Wish upon the Stars chapter 950

“So, I have a plan,” I said as we stared up at the platforms to Arcadia. They nearest one to us was apparently the West gate. It was about a hundred miles outside of Veltheim. It had been a week since my duel with Benny (fifty six more scrolls put me at two hundred thirty two), and I had gathered most of my main combat force here, with the majority of the army inside Bethy’s domain.

Ellie, Felicity, Callie, Gabe, Chelsea, Benny, Bethy, Mel, Abel, Carmichael, Crell, Alanna, and Fade were the only ones outside with me. Thirteen of my strongest and most trusted friends willing to follow me into the gates of hell. Granted, they weren’t all willing to do it QUIETLY.

“Is it a good plan?” Benny asked politely. “Because based on even a rudimentary ability to recognize patterns, I’m a little worried.”

I glared at him. “Can you use your pattern recognition ability to predict what I’m going to say next? Because if not, it’s not that impressive after all, and if you can, then why are you not already shutting up?”

He zipped his lips (which were smirking) and mimed throwing away the key, and I huffed and turned back to the others. “Now, as for my completely reasonable and totally tactically sound plan,” I continued harshly. “We’re going to get on the platform. And everyone is going to group up facing out. And Abel and Bethy are going to combine forces and cover us with a blood sea infused Domain.”

They all just stared at me. Like they were waiting. Then Callie sighed. “Shane…that’s not a plan. It’s an ACTION, but plans involve steps and predicting outcomes. You just basically said the plan is to block really hard.”

“It worked last time,” I shrugged. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

My sister pinched the bridge of her nose. “The Universe is doomed. Either the Void will get us or my brother will become the Wishmaster and it will signal the end of days.”

“I cordially invite you to join Benny in shutting up,” I told her dryly. “Besides. That’s not the WHOLE plan. We also have allies. My cousins are coming. And not just the few you met. Delia and Roland have been in touch, and they’re joining up for this push. Apparently Roland knows my dad, and is terrified of him. He agreed to work with us in exchange for me putting in a good word with the old man. I guess Roland’s dad and mine are enemies and he’s worried dad might rip his soul out or something.”

Chelsea look unhappy. “He wouldn’t do that.” She looked around at everyone else, who was very deliberately not looking back. “What? Dad’s power is contract based. He needs permission to take someone’s soul.”

I was almost positive, based on my own experience, that he did NOT need that, or at least that the permission didn’t need to be spoken with full faculties by an adult person. I didn’t see a reason to make my sister sad though, so I kept quiet about that. The others followed suit, and I gave Benny and Callie a relieved nod.

Luckily, we didn’t have too long to wait. Delia, Roland, Derrick, Nadia, Charlie, and Alys all arrived posthaste, their respective guards trailing behind. Once they joined us, our tight grouping of thirteen turned into more like a hundred, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

Delia smiled at me, probably the warmest expression I’d ever seen from her, though it was so faint I might have missed it with normal senses. “Managing such a large gathering is a daunting prospect,” she said with mild amusement. “Especially with us all being Wyndhams. I can say from experience, managing so much family is like herding cats.”

“Drunk cats,” I added. “With rabies. But it’s better than the alternative.”

I turned to glance at the platform in the distance.

It was…big. That was the only word for it. A huge grey stone plate hooked into an equally large metal rail set into the wall of a glacier so tall I literally couldn’t see the top of it. The whole thing vanished into clouds a few miles up. However high it went, it wouldn’t be a quick ride. Not on a platform that size.

Delia nodded. “I share your worry. Such a location is rife with opportunities for ambush. But it is a path we must take. You sent a message to your parents?”

“I did,” I agreed. “Did you and Roland bring A-rankers along? I never asked.”

She nodded. “My Aunt and her husband for me. Roland brought a cousin on his mother’s side. I still can’t believe you brought the full five. I thought only the branch heirs would manage to recruit so many power players.”

“What can I say,” I shrugged. “Ascending is the family business. And business is good. You’re all just lucky they banned S-rankers. I could have managed at least three of those. And I MIGHT have been able to get The Vampire to show up.” They stared at me in horror and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Bethy thought it was funny too. “I think he might have said yes just to watch all the branch leaders wet themselves.”

“You’re stalling,” commented Abel. I glowered at him and he shrugged. “I didn’t say I don’t GET why you’re stalling. Just figured someone should point it out. Personally I wouldn’t mind a few days vacation. I love a good fight, but I didn’t finish taste testing all the food stalls in Veltheim yet.”

“Where the hell did you find food stalls?” I asked in confusion. “I didn’t see anything like that.” Then I shook my head, holding up a hand. “No. Stop. You’re right. I AM stalling. Alright, we’re all here. Let’s get going. Keep your eyes peeled everybody.” Then I narrowed my eyes as I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. “Damn it Bethy, put that AWAY, I know it's not a real eyeball.” My vampire friend froze, her nail slowly skinning what I was almost sure was a white grape with a markered on pupil, and pouted.

Despite the ridiculousness of the action, it did successfully break the tension, which I appreciated. Still, we were all pretty keyed up as we walked slowly in formation towards the huge stone platform.

When we arrived, I was even more stunned by the device. It wasn’t just large, it was intricate. The whole thing was carved with strange patterns and complicated reliefs. I also noticed that we weren’t the first to arrive. My lips peeled back as I noticed two familiar faces. Rega and Pallax. Standing with them was sneaky cousin Wesley, and another person I didn’t know. Delia caught me looking, then followed my gaze and grimaced. “Kent,” she said sourly. “That is…unfortunate.”

Roland sneered at the tall thin man with the greasy black hair. “Unfortunate for him maybe. If he tries anything I’ll gut him without a second thought.”

She shook her head. “You know it won’t be that easy. Kent is a nightmare to deal with in a fight. His Stealth ability is nearly unparalleled in the family. But more importantly, he has Shelby with him.” She nodded past him at a hooded form I had to really focus on to spot. I suspected Kent might have been keeping her obscured, but paying attention was enough to bypass whatever he was doing.

Shelby did not look impressive. I’d seen a lot of powerful looking warriors since I got here. Tall and imposing, muscular and hard bitten. Shelby looked…kind of like Jessie, actually. She was small and blonde, with a round face and big blue eyes. She had a wide smile and dimples, and her hair was braided at random spots in small thin braids, the whole effect of which made her look like she was going to the shops with friends or something.

She was in good shape, granted, but we all were, and the only real clue to her being anything but a normal, cheerful girl was the frankly ludicrous axe perched on her shoulder. A very sharp looking, very scary B-ranked axe that REEKED of blood and death.

Roland grimaced. “I missed her. He was covering her with stealth. I can take her, I think, but I’m not sure I’d be good for anything else. She’s…dangerous.”

She also had good senses, because when he mentioned her, she turned and gave him a wide, cheerful smile and a friendly wave. Unlike Alys though, Shelby looked…wrong. It took me a second to realize why. It was her eyes. Her smile was wide and genuine and her dimples made her seem sweet and likable, but her eyes looked like chips of frozen cyanide. Cold and poisonous and very deadly. Shelby was a wolf in sheep’s clothing if I’d ever seen one. And I basically LIVED with Bethy, so I knew what I was talking about.

Kent, the candidate with her (they were both B-rank) ambled over with a smarmy grin on his face. “Delia, Roland, how lovely,” he all but cooed, clearly thrilled by their dislike and the discomfort it caused them. I already did not care for him. “I suppose we’re taking the trip together. I didn’t see you back in Sparklev, so I suppose you ended up in the other spoke city that borders this place. I’m surprised so many of us arrived here. Derran is here somewhere too.”

Roland actually brightened a bit at that. “Derran is always a welcome addition to any proceedings. Have you seen him since we arrived?”

“He hasn’t,” came a relaxed voice from behind us. “But he will now, as will you.” We all turned to find a tall, tan man with Wyndham green eyes. “Roland, good to see you. You remember Kara.” He nodded to the tall redhead next to him with literal hawk eyes. The two of them were, obviously, also B-rank.

Roland nodded back with a warm smile. “Derran. Glad you made it. I trust you were able to avoid most of the Void influence?”

Derran chuckled. “Oh I sidestepped all of that. You know me. I’m the cautious type. Bit low on points, but then, I don’t have much need of local muscle. My father is here representing me personally, you know.”

To my shock, Roland actually FLINCHED. “Davis is here? That’s…good. I suppose. You know Elijah is here representing his own son, right?”

That didn’t seem to sit well with Derran, whose eyes snapped to me. “No,” he said slowly. “I knew his kid was in the competition but I didn’t know he was here. I’m almost positive it won’t come to anything. My mother doesn’t HATE her half brother. She just finds him insufferable. And last I heard my father and Elijah aren’t on bad terms, even if they’re also not on good ones.”

I blinked at that, processing the information. “Wait…half brother?” I asked. “So that would make you-”

“Your cousin,” he said with a smirk. “An actual blood cousin, not the euphemistic kind we use to refer to people several generations distant. My mother is Arabella Wyndham. Malachai’s oldest daughter.”

I nodded along at that. My grandfather had more than a dozen kids, and only two of them shared a mother with my dad. I’d met one of my other uncles, though it hadn’t been a pleasant experience. I assumed Davis was an A-ranker if he was married to Arabella and could be expected to be a match for my dad. I held out a hand. “Huh. Well, nice to meet you then. I’m Shane, as you seemed to already know.”

He shook my hand with a laugh. “Knowledge is power. I do my best to stay informed of the goings on of the various branches and factions, though seem to have slipped through that net for the most part.” We chatted a bit longer, but were interrupted by a lurch. I flinched and looked down, and sure enough, the ground was starting to move. “Hold tight everyone,” my newest cousin commented. “Seems like the ride has begun.”