Chapter Eight

Meera

“No!” Elia cries out. I open my eyes and look over to find her standing with her feet planted and hands outstretched. Pink magic dances around her arms and out from her palms, directed at a crack a few meters away. The crack shines pink and crackles with energy before fading away. Elia drops her hands and head, her shoulders moving as she tries to catch her breath. She growls in frustration and kicks the ground. “I was so close.” I can understand her frustration. She has been trying to open this portal for over five hours. Each time getting so close only for it to be snapped shut again. I jump up and walk over to her, slipping an arm around her waist. She slumps a little and I take some of her weight.

“It’s okay, we can try again.” I say softly and help her sit down. “But you need a break. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.” In true Elia fashion, she rolls her eyes and starts to protest. I flick my wrist and some water from a nearby bottle flies up and splashes her in the face. She reels back.

“What was that for?” She exclaims. I snicker and pull the water from her face.

“Usually you can stop that. Or at least create a shield.” I say matter of factly. “The fact that you didn’t now, proves my point of you needing a break.”

“Queen Meera is right, your Majesty.” A nearby witch supplies. She is a gentle lady in her mid-thirties with a husband and two children. According to Elia, who has a gift when it comes to sensing the magic in others, she is strong. So Elia asked her to come with us as we tried to open the portal. “I can feel your magic and its exhaustion.”

“Thank you Meredith.” I say before shooting a pointed look at Elia.

“Fine. Theoretical magic then.” Elia concedes and beckons Meredith forward. Meredith hurries over and they both end up sitting bowed over Elia’s book of shadows mumbling about stuff that I couldn’t even try to understand. Instead, I walk over to Roan who sits in the sun talking to a group of five vampires, all of which begged to come with us to keep us safe. This whole royalty thing has me thrown in a loop. We have always looked to each other for answers and have been alone for so long. But now there are multiple people hanging on our every word, looking to us for the answers and guidance as well as to keep them safe. It’s weird. But it doesn’t feel wrong. And that is the weirdest part.

“Are you all from the same clan?” Roan asks as I sit down next to him.

“No, your Majesty.” A vampire with long and straight ebony hair says before bowing her head slightly towards me. I nod back and lean against Roan’s shoulder. “We are all from separate clans. The hunters wanted to see if there were differences between each clan. So they kept one alive from each and… killed the rest. Then they experimented…” She goes silent, her eyes downcast. The rest of them do the same. Their pain is so clear in their body movements that it feels like I can feel it. I reach for her hand and squeeze it gently, causing her eyes to flicker up to meet mine.

“What’s your name?” I ask softly.

“Lila.” She answers, to which I smile. I look at the others, waiting for them to answer.

“Zach.” A burly man with military cut hair answers.

“Carli.” Another girl answers, she is younger than Lila and has the bushiest afro hair that I have ever seen.

“Vincent.” An older man answers. I nod.

“Well, Lila, Zach, Carli, Vincent.” I say, looking at each of them in turn. “I promise that no one will ever do that to you again. Not as long as we live.” They each smile and nod gratefully.

“Thank you, Queen Meera.” Lila says. “That means a lot to us.” It’s my turn to smile.

“YES!” A shout from the two witches catches our attention. Elia jumps up and hurries to the place where she found the portal and stops right in front of it. We jump up and hurry over to her, only to be stopped by Meredith before we actually reach Elia.

“What’s going on?” Roan asks.

“She is going to try to see the way.” Meredith answers, leaving us even more in the dark.

“Excuse me?” I blurt out. “What do you mean see the way?”

“Through her gift of sight. She is going to try to force a vision.” Meredith says. I share a worried look with Roan before taking a slight step closer to Elia. “No, your Majesties. You can not go closer. It might be explosive.”

“I don’t like this.” Roan states.

“Me neither.” I say as we both step back again. Elia throws her arms out to the side, letting her magic race across her skin. All of her skin. Her head is thrown back and I catch a glimpse of her pure pink eyes. As usual, it is creepy to see that power racing through her. It is a glimpse of the really powerful witch she is. The energy that is radiating out of her is enough to make us take several steps backwards.

“Meredith? Is this supposed to be like this?” Roan asks, a wary tone creeping into his voice.

“Yes. It may take a while, but she is now viewing the portal from another plane.” Meredith says in awe, her eyes glued to Elia’s back.

“Care to elaborate?” I ask.

“The world is full of hidden things. Like this portal. Only those with special gifts can see all them, Queen Elia has this gift. But only through her visions. But looking at her power, her gifts will keep growing. Every magical gate has instructions on how to open it, these instructions are hidden. But through her visions, Queen Elia can read those instructions.” More magic talk that would make perfect sense to a witch. Elia was the first witch that I met and it was clear that she was powerful. But she was also young. I had no idea that this could be done.

“What do we do now?” I ask Meredith anxiously.

“We wait.”

After what feels like hours, her magic fades away and she collapses to her knees. Roan and I race forward and fall to our knees on either side of her.

“El?” Roan asks, gripping her shoulder.

“I’m fine.” She says in between laboured breaths. A smile spreads on her lips and she opens her eyes. They shine with residual power. “And I know how to open the portal.”