What Once Was One (Book 2)

by Marc Johnson

  “Hellsfire,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

  We stared each other down for one long minute. Neither of us said anything. Nathan’s three friends shifted uncomfortably, as years of past anger vented from the pair of us.

  “What do you want, Nathan?” I asked, breaking the silence. “I have no time for games.”

  He pointed his sword at me. “Just you.” He reached up with his free hand, tracing the bumps and scars over his left cheek. “You did this to me.”

  “I warned you, and if you don’t leave now, I’ll do worse.” I glared at his cronies. “You’ve heard the stories about me. They’re all true. I’m a wizard now. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  They glanced at each other, then to Nathan. They lowered their weapons.

  “Don’t be fools!” Nathan said. “This is Hellsfire. He’s not a wizard, but some kind of demon. We’ve beaten him before.”

  They regained their courage and raised their farming tools. The pair behind me stepped forward. I let the fire flow to my eyes.

  “Don’t,” I said, my voice and my hint of magic stopping them.

  Nathan roared. He ran to me, bringing his sword up. I lifted my hand and summoned a gust of wind. It barreled into Nathan, knocking him off his feet. He tumbled backwards and crashed to the ground. His sword bounced out of his hand until it lay several feet away. He tried reaching for his sword again, but I shot a small fireball, smacking dangerously close to his hand.

  I never took my eyes off Nathan, but said to the others, “Leave.”

  They wasted no time running well away from me, heading back into town. Nathan cursed then looked to his fallen sword, but didn’t make a move for it. He slowly rose and faced me.

  “What are you going to do?” Nathan asked.

  I considered. I could kill him. I could hurt him for all the times he hurt me. I could do whatever I wanted and there was nothing he could do to stop me. As I remembered all those past times with his mocking face looming over me, the dark flames within me threatened to rise up. I wanted to give in to their promises of retribution.

  Fear vibrated throughout Nathan’s face. He thought I was going to kill him. He stepped back and turned his head, deciding whether or not to make a run for it. He stared at the fire I cradled, knowing that I could strike him from afar. He faced me and held his head high, realizing his fate was sealed.

  There were so many things I could do to him. I could burn away his flesh, inch by inch; I could open up the ground until it swallowed him, squeezing him until his bones cracked and he died of thirst.

  But I would do no such thing.

  That wasn’t the way I was raised by either my mother or Stradus. And I couldn’t leave Kat without a husband and Hope without a father. For whatever reason, she loved him. Maybe not as much as she ever did me, but she did.

  “Nothing,” I finally said, dispersing my gathered magic.

  “Nothing?”

  I nodded and sighed. “I’m tired of this, Nathan. I don’t even know why we’re fighting any more. Do you? We’re no longer children. It’s time for us to grow up.” I walked past him, heading for home.

  “This isn’t over!” he screamed. “Do you hear me? I’ll get you, Wizard, if it’s the last thing that I do!”

  Nathan continued to yell and rant, and I let him. As long as he didn’t threaten my mother, Kathleen, Dorian, or anyone else I cared about, he could come after me if he wanted to. I had hoped that Kathleen or his daughter would have calmed him some. They might have, if only I hadn’t scarred his face. Nathan might have tormented me growing up, but my anger melted away when I saw him, replaced with guilt by what I had done.

  Nathan’s anger seemed to grow, at least while I was in town. When I looked at him, I saw a shell of a man, one tormented by the past. I didn’t know what Kathleen saw in him, but I hoped for her sake and their daughter’s sake, it was something different. I had far bigger things to worry about than what he did to me growing up—like Premier, the Wasteland creatures, King Furlong, and the Book of Shazul. More importantly, I had to worry about what I had done to Krystal.

  Early the next day, I said goodbye to my mother and my friends, and we left Sedah.

  CHAPTER 18

  After three weeks’ travel, we reached the Ennis Mountains. I gazed at the border into Southern Shala.

  The high peaks rolled on for miles, the bright sun beaming from behind them. Thick forests grew up the sides of the mountain, and a low haze settled around the top.

  Ever since the Great Barrier had been erected, the caves hadn’t been used as a regular travel route. I thought they would have been overrun with nature’s growth or fallen into disrepair, but that wasn’t the case. The cave entrances were bare of growth. The black holes opened their mouths, screaming for us to stay away. The largest ones looked like they could swallow us whole. Yet we had to go through them to reach Southern Shala.

  We followed Jastillian along the seldom-used paths leading up to the entrance we planned to use. Weeds and brush had overgrown the way, but there was still enough room for us and our horses, though we once had to navigate around a fallen tree. After three hours, we reached one of the smaller entrances.

  I got off my horse and stared at the hole. What would await us in that darkness, and beyond it, on the other side?

  “Look at this,” Jastillian said, bending down and examining the ground.

  We huddled around him, and I peered at the ground. It was still wet from the recent rains, as it was shaded and cooled by the mountain’s shadow. A circular mark was imprinted into it.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “A track,” Jastillian said. “Look at the grooves in the dirt. Half of it is missing, but I’ve seen this track many times far from here.”

  “The Wastelands,” Rebekah said, glaring at it.

  “Aye, and an ogre from the looks of it.”

  “Premier,” I said.

  “He can’t be more than five or seven days ahead at most,” Jastillian said. He paused and placed his hand under his chin in thought. “If we push it, we might be able to catch him right after we exit the mountains, or just before we leave them.”

  I stared at the ground, trying to spot other tracks. There weren’t any. They could have been washed away, but why would there only be one left?

  “Think he knows we’re coming after him?” I asked. “This could be a trap.”

  “He couldn’t have known we would take this route,” Jastillian said and shook his head. “There are plenty of ways to cross the Ennis Mountains.”

  “Still,” Krystal said. “We had better be careful.”

  Jastillian disappeared into the cave mouth, and we followed. I created fire in my hand, both to light the way and as a spell in case Premier was here. Behast and I flanked Jastillian.

  The cave wasn’t as musty or stale as the White Mountain’s caves were. The fresh, moisture-laden air filled my lungs. The hooves of the horses echoed all around us. If Premier was nearby, he would hear us long before we found him.

  Shadows stalked us from above. Their disfigured faces screamed out and I kept imagining Premier and his pet ogre out there, waiting for us. Stalagmites dipped down from the ceiling, threatening to pierce us like arrows. The slow dripping of water surrounded us. Bats hung from the ceiling in slumber, waiting until nightfall to attack their prey.

  “I’ve been to these mountains many a time,” Jastillian said, keeping his voice low. “I’ve been here looking for artifacts from the War of the Wizards and, like everyone else, a path to get through the barrier. I had chased rumors that there was a secret way through.” He shook his head. “But I could never find one.”

  “Why are the caves so smooth?” Krystal asked, reading my thoughts.

  “You hear that slight dripping sound?” Jastillian asked. “These caves were naturally formed by water over time. There’s even an underground river in here. As more people started to settle in Northern Shala, they started to shape a few of the tunnels for supply routes
. Not soon after, when the war started, they did it for their armies.” Jastillian snorted. “That was also when they collapsed a few of the tunnels.

  “I chose this route because the tunnels should be fine, and according to the map Sharald gave us, it will put us close to where we need to go. But it could possibly be a week until we’re out of here.”

  Three days passed in the Ennis Mountains. Jastillian said we were close to where the Great Barrier had been, but I didn’t see an end to this eternal darkness.

  On the fourth day, we had to travel in single file as the ledge we were on thinned out. I led the horse by the reins, trying not to slip and fall into the abyss below. I stumbled. A piece of rock broke away, clattering down the deep hole. I peered over, staring into the blackness. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and backed away.

  Not long afterward, we traveled down a long tunnel barely tall enough to fit our horses. I tugged at my shirt collar, feeling smothered, as though the mountain might cave in on me. Jastillian stopped us in the middle of the tunnel. Small rocks were lined up in front of his feet, stretching from one side of the tunnel to the other.

  “This is it,” Jastillian said. “This is where the Great Barrier is supposed to lie.”

  I studied the surrounding rock. I had somehow expected grooves in the wall, as if they had been eroded by a long-runner river, or bite marks outlining the area where the Great Barrier had been. It seemed impossible that something so powerful wouldn’t leave a mark, but there was nothing. If there ever was anything marking the Great Barrier, it was gone now.

  “I can’t tell if it’s still there,” Prastian said. “And if Premier came this way, there are no signs of him.”

  “That’s how it’s always been,” Jastillian said.

  “Hellsfire, do you sense anything?” Krystal asked.

  I reached out with my wizard senses, trying to find some kind of unseen magical force, no matter how small. I shook my head. “Nothing. If there was a residue of magic marking it, there’s none now. I couldn’t even feel a backlash of energy when I was in the Wastelands.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but then her eyes rolled into her head and she collapsed. I barely caught her.

  “Princess!” Ardimus said.

  We all huddled around her and I cradled her in my arms. Her skin grew pale and her eyes fluttered. The necklace underneath her clothes flared. The green magic brightened her skin while it worked its magic. I held my breath for several moments, not daring to breathe until she moved.

  Krystal slowly opened her eyes. Her purple eyes focused on mine.

  “Princess, are you all right?” I asked.

  “What happened?”

  “You fainted.”

  She gave me a small smile, then pulled away from me. Ardimus helped her up. “I’m all right now.”

  “Princess,” Rebekah said, handing her a skin of water.

  “You need to see the council before it happens again,” I said. “They’ll be able to help you.”

  “I’m fine.” She looked at me, but her words were also meant for the others. “My health is not my priority. That’s not why we’re going into Southern Shala. Understand?”

  I bit my lip. Her health was my priority. Premier had to be dealt with, but the curse also had to be cured. I bowed my head. “Understood, Your Highness.”

  “Good.”

  Silence loomed while we decided on what to do. Because of what had happened with the princess, the tension in the air was thick.

  Jastillian broke it. He picked up a rock and said, “I’ve been wanting to do this for decades.”

  “Let me try,” Demay said, grabbing the rock from Jastillian’s hand. “I think Hellsfire brought it down.”

  “Aye, me too. But if he didn’t, it’s going to hurt when you smack into the barrier.” Jastillian grinned. “Trust me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Prastian said. “My brother has a hard head.”

  “Here goes nothing,” Demay said.

  The elf held his breath and leapt over the rocks. He didn’t hit anything. He exhaled and gave us a big grin. “I did it.”

  Jastillian strolled to where Demay was. He stared down the tunnel and didn’t move.

  I went to Jastillian and clasped his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, lad. It’s just been a dream of mine to do this. As many times as I’ve been down here, I never thought it would come true. And it’s all thanks to you.” That gleeful look on his face vanished, and it became somber. “Now let’s go to Fairhaven. We’ve got a lot to do.”

  Three more days passed while we navigated the caves. We didn’t find any other signs of Premier, but we did find dead ends and collapsed tunnels. It might have been Premier’s doing, but it also could have been that King Sharald’s map was outdated and that the tunnels had changed over time.

  After passing where the Great Barrier once lay, we were excited as we drew to our destination, knowing we had done something no other had done in nearly a thousand years. But we soon grew tired of the darkness of the caves.

  I did my best to conceal my nervousness. The caves got smaller and the shadows closer. I had always hated enclosed spaces. I focused on my breathing and the task ahead to clear my mind. Even the horses were in discomfort. We stopped riding them and led them. They seemed to drag their hooves and keep their heads down. While we had enough oats and water for them, the lack of light and grazing weakened their spirits.

  The elves had an even harder time. Much like plants, they needed sunlight. We mostly had my fire as light. There were rare cracks throughout the mountains that brought in the sun’s rays. When we crossed those areas, we rested or even built our camps there, so the elves and horses could recover.

  Even Krystal, Rebekah, and Ardimus weren’t immune. Thankfully, Krystal didn’t have another fainting spell, although I watched her carefully. We all desperately wanted to feel the grass beneath our feet and to sleep on the soft dirt instead of the hard ground.

  The only one who felt at home was Jastillian. It was more than his excitement about going into Southern Shala. He was a dwarf, used to the lack of sunlight and the dim conditions of caves. The bright mushrooms in the caves or the flapping bat wings above our heads didn’t bother him. He didn’t watch his footing like we did. His feet naturally seemed to know where to go, while ours slipped, and we had to study the ground before placing our feet.

  On our last day inside the Ennis Mountains, the bright sun shone from the tunnel’s exit. We paused, admiring it, relieved to begin another part of our journey. We raced towards the end of the caves and out from the entrapment of the mountains.

  I shielded my eyes from the brightness. I let my skin absorb the heat and sighed at the breeze running through my hair. I stared down at the landscape beneath us as the mountains sloped down, opening up to this forgotten land.

  Southern Shala radiated with green under the midday sun. The tall grass was like an ocean, ripples splashing against each other like waves. My horse bent down to chomp on a small clump of grass outside of the caves.

  I stared back at the Ennis Mountains, peering at the other cave openings carved into the mountains, big and small. We still had a week or two of travel if we were to make it to Fairhaven, but we were one step closer.

  The others studied the map and the configuration of the mountains, and then Prastian and Jastillian led us down the mountain slope. We set up camp at the base of the mountains. After dinner, Krystal and I had the first watch.

  As usual, I set up detection webs around the area and cast earth magic to feel what was out there. When I was done, I sat down on a log next to Krystal. We hadn’t been on the same watch since before we crossed into Southern Shala. I always cherished the moments when it was just me and her. Even if not a word was said during our watch. It was just nice to be in her presence.

  She stared at the stars and didn’t say a word to me.

  “Krystal, how badly has the curse been affecting you?”

 
She shrugged. “It happens occasionally. Sometimes it’s worse, sometimes it’s not that bad.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

  She turned and cocked her head. “Was there anything you could do about it?”

  I sighed. “No.”

  “Then you have your answer. The necklace protects me well enough and I can handle what the curse throws at me.”

  “I know you’re strong, Krystal, but you still should have told me.”

  We sat in silence while I figured out how to approach what I wanted to say.

  “The council will be able to help you,” I said.

  Krystal gave me an incredulous look.

  “Us, I mean.” I took a breath and said, “I want you to be all right, even if we can’t be together again.”

  “Are you giving up on us?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Things were tenuous with me in Alexandria before. They became worse with what I did to you, and now I’m banished. Even if the council finds a way to break to curse, things will be hard. It might be easier if...we end it after we see the council.”

  “Even if the council has a cure?”

  I couldn’t look at her. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to be with her more than anything, but no matter what I did, I just made things worse. It hurt me to see what kind of pain she was in—pain I caused. I nodded my head.

  “I see,” Krystal said. “I don’t think you should worry about this now. Think about the task at hand. If you worry about too many things, you’ll lose focus.”

  “Until I can break Renak’s curse and you’re safe and unharmed again, you’re all I think about.” I pushed my legs up and bent my head down until they touched. “Your father told me that you once had...others. Maybe our time for fun is over. I understand. You’re a princess. You’re groomed to be a queen and Guardian of Northern Shala. I’m just a peasant from some poor town.”

  “Fun? Is that what you think we’re doing? Is that why you think I enjoy your company?”

  I took a deep breath. “I honestly don’t know what we’re doing, Princess.”

  “Don’t presume to know what I think or feel, Hellsfire.” Her violet eyes shot daggers at me. “Nor presume to know what I want.” She rose and walked away.