by Shay Laurent
Alessia shrugged. ‘Scream.’
I stared at her, trying to gauge if she was serious or not.
‘What?’ she said. ‘If one of them has one of us, the best chance we’ve got is if the other two hear and come to help before more Sorceresses show up. We’ll be dead if too many show up. This way, we still have a chance at surprise. It’s not likely that our scream would be heard by anyone back in the Keep.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ I agreed. Then laughed as I thought the idea through. ‘Do you have a good scream, Dom?’
When he laughed, his shoulders relaxed a little. ‘Yeah, I’m sure I can manage a nice manly squeal for you ladies.’
I gave him a genuine smile as my feelings of annoyance faded away. ‘Okay, cool. Well, let’s spread out. Dom, you go to the right, Alessia to the left, and I’ll go straight ahead. Make sure you don’t go past the side of the Keep—we’ll need to be on this side of it to get in. Alessia, the waterfall will be on your side actually. Do you want me to take that way instead?’
‘I’m sweet. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.’
‘Okay. Let’s do it.’
I WEAVED THROUGH THE trees carefully. I paid attention to my surroundings, including the noise that my steps made and those of the animals around me as well as the slowly fading sounds of both Dom and Alessia as they scouted their areas.
I continued on until what must have been about midnight before I caught the first sign of anything different. Along the ground there were five stones laid in a particular setting, right in the middle of a clearing. There were no sounds, just the stones sitting in an evenly spaced circle.
Maybe they cast spells out here?
I walked into the circle and looked more carefully around it. There were faint lines connecting the stones.
Roughly in the shape of a star.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
I walked quickly back the way I came, retracing my steps. Right at a line between the stones, I smacked straight into some kind of invisible wall. I pushed against what I’d thought was nothing, but then I noticed an incandescent shimmery quality to the air between the stones, one that wasn’t there before I’d walked in. I was trapped.
My heart started to race as panic set in. I didn’t know what to do. Would this trap automatically alert someone, or it was one they checked on their patrol? Either way, I was screwed. I needed to do something. Frantically, I tried to disturb the lines of the pentagram in the dirt, but it just kept fixing itself. I tried to shove the stones instead.
They wouldn’t budge.
Argh! What do I do!? Should I shout? Stay quiet and wait?
Right at that moment, I realised we hadn’t made any plans for a follow-up meeting point. I didn’t even know when or if they’d come looking.
Chapter 20
I took a deep breath, feeling ridiculous, and screamed. Not as loud as I could, but enough that Alessia and Dom should be able to hear me. I hoped that none of the Sorceresses showed up before they did.
I sat down as close as I could to one of the large rocks and listened. Time passed at a crawl. I was beginning to wonder if I should scream louder, in case they were too far away to hear me.
Right as I opened my mouth, I heard footsteps. Two sets, both running. I took in the scents around me, but neither were close enough to detect. One set of footsteps was coming from Dom’s direction, but I started feeling queasy when I realised the second set were coming from the direction of the Keep, not from where Alessia should be.
I tried to focus on my breathing while I waited for the newcomers to get close enough to pick up their scents. Despite the frosty air, beads of sweat began to form on my temples. I drew lines along my hand as I stayed tucked against the rock closest to the Keep; trying to stay hidden.
Finally, they were close enough to smell. One was definitely Dom but the other scent was unfamiliar. Like a human but different. I had a flash of being back in the library during the attack. Magic. There was a Sorceress coming too.
I held my knees tucked into my chest, hoping that Dom would make it before the Sorceress. They were both close, but I knew Dom would be able to tell someone else was advancing. I thought I heard the sound of more footsteps but they receded before I could focus on them.
Dom burst through the tree line and spotted me. I frantically waved my hands at him to stop him from racing straight into the pentagram with me.
‘Hide,’ I hissed.
He nodded and ducked quickly back into the underbrush of the trees; hiding himself behind one of the thicker trunks and its surrounding greenery. The Sorceress’s steps echoed loudly as she skidded to a halt at the edge of the clearing, her breath coming in short, loud bursts.
I kept my position and waited. She must have stopped to catch her breath when she realised no one was standing in the trap.
Maybe she’ll just leave?
After a minute I heard the movement of snow-soaked leaves on the ground as she neared. Another step or two and she would be level with me. I turned my head to my left, so I could track her more easily.
I heard another faint set of footsteps in the distance, but they stopped again. Shifting my focus, I took a deep breath then stood and locked eyes with the Sorceress as she reached the rock.
She sneered at me. ‘What have we got here? An itty-bitty human?’
I glared back at her but stayed silent.
‘Nothing to say, little girl?’
I narrowed my eyes at her. If she wanted me, she’d have to open the pentagram. She walked around the clearing, pinning me with her gaze until she stood directly in front of me.
I watched carefully as she bent down to the rock. She drew some kind of symbol and the pentagram glowed a deep orange.
As soon as the light dimmed, and before she even took a step into the pentagram, I Shifted and ran to the side of the clearing where Dom had originally arrived from. I didn’t want to lead her to Alessia, but wanted Dom to be able to follow.
I heard her curse, then start to pursue me. Her words were muffled by the thud of my footsteps on the slushy mountainside.
Probably casting some sort of spell.
I weaved between the trees to throw her off and focused beyond the sound of my own footsteps and on those of my pursuers. Aside from her comparatively sluggish movements, I could hear Dom and one other.
Hopefully that’s Alessia.
I continued on my path, heading straight ahead rather than curving towards the Keep, trying desperately not to draw any more attention.
Once there was an adequate amount of distance between us, I found a tree with enough foliage to hide me and climbed it.
I watched and waited, listening and scenting the air. Using any advantage I had.
She was close.
The Sorceress burst through the small area below me without stopping or looking up. As she arrived directly underneath my branch, I leapt down on top of her and wrapped my right arm around her neck. I covered her mouth tight with my left hand. No spells.
She teetered back a few steps before regaining her balance. She rammed me back into a tree. Jarred but determined, I kept my hold, especially on her mouth.
Dom burst suddenly into the clearing, his eyes glued to me and the Sorceress. In the midst of my struggle, I registered his relief, but swiftly turned my attention back to the Sorceress. I pulled my arm tighter and tighter and she began to waver. Her footing became less steady and after another minute, I felt her slump as she collapsed.
I let go and jumped back, watching intently to make sure she stayed down. She was breathing, but not moving. Relieved, I staggered back, my hands resting on my knees as I caught my breath and looked at Dom. ‘Sorry about the scream,’ I huffed.
He eyed me with concern. ‘No sweat. Just glad you’re okay.’
At the sound of light footsteps we looked over to see Alessia appear from beside a large tree dusted in a smattering of snow.
She heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Sorry. I was almost at the wat
erfall when I heard you, but didn’t want to miss the opportunity to scope it out. Figured Dom would have your back.’ She peered at the crumpled form of the Sorceress and looked back at me pointedly as she pulled some rope from her belt. ‘Though it looks like you didn’t need the help after all. What happened?’
She set to work tying the Sorceress to the nearest tree.
I felt a little squeamish at the idea of something finding her tied to a tree trunk. ‘Don’t you think something might eat her out here?’
She shook her head. ‘She’ll be right. I’m sure she’ll just annihilate it with her killer glare or something.’ After tying for a minute longer she paused and looked back at me. ‘So, are you gonna tell me what happened?’
‘Oh, right. I came across a clearing with a circle of rocks and walked into it to get past then realised there was—’
She laughed. ‘You walked into a containment pentagram? Surely you should have known better?’ She looked at Dom, eyebrows raised.
I turned to him as well, wondering if I should have.
‘Nah,’ he said. ‘I didn’t learn about them at the Academy until this year. Elita’s only in First Year.’
Alessia snorted. ‘I learned about them years ago and I don’t even go to the Academy.’
I bristled. ‘Yeah, but I didn’t live with a Pack, just my dad. And as you can tell, he obviously wasn’t too forthcoming on Sorceresses. I did plenty of training in fighting and whatever, but never learned much about them.’ I shook my head dismissively. ‘Oh well, lesson learned.’ Wanting to move on, I added, ‘Where will we go from here? And how will we stop her alerting the other Sorceresses?’
We all turned to look at her unconscious form on the ground. I pursed my lips. ‘We’re going to have to go in tonight, aren’t we? Or take her with us?’
‘Or we could just kill her,’ Alessia suggested.
I shook my head.
Dom balked too. ‘I’m not killing her in cold blood. She's unconscious.’
Alessia rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. Whatever. We’ll go tonight. We’d better get moving, though. We have a decent amount of ground to cover to get into the waterfall area of Crone Keep. And we need to swing back and grab our packs.’
I gave the Sorceress a final look. She appeared almost kind in her unconscious state. Her copper hair fell softly over half of her face and, relaxed as she was, she didn’t appear as vicious as she had before.
I shook off the small amount of concern I had for the Sorceress who’d tried to attack me and followed Dom and Alessia away.
When we reached our packs, I opened mine and had a drink of water from my flask. Feeling slightly more refreshed, I put it away and pulled on my pack. I turned to the others and waited.
My stomach tightened with the realisation that I would soon be seeing my mum. After we managed to infiltrate the Keep and find her anyway. I tried to focus on my breathing to relax my stomach, but it didn’t work as well as normal.
I must have looked as anxious as I felt because Dom came to stand by me and squeezed my shoulder lightly.
‘Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.’
Alessia finished her drink and stood abruptly. ‘Let’s get going. The longer we wait, the more likely that crazy witch will be running back to warn them we’re coming.’ She strode past the two of us, shaking her head.
Irritated at her dismissal of my worries, I reluctantly followed behind. Dom walked beside me until the trees were too thick to do anything but move in a single line.
We kept up a fast pace. This time we didn’t stop or split up. Alessia maintained a consistent flow all the way across the forested mountainside.
It became mind numbing. Step, weave, step, step, step, weave. Moving in and out of the trees was simple in the quiet night air, with the moon making enough of an appearance that the path was easy to see.
I’d been able to hear the waterfall rushing for a long while before Alessia finally came to an abrupt halt. I was so lost in thought that I almost ran right into her. Dom did run into me causing us both to be jolted forward.
Alessia hit a rock with her shin and turned and cursed at us. Dom ducked his head and mumbled an apology.
‘That’s surprising. Your eyes are normally always glued on your girlfriend.’
‘Oh, will you cut it out already?’ I grumbled. ‘We aren’t together.’
She flashed her teeth at me in a provocative grin. I rolled my eyes and looked past her to the waterfall, wondering if it would freeze over once the storms worsened.
My eyes were immediately drawn to Crone Keep. It loomed above us even from our rocky vantage point. The charcoal-coloured stone blended into the mountains around it, especially with them both covered in snow. The turrets rose ominously around the Keep, drawing my eyes to all the places we could be watched from.
I tore my gaze away and paid attention to the stone gorge below us. All we needed to do was go down it, then make our way across the base and through the small path visible next to the waterfall.
Alessia stood ahead of us and pointed. ‘Okay. So the best way to get down there is to use the path to the right of here. There are decent shadows by the rocks that should keep us hidden.’
‘Great! Let’s go,’ I said and made to move around her.
‘Hold up, Miss I-Have-A-Death-Wish. According to the intel a Sorceress patrols around the base of the gorge at least once every hour before heading into the forest for what I assume is the rest of their round. We’ll have to wait for her to come by again before we enter.’
I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that my anxiety definitely wasn’t going to calm down until I could actually see my mum. Or more likely when we rescued her and got the hell out.
I found a tree and leaned against it while we waited.
None of us spoke but my feeling of wariness grew as I monitored our surroundings.
When the sky passed from a dark bluey-black to a slightly lighter shade of navy, I began to worry. If we didn’t go soon we’d have to risk the daylight or wait for the next night and chance the missing Sorceress showing up.
Just as I was about to suggest we retreat for the evening, I heard it. Footsteps. Then I smelled the magic. I laid flat to the ground to peer over the edge of the gorge.
A Sorceress with long black hair and a blood-red cloak walked from beside the waterfall and into the open rock base of the gorge. She moved along attentively, focusing on anything that may have been out of place. I carefully wriggled back from the edge to avoid being seen.
As I laid my head to the side, I saw Dom and Alessia also pressed to the ground. Their heads faced the direction of the Sorceress. I turned mine to face the same way. I took in her scent, briefly wondering if the others smelled the magic the same as I did.
When she exited the gorge I froze, the urge to suddenly sneeze overwhelming me. I pushed my tongue into the roof of my mouth to stop the sensation, then breathed out a small sigh of relief when the feeling passed.
The Sorceress got further away, but still we waited. Not moving, breathing evenly.
The moment I could no longer hear her footsteps or smell the scent of magic, I inhaled a welcome breath of icy air and sat up. The others did the same.
I looked at them intently. ‘Ready?’
They both nodded. I stood and pulled out my pack from behind the tree, knowing we’d need to leave them by the boats under the waterfall.
This time I led the way. I took each step with care but maintained enough speed to make sure we wouldn’t take too long. I walked around boulders as tall as my head, and over rocks the size of my fists, careful not to disturb them.
I used my heightened senses to make sure the immediate area was clear. As we neared the waterfall, it became harder to hear. I could smell the magic but knew that was no longer as useful considering where we were.
I turned to look at the others, eyebrows raised. They nodded and I continued on.
We crept inside the cavern behind the waterfall and spotted two sm
all boats tied to posts. I heaved a sigh of relief that the notes were right about them being there.
Around the water’s edge there was just rocky ground; it was about a metre wide on every side. There were two passages that led from the cavern.
If the internal drawings were correct, we needed to take the passage to the left. I led the way around to the other side, trying my best to listen for any steps coming our way.
I peered into the passage but could only make out a dim light in the distance. I continued past the entrance and over to one of the boats. I pointed to it and then at my pack, indicating we should put them in.
I took mine off and sat it on the ground, then carefully stepped into the boat. Once I was in, Alessia passed me her pack, which I stowed under one of the three slatted seats. She passed me the other two, one by one, so I could do the same with them.
I moved back to the edge of the boat and Dom held out a hand to help me back to the rocky shore. I stepped out carefully and moved away from the boat. Right then, my head whipped to the passage on the right. Someone was coming, and I wondered if we’d set off some kind of magical alarm.
Chapter 21
I shoved Alessia and pointed to the passage on the left. I darted into the entrance behind her and Dom. I pushed myself against the wall next to them and waited, listening, as my heart hammered in my chest. There was more than one set of footsteps. There were at least five.
The other Sorceress must have found the one we tied up.
I knew now that we’d need to move faster to find my mum, though I was sure they’d be thinking that an attack was imminent rather than the reality: that three teens were breaking in to rescue a prisoner. Hopefully there wasn’t more than one; I knew we wouldn’t have time to rescue others and leaving anyone to the Crones was cruel.
Once the footsteps had disappeared behind the waterfall, I peered out. Seeing the room was now empty, I quickly went and checked the packs were well hidden in the boat.
I returned to an incredulous look from Alessia, presumably at going back out.