Seven Times A Charm

Lexander stared.

The stranger closed his eyes.

“I told you not to call me that.”

The skeleton lowered its skull.

“FORGIVE.”

Lysandra leaned toward Mara.

“Did the skeleton just apologize?”

Mara whispered back.

“I think so.”

The stranger opened his eyes.

Then looked at Io.

“The First Grave is where the Cycle began.”

Io’s voice became small.

“And where I died.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The stranger didn’t answer.

Io stepped closer.

“Why did I die?”

His face broke.

Lexander immediately understood.

The stranger remembered.

At least this.

Io whispered—

“Tell me.”

The man looked at her.

“You were trying to save me.”

The entire chamber seemed to stop breathing.

Io’s eyes widened.

Lexander stared at the stranger.

“What?”

The man looked at him.

“She spent seven lives trying to save you.”

Io’s expression tightened.

The stranger’s voice became quieter.

“She never understood.”

Io stepped backward.

Lexander felt dread crawl up his spine.

“What didn’t she understand?”

The stranger looked directly at him.

“She wasn’t trying to save you.”

Io stopped breathing.

The stranger turned toward her.

“She was trying to save me.”

Silence.

Absolute.

Terrible.

Silence.

Lexander looked between them.

“What does that mean?”

The stranger closed his eyes.

“In every life, you were me.”

He opened them.

“But you were never all of me.”

Lexander went cold.

Io whispered.

“No.”

The man looked at her.

“Each incarnation carried what remained.”

Lexander’s voice became dangerous.

“You’re saying I’m a fragment.”

The stranger didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

Lysandra immediately stepped forward.

“No.”

Everyone looked at her.

She pointed at the stranger.

“No.”

The man blinked.

Lysandra’s voice shook.

“My brother isn’t a piece of someone else.”

“Lysandra.”

Lexander said quietly.

“No.”

She looked at him.

“He is Lexander.”

Her eyes returned to the stranger.

“He’s annoying.”

Lexander frowned.

“Thank you.”

“He’s stupid.”

“Lysandra.”

“And he forgets his sword before fighting skeletons.”

Mara nodded.

“That’s true.”

“But he is my brother.”

The chamber fell silent.

Lysandra stepped closer to Lexander.

“And I don’t care what you were thousands of years ago.”

She looked at the stranger.

“You don’t get to stand here and tell him he isn’t real.”

The stranger stared at her.

Then something changed in his expression.

A smile.

Not cruel.

Not the smile from the mirror.

A genuine one.

“She was always like that.”

Lisbeth suddenly inhaled sharply.

Everyone turned.

The Queen was staring at the stranger.

Her face had gone white.

“You.”

The stranger looked at her.

Lisbeth stepped forward.

Slowly.

“No.”

Lexander moved toward her.

“Mother?”

She ignored him.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I know you.”

The stranger’s expression disappeared.

Io whispered—

“The First remembers.”

The skeleton lowered its head.

“THE FIRST REMEMBERS.”

Lisbeth stopped before the stranger.

She raised one trembling hand.

Then touched his face.

The stranger closed his eyes.

“No.”

Lisbeth whispered.

The man opened his eyes.

His voice was barely audible.

“Lysa.”

Lexander froze.

Lysandra’s hand tightened around his arm.

Lisbeth began crying.

“You called me that.”

Lexander’s mind went blank.

The stranger whispered—

“You were my sister.”

The world shattered.

Lisbeth collapsed.

Lexander caught her.

“Mother.”

She stared at the stranger.

“No.”

Her voice trembled.

“That isn’t possible.”

The stranger knelt beside her.

Lexander immediately moved between them.

The man stopped.

Lisbeth grabbed Lexander’s arm.

“He’s lying.”

Nobody answered.

She looked at Io.

“Tell me he’s lying.”

Io couldn’t.

Lisbeth’s face broke.

Lexander stared at the stranger.

“You knew her.”

The man nodded.

“In the first life.”

Lexander’s voice was cold.

“What was her name?”

The stranger looked at Lisbeth.

Then whispered—

“Lysa.”

Lisbeth screamed.

The memory hit her.

A young woman.

Running through a field.

Laughing.

A boy chasing after her.

Lysa!

She turned.

A young man stood behind her.

Same face as Lexander.

Older.

Different.

But him.

He held a wooden sword.

You cheated.

She laughed.

You lost.

You pushed me.

You fell.

Because you pushed me.

He smiled.

Then I should have learned to fall better.

The memory changed.

Fire.

The young woman screamed.

Her brother lay on the ground.

Blood covered his chest.

A woman held him.

Io.

No—

Not Io.

Not yet.

She looked younger than she had ever looked in any memory.

The young woman ran toward them.

Brother!

The dying man looked toward her.

His lips moved.

Run.

Then darkness.

Lisbeth returned.

She was sobbing.

Lexander held her.

Lysandra looked terrified.

“What happened?”

Lisbeth couldn’t answer.

Finally—

“He was my brother.”

Lexander stared at the stranger.

The stranger looked down.

“I was.”

The distinction wasn’t missed.

Lexander felt something inside him crack.

“What am I to you?”

The stranger looked up.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then—

“My second chance.”

Lexander’s expression hardened.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“No.”

The stranger admitted.

“Because I don’t know the answer.”

Lexander laughed bitterly.

“Wonderful.”

The stranger stood.

“You want the truth?”

“Yes.”

“I was supposed to die.”

Everyone went silent.

The man looked toward the seven lights.

“The first death was mine.”

One light dimmed.

“The Cycle began after that.”

A second dimmed.

“Then pieces of me were sent forward.”

A third.

“A new life.”

A fourth.

“Then another.”

A fifth.

“Then another.”

The sixth.

“And another.”

The seventh light remained.

Io stared.

“Seven.”

The stranger shook his head.

“No.”

He pointed.

“Look again.”

Everyone did.

There were seven lights.

But only six were dim.

The seventh burned brightly.

Lexander’s stomach dropped.

The stranger looked at Io.

“There were supposed to be six.”

Io whispered.

“But I remember seven.”

“Yes.”

The stranger looked toward the darkness.

“That is the problem.”

The chamber shook violently.

Stone split across the floor.

The soldiers formed around the royal family.

Atreyu shouted—

“BACK!”

The stranger’s expression became terrified.

“He found us.”

Lexander drew back.

“Who?”

The man looked at him.

The seven lights vanished.

Darkness crawled across the ceiling.

The voice came from everywhere.

The same voice that had spoken when the door opened.

But now it was different.

Angry.

Ancient.

THE SEVENTH WAS NOT YOURS.

Io froze.

The stranger whispered—

“No.”

The voice continued.

YOU STOLE IT.

Lexander felt something cold wrap around his heart.

A figure began forming at the far end of the chamber.

Not flesh.

Not shadow.

Something between them.

The soldiers attacked first.

Their arrows passed through it.

The thing did not stop.

Atreyu’s sword struck darkness.

The General was thrown backward.

Mara charged.

The stranger shouted—

“NO!”

Too late.

Mara swung.

The creature caught her sword.

The metal rusted beneath its fingers.

Mara’s eyes widened.

She released it.

The blade crumbled to dust.

The creature turned toward Lexander.

And smiled.

Not with its own face.

With his.

Io screamed.

“LEXANDER!”

The stranger moved.

Faster than anyone could see.

He placed himself between the creature and Lexander.

The dark figure stopped.

For a moment, the two faced one another.

Then the stranger whispered—

“You were supposed to let me go.”

The darkness tilted its head.

AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY DEAD.

The chamber exploded.

When Lexander opened his eyes, he was lying beneath broken stone.

His ears rang.

Someone was shouting his name.

He pushed himself upright.

“Io?”

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

Lysandra.

Her face was covered in dust.

“Brother!”

“I’m fine.”

She immediately punched his arm.

“Ow!”

“You are not allowed to say that anymore!”

Lexander stared at her.

“Fair.”

He looked around.

The chamber had changed.

Half the soldiers were injured.

Atreyu was standing again, though blood ran down the side of his face.

Mara held a broken spear.

Io was—

Lexander’s heart stopped.

“Io?”

He stood.

Pain exploded through his side.

He ignored it.

“Io!”

“She isn’t here.”

The stranger spoke.

Lexander turned.

The ancient version of himself stood across the chamber.

His armor was cracked.

Blood ran from his mouth.

Lexander stepped toward him.

“Where is she?”

The stranger didn’t answer.

Lexander grabbed him.

“WHERE IS SHE?”

The man looked at him.

For the first time, Lexander saw something familiar in his eyes.

Fear.

Real fear.

“He took her.”

The world went silent.

Lysandra whispered.

“Who?”

The stranger looked toward the darkness.

Then back at Lexander.

“The Keeper.”

Lexander released him slowly.

“The Keeper of what?”

The stranger’s face went pale.

“The Cycle.”

No one spoke.

Then, from somewhere far beneath the mountain—

A woman’s scream echoed through the stone.

Io.

Lexander turned toward the sound.

Atreyu grabbed his arm.

“Wait.”

Lexander looked at him.

There was nothing human in his expression.

Atreyu slowly released him.

Lexander picked up the fallen spear beside Mara.

It wasn’t a sword.

It would have to do.

The stranger watched him.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

Lexander looked toward the darkness where Io had disappeared.

“No.”

He tightened his grip.

“But apparently that’s never stopped me before.”

The stranger smiled faintly.

For the first time, it was Lexander’s smile.

Then the ancient man spoke.

“Good.”

Lexander stepped into the darkness.

“Because the seventh death…”

The stranger’s voice stopped him.

“…was Io’s.”

Lexander turned.

The man looked at him.

His face filled with regret.

“She was never supposed to survive it.”

The darkness swallowed the last of the torchlight.

Lexander’s grip tightened around the spear.

Somewhere below them, Io screamed again.

And for the first time in seven lives—

Lexander was going to be the one trying to bring her back.

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