The Art of Rebellion

The Shadow Queen

I spend the trip back to Verdo either by myself or with En, not really caring about anything else. I don't know how many days it took us, but here we are, flying above the desert. I have absolutely no interest in staying for long. I'll see the Poets off, but then I'm heading back to HQ. I have bad news to deliver, after all.

"There," Corwin says to Mad, pointing at the pyramid I recognize as the entrance to their underground city. "Land on the rocks." A good idea, really. It would be such a shame if all these kids we rescued wound up as shark food.

"Ok, bring us down," the captain orders, and the ship starts descending. As soon as it hits the ground, En walks up to me.

"I wanna go home."

I nod without speaking.

"How long are we gonna be here?"

I shrug, still silent.

"Are you ok?" she asks, and I turn to look at her. I already know what I'm gonna do in this horrible place, but there's no point in telling anyone who doesn't need to know. The time we spent travelling let my powers restore completely, and it's pretty clear the memories and feelings Shishi ate have made me stronger.

"Imagine your full magical power to be a glass," the shadowform explained as soon as I felt the power. "The magic you currently have is the water inside the glass. When you're at full power, the glass is full, and when you're tired, it's empty. The water will replenish by itself in time, but the glass requires hard work to enlarge. Letting me feed resulted in the glass becoming bigger, making it capable of holding more water. This is why you are stronger."

It would've been enough to heal Ry had I not let it pour out of me wastefully, all because I was mad over something that happened long ago. That anger is what's kept me going all this time, and I can't let go of it, but I have to learn to control it. If I don't, I might lose more people.

At that thought, I glance at En and Mad. Right now, I guess these two and Hasta are the ones I'm closest to.

Corwin leads us underground, toward his leader's temple. There are a lot fewer people on the streets than before, so it's easy to tell there was a battle. Many of them are injured, too.

Golem takes the kids and Ghost away as the rest of us enter the temple. There, on top of her throne, sits Drusilla, a smile on her face.

"I can sense the children from here. I assume you'll be taking responsibility for them, Corwin?"

The man nods, and Leo walks up to stand beside him.

"Ah, yes. Congratulations on successfully pulling everything off."

He narrows his eyes, looking serious. An unusual sight, to say the least. "You know what I want."

She reaches into her long, red cloak and pulls out a weird looking, dark red stone. I can feel power coming from it, but I can't say I recognize it. "Of course, of course. I told you you'd fail to get everything right, but I was wrong." She throws the gem, which he then catches and pockets. "I need not give words of warning, right?"

"Of course not," he smiles, then steps back. I don't know what the exchange was about, and I don't care.

Drusilla's eyes land on me. "My, how you've grown. You're not a little crow anymore."

"And yet my wings are smaller than yours, Red Queen."

"Flattery doesn't suit you," she replies. "It was more like your friend to do something like that." Her eyes scan the small crowd before her, and her smile disappears. "I see." The subject at hand is clear as day, but none of us are eager to prolong it, so we let it die out.