by Kristen Pham
It didn’t help that she couldn’t even guess how many people were surrounding her. She was in total darkness. Not even one of the dim balls of light was near to give her a sense of the layout of the room and the location of her enemies. She felt defenseless without the use of her sight. How could she possibly fight Sanguina when she couldn’t even see where she was standing?
“Glad you’ve come out to play,” Zunya’s voice slithered through the darkness. Valerie felt her power dip, and a hopeless fear gripped her heart. She would be completely defenseless in the battle to come with Zunya present to subdue her power.
“Leave us,” Sanguina’s raspy voice commanded. Valerie heard the light tread of the guards’ footsteps as they immediately left the room. “You too, Zunya. I don’t need your help with this.”
“I should stay, in case–” he started to say, clearly annoyed at her order.
“Get out – NOW!” Sanguina’s voice exploded. Zunya opened the door to leave, looking back once at Valerie. In his gleaming yellow eyes, she could see his fury at Sanguina’s order mixed with amusement at her fear.
Then the door slammed closed, and she was alone with Sanguina and completely blind. She took a few practice kicks, preparing herself for Sanguina’s attack. But the onslaught of blows never came.
“You’re not here to fight me. I’ve already proved that I could kill you without breaking a sweat,” Sanguina whispered in Valerie’s ear, the threat of violence in her voice. Valerie felt her chest tighten as the fear that she couldn’t hold back gushed through her.
“Then why am I here?” Valerie asked. She was ashamed of how childlike her voice sounded in the darkness. The laurel circle was freezing, reminding Valerie that it was only her fear holding her back now – not her skills. She forced herself to breathe more slowly and fight back against her terror.
“To answer some questions for me. If I like the answers, maybe your little lightweaver friend will see his family again. And if I don’t…” Valerie felt one of Sanguina’s long, sharp fingernails rake across her arm, cutting into her skin. Valerie cried out in pain and when she touched her arm, she felt a thin line of blood from where Sanguina had sliced her.
Valerie punched the air wildly, but in the darkness she could make contact with nothing. “What do you want to know?” she asked, desperate.
“How did you recognize me when I first found you in Egypt?” Sanguina shouted from somewhere nearby. “How?!”
“I don’t know!”
“Liar!” Without warning, Sanguina hit her, hard, across her left cheek. Sanguina’s fist felt like a rock, and Valerie felt her brain rattle in her skull and the skin on her cheek split open. Her ears rang from the blow and her head throbbed, but she managed to stay on her feet. She was already losing her tentative hold on her magic. She knew that if Sanguina tried to control her mind right now, she wouldn’t be able to fight her off.
“I saw you in a vision, that’s all,” Valerie relented, knowing she had to give some kind of answer.
There was a short pause, as if Sanguina didn’t know what to make of her answer. Switching tacks, she said, “How do you know the boy, Henry?”
“Henry? Never heard of–” Valerie broke off in a scream as Sanguina threw her to the ground by her hair.
“You’ll tell me everything you know about Henry, or I swear I will kill that boy in the dungeon!”
“Kill me,” Valerie begged. “Let Cyrus and Henry go.”
“I will never let you go – or Henry. You are both MINE!” Sanguina shrieked. But instead of terrifying her, the viciousness in Sanguina’s voice awoke something in Valerie. She was still afraid, but overwhelming her fear was her explosive anger. This monster would never own her – or her brother. The laurel circle suddenly blazed hot on her thumb, and Valerie knew that her fear wouldn’t swallow her up this time as it had done before.
Valerie’s rage felt uncontrollable inside of her, and she almost hurtled herself toward Sanguina so that she could finally feel her fist connect with Sanguina’s flesh. But she forced herself not to attack wildly. Instead, she contained all of her energy and power inside her, and prepared to channel it into a more intelligent assault.
“Fine, I give in. I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Valerie said quietly, remembering her lessons with Cam and Chrome. She needed to gauge where Sanguina was standing in relation to her in order to launch an effective attack, and the only way to do that in the dense darkness was by listening to Sanguina’s voice.
“Yes, you will,” Sanguina replied, and this time Valerie’s heightened senses told her that Sanguina was two feet behind her.
“Pathos!” Valerie yelled, and immediately her blade was in her hand, glowing brightly in the black room.
Sanguina screamed in agony when the light hit her. Valerie immediately lunged for Sanguina, bringing the blade down hard toward her shoulder. But despite her pain, Sanguina managed to dodge the blow with astonishing speed. She darted across the room, and Valerie raced after her.
Sanguina grabbed something hanging on the wall, and this time, when Valerie swung Pathos, aiming for Sanguina’s heart, she heard the sound of metal meeting metal as Sanguina blocked her with a long, curved rapier of her own. For several long minutes, the air was filled with nothing but sparks and the sound of their swords crashing against each other.
Valerie’s arms moved faster than they ever had before as she deflected Sanguina’s blows. She felt as if she was in a trance, and nothing existed except for the fight. The flow of magic inside of her was only a small stream, as her fear kept gnawing at her mind, trying to steal her attention away from the fight. By the glow of Pathos, she could see Sanguina’s confidence in her ability to defeat her. Sanguina’s mouth turned up in a cruel snarl of victory. In that instant, Valerie’s fear flared, interfering with her concentration, and Sanguina managed to slash Valerie’s leg with the tip of her sword.
“How many times do I have to prove to you that you aren’t good enough to defeat me?” Sanguina jeered.
Valerie refused to let Sanguina know how much pain she was in from this new gash on her leg, from the earlier slash on her arm, and from the dizzying blow to her head. But the pain had the opposite effect than Valerie anticipated. Instead of distracting her, she felt adrenaline rush through her body, sharpening her focus so that she barely noticed the blood trickling down her cheek and leg.
She said nothing, but she felt more of her fear transform into rage, and the stream of magic inside of her exploded into a torrent. She gave in to her power, fighting purely by instinct. Now Valerie had Sanguina on the defensive, and she slowly backed her into a corner. Sanguina’s face was grim, and Valerie knew that she had to use every ounce of her own strength and speed to fend her off. Valerie could feel Sanguina trying to grasp at her brain to control her, but her attempts to claw her way into Valerie’s mind were useless, as her rage acted as a block to the mental attacks.
Valerie’s heart raced as she realized that she was actually winning – but she knew that she couldn’t keep fighting this hard for much longer. Her magic would eventually run out. She needed to try something different. So this time, after blocking Sanguina’s sword from lopping off her right arm, Valerie deliberately flashed the luminous blade in Sanguina’s eyes. The light made Sanguina squint and flinch. The sliver of hesitation was all Valerie needed, and she pressed her advantage. She knocked Sanguina’s hand with the flat of her sword as hard as she could, loosening Sanguina’s grip on her weapon. The rapier clattered onto the ground.
Swiftly, Valerie pressed her blade against Sanguina’s neck. “Surrender,” she said quietly, trying to contain the glorious tide of joy rising inside of her. Had she really won? Sanguina stared at Valerie, her hatred emblazoned across her face. Inches away from Sanguina, Valerie felt as if her eyes could penetrate the evil in Sanguina’s soul.
Suddenly, Valerie’s attention was drawn to light glinting off of a crystal hanging on a chain around Sanguina’s neck. She looked down and saw Henry
’s image inside the crystal, screaming. With her other hand, Valerie grabbed the chain and yanked it off of Sanguina’s neck. In the process, Sanguina tried to push her away, but she didn’t budge.
Sanguina’s eyes flicked down for a brief moment to look at Pathos, and suddenly shock replaced the seething hate in her eyes. She looked up at Valerie searchingly. “Why do you have Adelita’s sword? Who are you? Tell me. Now!” Sanguina commanded, but her hatred seemed diluted, as if something had distracted her from their fight.
“This time it’s you who’s not in a position to give orders,” Valerie said, pressing her blade against Sanguina’s throat even harder. “You’re not going to distract me.” But she felt genuinely confused at the change in Sanguina.
“Could you be…it’s not possible, but…” Sanguina said, so puzzled that she seemed almost unaware of the sharp blade against her neck. “You are her!” Sanguina suddenly cried, and her face contorted as anger warred with some other emotion that Valerie couldn’t begin to guess.
At that moment, Valerie realized that Pathos had nicked the thin, chalky skin on Sanguina’s neck. It was only a scratch, but Sanguina shrieked in pain. As Valerie watched, the light from Pathos poured into Sanguina through her wound. Valerie pulled her blade away, but it was too late. The light traveled through Sanguina’s body, illuminating her veins from the inside out. The sight was ghastly, as Sanguina appeared to be nothing more than a network of glowing veins in the blackness.
The pitch of Sanguina’s scream became higher, and Valerie knew, without a doubt, that the light was killing her. But instead of feeling triumphant, she was more horrified than she had ever been in her life. Because of her, someone would die. She hated this woman, but suddenly she wished more than anything that she could take it all back. There was no way that she could live with herself, knowing that she had ended a life. Faintly, she realized that there was a clatter in the hall. Someone was coming. But she didn’t care. She didn’t know if she would ever care about anything ever again.
The door to the room burst open, and dim light streamed in. But Valerie couldn’t take her eyes off of Sanguina’s death throes.
Strangest of all, when Sanguina looked at Valerie now all of the loathing was drained from her eyes. For the first time since Valerie had known her, Sanguina spoke without bitterness, saying, “If I had known who you were, I never would have hurt you.” Then Sanguina’s eyes rolled back in her head.
It was more than Valerie could bear. Agonizing remorse left her momentarily frozen in shock.
Valerie felt something flash through her like fire. She felt as if she was burning with an energy that filled her from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. Sanguina started to fall to the ground, but before she collapsed on the floor, Valerie caught her and the energy inside her burst from her fingertips and shot through Sanguina. Sanguina’s entire body glowed fiercely with a bright yellow-green light.
Energy flooded out of Valerie and into Sanguina in a torrent, and she could feel her strength fade as her field of vision narrowed to a tiny circle. She knew that if she didn’t stem the tide, she would be swept away with it, gone forever. It was as if she was pushing hard on a door inside of herself that didn’t want to close. With a burst of strength, Valerie slammed it shut.
Abruptly, the light inside of Sanguina went out and her body relaxed. Valerie felt Sanguina shudder in her arms and sigh. But then something miraculous happened – Valerie heard the sound of ragged breathing. Sanguina was alive.
You saved her. Azra’s soft voice moved through Valerie’s mind, comforting her.
Valerie struggled to remain conscious and not give in to the darkness that surrounded her mind, inviting her to lose herself in its oblivion. She couldn’t let go, not yet. Henry’s life depended on her. With a struggle, she pushed the darkness inside her back.
She blinked, aware for the first time that Azra and Kanti stood in the doorway, and behind them were a crowd of other Conjurors, some, like Gideon and Midnight, whom Valerie recognized, and many whom she had never seen before. Everyone was staring at her, stunned. Even Azra’s eyes were wide with surprise and sudden understanding.
“I don’t understand. Am I a healer, like Darling?” Valerie asked.
You’re a vivicus, a life-giver. I didn’t know if the stories were truth or myth – the power to give life hasn’t existed in thousands of years. But now it resides in you. I sensed something untapped inside of you when we first met, but I never guessed…Azra trailed off with a shake of her head.
“Will Sanguina be okay?” Valerie asked, resting her gently on the ground. In the dim light, Valerie could see that Sanguina’s skin had lost its pasty sheen. She looked almost – human.
Better than okay – you brought Sanguina the woman back to life, but the vampyre in her is dead. She is as she was before she was changed by Zunya.
“Zunya was the one who made her a vampyre? How–” Valerie began, but Henry’s fear ripped through her. “Henry’s still in danger! I have to go to him!” she cried, realizing that she was still clutching Sanguina’s charm for Henry in her hand. Her exhaustion vanished in her fear for her brother.
Go and comfort him as best you can. We will wait.
She gripped the charm and concentrated, and within moments she was transported to Earth.
Chapter Twenty-One
A barrage of sights and sounds overwhelmed Valerie. Rushing water drowned out almost every other noise and filled the air with a wet mist. To her astonishment, she was standing on a grassy patch of land next to a swiftly-moving flood of water. Her eyes followed the flow of the rapids and she saw that about a hundred yards away the water dropped away, falling into an abyss of mist.
Valerie realized that she was not far from the edge of the enormous waterfall that she had seen through Henry’s eyes earlier. The view would have been breathtaking if it weren’t for the realization of how easy it would be to slip and fall into the raging water coursing past.
Her assessment of her surroundings was interrupted by a cry, and she saw Henry trying to run away from Venu. He only made it a few steps before Venu leapt onto him, and the two crashed to the ground. Her heart squeezed at the sight of the terror in his wide brown eyes.
“You’re going in, whether you like it or not,” Venu barked. Then he smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. “There’s even a surprise waiting for you over the edge of the falls. Time to go find it!”
“Get away from him!” Valerie yelled. Venu and Henry looked at her in surprise. Venu’s grip loosened on Henry, who wrenched himself away. “Run,” she said to Henry, who looked at her with eyes filled with fear and wonder. But before he could take off, Venu deliberately touched Henry’s arm with one finger.
“No!” Valerie screamed, but it was too late. Henry fell to his knees and stayed there, motionless but conscious. Venu clearly didn’t want to kill Henry, she realized. He had paralyzed him so he couldn’t escape.
“This time, you won’t leave alive,” Venu said to Valerie, his eyes narrowing into slits.
“Somehow I doubt that. That will make, let’s see, three times that a girl kicked your butt?” she taunted, hoping to distract him.
Venu’s body tensed, ready to attack. Valerie automatically assumed a defensive stance, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop him from hurting Henry – Venu hadn’t realized it yet. A helpless panic tore through her. She was so close to Henry, but there wasn’t a thing she could do to save him.
Venu crouched, and then leapt toward her. She did the only thing she could – she dodged his outstretched fist. For several minutes, the dance continued as Venu tried to punch and kick her, and Valerie dodged his blows. Venu looked confused when she didn’t go on the offensive.
Finally, one of his blows punched through her shoulder, and the puzzled look on his face vanished. “You’re not here. You’re on the Globe, with Sanguina,” Venu said, and he smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. “You can’t do anything but watch.”
“NO!
Please, I’ll give you anything you want!” she screamed in desperation, but Venu turned his back on her and trudged toward Henry. “I’ve defeated Sanguina; there’s nothing she can do if you release him. I’ll give you money, find a way to get you to the Globe, anything!”
Venu stopped. He turned slowly, surprised, and raised an eyebrow. “Sanguina’s gone?”
“Yes. Now let him go.”
“It doesn’t matter. Sanguina is not the one who gave me this order. I will be rewarded for this beyond anything that witch could give me,” Venu said with a greedy smile, turning to Henry, who was looking at them both with wide, terrified eyes.
Then he lifted a limp Henry off the ground and carried him to the water. Valerie knew he was about to throw him in, and she clawed uselessly at Venu. He laughed as her arms went through him. Panic gnawed at her mind, threatening to swallow her whole. But before she could give in to her terror, Thai came tearing past her and crashed into Venu, knocking him to the ground. Venu’s grip loosened on Henry, who rolled dangerously close to the place where the land dropped away and the falls began.
“Thai! You made it!”
“Of course,” he said, kicking Venu hard in the chest. Venu grunted and fell, but only a small flicker of pain appeared in his eyes. He eyed Thai from the ground, sizing him up.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Venu was on the attack, leaping to his feet and lunging for Thai. Venu was fighting to kill. Valerie watched as Venu and Thai sparred. Thai carefully avoided the poison oozing from Venu’s hands and feet, and managed to land several more kicks to Venu’s stomach and chest.
To Valerie’s eyes, the fight appeared to be a blur at first as they swiftly attacked and blocked each other’s blows. But Venu was growing tired, Valerie realized as Thai landed a punch squarely across his jaw. Venu grunted in pain.
Thai’s eyes flashed with triumph for a moment, but the look was quickly replaced by terror. “Not now, Tan!” he shouted.