by Hoyt, Joshua
Caspin howled as the sharp blade dug deep into his chest. A thin line of blood was turning his fur red around the cut. Tanya went in low and slashed at his leg. Caspin went down to one knee.
Tom once again tried to intervene. He jumped in front of Tanya, pushing back with all his might. Tanya went in for the killing blow. A look of shock crossed her face as she went through Tom, losing her concentration; she tripped and fell beside Caspin. Caspin took advantage of the situation and as Tanya rolled to her back to defend herself as he leaped on top of her. He slashed her across the chest with his long sharp claws. Now that the huge werewolf was on top of her, Tanya had no chance of winning. A pool of blood formed around the two combatants.
Tom looked down in horror as he saw recognition suddenly appear on Tanya’s face. Can she see me? The look of recognition quickly turned to hate and contempt as she realized why she lost the battle. Her face burned itself into his mind. It was over in a fraction of a second. Her eyes went blank as Caspin made the finishing blow.
“No! What is happening? Why is this happening?” Tom screamed out.
Caspin was suddenly gone and all Tom could see was the white face of Tanya lying cold and lifeless on the floor. He closed his eyes and fell to his knees next to her but the image of her face would not leave his mind. He dug his fists into his eyes hoping that somehow he would be able to forget the dreadfulness of the image. He turned away from the corpse and putting his head to the ground began to sob. He couldn’t get the guilt and hurt to go away.
“It’s my fault she’s dead,” Tom said.
Not wanting to get up but knowing that he needed to he slowly made his way to the door which was now open. He walked through and closed the door behind him barely having the strength to walk. Looking down the hall he saw another door that stood partially open. He heard voices coming from the open door and his spirits lifted slightly. He heard the voices of Kristiana and John. He had an image of the first day he met them and a faint smile came to his mouth. They’ll know how to end this nightmare. They can protect me, they’ve always been there for me in the past. I need them.
Tom hurried to the open door and went through. He walked quickly toward Kristiana and John. When he reached them they both looked at him. Tom’s smile gained hope as he realized that they could see him. The tears also came back as the relief and feeling of safety returned.
“You! It’s all your fault we’re in this mess,” Kristiana said as she pointed at him. Tom’s smile quickly faded as he saw the looks of disgust on both of their faces.
“You’re the cause of our problems and heartache. If you hadn’t come into our lives Karman would still be here. Tanya would be alive and we would be relaxing in the mansion with Archelaus,” Kristiana continued.
“Tom you are not welcome here. We don’t want to see you,” John said.
Tom heard a noise behind him and he turned to see several men with dark brown clothes and black cloaks. They bore the red dragon symbol on their chests and they had looks of delight on their faces. The group began to walk toward him and he turned back to Kristiana and John with a pleading look on his face. They both just smiled and turned their backs on him.
Tom turned back toward the group that was getting slowly closer. Losing all hope he did not even bother pulling his weapons out to defend himself. There was a quick motion behind the group and one of the men dropped to the floor. The group turned and Tom saw Xantar standing by the door.
“Tom, it’s not real, but if you die here you will also die in the real world,” Xantar yelled as he continued to fight the group.
Tom watched as the group was beginning to overpower Xantar. Tom began to turn away not wanting to see another one of his companions die.
“Tom, remember your dream, you must believe me.”
Tom turned back seeing that Xantar had narrowly dodged the blade of one of the red dragon clan. Tom stepped toward the men and pulled his sword from his belt knowing that he could not stand by and let Xantar die, but feeling so hopeless it was hard for him to concentrate. He came to the first of the men and stabbed him in the back. The man fell to the ground; as blood began to spill out of his back the ground began to turn red. Tom saw that the blood red color began to spread across the floor and toward his feet.
Xantar killed another of the men with a savage strike across the man in front of him. Another man fell and his blood mixed with the blood, increasing the stain that was beginning to fill the room. Tom stepped back several paces and watched the blood come closer and closer. He saw that the red stain had not yet reached the door. Here was a chance to escape as Xantar continued to battle. Tom moved around behind the battle seeing the blood spread out toward him.
Xantar had fear on his face as a deflected blade still hit him across the arm causing a small red line to appear.
“Tom, I need your help. I will die if they kill me,” Xantar yelled.
Seeing the desperation in his face Tom could not leave him to die. He cleared his mind and summoned the fire. He flung a ball of fire toward the closest man who was instantly set ablaze. The man dropped and rolled across the blood stained floor trying to extinguish the flames. The other two men, seeing Tom with new respect, turned on him. Xantar, catching them in their surprise, was able to disarm one of them and give the other a severe cut across his face.
The two men seeing that they were outmatched dropped their weapons and walked back with their hands up. Seeing his chance to escape, Tom ran through the door. Xantar came after him as he ran down the hall. Tom looked over his shoulder and saw that the red stain was spreading out of the room into the hallway covering both the floor and the ceiling.
“Tom, wait. You must fight it or it will consume you and you’ll be no more,” Xantar yelled at Tom as they ran down the hall.
Tom slowed but the fear and sadness had overtaken him so he continued running toward the landing. He could no longer fight the fear and dread and as he ran he no longer wanted to feel the pain that welled up inside of him each time he thought about his friends. When Tom reached the landing he saw that the lower floor had turned a dark red and it was beginning to climb the stairs. He looked frantically around seeing down the other hallway another set of stairs that led higher into the palace.
Just as he was turning to run down that hallway he was knocked down to the ground.
“Tom, it’s a dream. None of it’s real,” Xantar whispered.
Tom tried to struggle but Xantar held him tight so that he was unable to escape. He looked past Xantar and saw Aithnea coming down the hall toward them. She walked without a care in the world and as she approached Tom she smiled at him sweetly.
“Tom, do not believe Xantar, look at him; he is one of her servants,” Aithnea said.
“Listen to me you must remember that the dark queen is able to get into your mind and will kill you if you do not fight back,” Xantar’s voice was growing desperate.
Tom longed to have Aithnea hold him in her arms.
“Tom, come with me and I will hold you for awhile.”
He struggled under the weight of Xantar and was finally able to push him off.
“It’s a trick. Focus and clear your mind. Take a few moments and look at Aithnea,” Xantar said.
Tom slowly stood and seeing the palace turning a blood red he closed his eyes and focused as he did when he was training with Aithnea and Kristiana. As he cleared his head images of the three rooms entered his mind. He calmly pushed them out as he searched for a place in his mind where he could clear out everything. As the images became dimmer and he was able to clear his thoughts he focused on a spell he was taught in the beginning of his lessons. He forced the emptiness out of his mind into the world around him causing his own energy to strengthen the bonds of the nothingness that was in his mind.
Tom slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was looking into the eyes of Aithnea who looked as if she had been crying. Aithnea slowly smiled as she pulled Tom closer and kissed him softly on the lips. Tom smiled back and looke
d around the room.
“How long have I been out for?”
“Only a few minutes,” John answered.
“Are you feeling ok?” Cody asked.
“I am,” Tom said slowly. The image of Tanya flashed through his mind.
“Where are Tanya and Caspin?” Tom asked quickly as he looked around.
“They went ahead to scout out the palace to see if they could find the dark queen’s lair,” John responded.
Tom jumped to his feet suddenly. “We have to hurry, they’re in danger,” he said forcefully.
“Tom whatever you saw, was in your head. It wasn’t real,” Xantar said calmly.
“No, this was different, we need to hurry.”
Tom began running toward the stairs. Taking the steps two at a time he reached the top as the rest of the group ran after him. He saw the two hallways and ran down the one on the right. The hallway looked exactly the same except that the doors had handles. He ran to the end of the hallway and he heard the others as they were catching up with him.
He opened the second to the last door and looked inside. Tears formed in his eyes.
Caspin was in the room holding a woman in his arms and sobbing.
“What have I done?” Caspin said over and over.
Tom approached them. He circled around and kneeled next to Caspin putting his hand on his head.
“Caspin, what happened?” Tom asked quietly.
Caspin looked up and Tom saw blood on his face where he had been cut. Blood soaked through his robe on his arms. The blood pattern appeared to be from blades. How much of it was real? Did Caspin kill Tanya? Relief washed over him as he looked down not recognizing the woman in Caspin’s arms.
“Caspin, what happened?” Tom asked again. He couldn’t take his eyes off the woman.
“I… I was tricked,” was all that Caspin could say as he began to cry once again. He held the woman closer.
John and the others came into the room and were standing at the door, looking at Tom and Caspin.
Cody crossed the room quickly. “What happened to her Caspin?”
“It’s not Tanya,” Tom said quietly.
Cody looked down at the woman and sighed noticeably. “Who is it then?”
“I’m not sure,” Tom said.
Caspin slowly raised his head and looked at them. “She was a dear friend from my past life.”
Tom lowered his head and rubbed Caspin’s shoulder softly as John approached them.
“Caspin what happened? Tell us what happened,” John said as he knelt next to him.
“Tanya and I came up the stairs looking for whoever had entranced Tom. When we reached this room there was a man in robes. We approached him when suddenly another guard approached…” Caspin faltered and was unable to continue for a few minutes. “…The man turned and left. Tanya went after him while I stayed to fight the other guard. A rage overtook me and I transformed into the beast. As I approached the guard he fought desperately and I was wounded several times until I was able to kill the guard who then transformed before my eyes.” Caspin lost it again and began to sob uncontrollably.
“Tom, Cody and Aithnea you stay here while we go to find Tanya,” John said as the three headed out of the room.
Caspin looked up suddenly at Tom. “How can we fight this when our loved ones are turned against us. How can we fight something that we can’t see, that has no body to kill?”
Tom looked away from the sad eyes of Caspin. It was hard for him to hear Caspin’s doubts. He was struggling with his own fears and memories of what had recently happened to him. To see Caspin without hope was almost too much. Caspin had become the hope that Tom had always yearned for, giving him hope of a better world. Now Caspin was without hope and Tom didn’t know where he would be able to find the strength to continue.
Caspin held the woman for moment longer and then laid her down on the ground. Taking off his own cloak, he slowly laid it over the woman. He stood. “Tom, I fear my faith has been broken. This beast that I have become is not of God but of an evil design. I don't know how to have faith in that.”
It was as if Caspin was pleading for Tom to help him understand the pain and anguish that he was feeling. Tom searched for the right words to speak to the man who had always given him wisdom. He held his gaze. There is nothing I can say to give him hope. Why can’t I give him hope? Tom looked for several minutes until Caspin finally looked away.
“We’d best be off to help the others,” Caspin said as he turned and walked toward the door.
Tom watched as the broken, bent man walked slowly toward the door. He wondered if Caspin would ever be able to mend the hurt that he must be feeling. Caspin reached the door and the three followed him out. They continued down the hall toward the landing.
Chapter 22:
When they reached the balcony Tom could hear fighting coming from down the other hallway. He pulled his sword from its scabbard. He paused and looked at the sword Will I ever be able to remove the stain of blood. He shook is head to clear the thought and ran toward the fight regreting that he would be making the stain brighter.
As they headed down the corridor they could see Kristiana at the end of the hallway in front of two open double doors. Tom was always amazed at the sight of her as she cast her spells. It was so mesmerizing watching as she moved her entire body gracefully through the air as if she was dancing with an unseen person. Then electricity would form at her fingertips and with an explosive force screech toward her enemies. A man screamed from within the room as another bolt of electricity shot from Kristiana’s finger.
It seemed like a dream as Tom raced past Kristiana into the room. Tanya was in the middle of the room surrounded by opponents and John was cutting a path toward her. Tom felt arrows whizzing by his head from Xantar’s bow toward the group surrounding Tanya, each arrow fatally hitting its mark.
Cody let out a battle cry and with a burst of speed shot in to the room. Tanya was desperately outnumbered. Cody was in such a rage that many of the men seeing him approach ran for the other side of the room. Tom with an inner smile conjured the fire into his mind and picturing Cody’s sword unleashed his energy. Cody's sword burst into flame causing greater fear among the dark elves. Those who had been able to brave Cody’s first onslaught dropped their weapons and ran.
When the room cleared, Tanya put her sword down and leaned heavily on it. Cody was by her side instantly holding her up and giving her support. “I thought I lost you once today. I don’t think that I could have borne actually losing you.”
Tanya looked up at Cody and smiled. “I had things under control.”
“We need to keep moving…” John said, “…they’ll be back soon.”
Tom looked around the room; they were in some sort of throne room. There were several chairs along the back of the room on a raised dais. The chairs all had a white tree inscribed into their backs and the center chair had a crown encircling the white tree.
Cody, looking at Tom, said, “That was a nice trick. I didn’t know you could project fire.”
Tom smiled. “I didn’t either until just a few minutes ago.”
John walked up to the group. “Tanya, are you well enough to go on?”
She cleaned her weapons on one of the nearby corpses. “I’m ready to go. The central chamber is through that exit and up the stairs. That’s also where the three towers connect to the palace.”
Xantar walked up to the group. “I’ll be going to find my brethren now. I think the dark queen will no longer be able to reach us for some time. I recommend that you hurry though it will not take her forever to get through the webs that I have spun around our minds.”
Xantar began to leave when he turned and looked at Tom. “Thank you for your trust in me. We would have all been defeated if you had been unable to put your trust in me.”
Xantar then turned and ran through the double doors and down the hallway.
Tanya headed toward an exit at the side of the room. Tom and the others fo
llowed and they came to a circular staircase that was wide enough to allow two people to walk abreast.
Tom looked up the stairs. “These stairs go on forever.”
Tanya looked down from a couple of stairs above smiling, “Yea, I remember racing up them with Tiarra as a kid. We would always arrive at the top out of breath and unable to go on for some time.”
Tanya turned and began taking the stairs two at a time with little effort. Tom ascended the stairs behind Cody, beginning to breathe harder as they ascended higher and higher. When the group finally reached the top of the stairs he was out of breath. He was relieved to see that many of the others were also breathing heavily.
Caspin was the last one to reach the top and he had the same look of despair as he did when Tom first caught up to him. Tom shook his head slightly as he thought about how he would feel if he were to lose Aithnea, let alone being responsible for her death.
Caspin was very distant and withdrawn as the group gathered together to make the final preparations before splitting off to their separate destinations.
Tom looked around at the room, surprised by its size. There were three glass tunnels leading out of the room. Cody whistled as he looked above them. “Wow! That’s quite the ceiling.”
Tom looked up and his mouth dropped open. “How high is the ceiling?”
Tanya followed his gaze. “I’m not sure. But I do know that it that it took many years to finish.”
John looked around at the group. “Tom, Cody and Aithnea that’s your tunnel,” pointing. “Kristiana and I will go down that tunnel.” He pointed at another tunnel. He turned toward Caspin and walked to the older man. The two of them whispered for several minutes and Tom saw that both John and Caspin had tears in their eyes as they conversed.
John turned from Caspin and pointed down the third tunnel. “Tanya, you and Caspin will take that one. Remember that we must deactivate the field on all three towers or we will have no support from the outside once the sun stone is activated.”