“No. I’m okay.” I exhaled. “At least we’re together for now, right?”
He kissed my knuckles. “Yes. We’re together now. And because I swore I would never lose you again, we shall stay that way. You’ll have the box opened soon, and then we’ll be free of this place.”
I smiled but couldn’t answer. How would I ever open the box without black magic?
“Come with me,” he said, “I’d like to show you something.”
He took my hand and led me up the stairs. When we reached the top level, he guided me toward a balcony overlooking the dance floor, except the floor wasn’t visible. Instead, the spell made it appear as if we stood above the tops of the clouds.
“It’s breathtaking,” I said, “even in a place like this.”
“It gets better,” he said, then squeezed my hand and led me off the balcony and onto the cloud tops.
Gasping, I found the clouds soft beneath my shoes, as if I walked on a thick carpet.
“Amazing,” I whispered, breathless.
Hues of pink and blue spiraled through the clouds. I felt their power brush against my cheeks, warm and fluid. Reaching out, I touched the clouds as they billowed up around our shoulders.
The music drifted up to us, and we danced with the soft magic of the clouds against our skin. Steady, pulsing rhythms and low, flowing notes stirred excitement—the sound of a storm soon to be unleashed.
I knew Silvestra was down there somewhere, and I wondered why she wanted so badly for me to open the box. What would happen? What did she think I was capable of? I pondered her words and felt uneasy at their implications. Assuming I discovered how to open the Wult symbol, after that, the only way to open the box was by using black magic. It was a thought that nagged at me. I knew for a fact I didn’t possess black magic. Even though my mother was a practitioner, my father had admitted he’d studied me as a child and was confident I didn’t possess the art. Not only that, but I’d never in my life sensed black powers within my own.
Kull put his finger under my chin, bringing my gaze to his. “Did I lose you?”
“No. I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
About whether I’m a witch. But could I tell him?
“Would you believe me if I told you my mom was a witch?”
“A witch? How do you know?”
“My dad told me. He found out a long time ago, when my mom first crossed into Faythander before I was born. I guess he was worried that I would have the same powers as my mom.”
“But you don’t.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Is this what you’ve been worried about?”
“Maybe a little.”
“But you’ve never manipulated dark powers. You have nothing to worry about.”
“You’re right. I guess I’m worried about my mom, also. If she ever returns to the elven capitol where my dad calls home, she’ll be executed. The elves have a standing order to execute any witch who enters their lands.”
“Where is she now?”
“I’m not exactly sure. The last I checked, she’d sold her house and taken off to tour the world. She and my dad were somewhere in Africa helping with relief aid.”
“Relief aid? That doesn’t sound typical for her sort of lifestyle.”
“No. She’s not the same person I knew as a teenager, that’s for sure. Sometimes I feel like I never knew her.”
The music stopped, leaving only silence as we drifted on silvery clouds, and then it started again. Glancing up at Kull, I found him deep in thought.
“Do your worries have something to do with that box?” he asked.
I cringed. I hadn’t wanted to admit how very far away I was from opening it. But I supposed I would have to be more forthcoming with him. He’d see through my lies anyway. He always had.
“Yes,” I answered. “I managed to open the three sides displaying symbols that represented the magical races of Faythander, but the last two symbols have me stumped. They’re the symbols for Wults and black magic, but as far as I know, Wults don’t possess magic. And worse, I have no idea how to open the symbol representing black magic.”
He remained silent as he pondered my words. “You’re sure about this?”
“Pretty sure. I feel like I’ve been set up to fail, although the witch seems confident that I’ll figure it out.”
“I agree, which makes me believe there must be another way.”
“Another way to open the box?”
“No. Another way out of this castle—another way to get this collar off my neck.”
I shook my head. “I can’t think of any other way.”
“That’s because she wants you to play by her rules. Maybe you shouldn’t.”
“I wish that were possible. As it is, she hasn’t given me any options. If I don’t open that box, we both belong to her.”
He stroked my hair. “I have faith in you. If anyone can solve this, it’s you. You understand magic like no one else.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Of course,” he said with a grin. Despite the pallor of his skin, he still managed to look like his old self. “I am always right.”
“Ha! It seems no matter what the witch does to you, you manage to still be your usual cocky self. I doubt even transforming you into a wraith will mask your personality.”
“Cocky? Who says I’m cocky?”
I cupped his cheek, feeling the roughness of his skin. “I do. It’s what I love about you.”
His eyes lit up. Swirling colors surrounded him as he leaned in to kiss me. Below us, the music stopped, announcing the end of the ball. He looked up, and his eyes darkened.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“The witch,” he said. “She only allowed me a few hours to attend the ball, and then she demanded I go back to the dungeon so the wraiths can continue…”
“Continue what?”
He shook his head.
“Kull, continue what? Are they still hurting you? She promised not to hurt you anymore.”
He closed his eyes, and I saw the old Kull no longer. His brow creased with worry, and pain etched the wrinkles around his eyes. “They’re not hurting me—not physically, at least.”
“Then what are they doing to you?”
When he opened his eyes, the pain was gone. “Nothing. I am well enough. But I must go soon.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
He pushed a strand of hair away from my eyes. “I know. But I don’t have much of a choice.” Leaning closer, he whispered into my ear. “There is a tunnel in the dungeon where she keeps me. It leads to the waterfall. Use it to escape this place if you must.”
Confused, I stared up at him. “I won’t leave you here.”
“You may not have a choice.”
He turned away, but I grabbed his hand. I hated that he wouldn’t tell me what was happening to him. It made me worry even more.
“Kull, what are they doing to you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, then he cupped my face. The look he gave me was so full of love I couldn’t doubt how he felt for me, but that didn’t make me feel any better about what the witch was doing to him. Then, with a small smile, Kull turned and walked away, leaving me alone.
Chapter 11
“Do you know what the Wult king fears?” Silvestra asked me.
I sat across from her at the breakfast table. After last night’s ball, I’d returned to my room, but despite Kull’s advice, I had worried about him the entire night. I hadn’t slept well, so sitting here, chitchatting with the witch over a breakfast of soufflés and buttered bread only made me want to go crawl back in bed.
“Why should I answer?” I said as I picked at a piece of bread. “You told me you wouldn’t hurt him, yet it seems you’ve found a way to torture him still. I’m tired of playing your games.”
The witch pursed her lips. “You of all people should know the
answer to my question—you should know what he fears.”
“I refuse to answer.”
She laughed. “Very well, then. Perhaps you don’t know him as well as I thought.”
“I know him well enough to understand when he’s being tortured. I don’t know how because he won’t tell me, but I know you’re doing something to him.”
I placed the lotus cube on the table. Its two remaining symbols taunted me. Wult magic didn’t exist, and black magic was an art I never had—and never would have.
“You’ve lied to me about Kull, and you’re also lying to me about this box. You said I can open it, but that’s not possible.”
“I have lied about nothing. There is a way to open the box. You’ve not yet explored all the possibilities. As for the Wult, there is nothing I can do to stop his pain. Only you have that power.”
Something about her words gave me pause.
“He’s in pain because you tortured him. I fail to see how I can fix that.”
“No. He is in pain because of you. Tell me, how well does he truly know you and your capabilities?”
“He knows everything.”
“Does he?”
I swallowed my fear. I still hadn’t told him what Theht had done to me in the cave.
“I can help you,” Silvestra said. “I can show you how to defeat your enemies, how to alter the course of time, and how to sabotage prophecy.”
She was bluffing.
“No one can do that. You couldn’t even stop your own prophecy from happening, so how could you possibly stop mine?”
“Open the box, and once you do, your questions will be answered.”
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
“Some things are not meant to be spoken of.”
I glanced at the box. Her words taunted me. I wanted to believe her, but deep inside, I knew it was a lie. Still, if I wanted to be free, I had no choice but to keep trying.
We finished our breakfast in silence. I left the room with a brief good-bye and once again found myself wandering the hallways, trying to be creative and think of something I hadn’t tried yet, although I felt as if I’d already tried everything.
The hallway widened and then branched in two directions. I took the path to my right and ended up in an unfamiliar part of the castle.
I entered a library. White marble spanned the floors and surrounded the thick pillars that supported an arched ceiling. Veins of gold shot through the marble, complimented by images of golden ivy etched along the walls and around the square base of the pillars. Although it was a grand room with marble statues and a detailed painting of cherry blossom branches covering the ceiling, it wasn’t the largest library I’d ever been in—and there were only a few books on the shelves. Kull’s library wasn’t as spectacular, but its sheer size overwhelmed this place.
The lack of books made the place feel empty and barren. Wandering through the stacks made me curious to know what sort of books the witch would keep on her shelves. I found a beautiful blue book with raised images of a fairy forest gracing its cover. Inside, the pages were made of a thick paper that creaked as I turned from one page to the next. It was a journal that belonged to someone named Elisabeth, from Earth Kingdom, and it chronicled her short visit to Fairy World. Magic hummed from the pages, and I felt the witch’s spell bound to the journal. Focusing on the spell, an image came to me of a wraith woman I’d seen at the ball. Was the magic connected to her? It made sense. Perhaps this was her diary and the witch was using it to keep Elisabeth prisoner. I replaced the book on the shelf, feeling sick inside at its implications.
One more slave that the witch controlled. One more life taken away.
Scanning several more tomes, I realized they weren’t all journals. Some were history texts written by elves, some were encyclopedias of ancient languages. I also found a few religious texts written by Wults. Some of the lines caught my attention. A socitie built on an ancient religion, evolved over time through the magic and grace of our wourld Faythander, infusing itself until the old is transformed and becomes something new.
Had magic changed more than just their religion? Had it changed them as well? I kept that thought with me as I scanned more books. Magic was bound to these tomes the same as I’d felt in the journal. Each book represented a person in the castle, someone who had crossed the witch or made a bargain they’d lost, and now they belonged to her.
Kull’s sword served the same purpose as these books. He’d given it willingly and without hesitation. I knew when he’d done it that it had been a risky move, although we’d had no other choice. But I’d felt magic when he’d struck the bargain with the witch. I’d known something bad would happen but had had no power to stop it. And now he would soon become hers.
Frustrated, I walked away from the shelves and stood near a wall of windows overlooking the mountaintops. I kept the box in my hand and gripped it tightly, feeling its sharp edges cutting into my skin, wishing I could toss it out the window and be done with it.
Magic wrapped the box in colors of amber and purple. The stone grew so hot I dropped it, and the box landed with an echoing thud on the floor. As I studied the box, the wisps of purple faded, leaving only the amber. Coppery gold streamers danced around the smooth surfaces. After the swirling light disappeared, I carefully picked up the box. What was happening to it?
Purple was the color of fairy magic, and though its light had disappeared, I still felt the fairy powers within my box. Had the fairies found a way to help me? If so, then what were they hinting at? It must have had something to do with the amber magic—the Earth magic.
It was starting to make sense.
There was no such thing as Wult magic, but thousands of years ago, Vikings had crossed from Earth Kingdom, and although most humans weren’t aware of it, Earth magic existed.
I grabbed the box and turned the Wult symbol to face me. The backward three shape burned gold against the black backdrop. Focusing, I let my Earth magic flow into the symbol. Since I’d done this several times now, aligning the magic with the symbol was getting easier.
Warm, fluid magic encircled my hands as it moved into the stone. The light grew brighter as energy drained from my body. After the spell entered the stone, the symbol disappeared.
Relief washed over me. I looked up, not seeing any fairies present but wondering if they could hear me. “Thank you,” I said aloud. I didn’t get an answer, but I felt they heard me.
I turned back to the box. Four symbols down, one to go—the one I dreaded most. I turned the box so the skull symbol faced me. No matter how far I’d come, none of it mattered if I didn’t get past the black magic symbol. But how? I’d never used black magic before. Most people hadn’t. I had seen others use it—the Regaymor, Geth, the bloodthorn. I’d also seen the witch use it, although her magic seemed less tainted, but I wasn’t exactly sure why. My hands shook as I held the stone box. I’d come too far just to fail.
Pacing the library, I tried to find some clue about how to conjure black magic, but the more I pondered it, the more manipulated I felt. Surely the witch knew I didn’t possess the art. She’d given me an impossible task… unless she’d intended for me to harness Theht’s powers. But was she even aware Theht existed within me? It seemed unlikely, as I’d never told anyone.
I left the library feeling more frustrated than hopeful. Afternoon gave way to evening as I found the staircase leading down to the dungeon. The sound of dripping water echoed through the dank chambers as I wandered from one room to the next. With only a few hours left to break the box’s spell, panic welled up inside me. I felt desperate to open it, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with any way to do it.
My thoughts distracted me from paying attention to where I was going, and as I wandered through the dungeons, it took me longer than I would have liked to find Kull’s chamber. When I finally located the room and entered, I found him sleeping on a straw mattress on the floor, covered with a rough gray blanket. Dark circles shadowe
d his sunken eyes, twitching behind closed eyelids. I hoped to never see him like this again, but it seemed Kull, like me, would never be free of the demons haunting him.
Kull stirred as I sat beside him, but he didn’t open his eyes. The stone collar glowed faintly around his neck. It was only a matter of time before he transformed completely and became one of the wraiths.
I gently took his hand and held his fingers in mine. I’d hoped to talk to him about the box, but now I didn’t want to disturb him, so I removed the lotus cube from my pocket and placed it in front of me. I’d found the secret for removing the Wult spell, so maybe learning how to overcome black magic would be possible, too.
As I sat on the cold stone floor, I whispered one spell after another, but none of them had any effect on the box. Time passed, and I knew it was near midnight when I finally stood up and paced the room. My hands grew clammy as I held the box. With only a few minutes before the spell transformed Kull, I knew I’d run out of options.
As I paced the room, I noticed Kull’s sword hanging on the wall like a trophy. Silvestra was controlling Kull with the sword just like the journals and elven talismans in the library. Glancing from the box to the sword, I realized playing her game was no longer an option. Silvestra had sworn opening the box was possible—and maybe it was—if she’d given me a few months to figure it out. But truthfully, I still wasn’t sure breaking the spell was something I could do.
The box grew warm as I held it. I studied the skull symbol one last time, feeling as if it mocked me. I was so done with that stupid box. Tossing it across the room, I listened as it landed with a loud clatter on the paving stones. Turning, I grabbed Bloodbane’s worn handle, feeling its heaviness and perfectly balanced weight in my hands. In the dim candlelight, each nick and dent was made apparent. Each time Kull had battled was etched into the sword’s surface. Every drop of blood, of sweat, of tears… well, possibly not tears—I wouldn’t go that far. But every war he’d fought had been won with this sword.
Glancing at Kull’s sleeping form, I prayed he would forgive me for what I was about to do. I only hoped my unholy act bought his freedom.
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