Into the darkness

by Wendy Maddocks

  “Sorry, I’m just a bit spacey. Fatigue, or something. Uh, what were you saying?”

  “Never mind. I’ll call you later. Back to the grindstone.” Lisa sighed and heaved herself off the chair. She pulled open the door, went through it and shut it behind her, leaving Kathy alone once more.

  Kathy let out a deep breath she hadn’t even realised she was holding and pushed herself into a sitting position. As soon as she had finished work, she was going to call them to find out what was wrong. As a matter of fact, she could do that now while she still had a few moments left of her break. It was probably nothing (she was probably just being paranoid) but it was always best to check.

  “Dad,” she repeated in utter disbelief. The shock of what was happening barely even registered with her. Her only concern was to get him safe. Although she’d known he was being held here, she’d assumed he was just being used to lure her down to the archives and wouldn’t be hurt. The man had adopted a Christ-like posture and had his head tilted towards the skies. No, towards the heavens, Amber realised. She always tried to read some deeper meaning into everything. Liatruz was trying to do his brain-sucking thing on him.

  “Amber-Louise,” he whispered tiredly. “You found me.”

  Looks like. My dad… kidnapped… I was somehow supposed to ignore that? Extremely not gonna happen.”

  “Amber, you have to help me.” Richard grimaced with the effort it was taking him to talk and stand. “I can’t last for much longer.”

  “Okay. But how –“ No. save Dad now, ask questions later. “Just give me a minte to think.” A shimmering golden glow emanated from every inch of his being, and it was this that held off the frightening red beam. Maybe it was some sort of defence system everyone had built in, but being as sceptical as they were. The two teenagers thought not. Even India, who had no idea that real magick even existed, knew that something freaky was going on.

  Behind the two men were three arch-shaped openings in the cave wall. Amber reckoned that they opened out into tunnels and, somewhere along the way, led into the sewer system. If you don’t know your way around, you could get lost down there. In fact, I bet people already have. It gave her the creeps to think about how many rats were undoubtedly scurrying around in the sewers. Probably even giant rats. No, gotta stay focused. In her head, Amber gave herself a slap around the face, realising that she was deliberately distracting herself from what was really going on. The holes were way to far away for her to reach them unhurt, now that Liatruz was looking at her. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do for her father without attracting unwanted attention. Suddenly, she was glad that she had two friends behind her. People who trusted her, who believed in her – they wouldn’t have followed her down here if they doubted her skills half as much as she did. She didn’t want to let them down or get them killed, but…

  “Here’s the deal, Liatruz,” she called across the large, echo-ey room. “You let my dad go, unharmed, and you get what you’ve always wanted – me.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” he replied. “Why don’t I finish your father off, and have you as the main course?”

  “Evil doesn’t agree with me. Or, rather, I don’t agree with it.”

  “You know you have no chance of winning this fight, yet you still come to do battle.”

  “Let my dad go!”

  “I don’t think so. Every father deserves to see his daughter die in his own final moments.”

  “No. Not like this.” She shuddered at the very words.

  “Amber,” Richard croaked. “Help… me.” The golden light seemed weaker and she d

  could just see the red beam working it’s way through this shield.

  “Give me one more minute. I’m trying to save your life here, it takes time.” She turned to Alex and India, who were standing behind her. An idea had just come to her and she had to put it into action now, before it was too late. “India, I’ve got a job for you. It’ll be dangerous but he’s not after –“

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Are you sure? ‘Cos I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you into this. And Alex will make –“

  “I said I’m up for it. I want to help.”

  Alex nodded in silent agreement and Amber hated herself for having to put them in danger. I wish I didn’t need them so much but I can’t do this without them. “I’m gonna cut his flow of energy off but it’ll only last maybe a second or two. When I do, I want you two to grab my dad and get the hell out.”

  “Where?” asked Alex.

  “I don’t know – one of the tunnels, I guess. To be honest, I don’t really care. Just get safe.” Amber-Louise laid a hand on India’s shoulder. “Be careful.”

  She watched as her friends began slinking around the edges of the room and twisted back to her opponent, one hand already reaching behind her for her sword. It had been a bad idea to turn her back on him in the first place but, luckily, Liatruz hadn’t noticed her mistake, so intent was he on turning Richard against his daughter. “Now, I may not be Buffy or Xena,” she brought the sword before her and twirled it as effortlessly and skilfully as a majorette would a baton, “but I can handle these things pretty well.” She threw it, sending it twirling through the air end over end, and heard it thunk into the wall behind. Unfortunately, her aim was not as accurate as it had once been and, although it sliced through the beam two thirds of the way, it missed the centre. To subsidise this error, at the exact moment the sword hit the wall, she threw her hands forward. A huge ball of white light shot into the middle of the room and immediately exploded, momentarily blinding everyone in the room.

  When the light faded away, Mr Tully was gone.

  An almost blinding light filled the cave and, though the couple were standing just outside it, they found it necessary to shield their eyes. At that very moment they both rushed forward and grabbed one arm of the unconscious man. It was only just possible to make out the shape they were grabbing for, but with their eyes screwed up the light was almost bearable. India looped one of her arms around one of his, feeling that the action was somehow disrespectful.

  “You got him?”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Do we have to be so rough though?”

  “Afraid so,” he grunted as he dragged the limp form into the centre tunnel. “We haven’t got time for gentle. You wanna start hanging with Amber-Lou, you can’t let that bother you.”

  “Not sure I get you.”

  “Hang with her for a while and you’ll experience some really weird stuff. It’s hard work but it’s more or less normal for me now. I get withdrawal symptoms if I’m not in mortal danger for more than a week.” He turned left and let the man fall to the ground in a tiny alcove, safely out of the danger area. “Are you gonna stick around for a while?”

  “It depends. You two seem really nice and everything, but...”

  “But what?” They watched Amber throw what looked like a shower of tiny lightning bolts at the warlock, and then launch herself into a fly-kick at his head which connected with a sickening crunch. Liatruz laughed in her face, seemingly unaffected by the blow that would’ve landed most people in casualty. “This is all a bit too far-fetched, isn’t it?”

  “Kinda. I think I’m dreaming – it’s just surreal.”

  “I know what you mean but I can assure you that this is terrifyingly real. I’m glad you’re here.” Alex shot her a lopsided grin and absently fiddled with his gold eyebrow stud. “It might not seem like it but that little girl out there is going to kill him.”

  India frowned and sank to her knees, watching what was happening between Amber-Louise and the big man. She wanted to believe that this potential friend would be able to make things right, but common sense told her it was impossible. How could the tiny girl, standing just a hundred yards away, stand a chance against the big threatening man. Amber, however, didn’t seem to even care that he could easily beat her to pulp.
India wished there was something she could do to help her – then scratched that idea as she remembered that moving would attract attention of the fatal kind. Okay, just being so close is dangerous but I’ve gotta see this. “I know she told us to stay put but, isn’t there something we can do to help? I mean she’s risking everything out there and all we can do is sit here and watch.”

  Alex smiled at what he first thought was ignorance – then recognised as an innocence he wasn’t prepared to strip her of. “We are helping. By looking after her dad, keeping safe, and by having faith. She couldn’t do this if she was worrying about us.” He knew exactly what she meant by wanting to help. “Amber knows what she’s doing.”

  He felt privileged to be her best friend – Amber-Louise could so easily have shut herself off from the world; not let him into her life. But she hadn’t. And that was only one of the things that made her so special. She had been through so much in her short life that people twice her age wouldn’t be able to handle, and she always managed to deal with it and come out smiling at the other end. Well, not smiling precisely, but close. He also wished that he could do more to help, but accepted that he would never be as strong as Amber. “She knows what she’s doing,” he repeated, more to himself than India.

  “Uuurngh,” groaned Mr Tully as his eyes flickered open a short way. “Yerrnh.”

  India had been kneeling in the entrance to the tunnel, watching the stalemate in the cave, but she rose immediately at the sound and crouched under the archway of the alcove. “Are you alright, sir?”

  “God, what time is it?”

  “Just before one in the morning, Mr Tully. Please just sit back and rest for a while.”

  “What’s going on? Where am I? Where’s Amber?”

  Alex didn’t want to say too much or let anything slip that might put them in an awkward position. “You’re safe. Amber’s safe. But you have to stay here.”

  “Don’t move, sir. You might have hurt your back.”

  “I’m okay. Who are you?” He clapped a hand to the side of his throbbing head and slumped back against the wall. Deep sleep had reclaimed him.

  Alex could hear the sound of a scuffle behind him, and knew he should be more worried about it than he was. If Amber-Louise couldn’t beat this monster, no-one could. She had proved herself as a witch many times over the years – cheating death when it seemed impossible.

  India saw the worried look he wore as he stared over his shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. “She’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah. She’ll be okay.” He really wanted to believe that; wanted it to be true. But, as they shuffled on their knees to the opening, he could see that hope fading.

  “Amber,” Richard whispered, weakly. In his semi-conscious state, he dragged himself to sit with the youngsters under the archway watching, seemingly in bewilderment, as the sword worked its’ way free of the wall and floated back to her hand. “Be strong.”

  This girl standing before him with the cold, hard eyes, who had just tried to fracture his skull. Was this the same girl who had been so torn up just a few minutes before? Inside, she wasn’t nearly as confident as she appeared. Well, after what had happened to every other member of the Sisterhood in her situation, who could blame her? How could a young, foolish white witch be any kind of competition for the old, scheming, evil warlock?

  She had made the very same mistake that every other witch before her had – she had come here clinging onto the vain hope that she might survive. But this one was different – she was cocky. And she had something that none of the others had had; friends, family, people who wanted her to do well. Who needed her to live to fight another day. But it was pointless. No-one could defeat him – fact. A fight was still a fight, though. No matter how simple the victory. And she would live to fight again – just not for her current cause. Liatruz knew he was nearing the end of his overlong life – he had as few as 25 years left – but he felt just as powerful as ever. More so, even. But it was always comforting to have a back-up plan.

  Amber-Louise stood with her feet apart and leaned on the handle of the sword, whose tip she had rammed into the ground. She looked at him, hard, and frowned. How could I be sp stupid? He’s either gonna kill me or mutate my powers. I’m not loving the lack of options that end in ‘…happily ever after’. It was going to be hard, this fight and any that came after, particular now she had put so many innocent lives in danger. Her mouth fell open as something hit – two things, actually. The first was a hard slap in the face delivered telepathically by Liatruz. The second was a feeling that tempted her to give in to him. Guilt.

  But she wasn’t ready to give in. Not yet.

  Chapter 11

  She took a second to take in the new stripped down archives. The tiled walls had been pulled away to leave walls made of rough rock and brick. “Homey,” she allowed. “Now, I hear that you don’t want to kill me but turn me into your right-hand man, or rather right-hand person.”

  “Who told you that?” he demanded.

  “I had quite a pleasant conver- okay, I’ll be straight with you. He squealed.”

  “Why do you insist on trying to fight a battle you have no chance of winning?” If it was all true and both of them were as strong in their field as they had been led to believe, maybe this would last more than five minutes. A ball of ice appeared in his hand and he threw it at her. She ducked, a little too late as she threw her sword to the ground, and it grazed her cheek.

  “Which makes me wonder why you just want me alive for my magick and you killed all the others?” She drew a symbol in the air and a dozen varied daggers appeared beside her head.

  She flicked her fingers outwards and the knives flew towards him. He managed to fend half off them off with impressive moves, but the rest stabbed him in various places, the impact making him stumble to the side. “Because you have such potential. I can see how powerful you can be. But, I don’t think I’ll let you live now.”

  “The feeling’s mutual. Trust me.”

  “I think I’ll kill you now.”

  “Is this the part where we threaten each other into submission? ‘Cos I find that part extremely boring. I’d rather just fight.”

  “You are powerless against me.”

  “Ooh, strike one,” she told him, sounding a lot braver than she felt.

  “I have already won this. Do you not see that? Why must you come and fight me when you know it will end badly for you?”

  “Guess it’s just one of my flaws. I wanted to come home and you took that away from me. You hurt my family, my friends, and you hurt me.” She picked up the sword, hurriedly back-flipping away from a bolt of electricity. That was a bit too close for comfort. Amber gripped the handle in one hand and ran her fingers up and down the edge of the blade. “I’m thinking it’s payback time.”

  “You are but a child – a helpless, little girl. The youngest, and perhaps the most naïve, I’ve ever had the pleasure of draining.” If this girl could fight her way of her strong-hold, maybe he had underestimated her abilities. “You must know that you won’t live to see the next sunrise.”

  “I’m not going out without a fight.”

  “Gutsy,” he muttered. “Maybe I should open you up and take a look at those guts.”

  Amber-Louise slid the sword back into the case on her back and walked up to him. Her 5 feet 2 inches were dwarfed by his 6 ½ feet, but she looked up to him unintimidated. “Maybe you should.

  “See, I’ve figured it out. Why you wanted to keep me out of the way while you put your scheme into action. It’s because you know I’m the only one that’s ever been good enough to jeopardise your plans, so you thought you’d better keep me out of the way until you were in charge.”

  “I am in charge here!”

  “Shut up!” Amber clenched her fist and swung it square into his jaw. That’ll teach him not to interrupt. “Only it didn’t work, did it? I got out
and I became an actual danger - I became a threat the moment you knew about me. And now, that danger has become very real… for both of us.”

  Liatruz leaned back out of the arc of the vicious punch Amber threw, but that was merely a diversionary tactic as she lashed at with a violent kick which swept his legs out from underneath him and sent him crashing to the floor. “Elementary.”

  “Maybe. But it never fails.” She coughed in his face, not bothering about manners. She glanced behind him, while he was getting off the floor, to ensure that everyone was relatively safe. They were.

  The warlock locked his arms tightly around her legs – too tight for her to shake him off. He pulled and laughed his evil little laugh as she crashed to the ground beside him. He rolled over until he was sitting over her stomach, and circled one hand around her throat. “Neither does this.”

  Still quite dazed and confused, Richard Tully sat cross-legged on the dusty floor, looking out into the cave. The scene that was playing in there was surreal – except it was real. It was happening and it was dangerous – and his little princess was in the thick of it. He was witnessing the reality that no-one else ever got to see. The reality that no-one wanted to believe existed.

  He was so proud of his daughter for having the courage to stand up for what she believed in. This was serious and she didn’t seem scared of it. He had always known Amber was strong – and very special – so strong that she kept everything bottled up inside. Just for a while though, he stopped thinking about all their problems and, he watched. A part of him felt as if he was an intruder in her world. This was her life, not his, and maybe he was overstepping the mark by being here. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to be seeing this, maybe it would be best if he just went home, maybe, maybe, maybe.

  He knew he hadn’t been the perfect father but (and he hated this thought) Amber-Louise hadn’t been the perfect daughter either. She hadn’t had it easy, that girl. Going through those tricky teenage years without an older, female relative around to help her. Passing milestones like first boyfriend with no other girl around to talk to. No wonder she had issues. It was even less surprising when you considered that this was her world. This reality of pain and violence and fear was all she knew.