Deathbringer

by Tamara Grantham

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that really true?”

  “Of course!”

  “But these are no ordinary jagamoors,” Heidel interjected. “They’ve been transformed with the queen’s magic.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Sister. We don’t yet know what we’re dealing with—could’ve been an uncommonly large field mouse we heard.”

  “That was no field mouse,” Heidel said.

  “Let’s keep going,” I said. “I have an uneasy feeling about this, and the more time we wait, the less chance my parents have of surviving.”

  We hiked through the cave until the tunnel narrowed, but as it did, I caught a whiff of fresh air. Soon, we walked out onto an open tundra. A frozen lake spread out before us. Snow whipped across the frozen surface, and tiny icy crystals sparkled in the moonlight.

  Far across the lake, past the other shore, orange pinpricks of light flickered on a hillside.

  “Are those campfires?” I asked.

  “Yes, most likely,” Kull answered.

  “It’s the elves,” Maveryck said. “That is where we will find your parents.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “On the other side of that hill is the entrance to The Hollows,” Heidel said. “Be warned—it is a place of dark powers and of death. There is no other place more evil in Faythander. There is a reason why Geth chose to hide the sword there, because its dark powers occlude even the purest forms of magic. There is no other place like it. Not even the queen can enter the inner chamber. That is why she needs Olive.”

  I swallowed my fear as I studied the dark form of the hillside. A cold chill crept up my spine.

  We pulled on our cloaks before setting out across the lake with only the moonlight to illuminate our path. Carried on the wind, sparkling ice crystals danced past us as the haunting howl of the wind resonated in our ears. The thin layer of snow covering the ice kept us from slipping. As we approached the lake’s center, something moved ahead of us. I could only make out several large figures moving fast toward us.

  Kull and Heidel unsheathed swords. I readied my magic, letting it pool into my fists until they glowed blue and amber, like fire.

  Two monsters appeared under the moonlight. I’d never seen anything like them. They resembled large predatory cats, but their bodies were skeletal, with heads resembling the skulls of a jaguar. Each creature wore a pelt of black-and-gray-striped fur, resembling a tiger’s stripes.

  Their eye sockets glowed the way a cat’s eyes would reflect the moonlight.

  “Are those jagamoors?” Kull asked.

  “Not anymore,” Maveryck answered.

  Magic glistened around the animals. The power felt wrong, as if it had been tainted with blood magic. Growling, the monsters approached us. Their magic pressed against mine, challenging me. Unsated violence emanated from their magic. It had the characteristics of Queen Euralysia’s powers—although they felt darker than I’d ever sensed before. There was only one thing that could make someone’s magic get that tainted—murder. She had the blood of innocents on her hands.

  She’d killed the babies with gray magic, and now her magic had warped into something dark and evil as the result.

  The creature closest to us leaped forward. With massive claws, it swiped for Heidel’s vital organs. She jumped back, but the beast’s claw snagged her leg, ripping her calf muscle open. She fell back, screaming. I reacted with magic as the second creature attacked Kull. He stabbed at the beast, but his blade had no effect on it, so I released my magic, punching it with a wave of blue and amber in the chest.

  The beast roared and fell back as the second monster attacked. Maveryck released the staff’s magic and hit it in the face. The monster screamed, but continued forward, swiping its massive claws and catching the thief across the middle, the same way it had tried to do to Heidel.

  Grace growled and launched at the monster, tearing at the beast’s pelt, but the monster flung the wolf away, and Grace landed with a yelp of pain on her side.

  The two monsters focused on Kull and me. I released another magical burst, but this time, the beast leapt aside, deflecting the blow, and my fireball struck the ice. The monster attacked me, its paws hit my chest and pinned me to the ice. The other monster did the same to Kull. I lashed out with my magic, intent on burning the beast to a pile of ashes, when the monster’s magic struck me, sucking the air from my lungs.

  I couldn’t breathe, but I could still use my magic, so I grabbed the monster’s front legs, then let the magic explode from my hands. The power burst out and shattered the creature’s leg bones.

  The air returned to my lungs. Panting, my magic and energy spent, I lay on the ice, watching as the remaining monster wrestled Kull to the ground. He reached for his sword, but it lay out of his reach. The monster snapped its massive jaws at Kull’s face, but the warrior rolled away from the attack, then he pulled a dagger out of its scabbard as the beast rushed for him.

  The creature launched lightning fast toward Kull, knocking him back. Kull landed hard, causing hairline fractures to appear in the ice beneath him. The monster pinned him, trying to bite his face. Kull trapped the monster’s enormous skull between his hands, keeping its mouth only inches from him. The biceps in Kull’s arms bulged as he strained to keep the monster from tearing his head off.

  Enraged, the beast roared, a low, bestial cry that echoed across the lake, mingling with the sound of the fracturing ice. Kull returned the scream, the battle cry primal as he jerked his arm up. In one swift motion, he impaled the blade deep into the creature’s eye. Blood gushed from the wound, spattering Kull’s face and shirt.

  The creature stumbled back, roaring with rage and fury, the hilt of Kull’s blade protruding from its eye. The monster shook its giant head back and forth, but couldn’t dislodge the blade from its eye socket. Snarling, the monster backed away. It retreated the way it had come, back out into the darkness, leaving behind a trail of blood.

  Kull got to his feet, his breathing ragged. We stumbled to where Maveryck and Heidel lay. Heidel had wrapped a makeshift bandage around her leg, and Maveryck clutched his midsection. Dark bloodstains saturated their ripped clothing.

  “How bad is it?” Kull asked, kneeling beside his sister.

  “It hurts,” she breathed.

  “May I look at it?”

  She nodded. Kull and I knelt at her side as we pulled back the blood-soaked bandage. The calf muscle had been sliced open, revealing the tendons, blood vessels, and part of the bone.

  “Can you heal me, Olive?” she gasped.

  “I’ll try my best.”

  “How is Maveryck?” she asked.

  Maveryck lay nearby with Grace resting at his side. He sat up slowly as he clutched his middle. “I’m all right,” he answered, his breathing ragged. “I used a spell to deflect the blow. It’s not deep. Heal Heidel first.”

  I turned back to Heidel, calling on my magic, feeling it gather in my fingers and pool in my palms. Holding my hands over her leg, I released my magic. As the blue and amber glow enveloped her leg, the tissue slowly knit back together, leaving only a bloody scar behind.

  With help from Maveryck and her brother, she stood. Grace trailed us as we once again set off for the hillside. As we drew closer, the fires illuminated the elves standing on the hill. We made it off the lake and trudged up the hill toward the elves.

  Fear made my blood run cold as I saw nearly two dozen elves crowding around the fires, all armed with basita weapons.

  “Stop,” a male elf called as he approached us. With every basita in the camp focused on us, I knew fighting them would be suicide.

  We did as the man said and stopped walking. The bonfires crackled as he and several other elves made it to our side.

  “Your weapons,” the man called. “Throw them to the ground.”

  Kull’s hands twitched, but even he knew better than to try and fight them. He removed his knives and sword, tossing them to the ground; Heidel did the same.
Maveryck and I didn’t have much in the way of weapons—a dagger for him and knife in my boot for me. We removed the weapons and placed them on the frozen ground.

  The elven man approached us. In the light cast from the fires, I noticed that the man’s face was badly scarred, with a long, jagged line running from forehead to chin, bisecting his eye.

  “Follow me,” he called, then turned and led us up the hillside.

  We did as he said. I fisted my hands, wondering if it was possible to take down every soldier in this camp with my magic, but if I did that, would I be risking the safety of my parents?

  We reached the top of the hill where the countryside turned to grasslands. A red-and-gold elven tent stood not far from an unassuming stone structure. Built of roughly hewn stones, with a single open doorway, the structure stood at the end of a long pathway.

  The Hollows.

  I felt its magic immediately.

  I’d felt dark magic before, felt the taint of the Dreamthief and the Regaymor, been exposed to Geth’s magic, felt the all-consuming magic of Queen Euralysia’s powers, and been exposed to the power of Theht, but nothing compared to this place.

  I stopped walking. A clammy sweat broke out, covering my skin.

  “Keep walking,” one of the elves demanded, jabbing my back with his basita weapon. I stumbled forward, forcing my mind to stay calm.

  The cavity’s black maw emanated magic; even from here I could feel it. It punched my stomach and sickened me at its taint and overwhelming power. It was an ancient magic, older even than the magic I’d felt while in the Madralorde’s palace.

  Torches lined the path leading toward The Hollows. Several people gathered outside, and I also spotted a few mutated jagamoor lurking in the shadows. Although they kept their distance, their growls could be heard in the darkness, echoing from the dead grass that rustled as we walked the path to The Hollows. The trampled grass, covered in bits of ice and dirty snow, crunched under our feet as we hiked.

  As we neared the cavern’s entrance, the power of the magic made my heart race, my stomach nauseated. When we reached the elves, I found my parents. They were bound and gagged, both with blood-smeared faces, sitting against the rock face. I tried to run toward them when the scarred elven man stopped me.

  “Not another step,” he warned me. “And you’re not to heal them with magic, or else we kill your companions.”

  My magic bubbled to the surface as I faced him. “Let me see them,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “No.”

  “But we’ve done as you’ve said. You’ve taken our weapons and we didn’t argue. We followed you here. You have to let me see them.”

  His face twisted with anger, and then, without warning, he punched me in the stomach. Stars filled my vision as I fell back. Kull and Heidel caught me and placed me on the ground. Gasping for air, I tried to focus, but the pain made concentrating on anything difficult to do. I clutched my stomach. My ribs hurt as I tried to draw a breath. I’d had broken ribs before, and I prayed I hadn’t broken them again. After a moment, the pain relented. Breathing deeply, I rubbed my side, feeling my ribs unbroken but most likely bruised.

  The elven man stood over me, leering.

  “You’ll learn not to argue with me, Earthlander,” he spat.

  Fisting my hands, I wanted to rip the man’s tongue from his mouth. I wanted his blood. But as the thoughts came to me, I realized Theht’s presence was affecting me. Controlling the goddess so near the cave was almost impossible. I felt her gathering strength as her voice came unbidden to me.

  Yes, she whispered. Soon, your mind will no longer be your own. I will bind you to me, and your soul will die with you.

  “No,” I whispered as I felt the goddess festering and gaining strength.

  It was only a matter of time before she controlled me completely. The thought made my spine tingle with fear as I looked up into Kull’s eyes. A conversation we’d had surfaced in my memory.

  You would never kill me, would you?

  No. Not unless the thing inhabiting your body was no longer you.

  But she didn’t control me yet. While my mind was my own, I would fight her, or I would die. I refused to become the vessel for Theht.

  As I got to my feet, Queen Euralysia and three other elves emerged from the tent.

  The silver-crowned queen, wearing shimmering black robes, stalked toward us. The color was gone from her skin. Her eyes were rimmed in red, and her hair, with a silvery luster, flowed behind her. She might have been attractive, but as it was, the taint of her magic affected her appearance. As I looked at her, my skin crawled.

  “I’m glad you’ve come, Olive,” she said, as if I were an old friend paying her a visit instead of held captive by two dozen of her guards. “Kull,” she said, turning to her once fiancé. “You look well.”

  He grunted. His clothing was ripped in places, and a large cut on his forehead dripped blood down his cheek. I wasn’t sure I agreed with the queen.

  “Maveryck, Heidel, I am pleased you’ve all come. You’re about to witness a miraculous event, one that will change the course of history and will ensure the elves’ place as rulers in Faythander.”

  “I’m not so sure everyone wants you as their ruler,” I said.

  She only shrugged. “Whether they want us or not isn’t their decision.”

  “You’re a tyrant,” I said.

  “Tyrant? That’s harsh, Olive. Of all people, you should know better than to accuse me of such a thing. There was a time when I thought of you as a friend.” She circled us, her booted feet crunching over the dead grass and bits of ice. “You know how fickle the magic of this world can be; it is tainted and impure. Did you know that when our world was made, after the pure magic faded, all magic became blue? The other forms didn’t emerge until later, as offshoots of the original. I seek to bring Original magic back to our world. It will thrive, the way it should have. And once I control the magic, the taint of gray will never return again.”

  Swallowing my panic, I tried to come to terms with the queen’s plans. “What, exactly, do you plan to do with the other forms?”

  Her eyes darkened. “I will eradicate all except for Original magic.”

  “And how will you do that?” Maveryck asked.

  “With the sword of Dracon, I will harness the power of Theht, and then I will destroy all who use impure magic. That is the only way to eradicate it completely.”

  My mouth slacked. “You’ll kill everyone except elves?”

  “Yes, I must. Don’t you see? There’s no other way to completely eliminate gray magic from our world. As long as the five magics exist, they will always seek to be balanced—unless only one magic survives. I will purge our world. Many will die, yes, but the sacrifice is worth the reward.”

  My mouth grew dry. I tried to wrap my mind around her logic, but it was too much. I’d known Euralysia for several years. I’d known she had taken a dark path; I’d known she wasn’t the same person she used to be, but this? How could she possibly think killing every creature on the planet except those like her was okay?

  “Gray magic must be eliminated,” she said with contempt in her voice. “You have no idea what the goblins will do to our world if left to rise again. These people,” she pointed to my parents, “knowingly and willfully hid the children with gray magic from me. Do you know the consequences that would have befallen our world if those children were left to rise up?”

  “It couldn’t be any worse than what you’re planning to unleash,” Kull muttered.

  “No. You’re wrong! It would be far worse than anything you could imagine.” She spoke quietly, yet I heard the fear in her voice. She was truly terrified of goblins and of gray magic. But why? Had something happened to her to cause her to hate them—to fear them—so much?

  “Olive, you will enter this cave. You will use your magics from both worlds to obtain the sword, and then you will bring it to me.” She walked close and stood in front of me. Murder shone in her eyes as s
he focused on me. “You will go into the cave and retrieve the sword of Dracon, or these people will die.” She thrust her finger at my parents.

  I focused on my mom and dad. The last time I’d seen them, they’d been hiding in the elven kingdom, trying to protect the babies with gray magic. Now, they had been beaten and bound in ropes. They shivered in the cold air. Mom looked worse than Dad. A gash beneath her eye oozed blood and didn’t look as if it had stopped bleeding.

  “Fine,” I answered, “but let me speak to them first.”

  “No.”

  “Yes!” My voice carried, echoing over the open plain. I was sick of her manipulating me. For once, I would get my way. “Let me speak to them, or I swear to you, I will never go into that cave. You will never have the sword.”

  She worked her jaw back and forth. “Fine,” she spat. “Speak to them only, but should you try to heal them, I will take the lives of your companions. You will retrieve the sword, or I will slaughter both of your parents before your eyes.”

  I swallowed my fear. She wasn’t bluffing. She’d already killed all the babies with gray magic. She would kill them without hesitation unless I did what she said. I hurried to where they sat and removed the gags from their mouths.

  “Olive,” Mom said weakly.

  “I’m here, Mom. You’re going to be okay. I’ve come to save you.”

  “Yes, of course you will.” Her glassy-eyed gaze drifted as she muttered something, but I couldn’t understand her words. Her breathing grew ragged as she continued mumbling. “The olive branch… I always did… love you. The olive branch. It wasn’t my intention. Peace, it must mean peace—because it was the olive branch.”

  I glanced at Dad. “What’s she talking about?”

  He shook his head. “She hasn’t been making much sense for a few hours now. Her body temperature has dropped drastically, and she’s losing a lot of blood, Olive.”

  He didn’t have to say the words, but I understood his meaning all the same. Mom was dying. I took her hand in mine, shocked at how cold her fingers felt. A hard knot formed in my throat. We’d never had a fair chance to bond with one another. I felt immeasurably cheated at never having really known my mother. She hadn’t raised me as a child, and when she finally had the chance during my teenage years, she’d had all her memories altered. The person I’d spent my time with was nothing like the woman she truly was. Now she was dying, and I would never get another chance to know her the way I should have all along.