Weeping Willow (Part Two)

by Sandra Madera

  The fumes that I inhaled made it harder to comprehend the oracle’s message. “How is he supposed to do that?” I asked.

  The oracle remained silent.

  Sweeping my hair out of my face, I knew she wouldn’t answer any more questions concerning Nalin. I struggled to search my brain for a question I could ask. “Why did Nalin create me? What is my destiny?”

  “Nalin created you to fill a void which the prophecy had left him with. However, he managed to fulfill his destiny although he was ignorant of its true meaning,” she said slowly, swaying in her seat as she reached the peak of her trance-like state. “You, Willow, will not die today. Your destiny is to continue on your journey.”

  Confused, I asked, “What journey would that be?”

  “You must unite with your mirror...your twin soul...and fuse the two fallen kingdoms,” she said, slumping in her seat once more.

  “Is Nalin to form another truce?” I inquired, but the oracle was done with her prophecy and was seemingly unconscious.

  Eager to breathe in the fresh air once more, I walked towards the mouth of the cave, wondering how I was to survive a sentence of death. I didn’t have powers. I didn’t even know spells. As I walked out of the mouth of the cave, rippling the invisible curtain once more, I was met by my mother with a strong hug.

  My eyes swept over the area. “Where are the soldiers?” I asked, my voice shaking.

  “They were going to kill you as soon as you left the cave,” she told me, pulling away so our eyes could meet.

  For the first time, I saw the blood that was smeared across her cheek and the small red stains on her white cape. “What did you do?” I asked, trembling.

  “Fulfill my end of the prophecy,” she answered steadily.

  “You killed them?” I asked, my eyes looking around for signs of a struggle in our surroundings.

  “I used a spell to put them to sleep first,” she said, taking my hand in hers.

  Suddenly, there was a commotion in the surrounding woods as voices echoed in the stillness. “What is going on?”

  “Callan was to arrive for the stoning,” she said fearfully, tugging my arm and starting to sprint for cover. After running about twenty yards in the opposite direction, my mother stopped and ducked behind trees. “We won’t be able to run far enough. We have to open a door here.”

  Although we were out of the line of sight, I knew they would be quick to search the woods, and we would be found. “Hurry.”

  Shaking, I watched as she removed red powder from a pouch she carried. She began sprinkling a line of the red dust on the ground as she whispered words in a foreign tongue. Within seconds a door began to manifest.

  I turned, looking behind us as cries echoed through the air. “I think they found the bodies,” I whispered, my voice quivering with anxiety.

  “Almost done,” she whispered back, wringing her hands nervously. “It takes longer when you don’t make the door on a wall.”

  “Stop!” someone yelled a few yards away, spotting us.

  My breath caught in my throat as I spun around to see Callan, running towards us at full speed.

  * * * * *

  NALIN:

  Bursting into the great hall in the midst of a dinner party, I screamed my sister’s name. My voice echoed through the chamber and all chattering ceased as guests turned to look at me.

  Jasmine appeared in the front of the crowd with her flowing, blond hair swept away from her face and her eyes as wide as saucers. Appearing horrified, she asked “Are you alright, Nalin?”

  I ignored her, scanning the crowd for my sister.

  Spotting Daphne at the center of the room, I walked towards her. She was flanked by a small group of soldiers. She looked up to see me, registering my appearance with a gasp. “What happened?”

  I looked down at myself, realizing I was still covered in Dökkálfar blood. “It’s not my blood,” I explained.

  She nodded in silent understanding. “Where are the bodies?”

  “I burned them,” I answered, walking until I stood before her.

  “And the rest of your convoy?”

  “Dead,” I told her coolly. “I need another group of soldiers.”

  With her face grim, she stated, “For what exactly? Another suicide mission?”

  “Willow has been captured by King Callan,” I told her, my voice as hard as steel. “I need a small convoy to free her.”

  The room came alive with the murmuring of Daphne’s guests.

  Jasmine appeared exasperated at the mention of her competition. “You can’t go,” she said in a huff, forgetting her place.

  I shot her an angry look, silencing her. “It is not for you to decide.”

  Frustrated, Jasmine burst into tears, hiding her face in her father’s shoulder like the spoiled Elfling she was. He rubbed her back, looking at me with daggers in his eyes.

  I rolled my eyes at her over dramatic behavior.

  “You will do no such thing,” Daphne told me adamantly. “Get cleaned up and join us for dinner.”

  “I wasn’t asking.”

  “Was I not clear when I requested your attendance?” she said, raising an arched eyebrow as if challenging me.

  With my jaw set, I decided to jab her back verbally. “I am not your subordinate. I intend to take back my crown.”

  “For now, you are,” she stated, her voice rich with venom. “It will be a long while before you will be mature enough to possess this kind of power.

  I smiled insincerely. “I heard some very interesting news today,” I mentioned, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. “It seems a witness has come forward about the night the cottage was set on fire...and they saw the most curious thing.”

  The guards began to stir and the crowd turned to one another in confusion.

  My sister’s proud expression drained from her face. “What did they see?”

  “They saw our own men torch the willow tree,” I said, feeling the heat of my anger stir.

  “They―They’re mistaken,” she said unconvincingly.

  I bridged the gap between us until I was close enough to exhale on her. “That is what I told them,” I said, my voice cold. “But they insisted.”

  “I know nothing about it,” she said shrilly, her eyes darting around the room for someone to shield her from my inquiries. No one came to her rescue.

  “I know you wouldn’t lie to me, Sister,” I told her, looking into her fearful eyes. “But your eyes betray you.”

  Daphne backed away, fighting to regain her regal demeanor. “I am your queen, Nalin.”

  “That is precisely what has divided us,” I told her, seething. “Your willingness to take my crown.... Your greed for power.... I know that you are capable of much, but would you betray your own brother?”

  “Yes,” she yelled, the darker side of her nature showing through. “I sent the guards! Willow’s creation was against the laws of nature. The fact that she still lives is an atrocity!”

  Several members of the Royal Guard crept closer until they stood between me and my sister, readying themselves for conflict. Their hands held the handles of their sheathed blades as they calmly watched the back and forth.

  “I hope Callan kills her,” she said shrilly, starting to walk towards a doorway that led to her private chambers.

  “As a princess, you didn’t have the power to send soldiers to the cabin,” I yelled after her, guards barring my path to her. “What else did you do?”

  “Take him to his bed chamber and lock him in there,” Daphne ordered, screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “What did you do?” I continued to ask before a shocked audience. “Did you murder our parents?”

  She ran into her private quarters, shutting the door behind her with a slam.

  “You killed them!” I accused, knowing she could hear me through the closed door. “You killed them in their bed for the power you have now. But it’s over! Over!”

  The guests looked at me horrified a
nd conflicted as to gauge whether or not the accusation was true.

  Ready to escort me to my quarters, guards flanked me. One was so brazen as to put his arm on my shoulder. That act sent waves of anger through my body and I withdrew my sword, feeling a deep urge to kill them all.

  * * * * *

  WILLOW:

  “Willow!” my mother yelled as she gripped my arm like a vice. She opened the door swiftly, pushing me inside and jumping in after me. She quickly locked it, but within two seconds Callan was pounding on it from the other side.

  I rose to my feet, having landed bottom first in marshland. “Where are we?” I asked, as my mother took me by my wrist.

  ‘The Realm of the Trolls,” she said, her voice taut with tension as she started backing away from the door which had only begun to fade.

  Callan’s fists pounded harder on the other side and the door began to splinter.

  “He is going to break through the door! Run!”

  We began to run further into the marshland, knee deep in murky water. We heard the door begin to give way in the distance as my mother opened another door, headed for the Realm of the Fae. Once in the Realm of the Fairies, we opened another door to the Realm of the Giants.

  Always one step behind us, Callan followed us through the dimensions.

  Finally, we opened another door to the Realm of the Humans, landing squarely in the upstairs hallway of our house. I collapsed on the floor, feeling as if my heart was about to beat out of my chest.

  My mother closed the door quickly, latching it shut. “Get the salt,” she ordered, throwing her body against the door for added effect.

  Without question, I raced downstairs. My muscles protested all the way down. With my legs wobbling, I retrieved the salt and ran as fast as I could back to my mother, handing it to her. She threw the salt on the door frame, instantly closing it.

  “Salt can form a line of protection,” she told me, looking relieved. “It can also close portals quickly, but Callan will just open another one when he figures out where we are.”

  “Then lets get out of here,” I told her, pulling her downstairs.

  “We need money first,” she said, pulling me towards the backyard.

  With haste, my mother dashed across the yard. Her hands landed on the tree trunk of a large oak. She began chanting words that were just out of earshot. The tree began to shake its leaves off. Before the leaves touched the ground, my mother’s magic turned them into money.

  I realized that in my mom’s world money could grow on trees. I also knew that money probably paid for the manor we lived in and the acres that surrounded it.

  She feverishly began stuffing the money into her pockets and I helped her with a shaky hand, looking around me for the enemy. We grabbed enough hundred dollar bills to have us living in the lap of luxury for a few months. In my greed, I tried to grab every dollar, but my mother insisted we didn’t have time and pushed me towards our driveway.

  After reaching the minivan, we heard a commotion inside the house. It seemed Callan had finally made his own door into this realm.

  We jumped in the car and started to drive.

  * * * * *

  NALIN:

  I killed them.

  Twenty or so of my own soldiers met their end by my blade, but I could not kill them all.

  My blood lust was strong, but I was outnumbered. I knew it, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was how my beloved parents were slaughtered in their bed as they slept. Had they seen it coming? Did my father know that by bequeathing the crown to my sister upon his passing that he would be signing his own death warrant?

  I think not.

  I think she played her part well―the part of a loving and loyal daughter. She was neither. She coveted the crown and stole it right out from under me. Perhaps she planned it all along. I had confided the oracle’s prophecy to her, and as if by magic, a spell presented itself to me that could change my circumstances. A spell that would cost me my crown. Did she place it there for me to find? I wouldn’t put it past her.

  Feeling as if I were going to claw at the walls, I paced my bedchamber anxiously. Now, that her treachery had been revealed, would she smite all of those who stood between her and the power she sought to hold onto? Would she kill her own brother to keep the crown? I believed she would. I am sure the idea had already occurred to her, and she was devising a plan that would make my death seem less obvious.

  Once someone had committed the act of murder, it seemed easier the second and third time around. It gets easier until you feel nothing at all. I should know, but part of that was the void that creating Willow left me with. Such darkness could only be quieted while in her presence. Where was she now? Was she awaiting her own death? Perhaps we were both doomed.

  * * * * *

  WILLOW:

  I slumped in my seat. “How long are we going to drive for?”

  My mother shot me a glance. “We can’t stop. We can’t ever stop.”

  “Eventually, we are going to have to. We are going to need gas. We are going to need more supplies,” I told her. “We need to stretch and relax.”

  “I don’t mean that. We can stop for a few moments to do all of those things, but we can’t stop for more than a few hours,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, solidifying how worried she was. “I am going to have to return to the Elven Earth to recharge my magical batteries, but other than that, we are on the run.”

  Running my thin fingers through my hair, I shook my head, remembering how Nalin had told me that his magic depletes the further he is from the source. It was the same for my mother. She had to keep one foot in the Elven world and the other in the human world just to survive. It must have been so hard for her all of these years, living a double life. “We can’t live like this,” I told her adamantly. “We can’t have a life living on the run! We haven’t slept in two days...and I need to sleep.”

  Even as I said it, I knew my words were only half truths. I missed Nalin. My heart ached within my chest with each beat. I had a horrible feeling and I needed to know if he was alright. I just needed to gaze upon his face.

  “He can sense us. If I use my magic, he can pick up on that. I need to cast spells to make money and that kind of thing,” she said, focusing on the road. “If we stopped, it would only be a matter of time before he found us. I mean, he already knows we are in this realm.”

  “Why can’t we go to another realm?” I asked, looking out the window at the surrounding cornfields.

  “Opening portals is a serious offense,” she told me. “We can mask our appearance with spells, but if we are caught...we could be killed. No magical being can live in another’s realm.”

  “So, each realm is a territory that you enter at your own risk,” I surmised.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “How is it that we haven’t run out of gas for two days?” I asked absent-mindedly as my thoughts began to shift towards Nalin once more.

  “I cast spells for that kind of stuff,” she said.

  “You did what?” I asked, my voice taut with tension.

  Suddenly, both of our front tires blew out. Rosalyn fought to regain control of the car as it spun off the road. The minivan swerved roughly, leaning on the right-side wheels before toppling over on its side. Metal twisted and contorted with a horrible groan. Glass shattered everywhere, splintering like a cobweb before breaking off in jagged shards. With its passenger side door shrieking along the road, the van came to a screeching halt after a few yards.

  My mother had hit her head on the steering wheel, leaving a gash on her forehead nearly three inches long. “Are you okay?” she asked weakly, hanging by her seat belt.

  I nodded, rubbing my neck which was stiff from the whiplash I had received. “I’m okay,” I said, giving myself a once over before unbuckling my seat belt. Since my side of the car was touching the asphalt, my shoulder was leaning on a pile of glass that had once been my window. Each shard punctured my skin, c
ausing me to bleed. Moaning in pain, I climbed to my feet in the tight space, helping my mother out of her seat. Once she was loose, I began to pound on the driver’s side door which was now our sunroof.

  “I think the road had those mats of metal spikes that the cops use,” she told me, blood dripping down her face as her wound began to heal. “You know those things they use to stop speeding cars.”

  Without warning, the door opened as if blown off its hinges.

  I began to climb out of the car, but before I could take in my surroundings, I was grabbed from behind and thrown on the road forcefully. Pain shot up my body in an instant as I landed on the asphalt with a hard thud. The air I had stored in my lungs rush out, leaving me unable to catch my breath. Tears began streaming down my face before I could stop them.

  “I am going to enjoy watching the life drain from you,” Callan said with venom in his voice, standing over me.

  “Callan, stop!” my mother screamed as she struggled to get out of the minivan.

  With my sneakers sliding on the asphalt, I tried to crawl away from him, but my body couldn’t move fast enough. I screamed with fear as he turned me over to face him before gripping my throat with his huge hands. As he squeezed my windpipe closed, my hands flew to my throat, trying to pry him off me.

  My lungs burned, thirsting for air.

  The pressure in my head began to build quickly as oxygen deprivation set in.

  With my eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, I began to gag as my limbs flailed. I scratched at his hands while trying to land a kick on him. I inwardly cried out for help as he crushed my throat with his vice like grip.

  As my vision began to fade, I lifted one hand from his and pushed Callan’s face with my palm. As if by magic, red light shot out of my hand, burning his face.

  He screamed, letting me go instantly and cupping his face in his hands.

  Choking, I gulped in as much air as I could although my neck was tender. I flinched in pain with each intake of oxygen. I held my neck, protecting it from further attack.

  When he finally did look up, his once handsome face turned shades of red and black as his skin was singed. The top layer of his skin began to peel, and his mouth formed a menacing sneer.