Mortiswood: Kaelia Falling (Mortiswood Tales Book 2)

by Gina Dickerson

Bryson stroked the Vallesm’s head and crawled beside its hind legs to inspect the newly formed skin. He reached out and gently touched the fresh, pink, shiny scar. ‘Will the hair grow back?’

  Gunnarr shrugged. ‘It’s the first time I’ve used Everstrain. I only picked a bottle up recently.’

  On the ground between them, the Vallesm trembled and shook. Its grey-white fur blurred until Bay took his human shape. Stretching out his legs, he gingerly fingered the bloodied hole in his jeans, it was the size of a fist and he could see his new skin through the gap.

  ‘Thank goddess you two arrived when you did.’ Bay leant on his father to stand up.

  Bryson dusted off the knees of his dark denim jeans and hugged his son to him. ‘I’m glad you’re healed.’

  Bay clapped his father on the back, and then held a hand out to Gunnarr. ‘Thanks for healing me, even though it hurt.’

  ‘What attacked you?’ Bryson asked. ‘Was it The Salloki?’

  ‘I don’t know. I was following the firebird when something came out of the trees at me.’

  ‘A Salloki beast?’ Gunnarr asked. ‘Was it a Draugr?’

  Bay shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. It was a wolf.’

  ‘A Vallesm?’ Bryson asked, surprised.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Bay replied. ‘It didn’t smell Vallesm to me.’

  ‘Big, small, colour?’ Bryson continued.

  ‘Very big. Larger than me.’ Bay looked at his father. ‘Larger than you. It was jet black with blue eyes. It came at me a second before the firebird swooped from the sky.’

  ‘This wolf could still be Vallesm, right?’ Gunnarr asked. ‘Maybe it has been in hiding and is frightened.’

  Bay rested his hand on his father’s shoulder. ‘It wasn’t Vallesm. Be careful, if it attacked me it could attack you.’

  Bryson nodded. ‘Any whiff of Kaelia?’

  ‘No.’ Bay’s head drooped. ‘But I must find that damn bird.’

  ‘Son, did you and Kaelia...?’ Bryson’s voice trailed off.

  Bay blushed. ‘Dad!’

  Gunnarr concealed a grin. ‘Well, we’re wondering, you know what with the Marrock myth and such.’

  ‘It’s private!’ Bay stared at his feet.

  Bryson sighed. ‘Bay, I know it’s embarrassing, trust me I remember being in love and being young. If you and Kaelia have been together and she has not reached full power, you know what that means.’

  Bay looked up. ‘I can’t be Marrock.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Son.’

  A low, Vallesm growl rumbled in Bay’s throat. ‘I won’t believe it, not until Kaelia says so herself. I’m going after the damn firebird and if I have to torture it to make it tell me what it did with Kaelia, I will!’

  ‘Bay!’ Bryson shouted as Bay ran off. ‘I’ll come with you!’

  ‘No!’ Bay shouted. ‘Go back to the castle in case Kaelia returns.’

  ‘Two noses are better than one!’ Bryson objected but it was too late, Bay had already shook into his Vallesm and disappeared into the undergrowth.

  ‘An ebony wolf?’ Gunnarr packed up the contents of his bag as a clap of thunder sounded overhead; a storm was brewing. ‘Any chance it was an ordinary wolf, or Vallesm?’

  Bryson peered up at the tree tops to the sky visible through their canopies. ‘What a Vallesm bigger than me? No chance at all.’

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lightning crackled across the swollen sky and bullets of rain pelted Calix’s and Jade’s heads. Mud oozed underfoot, weighing their boots but they trudged determinedly through the woods into the clearing by the magically concealed entrance to Mortiswood Academy. Calix stopped by the outside edge of the protective sphere and looked first to the left, then to the right, and finally up at the treetops.

  ‘Why are you standing there looking like a gormo?’ Jade hitched her satchel over her shoulder. ‘Hurry up and move, I’m frozen. I can’t believe you’ve lost Kaelia’s motorbike.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have been able to ride it through these woods anyway.’

  ‘You could’ve tried!’

  ‘Look, I’ve said I’m sorry but someone must’ve pinched it.’

  ‘You’ll have to explain to Kaelia how you thought hiding a motorbike in a bunch of trees was a good idea. Did you even chain it up?’

  ‘No, getting a bike chain was the last thing on my mind.’ Calix looked pointedly at Jade. ‘I was trying to help both you and Cadence if you don’t remember.’

  ‘Fine, fine, I know.’ Jade lifted one foot up and then the other, inspecting her boots. ‘I’m just fed up with muddy feet.’

  ‘You can wash your boots off when we get to the academy.’ Calix stepped between the trees, turned around, and then came back out. ‘If we ever make it there. I can’t see the entrance, only trees.’

  Jade grinned. ‘That’s why you needed me to come with you. Of course you can’t see the entrance. You’re a norm!’ Pushing past Calix, she held her hands out. Her eyes clouded over and there was a groaning of wood. Trees parted and the ground from where the trunks rose separated to reveal the winding stone path leading to the school.

  ‘After you.’ Jade gestured to Calix. ‘I’ll make sure the sphere reseals behind us.’

  Calix was four steps ahead when Jade’s scream stopped him in his tracks. Spinning around, the blood rushed from his head, dizzying him. ‘Cadence?’ He opened and closed his mouth.

  Jade, edging blindly backwards, crashed into Calix and they both grappled at each other for support. Dusting himself off, Calix nervously stepped closer to the edge of the protective sphere with Jade clutching at his elbow.

  Cadence, her hair, its natural chestnut human colour bright against the pale-blue pastiness of her Draugr skin, half raised a hand. ‘Do I really look so hideous it warrants a scream?’

  Jade found her tongue first. ‘You’ve looked better.’

  The invisible sphere around Mortiswood Academy grounds crackled, snakes of shocking green energy jumping over its surface at the touch of Cadence’s long fingered hand. She yelped and clutched her hand to her chest.

  ‘You can’t enter.’ Jade observed. She let go of Calix’s elbow and closed the distance between herself and the edge of the sphere. ‘It burnt you as a warning.’

  Cadence’s eyes clouded over, shadows rolling furiously across them like the skies of a storm. ‘I want to come in, I want to sleep in my bed, and eat some real food!’ Lifting her arms above her head, the wind picked up behind her, catching fallen leaves and dry bracken and battering it ineffectively against the magical boundary.

  Jade folded her arms across her chest. ‘It won’t work. Don’t you remember how Harriet always told us the sphere works by the rules of the old magic? Isandr himself used this very spell. Even as whatever you are, you can’t crack it.’

  Cadence screamed and dropped her arms, her eyes returning to their fiery Draugr glaze. ‘But I’m supposed to be stronger!’

  ‘Why do you want to return to the academy?’ Calix found his voice at last. ‘I thought you’d had enough of your old life.’

  A blue tear trailed a track down Cadence’s sallow cheeks. ‘You sound as if you’re not happy to see me.’

  ‘I would’ve been happy to see you,’ Calix replied slowly. ‘Before.’

  Cadence wiped her cheek. ‘What, now you don’t fancy me because I’m taller than you?’

  Calix willed himself to look away but his eyes refused to behave, sliding back of their own accord. Damn it, his voice said in his head, she’s still hot...even as a Draugr. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. ‘You obviously don’t fancy me. You turned into a Draugr to get away from me.’

  ‘I didn’t!’ Cadence protested. ‘I turned Draugr merely to become immortal; it had nothing to do with you.’

  ‘I don’t care!’ Calix lied. ‘You’re right, you’re taller than me, it’ll never work. Go back to Thom, Cadence, to your husband.’

  Jade erupted into laughter. ‘It won’t work
because she’s taller? Oh my goodness, she’s a weird, blue, giant! Cadence, have you even seen yourself? You always had a superiority complex; I bet you’re even more up your own arse now you’re freakishly tall and super strong!’

  ‘And I bet you wouldn’t be such a bitch if you weren’t safely within a protection sphere,’ Cadence spat. ‘Come out here and say something to my face.’

  ‘I couldn’t reach your face if I stood on tiptoes!’ Jade screeched. ‘Not that I want to try. You smell as rotten as Thom does! I can smell your stench from here. It’s making me want to puke!’

  ‘You don’t look daisy fresh yourself!’ Cadence countered. ‘I could fry a whole bag of chips and a battered cod in your hair!’

  Jade patted her hair. ‘It’s wet, not greasy. At least I can wear make-up. What can you use to cover your spots with now? Yes, the spots are still there although I don’t know what shop stocks a blue shade of cover-up.’

  Cadence touched her forehead. ‘Shut up!’ she screamed. ‘You’ve always been jealous because I’m the prettier one.’

  ‘Can you even change back into some semblance of a human form?’ Jade demanded.

  Cadence plonked her hands on her leather clad hips. ‘Why would I want to? I am Draugr now. This is how I look. Deal with it.’

  Jade laughed. ‘I don’t need to deal with it. Now you’re Draugr I don’t have to have anything to do with you. I told you while your spirit was inside of me—you’re a bitch and I hate you...we’re not friends anymore!’

  ‘You were the one who led me to Thom in the first place. If you hadn’t rolled over and let him blood-thrall you into being his beck-and-call slave, I would never have even have met him!’ Cadence’s eyes blazed ruby-red. ‘Because of you, my wonderful best friend, Thom killed me. I had two choices: stay dead, or live again as a Draugr.’

  ‘That’s so typical of you,’ Jade fumed. ‘Blaming everything on me. You had a choice. Calix came to rescue you. We fought for you, Cadence, but you didn’t fight for us. All you had to do was come back with Calix and Bran would’ve brought you back from the dead. You had the opportunity. Calix died for you. He came to rescue you and you stuck two fingers up at him. You’re pretty good at blaming others for your mistakes. You always have been. It’s time you took responsibility for your own actions. You always blamed things on me back at the academy...which is exactly what you did the time you set fire to Amber Collins’ hair and burnt it all off!’

  ‘I set light to her hair for you!’ Cadence screamed. ‘Because the snarky cow was always trying to push you around. I’ve always protected you. Who do you have to fight your corner now? Calix? He’s a boy, he doesn’t understand!’

  ‘Oh, shut up! You’re both giving me a headache,’ Calix snapped. ‘Jade’s right, Cadence, you had a choice. I did die for you but now, with the way you’re behaving, I wish I hadn’t. It was painful and scary and you didn’t even appreciate the sacrifice. I refuse to stand around to listen to you two tearing strips off each other.’ He pointed at Cadence. ‘And I don’t want any smart comeback because you’re pissed off. So you’ve finally acknowledged you made a mistake, what does it matter now? You’ll have to get used to the immortality. Jade and I will both die, you won’t. You may as well grow used to being on your own. Another thing is you’ll stay looking the same. Me? I’ll grow to be an old man and you won’t want me then anyway, even as a friend. You’re better off with other immortals; your new husband is the perfect choice for you.’ With a heavy heart he turned his back on Cadence. ‘Congratulations on your wedding.’

  Jade grinned. ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Cadence sniffed.

  ‘You know the old rhyme about getting married, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Thom is your something old. You have your something new because your immortality is new. Something blue, you’re a Draugr. I can’t think what it is that you borrowed though....’

  ‘Shut up, Jade!’ Cadence snorted. ‘You’re being stupid, as usual!’

  Jade poked her tongue out. ‘I don’t care what you think; I think you’re the stupid one. That’s it; I know what it was you borrowed. It was me, my body, while we waited for the Rosealrium bloom. You weren’t even grateful, we gave you yet another chance and you blew it. You really let us down. Don’t come to find me again because I’m done with you. You’ve run out of chances as far as I’m concerned!’

  ‘Wait!’ Cadence implored. ‘Don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to be alone, I’m scared, cold, and hungry, and I’m sorry!’

  Jade turned and hurried after Calix, who was a few steps ahead on the path to the academy.

  Calix stiffened, he paused without turning back around. ‘Goodbye, Cadence. We will not see each other again but I will never forget you.’ His voice broke and he swallowed a lump of emotion.

  ‘I’m begging you, please don’t go!’ Cadence’s voice rose hysterically. ‘I thought you were my friends. Calix, I’m sorry! Jade?’

  ‘You chose this life!’ Jade said bitterly. ‘You abandoned us. You turned down our help, over and over again. We’re not your toys to pick up and put down as you please. We gave you every chance to return to your human life but no matter what we did we weren’t good enough for you.’

  Cadence’s voice became all the more urgent as Calix and Jade followed the stone path to the school, leaving her outside of Mortiswood Academy’s protection. ‘You can’t leave me out here. Don’t you care what happens to me?’

  With anger rippling her face, Jade snapped back to look at Cadence. The velocity of her voice leaving her body caused veins to bulge on her neck. ‘Get it through your thick nut, Cadence. You left us. You chose death over life. You didn’t care what happened to us so you have no right, absolutely no right, to make demands of us now. Take a proper look at yourself and remember you chose this!’

  * * *

  Sobbing, Cadence dropped to her knees, watching her former best friend and boyfriend walk away. The ground was cold under her knees; she could feel its bite even through the leather of the ridiculous all-in-one Thom had conjured up for her. Where was she supposed to buy clothes now? She could hardly walk into a shopping centre looking all Draugr.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ she shouted after Calix and Jade, who continued to ignore her. ‘Forgive me, I made a mistake, I know that now!’

  She repeated the apology over and over until she could no longer see Calix and Jade but they never turned around again. Wiping her running nose on the back of her hand she was disgusted with the sticky blue substance.

  ‘Pathetic.’ The easily recognisable, clipped voice chilled Cadence to her already cold bones.

  On shaky legs, Cadence stood. At least standing she may have a better chance of defending herself. Drawing to her full height she was still a head shorter than Thom. He was wearing black denim jeans, a pair of lace-up boots, and a skin-tight dark-Sapphire sweater that only emphasised his rippling muscles. ‘Thom, how did you find me?’

  He was beside her in a flash, his clawed hands grabbing painful fistfuls of her hair. His mouth curved into an evil smile. ‘I can always find you.’

  Ragged fingernails cut into the leather covering Cadence’s chest, effortlessly ripping the material and exposing her. Cadence screamed as his fingernail pierced her skin. Thom twisted his finger underneath the flesh until the whole nail had disappeared inside, his eyes dancing with enjoyment.

  ‘Please stop!’ Cadence whimpered. Her own weakness sickened her and she choked down nausea. ‘What do you want from me?’

  She screamed again as Thom bent his fingertip and wrenched it out from underneath her skin, ripping the wound wider. Raising his hand, he cuffed her around the head, beating her until she fell to the ground.

  Cadence covered her head with her arms. Tears, both of pain and for loss of her old life, consumed her. ‘Stop,’ she begged. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.’

  Through t
he pain, Cadence’s mind raced. She couldn’t beat him, not by fighting. He was stronger than her, faster, more experienced. Maybe, just maybe she could beat him another way.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, pushing back at Thom’s hands. Swallowing revulsion she wrapped her hands around his. ‘I shouldn’t have let myself be taken by Bran. I was stupid and weak and I shouldn’t have let myself be taken so easily from you.’

  Thom pulled his hands from Cadence’s and grabbed her around the waist. ‘You are mine,’ his voice was deep.

  Cadence shuddered as Thom ran a hand over her cleavage, up to her neck, his skin rough against her cold flesh. ‘Of course I am.’ Trembling, she forced herself to gaze into the fire of Thom’s eyes. ‘It is what I wanted.’

  ‘You are my wife and you will do as wives should.’ With eyes darkened to a blood-ruby sheen, Thom lowered his face to hers.

  Closing her eyes, Cadence tilted her face, allowing Thom to kiss her. He pressed so hard she knew her lips would bruise. One thought kept a spark of hope alive inside her. Revenge. ‘Of course I am your wife,’ she replied, ‘and I am very, very sorry I was weak and didn’t fight the necromancer when he took me, it won’t happen again. It was all so much and I was scared.’

  Thom grabbed Cadence’s wrists, pulling her hands to his chest. ‘Of me?’

  Cadence kept her gaze steady. ‘Of you, of the initiation, of everything. Being your wife wasn’t how I had thought it would be.’

  Thom laughed. ‘Foolish woman, did you expect to be treated in the way of a human wife?’

  Nodding, Cadence gently pressed her palms against Thom’s chest. ‘I thought we had a connection. I thought you were in love with me,’ she glanced down for a moment, ‘the same as I am with you.’

  Thom sneered. ‘You thought exactly what I wanted you to think.’ He released his hold on Cadence’s wrists and slipped his hand around her neck, pulling her up to him. ‘Now you will do exactly as I wish. You will stay by my side as a good wife should. We will collect fresh human bodies for the souls of the dead Salloki Loyalists to inhabit.’