Midnight Law

by Geanna Culbertson

  I looked at Alex. “What is he talking about?”

  Alex glared at Arian.

  “He didn’t tell you? Classic Alex,” Arian said. “In Camelot when he and Crisa needed to get blessed by that Boar’s Mouth statue to go on their quests to claim Excalibur, each one was given a magical contingency mission. Heroes blessed by the Boar’s Mouth that do not complete their missions in a year wither and die. When Alex got blessed, the condition for him was ‘Rescuing Camelot’s first new Knight on his own.’ Crisa was the first person that King Arthur swore into his new Knights of the Round Table. Alex has to save her by himself at some point this year or he’ll die.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with trying to save myself and my sister at the same time,” Alex said defensively.

  Arian’s small smile was vicious and amused. “Maybe not. But there is something wrong with you putting your own well-being over hers. At least I’m sure your little allies here will think so.” He glanced at me then SJ. “Considering how long it took you all to get here, I am going to assume that Alex didn’t tell you that Tara and I always planned on bringing Crisa to an Earth base if we captured her—even from our first abduction attempt in Midveil that was the idea.” Arian’s focus locked on Alex. “He may not have known which base we’d use, but he knows the location of all seven on Earth. He has for a long time. If he’d included you on his rescue plans, you all could have tracked down Crisa much faster. But, as noted, he cares more about himself.”

  SJ lowered her weapon slightly in shock and stared at Alex. “Crisa has been trapped on Earth for weeks! She has endured horrors beyond imagining! Are you saying the only reason she was here for such a long time is because your first priority was trying to save yourself?”

  I’d never heard SJ yell before. Her famously pale Snow White skin flushed red with anger. Then I saw a flash of black. And another. Arian had been stalling. Several guards had crept around the trees and were getting into position.

  “SJ, dive!”

  Her reflexes were quick. She dove into the snow as a tomahawk went spinning through the air, though she dropped her gun in the process. I leapt sideways to avoid a second tomahawk.

  Alex refocused on Arian and narrowed his glare. He was going to shoot! I was about to rush in when Mauvrey popped up again.

  She appeared behind Arian with her gloves activated and grabbed him by the shoulder with one hand—electrocuting him. Daniel’s body seized as well since the guys were in contact with one another. Both of them fell to the ground.

  BANG!

  Alex shouted and gripped his arm. He’d been shot by one of the guards closing in on us. SJ clambered for cover behind a tree. I darted to help Daniel do the same. Unlike Arian, who seemed recovered, my friend wasn’t getting up.

  Arian rolled to the side to evade Mauvrey’s downward punch. Her other electrified glove extinguished in the snow. Arian launched to his feet. Mauvrey lunged after him, attempting to punch him in the face, but Arian caught her arm and redirected her force, throwing her sideways.

  I pulled Daniel up. “Man, are you—” His skin. I looked down at his hand. Half his palm and two of the fingers on his right hand had petrified to rock. Worse, his entire left hand had already completed the transformation.

  Daniel grunted and met my concerned gaze. “Yeah. We’re running out of time.”

  We dove behind a tree as more shots fired. I locked eyes with Alex, who had taken cover behind a nearby trunk and clutched his arm. Blood oozed between his fingers.

  “Get back!” Mauvrey shouted.

  Daniel and I turned our heads.

  Farther away Arian stood over Mauvrey and slammed his foot on her bent arm. Something snapped and she screamed. I attempted to go help her, but a shot clipped the tree next to me and I slammed myself back. The same thing happened to SJ when she tried to reach for the gun she’d dropped. We couldn’t move with these guards waiting to pick us off. Arian knew it too. He held up his hand signaling his men to stop for a moment.

  The shots ceased and he walked toward us, pausing ten feet away. “Here is what I call a win-win situation. You all get shot and die here; then I come back and continue my work with Crisanta. Or you manage to beat all my men in the woods and take her home, only to unleash the person I’ve turned her into. I can’t say which outcome I’d prefer, but if it’s the latter, have fun with your new and improved magical friend. If I’m afraid of what she’s capable of now, then you definitely should be.” He strode off into the forest in the direction of his men.

  Mauvrey whimpered, writhing a little in the snow. Alex examined his wounded arm. SJ’s expression resembled a wild animal. The side of Daniel’s cheek began turning stone gray.

  As soon as Arian disappeared, shots started coming again, this time without a break. The gunmen had no reason to hold back now that Arian was clear. It was only a matter of time until—

  “Live free or die hard!!!”

  My new girlfriend came charging in, unleashing the fury of one machine gun in her hands as another bounced from a strap on her back. Girtha followed close behind with her own weaponry, razing the woods beyond us with bullets.

  In the complete chaos I felt a weird combination of deafening daze from the rapid fire of weaponry, relief as Girtha and Blue charged through the woods in a manner that would make Bruce Willis proud, and increased attraction to Blue, which I didn’t even know was possible.

  With Blue and Girtha covering us, I peered around the tree. The coast was clear. The men previously trying to kill us were retreating or hiding; they had bigger problems.

  I leapt to my feet while SJ hurried over to Mauvrey. As SJ helped her up, I abandoned my sword and grabbed one of the tomahawks that’d been thrown our way instead; it was a better weapon for me. Daniel reclaimed his sword, which he’d apparently dropped before the confrontation with Arian began. I gulped as I watched him struggle to maneuver his partially petrified hand and shove the blade into its sheath.

  “Stop right there!” SJ bellowed.

  I whirled around. Alex had been starting to approach her and Mauvrey. SJ stepped out to block him from getting any closer, holding up her hand. The message was very clear. The two of them stared at each other as gunfire rang in the background.

  Eventually Alex rescinded like an inferior animal. He turned around. After a few steps though, he paused and reached into his pocket, removing a set of car keys. He tossed them to SJ and she caught them wordlessly. Then the guy walked away into the woods.

  “Let’s move!” Daniel called over the machine gun fire. He winced as a small part of his neck turned to stone.

  “Argh,” Mauvrey groaned. She was cringing and trying to keep her left arm motionless.

  “I got her,” I told the others. “Does it feel broken?” I asked as I put her good arm around my shoulder. We moved for the cabin.

  “I think so.” She grimaced as we hustled. “I loathe Arian. And Alex.”

  “Why was he even with you all?” I asked. The gunfire was fading behind us. I hoped Blue was okay.

  “Our last portal basically opened right in front of him,” SJ said. “He drove us up the mountain. I do not know how he plans on getting down since he gave us his car keys. How did you get here?”

  “A bus, a shuttle, a ski lift, and a lot of hiking,” I replied. “I’m glad we made it.”

  “I am definitely glad you made it,” Daniel said.

  I hesitated, but voiced the big question bothering me. “So is this the wrong time to ask what happened to Kai?”

  Daniel’s face darkened. He shook his head. “We broke up. Let’s leave it at that for now.”

  We entered the cabin. The foyer had a high ceiling with an antler chandelier. From there we had two options—a staircase going up and a narrow hallway.

  “We need to be careful,” Mauvrey said. “I went back to help you guys when I heard all the gunfire, but Tara could still be in here, along with any guards we missed.”

  “Chance is around here too,” I said. “L
ooking for Crisa no doubt. He was turning to stone and having trouble moving, but I guess if Girtha felt comfortable leaving him then he was able to push through. It’s not like rest is going to help his situation.”

  “We need to find the basement fast,” Daniel said, waving us down the hall. “That’s where Knight is. Come on.”

  We stampeded over the hardwood floors, Daniel and SJ throwing open doors as we went. Mauvrey groaned again. She and I were falling behind.

  “Stairs!” SJ shouted from ahead. She peered down the doorway she’d just flung open.

  Mauvrey faltered. I tried to help her steady, but she pulled away from me instead. “Go without me. I am slowing you down.” She sat on the floor, face pale, as SJ and Daniel continued.

  “Mauvrey—” I protested.

  “This is not a damsel-in-distress thing. It is a friend-saving-you-time thing. Go!”

  I nodded and ran, catching up with SJ and Daniel on the stairs as the latter said, “Five minutes until Midnight Law expires.” My stomach clenched. We could do this. We had to.

  The stairs connected to one lower level, then another. Finally we reached the true basement and found four dead guards on the floor and Chance hunched in front of a door, desperately trying different keys in a padlock. His bloodied sword lay on the ground next to him.

  “What’s the hold up, Chance? Come on!” Daniel said as we rushed over to him.

  “I’m working on it!”

  Daniel pounded on the thick, black Jacobee stone door. “Knight! Are you in there?”

  No response.

  “Chance!” I urged.

  CLICK.

  Chance pulled off the heavy padlock and pushed the door open. Inside was the dark stone prison from our visions of Crisa’s torture. We stood atop the dungeon stairs. A form in leggings, boots, a tattered blue and purple dress, and a gray sweatshirt with the hood partially up lay crumpled on the floor. Chains around her wrists connected to the back wall, abundant slack resting on the stone floor beside her. The way she was angled on her side, facing the wall, none of us could see her face.

  “Crisa!” SJ pushed past us and sprinted down the stairs. We ran too, but then we all halted when we neared Crisa. She didn’t stir at all.

  As much as my friends and I had been anticipating this moment, none of us seemed able to move. We were too scared of the worst outcome. We were scared we were too late.

  I decided to be brave and step forward. I bent down and touched Crisa’s shoulder, slowly rolling her onto her back. The hood of the sweatshirt fell away, revealing her long brown hair—and her glowing face.

  What the . . .

  The good news—though Crisa’s eyes were closed, she was still breathing. However, there were dozens of disconcerting, glimmering golden cracks running across her face and down her neck. They covered every part of her exposed skin. Alarmingly, certain cracks on her hands and fingers were also darkened with streaks of black and gray.

  “Arian must’ve just killed her again right before he came out of the cabin,” I said to my friends, gathered behind me. “That was the scream we heard.”

  Chance knelt. “How long before you think she—”

  Crisa lurched upright with a desperate gasp for breath. My friends staggered back several feet in surprise. In my case, since I was squatting beside her, I fell on my butt.

  Our friend’s chest heaved and she looked in our direction, but it was like she couldn’t see us. Her eyes were super wide and her ordinarily green irises were flecked with gold, black, and gray light.

  “Crisa?” I said. “Are you okay?”

  “That seems like a poor question,” SJ said.

  “Well, I didn’t have a better one.”

  Crisa’s breathing calmed and the light shining from the fissures on her skin dimmed. With a bright flash, her eyes returned to normal and she blinked. Then she swallowed and took a deep breath before meeting my gaze again. Steadily she reached out to touch my shoulder, the chain on her wrist dragging with the movement. She squeezed me and gasped softly. Her eyes blurred with tears of joy and disbelief.

  “You’re real.” With more strength than I expected, she grabbed my jacket and yanked me in for a hug. I hugged her back for a long moment. Inevitably she pulled away and looked at the others. She smiled for a second, then her eyebrows shot up and she scrambled to her feet in panic. I tried to help balance her as her chains lugged on the floor.

  “Daniel! Chance! We need to stop your Midnight Law clocks. Come here.” She reached out and they started to step toward her. All of a sudden the chains attached to Crisa’s wrists tightened and she was jerked to the wall. Her back slammed against the stone.

  Crisa turned her head and I followed her gaze. Tara and another guard stood atop the stairs in the doorway of the prison. My brain processed two things in one second—Tara waving a remote in her hand at us while flashing a cruel smile, and the guard beside her raising his gun.

  BANG.

  BANG.

  I hurled my tomahawk as the gunman took a third shot.

  BANG.

  The third bullet embedded in the wall—missing us—as the gunman fell with my tomahawk protruding from his chest. Tara fled. I wanted to go after her, but Daniel and Chance lay on the ground bleeding and Crisa was too far away to reach them.

  She struggled desperately. Daniel and Chance did not. They lay still. Lifeless.

  Suddenly, the process that had been affecting the guys gradually kicked into high gear. Different parts of my friends started to harden—Daniel’s whole left arm and a section of his side; the bottom half of Chance’s right leg and a chunk of his neck. They were turning to stone. Even though they’d just been killed from another cause, the curse was still not satisfied.

  That’s when Crisa screamed. It wasn’t the kind filled with pain and terror like we’d heard outside. This was pain and sheer determination. Her entire body glowed with energy. Gold and gray light radiated off her like sun flares, so intense that SJ and I had to shield our eyes. The energy consumed Daniel and Chance in cocoons that swirled tightly until they burst like bubbles.

  Crisa hung her head and panted. The cracks in her skin continued to shine brightly. Equally brilliant light shone from my friends’ wounds. Their bleeding had stopped and by magic their skin knit back together. The guys’ eyes opened—gleaming with temporary rings of gold.

  I breathed with immeasurable relief. But that was only one problem fixed.

  “Get them up!” Crisa shouted. “Before they finish turning to stone. I need to touch them!”

  Chance was already on his knees; SJ helped him the rest of the way up then across the floor. I pulled Daniel roughly to his feet and yanked him toward Crisa. Both heroes reached out for one of her hands. Contact.

  KAZAP!

  BOOM!

  SHRUNDER!

  Green lightning surged from Crisa’s arms into theirs. The guys’ timepieces levitated from their pockets, consumed in green flames that grew until the viridescent fire exploded out and swirled around the room. The prison walls shook and cracked. Energy continued to rush out of Crisa and into Daniel and Chance’s bodies, crumbling the stone that had formed. Finally, a powerful blast of electricity shattered Crisa’s shackles and decimated the remaining stone plaguing my friends to reveal normal skin and clothes underneath. All leftover energy dispersed through the walls and vanished.

  The spell was broken. Midnight Law had been completed and its curse defeated.

  Crisa fell forward into the arms of both guys.

  “Find Mary Roberts Inero,” she said, breathing heavily. “They keep her one floor up. You need,” she swallowed, “to set her free.”

  “I got it,” SJ said. “Chance, keys.”

  “You need backup?” he asked.

  “No. I have this.” She fled the room. Daniel continued to hold Crisa’s hand for a moment, but soon she let him go and stood up straighter, emanating strength. I didn’t know if she was faking it, but it sure seemed believable.

 
Then her eyebrow crooked for a second as she noticed the shirt under Daniel’s jacket. “Are you wearing a feather t-shirt?”

  “Knight, not the time.”

  “Right.” She shook her head, focusing. “Care to show a girl the way out?”

  I led the way while Daniel and Chance stayed close to Crisa, helping her when she faltered as we climbed the stairs. When we rose up the final stretch, we heard footsteps clambering behind us. I glanced below and saw SJ with another woman.

  “Right behind you!” she called.

  We reached the main floor of the building. Mauvrey waited for us there eagerly. Seconds later SJ joined us. The woman with her had bronze skin, icy blue irises, and dark, curly hair.

  “Hello, everyone.” The latter waved tiredly; her eyes relieved but sad. “I’m Mar—”

  “Yipes!” Mauvrey jumped sideways as a knife hurled at her from an adjacent kitchen. A guard was rushing in. The guys and I moved to strike back, but SJ shoved us aside, having drawn a small fire extinguisher from her backpack. She charged forward, unleashing its full power on the guard. He was blinded and she closed in and slammed the metal canister against his face, knocking him out.

  “I worked with what I had,” SJ said in reply to our surprised stares from the doorway. She tossed the extinguisher aside. Then she turned to Crisa. “Now that we have a second . . .” She strode over purposefully and threw her arms around her friend. The girls hugged tightly.

  “Help!!!”

  Blue’s voice came from the front of the cabin. We raced toward the foyer. We arrived just as Blue and Girtha leapt onto the porch and then barged inside. Shots hammered the wooden exterior of the cabin.

  “We ran out of bullets!” Blue panted. “And I—Crisa!”

  “Crisa!” Girtha echoed.

  They tackled our friend in a hug, but Crisa pushed them away surprisingly quickly.

  “Blue,” she said urgently as bullets pummeled the cabin. “Is my wand in your backpack? I had a vision the other night that you have it.”