Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Riley
Quill is already running before I can tell him anything, so I anxiously cling to his back.
People are fleeing while the houses and buildings crash to rubble around them, burying those who cannot escape.
Thankfully, I see Mickey rushing toward the Door with others before I hurry toward the epicenter, pulling out my walkie-talkie.
“Vero, we’re fleeing to Torin’s world. They have too much power here. We need to retreat,” I yell into it, but I get no answer. Quill races down the street as the cobblestone roads begin to shift and break.
“Get through the Door! There’s a Door down this street, go through it!” I shout at anyone fleeing.
The people are panicked, but I hope they hear me when I beg for them to rush toward the only hope for life they have in this decaying world.
And there in the middle of it, I see Vero still trying to kill Famine.
He’s bleeding and weary as he stands in front of her.
His power is still so weak after spending so long enslaved in this world.
She’s also wounded, but it looks so minimal compared to him, and I get the distinct feeling that he doesn’t even care if he dies as long as he makes her hurt.
“Vero, come with us. It isn’t time yet. You are too weak to win this fight,” I plead, my voice nearly drowned out by an entire building being swallowed by the hole in the ground that’s expanding by the minute.
Famine rushes him and I realize she has a spear.
She tosses sand into the air and then suddenly appears behind him.
Vero turns, sensing her, but he’s too late as she drives the spear right through his shoulder, pinning him to a wall that’s barely standing.
I try to pull strength from the Death magic, but all I can do is feel it.
It’s like I can never choose when to use it.
Is it because my powers are so dependent on my horse?
Sensing movement, I turn and see Famine’s horse running to her aid.
Quickly, I call forth as much ice as I can.
There are at least fifteen shards of it that I send flying at the horse.
The horse shies back, but it doesn’t see the ice I formed behind it as well.
Famine’s attention snaps to the horse when some of the ice strikes the creature.
And it’s all I need to dash forward on Quill and grab Vero. But there’s no way I’m dragging the god up onto Quill without his help. I can barely stay on this wretched beast myself.
“Vero, why die here and accomplish nothing?” I yell. “You’re really just going to throw your life away to her?”
He snaps out something I can’t hear over the sound of another building collapsing before he tears the spear from his shoulder and swings onto Quill.
Vero throws the spear at Selena, but the goddess easily bats it away, stepping in closer to her lover.
They stand there and watch us go as Quill races back to the Door that I continue to beg people to flee toward.
When I look behind me, I discover that the road we’ve traveled is disappearing while the crevice in the ground widens.
Thankfully, it seems like most of the people have already fled from it, but it will destroy the ground this Door stands on shortly.
Quill speeds up as buildings topple and one crashes right into the road.
I grab Kit tightly to keep her from falling off.
Quill skids to a stop and jerks to the right, nearly throwing me off, and he would have if Vero wasn’t holding me on. He leaps over a pillar as Vero ensures I don’t get left behind while we approach the Door.
“Vero, can you destroy the Door and make a new one?” I ask, hoping to move the Door farther from the destruction.
“I cannot make Doors,” Vero says.
“What? I thought all gods could.”
“Most can’t. I’ve never learned how.”
I leap off Quill, glad to be free of the beast. “Quill, go to Torin. Help him with the Doors.”
I race down the street, shouting a warning, but it seems like most of the people in this area have already escaped.
Story rushes over to me. “Most have made it through the Door. Torin told me to tell you we need to go now, that the stability of the place is—”
The medical building collapsing next to us confirms this before Vero shoves me through the Door and I land in a desolate field with thousands of disoriented people.
“We need to close the Doors before the goddess and Famine come through. Where is Torin?” I ask worriedly as Kit nervously shifts to my other shoulder. I fumble with her tail while I look around, hoping to see him among the crowd.
“I think he’s still getting people through,” Lark shouts as I see people coming in through a Door about a quarter of a mile from me.
I begin running then hesitate because I’m afraid Selena or Famine will come in and finish what they started.
I’m not sure how much I can do to keep these people safe, even though we’re off Selena’s land.
“Tell him to hurry. The Doors need to be closed,” I call while I stand guard in front of the handful of Doors that are closest to me. I can feel power radiating from within them, as though Famine and the goddess are reminding me of how much power they have to destroy the world with such ease.
What if Torin needs help? What if it’s too much for him?
I anxiously look over my shoulder as I notice that my hands are shaking. I guess that the hourglass can only do so much when I’ve used an extensive amount of magic… most of which I don’t even understand.
A hand reaches through the Door and latches on to the frame, like she’s dragging herself through, and I lift the bow while Kit chirps uneasily.
When I realize it’s Famine and not Selena, I hesitate, knowing the arrows will do nothing to her when she’s not invading another’s body.
But what if I use a different type of arrow? One that could actually hurt her?
She lifts a hand filled with sand and inhales, prepared to blow the sand out among the people we’ve saved.
They flee in terror as I press my finger against the third notch on my pendant and call for ice.
I direct the ice to melt together, forming one long shard.
I hold it tightly while I force the bowstring to catch onto a notch in the ice and let it fly.
She’s so fixated on the people she wants to take control of that she doesn’t see the ice arrow until it pierces right through her chest.
Famine jerks back, her eyes narrowing as she fixates on me. “Why do you betray us? These people are monsters.”
“Not all of them are. Why do you insist they’re all the same? What has made you into such a monster?”
“They have,” she snarls then looks down.
I see a peculiar blackness snaking up her neck, originating from where the ice struck her.
She reaches for it a second before she sees Quill and Torin.
Vero also charges forward, and Famine pushes back through the Door just as Torin reaches it and closes it, destroying the final Door.
Torin slides off Quill’s back and pulls me close. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” I say. He holds my trembling hands in his while thousands of people gather around us, looking at us for guidance.
Those with magic and those without are mixed together, no longer separated by a wall.
I’m sure those who have been branded want to hate the others—and I don’t blame them—but right now, we have to work together.
“Torin, they’re waiting for you,” I say as I hide my shaking hands.
“I’m thinking of what to say or do. I have no homes for them.”
I shake my head. “Torin, you have thousands of homes for them. Many still stand. These people aren’t used to luxury.
We can rebuild them. We can fix things. We can bring food from my world—or if they wish to go to my world, they can—but right now they need someone like you.
I mean… can you imagine what would happen if Vero helped them? ”
“I would rather die than help them,” Vero growls, looking pretty rough, but he seems to be slowly healing. Mickey’s examining his wounds but Vero shoos him off, telling him they’ll heal on their own.
“That’s the spirit,” Mickey says as he walks over and leans against me.
“You okay?” I ask him.
“Yeah… I feel significantly better now. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it was like something… snapped and my strength came back. I would still like a piggyback ride to the palace, though.”
“I will allow you to ride me,” Torin says, which makes my face scrunch up.
He also says it loud enough that a large number of people get to hear this declaration while they all quietly wait for him to speak.
I was thinking he’d start off his speech to his people with something much more like, “I’m so glad all of you made it,” or possibly a, “I’m going to do everything I can to make this place feel like home,” but nope…
a declaration that a man who isn’t his boyfriend can ride him.
“Your jealous face makes me extremely happy,” Vero tells me. “I will swoop in and—”
“Torin, maybe a speech?” I interrupt.
“Ah, of course. I didn’t give many speeches in my time, I just mostly smiled at people and they were thrilled,” he says as he smiles at them.
The people are too shaken up to be immediately thrilled by this, so Torin clears his throat and drops his smile.
“What happened was devastating, and I’m sorry that our group couldn’t stop it—”
“We’re not blaming you for not stopping it,” Lark cuts in.
“We’re alive… many of us are alive. Most of us.
And we have all of you to thank for that.
Everything that happened in our world was bound to happen long before the four of you showed up…
you just made it so that not everyone died as we were destined to. ”
“I know, but it’s hard losing your homes, your possessions, and people you cared for or loved.
You are welcome to live in my realm, but I will warn you that I have very little.
My own people were…” Torin hesitates, and I know he’s choosing his words carefully because he’s afraid of making me feel guilty.
“My people are gone, and this group is all who remains. I know that I do not have my full strength back, but every day I grow stronger. You are welcome to live here with me. We will repair the homes, fix the stores, and work the fields. You will never be hungry again, I promise that. But I do not have the luxuries of many realms, although I’m willing to bring what I can here with those… sun thingies.”
“Solar,” I whisper.
“Yes! Solar! But no vehicles will be allowed. Those have emerged from the gates of hell. And don’t get me started on subways.
If you don’t want to join my world, Riley can take you to his where they have horrible things like escalators that will split your balls in half.
And their transportation is all horrific and bloodthirsty. ”
I stare at Torin while he does his best to make my world seem like a hellscape.
“But they have pizza!”
Everyone is confused. They had vehicles in their realm, although I encountered very few and only inside the capital, but Torin is doing his best to make them sound like torture devices.
Lark turns to the crowd as she holds Story’s wrist tightly in her hand.
With Onyx and Sterling gone, it seems like she’s the new leader of her people.
She glances back at Torin. “It has been a long time since a god has looked at us with anything but hatred in their heart. We are so thankful. I think for tonight, we should stay here. And then tomorrow, we will reassess. We are used to living with scarcity, so the lack of supplies will not frighten us. We need very little. We just need each other. If you truly offer us freedom, we will have more than we’ve ever been offered. ”
I look at Torin. “The palace won’t hold this many people.”
“We’ll have to make do with the houses and the halls in the town,” Torin says. “We’ll bring food from your world. I have plenty of gemstones that I can sell that will get them anything they need. What do I need such things for? I would rather have people.”
“Okay,” I say.
“TOMMY,” Mickey shouts, and it startles everyone near us as Mickey rushes forward and practically falls into Tommy’s arms. “I thought you were gone. I missed you so much! Where is Joy?”
“Right here, you wild goose,” Joy says before giving him a playful smack on the back of his head. “Is this what your hair looks like without Tommy to pamper you? No wonder you can’t find a man. You look like a mess.”
“I feel like a mess,” he replies, grabbing them in a hug.
I turn to Torin while Mickey mauls the two of them.
“I could borrow Mickey’s magic and we could have the undead help us,” I say before realizing that any undead I brought back here would be people Torin knew.
That’s something he’s never asked for from me or Mickey.
I hastily add, “When I get to my world to figure out the food situation, I’ll raise them up then. ”
Torin hesitates before nodding at me. “Yeah. Okay. Sounds good.” He turns to the crowd and calls out, “We have a short walk, so we’re going to take anyone who is injured into Riley’s world for medical attention. Anyone who is not, wait here and I’ll come back to guide you.”