“Jasmine is going to sweep the area around Arcadia,” Aerona said. “If she finds anything, I’ll be able to hear her thoughts.”
We headed toward north of the clearing.
“Thank you for calling her,” I said to Aerona. “I know how much it hurt you to lose Jasmine when we jumped to the Light World.”
The faint blue light of the sapphire trees lit our way through the forest as we walked.
“It’s difficult seeing her again,” Aerona admitted, “knowing I will have to leave her for a second time.”
Sensing something awry, Rain froze and signaled for us to be quiet. He was too late; a pack of four ferocious werewolves attacked from the trees, two on either side. They were all, at least, five feet tall at their shoulders.
Ember took flight straight into the night sky, leaving sparkling white dust trailing behind her. Rain met one of the werewolves in midair. It sank its powerful jaw into Rain’s shoulder, igniting a fire inside Rain. In excruciating pain from the werewolf’s bite, he slammed the werewolf to the ground, planted his feet firmly, and ripped its head clean off. The werewolves body changed back to its human form, and then to a pile of ash.
Rain’s swift victory over the first werewolf did not slow down the other three. Two of them were now circling me, and the third snapped its dangerous jaws at Aerona.
Earlier, Aerona had explained to Ember how the Light World’s sun had weighed down on our minds when we jumped from the Shadow World; we basically had to learn how to use our gifts all over again with that new type energy. Although, here in the Shadow World, Aerona and I were right at home. I reached out and touched the sapphire tree to my right, surprising the werewolves as roots grew out and upwards from the dirt underneath them. The roots weaved and wrapped themselves around their legs, working their way around their bodies. The wolves howled and growled in frustration as the roots squeezed the wolves, pinning them to the ground.
I heard a tiny yelping behind me. When I turned to see what it was, I saw Aerona cuddling a small, black wolf pup in her arms. The pup’s little ears wiggled excitedly as Aerona ran her hand along its spine.
“No,” I scolded Aerona, “you cannot keep it.”
As soon as Aerona let the little, furry pup down, its little legs hurried it into the forest, toppling over twice along the way.
“Aren’t we worried that thing will head straight for more werewolves?” Rain asked.
“Don’t worry,” Aerona reassured him. “In another hundred feet, that pup will be curled up and sleeping.”
“I assume those were sent courtesy of Atmoro,” Rain remarked.
“I believe so,” I nodded. “There’s no other reason why werewolves would be out here. The gates to the Forgotten Shadow City are heavily guarded by Shadow Vampires, and as far as everyone else knows, there is only one way in and no way out.”
Ember landed on Rain’s shoulder to inspect his wound; it was nearly healed.
“Are you alright?” Aerona asked.
“I’ll survive,” Rain said, checking his wound, which was now nothing more than a scratch. “We better keep moving. I’ll be good in a few minutes.”
The trees thinned as we neared Arcadia. We stopped on a ridge overlooking the small town nestled in a valley between two mountains. Most of Arcadia’s inhabitants were Shadow Vampires assigned to guard the entrance to the Forgotten Shadow City. From our vantage point, we could see several guards standing watch outside the largest building at the base of the colossal mountain range that held the prison.
“That’s the entrance,” I said, pointing to a large, guarded structure. “There are many more guards inside, and more at every level down to the main prison gate.”
“It doesn’t look like they are on high alert,” Aerona observed. “If Atmoro’s here, he hasn’t been detected.”
“Let’s follow his lead and keep our distance,” I suggested. “The elf door should be around the east side of the mountain.”
Cautiously, we made our way around the face of the mountain, stopping often so Rain could listen for any hidden threats deep in the darkness.
“Jade’s been here,” Rain said, stopping in a small clearing. “Her scent is unmistakable.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Kasiah?” I asked.
Rain turned his head toward the breeze blowing along the face of the mountain. “No, but it’s difficult to tell with all these new scents in the air that I’ve never experienced.”
“Can you tell which way they left the clearing?”
Rain raised his head into the breeze. “Through there,” he said, pointing to the north.
Two miles later, we stopped at a forty-foot tall sheer flat rock face that formed a massive wall. The deep, dark red rocks were not unlike those in the Light World.
“The trail ends here,” Rain said, staring up at the rock wall.
“What do you mean it ends here?” Aerona questioned, waving her hands around in a circle at the rock wall. “They didn’t just vanish.”
Rain placed his hand on the wall. “Well, they did. The trail runs right into this rock wall, then ends.”
I broke a branch off a nearby sapphire tree. “He’s right,” I said, holding the blue light of the leaves near the ground. “Look at the footprints.”
Several sets of footprints ended right at the rock wall. We all looked up at the same time.
“Do you think they climbed up?” Ember asked.
I turned to Aerona. “Have you received anything from Jasmine?”
“No,” she said, “Jasmine flew over this very spot five minutes ago, and she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.”
I placed my hand on the cold rock wall. “The secret entrance to the Forgotten Shadow City was designed and constructed by elves,” I said, thinking.
“And?” Aerona asked.
“Elves don’t like to be found. They are experts in camouflage techniques. The Shadow Council chose elves for a good reason. Elves would be able to construct a secret door that could never be seen by the naked eye.”
I pressed both of my hands against the wall and closed my eyes, pushing through with my mind. “Dammit!” I yelled, jumping back and rubbing my hands. “This is it!”
“This is the secret door designed and constructed by elves?” Ember asked, pointing to the wall.
I leaned close, giving the wall a thorough inspection. “No,” I said, “this isn’t the actual door to the Forgotten Shadow City, but I’m willing to bet there is a tunnel behind this wall that leads there.”
I reached out and held my finger an inch from the wall. A small stream of electricity jolted out from the wall and touched my finger. “This is no ordinary rock wall,” I explained, letting the tiny bolt of lightning dance back and forth. “It looks like a cloaking spell has been cast here recently.”
“Can you break it?” Ember asked.
“No,” I said, disappointed. “The spell has been cast by elves, then reinforced by a warlock—one who is much more powerful than me. We’ll need the key to the spell to break it.”
“There’s another way,” Aerona mentioned.
I raised an eyebrow. “Another way?”
Aerona pulled out our mother’s necklace from under her shirt, then unlatched it from around her neck. She held the pendant up in her hand. “This.”
“Mother’s necklace?” I inquired, unsure of what Aerona intended.
“When she gave this to me,” Aerona said, clasping her hand around the necklace, “she said it was the key to all magic and that this stone has the power to map a spell and show me its root.”
“You got a dragon and a magic stone?” I asked, envious. “Can you say spoiled?”
“No,” Aerona countered, “but I can say jealous.”
“Hey,” Rain interrupted, “are you two children going to open this door or what?”
“Well,” Aerona said, showing me her middle finger, once again, “Mom did ask me to give you this.”
“Aren’t you clever,” I said wry
ly. “Get with the spell breaking, big sister.”
Aerona held the pendant in one hand and pressed her other against the rock wall. She then closed her eyes and lowered her head.
After a few seconds, smoke started emerging from the rock wall. Aerona’s head wrenched from side to side as she was deep within the cloaking spell, trying to find the key. Puffs of smoke exited the thin crevasses on the wall’s face. Then, to the left of Aerona, right where the trail of footprints had ended, a rectangular, wooden door came into view. The door was covered from top to bottom with finely detailed elf carvings.
“Go!” Aerona screamed. “I can’t keep this open forever!”
I didn’t think twice; I shoved the wooden door open and stepped through, followed by Rain and Ember. The door slammed shut behind Aerona as soon as she stepped in, trapping us in total darkness.
FORTY-THREE
Aerona and I ignited flames in our palms, illuminating the dark, narrow tunnel. The ceiling was low, barely tall enough to stand in without hitting our heads. The tunnel twisted and turned under the mountain. The air pressure increased, and the temperature dropped. I lost count of the many corners we turned before finally noticing a dim light around the next corner.
“There’s light ahead,” I said quietly, dousing my flame. “It looks like the tunnel may open.”
“Something is running toward us,” Rain whispered. “I can feel the vibrations.”
“We can’t go back,” I replied, peering into the darkness. “We have to stand our ground.”
Rain squeezed ahead of me, taking the forward position. “Move back around the last corner,” he instructed, crouching in the darkness.
We retreated to the last corner we had turned from, watching as a shadowy figure blocked the light from down the tunnel. They were moving fast. Rain waited until the last possible second, then pounced down the tunnel.
Hearing Kasiah’s screams, I ran out from our hiding spot.
“It’s me!” Kasiah yelled, gasping for breath, trapped in Rain’s iron grip. “It’s me, Kasiah!”
Rain released Kasiah and helped her up.
“Are you alright?” I asked, wrapping my arms around Kasiah, ecstatic to see her alive.
A thin stream of fresh blood from an open wound ran down her cheek. Her clothes were tattered and filthy, as though she’d been rolling in the dirt for hours.
Kasiah struggled to catch her breath. “Atmoro has Jade,” she said, filling her lungs with air.
“How many Shadows are with Atmoro?” I asked.
Kasiah wiped the back of her hand across her bloody cheek, still trying to catch her breath and calm down. “Just Atmoro,” she said.
“Just Atmoro?” Aerona probed. “He’s here alone?”
Kasiah wiped the blood on her shirt. “Yes, just Atmoro. As soon as we crossed over, he killed the other two vampires who were helping him. Apparently, he didn’t need them anymore.”
“Why did he keep you alive?” Aerona asked, always the cynic.
“Glad to see you too,” Kasiah responded. “From what I gathered, Atmoro wanted to keep me alive as a bargaining chip in case you guys somehow tracked him down.”
“What about Jade?” I asked, staring into the dark tunnel. “Has Atmoro performed the sacrifice to open the prison?”
“No, but he’s close. He turned his attention away from me for only a second. He was focused on strapping Jade in position against a gigantic and intricately carved wooden door.”
“That must be the elf door to the Forgotten Shadow City!” I exclaimed. “Can you show us the way?”
Kasiah hung her head low, and a tear rolled down her face. “I can’t go back there,” she said, sobbing and shaking. “He’s too powerful! He’ll kill us all!”
I pulled Kasiah close and embraced her. “You say he’s alone?” I asked. “We can handle Atmoro. You just need to point us in the right direction.”
Kasiah sniffled. “I… I… I can’t remember. I was running so fast. I never thought I’d see you again.”
“It’s OK, Kasiah,” I said, comforting her. “We can do this. We have to do this. Amy died in order for us to stop Atmoro from releasing these monsters into our worlds. Your sister’s here with us.”
With the back of her dirty hand, Kasiah wiped away her tears. “If we even have a chance at stopping Atmoro,” she continued, “we’ll need to move quickly.”
“Which way?” Rain asked, eager to save Jade and end this madness.
Kasiah pointed down the dark tunnel. “The tunnel splits into two around the next bend. I came from the left, but I don’t know how far. I was running. I was so scared.”
“You can do this,” I reassured her.
Kasiah took a step forward and tried to recall the route. “I remember the tunnel opening into a cavern. A massive cavern with very high ceilings. A small stream of water trickled down one wall, and some strange blue and green plants lit the whole cavern.”
“This is all good information,” I urged her on. “You’re doing great. Is Atmoro in that cavern?”
“Yes,” Kasiah continued. “At the center of the far wall, there is a tall, wooden door with detailed carvings. When I ran, Atmoro was strapping Jade to the door with thick, leather straps. He turned his attention away from me for only a second. I took the chance and I ran so hard, so fast.”
“Aeron,” Rain prompted, “time is not on our side.”
I nodded back. “Kasiah, will you be able to show us the way?”
“Let’s go get her,” she said, stepping forward and suddenly reenergized.
Aerona fell in step behind me. “I don’t like this, Aeron. We’re going in blind.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Well, Aerona, unless you have a map, we don’t have a choice.”
The tunnel twisted twice, and then we came up to the split in the tunnel that Kasiah had told us about. We followed the left side of the tunnel. The dirt floor slanted downward at a very steep angle, and I could hear everyone’s feet sliding to keep traction along the loose dirt.
Rain led the way down the tunnel. “How much further?” he asked Kasiah.
“We’re close,” she replied, holding my hand. “The cavern should be just around the next corner.”
The tunnel opened into a small, dark cavern. I released her hand as we entered, brightening my flame to reveal an empty cavern. It appeared as if construction had been halted, and the cavern was never finished. The walls were only twenty feet square, and I didn’t see markings or carvings that Kasiah had described.
“I think we took a wrong turn,” I said, looking up at the ceiling. “This is a dead end. Are you sure we had to take the left tunnel?”
Kasiah didn’t answer.
I turned back toward the entrance. “Kasiah?” I asked, searching the darkness.
“I’m sorry, Aeron,” Kasiah whispered. “You weren’t supposed to make it this far.”
My flame was extinguished, and I was flung through the air, slamming my back hard against the rock wall. I fell to the floor, unable to breathe. Rain let out a thunderous growl and slammed into the wall beside me. Aerona screamed as she collided with the solid rock wall. A flash of light exploded in front of us; Ember transformed and fled to the tunnel.
The cavern went dark.
“Is this all of them?” came a man’s voice.
My brain strained to focus. I had heard that man’s voice before; it wasn’t Atmoro’s.
“Yes,” Kasiah answered, “sadly, this is their entire crew.”
“And the one that escaped?”
“Don’t worry about the dumb, little fairy,” Kasiah said crudely. “The guards will find her in the tunnel maze.”
Slowly, a single white light began to brighten the cavern. I was shocked when I saw an evil grin on Kasiah’s face, but I was even more shocked to see her speaking with Noshimo, the same warlock who betrayed my parents by helping Malance, the corrupt council member, to take over the Shadow Council. He hadn’t aged a day since the terrifying night
that destroyed my family. He was tall, at least seven feet, and lanky with spiked, white hair. I don’t know how he could manage down that little tunnel. His facial features were sunken in, accenting his cheek bones. The rest of his thin body was hidden behind an extended, leather robe tied at the waist.
“You’ve done well, human,” Noshimo said to Kasiah. He released the oxygen around us and allowed us to breathe.
“You bitch!” Aerona yelled with her first breath. “I’m going to slit your throat!”
Kasiah walked over to where Aerona was held against the wall, frozen in place from Noshimo’s spell, then kicked Aerona in the jaw, snapping her head back. Aerona held back a scream as blood sprayed from her lips.
My head was throbbing; Noshimo had control of my mind. I was frozen in place, only able to watch Kasiah lean down and grab a handful of Aerona’s hair, yanking her head back to expose her neck.
“You’ve had this coming from the moment I met you,” Kasiah said as she pulled out a glistening blade. She slid the back of the blade across Aerona’s neck. “What is it that you said to me when you held a knife to my throat? Oh yes, I remember. ‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t spill your blood.’”
From deep down inside Kasiah, the woman I thought I knew and cared for, an overdramatic, evil laugh erupted—I was clearly wrong.
“Stop this!” I screamed. “You don’t need to do this!”
Kasiah let go of Aerona’s hair. “How sweet,” she replied, standing. “Her little brother comes to the rescue.”
“Let us go!” Aerona demanded. “So we can have a fair fight, you psycho!”
Ignoring Aerona’s threat, Kasiah ran the steel blade of her knife up my chest, propping my chin up with its tip. Her soft lips touched mine, passionately kissing me for several seconds. Memories of our first kiss flashed through my weakened mind. Her lips were still as soft as that first kiss.
“We could have been so good together,” Kasiah grinned. “You have more passion and heart than ten mortal men, but you’re fighting a losing battle.”
I held back my emotions which were killing me from the inside out. “You don’t have to do this, Kasiah,” I pleaded. “They’re filling your head with lies.”
The Blood of a Stone Page 34