair behind her pointed ear and Nhazual
relaxes.

The colors fade into one another and the
scene melts away. I’m jumping time again… but to when? And
where?

Brightness blinds me in the form of an
immense stone white castle. It’s nighttime, and I’m at an entrance,
surrounded by Nerwo guards who scoff to one another as something
small scurries closer. Curhio. He’s frantic, his tiny limbs
gesturing with desperation. Panic. Fear. The guards attempt to
restrain him, but the disabled Nerwo slips easily through their
shield and down the long pristine hall. I’m rushing behind him,
passing green and gold tapestries until we enter a grand space.
It’s lined with guards and guests and three people seated higher
than everyone else. Curhio is speaking, gesturing back and forth
from where he’d come, but he’s met with laughter and mockery.

And hate.

Nhazual watches horrorstruck as the center
throne’s occupant nods only once. The Nerwo guards remove Curhio
and I’m torn. Do I follow them or stay with the princess? Her eyes
burn with anger and just as the small Nerwo is forced outside,
Nhazual rushes to join him. I’m behind her, racing alongside as she
darts through the dark trees, Curhio at her side. A handful of
guards follow but they’re bogged down with confusion. Where is the
princess going? And why? They race to catch her, but quickly fall
behind because Nhazual is fast.

Too fast.

She knows this route well. So well, she
almost leaves me behind with each precise movement. Each
anticipated turn. I push as hard as I can, following her golden
dress as it flies around the trees. She’s frantic, dodging in and
out of the Eckles, her form so much hazier now. Ducking into the
tunnel, she races through the disoriented darkness with Curhio
still at her side. Emerging back into the night, Nhazual whips
through the trees like her life depends on it, like she would be
doomed if she didn’t get there in time.

She reaches the edge of the forest and
pauses.

He’s here.

And so are the others, all armed with
daggers. They’re digging at the root of an Eckle and Nhazual
stiffens. She stares at the miyon she knows, fresh tears in her
eyes. I want to watch the others, want to see what they’re doing in
closer detail, but I can’t take my focus off Nhazual and the miyon.
Off of the way she’s looking at him.

Heartbroken.

He moves back.

The others inch closer, daggers drawn.
Curhio leaps onto one of the miyons but he’s thrown off and slammed
into a nearby trunk. The disabled Nerwo slides to the bottom and
lies motionless as the rest enclose her. Nhazual remains still,
eyes on her miyon, always on him. The others rush forward, daggers
extended but she never moves. She merely watches him, waiting,
waiting until the tips of their blades are about to puncture her
body.

And she disappears.

The miyons gut each other, each falling back
with a gaping red wound.

Her miyon is shocked. Outraged.

Then flummoxed.

Pained.

A tiny point protrudes from his chest.
Gripping the handle sticking out of his back, Nhazual whispers into
his ear, “You have killed me.”

He falls forward, onto the ground with his
dead comrades. Shocked, the princess looks around at what she’s
done. I watch as she dissects the situation, unraveling what her
entire love affair had been about: information. And she would have
to explain this. To her mother and father, and the entire kingdom
would know that she betrayed them. She gave them up because she
didn’t leave that first meeting. She took what he offered her… and
gave her life in return.

Nhazual falls to the ground, her face in her
hands and begins sobbing uncontrollably.

The trees wash away, followed quickly by the
night sky and the dead miyons and Curhio. Princess Nhazual’s
shaking body is the last thing that fades, the golden color
disappearing until there’s nothing left.

Fallon
.

I open my eyes. My heart is racing, beating
hard in my chest at what I just witnessed. It’s difficult to take
it all in, especially that last part.
He betrayed her.

Yes.

He wanted to find the Gift—the Floating
Ruby.

Yes.

And she told him. And he was prepared to
kill her afterward.

Yes
.

I suck in a deep breath.
She was
heartbroken
.

Each of us is assigned our own tasks, our
own purpose in this life
, the second princess says.
Nhazual
knew she was never meant to disclose the location of the Floating
Ruby, and she did.

Because she loved him.

It matters not. If he had truly loved her,
he would not have asked. He would not have dishonored her by doing
so. The Gifts, Fallon, are never to be used. Not if the peace is to
be maintained.

And what about now? With the war? Could they
be used to stop it?

The Mother’s Gifts are the most powerful
artifacts in all existence
, the third princess says.
Mortals
are too weak- willed to use them selflessly. If one is to conquer
their power, they must be guided properly.