Christmas Chaos (Christmas Magic Book 2)

by Alexandra Moody

  “You really know how to find trouble, don’t you?” Dash said. I felt like he was trying to lighten the mood, and I appreciated the effort. We’d gotten what we came for, and I was one step closer to freeing myself of the favor. We should be celebrating the success, not worrying about it.

  “It’s a gift.” I smiled.

  He laughed before shaking his head at me. “Let’s just hope that once we’ve given this thing to the nameless one your gift decides to give you a little break for a while.”

  I hoped he was right, but if anything, I felt like returning the mysterious magical object to the nameless one would only be the beginning of our problems. We didn’t know what the cube could do, and we still had to somehow fix the barrier. I prayed that we were about to get the answers we were after.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The journey back through the Dead Lands was just as miserable as it had been on the way to the palace ruins. We didn’t encounter anymore grýla, but the atmosphere was tense as we rode. Roan avoided speaking to me, and whenever I caught him looking at me there was fear and distrust in his eyes. It probably didn’t help that I had come back with such a powerful and mysterious object. He shied away when he sensed the power in the cube and had refused to go near it for the entirety of our journey.

  It took us just over a day to reach the edge of the dark swamp, and the world seemed so much brighter as we arrived in the green and lush meadow where the mari lwyd lived. Roan was leading us to a sleigh point he knew of in the meadow, and we arrived at it in the early afternoon.

  I began to smell the soft tinge of peppermint magic in the air as we approached a large outcropping of rocks. I was glad we didn’t have to return all the way to the elf village, but I felt nervous as we approached the sleigh point. I knew that light beings were watching all the sleigh points in the Northern Realm. Would dark beings be doing a similar thing and lying in wait by this one?

  Now that I had the cube, I could feel a sense of urgency to get out of the Southern Realm. I wanted to place it into the hands of the nameless one as quickly as possible and be done with the favor I owed him. I also knew we were running out of time to fix the barriers. Our journey had taken days, and there couldn’t be much time left until they collapsed altogether.

  “Do not worry, young one,” Adara assured me. “The dark beings do not watch this access point to our realm.”

  I wasn’t sure how she knew, but Adara seemed certain, and I hoped she was right. Still, I remained cautious as we approached the large jutting rocks.

  The sun was high overhead as we came to a stop. Its rays were muted by the midnight veil that covered the sky overhead, and a soft breeze ruffled the long grasses of the meadow. It felt so peaceful and beautiful compared to the darkness of the Dead Lands, and I suddenly didn’t feel so desperate to leave the Southern Realm.

  As I slowly climbed off Adara’s back one last time, a wave of sadness rushed through me. I’d been so nervous of the mari lwyd the first time I’d seen them, but I’d grown a special bond with Adara over the days we’d spent together.

  “I’m going to miss you,” I whispered, patting her neck as I tried to say goodbye.

  “And I, you.” Adara’s sweet voice sounded in my head.

  I let out a sigh before turning to face Dash and Roan. Roan was still sitting atop his mari lwyd while Dash was saying goodbye to his own mount. He looked over when he sensed me watching.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I nodded and walked over to him. He took my hand, holding it tightly at his side. He seemed so at ease as he did it, like taking my hand was something natural. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I wasn’t complaining.

  “I will arrange for the pine to be transported to the sleigh point outside the Southern Realm barrier for you and Agatha,” Dash said, turning to Roan. “Thank you for all of your help.”

  Roan gave him a deep and grateful nod. “I hope that everything works out for you both,” he said before settling his gaze on me. “And Clio,” he added, giving me a tight smile. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “Anytime,” I replied.

  His eyes dropped to the cube I had tucked under my arm, and his gaze darkened as he nodded. Roan clearly had misgivings about the object we’d recovered, but I didn’t blame him. I still had no idea what kind of power the cube held. It was a completely unknown entity, and I hoped we were doing the right thing in handing it over to the nameless one.

  Roan watched us as we stepped into the sleigh point, readying ourselves to transport to the prison. I looked out at the beautiful green meadow one last time, and my eyes settled on Adara as I lifted a hand in a final farewell.

  “Be safe, young one,” she said softly, as I felt the yank of the sleigh line’s magic and she disappeared.

  One moment we were staring at the beautiful green meadow of the Southern Realm and the next we had arrived in the cool darkness of the coal mine. The moon was low in the sky, and countless stars dotted the darkness overhead.

  “Thank the yule gods you’re here!” a voice cried the moment we appeared.

  Dash and I both turned to find Blitz sitting on the ground with his back leaning against a large piece of black rubble, waiting for us. He pushed himself to his feet as we walked over to him.

  “Did you find the chest?” Blitz asked.

  I lifted the cube up to show him, and he frowned at it. “Well, I was thinking you’d be returning with a pirate’s buried treasure, but I guess a scary black cube will have to do.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” I replied.

  “Where is everyone?” Dash asked.

  “The others are all helping out back in the Northern Realm. The barriers have been getting weaker each day, and the whole realm has gone crazy because of it,” Blitz replied.

  I glanced at Dash and could see my own concern mirrored on his face. We’d clearly missed a lot while we’d been trying to uncover the chest.

  “What’s been happening?” he asked.

  “Word is out amongst the magical community that the barriers are down and it’s mayhem in the Northern Realm,” Blitz said. “Dark elves have been raiding the forests for pine while gangs of krampuses have been attacking the towns. Some light beings have been fleeing to the Human Realm, thinking they’ll be safer there, while others have been arming themselves to fight off any dark beings that appear.”

  “So, nothing good then,” I said. The hostility between light and dark beings ran deeply, and I wasn’t surprised by how quickly some of them had moved to attack our realm.

  Blitz shook his head. “Nothing good at all. But at least the two of you are now here to save the day.”

  I glanced down at the cube in my hand and nodded. “We’d better deliver this to the nameless one and try to get some answers quickly then.”

  “Did you manage to find out anything about Bethalial while we were gone?” Dash asked as we started up the hill toward the prison entrance. “The cube was inside the chest, but we still know nothing about it.”

  Blitz shook his head. “No one’s heard of Bethalial before. We couldn’t find a single reference to the name in the royal library. We checked everything we could find about the yule gods, but there was no mention of Bethalial. We think the frost must have made it up.”

  I didn’t feel so sure though. What reason could Jack have for lying to me? “So, we know nothing about this thing, and we’re just going to hand it over to Incarceror’s most dangerous prisoner,” I said. “Why don’t I feel good about this?”

  Dash rested a hand on my shoulder. “Like I said before, the nameless one only asked that you bring it to him. He never said you had to actually hand it to him.”

  I nodded and gripped my hand around the cube a little tighter. “It’s worth a try,” I said. I had a strong sense that it would be a bad idea to give the nameless one the cube without knowing what it was. It didn’t feel like the magic within it was particularly strong, but I couldn’t be sure, and I certainly didn’t trust the nameless
one.

  When we reached the top of the mine and arrived at the golden archway that led to Incarceror, the three of us stopped. I could no longer sense the magic that normally came from the gateway to the prison.

  Usually the view beyond the archway was more of the coal mine, but right now, I could see the blood-red sand and turbulent sky of the prison world clearly.

  “Maybe the barriers around the Northern and Southern realms weren’t the only ones affected by the Christmas star,” Dash said.

  I flicked him a nervous look before slowly approaching the archway. Jack didn’t appear in a swirl of magic, like he had done every other time we’d arrived, and even from close to the arch, I got no sense of the power emanating from the prison’s entrance.

  “Do you think Jack somehow escaped because the barrier’s been weakened?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at Dash and Blitz. Something didn’t feel right, and my stomach was tense as I considered that Jack might not be the only thing that escaped. Would the nameless one still be in the prison if the barriers were down? What other dangerous beings might now be free?

  “Maybe.” Dash shared a concerned look with me as he came to inspect the entrance more closely. “Blitz, I think you should stay out here in case the barrier magic comes back. I don’t want the three of us stuck in the prison with no one knowing where we are, especially if Jack isn’t here to give us the wristbands we need to get out.”

  Blitz nodded. “That makes sense,” he said. “If the barrier returns, I’ll contact the others.”

  “Thanks,” Dash replied. He faced the archway to the prison once more before giving me a tight smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

  I nodded eagerly in reply. “Let’s,” I agreed.

  Dash and I walked side by side as we entered Incarceror. There was no buzz of power over my skin and no scent of any magic as we passed through the arch. The temperature changed the moment we entered the prison world, and the humid heat of Incarceror surrounded us as soon as we crossed the threshold.

  I glanced over my shoulder as we continued past the archway and started the long walk toward the mountain that contained Incarceror’s prisoners. I could see Blitz clearly, standing just beyond the large golden archway. His usual cool demeanor was gone, and his face was fraught with worry as he watched us go. He gave me a wave but couldn’t manage to bring a smile to his face. If Blitz was too worried to smile, then I knew we must be in trouble.

  Dash and I were silent as we made the trek toward the cave that led deep into the mountain. I was nervous and alert as we walked. The thunder boomed so much louder today and the heat seemed to sear my skin. The ease with which we’d entered the prison left me concerned that we might not be the only beings wandering around the desert and I was struggling to remain calm.

  “What’s got you so jumpy?” Dash asked, when I flinched at the sound of thunder in the distance.

  “I’m worried about the prison barrier,” I replied. “Jack might not have been the only thing to escape the prison.”

  Dash nodded his agreement. “Let’s just hope he was.”

  When we reached the dark tunnel that led into the mountain, Dash realized he didn’t have a flashlight with him. “Sorry, Clio, we’ll have to walk the first stretch in the dark,” he said.

  I glanced nervously at the cave entrance. The last thing I wanted was to stumble through the dark tunnel when there could be escaped prisoners on the loose. Especially when my powers didn’t work here.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said.

  “Uh-huh,” I agreed, but I didn’t share his confidence.

  The dim light that lit the cave entrance from outside faded quickly as we walked deeper into the tunnel. My nerves magnified as darkness surrounded us, and I worried about what might be lurking in the shadows.

  I couldn’t see anything in front of me, and the soft light from the outside world already felt too far away. It was silent within the mountain, and the heat from the prison lands seemed to follow us, making me sweat as we ventured deeper into the cave.

  A loud boom of thunder cracked outside, and the sound rushed into the cave and echoed down the tunnel. The sudden onslaught of noise made me jump, and magic instinctively flowed to my fingertips, lighting up the area surrounding me. It took me a second to realize the significance of it.

  “Dash, I can use my powers in here,” I said as he turned to look at me. I wasn’t sure why, but the fact I could use my magic made me even more nervous than I had been before. If I had my magic, who knew what other beings would also be able to use their powers within the prison walls.

  “I can feel mine too,” Dash replied. His face was bathed in the light of my power, and I could easily see that the realization worried him too.

  I glanced into the dark depths of the tunnel. The urge to turn back toward the entrance light rather than venture farther into the mountain was almost overwhelming. “I have a bad feeling about this,” I said.

  “Me too,” Dash agreed. “But we don’t have a choice.”

  “That’s not completely true,” I replied. “You do have a choice in this. I think you should wait outside while I go on. You don’t have to come with me.”

  “What, and let you take all the glory?” he asked. “I don’t think so.”

  I smiled at his words, glad he was following through with me right to the end. “Thanks, Dash.”

  “No problem.”

  I clutched the cube tightly in one hand, as my magic lit up the other, and continued through the tunnel with Dash close behind me.

  I was probably walking far slower than was necessary, but I was still nervous about what we might find. Every shadow in the rocky walls made me pause, and I held my breath every time we went to walk around a corner. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to discover, but I was even more wary than the previous times I’d walked into the prison.

  As we reached the bowls of lava light, I allowed my magic to disappear from my hands. We poured the molten liquid from the bowls to illuminate the way ahead, but as we continued walking, my progress slowed despite the fact we could now see more clearly. We were moving into the area of the tunnel where Incarceror’s prisoners appeared to be trapped in the walls. I held my breath as I waited for their moans to begin and instinctively moved closer to Dash. My whole body pulsed with fear in anticipation of their desperate faces pushing against the rock.

  All that met my ears was silence, and the eerie quiet that surrounded us was more terrifying than anything else.

  “They’re gone,” I whispered to Dash.

  He nodded, his eyes flicking to the walls on either side of us.

  “Do you think the nameless one has left too?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” he replied.

  A shiver ran down my spine, but I continued forward, knowing Dash was right. If the nameless one was gone, I wasn’t sure how I would find him or what I would do. I needed to bring the cube to him, and I couldn’t fulfill my favor if he’d escaped

  When we entered the main cavern of the prison, I looked over the edge of the cliff at the cells far below us. The lava light waterfalls lit the cells with a subtle orange glow, but it wasn’t enough to tell if they remained occupied or not. The place felt so unnervingly quiet that I suspected the cells were just as abandoned as the cave walls we’d just walked past.

  “Where do you think the keeper is?” Dash asked.

  I looked around but couldn’t see the small creature anywhere. He’d appeared as soon as we’d arrived last time, and his absence only added to my unease.

  “I’m not sure…” My voice trailed off as true worry began to set in. We hadn’t encountered a single being since entering the prison, and the emptiness created a sense of foreboding in my heart.

  I looked down at the cube in my hands and the golden favor tattoo that still shone brightly on my wrist. We’d gone through so much to bring the strange magical object back here, and there was a chance it was going to be all for nothing.

  I pushed
back tears, knowing I couldn’t give up yet. “We know where the nameless one is,” I murmured in reply. “Let’s go see if he’s home.”

  I started to walk toward the area of the cavern where the creature’s cell was, and my heart plummeted to the depths of my stomach as I saw a gaping hole in the wall.

  I rushed forward, terror snapping at my heels as I went. The nameless one had to be there. He just had to. My heart was beating so quickly as I approached his open cell I thought it might burst right out of my chest.

  I came to a stop in front of the cell, my heart pounding in my ears as I stared into it. I searched the darkness within, fear and hope both warring within me, for signs that the nameless one was still there.

  The cell was filled with nothing but shadows, and my heart clenched tightly as I realized he was gone. I went to turn away as Dash caught up with me, but then I saw movement through the blackness. I held my breath, my gaze fixed on the spot as a hooded figure slowly stepped forward and into the light that bathed the front of the cell.

  “You’ve returned,” the nameless one said.

  I let out a breath and nodded. “And we’ve brought the object from inside the chest of Bethalial.” The moment the words left my mouth, the magical tattoo around my wrist started tingling. I lifted my hand up and watched as the magic slowly leached out of my skin, dissolving into the air around me. I smiled as my skin became bare once more, and a feeling of relief coursed through me.

  “I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain,” I whispered, as much to myself as to the nameless one.

  The nameless one suddenly charged to the front of his cell and held his hand out toward me. The frantic movement stunned me, but he didn’t move past the invisible divide between us, which I hoped meant he was still trapped in his cell.

  “Give it to me,” he demanded.

  I clutched the cube tightly to me though. “Not yet,” I replied. “You haven’t told us how to fix the barrier.” I was trying to stay confident, but adrenaline and fear raced through me as the being before me snarled in response.