Kara

by Scott J. Kramer

  The moment he chased after Snow, his heart had good intentions. Take care of your older sister. He had followed that dictate his entire life. Unfortunately, his good intentions and impaired sense of direction led him completely the wrong way. There was one tree on his route he swore he had passed several times already. But then again, all trees tended to look the same after nightfall.

  Finding the wall had sent surges of hope and triumph through him. It lasted right up until the first arrow grazed his ear. Soldiers fired down upon him. He ran along the wall, praying he would find someone friendly.

  When he found the secret door, open and glowing still, relief washed over him. Snow must have come this way and possibly the wizard too. Soon he would be reunited with her and maybe Hambone.

  But that had been two hours ago. There was no sign of anyone on this human side. He had eventually found a dirt road, and carefully followed it. Dante was hungry and scared out of his mind.

  What if he never found his sister? What if the humans captured him and made him their pet?

  He wanted to cry. Why had he chased after Snow alone? Hambone would have come with him. Even Grace would be better than nobody.

  Looking up, he saw a light far off on the road. Actually, he saw a series of lights—torches. perhaps. But one light stood out from the rest. It was green.

  Was that Grace looking for him? Was she with the others?

  His heart leapt with the hope it was his friends. He raced off toward the light.

  ***

  Kreitan.

  He held in his visible revulsion as the princess summoned him once again. They had traveled slowly because of these interruptions. Night fell around them quickly before they had made much progress. The last stop, time was taken to light lanterns before moving forward once again. Kreitan was extremely irritated with everything in this maneuver.

  Kreitan called for his small party to halt. He dismounted and walked over to the carriage.

  We need to stop here a moment. They are close. For some reason, Euphoria spoke to him using that ungodly voice. Every word sent waves of shuddering through him.

  “My men are becoming weary. If there is a serious fight, they might not perform to their usual caliber.”

  A soft chuckle of scraping metal came from the carriage.

  Your men are just food to me. What good will a crossbow do against a wizard? Now be gone.

  Food? Anger rumbled again deep within him. This creature had no real use for anyone other than a meal. If only he could… But he quickly caught himself. Kreitan didn’t know how far her power could work, but he didn’t want his mind to betray him.

  He relayed the princess’ orders to his soldiers.

  “What is this all about, Captain?” Taylon spoke up as Kreitan came around to check on the men.

  “Nothing of your concern.”

  “Why is the princess with us? Where is the king?”

  Kreitan waved away the questions. He looked out off the long road toward some bushes and small clumps of trees. The glow from the lanterns provided him with few details of their surroundings.

  “Captain, with all due respect, what is going on?”

  Something moved out in the darkness. Kreitan tried to make out what it was.

  “Sir…”

  Kreitan whipped around and grasped Taylon by the throat.

  “When did all this questioning of your captain start? It is becoming more than annoying. Trust in my leadership, or I will find a new second-in-command.” He shoved Taylon away.

  Kreitan stalked forward, entering the darkness beyond the lanterns’ reach. Whatever he had seen lurked in the shrubbery ahead. Carefully, he drew his side crossbow and waited.

  The weapon was near silent when it released its bolt.

  “Ahh!”

  Kreitan quickly ran forward. A spy. His instincts had been right. He parted the bushes and there lay a fox with the bolt through its shoulder.

  “Don’t hurt me.” the fox pleaded looking up at the man.

  The captain froze, doing his best not to show surprise. A talking fox? Seconds later, Kreitan stepped in closer, using his boot to hold down the creature. It yowled as his boot singed its hide.

  “Are you with the wizard?”

  “What?” The reply came in the midst of whimpering cries.

  The captain’s boot lifted and then came down hard. A bone cracked somewhere in the fox. It let out a howl of pain.

  “Answer me! I don’t ask a second time.” His voice was sharp, yet hushed.

  The fox coughed once.

  Schunk!

  Kreitan jumped back unsure of what happened. He drew his sword and pointed at the man now laying there. This was indeed magic. Had he caught the wizard?

  “Captain?” Taylon came from behind.

  “Pick up this man. If he makes any false moves, kill him.” Kreitan enjoyed watching the his expression go from pain to horror.

  “But who….”

  Kreitan turned and looked at his second-in-command, a long stare that dared him to utter one more word.

  The captain approached the carriage with renewed vigor. A self-satisfied warmth spread through his body. Maybe he could still enjoy a nice supper.

  Kreitan noticed the mirror on the back of the carriage. A dim blue light radiated into the darkness, enticing the eyes to look. The curtains parted, the door opened, and Euphoria stepped out.

  Immediately, the soldiers went to attention. All eyes were on the princess.

  In the moonlight, she was beautiful, but a sense of terror and horror oozed from her, so that all who looked upon her were scared. She walked with confidence past Taylon, who flinched as she passed closely by.

  Kreitan too, felt the dread, but did his best to keep it at bay. He tried to appear to have command of the situation.

  “Your majesty, I believe I may have captured the man we spoke of earlier.” Kreitan dared not mention the word ‘wizard’ in front of his men.

  Euphoria’s gaze fixed upon Kreitan. She gave the man a brief glance. “That is no wizard,” she said.

  Murmurs erupted from the men at the word, but all held their place.

  “But I saw this man transform from a fox to a human. Surely, this is him.” Kreitan’s words came out like a scorned child. Anger blossomed in him melting the fear.

  Euphoria turned on him and took two quick strides to be right in front of the captain. She stared into his face. Her eyes lost their color and became black.

  “This is a member of the were clan. His only ‘magic’ is the transformation. Silly human, did you think that it would be that easy to catch a wizard?” Her voice was low, harsh, and scalding.

  Inside, Kreitan’s smug attitude collapsed. Fear bubbled again to anger.

  “You doubt me? Do I need to demonstrate what I do to those who irk me?”

  She turned and approached Taylon and the prisoner. Without warning, her hand shot out toward the captured man and grabbed his neck in an iron hold. The man’s expression went from shock, to discomfort, to pain, and then extreme pain. A wordless cry etched on his face as his skin became taut.

  Euphoria released the man. He fell back to the ground barely moving, barely alive. Before their eyes, the man slowly transformed into a fox again. The animal curled into a ball whimpering.

  The princess brought her hand to her face and licked her fingers clean, as if they had bits of chocolate icing left from a morsel she had consumed.

  She turned back to Kreitan. “Do we understand each other?” After a brief stare, she turned her head to look at Taylon.

  “Bring the fox. Our prize is very near. Very near indeed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  An alarm went off in the house. Everyone was stunned awake. Ynob rose immediately and quickly quieted the noise , but everyone was frazzled.

  “What the heck was that?” Snow shouted at the wizard. She had been plucked out of a nice dream.

  “Someone’s coming.” Ynob said in a hushed whisper.

  �
�The evil thing?” Kara asked fearfully.

  Ynob paused before answering, which made Kara’s panic rise even more. “I don’t think so. I think…it is humans.”

  Hambone came to stand beside the wizard, more alert now. “Witch Guard?”

  Again the wizard paused, his face screwed up in concentration. “I can’t tell.”

  Grace flew in with a mad rush. Twittering and sprite-speak, more like sprite-yelling, could be heard echoing through the house.

  Hambone interpreted. “Soldiers and a carriage. And Dante…!”

  “Why is Dante with them?” Kara looked around at everyone.

  Snow looked ready to shoot out the door. Ynob grabbed her shoulder before she could.

  “That won’t help him,” the wizard said barely keeping a grasp on her.

  “It’s all my fault.” She shrugged off the wizard’s grasp and started for the door and then did a U-turn. “So…so…so what are we going to do?” She looked at Ynob and all the rest of the faces. No suggestions came forth.

  “Then I say we take ‘em. They’re only humans.” Snow said.

  “Humans with crossbows and weapons,” Jesset countered.

  “But you have some weapons here. And how many did you say were out there, Grace?” Hambone waited for the sprite’s reply. “See, six. That’s not bad odds.”

  “Plus we have a wizard.” Snow exclaimed. All eyes turned to Ynob.

  He stared out the door blankly. Slowly, he turned. “They also have that dark magic creature with them.” Ynob said.

  Kara looked from Snow’s face to Hambone’s face to Jesset’s. Hope seemed to have left them.

  “Kara…”

  Kirt stood in the doorway from the bedroom, holding on to the wall. He was in noticeable pain. She ran to his side.

  “Father, what are you doing up?”

  “This is all my fault.”

  “No…no.”

  “Yes it is. If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Give me to the Witch Guard.”

  Kara hugged her father tight.

  “Sir, they aren’t here for you,” Ynob said solemnly.

  As if in answer, Kara’s necklace began to glow. Ynob pointed at it. “I believe that creature led its humans here to retrieve that,” Ynob stated.

  “But I need to protect Kara from whatever is out there.” Kirt protested.

  Grace was the one who answered in a long bit of chirps and tweaks. Kara looked to someone for a translation.

  “She said that’s why we are all here. We are all here to protect Kara. The only thing you need to do is rest so that she can enjoy her father when this is all over.”

  The wizard motioned for Jesset to come forward. Jesset took Kirt around the waist. After a kiss on his daughter’s forehead, Kirt went with Jesset back to his room.

  Kara looked around at everyone. “I’m going out there right now. I’m not about to cower in here and wait for whatever they have planned. They have Dante, my friend, and I plan to get him back.”

  And with that, she marched out the door. Protests from Birch and Snow soon followed her. Grace came behind her, followed by Hambone. Ynob couldn’t believe what was happening but followed as well.

  She didn’t go far, just outside the door. Some trees still provided cover. Lights and shapes danced in the distance, but nothing more of the raiding party ahead.

  The necklace continued to glow.

  I am here for you, Rose said, but the voice faltered with the next words. The mirror?

  “Look!” Hambone pointed in the distance to the largest shape, something that looked like a coach. Toward the back of the entourage, a large oval glowed the same color as Kara’s pendant. All stared at the shape. A hideous cackle; sounding like dry crunched up leaves, reverberated everywhere in the night.

  “Oh…” But the wizard could not finish his words. Terror had come, just like the night.

  ***

  The wizard was in a cottage? Kreitan shook his head in disbelief when Euphoria stated that they had arrived at their destination.

  The princess exited the carriage. “Order your men to stay back from the house. The wizard has put up protective measures.”

  He held back on a comment and did as he was bade. A green ball of light zipped through some trees and into the house. Kreitan watched, unsure of what he had seen.

  “Sir, what are we doing here?” Taylon was again asking questions.

  “Just follow orders.” Kreitan did not want to deal with pestering inquiry. After this was over, he would deal with Taylon’s trust issue. So far, his second-in-command was the only one questioning anything.

  Turning to Euphoria, he saw that she was petting the fox. He took a step toward her but sensed movement at the house. Several figures lurked in the trees by the door.

  It was Euphoria’s nasty laugh which caused one newcomer to run forward. His hand grabbed for his sword, but paused drawing it out. In the dim lantern light, Kreitan recognized the one coming forward.

  The little girl.

  Around her neck, something glowed.

  ***

  Kara ran out of the trees yelling. That lady was doing something to Dante. “Don’t touch him!” she shouted.

  “No, Kara!” Snow cried out.

  But Kara was already out in the open, plain to see. Several of the Witch Guard immediately pointed crossbows at her. Their instinct overcame their fear.

  She halted about fifty feet from the enemy. Ynob said there was a protection barrier around the house. Hopefully, she hadn’t crossed it yet.

  The lady turned slowly toward Kara. “My, my. Such a bold little girl.”

  Kara then recognized Princess Euphoria. At the castle once with her father, Kara had seen the young princess up on a balcony. Euphoria’s beauty captivated her then. Even in the moonlight, she was gorgeous. But this was not the kind sweet lady the townsfolk talked about. Something was different.

  Little spiders of fear danced inside her, but she did her best to keep them at bay. “Leave him alone,” she shouted. “He didn’t do anything! None of us did!”

  Euphoria didn’t approach her but stepped away from Dante. The mirror on the back of carriage still glowed.

  “Do any of us ever do anything?” Euphoria threw her hands up in mock indifference, and then she stared at Kara as if expecting a reply.

  The anxiety and dread built up more, and she wished she hadn’t run out like that. Kara shivered but stood resolute. “Let him go.”

  “Wow. Such powerful words from just a small, helpless girl.” Euphoria began pacing again toward one of the crossbow men. The soldier stood his ground, but his demeanor told all. Nerves made him wobble and his eyes jumped from woman to girl then back.

  Kara too watched, amazed as well as terrified. Euphoria leaned in close to the guard and whispered, “Fire.”

  It happened so quick, Kara didn’t even know what hit her. The bolt sliced through the air, on a direct course for her. ‘Oh…’ was the only thought she could manage. A concussive boom sounded and then a snap. Kara flew to the side several feet, landing on the ground roughly.

  She heard a scream, perhaps Snow, and running. Kara felt pain, but not sharp agonizing pain, just the dull ache of falling down. The rabbit was at her side, blocking her line of sight.

  “Kara! Kara!” Schunk!

  “I’m fine. What happened?”

  “Ynob snapped the arrow.” Snow helped Kara to her feet and pulled her backward to the blacksmith’s cottage.

  Euphoria held out a hand to stay the other soldiers.

  Hambone stood beside Kara and Snow. He brandished a large chunk of firewood as a club.

  “Oh goody, another one.” Euphoria laughed.

  Grace zoomed out and went straight for Kara. Ynob stepped forward, but remained further back than the rest.

  “I’m okay, Snow.”

  Grace hovered and twittered too.

  “There is the wizard, Kreitan.” Euphoria said looking over to the captain and pointing at Ynob. �
�Not that pathetic thing.”

  “Dante!” Kara screamed pushing past Hambone. The dwarc grabbed her shoulder and held her back with one hand.

  Dante did not stir at the mention of his name.

  “Do you think he might be dead?” Kara asked.

  “No.” But his grip fumbled. One of his fingers snagged the necklace. The chain broke and the bat pendant flew several feet into the grass, towards the enemy.

  Euphoria caught sight of the necklace. “Mine.” She slurred the word, but then quickly turned to her nearest soldier and pointed to the glowing object lying on the ground, “Go and get it.”

  The guard, unable to disobey the command, ran forward for the prize. He only made it three steps before he burst into flames. It was no ordinary fire. It flared up and the soldier was no more.

  Shocked at the sudden burst of light, Kara stopped struggling and looked around. Ynob appeared winded, but stood tall. “Creature! Leave!”

  Euphoria, turning her head slowly and purposefully, glared at the wizard. “I am only just beginning.” And with a nod, two other guards suddenly came alive. One ran straight in, while another fired his crossbow at the wizard.

  Another boom and snap echoed, knocking Ynob to his knees. The running guard scooped up the pendant. Grace flew directly at him.

  Euphoria stretched out an arm. Her hand opened toward the sprite and caught Grace mid-flight. The princess then quickly closed her hand tight and the green glow from the sprite suddenly vanished. Euphoria then whipped her arm back and flung the sprite into the air. What was left of Grace bounced off the soldier as he ran back. He only made it three steps before the wizard’s fire engulfed him too. The pendant dropped as the guard disappeared into ash.

  Snow and Kara yelled “No!” They immediately tried to run for the pendant, but found themselves frozen to the spot.

  “No…stay behind…the barrier.” Ynob huffed out, exhausted and then dropped the spell. Both rabbit and girl fell forward, but ran no further.

  Euphoria clapped her hands together and walked toward the necklace, her face full of delight. Kreitan remained still as the princess passed in front of him. Dante looked up from the carriage. Euphoria paused a few steps from the necklace, looking at something else in the grass. A small figure, no bigger than a forest mushroom, struggled on the ground.