Long Ago

Chapter Twenty Eight

I ran past cell after cell. The people in them calling out after me as I darted past. I had been looking inside each cell, determined to find my friends... my family. So far, they were nowhere.

I turned to the right and slammed to a stop.

Hundreds of cells filled with people, Boggles, Fairies, Trolls, Witches, and so many more different kinds of creatures I had never seen lined my left and right for miles. I shook my head slowly... how long had these poor creatures been locked here?

I took a step forward. A single step. A single second before I knew what to do. I knew what needed to be done.

I pulled my magic up, up, up, and as I did so I sent a message into every prisoners mind. Using more magic and power I had ever mustered I whispered into every beast, creature, and humans mind a message. A message of safety. Of release. I would allow them to escape if, and only if, they helped me defeat the king. I spoke into their minds words more powerful than any magic. More demanding than any words uttered before.

I sent the message into every head and mind in the prisons before me.

"The king has stolen your freedom, your families, your friends... your magic. Join me in taking it back. Return to the world and show the king exactly what makes you all so dangerous. Join me in shoving darkness back into the abyss it comes from. Join me in returning this world to what it once was decades ago. Those of you who want to fight will be released. Those of you who want to stay prisoners, stay here in your dirt and grime and loneliness."

I listened to all the answers I received from each and every being who laid under the ground. Who sat in their darkness. Who stood in their heartache and fear.

All at once, each door in the prisons swung open. The sound of metal squealing and turning more beautiful and pleasant than any symphony. Cries of freedom and yells of victory more lovely than any magic.

In unison, the creatures and people stuck in cells took a step out into the hallway now open to them.

I began the long walk down the aisle. As I marched to freedom I light myself up in that new light I had grown quite fond of. The light that was now apart of me. The light that I could move and shape as if it was just another finger on my hand. I covered myself from head to toe in that light. Cleansed myself from the dirt and grime in every crevice. I purified the darkness that clocked me from being down here.

My torn and tattered dress reshaped to form a new, cleaner dress.

A dress with a long white train to match the rest of it. A dress that had short sleeves that only covered the top of my shoulders. A dress that was completely white, not even the dirt and dust on the floor could darken the brightness of the gown I had created. Unlike the previous dress I had worn, this new one was completely was covered in lace. Lace that was designed to look like dragon wings and fire and magic.

A dress designed to show what I really was. What the girl walking down the long hallway was no longer hiding. What I was broadcasting to every living person and creature I past. The creatures I was no longer afraid of. The beasts that had once plagued my sleep, but no longer sent fear flying into my heart. The monsters around me split to create a pathway for me to walk. The hellions on either side of me created a domino effect as they all came crashing to their knees before me. Before the light that passed by them. Before the power that they knew was more than ever seen before.

I hardly noticed the creatures bowing around me though. Not as I laid eyes on my new family. The family I treasured more than anything in this gods forsaken world. The family I had found in complete brokenness and heartache. The family now darting towards me.

I felt my knees tremble as I beheld my family. My family that was completely unharmed. I felt a shuttering sob bubbling inside me. I broke out into a run, lifting the front of my long skirt so I could run hard and fast for them.

Ray was the first to grab me and pull me into a tight hug. He kissed the top of my head over and over as I hugged him back and wept into his chest. I let go then and embraced the others. When Apollo let go of me he smiled and said, humor laced in his tone, "I see you found that army I said we needed."

I looked behind me and beheld the many faces of the hundreds on new found soldiers. I nodded once, "Indeed I did. Funny how little convincing it took." I turned back to the three of them and smiled, "Seems as though the king has dung his own grave... shall we go push him into it?"

Teylie, Apollo, and Ray all smirked, the gestures wicked enough to scare away any lesser person.

"Let's do it." Ray said, his gruff voice like a healers tender fingers weaving together a wound that I was slowly bleeding out from.

"I am looking forward to it." Teylie said, her chin lifting in power, her lovely eyes landing on me. Eyes I had worried I would never see again. Eyes that made another tear slip from my eye.

"I've been waiting for this for decades." Apollo said, rolling his shoulders in preparation. His multicolored eyes lighting up with the challenge lurking ahead.

I took in the sight of my family and smiled. "Then what are we waiting for?" I asked, my tone belonging to the person I now was. The person who did not tremble before darkness... but rather made darkness tremble before me.