Placing Bloodbane on the floor, I took several steps back. This was going to be dangerous. I’d created fire hot enough to liquefy metal before, but this fire had to be hot enough to disintegrate it. Now I would find out if I had enough power within me to destroy the one talisman Kull held sacred above any other.
Good thing he loved me.
Collecting the power within me, I focused on the sword, letting my anger fuel my magic. Bands of blue and amber wrapped around my wrists and traveled in hot waves up my arms. My hands fisted, and the magic released into the sword. The fire burned from ocher to white as it consumed the blade. Heat singed my eyebrows and forced me to back away, but I kept my focus on the sword, allowing all my energy to flow into fueling the magic.
Bursts of light blinded me as the sword melted. Flames licked the fragments that fell away, casting embers that flitted into the air. In a matter of minutes, nothing remained of the sword but a black stain on the floor. Sweating and breathing heavily, I stumbled back, then rushed to Kull, so dizzy I almost fell as I moved to his side.
“Kull,” I said, shaking his shoulder.
As he opened his eyes, the collar encircling his neck glowed bright. In that brief moment when his eyes met mine, he didn’t know me. A wild, unsettling fear replaced his look of centered calmness, and he clamped my wrist.
“Where am I?” He breathed as if he’d come back from the brink of drowning.
“It’s all right. I’m here,” I said.
“Olive?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m right here.”
I grabbed his hand in mine. The collar glowed brighter and then began to disappear. It faded slowly, disintegrating the same way the sword had done. His eyes opened wide as he touched his neck.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
“It’s okay. I destroyed the collar. You’re free.”
“What? How?”
“I… umm, it’s a bit of a long story. I’d better tell you when we’re out of this castle. Do you think you can walk?”
His heavy breathing echoed through the empty room. Finally, he sat up. I didn’t know what kind of pain he was suffering, and I didn’t know if the witch were responsible or not, but I did know that mental pain was worse than physical. Those deep scars no one could see healed slowly, if they ever healed at all.
I smoothed the hair away from his brow. If she’d injured him, I would not rest until she paid for it.
“Kull, what’s wrong? Did the witch hurt you?”
“I…” He gasped. His eyes scanned the room as if he were a caged animal. “Olive?”
“I’m here.”
Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing. I glanced back at the door. We needed to escape now before the witch or one of the wraiths discovered that I’d destroyed the sword and the collar.
“Do you know the way to the waterfall?” I asked.
“Yes.” He sat up. “It’s not far.”
“Can you walk?”
He nodded but was slow to stand up, so I put my arm around him.
“Where’s the exit?”
“There’s a doorway in the back. It’s locked, but Bloodbane will make short work of the lock.” He turned to the wall where his sword had hung. “Where’s my sword?”
He walked to the wall, keeping his eyes on the black spot on the floor. I couldn’t follow. I wasn’t sure if he’d ever forgive me for this. He’d left me for ten months after his father’s death. What would he do after I’d destroyed his sword?
“Kull,” I said, “I need to tell you something.”
He scuffed his boot on the blackened spot.
“I’m sorry, but destroying the sword was the only way to get that collar off your neck.”
He was silent for a moment. What was he thinking? He’d told me once that the sword was an heirloom. How old was it? Hundreds of years? Sighing, my heart felt heavy. Kneeling in the ash, he rubbed it with his fingertips, as if paying homage to an honored friend, as if a piece of himself had died with the sword.
When he stood, he gave me a small smile, but I saw the sadness in his eyes. I almost felt I could hear his heart breaking as he walked toward me.
“We need to go,” he said.
“Are you angry with me?”
“Of course not. I’d rather have my life than my sword.” He sighed. “But I will not lie, Bloodbane will be missed. I hardly felt like myself without my sword, and now I suppose I’ll never feel like myself again.”
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Will you be all right?”
“Yes, as soon as we’re free of this place. Come, I’ll show you the passage I found.”
I followed him through the cavernous room and to the back wall where a small metal door sat in a stone alcove. A lock was attached to the door’s handle.
“I’ll try to pry the mechanism apart,” Kull said.
It took him a moment, but he crushed the metal in his hands until it split apart, and then he grunted as he finally pulled the broken lock away from the door.
“Easy,” he said, smiling. “I don’t think anyone uses this passage much, or else we would’ve had a harder time of it.”
“That, or you’ve got incredible grip strength,” I said.
“Yes.” His smile broadened. “I like that explanation better.”
Kull found a torch and some oiled cloth and lit it as we walked through the doorway and down a winding path. The firelight flickered off the rough stone walls. Cobwebs blocked our way in several places. Up ahead came the sound of rushing water, and soon we emerged under the moonlit sky onto a ledge that jutted out from a cliffside. The rushing waterfall created a dazzling white curtain that blocked our path. Kull extinguished the torch and led me to a set of steps that had been hewn into the rock face.
“It’s slippery, so you’ll have to be careful.”
I followed him to the ledge’s edge, where the mountain’s face and ledge converged, and then we climbed down the steps. My heart echoed the thundering water, and my clammy hands didn’t help with the climb. But I found that some of the steps were covered in moss, which gave me a little more traction. As we descended, I couldn’t help but glance up at the castle. Sometime soon, the witch would find out we’d escaped. I prayed we were on a light carriage headed for the farthest reaches of Faythander when that happened.
The descent was strangely serene as we made it closer to the forest floor. We sank past the treetops, then down toward their trunks. In several places, the thick branches reached out and touched the rocks. I felt magic in their limbs and humming through the veins of each individual leaf. Moonlight glowed a bright silver on the moss-covered steps. As we neared the ground, the sound of the rushing waterfall grew distant.
“Almost there,” Kull called up to me as he stepped onto the ground.
Soon, I, too, stood on the forest floor. High above us, the towering parapets of the castle disappeared. Instead, in the moonlight, I saw the faint outline of a shimmering dome.
Chapter 12
“Brother, I thought you were dead.”
Heidel and Maveryck, with Grace still at his side, had found Kull and me as we descended the mountain. Maveryck was still carrying the staff of Zaladin. I was starting to hate that staff. It had already caused more trouble than it was worth.
“Why did you think such a thing?” Kull asked. “You know I’ve escaped tougher foes than the dragon.”
“True. You should have been dead long ago.”
“And I didn’t need your aid to rescue me this time. I must be improving.”
Heidel laughed. “Luck is the reason you escaped.”
We walked away from the mountain and toward the light-rails. Earlier in the morning, we’d made it halfway down the mountain before Maveryck’s wolf had spotted the dragon circling overhead. We’d hidden for more than an hour, watching as the wraiths searched for us. After the wraiths moved to another area of the mountain, we made our escape.
“Once we’re out of her territory, she’ll have a har
d time tracking us,” Maveryck had said.
We stayed under the cover of the tree canopy as much as we could, trading snow-covered ground for damp leaves that masked the sound of our footsteps, until we crossed the border between her land and ours.
By the time we made it to the light-rails, it was mid-afternoon. We hadn’t stopped once to eat or rest, but I knew we couldn’t afford to slow down. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally climbed into a carriage.
The coach was everything one would expect from elven technology and luxury. Overstuffed, cream-colored cushions, soft, ambient lighting, and the gentle hum of the magical-mechanical engine were enough to lull me to sleep, yet I couldn’t rest. I could hardly believe I’d finally made it out of the witch’s castle. At any moment, I expected to wake up and find myself back in the palace, wandering through the maze of hallways, trying to find a way to open that cursed box.
Kull sat beside me, his face pensive as he stared out the coach’s windows. I took his hand, and he gave me a small smile, then traced his fingers over the scars encircling my wrists. Not long ago, I’d been held prisoner by the bloodthorn, and the scars were an ever-present reminder of my enslavement. Kull bore no physical scars from his time in the witch’s castle, but as he glanced at me, his eyes clouded with fear. What had she done to him?
“Kull, are you okay?” I asked quietly.
He smiled but didn’t answer, then he kissed my knuckles and turned away from me to stare out the window once again. His silence disturbed me, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“You’re both lucky to be alive,” Maveryck said, breaking the tense silence. “Most who enter the witch’s castle never escape.”
“How did you escape?” Heidel asked.
“It wasn’t easy,” I answered. “The witch tried to make me open a box that would set Kull and me free, but it wasn’t possible for me to open it, so I got creative.”
“How so?”
“She destroyed Bloodbane,” Kull answered.
“She did what?” Heidel’s eyes widened. “And you’re still speaking to her?”
“I’d rather have my life than my sword,” he answered. “Which begs another question. Sister, where were you while I was imprisoned?”
Heidel cast a sidelong glance at Maveryck. “We were attacked by the wraiths. They’d nearly overpowered us when something strange happened with that staff. I don’t know how to describe it.”
Maveryck spoke up. “Its magic reacted with its reflection in the ice on the frozen pond where we were fighting, and it created a portal.”
“A portal to where?” I asked.
“Earth Kingdom, as far as we could tell. When we returned, the last remaining wraith was dead and we had the staff. After that, we returned for you.”
“So you must have killed the wraith and taken the staff while you were on Earth?” I asked.
“It appears so. But now that we have it, we must be careful. If it can create portals on its own, then it is more dangerous than we imagined,” Maveryck said.
“I’ve never heard of an object creating portals on its own,” I said.
“Nor have I. There are many mysteries surrounding the talismans of the Madralorde brothers and many secrets that have been kept hidden for centuries. Now that we have it, we would be wise to keep it safe. Your stepfather will know what to do with the staff.”
“Are we traveling to his mountain now?”
It occurred to me then that I had no clue where we were headed. As soon as we’d escaped the witch, I didn’t care where we went as long as we headed as far away from the castle as possible.
“No, we won’t travel to his mountain. Your stepfather is in the Wult lands for the wedding.”
“Wedding?”
“Rolf is getting married,” Heidel explained. “It all happened suddenly while you were in Earth Kingdom. The invitations had to be sent magically or else everyone would have missed the marriage.”
“Are you sure my stepfather is there?” I asked. “The last I spoke with him, he was on a quest to find the lost sword of the Madralorde.”
“I am certain he will be there,” Kull answered. “His duties as sky king dictate that he attend the marriage of our nobles.”
Outside, the carriage sped past mountains and onto open plains. Usually, I enjoyed seeing the mountains, but this time I couldn’t wait to get away from them.
Were we really free from the witch? Was Kull free from her? I wasn’t sure how much power she had away from her castle, and I also didn’t want to find out.
“So Rolf is getting married,” I said, trying to get my mind off darker matters. “When did this happen? And who is he marrying?”
Kull shrugged. “No idea.”
“He’s marrying a girl from the eastern clan,” Heidel said. “He met her a month ago.”
“A month? That was fast.”
“It’s not unusual for Wults to marry so quickly,” Kull said. “To be honest, after my father’s passing, it will be good to have a wedding in the family to lighten our spirits.”
Outside the carriage windows, the sky darkened. If we were headed to the Wult lands, we’d most likely spend all night traveling.
My mind wandered as we drew closer to our destination. I’d slept for only a few hours at a time during the journey—I’d had too many mishaps on these carriages to feel completely comfortable. When the sky finally lightened, I glanced through the window to find low-lying gray clouds spanning fields of dry wheat husks. We sped so fast through the fields that the stalks blurred together.
“Still a few hours to go,” Maveryck said quietly.
I turned to him. “I didn’t realize you were awake.”
“I don’t sleep well on these carriages.”
“Neither do I.”
Grace shifted at his feet and let out a short whine, so he scratched her head.
“Not much longer,” he said to her.
She rested her chin on her paws, and Maveryck shifted the staff out of her way. As he did, I noticed the runes etched onto its surface.
“How much do you know about that staff?” I asked.
“Not much. I do know that it was named after Zaladin, who was one of the Madralorde brothers. The legends don’t all agree about the Madralorde talismans, and as of yet, no one knows for sure where the brothers found the magic to fuel the objects they created.”
I studied the staff and found a bluish haze emanating from the worn wood, but the magic felt old and I feared to probe it further. The sensation was akin to touching brittle paper that would disintegrate if handled too much.
“It’s been enchanted with elven magic, but I can’t tell much more than that. Do you know how old it is?” I asked.
He shook his head. “There’s a great deal of speculation on that topic as well. Some say the objects can’t be more than three hundred years old, while others claim the Madralorde brothers lived before the Vikings arrived, more than fourteen hundred years ago.”
“That’s a large gap in time. Can’t anyone narrow it down more than that?”
“No. When the Madralorde brothers died, they took all their knowledge with them. They hid their weapons; they destroyed their scrolls. No one even knows where their keep was located, or even if it actually existed. Not much remains of their knowledge, making it impossible to understand anything at all about them. The few surviving journals don’t tell us much.”
“When do you think they lived?” I asked.
“No idea, though seeing the staff now, I would say it’s older than we suspected. These runes are written in an ancient elven language that hasn’t been in use for more than two thousand years.”
“Two thousand? That’s a little older than the historians thought. But it doesn’t make much sense. Wouldn’t that wood be rotten after two thousand years?”
“With the proper spells in place, I believe it could last for several millennia.”
I studied the staff, wishing I knew more about it.
“My
stepfather said it had the power to control Theht.”
“No, by itself it can’t do such a thing. All seven items would have to be reunited, and even then, I’m not convinced it’s possible.”
“The elves think it’s possible.”
“True. But the elven queen is desperate, and she’ll resort to extreme measures to get what she wants.”
Beside me, Kull shifted and grimaced as if he were in pain. “No,” he whispered in his sleep, but then he shifted again and the pain disappeared from his face.
“Has he always had nightmares?” Maveryck asked.
“I don’t think so,” I answered.
He eyed Kull. “The witch did something to him.”
“Yes, she tortured him.”
“No, she did something else—something to his mind.”
“How do you know?”
Maveryck looked me in the face, his eyes intense as the sun’s first rays streaked across the floor.
“It happened to one of my companions a long time ago. He didn’t live long after his encounter with Silvestra. The nightmares were too much.”
“You think the same thing is happening to Kull?”
“I believe so. There aren’t many who escape the witch unscathed.”
“Can I help him?”
“No. Only he can undo what the witch has put into his mind.”
My heart clenched. Theht had entered my mind, and it was already driving me insane. Had the witch done the same thing to him? I took his hand and gripped his fingers. I would not let anything happen to him. It had taken so long to get him back. Heaven help me, I would unleash every evil in the world just to bring him back to me.
Yes, you would, Theht’s voice whispered.
I closed my eyes, pushing away the voice that lingered so close to my consciousness. Pondering those words would drive me insane, but the truth was hard to ignore. How far would I go to save him? Would I obey Theht? Would I become the Deathbringer?
The image of my magic connecting with the comet came to mind, and I felt as though I was there again, standing in the desert, watching my own powers bring about the destruction of the world.
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