I pushed the tears back as best as I could, then I removed my cloak. The cold came at me immediately, so frigid it made me gasp, but I ignored the discomfort as I wrapped the fur-lined mantle around her shoulders.
“I’m coming back, Mom. I’ll get you out of this place, okay?”
She smiled, though she stared only at the stars overhead. “It wasn’t my intention,” she mumbled.
“I’ll keep her safe,” Dad said to me. When he looked at me, tears shone in his eyes. “I love you, Olive. We both love you so very much.”
I only nodded. Speaking was getting harder to do with that knot in my throat. I reached for Dad and took his hand, feeling the steady strength in his grasp. We’d never had a perfect relationship either, so why was it now—at this very moment, looking into his eyes as he kept one arm wrapped protectively around Mom’s shoulder—that I realized he meant what he said. He loved me.
I’d never been able to believe he really loved me in the past, but now I realized he’d only ever wanted to protect me. Dad had asked the sky king to raise me because he knew the mountain was the only place I could be safe. He’d allowed Mom’s memories to be altered so she wouldn’t suffer and go insane the way other witches had in Faythander. Everything he’d done had been to protect the ones he loved.
And now it hit me, when he was in danger of dying, that he actually did love me.
“I love you, too, Dad,” I said aloud for perhaps the first time in my life.
He only nodded, maybe because he’d always known.
I started to stand when he grabbed my hand. The fear in his eyes gave me pause.
“Be careful in that place,” he said. “What you’ll find in that cave may not be what you think. The enemy you least expect waits for you.”
Least expect? “What do you mean?”
“Deathbringer,” he whispered, his voice haunted. “She waits for you.”
I wanted to question him further when rough hands grabbed my arms and yanked me upright. Stumbling, I glanced back at my parents as the elves shoved me toward the cave.
Behind me, Kull pushed forward through the crowd.
“I’m going with her,” he demanded. “She’s not going in that place alone.”
The queen blocked his path. “No,” she said. “Only she controls the magics of two worlds. No one else enters The Hollows but her.”
Kull flexed his fists, but the elves grabbed his arms, pinning them behind him. Kull would fight for me, and I knew it, but now wasn’t the time. I went to him, but looking into his eyes was too painful. I wasn’t completely sure why, but deep inside, I got the feeling I wouldn’t be the same when I saw him again. It was an unpleasant feeling that didn’t make much sense, but I couldn’t deny it was true. I prayed it was just my imagination and not some sort of premonition.
Giving him a gentle hug, I let my head rest on his chest. “Keep my parents safe for me.”
“Olive, please don’t go in that cave.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“But something’s in there, something we don’t understand. I’ve never felt anything like that before, but I know whatever is in there is evil.”
I didn’t know how to answer him except to tell him that he was right. That would hardly be reassuring for either of us, so I gave him a kiss, backed away, and then turned to face the entrance to The Hollows.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I walked inside The Hollows as Theht’s voice resounded in my head. Her words came like unintelligible whispers. Soon, more voices joined hers, speaking softly, though I only caught a word here and there.
Deathbringer, they whispered, and as they said it, something woke inside me. I couldn’t describe what exactly stirred in my consciousness, except that it wasn’t Theht, and it seemed to have always been there. It also occurred to me that I was, in actuality, the Deathbringer, and now the prophecy would soon be fulfilled.
That thought made fear run like ice through my veins, but I did my best to push the negativity away. For now, I was in control.
The light from the torches outside the cave faded quickly as I took a staircase leading down. After descending to the bottom, I stepped onto a flat surface, whispering a spell. A blue glow surrounded my fist, lighting my way. My magic was the only light to dispel the shadows surrounding me. The darkness was so thick, I had no idea what this world I entered look like, although I knew I must have been in a large space as the reverberation of my footsteps seemed to echo for miles.
Walking deeper into The Hollows, I noticed the stench of death pervading the air. Up ahead, something lay in my path. I stopped, my heart racing as I came upon a corpse. As I stepped closer, the blue glow of my magic illuminated the body. Dark curls were splayed around her head. Her face was mostly decomposed—the lips and eyes gone to reveal the skull beneath her skin—though her clothing seemed untouched. On her belt, she carried several empty vials.
With horror, I realized I recognized the woman. Arantha. She’d been a healer in Geth’s camp. But could it really be her? The hair and the stocky build matched what I remembered, and the fact that she carried the vials matched what I knew of her.
I backed away, though it was difficult to pull my gaze away from the corpse. In my mind, I assumed it wasn’t the woman I’d once met, because dealing with the death of a stranger seemed easier than the death of someone I knew, someone who had helped me once before.
I continued through the tunnels as my heart raced faster. Several more corpses lay in my path. Some appeared in their goblin forms, with milky gray skin and malnourished, hairless bodies, but others had humanlike appearances.
These must have been Geth’s people—the Caxon. Everyone had died when the queen had enacted her spell to destroy the entire race of goblins, but seeing the results of the spell like this was unexpected and heartbreaking. Yes, some of the creatures she killed had been little more than depraved monsters, but others had remembered their humanity and had tried to live a better life.
I stopped when I reached a doorway. Magic came from the worn wood. The door, like the entrance to The Hollows, was ordinary and unadorned with an antique copper knob and keyhole, both oxidized and turned green with age. As I stood there, the fear gripping me made it hard to breathe.
Both Earth and Faythander powers emanated from the door, and I also felt Geth’s dark magic fueling a protection spell. Gathering my courage, I faced the door, looking for a way past the spell.
Something whispered behind me. I rounded, fear making my heart pound loudly in my ears. Behind me, I saw nothing but a trail of corpses, and beyond that, only darkness. As I faced forward again, I took a step forward, then placed my hand on the wood.
I wanted to escape this place as soon as possible.
The smooth wood felt cool against my skin. The magic in the door recognized my own. I felt it searching me, testing my magic. Then, without warning, the doorknob turned; the door slowly opened inward, creaking, until I stood staring into a small room.
I hesitated, took a deep breath, and entered.
The space had no decorations or furniture except for a mirror hanging on the wall. A shiver ran down my spine. My skin broke out in chills as the mirror’s magic called to me.
Walking toward it, I noticed it was an exact match to the one in Jeven’s castle—oval-shaped with an ornate gold frame and black glass.
Standing tall, I faced the mirror. My hands grew clammy. As my reflection stared back at me, the image changed. My eyes turned from light green to gold, and then to orange with pupils that elongated to five points, like flower petals, as my image transformed completely.
Theht stood in the mirror, looking back at me. As she reached out her clawed, scale-covered hand, her arm extended beyond the mirror’s frame.
“Come,” she said. “It is time.”
My mind grew numb except to the call of her words, and I felt I had been hypnotized as I reached for her. I took her fingers in mine, the feel of her skin shockingly real as she guided me throu
gh the mirror.
The air sparkled with red and silver lights that dazzled my eyes until we stood in a white void, the same sort I’d visited while with Jeven. Theht stood with me. I’d seen her before on several occasions, but it had always been in visions. Other times, she had appeared ghostlike, her form almost too hard to discern. Now, I saw her with perfect clarity. She had a humanlike body, though her skin was covered in orange scales. Her red armor conformed to her body, and long, raven-colored hair flowed down her back.
As we stood facing one another, I got the overwhelming feeling that I stood before a goddess, someone incomprehensibly greater than me, a creature I could barely fathom in the scope of things. I wanted to speak, but my tongue refused to move. I had the overpowering urge to kneel, and before I could second guess my decision, and not being in full control of my own actions, I bent on one knee and dipped my head.
She walked slowly toward me, placed a clawed finger beneath my chin, and raised my head so that our eyes met.
Smiling, she revealed a row of serrated teeth behind black, reptilian lips.
“Deathbringer, today is a great day that will bring my return to your world. I am pleased you have come.”
My mouth still refused to cooperate.
“I have watched for so long. I have inhabited your mind so that now, at this time, I will be able to use your body as my vessel in order to bring about the rebirth of the worlds. Together, we shall travel to the cosmos and take the piece of star for our own. We will use it to ignite the world in flame and in ash, and then its power will propel us into the realm where I long to be.”
“No.” I finally managed to gasp out the word. When I did, a flood of relief washed over me as I felt my mind returning. She knelt in front of me, her eyes narrowed.
“No?” she asked.
“I won’t do it. I won’t let you use me.”
“You have no choice.”
“You’re lying. Everyone has a choice—that’s the beauty of the world I live in. I get to make my own choices. I will not be coerced.”
She grabbed my hand. Power surged through her fingers and into mine, an electrical intensity that set my nerve endings on fire. I gasped as the pain took over, then fell to the ground, my body unresponsive.
Tears leaked from my eyes, but she wouldn’t win this, not while my mind managed to stay my own. “You can’t… do anything… without using fear. Or pain.”
She ignored me. “Do you know why I chose you?” she asked, standing over me.
I wanted to answer, to make some kind of reply, but couldn’t talk past the pain.
“You may have wondered why, out of all the people in the world—in the universe—I chose you. I will tell you, though the answer may not be as you expect.”
The pain relented a little as she spoke, replaced with a feeling of numbness, like a drug that was trying to dull my mind. I lay motionless in the white void, listening as Theht spoke—her soft voice like a spell that would soon control me.
“I did not choose you because you controlled the magic of both worlds, although you may believe otherwise. I did not choose you because I thought you were powerful, you had a strong mind, or because you were predestined or special in some way—a hero who would one day become the champion of this world.
“No, those are not the reasons why. When I looked out over this world, scanning the many faces of the vessels I could have taken, it never once occurred to me that you were special in some extraordinary way. In fact, my choice had nothing to do with you. It had everything to do with him.”
“Him?” I whispered, confused.
“The prophecy of the son of the Viking gods, of the one person foreordained to kill me, was a divination uttered long ago, in a time long past. He was chosen to end my existence, but I would not let the old ways determine my time here, so I did the only thing I could do to stop the foretelling from becoming reality. I took the vessel of the only person on the planet I knew he could not kill.
“That is why you become the Deathbringer. It is why I used your body for my own, and it is why I will use you to destroy this world, because he will not stop me as long as I possess your body.”
My mind tried to grasp the truth of her words, but it was too much. The prophecy had nothing to do with me. The only reason she’d chosen me was because of Kull. I was the one person he couldn’t kill. But she was wrong.
“You’ll never take my body for your own. You’ll never cross into this world.”
Her face loomed in my vision. “Yes. At this moment, I don’t have that power yet, but I will.”
She stepped away from me and held out her hands where a gray mist gathered. Atop her palms, a sword took shape. Tarnished silver blade, ordinary pommel with the dragon claw clutching a sapphire crystal—the sword of Dracon—the real weapon.
“Take it,” she said. “Use it to conjure me. I will come to your world in flame and bring destruction with me, and then your world will be reborn, and we shall rule together.”
She placed the sword beside me, then backed away. Her image slowly faded until I lay alone in the white void, the sword of Dracon at my side.
The pain slowly subsided. I got to my hands and knees, then sat up and stared at the sword.
I debated on leaving it. Theht wanted me to have it. She must have known I wouldn’t be able to control or kill her with it, making me wonder if the stories were true. Was this really the weapon that could control Theht? Since the goddess wanted me to have it, I got the impression that the user would be controlled by her rather than the other way around.
Still, if I wanted to set my parents free, I would have to do it with this sword. Reluctantly, I grasped the sword’s pommel and lifted it up.
The blade reflected my face. My eyes, still tinged in a red glow, made me quickly glance away.
I’m here, she said. I will be with you until the end.
Not unless I kill you first, I answered, which I absolutely intended to do.
As I stepped out of the cave, the frigid air froze my exposed skin. Without my cloak, the thin shirt and pants I wore were no match for the blast of arctic air, but as I focused on my parents still tied up outside the cavern, thoughts of my discomfort faded.
Mom’s face was ashen and her eyes were closed. Snowflakes were frozen on her eyelashes, and I feared the worst as I crossed the distance toward her, but as my boots crunched the bits of ice on the ground, her eyes opened. Still carrying the sword, I knelt beside my parents.
“You’ve found it,” Dad said.
“Yes. Where’s the queen?”
“Behind you,” he said, his voice haunted.
I rounded to find the queen approaching me, her eyes focused on the sword.
“Give it to me,” she demanded.
“No, not until you release them.”
“Fine,” she spat, turning to the elves who trailed behind her. “Cut their ropes.”
The elves did as she said. Mom collapsed as her cords were cut, and Dad caught her in his arms. I turned to go to Mom when the elves caught me under the arms and turned me to face the queen. I still held the sword, my heart beating wildly in my chest. Kull and the others stood behind the queen, held captive, a host of basita weapons focused on them.
I gripped the sword’s hilt, its magic making my skin tingle. Whatever decision I made seemed as if it would lead to death and destruction. The only choice I had was to let the queen have the sword. If she was successful in harnessing Theht’s power, she would kill all magical creatures except elves. If Theht managed to overcome the princess, then she would use me to bring an asteroid to our world and destroy it.
The only chance I had to stop anyone would be to try and kill Theht once she’d fully emerged into our world. If that failed, then I would open a portal and manipulate time, possibly try to make things right before they started. I had no clue if I would succeed. A portal like that—if I was able to create one—could easily tear me to pieces, but I was out of options. Even without an anchor, I would st
ill try.
“Give it to me,” the queen said quietly, though her voice scared me more than if she raised her voice.
Reluctantly, I handed the sword over.
Queen Euralysia took the sword from me. Magic sparked around her, then spiraled in a cloud of white and blue. I stumbled back as the power coalesced into a whirlwind, growing to tornadic fury as she held aloft the sword.
I backed away from the queen and toward my friends. Kull came, pulling me toward him and away from the queen. An overwhelming sense of guilt came over me as I watched the queen manipulate the sword’s powers, but I’d had no choice. Mom and Dad would’ve died.
“My parents,” I said to Kull. “We have to help them.”
“We will. But are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” As he held my hand, I looked up into his eyes, realizing Kull knew nothing about what Theht had told me—that he was destined from before the world began to kill her. I wanted to tell him everything, but now wasn’t the time. My mom was still on the verge of death, and my dad probably wouldn’t last much longer.
We moved to where my parents still sat by The Hollow’s entrance, but as we crossed toward them, Queen Euralysia’s magic exploded in a flash of blinding white light. Kull and I both fell back. I hit the ground, and Kull landed beside me. Above us, magic spiraled into the sky, creating a maelstrom of spinning winds and flashes of lightning. Thunder boomed, shaking the pebbles on the ground.
The queen rose into the air. She held the sword high, the magic gathering around her. I crawled to Kull, then focused on my parents. Mom was still unresponsive, although Dad held her in his arms. Her red hair whipped back and forth as the wind increased.
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