by Katie Cherry
He laughs more, tauntingly. “Really? Let’s just assume for a moment that you actually were able to kill me if you followed through on your plan and were able to infiltrate my castle. Who would you kill then? Do you even know who the second in command is?”
“No,” I weakly reply.
“That’s what I thought. …The one going to rule after me is your brother, Hunter.” My eyes widen in dismay. No! But… I can’t kill him! …Maybe it’ll be enough if I can still…
Patrick seems to read my thoughts. “But I’m still here. I am the leader, so go ahead, try and kill me,” he invites sarcastically. I raise an eyebrow at him, disbelieving. I stand and look him in the eye- the only one I can see.
“What trick is this?” I demand.
He smiles. “No trick. I just want to see if you have it in you to kill anyone- even me. Go ahead. I won’t even fight back.”
Suspicious, I turn away from him. But realizing that if I kill him I might be able to get away, I suddenly turn and charge at him, catching him off guard. I pin his arms and legs to the ground and pull a knife out of his boot. Surprise fills his eyes. “How did you…”
“I’m very observant,” I say. “I knew that you would be the type of person to always have weapons on you. People tend to walk a little different when there’s something in their boot- or up their sleeve.” I reach up his sleeve and pull out a vial. “What’s this? Poison?”
He smiles. “It’s just a sedative. A large enough dose will knock a person out for a week.”
“Hmm, useful,” I comment as I lay the blade of the knife on his exposed neck. A drop of sweat rolls onto it. He’s frightened, even if he doesn’t admit it. “But I think I’ll just get to the point… don’t you think?” His hood was thrown back when I knocked him over, revealing his face, but I’m unaffected. I just saw it through the glasses, so it doesn’t startle me, although I’m a little surprised at how much better it is.
Patrick, although he’s frightened and staring death in the face, still manages to muster the nerve to taunt me. “Go ahead,” he invites, his voice shaking. “Go ahead and kill me. Just a downward slash, right? Easy. And then you could run along back to your mom and dad, who don’t even want you anymore. I’m sure they’ve forgotten all about you.”
“No… they care. They’re suffering because they have no idea what happened to Rex and me,” I say, trying to convince myself more than him.
“Really? Are you certain? Have you seen them since you’ve arrived?”
“Well… no, but-”
“Have you asked them why?”
“…No. But Thaddeus said…”
“Oh, old Thaddeus told you something? How does that make it true?”
I press the knife against his throat, drawing blood. He stops talking, his Adam’s apple quivering. “Don’t you dare insult Thaddeus,” I whisper threateningly.
“I wasn’t,” he assures, despite the knife. “I’m sure he was telling the truth- at least as far as he knows.” I swallow. “I’m sure that if you kill me, you can go and find them yourself. …But where would you go once you realize that you have no friends or a loving family? …I know Hunter wants to get to know you. Do you want to meet your brother? Or are you going to go on a wild goose chase after Rex to try and find some scrap of family? I…”
I cut him off, again pressing the knife into his neck. I’m tempted, oh so tempted, to just finish him off and go home, but… what he says drives a knife into my own heart. That and… I’ve never actually killed anyone… the closest I came was watching the Zyloff kill Roxane.
Finally, after a minute of turmoil, I release the knife and get off of him and sit on the end of the bed. He looks surprised as he stands and dusts himself off, but it quickly turns into a gloating look. “I knew it. I knew you couldn’t do it.” I just sit on my bed, head down, and don’t respond. He retrieves the knife and sedative and leaves, again locking the door behind him. As soon as he’s gone, I silently cry to myself, despair again creeping over me, freezing my heart until each heartbeat is painful.
I’ll never see the light of day again, will I?
Chapter Sixteen
The Real Vlad
After that, I don’t see much of Patrick. He just leaves me alone in my room to feel sorry for myself for the most part, although he still comes in two or three times a week to put me down even more and to destroy all the things I thought I knew. During one of these visits, I ask him how he thinks he’s going to keep me here for so long without someone eventually finding this place to rescue me. He gives me two answers.
“Actually, I doubt anyone will take note of your absence,” he says casually.
“Ha ha. You should know that someone would see that I was missing. If no one else, Nathan would notice immediately.”
“Oh? You really think so? Hmm. Interesting. Too bad you don’t know…”
“What don’t I know? Tell me!” I exclaim, frustrated. He smiles, knowing that would irk me.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really… we just had someone watch you since you arrived until the night we kidnapped you to know how you act around others. Then, when we kidnapped you, she shape-shifted into you. She is posing as you even as we speak. That’s why no one will ever notice, although we’re prepared for that possibility regardless. We used magic years ago to hide this area of the forest- as well as any sounds coming from it. Even someone with very strong magic will not be able to see through that spell. Not even the dragons. You are cloaked from anyone trying to see you with magic- just like the rest of us.
“Anyone who gets close to this building physically will run into our distraction spell and it will send them in the opposite direction. Although if that failed, then the next spell causes the sound of a man running away, into the forest, causing anyone close to give chase only to eventually find nothing and be lost.” He gets a glint in his eye as he recalls the next one. “The last spell causes them to go blind. I would make it permanent, but I have not yet figured out how. So for now, it lasts for about an hour. And if they made it past all of that, they would run into a vicious porcupine-tiger we bred specifically to guard the castle. It would tear them to shreds. Given the remote possibility that they somehow survived the porcupine-tiger, then they still wouldn’t be able to get to you, because if they could even locate the correct room, the same type of spells surround your room, which can only be dropped if they have the key- which only I have. Plus, there are two guards outside the door. …Any more questions?”
I shake my head, overwhelmed and deprived of what little hope I had been harboring of someone rescuing me. He laughs. “I didn’t think so.” He leaves, and I am again feeling even worse after the visit- just like all the others. I collapse back in the chair and sigh, too weary to cry like I have been for the past couple of weeks. I just don’t think I have any more tears to shed.
*****
During his next visit, I challenge him on the impersonator he told me about. He smiles and says he thought I’d say something like that. He pushes a button on a remote that he had brought and a picture appears in front of me. It’s my friends and me, sitting at a table in the Square. The image then turns into a video. I watch, telling myself not to be gullible and to watch it while challenging everything I see- just like Nathan always does.
I’m sitting next to Nathan, eating lunch and talking to Ham and Sierra. From what I can gather, none of them realize that the person they are laughing with is not me. What they say next really worries me, though.
“I’m so happy you guys won!” Sierra exclaims. The fake me laughs- exactly like I do.
“You’ve been saying that for the past three weeks, Sierra!”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just so proud of you two! And now I’m even more glad you won, because we can finally go home! The Games are over! They can’t keep us here much longer. I don’t care what they say. They’re lucky we’ve stayed this long. Thaddeus said we had to wait for the injured to heal first, and so the King and Queen can meet us all. Well, t
he King and Queen aren’t any better, but the rest of the contestants are fine, so we could go home at any time!” The four of them cheer and Patrick ends the video.
“Still doubt it?” he asks me tauntingly. I shake my head, trembling.
“They… they’re leaving soon?” I gasp, unable to accept this.
“Yes, within the week, actually. As soon as I have Vlad send them…” he trails off, realizing that he slipped. He shrugs. “Oh, well. It’s not like you knowing would make any difference.”
“Knowing what? I realized Vlad wasn’t acting the same after he brought me here, if that’s what you mean. Are you controlling him?”
“…In a way,” he says, looking surprised that I even noticed. “I had him watched for a while, figuring since he was looking for the King’s lost children then we could just watch him. When he found you, I immediately sent Hunter to collect you, but you never met up with him again, thanks to Vladimir getting to you first. So when he returned to Zilferia, we changed the plan and captured him. Like you, he got a replacement. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spare our best impersonator- the one who’s you at the moment, so he isn’t acting perfectly. Obviously, he’s too led by his emotions. I was angry when he put in the werewolves in the First Challenge, but I let it go since I figured you could take them. And if not, then you were of no use to me anyway.
“The mermaids, however, were the last straw. I had no idea you had gotten so under his skin, Princess. I had actually sent someone to kill him when I got the feed of you with the mermaid King. You seemed to be doing fine, so I stopped and watched. …So now you know that we are, indeed, at war with those fish. It really doesn’t matter anyway. But just so you know, your actions prevented the fake Vlad’s death.”
“…Where’s the real Vlad? Is he here?”
Patrick laughs, scolding me. “Is he here? Of course he’s here! Where else do you think we’d put him? He’s a man with power. We aren’t going to put him in our less guarded building so the Sohos can come and snatch him like they did that doctor… Kate.” A beeping sound goes off in his pocket. “I’ve got to go,” he suddenly says. “Stay here.” Yeah. Right. Like I’m going anywhere.
As he heads towards the door, something else occurs to me. “Wait!” I call, stopping him. “What did your impostor do to our Familiars? She must have done something. They should be healed by now.”
“Can’t have them telling everyone the Crystal that’s there is fake, now can I? I have a man keeping them under. That’s enough questions for now,” he growls impatiently before turning and yanking the door open, slamming it shut behind him. I listen carefully in case he forgets to lock it, but as always, he doesn’t neglect to do so. I sigh, more frustrated and hopeless than ever and climb into bed and try to fall asleep on the stiff mattress.
Just as I’m drifting off, I have an idea for how to get out of here. But I won’t be able to do it alone… Next thing I know, I’m dreaming once more. I’m walking around in the woods, looking for something. I can’t seem to find it. Frustrated, I call Gale’s name. There’s no reply. I’m confused, for he’s supposed to hear me if I call for him. I desperately need his help, but my plan failed.
The next morning when Patrick comes in again, he brings welcome news. “You have earned a break from this room. It has become clear to me that your body and mind are deteriorating while staying here. Let’s go.” He grabs my arm and hauls me unceremoniously out the door. The two guards fall in behind us, trying to discourage me from escaping, I suppose. I might actually think about it, were it not for Patrick’s iron grip. That and my promise to my friends. Although… they would understand if I just couldn’t do it, right? If I just bailed? I’m not doing any good while being Patrick’s prisoner anyway.
As we walk briskly through the hallways, I rapidly memorize all I can, but there are lots of turns, so I’m unsure how well I actually do. By the time we emerge outside, my head hurts from concentrating for so long. Not only that, but the bright sunlight burns my eyes. I collapse, ripping out of Patrick’s grip so I can cover my eyes. The searing pain eases, but my eyes are still watering like crazy. It’s evident that staying indoors in the near darkness for a month affected my eyes as well.
Patrick sighs impatiently and pulls me to my feet. He tells one of the guards to give him a piece of cloth. He pulls my hands away from my eyes. I keep them tightly clenched, fearing the light. I feel a strip of fabric settle over my eyes and around my head.
“Open your eyes,” Patrick orders me. I hesitantly blink them open. The black cloth on my eyes is thin enough to see through, but it also keeps out most of the sunlight. It works like sunglasses. I sigh with relief. He then again grabs my arm and we continue into the forest. I stumble a lot in the beginning because my body is so unused to the movement, but I get better as we go along. When we reach the porcupine-tiger, it turns toward us and growls, but Patrick shakes a bell, warning it off. It backs away, wincing as if the sound hurt it. I put this information in the back of my head, storing it away for when I’ll need it.
We travel quite a ways, trying to get me some exercise, I guess. We stop right before the trees start to look more green- in fact, there seems to be a prominent line where they begin to wilt. The ones closer to the Dragon Hunter’s main building are more stunted in their growth and brown. As soon as we stop, my legs wobble, and I collapse to the ground at the base of one of the trees. I’m astounded by my weakness. It wasn’t so long ago that I had to swim all day with a Trident on my back during the Third Challenge. Just look at me now! Merely walking hardly more than a few miles and I’m panting and weak!
“Rest,” Patrick orders. “I need to check the border. Stay here. We can hunt you down anywhere- not that you’ll even get far in that state.” Sadly, I think he’s right. I watch as he walks along the line of smaller, weaker trees away from me. My two guards stand on either side of me as I lie back against the tree and close my eyes.
I suddenly realize why my idea didn’t work last night- Patrick said that the first spell kept in both sounds and magic- and calling a dragon requires both! I open my eyes and peer at the line where the first spell must be. These trees must not be as healthy because they’re cut off from the flow of magic. Thinking quickly, I yawn and change positions, laying on the grass and almost reaching the line. Dang. So close!
Trying to act like I’m not up to anything, I sit up after a while and look around again. I then stand and take a step toward the line. “Don’t cross the line,” the younger guard says. “Patrick’s orders.”
“But…” I turn to protest, but stop in my tracks as I realize he’s just a boy- about my age, in fact. “You… you aren’t very old,” I say before I can stop myself.
He looks surprised and a little offended. “So? I’m seventeen! What, did you think we were all old geezers except your brother?”
I blush. “Um, I actually hadn’t thought about it.” I bite my lip, unsure of how to act around a boy my age. The only person I’d seen in almost a month was Patrick. The book’s face shifts to sympathetic.
“It’s okay. The only person allowed in to see you is Patrick, so I can understand the confusion. My name is Chet, by the way.” He pulls off his hood, revealing his features a little better. He has sandy-blond hair, bright green eyes, and boyish freckles. He smiles and I can see that he isn’t a bad guy- probably just mislead. My instincts with reading people have always been accurate. Probably because of my dragon part, I realize. Similar to them reading people’s hearts.
“I’m C-Crystal,” I reply, shaking his outstretched hand. “…But you know who I am, obviously.”
He nods. “Only heard about you, though. It’s nice to meet you.”
“S… same.”
Chet glances over at the other guard, seeming to debate about something. Finally, he says, “Hey, George. She needs more exercise- that much is obvious. And she needs air that isn’t tainted. This air is disgusting.”
The other Hunter has a glint in his eye like he knows what Chet’s
planning. “Fine. Take her out. …Just don’t go too far- Patrick will be back in a few minutes!” He calls as we start walking away.
“Sure thing!” he calls back. Chet leads me away from George until he can’t see us anymore. He then has me sit on a fallen tree while he sits on a rock across from me. “Now then, what’s the real reason you wanted to get across that line? No one even knows you’re gone; they won’t be looking for you with magic.”
I hesitate. “Well, I…” My voice stops and I can’t seem to make the words come out. Why should I tell the enemy what I’m planning anyway? For all I know, this Chet person would try to stop me- and it wouldn’t be hard to drag me back over the line in my state. But then again… he seems to be trying to help me. …Maybe if I can make it so he thinks my plan will never work…
“It’s okay,” he says, understanding almost hiding the pain in his eyes. “I understand. You can’t tell the enemy anything.” He looks at the ground, hesitating before he continues. “I… I don’t have to be your enemy, you know.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Really? …Because when you serve Patrick, that’s all you can be. …I’m sorry.”
He looks up from the ground he was staring at, looking excited. “That’s just it- I don’t want to serve him!”
This catches me off guard. “Wait… what?”
“He just enrolled me in his army years ago, threatening me if I didn’t comply. So, of course, I did. I did everything he told me to. I was expendable. If I fought him, then he would kill me. What other choice did I have?”
“You didn’t,” I whisper.
“He… he took my dad and me right from our home. They start with the homes nearest them- the ones not in the main Village- so no one will react much if they go missing. They just think we got dragged off by wild animals or something. …My dad was killed because he fought. He told Patrick every day that he meant to escape. So he disappeared… I never saw him again. He killed him, to show all of his recruits not to mess with him or try to get away.