The third stroke of the weapon had a split forming in thin air, and I coughed to cover my gasp. Refis was creating an air-pocket, like the one he'd first emerged from near the portal. And then with a half-grin thrown in our direction he stepped into it.

His look had been a challenge, daring us to trust him and follow. I didn't trust one hair on his head, but we didn't have many other choices right then. Inside we were going.

Lucy and I linked hands tightly and I may have briefly shut my eyes as we stepped forward. I'd expected the opening to be small, as if we had to squeeze through a sliver of s.p.a.ce, but instead we simply moved through to the other side.

And then we were somewhere else. I felt as if the lake vision had been an illusion, and Refis had just changed the background. The scene now was vastly different. We stood in the shadows of a ma.s.sive castle, a hundred yards in the distance. My eyes alighted on it, noting the dark gray stone, turrets and wooden accents. It was surrounded on all sides by a moat, with no visible bridge or place of entry.

A thunderous rumble had me spinning to find Cerberus beside me again. He was yet to leave my side.

"I will fetch the queen, none are allowed to enter her home without her permission." With these words Refis bowed low and left us.

We watched as he flew across the moat and into the castle grounds. No wonder they had no bridge; pixies didn't need one.

Chapter 4.

As soon as Refis was out of sight Lucy clutched my arm. "Can you trace from here, Abbs?" Her voice trembled.

I met her wide, s.h.i.+ny eyes. They were showcasing full-blown panic. And to be honest I wasn't far behind her.

Reaching for my energy, I pictured my room in Angelisian. The image appeared no problem, but there were no glittering tethers. I let go of the energy and tried again but with a different image. The front door of our Angelisian house. Again, no tethers.

s.h.i.+t, looked as if tracing was out.

Okay, even though I figured it wouldn't work I searched for the links or doorways that Walker could access between worlds. There was nothing. Great, no doorways existed here in pixie land either. Last resort; I'd try the old-fas.h.i.+oned way: weaving energy to create a doorway, a skill Josian had shown me originally to walk between the worlds.

Gathering my energy, I wrapped the circle a few extra times for strength. Before releasing it. But instead of forming into a doorway it fell away, and was absorbed into the ground below us. I sucked in a deep breath, unconsciously working my bottom lip between my teeth.

Lucy whimpered as I faced her again. She already knew what I was about to say.

But I still said it. "I can't trace or open a doorway." My breath was coming out in small little huffs. "We're stuck here, Luce."

And I needed to get to Nephilius before the tournament.

Not to mention I needed to save the worlds if the Seventine were all released. Neither of those things was going to happen if I was indefinitely stuck in pixie land.

A feeling of helplessness flooded my being, something I hadn't felt since enlightening as a Walker. Breaking my melding bond had weakened me, but I'd still never felt this useless before.

I sank to the ground. Cerberus lay next to me, his huge heads nudging into my side, and with a huff of air he closed all four eyes and went to sleep.

"I feel like I'm back on Earth." Tears sprang to my eyes. Stupid and annoying were these emotions coursing through me with the speed and power of a tsunami. "I can't save us."

I knew deep down that I'd been taking my Walker abilities for granted, tracing wherever I wanted with ease, relying on Brace or Josian if I got into trouble, using my energy to do things which I could have used my own physical self to do. Now it looked like I was back to my time on the streets of New York, relying only on my common sense and instincts to guide me.

Lucy crouched on the side away from Cerberus. Her hands reached out and she rubbed my arm. "Abby, you're still strong and powerful. We'll find a way out of here. There's always something, and you and I will not give up until we discover it." Her flower eyes were calming something about the color yellow did that to me and her voice was soothing as she continued talking.

"My gut tells me that in the end when you face the Seventine it won't be your Walker powers that save us. It will be the earthling, human side of you. The side which learned to sc.r.a.pe herself up and use that genius mind to save herself and others from s.h.i.+tty situations. You might have forgotten that side in your flood of awesome Walker abilities, but you were pretty awesome before them."

I rested my head on Cerberus' soft shoulders. His Walker energy rose and mingled with mine. It was as soothing as Lucy's new pixie faade. I thought about her words. The conviction with which she spoke was rea.s.suring. I sat up a little straighter.

"You're right, I was sent to Earth for a reason, to learn something. Maybe that which could help us in the final battle." And I needed to be both girls now, the Walker and the earthling.

Cerberus s.h.i.+fted under me, and a low growl started. I lifted my head to see what had upset him. I suspected it was Refis returning. I looked more thoroughly, though, as Lucy then scrambled to her feet.

"Do you feel it?" Her voice was low and hard. "Something angry is coming our way."

I stood in one smooth motion. I didn't like the sound of her words.

"Angry?" I said. "You can feel its emotions?"

"Yes." she bit out. "But I can't see anything."

I couldn't either, but this world hid many things from us.

"Refis!" Lucy suddenly threw her head back and started to shriek.

I stopped looking around and started focusing on the spectacle that was Lucy. She was freaking out, running both hands through her blond curls, and shuffling backwards. "Help us!"

Her reaction felt a little over the top, considering we couldn't even see what was coming at us. But just in case I gathered the small amounts of energy that I could access there. Cerberus was on his feet too, and he was huge again, which sent trills of fear through me. His worry was far worse than Lucy's. He was ma.s.sive and ferocious; what the h.e.l.l was coming at us?

One of his heads nudged me back behind him, as his ominous growls filled the s.p.a.ce around us.

"Run!" Refis yelled.

We spun our heads to see the pixie flying toward us, his sword held aloft. "It's the goblins."

As with most of the dangers in my life, his warning came too late.

In a swirling ma.s.s, creatures flew in over the treetops. They were small and dark red in color, with angry eyes and fat little pot bellies. They had tufts of hair on various parts of their bodies and bulbous noses that sat just above a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. Within mere moments thirty of them started to circle about eight feet above us.

Refis spoke, doing that voice projection thing again. "Don't let their skin touch you. It's poisonous and will burn a hole straight through anything, including your clothes. And they spit the same poison." He was closing in on us, but the goblins were going to attack first.

With a whistling sound, the first one dived down toward Lucy. I blasted my energy out and was satisfied to hear a smacking sound as it hit the creature hard. With a shriek the fat body tumbled away. I called more heat to my hand and waited for the next attack.

d.a.m.n! I wish I could access all of my Walker energy.

They circled us again. It looked as if they were hesitating to attack, unsure of what else I might do. This allowed Refis to reach us. His sword rang out and sliced a goblin across the throat. Too busy looking into the air, I hadn't even seen it creeping on the ground toward us. Its goopy black blood sprayed out a little, and my shoes sizzled as it touched the rubber soles. I quickly stepped clear.

"Everything about them is lethal to us," I warned Lucy.

"Should we try and run for cover?" she asked.

Refis shook his head. "They're too fast, especially with air advantage. But if you can give me a few minutes it takes longer because of the protections on the castle I'll open a portal inside. The queen will understand in this circ.u.mstance."

He started performing the complicated movements with his sword again.

"Alright, Luce, let's kick some goblin a.s.s," I said.

We stood back to back, so no critter could sneak up on us.

They came in groups of six, surrounding us on all sides. I had both hands held aloft, power filling them in wisps of light. The first six were taken out by a growling Cerberus. His huge paws swiped through them as if they were pieces of paper. He was clever enough to not use his teeth, instead utilizing claws and paws as his weapons. And he never yelped, even though I could see red patches where his fur had been burnt away.

I blasted two from the next round of red goblins. Lucy kicked out, her boots and jeans thick enough to protect her. Her foot crushed a bulbous nose, followed by another and another.

"Considering they're as ugly as heck, you'd think they'd be stronger on the brains front." Lucy round-house kicked one, breaking its arm this time. "They don't even have a game plan. Why are they just coming at us randomly?"

Cerberus was taking them out faster than we could process, but one still breached our defenses and landed on my arm. I cried out as the acidity of its skin burnt through my jacket and onto my vulnerable skin below. One of Cerberus' large heads swung around and he let out a ferocious bark. His tail jabbed out and the pointed end speared straight through the goblin.

Holy s.h.i.+t, I hadn't realized how lethal his tail was. The pain in my arm distracted me again, burning deep into my body. One of Cerberus' heads dropped down and he licked at my wound a few times. Immediately there was relief from the burning, and the healing process appeared to be accelerated. The burn was gone within seconds.

"Thanks, Cere," I said, giving his head a hug.

"These are the distraction, now their guards are coming," Refis said, answering Lucy's question from before.

He still stood apart from us. So far the goblins had not reached him; none could make it over Cerberus.

"On my command you need to dive through this portal."

I turned back to the goblins, wondering what the guards were, and then I saw them.

Emerging from the trees on the left side of the castle. They were exact replicas of the red, potbellied fliers, but they did not fly, and they were ma.s.sive. They marched in formation toward us, and when they noticed Refis and his portal, they stopped their slow process and started at a run.

At that moment a ma.s.s of pixies poured from the castle, heading toward the large goblins.

"The queen's army," Refis said. "Too slow as usual."

He wasn't kidding. I'd have to say they weren't really keen to fight the goblins, judging from their leisurely flight out of the stone building. The ma.s.sive red creatures were closing in.

"Refis, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Lucy shouted.

And I wasn't far behind her this time.

If they hit us, it was going to be bad. Each of them was almost the size of Cerberus and we only had one of him. There were at least ten of them.

"Now!" his shout finally came.

I gripped Lucy's hand. Cerberus nudged us from behind. At the last second I released a large blast of energy to knock the smaller goblins away from us. We ran for the split Refis had created. It took five steps, less for our giant doggy friend, and we were inside. And I felt a tearing sensation this time, as if something was trying to halt us leaving.

Muttered words from Refis seemed to be working toward knitting back together the rift he'd created.

"Can they follow us through?" Lucy leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees.

Her breath came out in a few harsh puffs. Which was fair enough, she had been kicking the s.h.i.+t out of goblins.

"Not if I get it closed in time," he muttered again. He was one cranky little pixie.

I could hear screeches, and a few little red arms were trying to tear apart the void, but before that happened the knitting process finished and we were safe.

"How many different species are stuck in this land?" I said, locking my gaze on to Refis. I wasn't removing it until he answered. If we were to survive here we needed more information.

"There are a few. Some we live with peacefully, other we battle at times. Warring over land and resources." His green face fell, the lines of his alien features drooping. "But mostly boredom. We are all stuck here and have been for many years. I've tried every possible avenue for escape, but to no avail."

I rubbed my chest. Those heart palpitations seemed to kick in harder when he mentioned the inability to leave pixie land. Helplessness and fear warred within my body. To distract my thoughts I focused on where we were.

Refis' portal had landed us in a darkened room. It was small. Stone lined the walls and, judging by the shelves and random junk, it was used either for storage or cleaning equipment. The limited s.p.a.ce pushed us close together and thank the G.o.ds Cerberus was back to his horse size. Still his doggy drool was dripping very close to my face, but if he'd been full size we'd all have been squashed against the walls.

"So are there any unexplored avenues of escape? Something that others have failed at?" Lucy wasn't giving up; she started to push Refis for information.

"The only way to leave is via the road of perdition," he said. "I have traversed the path, but the end is forever closed. The queen's pain locked us in here. She's the only one with a clue as to how we can escape. I'm hoping that today, if I bring her ... some news ... well, she might come back to reality."

Awesome. Perdition and a s.p.a.ce-cadet queen. Well, at least we had Cerberus, h.e.l.l-hound for the road to h.e.l.l. Seemed fitting.

Refis squeezed past me, and light flooded the room as he slowly opened a door. It was ma.s.sive, at least ten foot high. Not to mention the ceilings, which towered well into the air.

"Stay close," Refis said, before he sidled out of the dark room and into the light beyond.

I reached the door first, but Cerberus gently nudged me to the side so he could squeeze himself through the opening. His body blocked us in for a few moments Lucy and I avoided the tail before finally he moved aside, allowing us to exit the storage room. With two heads he could look down both sides of the hall at the same time. Very convenient. I could see Refis marching along, quite a distance from us, so I pushed past my guard dog and hurried after him. Lucy stayed close to my side. Cerberus followed. I felt safer having him at my back.

The hall ran for miles, twisting and turning within the labyrinth of this castle. There were many intersections where we had to turn left or right, and the stone walls never changed color or texture. Without Refis' slender form in the distance we'd have been lost instantly.

"Feels like he's leading us on a pointless, haven't-we-been-here-ten-times-already journey." Lucy's breathing was heavy. She had to really move to keep up with me, even though I'd slowed my pace considerably.

I was just about to respond when the hallway was abruptly cut off by a ma.s.sive stone wall that extended all the way into the ceiling. Refis was standing before it, his back to us as he stared at the structure blocking our path.

"How do we get through?" I demanded as I reached his side.

"Patience," he cautioned me, one of his hands resting against the stonework. "This is the prison section of the castle. It was designed to be very difficult to escape from." His eyes sparkled at me, followed by an uncharacteristic grin. "Unless, of course, one holds the key."

And just like that he pulled out a brick from the center of the wall. A brick that looked exactly the same as the hundreds of others. But as soon as the stone was removed, the wall magically crashed down around our feet. And yet there was no noise and no stones actually on the ground.

We stepped through to the other side, Cerberus last, and then Refis simply placed the brick back into the same spot he'd removed it from and the wall was whole again. Simple. But very effective.

I'd be loving this pixie world a h.e.l.l of a lot more if I knew we could escape. And there it was again: the panicky thoughts attacking me. I couldn't trace or open a doorway, I couldn't contact anyone. I'd tried with Josian, Lallielle and Quarn, but had received no response. I ached so badly for Brace and his voice in my head, but alas, Lucy and I were on our own.

"You haven't heard Colt since we got here, right?" I asked her.

Lucy shook her head. "Nope, nothing. It's as if communications are blocked from one side to the other."

There was no more time to chat as Refis was on the move again, and I finally had a moment to really notice the new room we'd arrived in.

Wow, totally unlike the dark and narrow stone hall we'd been in, this was a huge s.p.a.ce filled with ma.s.sive ceiling-high windows that let in s.h.i.+ning beams of light. The movement of these rays played across the polished wooden floor and up the walls, which were a cream color and decorated with a collection of detailed art works. I exhaled loudly as my eyes alighted on the area that was in the far section of this room. We were heading toward a library. The floor-to-ceiling shelves were loaded with books thousands of pieces of glorious literature.