Page 83 of The Princess of Portals

I caught a flash of movement. Scorpio drawing his sword. He thrust the blade through the ceiling, and the ceiling shook. The world spun. Top and bottom switched places again. We were standing on the floor once more.

Capricorn saw my relief, but she wasn’t smiling. “Don’t celebrate just yet, Savannah.”

The floor quaked. Agents burst out of the ground, dozens of them, blocking our way.

CHAPTER 5

THE LONG-FORGOTTEN PAST

One agent stood in front of the rest, one of their commanders obviously. He raised his hand in the air. “Agents, ready your magic!”

“Wait!” A young woman emerged from the mass of agents. She wore a black jumpsuit and white sneakers. Her red hair was pulled up into a high ponytail.

“Nash.” Capricorn started to take a step toward her but stopped midway.

Nash gave her a small wave. “Hi, Cap.”

So this was the handler Capricorn had mentioned, her eyes and ears in the field. Her friend.

“Back in line, Nashira.” The commander pointed behind him. “We have our orders.”

Nash didn’t move.

A man joined her. “Why, Scorpio? Why have you turned your back on everything you once believed in?” The look of betrayal on his face was heartbreaking.

They were friends too, like Capricorn and Nash. This must be Antares, Scorpio’s handler.

“It’s all a lie,” Capricorn told them. “Everything they told you—us—was a lie. You aren’t⁠—”

“Silence!”

The commander’s voice shot toward her, pulsing with magic. The spell cut through the room like an explosion. Capricorn tried to speak, but she couldn’t. No words came out of her mouth. She glared at the commander.

“You will not spread lies,” he snapped at her.

Capricorn couldn’t speak, but she could still move. She swept her arms over her head and crossed her wrists. Magic crackled on her fingertips.

“No. There will be none of that.”

The commander waved his hand, and four agents surged forward, pushing past Nash and Antares. They went straight for Capricorn, binding her. Scorpio threw back his head and roared. Ropes of magic burst out of him like tentacles, snapping at the agents. But there were so many of them. He couldn’t take them all on alone. They bombarded him with magic.

No one was paying me any mind. They were all focusing on Scorpio, the bigger threat. I felt a weight in my hand. I looked down and realized I was holding the Remembrance Orb. Scorpio must have put it there before he’d gone ballistic on the agents.

He was keeping them busy, so that I could get up to the roof.

I ran toward the red door, reaching out. My hand closed around the handle, and magic zapped me. Tendrils of twisted orange light crawled up my arm, slowly encasing it. My skin buzzed with static electricity. I tried to draw away, but I couldn’t. My hand was stuck to the handle. The magic slithered higher. It was almost to my shoulder now. It bit down.

Pain pierced my skin. My vision went blurry. The world spun, and I fell to the floor.

Slowly, everything came back into focus. The Monolith was gone. I was in a foggy field, and I was on my feet again. Soggy grass squished beneath my shoes. Something wild and feline roared from beyond the veil of fog. This place felt eerily familiar. Was I back in Shadow Fall?

A fire tiger emerged from the fog. Its fur, its tail, its fangs—they were all on fire. I clenched my hands into fists, lifting them in front of my face.

“That’s not a good idea, Savannah.”

My mother stood beside me, dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of black leggings. Her hair was pulled back into a braided bun, just like mine. She was dressed like me too.

“You can’t fight the tiger,” Mom told me.