Rise or Burn

Chapter Thirteen

They were in New Emili. Anna sat in an egg shaped opal white arm chair. Across from her was Kyra Grydon, the commander of the Valek imperial forces. She sat in a lavish throne-like armchair that was made of glass, her legs—clad in knee-high leather boots—crossed. Her fingers, perfectly manicured, clicked against the steel table. She smiled as she pushed a glass of water towards Anna.

"Thirsty?" she asked. Anna eyed the water warily.

She shook her head. "I'm fine." Her throat was dry but she didn't trust the Valek. For all she knew the water was poisoned. "Where is my brother?"

The commander's smile fell. "Somewhere in Zouye with my daughter, Kitarliah." Her expression was uncomfortably grim. "She helped him escape a few days ago. I assume they're on their way back to Dorian's isle as we speak."

Anna's heart fell. "He's not here?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

She'd come all this way for nothing. Andy didn't need rescuing. He'd escaped all on his own. No. Not on his own. He escaped with the help of one of them. Did he know he was traveling with a Wythynian? Traveling with the daughter of the commander of the Valek imperial forces. The people who'd taken him away.

"Is she going to hurt him?" she asked, forcing her voice to stay even but her eyes refused to leave her clenched fists.

"There's no telling what she'll do." Commander Grydon uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "But she isn't who you should be worried about," She pressed her lips together before she continued. "Your brother's life might be in danger."

Anna eyed her sceptically. "And you care about my brother's life?"

"I care about the Foxton Amulet," she admitted with unadulterated candidness.

"Why?" she asked, finally. "Why do you want the Foxton amulet so bad? After everything you've put my family through I think I deserve to know."

Commander Grydon smiled. A cold clinical kind of smile. "Everyone deserves far more than they'll ever receive in their lives. But I'll grant you this," she said. "I suppose I can answer you." She leaned back again in her throne-like armchair. "The Foxton amulet as you know it was stolen from Wythyn many years ago by your great-great grandfather, Tovel Echowood," she begun. "And because of that theft Wythyn died."

Anna was surprised to find how much of that she believed. Every word of it. She believed it. After her dreamed conversation with Dello she knew that it was true. Tovel Echowood, her great-great grandfather had stolen something. The Foxton amulet. He'd called it by a different name. Dello's gift? He'd taken it. But something still didn't make sense.

"I don't understand," Anna admitted. "How are the two connected? How does Tovel's theft lead to the destruction of an entire world?"

"How much do you know of the Otherworlds?" Anna didn't answer. Commander Grydon didn't give her a chance to. She went on, "There are six Otherworlds: Omora, Auran, Con-Vek, Drokah, Lumbrizia and Wythyn. Well, five now. Wythyn has been long dead for the last century. But at their creation there were six. And before their existence there was earth. Witches, elves, merpeople, vampires, werefolk and creatures beyond your imagination all lived on earth. The world was chaos; in a constant state of erupting wars. The species would have wiped each other out. The god Vinn predicted this and in order to prevent it he decided to separate the species. But to do so he had to sacrifice something. You see, gods are powerful, but their power is finite. They can't create something from nothing. Magic must come from somewhere like any form of energy. He gave his body, his physical form, to create the Otherworlds.