“No!” Marcus tried to push her aside.
She opened her eyes and glared at him, holding her place with Elven strength. “Don’t be so stupidly noble, Marcus. Shut up and stay still!”
Then Phoenix heard the sound he had been expecting; dreading: Zhudai’s voice. The sorcerer spoke just one word but it was the word that meant doom and the end of everything they had fought for; a word that spelled utter disaster and death.
With an expression of supreme boredom and irritation, Zhudai called out to the crossbowmen: “Fire.”
The sky rained oblivion as twenty bows released their bolts.
The shafts struck and pain lanced through his body. Jade gasped, her back arching as she dragged all three to earth in a helpless, bloodsoaked tangle of arms and legs. The world vanished in sparkling darkness.
*****
In a distant part of town, Brynn dodged into a noisome alley and crouched behind a pile of garbage, shivering. His body jerked in response to blows he couldn’t feel as bolt after bolt struck his friends down. Biting his lip to prevent a cry of pain, he fought to hold still; to ignore the awful, overwhelming knowledge that he had failed.
When Zhudai’s guards had zeroed in on the rooftop where he and Marcus lay hidden, Brynn knew their only chance was the Horn. He’d reached into the bag for it, only to be diverted by Jade’s call for help. By the time his flung stone felled the Chinese girl beside Zhudai, guards had swarmed into the house and were chasing him over the roof. He ran, trying to give Marcus time to get into the courtyard to help the others.
Every time he stopped; every time he reached into the Bag; every time he tried to help his friends, more guards appeared; hounding him. There’d been no chance to get the Horn out, let alone blow it. Past experience told him that help wouldn’t arrive immediately anyway. He had to find somewhere safe and fast. Even now he could hear the guards getting closer. He’d have to move again.
How could it have come to this? How could Jade have believed Zhudai’s lies? How could Phoenix have lost another life without even a fight? They were his heroes and yet they were going to fail at the last Quest through stupidity and fear. Didn’t they realise what was at stake?
Hearing marching footsteps approaching, Brynn slunk further into the alley. Guards patrolled every street. There was no way he could get back to Zhi Hui’s house during daytime. He would have to wait until night and hope Phoenix, Jade and Marcus could hold out until then.
Anxiously, he rubbed at the palm of his left hand. The Binding Spell had not yet broken. Surely that meant they weren’t dead…yet.
He peered cautiously around the corner.
A sword tip pricked at his throat. A deep chuckle sounded from behind. He raised his hands slowly, heart sinking. The Hyllion Bagia dangled enticingly in plain view.
*****
Jade awoke, slowly and painfully, to a dark, cold, smelly and unpleasantly familiar place: the dungeon. Easing her eyes open, she saw nothing but darkness – again. Hard rock cushioned her aching head; water trickled somewhere nearby. At least her hands were not chained this time. That was something, anyway; that, and the fact that she seemed to actually be alive.
It took a lot of effort to push off from the floor. The world momentarily danced with pretty, sparkly lights as she sat up and blood rushed away from her head, leaving it throbbing. Jade patted at herself, feeling shredded silk, clinging and unpleasantly tacky with blood. Her injuries seemed to be healed but she felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Well, there went her last spare life. Now, what about the others? Had she managed to save them?
“Marcus?” she stretched out into the blackness, inching to the right. Nothing. It could take forever to find them at this rate. Annoyed with herself for sheer stupidity, she cast a light-spell. A single, feeble little greenish ball of light danced on her palm. She sent it floating away, searching for the others.
After a few moments, it hovered above a still form.
Jade crawled over, peering at the face in the gloom. Marcus. She felt his neck. There! A faint, thready pulse beat beneath her fingertips. He lived but only just. The light-spell now danced above another figure close by. A quick touch told her Phoenix, too, survived. She laid a hand on each and hung her head, sucking in and letting go a deep breath of relief. They were alive. All of them.
Beneath her palm, she felt Marcus stir and moan. His eyes fluttered open and he stared vaguely up at the green light-ball then at her face. He smiled, faintly.
“You’re ok,” his words were the merest whisper.
“Yes,” she smoothed back a lock of wayward hair from his forehead. “We’re all ok. You’re going to be fine. I’ll look after you. We’ll be out of here soon, you’ll see. This makes six times in a prison for me, you know. I’m catching up to Phoenix and Brynn.”
He chuckled, ending on a painful cough. “We’re even then.” There was a long pause. She wondered if he’d fallen asleep again.
“How’s Phoenix? Can you heal him?” He drew a shallow, shaky breath, coughed and winced.
Jade glanced over at their friend. “I can’t tell yet but he’s alive. I’ll regain some strength and heal you both in a little while, you’ll see.”
“Check, will you?” Marcus’ gaze was intense. “Check and see how bad his injuries are. Do it now.”
She hesitated, reluctant to have her fears confirmed. What if their hurts were too severe? What if she didn’t have the magical or physical strength left to heal them? What then?
“Do it!” he ordered.
Jade jumped at his forceful tone. Closing her eyes, she ran her hands over Phoenix from head to toe, feeling, sensing, mapping out the worst of his wounds. It wasn’t as bad as she’d expected but not good, either. Not immediately fatal but bad enough that he would die within a day if she couldn’t get help or heal him herself. If she had enough energy right now, it wouldn’t be too difficult – there were a few sluggishly-bleeding bolt-injuries, but more concerning was the internal damage and a head contusion that had caused swelling in his brain. He would to stay unconscious for a long time unless she could reduce that pressure soon.
She turned back to Marcus, biting her lip. “I could heal him, if I had my herbs maybe. But I don’t, Marcus; and there’s your injuries, too.” She raised a hand to assess him but he grabbed her wrist with feeble strength and held it away.
With a shake of his head, he looked at her. “No. There’s nothing you can do. You and Phoenix are the important ones. He’s the one you have to restore, not me.”
“What do you mean?” She pulled her hand free, suddenly frightened. “I can fix you. I’ve done it before.”
“No,” he repeated, closing his eyes briefly and pausing to take a long, slow breath. “I know you. You’ll try so hard to save both of us that you’ll lose your last life and ruin everything.” He opened his eyes and stared hard at her. “You can’t save both of us, Jade. I’m dying and I know it. Let me go. Save Phoenix. You two have a job to do here. It’s essential to the whole world that you finish it. I’m not important. He is.”
“Marcus, no,” she cupped a hand around his face, tears blinding her. She brushed them away impatiently. “You can’t just expect me to just let you die. I can save you. I have to. You are important. I can’t….”
“Jade,” he interrupted her. “Do you remember, in Egypt, when I told you that, if you had to, I wanted you to take my life force to save yourself or Phoenix?”
“Yes,” tears thickened her throat and made it hard to talk. “I also remember I said I couldn’t promise something like that. I won’t do it, Marcus. I won’t sacrifice you to save either of us. I won’t choose him over you.”
“It’s not your choice to make,” his lips twisted. “It’s mine. Now do it, before it’s too late.” Taking her hand again, he placed it over his faintly-beating heart.
“No!” Jade shook her head. “I can’t, Marcus. Don’t make me do this. Please? I’m sure I’m strong enough to heal him. Really.”
“You�
��re a bad liar, Jade,” Marcus gazed fondly at her. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
There was a long silence as Jade gazed, open-mouthed at him. Water dripped. The little witch-light hovered overhead, lighting the whole scene in an eerie, greenish half-glow.
“You…love me?” she finally asked.
He gave an ironic half-laugh at her stunned expression. “Since we first met.”
She shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to say. “What, when I looked like a hag from running through the forest all day?”
Marcus managed a small shake of his head. “It’s not how you look, Jade. It’s always been about who you are, inside.” He coughed once more. Blood tinged his lips red. Jade’s heart contracted with fear. She couldn’t lose him. Not now.
“Save your strength. Don’t talk,” she whispered, holding his hand.
“I won’t get another chance to say this,” he replied wryly. “You worry too much about what other people think of you. You are the most incredible girl: you’re smart, funny, wise, strong, kind and honourable. I’ve never cared how you look or whether you are perfect. I know you’re not but you always try your hardest and you do the right thing, even when it’s difficult. It’s who you are that makes you special. If you’d just believe in yourself, you’d find you are capable of great things.”
Jade hung her head, an odd mix of breathless joy, denial and overwhelming fear churning in her stomach. He was dying because she had made the wrong choice this time. Surely he saw that? She wasn’t special and she certainly wasn’t capable of anything great.
Marcus coughed again, his breath rattling in his throat. “There’s not much time. You must do the right thing now. Take my remaining life force and use it to cure Phoenix. Don’t wear yourself out, though. Promise. You and he have to finish your Quest or my whole world is in danger. Do it Jade. Now.”
He placed her hand once more over his heart.
Seeing the determination in him, she nodded, slowly, reluctantly; her heart heavy with emotion. It took a moment to remember exactly how she had drawn power from Phoenix to strengthen her shield in Egypt but finally she began to feel it pulsing faintly through Marcus’ battered body. His life energy tasted cool, blue-green, almost like that of the forests she knew so well. Slowly, she began to draw it from him, storing it inside her own body until she could use it on Phoenix.
His heart slowed, his breathing eased. His dark eyes began to lose focus; his eyelids flickered as he smiled at Jade one, last time.
Then, with the faintest sigh of relief, Marcus Gnaeus Agricola, died.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Phoenix awoke to a throbbing pain in his head and another in his left hand. For a moment, he simply lay still, utterly astonished that he was actually able to be awake. When Zhudai had given the command to fire, he’d been certain his final life was about to be wiped out. Jade had thrown her arms and a Shield around them but even he could tell it was a feeble effort at magic. The three of them had fallen together and Phoenix had smacked his head hard on the ground. His last thought before succumbing to unconsciousness was to wonder if he’d wake up back home in England, or not at all…ever.
He had certainly not expected to wake up in his digital body, obviously still somewhere in 80AD China…maybe. It was a bit dark to tell where, exactly, though.
Slowly, the sounds, smells and sensations of the place filtered in through a haze of pain: water trickling; the scent of damp, rotting things; wet stone beneath his fingers; a greenish glow off to his left somewhere; the sound of someone crying: quietly, forlornly.
With an effort, he turned his head that way, wincing as the hard stone pushed on his bruised skull. Dimly outlined in a familiar greenish light were Jade and Marcus. Jade’s back was to him, her head and arms resting on Marcus’ chest. He could tell it was her by the long, white-blonde hair lying loose across her face. Phoenix could only see Marcus’ profile. His eyes were closed.
It took a few moments for the pieces to fit together in his aching head: Jade crying; Marcus lying still; Phoenix’s left hand hurt like someone had stabbed it; a strange sense of emptiness somewhere near his heart. He’d felt it before – when Brynn had been killed and the Binding spell broken.
No. It couldn’t be true. Marcus couldn’t be dead. It wasn’t possible.
Phoenix rolled over onto his knees, gagging as the pain in his head caused a wave of nausea. Jade appeared at his side, running her hands over his head.
“Don’t move yet. I’ve healed the worst of it but you’ll have an awful headache for awhile. I’m sorry…” she stopped to wipe away tears and clear her throat. “I didn’t have enough energy to do more. I p..promised M…Marcus I wouldn’t overdo it.”
Fresh tears streamed down her face as she looked again at Marcus’ still form. “He…he’s gone. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save both of you. He made me save you and now he’s gone.”
Phoenix shook off her hands and crawled over to his friend, touching the still-warm skin on his throat. There was no pulse. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Don’t be stupid. He can’t be dead.” He gripped the boy’s shoulder. “C’mon Marcus, quit playing around. Get up!”
Nothing happened.
This wasn’t possible. How could it be? Marcus had no right to die now. He needed him. He trusted him. He relied on the Roman like family. Phoenix felt the old, helpless anger born of loss building in his guts.
He turned on Jade. “How could you let him die? It’s your job to heal him. What were you doing?”
She shrank back. “It’s not my fault. I couldn’t save both of you. I tried. I really did.”
“Well you didn’t try hard enough,” he snarled. “It is your fault. If you’d never been stupid enough to fall for Zhudai’s tricks, we wouldn’t be here in the first place. First Cadoc then you let yourself get kidnapped by Yajat; then you actually believe Zhudai. God, Jade. Can’t you do anything right?”
Instead of fighting back, Jade pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face, crying harder. She wrapped her arms around herself, her sobs becoming wilder until Phoenix couldn’t stand it any longer. His head throbbed with blinding pain. A sense of hopelessness swept through him as he looked again at Marcus. It was like losing his father, all over again.
With that realisation, he suddenly understood his own reactions and all the anger drained away. He collapsed next to Jade and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Oh man, I’m sorry,” he squeezed awkwardly. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not true. I’m an idiot. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. I know you must have tried your best to save him.”
She shook her head. “No! I didn’t. He made me take out the last of his life force to save you. I couldn’t heal either of you on my own, so he made me promise to save you. I killed Marcus. I did! You were right. It is my fault!”
She shoved his arm off and scrambled away into a corner of the dank prison, huddling there, crying harder than ever.
Phoenix stayed where he was, dumbfounded. Guilt and bile rose in his throat. He didn’t know what to think. He looked at Marcus’ peaceful expression. Marcus had deliberately chosen to give up his life to save him? What sort of person made that kind of sacrifice willingly?
The answer came: a truly selfless one who could see what had to be done in the greater scheme of things - and actually do it. A better man than he was: a hero.
Torchlight flared. Startled from his thoughts, Phoenix flung up a hand to protect his eyes. The prison door swung open to admit Zhudai. The sorcerer strode into the room, looking around.
“So you two you survived, did you?” he sneered. “Good. That gives me two hostages to bargain with. Guards!”
Two liveried soldiers bowed into the room.
“Take that carcass out and throw it in the rubbish heap. The cleaners can deal with it.”
“No!” “No!” Phoenix and Jade spoke together, stumbling over to their friend’s body. More guards
came in, holding them at bay with spears. Phoenix grabbed Jade as she tried to get to Marcus, holding her back as she struggled. He watched, heart hardening to stone, as they dragged his friend from the room.
Looking at their faces, Zhudai laughed callously. “Now we wait and see exactly how much your friend, Brynn, wants you alive. He has a few little things I need: the Hyllion Bagia’s contents: the Horn of Aurfanon, your daggers and amulets. It was most inconvenient of you to hide them from me, Jade. If he co-operates and tells me the names to use to retrieve them, I’ll consider letting one of you go. Which one, I’m not sure. We’ll have to see. Maybe I’ll make him choose.”
“Brynn will never give the Bag to you,” Jade cried her voice choked.
Zhudai laughed again. “But I already have the Bag, my dear. I just need him to Gift the Horn, daggers and amulets inside it to me. While you two may have nothing to lose,” he paused and glanced ironically at where Marcus had lain, “your young friend still does - you. Of course, you could always save him by Gifting it to me yourselves?” He waited, giving them a chance to respond. When they stayed stubbornly silent, he chuckled again and turned to leave.
Pausing in the door, he held up his long robe fastidiously. “Perhaps you can commiserate with your fellow prisoner next door – Long Baiyu.” He raised his voice. “You have lost, old friend. Tomorrow at midday, you die. With the daggers, amulets, Bag, Blódbál, the Horn and the immortality I will gain at the ri shi, I will be invincible. I will conquer two worlds and rule uncontested.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Our young friends here can watch the ceremony and see what they had the audacity to think they could prevent.”
The door slammed shut, leaving them in almost-darkness again. Jade’s green witchlight hovered over her head, showing her stricken face, shadowed with grief and failure.
Phoenix drew her down to sit on the hard, slippery floor. He kept an arm around her shoulder this time, misliking the empty, hopeless look in her green eyes. She stayed silent for a long time, just staring at the place where Marcus had lain. The withered remains of the vine she had used for the Binding Spell marked his place, a reminder of what had been lost.
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