by Kristen Pham
Valerie felt a prickle of fear raise goose bumps on her arms. She felt so alone here, separated from everyone who cared for her. She scanned the skyline for the castle on the highest peak, and immediately knew where she was meant to go. Towering above everything was a tall, pitch black castle shrouded in heavy mist that looked as if it had grown straight out of the mountains themselves. It had dozens of pointed, narrow turrets, but not a single window. She began to sweat as she imagined how dark it must be inside, and how hard it must be for Cyrus, as a lightweaver, to be so completely deprived of light.
As she stared, the castle seemed to flicker. Then, right before her eyes, several new spires appeared on the fortress. She stared in amazement and a few seconds later, the castle changed shape again. This time a large turret on the side vanished. It was as if the castle was constantly morphing, unable to maintain one shape.
For a long moment, she stared, trying not to let the thought of what she was about to face intimidate her. Then she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and begin her climb up to the castle. But before she could take three steps, a loud laugh echoed off the rocky mountainside. She froze, her muscles instantly tense and ready to attack.
Suddenly the shadowy landscape came to life as Shade and his gang scurried out from behind the rocks like rats. Before she could ready a clever retort about her last encounter with him, an instinctive prickle of foreboding made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
To her horror, Zunya stepped out from behind a large rock. A crushing sense of defeat filled her. Her fight was over before it had even begun. She never had a chance; she had been doomed the moment she left the relative safety of Elsinore. The laurel circle was a ring of ice around her thumb.
As he walked slowly toward her, Valerie felt her power ebb, but her tactical instincts were as sharp as ever. With a sudden revelation, she whispered, “Pathos!” and her weapon immediately disappeared back to the callbox. At least if she needed it later, she could call for it. She knew that she could never defeat them all, even with her power. Her best hope was to make them think that she would go peacefully, but keep a sharp eye out for an escape. She wanted to face Sanguina on her own terms, not as Zunya’s prisoner.
“You know what I love about humans?” Zunya said, his yellow eyes resting on Valerie. “How gullible and stupid they are.”
“But…but I heard you on the phone, at Cyrus’ house,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t sound so small and shaky.
“You really don’t grasp what magic is, do you? With a little help from Ani to rig the phone, I made sure your call was routed straight to me. The rest was a magical imitation of that pathetic lightweaver’s father. You know, I never guessed that you were so brainless when I watched you back on Earth.”
“And I never guessed what a scum-sucking lowlife you are,” Valerie snapped back, surprised that she was still able to think straight through her fear.
“You’ll address me with respect!” Zunya’s eyes flashed, and she saw a glint of madness in them.
“I would rather eat dung,” Valerie spat.
Without another word, Zunya grabbed her arm. It was pain like she had never experienced before. Her scream pierced the heavy mist, reverberating off of the rocks. The pain shot through her mind and body, tearing her apart from the inside out. It was as if her magic was knit with her soul, and he was ripping it away.
“Uh, boss, didn’t Sanguina want to, you know, see her first?” Valerie heard Shade say dimly through her agony.
Zunya let go of her arm, and the absence of pain was so sweet that she felt as if she would faint from relief. Zunya looked at Shade in disgust. “You’re pathetic, no better than the rest of your little gang. I thought you wanted this one to suffer.”
“I do! I mean, do whatever you want, I was just saying…” Shade trailed off. He seemed so different from when Valerie had met him in the woods. He was stripped of his arrogant confidence. Shade and his gang were clearly ready to crawl through hot coals if Zunya asked. He was a kid, like her, she realized – a kid who was almost as out of his league as she was.
“Take her to the dungeon. Don’t speak a word to her – I’ll be watching every step of the way.”
Shade half led, half supported Valerie down a winding path through the rocks. She still felt so weak from Zunya’s touch that she could barely keep herself standing upright. Any hope that she had of defeating Sanguina evaporated. All she could do now was negotiate to keep Cyrus alive. Zunya trailed a short distance behind them, far enough that he didn’t suck away any more of her strength so that she was able to walk, but close enough to make sure that she didn’t try to escape.
Valerie felt the familiar ache of guilt and despair weigh on her soul, threatening to rob her last shred of strength. But she fought it. She wasn’t dead yet, and Zunya had to be keeping her alive for a reason. Even if it was only so Sanguina could finish her off, she still had one last chance. She hadn’t come all this way to give up now.
Finally, they reached the moat in front of the castle, which was bone dry. Up close, the castle still flickered, changing shape every few seconds. But certain parts of the castle never moved, she noticed as the giant iron door to the castle opened wide enough for them to walk through in single file. Inside, it was so dark that she could barely make out the high walls made of a strange, black stone that sparkled slightly in the light coming through the cracked door. The glittering stone walls disappeared as the door boomed shut behind them.
“When you’re done, report to me,” Zunya said to Shade, and then disappeared around a corner.
As Valerie’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, she saw that a few flickering lights hovered on the ceiling. They were balls of faint light that had been created by magic, and they provided so little light that she wondered how anyone could find their way around the castle without becoming hopelessly lost. Shade led her down a long passage. For several minutes, she heard nothing but the sound of her own breathing.
Then he surprised her by breaking the silence with an urgent whisper. “Look,” he said. “We got a score to settle, you and I. And I plan to collect – but this ain’t the time for that.”
Hearing the tone of his voice, Valerie felt hope. “Will you help me? I have to stop Zunya and Sanguina! They’re trying to hurt – or maybe even kill – my brother and my best friend!”
“Shut up! They got amazing hearing.”
“Please?” she begged quietly.
Shade looked uncomfortable. “Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn’t. They’re too strong.”
“You could try! Tell them that I escaped,” Valerie said. Shade’s gang edged closer, not about to let her go anywhere.
“You escape and we answer for it,” he said. “Now shut up and listen. I can’t let you go, but I can give you some info that might help you. First off, don’t let Zunya touch you – ever. You’ll lose your power for good after a few minutes of contact. It’s way worse than my power-eater. You gotta avoid it at all cost, or you’re done for.”
“Gee, thanks, that’s really helpful,” she said, not quite managing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“You want to hear what I gotta say, or you want me to throw you in a dungeon cell that’s infested with snakes?” he said, towering over her threateningly.
She was still weak, but she was tempted to take him on anyway. Then Cyrus and Henry’s faces flashed through her mind, and she thought better of it. If Shade had information that could help her, she owed it to them to listen. “Sorry, go on.”
Shade nodded, satisfied with her apology, and continued. “Zunya’s not the worst thing in this castle. There’s this crazy lady who’s the boss of him, and you got to stay on her good side. If you don’t, you’ll either wind up in a cell until the end of time or you’ll disappear forever. Even Zunya obeys her.”
“Is it only the two of them? I mean, if we all attacked at once, we could defeat them for sure!”
Shade snorted. “Not likely
. Besides all the invisible guards they have with all sorts of powers, there’s another guy who comes here too. I don’t know anything about him, except that whenever he’s here there’s always lots of screaming. I get me and my gang outta here then.”
“Is he here now?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. It’s too quiet,” he said as he opened a tall arched door. He led Valerie down a long hall lined with cells on either side. Inside, silent shadows hunched in the corners of the cells, barely moving. They were the prisoners, she realized. It was eerily quiet for a prison, and she sensed that terrible, unspeakable things had happened to make these prisoners so silent and motionless.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but Shade, my friends are coming to help me. When they came before, they couldn’t find the castle on their own.”
He nodded knowingly. “It can only be found by someone who has been shown the path,” he explained.
“Would you show them the path if – when – they come?”
He glanced around nervously, and her heart sank. But then, to her surprise, he said, “I’ll do what I can. No promises. I’m not gonna do anything that gets me or mine killed. All right, we’re here,” he said, leading her to a cell. Then he whispered, “It’s the cell next to your friend, the lightweaver guy. I’m not sure what happened to him, but he don’t look so good.”
If she didn’t know better, Valerie would almost swear that Shade looked worried. Looking into his eyes, she said earnestly, “Thank you, Shade.”
“My real name’s Jack. And, uh, good luck or whatever,” he said, and then closed her cell with a clang. He and his gang scurried down the hall, clearly eager to be away from the eerie, dark prison.
“Cy?” Valerie called, wishing more than ever for a little light. There was no response. “Hello?”
Not a single prisoner responded. She suddenly wondered if Jack had lied, and she was alone here, buried underground, forgotten, forever. Her friends would never know what happened to her, and eventually they would forget about her while she rotted down here. For one petrifying moment, she felt as if the darkness would eat her alive, and it would be as if she had never existed.
Chapter Twenty
Valerie felt panic rise inside of her, and the Laurel Circle grew cold on her thumb. But before her fear could swallow her up, she heard the sound of someone moaning softly in the cell next to her. She went over to the bars that separated her from the cell next to her and called, “Cy, is that you? It’s going to be okay.”
“Val? Is it really you, or another dream?”
She looked down to see Cyrus curled into a tight ball, shivering. Tears filled her eyes, and she knelt down. “It’s me.”
She touched his cold hands through the bars of her cell. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?” he asked. His voice sounded lifeless.
Rage rose up in her. Whoever had taken away the light and life from his eyes would pay. Fury infused her with energy, and she felt the magic that had disappeared when Zunya was near well up inside of her. She allowed herself to relish the feeling for a brief moment before she turned back to Cyrus. “What happened to you?”
“That woman, Sanguina, asked me questions about you. When I wouldn’t answer, she hurt me,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I tried to fight back, to use light to scare her away like I did last time. I did my best, Val, I swear! But there is so little light inside of this place to pull, not nearly enough to hurt her. I’m sorry.”
Without realizing it, she clenched her hands into fists. She had never yearned to bring someone pain before, but now there was nothing she craved so badly as to make Sanguina beg her for mercy – and then to deny it to her. The darkness inside of Valerie frightened her a little, and she forced herself to breathe slowly. She needed to channel her anger and adrenaline as Gideon had taught her, not waste it on her hate.
“You didn’t fail. This is my fault – she never would have kidnapped you if it weren’t for me. But one way or another, I’m going to stop her, I swear.”
“No! Stay away from her and Zunya! They’re too strong, and the more scared you are, the more pain you’re in, the more they love it. Fear and pain are like food to them.”
Hearing Cyrus sound so defeated made Valerie feel physically sick. “It isn’t over yet,” she said softly.
“I wish there was a little light in here, something to drive the darkness away. It feels like I’m going to disappear inside it.”
For the first time, Valerie remembered the flower of light that she always kept in her pocket. Gently, she took it out and held it up to the bars. Cyrus’ face, streaked with dirt and blood, appeared in the soft, golden light. He looked exhausted and scared, but a small smile appeared as he took the flower in his hands. As she watched, the light seemed to bring life back in Cyrus’ blue eyes, and he looked more like the mischievous boy she knew. She could hear the other prisoners stirring in their cells, aroused from their silent stupor at last by the little flower of pure light.
“I know it seems hopeless, but I have a plan. Zunya captured me, but before he did, I sent my sword back to the callbox. This time, when I face Sanguina, I’ll be ready. I’ll be armed, and if I can channel my magic, I know I have a chance.”
Cyrus’ face became thoughtful. “Call the sword. I have an idea.”
“Pathos!” she said, and it instantly appeared in her hand.
“Hold it here, next to the bars,” he said. Then Cyrus concentrated, staring at the flower that he held gently.
Valerie watched, mesmerized, as the flower melted into a pool of light in his hands. Then he poured the light from his hands onto the blade, and Pathos glowed from hilt to tip. “Now send it back to the callbox. With your powers, a weapon, and a little light, I think you can beat her, Val, I really do.”
By the glow of the sword, she saw that hope had returned to his eyes. “Pathos!” she said, and the sword and the light disappeared. She heard Cyrus sigh softly, already missing the light. Then they sat back-to-back in their cells, whispering to each other about the best strategy to use when she fought Sanguina.
The sound of Valerie’s cell door being wrenched open interrupted their whispers.
“Sanguina is asking for you,” a strange voice said, and someone grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the cell.
“Val!” Cyrus cried.
“I’m okay – I’ll see you soon, I swear!” she said, trying to sound brave.
In the dim light, Valerie saw that it was a transparent Conjuror who was yanking her down the hall. He was much more difficult to see than Blake had been, so his power must still be new.
By the sound of the scuffling of feet all around her, she guessed that at least 10 other transparent Conjurors were also guarding her to make sure she didn’t escape. She tried to calm her thumping heart and concentrate on her plan – call for her sword, channel her magic, fight Sanguina. If Valerie could take her down, chaos would ensue and with a little luck she would be able to rescue Cyrus in the mayhem. But she had trouble collecting her scattered thoughts, and her terror of facing Sanguina again seemed to choke her magic, making it feel like a trickle running through her body instead of the flood that she needed to win.
Suddenly, she felt the pull of Henry on her mind. She desperately tried to resist his call, but his terror was so great that she had no choice.
Venu stood out like a dark shadow against the verdant green grasslands of the African landscape. He loomed over Henry, who was curled in a ball on the ground, his entire body shaking. Venu lifted his boot and kicked him in the back. The sharp pain rippled through his body, and Valerie felt the tears streaming down his face as if they were her own.
“Please, no more. I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”
Venu pulled back his leg, preparing to kick him again when Sanguina appeared.
“You miserable cretin, what are you doing? You have disobeyed me! I don’t have time to deal with your incompetence now!” Sanguina screeched at Venu. Valerie was shocked. Why was she helping Henry? She
had to have some sinister reason for intervening.
For the first time, Valerie saw fear flickering in Venu’s eyes. “I’m sorry, mistress. But the boy refused to follow my orders! I had no choice–”
“I heard him agree to do what you asked,” Sanguina replied icily. “You’re wasting time. You should be at the Devil’s Pool by now! Go!”
Henry looked up from the ground through swollen eyes, and for the first time Valerie saw where he was. The longest, most magnificent waterfall she had ever seen stretched out for miles. The water rushed over the edge so hard that the spray rose up like a cloud when it crashed into the pool below, creating a mist in the air even though they were still far away from the falls.
‘Don’t give up, Henry! I’m sending help,’ Valerie thought, hoping he could perceive her message. Then she let herself be pulled back to the Globe.
“What’s wrong with you?” the guard standing nearest to her said, shaking her roughly.
“Sorry,” she said, realizing that she was slumped on the ground.
“I’m not falling for your tricks,” the guard said, and without another word, Valerie was slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It was an awkward position, but she was able to reach into her pocket and clutch the charm she had made for Thai. She pictured his face, and instantly she stood next to him in a busy airport. Thai looked at her questioningly.
“Can’t stay – go to the biggest waterfall in Zambia. Ask anyone – it’s enormous; it can’t be hard to find.”
“Victoria Falls, of course!” Thai exclaimed.
“Venu’s taking Henry there – somewhere called the Devil’s Pool!”
“But what –”
Thai’s question was lost as Valerie felt her body thrown on the stone floor. She hit the ground hard, but despite how disoriented she felt from her vision and her whirlwind visit to Thai, she had the sense to immediately leap to her feet and assume a fighting stance, though she doubted that she could take on all of the guards in addition to Sanguina.