Index sneered down at Penn.
“Match? He’s no match for me!”
James saw Raelinn crash into the water. He picked himself up and ran over to her, touching her on her shoulder. She turned to face him.
“Are you okay?”
She looked exhausted. She had cuts and bruises on her face and for a moment, she just lay there, with a blank expression on her face. Then she seemed to come around a little and nodded.
“Yes,” she said, propping herself up. “Remember, I heal quickly.”
They got themselves to their feet.
James spotted Y’an appear next to Y’in.
“Y’an!” he called.
She turned and made her way towards him.
“You’re here,” he said.
“Out of hiding, yes,” she replied. “You have worked well, together.” She bowed in thanks to them.
“Thanks,” they both nodded, not sure whether to bow in return or not. “We’re not out of the woods yet, though,” James added.
“No. That much is true,” Y’an acknowledged. “The sunrise is still a way off.”
“Sunrise,” repeated James, remembering the meeting on the mountain top in the Void. An idea came to mind.
“Listen,” he said. “That trick you did with speeding and slowing time?”
“Yes?” asked Y’an smiling. It seemed she already knew what he was thinking.
He looked at Raelinn. She nodded at him.
“Can you do that here?” he asked.
Y’an nodded. She looked at Raelinn “You know what will happen, though, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
James understood. “I’ll provide a shield or something for you,” he said to Raelinn. “We’ll find a way to keep you out of the light.”
“It’s okay,” she said, touching his lips with her finger. “This is how I get my freedom from Orfeo.”
“What? No!” James protested. “We’ll find a way to keep you safe.”
“James,” Raelinn said simply, looking into his eyes. “You have been a good friend to me.” She paused and tilted her head slightly and smiled to try to soften the blow. “Someone has to keep him in the light. Unless Index complies, it will have to be me.”
He knew this was the only way. He nodded at her sadly. She was right but he didn’t want to hear it. She was a friend, the like of which he had not known before and he didn’t want to lose her. He wanted to try and tell her in that moment, in case he didn’t have a chance later.
“Raelinn…” he started.
“Yes?” she had already started walking back out of the lake. She turned.
“You sure there’s no other way?”
She paused and shook her head. “I wish there was.”
He followed, reluctantly.
Meanwhile, Index continued to trade punches and word magic with Orfeo.
“You have allowed the stories to twist. Fester. Mutate.”
“Yes, I tried to tell him that,” added Penn unhelpfully from the ground. Clearly, he was enjoying this.
“But now we have you my friend,” Orfeo tried to soothe, deflecting further attacks. “You can do anything you wish.”
“Ooh, that’s dangerous,” remarked Penn, putting his hand to his head.
“Anything?” asked Index.
“Yes, my friend,” continued Orfeo, glancing down at Penn. “By my hand you are free to do as you wish. But dispatch this man first!”
“You think you created me?” asked Index, incredulously.
“Yes,” replied Orfeo, looking puzzled.
“For what purpose?” asked Index, perplexed.
“Oh, this should be good,” commented Penn.
“Will you be quiet?” shouted Orfeo, irritated.
Penn made a signal across his mouth like a zip to indicate that he wouldn’t say anything further.
“I created you to destroy the Guardians. To take control of the realms. To control the imagination of the population.”
“For what reason?” asked Index. It was an innocent question, like that of a child.
“To stop fighting and wars, of course” replied Orfeo. “To bring peace. To make them act how we want them to, in order to achieve their potential.”
“Their potential?” replayed Index.
“Why, yes,” soothed Orfeo. Raelinn looked up. She had not seen Orfeo in this mentor role before. Given what she had seen in the man earlier, he seemed to enjoy having someone to shape and mould.
She looked outside the window. The sky was lightening. Y’an was working her magic.
To her side, James and other guardians were conjuring word magic to create a huge floor to ceiling mirror. The lake flowed up to the wall, creating a massive reflective area.
Yas and Sam stopped by the edge of the huge mirror.
“No more mirrors?” asked Sam.
“No,” she replied, exhausted. “I think that’s it.”
Yas looked across the hall. She saw it filling with light as the Fates had predicted. As far as she could tell, the emotional essences of the custodians had been released. They were gradually rising, free from the lake. Some of the custodians created doorways and left, weak but whole. Others, like Y’in and Prana, remained, watching the unfolding drama in the hall.
Sunlight started entering the hall from the above the trees that surrounded the castle grounds. Orfeo noticed it and was puzzled.
“What’s happening?” he asked. “How is this possible?”
“A breaking dawn,” replied James from below, just to the side of the large mirror. “I warned you!”
“You!” shouted Orfeo. He fired a tendril of words at James, but Raelinn intercepted it and pulled hard. Orfeo was yanked downwards and into the light. His flesh started to sizzle. He let go and rose back up, into the protection afforded by Index.
“Do something!” he commanded Index.
Index moved out of the way, allowing light to fall on Orfeo.
Orfeo felt the first touches of the light and then spotted Yas, over by the mirrors.
“You!” he shouted and flew towards her.
Sam saw Orfeo coming and moved in front of Yas, to defend her. Akoni had spotted what was happening also and, still on his tablet, flew towards Orfeo to distract him. Orfeo dismissed Akoni with a wave of his hand, who tumbled off into the water. Then he closed his eyes for a split second, to re-establish the mind link with Eddie.
He demanded that Eddie head towards Akoni and fight him.
Eddie felt the change in himself. For a moment he bought into the control and looked at Akoni, ready to attack. Then he came to and locked eyes with Orfeo.
“Not this time,” he said simply. “He’s my friend.” He landed his tablet close by Akoni to check on him.
Sam conjured a shield around himself and Yas, but it didn’t hold. Orfeo fired a slew of word slivers and punched holes straight through it. He pushed Sam out of the way and grabbed the exhausted Yas by the collar of her jacket before she could resist.
“You did this!”
He launched himself into the air.
“No!” shouted Sam, getting back up and running after Orfeo. Orfeo happily sent further word slivers down towards Sam and other guardians.
Raelinn launched herself into the air. She flew up in front of Orfeo, faking word magic, then threw a punch. Then she twisted around behind him and grabbed him around the neck, pulling him downwards. They hit the floor, with Yas on top of Orfeo. Raelinn pulled Yas off to one side. Then Raelinn used the opportunity to get a firmer strangle hold on Orfeo and she launched back into the air.
“No!” shouted James.
Yas got to her feet, just as Sam splashed across to her.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded, exhausted. “We need to do something,” motioning to Orfeo and Raelinn.
Above them, Raelinn had turned Orfeo so that he faced the sun beaming in through the windows.
Yas fired word tendrils up towards Orfeo
and ensnared his legs. Then she pulled the magic down and anchored it to the ground.
Orfeo twisted and struggled to get free. His flesh started to smoke. Where Raelinn’s arm and head were exposed also, she started to sizzle. The pain was evident on her face, but she put everything she had into keeping Orfeo there.
“You won’t win,” said Orfeo. He struggled to twist out of her grip but with her behind him and the magical bonds below, he couldn’t. He flew up and down, and from side to side to try to shake free but to no avail.
“I’m stronger than you,” he said, half choking, trying to convince her that he would win.
“We’ll see,” she replied calmly. She knew she was faring better currently.
Orfeo closed his eyes for a moment and imagined the magical bonds weakening and breaking. They started to crumble, and he flew backwards and tried to smash Raelinn against an arched mirror behind them. Raelinn anticipated though and managed to avoid the worst of the blows, twisting at the last second to push Orfeo into the glass. With no Custodian in the mirror, it smashed and cut him and the cuts stayed. He wasn’t healing at the same rate as he had before.
Feeling the glass breaking on him, he shouted out in rage and flew up into the ceiling, smashing Raelinn into the stonework. She was winded and her grip lessened for a split second. Orfeo turned and kicked her.
Below, Yas and Sam sent more word tendrils flying upwards, trying to ensnare Orfeo once again. He shot magic downwards causing them to have to stop and create shields above them for protection.
“You shoot. I’ll shield,” Sam suggested, conjuring a larger dome above them.
Yas leaned out of the side of the protection to fire more word tendrils.
Janine and Yas’s mom joined in firing from different angles also.
Raelinn slammed backwards into the wall, then charged at Orfeo again, the two of them tumbling over each other in the air as they fought. Tendrils, whipping about in the air just below them, caught hold of Orfeo’s legs. Then, Raelinn managed to resume her grip on her weakened master.
“Relinquish your powers,” she hissed. “Then, I’ll let you live!”
“Never!” he shot back.
Raelinn dropped Orfeo down to the floor and into the water, tightening her grip and allowing more tendrils to wrap themselves around him. There was a crunch as his legs broke on impact. The pain was evident on his face.
Janine, Peter and the others ran towards them.
“Let go of him, Raelinn,” they shouted, conjuring word nets. “Together we can hold him.”
“No,” she said. “I have to do this. To repay for my crimes.”
“That’s crazy talk,” shouted James. “You can work with me. We can right wrongs together. You’ll have plenty of time to fulfill your potential.”
“Potential,” said Index, repeating something that Orfeo had said earlier.
More sunlight was streaming in through the window
“You can work with me,” Orfeo choked, struggling for breath.
Raelinn tightened her grip around his neck further.
“That ship has sailed!”
She could smell his flesh burning. It was not pleasant but she also knew that it wasn’t enough. She needed the power of the reflection from the water and the mirror to finish him.
She looked behind her and then twisted him around and down into the water just in front of the mirror.
James and Peter created a shield to try to shadow her, while keeping Orfeo in the sunlight. Orfeo was cunning though, even in his weakened state. He fired strings of words which hit each of them and snaked their way up their bodies. James and Peter grabbed furiously at the word snakes, but they could not prevent them forming a circle around their necks. They started to choke, under the tightening grip.
“No!” Raelinn shouted, sending a wall of magic outwards to each of them. It dissolved the snakes, and pushed them tumbling backwards, out of Orfeo’s reach. Yas and Sam also were pushed down the hall.
Then with what little energy she had, she created a transparent wall either side of her and Orfeo.
“It’s just the two of us, now,” she said to him. “No distractions!”
The sunlight chose that moment to rise high enough that it hit the water and mirror full force. The light was blinding and there was no escape. She just hoped that she could hold Orfeo in place long enough. The pain was growing in intensity though. She cried out.
“Raelinn!” James shouted back from where he had landed. He got himself to his feet and pounded on the transparent wall. He desperately wanted to help. He could see the toll the sunlight was taking on her.
Then, Raelinn felt the energy in her change. She felt her strength leave her. The damage was too great. Light started to twinkle and sparkle at the edges of her sight. Her consciousness was slipping, and she knew it. She just hoped that she could hold Orfeo long enough.
Orfeo must have sensed her hold slipping and he twisted and grabbed her hair, forcing her face up and towards the light. She knew that was it. She felt the burn of the sunlight and had no strength remaining to resist it. She sank into darkness.
“No!” shouted James as he watched her slump forwards. Orfeo was not in much better shape though, struggling to get himself up and out of the water and sunlight. He was dazed, confused and broken.
The magic wall disappeared.
“Orfeo!” James shouted as he ran. Orfeo glanced up at James, slowly, clearly in pain. James collided with him pushing him down into the water again.
“You bastard!” he shouted, pummelling him with his fists. “You’ve taken away everything she had,” he shouted in between punches and kicks. “Her life that could have been! Her potential!”
Orfeo just looked up at James with a bemused expression on his face.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Your worst nightmare!” James spat back. “I’m the detective!”
Orfeo’s face melting, he was only just conscious, but the man still had energy reserves, somehow. James knew that he could continue punching and kicking Orfeo all day, but it would not be enough.
Peter and Janine ran in to help. They cast magic to secure Orfeo to the ground.
“James!” shouted Peter, arriving next to him. “He’s not going anywhere.”
“He dies!” James spat back, continuing to kick and punch Orfeo. “By my hand!”
“You don’t want that,” Peter tried to convince him.
“I don’t care,” James said, anger still burning within him.
“She wouldn’t want that for you,” urged Peter, indicating to Raelinn’s form on the ground. He reached out his hand to try to grab James on the shoulder.
James stopped and looked down at Orfeo, then at Peter. Then he glanced at Raelinn. He nodded.
Suddenly, James and Peter were pulled from behind and tossed out the way. Index landed next to Orfeo and picked him up, launching from the water and into the air, in front of the huge mirror. He held Orfeo so that the maximum sunlight hit him.
James got back to his feet and ran over to Raelinn.
“Help me!” he shouted.
Peter joined him and conjured a cover to keep her in the shadows.
Up above, Orfeo managed one last question, as his and Index’s eyes met in the mirror.
“Why?”
“You have fulfilled your potential,” replied Index, his emotionless voice echoing around the hall.
Orfeo dissolved into dust from head to foot, until Index was left holding the man’s clothes. He dropped back down into the water, looking at the clothes in his hands. Then he looked about him, straightened up and disappeared.
Penn mimicked unzipping his lips. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he smirked.
Raelinn opened her eyes and looked up at James.
“Raelinn,” he said, his voice breaking. He could see the toll the battle had taken on her.
“It’s okay,” she soothed.
“You’ll recover,” James replied, nodding. He really wanted t
o believe that.
“Or maybe not,” said Penn to himself, creating a doorway.
Janine overheard and stared at him.
“Just saying,” he said, then stepped through the portal and disappeared.
Eddie rushed over to join his dad and put his hand on his shoulder, awkwardly. His other hand went to his mouth in shock, on seeing how badly injured Raelinn was.
“Dad,” Eddie said, sympathising.
Peter, Janine, Yas and Sam moved over to where James and Raelinn were. They helped hold the cover protecting Raelinn from the light.
“Shush,” Raelinn said to James, gently. She raised her hand, shakily and touched his lips. “Thank you,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “You were my friend.”
“Are,” he corrected. “You saved me,” he said. “From myself.”
“We saved each other,” she replied, no longer able to hold her hand up. Her hand slipped down his face. He caught it and held her.
Tears started to form in his eyes.
“No, you don’t,” he said, as firmly as his breaking voice would allow. “You’re a vampire. You don’t die.”
“No,” she smiled up at him. “You helped me become free.” Her eyes closed and then jerked open again. She smiled. “I’ve been to the gym, James,” she joked. “I’m human again.” Then she closed her eyes and her head dropped backwards.
“Raelinn,” James moaned, tears running down his face.
He looked up and spotted that the sun was dropping back down in the sky again. He looked across to the lake and could see Y’an. She nodded at him, then along with Y’in, disappeared from the hall.
The castle suddenly became very still. There was only the sound of the water trickling away, dissolving into the floor.
“I’m really sorry, James,” said Peter, next to him. He conjured a sheet and pulled it over Raelinn, still resting in James’ arms. James looked up at him and nodded, his face wet with tears.
Chapter 11
Index
Janine, Yas and Sam returned to the library in Bystead the next day. It had been closed since the riots, the smashed front glass doors having been boarded up. Inside, the damage was mostly superficial. Shelves had been pulled over and books had been scattered and trampled upon, but thankfully there was little that was beyond repair.
The Word Guardians: and the Twisting Tales Page 31