Chapter 9 #3
The next day we travel for hours in the heat and sand.
It’s awful. I can see why no one wants to live out here.
I even try conjuring a floral canopy to shade us, but there is so little water that my magic refuses to cooperate.
Kaelren casts me curious glances but doesn’t say much the whole way there.
Finally, we crest the top of a hill, and I see it.
It is gorgeous. A white marble structure that reminds me of something from ancient Rome. Maybe I’m not one of the only humans who has ever been here, or maybe more fae crossed over into Earth than I originally suspected.
The columns are massive, and the structure has winged creatures set like gargoyles all along the front of it. Vines are carved winding up the columns, and in the center is a large basin set on a pedestal.
Eltrien points to the center. “There. The water is rumored to answer whatever wish you hold in your mind as you drink it. But Elle, listen carefully. You must not have more than one sip, or it will instantly kill you. You must be very specific in your wish and think it while you drink. Any deviation could alter what happens next.”
Great. No pressure.
Kaelren uses some of his magic to spread a thin path for us to walk along, a blackened path of sorts to help avoid shifting the sand and alerting any nearby wyrms. Our group basically tiptoes the rest of the way to the temple, and I want to cheer with delight when we hit the first stone steps.
Okay, I think. Maybe I’ll make it out of this one without being violently yanked somewhere.
Kaelren is on high alert. “Sarnyx, Nimor, watch the sides. We don’t know if this wyrm will suddenly appear.”
They nod, head in opposite directions.
We walk up to the pedestal. The water looks cool, inviting. I nod at Eltrien, take a breath, lean in.
Whoops and hollers erupt as people drop from the ceiling all around us.
I look up in surprise and see Iteration Five Elle, Peeble, Vashael, Bryx, and Kevin.
“Well, well, Kaelren, what is this?” I hear my other self say in a huskier tone than I typically use.
“Already decided to replace me?”
Kaelren growls. “It’s not what you think. Plus, YOU are the one that keeps running from me!”
I sigh and make a placating gesture. “Look, Elle, me, whoever you are. I’m not after your man. Trust me. Just when I thought he couldn’t be more of an ass, I meet this version.”
Other Elle surges forward. “Don’t you talk about him like that.”
Sarnyx intervenes, stepping between us. “Let’s take it down a notch. We don’t want to wake the Gnashwyrm.”
Suddenly Peeble is there, wings buzzing at a pitch that could shatter glass. “What is this about a wyrm?! Kevin, you didn’t mention anything about a wyrm when you convinced me to come out to this godsforsaken desert!”
Bryx saunters up next to me, beaming. “Well, hello, gorgeous! What a great day for me. I got my wish for a beautiful female before I even had to drink the water!”
“Look, Bryxy boy, I am very fond of you, but you lay one hand on me and I will have to punch you right in the antenna. And I know how sensitive those are for you.”
He lurches back and gasps. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Oh, I would. And I will.”
The group begins to argue and bicker with one another. Nimor and Vashael are having a lovers’ quarrel while the others are bringing up petty differences that apparently span this entire iteration. It’s chaos.
I finally yell, “WAIT! Why are you guys here?”
“Because,” Other Elle brushes her hands down her shirt, smoothing it out with exaggerated calm, “we were told we could come here to make a wish, and I planned to get rid of Auradelle that way.”
Bryx throws his hands up. “Do what?! That’s not what you told me!”
The bickering starts up again, and suddenly the temple begins to shake. Sand, dust, and debris begin falling from the ceiling as a loud roar shakes the entire foundation.
We all freeze.
“Well, now you’ve gone and done it,” snarks Peeble.
Another roar, closer this time, and I begin to panic. “Okay, I need everyone to hush! I have got to make this wish before this wyrm takes down this whole place.”
Other Elle comes rushing toward me. “Oh, no, you don’t. I have been here for months trying to find the perfect solution to the absolute dumpster fire of a situation I’ve been placed in. If anyone drinks from that water, it will be me!”
Let me tell you, it is a wild thing fighting with yourself. It’s like looking in a mirror and knowing every hit will only make you look uglier. I don’t want to do too much damage, because I don’t know what that means for my future.
We are running through the temple, dodging columns, and I am desperately trying to think of what to do.
Meanwhile, the foundation begins to groan.
I look up in horror as I see the wyrm circling the building, trying to cause a sinkhole.
It looks like that horrible worm from Beetlejuice, all black-and-white striped, but fatter, like the ones from Tremors.
Its body coils around the exterior walls, each pass sending more cracks racing through the marble.
I realize I only have seconds before my opportunity is gone.
“Someone distract the wyrm! We need to buy some time!”
The group spreads out, banging weapons on stone, confusing the wyrm which direction the vibrations are coming from. The creature rages and roars, whipping its massive body back and forth, unable to pinpoint a single target.
I finally lose Other Elle around a corner and skid to a stop.
And I don’t believe what I see.
It is Peeble. Riding the back of the wyrm like they were born for desert warfare, tiny wings flared, mandibles raised to the heavens.
“ONWARD, BEAST!” Peeble screams. “SUBMIT TO YOUR MASTER!”
I stare for a full second, equal parts horrified, impressed. Then I shake it off and look at the pedestal. The water is unguarded. The basin sits there, shimmering, still, completely unbothered by the chaos around it.
I slide up to the side of the pedestal. Just as I reach for a handful of water, Other Elle knocks me to the ground.
We roll across the floor, punching, clawing.
She grabs a fistful of my hair. I grab hers right back.
We’re both screaming, because getting your hair pulled hurts regardless of whether you’re a badass vigilante.
I finally shove her down the side stairs, sprint back to the water. I scoop up a handful, cup it to my mouth, start my wish as I drink.
I wish to go to the iteration with my Kaelren and—
Other Elle comes charging up the steps. But the wyrm is right behind her. Its massive jaws open wide—wider than anything that size should be able to—and close around her in one bite.
I choke on the water.
Damn it.
The wish is half-formed. The water is already burning down my throat, already doing whatever ancient magic it’s supposed to do, and I didn’t finish the thought.
I said my Kaelren. I didn’t say which iteration.
I didn’t say the present. I didn’t say any of the things Eltrien told me to be specific about.
The temple is collapsing. The wyrm is thrashing. Peeble is somewhere screaming what sounds like a battle cry mixed with profanity. And the world is starting to shimmer at the edges, that telltale blur that means I’m about to be pulled somewhere else.
I look down at my hands. They’re fading.
“Not again,” I whisper.
The last thing I see before the world dissolves is Eltrien’s face across the temple, his expression a mixture of terror and something else—recognition, maybe. Like he knows exactly what’s about to happen because he’s seen some version of this before.
Then everything goes white, and I’m falling again.