“No one has ever been turned back.” Lucas answered, “They could all be mad for all we know…”
“No one?” Luna was surprised, they had been cursed for eighteen years, and not one of the creatures had ever been turned back. “What about during the day?” She wondered.
“At first they seem normal, the first day at least.” Lucas paused, listening around them for a moment. “After that they become…. Unresponsive.”
“What does that mean?” Luna asked, following him around another corner in the maze, “They just don’t talk?”
“It’s like they don’t know anyone is there, they are trapped in their body, but unable to move. Most of them just stand there, staring…”
“Isn’t there something you can do to help them?” Luna asked, “During the day, when they are human at least.”
“They are trying.” Lucas turned another corner, “But each passing day they are getting worse. And it’s dangerous to keep them in the city.”
Luna fell silent, following Lucas as he wove through the winding paths of the Gateway towards Eranox. She knew that it was her fault.
If she hadn’t escaped the castle, if they hadn’t followed her into the woods and then the Gateway, she didn’t know what to think.
She had single handedly caused chaos in Eranox, she had let the curse that they had been protected from for eighteen years pass into the city. She was supposed to be the one to save them, her parents had been sent away to find the cure, and she had ruined it all.
“You seem quiet.” Lucas turned another corner.
“Just thinking.” Luna still wasn’t sure what to say, sorry didn’t seem like enough.
“This isn’t your fault.” Lucas turned another corner, watching her face carefully.
“It really is though.” Luna didn’t need Lucas trying to make her feel better, “If I hadn’t escaped and led all those Knights into the Gateway, the curse would still be contained.” It was a fact, and nothing Lucas could say would change her mind. Eranox was in peril because of her.
“The curse was already there Luna, it was there before you were born, you just reminded us that it needs to be stopped.” Lucas seemed to have his own opinion, “They’ve waited for eighteen years, hanging on the hope that your parents were out there finding a cure. Not one of them even tried to stop it themselves.” He sounded angry.
“But my parents didn’t find a way.” Luna reminded him, “Because of me.”
“They tried.” Lucas reminded her, “To think that Alec has been cursed the whole time… my father… he was counting on him…” Lucas trailed off.
“His name was Alec?” Luna had never heard her father’s name before, he wasn’t listed in the birth announcement she had seen at the library and her mom had never talked about him.
“Yes, Sir Alec Blackwater, the High Wizard of Eranox.”
“What about the other Wizards, the ones from the other council? Where are they from?”
“All Wizards originate in Eranox,” Lucas repeated the same thing her mom had told her, “But there is a bloodline in the council realm, Avidaura, that controls the mirror portals. They originated here, but a long time ago.”
“So you can’t get to them to stop the curse, because they sealed you off…” Luna was starting to understand the severity of it all, “And my parents went to Earth to find the way to Avidaura from there… to get the High Wizards to help?”
“Exactly.” Lucas frowned, “But that is clearly not how it worked out.”
“How am I supposed to be able to help if Alec couldn’t?”
“I’ll let the King explain that to you.” Lucas turned another bend, “It would just confuse you without an example…” He added.
“Okay.” Luna let it slide, she was going to have more questions, but they could wait until she was in Eranox and safe.
“Almost there.” Lucas nodded at the path ahead, “Just a few more turns.”
“Wow, that was fast.” Luna was surprised, the last time she and Lucas had gone through to Eranox it had seemed to take the whole night.
“We weren’t exactly taking the regular path that night.” Lucas reminded her, “We were kind of busy trying to stay alive…”
“Right.” Luna followed Lucas around another bend.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Gateway had grown slowly brighter as they walked, turning one corner at a time as they wound through the tall stone walls. The daylight rose over the walls as the sun rose higher, washing away all but the most stubborn of shadows as morning became mid-day.
Even Luna felt lighter, knowing that the door to Eranox was only a few hours away had her in high spirits. She wasn’t going to be trapped in the Gateway with the creatures of the night this time, she was safe. This time she could enjoy the Gateway; not that there was anything really interesting about it.
Moss and vines covered the stone walls in patches, giving the whole place a feel like it had been forgotten. Luna tried to imagine what it had looked like when it was new, before the rocks had started to erode, before the creatures had started to roam the paths, leaving claw marks on the walls. It was like visiting an old settlement, time had taken its toll.
The walls were in desperate need of repair, a few more years and they would come crumbling down, leaving Eranox defenseless against the creatures inside.
“Where do they go during the day?” Luna asked, watching Lucas as he turned another corner, the high walls shadowing the marker that he was using to find his way.
“What?” He slowed down, “Where do they go?” He asked, he hadn’t really been paying attention, and Luna’s question had clearly caught him off guard.
“Yeah.” Luna tried again once she realized Lucas was paying attention, “The creatures, where do they go during the day… they have to go somewhere…” She added sheepishly, wondering if her question had seemed silly to him.
Lucas turned, glancing down the path behind Luna with wide eyes, his shoulders tensed for a moment and then he looked back to Luna, calming. “They are still here.” He answered slowly, “Why, did you see something?” He sounded concerned, and scanned the path again.
Luna felt a chill and glanced over her shoulder to stare down the path they hadn’t taken, “They’re still here?” She whispered, “Are they dangerous?” She asked, the Gateway didn’t feel safe anymore.
Lucas shook his head, “You don’t have to worry about them right now.” He paused, watching her face to determine what had prompted her to ask the question, “They are… dormant… during the day.”
The answer sounded too vague, like he was hiding something, Luna needed to know more.
“What does that mean, dormant during the day?” She asked, pressing her hands to her hips.
“Should we take a break?” Lucas suggested, taking the school bag off of his back and setting it to the ground.
“Sure.” Luna leaned against the wall beside her, “I could use a water.” She leaned forward, not sure if Lucas was guarding the bag or not.
He unzipped it and reached his hand inside, retrieving a water bottle a moment later.
“Thanks,” Luna accepted his offer, “but I still want to know what happens to the cursed people during the day…” She trailed off taking a drink from the bottle.
She hadn’t realized just how parched she really was. The Gateway was dry and hot, she almost finished the bottle of water in an instant.
Lucas pulled out another bottle of water for himself, “They are still here…” He tried to explain, “But they just… they just stand there.” He stumbled to find the words to describe it, “It’s like they aren’t there at all, it’s like they are hollow….”
“So if we see one…” Luna drank the last of her water and leaned over to put the empty bottle back into her bag, “Will it do anything?” She asked, looking up at Lucas as he stared out across the path.
“Not really, they are like living statues.” Lucas shuttered.
“Have you ever tried talking to one?”
Luna stared at him.
“Once, when I was first traveling to your world alone.” He nodded, the haunted look on his face startled Luna, “There was no one in there…” He shook his head sadly. “No one…”
Luna nodded, understanding that she should drop the topic. She edged towards Lucas, hoping that they would start walking again so she could put the Gateway behind her. Suddenly the stone maze didn’t seem so great in the daytime anymore.
“Just let me know if you see one.” Lucas mumbled as he tossed the school bag back over his shoulder and started down the path again, “We can always take another turn… just in case…” He added.
Luna followed him down the path, she felt jumpy and afraid of what they might find in the recesses of the Gateway. There were still so many dark alcoves where the cursed could be hiding.
Luna hurried to catch up to Lucas, walking close to him.
“What happens when they are cured?” She asked in a whisper.
“No one knows.” Lucas answered slowly, “You mean, do they turn back to normal?”
“Yeah, will they be back to normal again, or…” She didn’t know how to ask, but she wanted to know about her dad. He had been cursed for a long time, her whole life in fact, she had never had a chance to know him. If he was cured, would he be normal after, or would there be lingering effects from the curse?
“I have no idea.” Lucas admitted, “I think we will have to find out the hard way, no one has ever been cured before.” He tried to smile, falling short at a pained smirk.
Lucas led them down another path, the silence in the Gateway consuming them as they marched forward through the towering walls.
“Turn back.” Lucas stopped in his tracks, backing towards the last turn they had taken.
Luna didn’t ask why. She stared ahead, wondering what had spooked Lucas as she backed towards the last path.
She couldn’t see anything ahead of them, nothing but a dark spot on the wall in the distance. But it had been enough to turn them around, so it had to be something.
Lucas turned them back around and hurried along the path until he found another suitable junction to lead them farther into the Gateway.
Luna stayed quiet until they had walked a few steps into the new path, staring ahead to be sure that there wasn’t something else waiting for them before she finally asked, “Was that one of them?”
Lucas looked back over his shoulder, lowering his voice, “I don’t know…” He answered, “Something just didn’t feel right about that path.”
“Okay.” Luna agreed, she didn’t want to take any chances if they didn’t have to. “How much longer?”
Lucas rolled his eyes, holding back a laugh, “Soon, just a little bit farther, the door is up ahead.” He pointed to a spot on the path that Luna could see.
“Good.” She started walking faster.
Lucas stopped short as they turned the corner and reached the alcove where the door to Eranox proper was hidden. He didn’t approach the ornate gate to open it, instead he turned to face Luna with a serious expression on his face that she couldn’t read.
“Before we go in, I should probably find out… there is something that I need to know…” He stared at her like he was trying to find the answer to the question that he hadn’t bothered asking.
“Well, what is it?” Luna looked behind her, wondering what Lucas needed to know in the Gateway that couldn’t wait until they were in Eranox. She half expected to see a cursed Knight standing behind her when she looked back and was relieved to find that the path was still clear.
She didn’t really want to stay in the maze any longer than she had to, but Lucas seemed to be stalling. He was still staring at her with that same strange expression on his face, like he was trying to find something.
Lucas lowered his voice, staring into Luna’s eyes in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, like he was trying to see inside of her.
“Are you a High Wizard?” He finally asked slowly.
Luna stared at him, “What?”
“Are you a High Wizard?” He asked again, looking at her like he was trying to figure it out.
Luna looked down at herself, expecting to see a mark on her skin that would tell her, “I don’t know.” She answered finally, looking back up at Lucas, “You’re the one who said I was…” She stared at him like he had gone mad, “Does it really matter if you know right now? Can’t we at least leave the Gateway?” She asked, sighing.
She just wanted to get out of there, every moment she was still standing in the Gateway made her feel more uneasy.
Lucas shifted uncomfortably, “Well, I just wanted to know… before we go into the city…” He wasn’t telling her something, it seemed very important to him that he have the answer before he opened the doors.
“And now that we are in your world and there is magic, you can test it?” Luna guessed.
“Precisely.” Lucas nodded.
“I don’t see why it has to be right now, in this place, but alright.” Luna crossed her arms, “How do we find out? What is the test?”
He didn’t answer right away, Luna was sure that there wasn’t a test and he was just trying to figure out how to get his answer by some other means, but he was wasting time. Luna wished that he would just get on with it, the sooner they figured it out, the sooner she could get out of the Gateway, or go home. She really wasn’t that picky, she just didn’t want to be standing there, in a maze filled with the cursed inhabitants of the city, the sun beating down on her.
She would rather be anywhere else, even math class.
Finally Lucas looked up, there was a twinkle in his eye that told Luna he had finally found his solution, “Let’s try something.” He suggested. He shrugged the school bag from his shoulders and set it by the door for safe keeping, stepping away from it.
“Hold out your hands like this.” Lucas demonstrated, holding his hands out in front of himself with his palms up.
“Alright.” Luna humored him, holding her hands out like his, palms up.
“Okay, now focus your energy, imagine it coursing through you. Picture a fire, a fire that will not touch you, but will light the way.” Lucas closed his eyes, demonstrating what he was asking her to do. A moment later there was a small flame in his hand, it seemed to spiral out of nowhere, slowly growing to the size of an apple.
“See?” He looked at Luna, “And then put it out.” He cupped his hands and the fire vanished. “Now you try.”
“Okay.” Luna rolled her eyes, she felt silly, standing there holding her hands out while Lucas watched her like she was about to change colors. It all seemed ridiculous. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see Lucas watching her and tried to focus.
She felt warm, she could hear the stone around her crackling.
Luna opened her eyes to fire. It was everywhere, but it didn’t seem to touch her. There was a wall of fire between her and Lucas, she could hear him shouting from the other side.
“That’s enough Luna! Stop!” Luna clapped her hands together, and the fire went out revealing Lucas on the other side.
His hands were in the air, he had been keeping the flames back. His eyes were wide, and he was staring at Luna like she had grown a second head.
“Well?” She asked, resting her hand on her hip. The answer was clear to her, but she wanted to hear Lucas admit it.
“You’re a High Wizard…” He breathed. “Never seen one like it.”
“Good.” Luna stepped forward, “Now can we get out of the Gateway?”
Lucas shook his head, reaching for the school bag again, “You really have no idea just how powerful you are…” He seemed shocked.
“I made a fire, it was cool.” Luna had done what he had asked, she didn’t see why they were still waiting in the Gateway. Though she was surprised that she had managed to create something out of thin air, Lucas should have been more accustomed to it, he was from Eranox and he made it seem like it was normal when he had done it. But he was still staring at her
like she had two heads.
“I bet if I knew more, like you do, it wouldn’t have been so out of control…” She added, worried that he thought she was dangerous, “I won’t do it again…” She tried, when he still didn’t respond.
“People are going to look at you Luna, they know what you are.” Lucas stopped again, “I should probably explain it to you before you meet with the King…” He murmured, more to himself than Luna.
“Explain what, what am i?” He made it sound so ominous.
“You are a Blackwater.” Lucas said it like her last name meant something huge. “You are one of the highest bloodlines in Eranox, actually, the highest bloodline in Eranox.” He seemed to be racking his brain for a way to explain.
“There were two High Wizard bloodlines, and you descended from Lady Blackwater, she was one of them.” He paused, scratching his chin as he tried to explain, “You are more important than the King…”
“No, that’s silly. Isn’t the King the most important, isn’t that kind of the point of having a King?” Luna chuckled, sure that Lucas had explained it wrong.
“The King rules Eranox, but the High Wizard… the High Wizard rules the King…” Lucas stared at her, trying to get his point across, “If you were to marry, your family would take your name, your bloodline is the most important in all of Eranox...”
“Really?”
“You are more than royalty Luna. You are a High Wizard. And now that they know… I mean, they were expecting your dad, but without him… they know what you are…” He turned to the gates, “Don’t be alarmed.”
“Alarmed?” Luna asked, watching Lucas’ back.
He reached his hand out, touching the brass.
Slowly the door to Eranox began to open, Luna watched as the city came into view.
To her surprise there was a crowd waiting at the door, Knights in their shiniest armor, their heads bowed down in greeting. Luna looked at Lucas, he was staring at her, “They are bowing to you…” He whispered.
Luna stared at him, she had expected a gesture of that kind for their Prince, but not a girl from Earth. Luna tipped her head to them in greeting and followed Lucas forward through the door and out of the Gateway.
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