The Clan of Outcasts [Season 3]

Part 41: "Once A Queen..."

The Gate of Juros, Gybralltyr City

Mallory stepped out of the thick mass of shadows at the edge of the cavern. Behind her, Polaris absorbed the shadows back into himself and hung back, his eyes fixed on the floor. He could not bear to see the faces of the ones he betrayed. Where was Juros at a time like this, when his enemies were about to consolidate their power against him?

Mallory stood in front of the Gate, her eyes gleaming as she caressed the lock with her fingers. "I can almost feel its power," she murmured. "Power that will soon be mine, for when this lock is opened, mortals will be able to pass freely into Paradise, and it will no longer be Juros who decides who is worthy!"
Polaris' lips twitched. "You may have gotten the dagger," he said, "but you still need the Key; there will be no opening of the Gate without it."
Unfortunately, Mallory wasn't as disappointed as he'd hoped. She lifted her hand, and a gleaming pendant dropped out. "What, you mean this Key? I had Kamau lift it for me when he retrieved the dagger. Don't worry, little shadow--I've got everything I need, and by the time your merry band of misfits arrive, it will be too late!"
The scream of a dragon rent the air, answered by the thundering roar of another. Mallory looked up to see two dragons circling overhead, one very large and the other slightly smaller. Both of them carried riders upon their backs.

"I see her!" called the rider from the second dragon. "Mallory... and she's got the star in the cavern with her!"

Mallory frowned at the pair. She gestured to Polaris. "Now, do your duty, Shadow! Get after them and don't let them enter the cavern!"

Polaris would rather have stood back and let Markus and Denahlia have their way with the mad Queen, but she flourished the Dagger, and Polaris felt the shadows within him respond in a concussive blast, aimed toward the mouth of the cavern.

The blast hit the smaller dragon, sending Hadrian wheeling through the air. Erlis managed to hold her position, and dove toward the cavern. Polaris brought the cloud of shadows in front of him like a wall, barricading the opening. Not even fire from Erlis' jaws could penetrate the blackness. Polaris watched the dragons hover for a while, as if waiting for the shadows to dissipate like fog. When they would not, the two cousins directed their dragons away.

"Finally, some peace!" Mallory sighed, returning to the Gate as if her actions weren't about to unleash a whole chaos of colliding realities upon the mortal world. "Now--to commence the establishment of my kingdom!" She laid the pendant in the shaped groove at the center of the lock. Pressing it into place, she turned the disc at the center of the mechanism.

Polaris cringed and braced himself for the glory of Justicia pouring forth... but no such outpouring came. 

Mallory frowned and kept twisting the Key, but after a quarter-turn, it locked into place and would not move further.

"What's wrong?" she huffed, slamming her fist against the lock. "It's the Key! It's supposed to work!" She scowled and whirled upon Polaris. "Bring me Kamau!" she ordered.

Polaris nodded, stepping through his veil of shadows to leap back to the Roque where Mallory's henchman waited.

He returned moments later, accompanied by the small, dark-skinned man.

Mallory loomed over him, her arms folded and her countenance stormy. "Well?" She snarled. "What have you to say for yourself? You told me all I would need is the Key, and that would be the one thing that would unlock the Gate!"