I turned my attention to the crystal clutched in my hand. If I used it to heal him, it meant there would be no magic left to open the portal. It meant I would never escape this cursed world and return home. I would be trapped here forever without a way back.
The glowing blue light from the portal reflected off his skin, making his pale countenance look ghostly. With his breathing growing more labored, coupled with his blood loss, he wouldn’t last much longer.
I made my decision. Grasping the crystal tight and holding it over him, I felt the warmth of the magic stirring inside. I hated magic, but if using it meant I could save him, I would do it without hesitation.
“Heal him,” I whispered. Inside the shard, magic stirred, warming my hand. It glowed with a soft white light, but the magic stayed within the crystal, unmoving.
“Heal him!” I demanded as I held it over Maveryck’s heart, willing the magic to work. But it only shone a faint light, barely bright enough to illuminate his face. I waited, watching as the magic faded, and then it disappeared altogether.
This isn’t happening.
Around his neck, blood soaked through the makeshift bandage, making the blue flowers turn black. I felt for a pulse in his neck and in his wrists. Tears stained my cheeks as I pressed my ear to his chest, but I heard only silence. It deafened me. The absence of his heartbeat was the loneliest sound I’d ever heard.
I screamed out in frustration and pain, my voice echoing through the cave. Anger over losing him bubbled inside, threatening to boil over.
What curse had been placed on me that I should lose everyone I loved?
I grabbed the useless crystal and threw it across the room. It clattered on the floor, ringing out against the stone until the sound faded, plunging me even deeper into silence, alone with Maveryck’s body.
As I looked at him—at his stone-gray skin and unfocused eyes—I knew he was dead. I debated going to the portal and trying to find a way through, but my mind had gone to a strange place, and I couldn’t fully concentrate on anything. I found myself sitting beside Maveryck, holding his hand in mine. As I stared at our entwined fingers, my scars stood out in the portal’s light, making me remember how I’d gotten them.
“I should have told you,” I said, whispering, “how I got the scars.” I exhaled nervously. “I was seventeen. I was on a scouting expedition near the goblin lands. Our troop got attacked by creatures we thought were elves. Most of my companions were captured, but I managed to escape, only to fall into a trap and break my leg.”
Behind me, the portal sparked, but I ignored it and continued my story.
“After three days alone with no food, I thought I would die in the trap. But then he found me. He rescued me and healed my leg with his magic. I thought he was my savior.
“I continued to meet him in secret after that, and I fell in love with him. One day, when I went to meet him in the forest, he didn’t show up. When I searched for him, I found him in his true form—a goblin.
“He scared me and I ran away, but then he caught me. He hurt me. His goblin’s skin exuded chemicals that burned me, so he grabbed my arms, refusing to release me until I promised to stay with him. When he finally let go, I was bleeding so badly. I will never forget that pain because I’ve never felt anything worse.”
I pried Maveryck’s stiff fingers from mine, and then I gently ran my finger over his cheek.
“The pain stayed with me always,” I said. “It never went away. Even after his death, I still felt the poison inside me. Until I met you.”
The portal’s light moved like water over his skin, smooth and fluid, almost lifelike.
“I don’t know how it happened,” I continued, “or how to explain it, but after I met you, I didn’t feel the pain anymore. You made it go away.” I pushed the hair away from his forehead and gently kissed him. “I should have told you sooner. I was too afraid you were like him. But you’re not. I wished I’d realized it sooner. You’re not like him, Maveryck.”
I stood and backed toward the portal, knowing I would never be the same without him. Behind me, the light glowed in colors of blue and silver. I found the staff and the crystal, and then I faced the portal.
Could I really go back without him?
I would forget everything once I went through. I would forget how I felt about him and how he’d made my pain go away, and I would forget the sound of his voice and the way his eyes sparkled with magic. I tried to convince myself that this was for the best—that perhaps it was best to forget, because then I would no longer feel the pain of losing him—but that thought only made me feel worse.
Looking behind me, I wasn’t sure I could just leave him here on this world with no burial and no one to remember him. I still knew so little about him, and I didn’t even know where to find his family. Was there anyone in the world who would miss him? But as I stared at his body lying prone on the stone floor, I watched as his skin changed from gray to pink.
I blinked. I’m making this up. He’s dead. He’s not coming back.
But the longer I stared, the more I doubted my own sanity. The color was returning to his skin. I crossed to him, knelt at his side, and then placed the staff aside. I pulled the bandages, stiff with dried blood, off his neck, shocked to find the flesh knitted back together.
And then his eyes opened.
I gasped and fell backward. What was happening? Was he some sort of wraith transformed? Black magic must have been at work, because I knew there was no magic that could restore life to the dead.
He sat up slowly, and I didn’t know if I should be elated or terrified. My heart hammered in my chest.
“Heidel?” he whispered. His eyes gleamed, reflecting the silver-blue in the light emanating from the portal. I’d known only one other person who’d been someone else—someone who wore a man’s skin to hide the monster inside.
“Maveryck, what’s going on? What… Who are you?”
He only shook his head, his breath coming out in quick gasps. The sound of his labored breathing was the only sound in the cavern. I tried to wrap my mind around the situation, that Maveryck had died and was now breathing and speaking once again—but as much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn’t. It had to be some sort of trick.
“Maveryck, is that really you?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“But… how? You died. I watched you die.”
“It’s difficult to explain,” he answered, his voice distant and quiet. My heart pounded as I stared at him. As much as he frightened me, I refused to let my fear show, so I moved toward him.
“Please,” I said quietly, kneeling beside him. “I need to know who you are.”
“I… I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
He focused on the portal. “Because I’ve never told anyone.”
“But you have to tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because I just watched you return from the dead, for Odin’s sake! You owe me some sort of explanation.”
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. Perhaps this was the Maveryck I knew. “If I tell you,” he said quietly, “you must swear not to tell anyone. It is a secret I’ve kept my entire life.”
“Very well, I give you my oath, one Wult to another. I will not repeat what you tell me. Besides,” I said, nodding toward the portal, “I won’t remember anything anyway. Will I?”
“I suppose not.” His voice grew distant as he spoke. “I was born to Wult parents and adopted by elves, that much you know, but what you don’t know is that this happened almost five centuries ago.”
I gasped. “Five centuries. So you’re five hundred years old?”
Maveryck nodded.
“How is that possible?”
“I can explain, though it’s a bit of a story. You’re sure you want to know?”
“Yes.” I still couldn’t believe I was sitting here talking to him.
“It started with my brother, Navarre,” he said. “After my adopted elven parents died, he
was left to raise me, but he had a secret. Navarre was obsessed with the dark arts, and he wanted eternal youth. His fixation led him to the northlands where he studied potions. After he left on his journey to the goblin realm, I didn’t see him again for many years. I’d assumed he died, but one night, he returned.
“Navarre was horribly disfigured. He’d lost most of his skin, and his eyes and lips had been cut away. How he made it back to our keep was a mystery. Yet he lived, and he carried two small bottles of potion with him. My brother instructed me in the proper use of the potion, including an elaborate ritual where the potion was to be drunk under the darkness of a new moon.
“We each took turns drinking the potion, which was supposed to give us everlasting life. Where his potion failed him, mine did not. I’m still not sure why mine worked, although it most likely had to do with my Wult heritage. However, the potion was not my salvation. It was my curse. It gave me unending life, but it also altered my brain, making it impossible for me to forget memories or emotions. Years ago, the memories would become so debilitating that I would be bed-ridden for days. But over time I have learned how to close off my mind, so now, I can function. Better than before, anyway.
“The ability to recall information eventually led to my studies in magical arts, and it is how I was named as a druid.”
“Druid?” I asked. “I am no magic user. What does that mean?”
His eyes twinkled, the purple flecks seeming to glitter. I’d always known there was something different about him, and now I knew why.
“It means I am a keeper of knowledge and magical enchantments. Although my own powers are limited, I’m privy to information that could alter the course of our worlds if not kept secret.”
“What sort of secrets?”
“Secrets about the future of Faythander—things no one should have to know.”
His words sent chills down my spine. “What are you talking about? What secrets?”
Before he could answer my question, the ground shook violently, stronger than any of the other tremors thus far.
“We have to get out of here,” I shouted. Small pebbles fell from the ceiling, and a crack split the rock in the wall as I helped Maveryck stand.
He grabbed the staff, and together, we dodged the falling rocks to make it to the portal. I choked on the dust filling the air as rocks plummeted from the ceiling, and I winced as a sharp stone hit my back.
“Do you have my crystal?” Maveryck called.
“Yes.” I pressed the gem into his hand. His eyes locked with mine.
“Are you ready?” he asked me.
No. I wasn’t ready. He’d died and come back to life, making me realize the feelings I had for him weren’t connected to any spells or enchantments. I had to tell him how I felt, even if he forgot.
“Maveryck,” I said, “I wanted to tell you… before we leave.” The rumbling increased, and if I weren’t holding onto him, I would have fallen. “I need to tell you something,” I shouted.
“Tell me what?”
“I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”
“What? I thought you hated me.”
“I do. But sometimes, I also like you. I only realized it once you died.”
“Then I’m glad I died!”
“Me too!”
Large boulders smashed to the ground, exploding into tiny pieces.
“We should probably go,” he shouted.
“I know.” But as I held to him, gripping his hand and feeling his pulse beneath my fingertips, I didn’t want to leave. What would happen when we forgot everything? “But I don’t want to forget you.”
The ground stopped rumbling, although an occasional rock still smashed to the ground. The sudden silence made my ears ring. Looking behind us, I found the entrance blocked by a pile of rubble.
We only had one way out.
Losing my memories of him was inevitable.
“Isn’t there some way to avoid the memory loss?” I asked him. “Your powers—you said you were a druid—can’t you use a spell of some sort?”
He shook his head. “I wish I could, but only a memory charm would allow us to keep our memories.”
“Then it’s hopeless?”
“No. We’ll lose our memories, but our emotions will remain unaltered. We’ll still feel the same way about one another, even if we don’t know why.”
Sighing, I turned back toward the portal. It wasn’t the answer I’d hoped for.
He took my hand and gently kissed my knuckles. “I won’t forget how I feel about you.”
Sappy moments were most definitely not my thing. I would always prefer fighting to kissing. Well, almost always. But right now, since I wouldn’t remember anyway, I cupped his cheek in my hand, leaned forward, and gave him a gentle kiss.
“Neither will I,” I said.
Together, we faced the portal. As we approached, Maveryck’s crystal reacted with the energy, glowing with a white-hot light that blinded me as we stepped through the magical barrier.
I awoke, and I was freezing cold. Trying to get my bearings, I realized I lay in the snow alongside the frozen lake’s shore. The sun shone bright overhead, a quarter past its zenith, meaning it must have been mid-afternoon.
What? Hadn’t it been night?
Glancing down at my body, I gasped, and then I sat up.
“What am I wearing?”
Beside me, Maveryck stirred. Shocked, I found him clothed in only a pair of pants. He sat up as well, looking dazed as he rubbed his head.
“What happened?” he asked.
I scanned the surrounding area, searching for some explanation for the apparent time lapse. The staff lay not far from us, but I saw no signs of the wraith. I grabbed it and attempted to stand, but a wave of dizziness washed over me, so I remained sitting.
Maveryck took the staff from me and ran his hands over the wood. The runes etched into the staff’s surface glowed faintly, and a crystal around his neck also lit up. He grabbed the stone and then turned toward the lake. The ice shimmered a bright blue, the same color coming from the staff. His eyes widened as he looked from the lake to the staff.
He cursed.
“What’s the matter?”
“It seems we may have been caught in a portal.”
“What?” My stomach turned queasy as the implications sank in. If we’d been caught in a portal, did that mean we’d lost all our memories? Judging by the clothing I was currently wearing, I must have been forcefully coerced and possibly tortured into wearing such a thing. And Maveryck… what had happened to his shirt?
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked.
Concentrating was hard to do with the fog muddling my brain. “We’d been in the silverwitch’s vault. We stole the staff, but when we escaped, my brother and Olive got trapped inside, and several of the wraiths chased us here. We fought them off, and then… ” I closed my eyes. The sun was too bright as it reflected off the snow, which didn’t help my blooming headache.
“The staff,” Maveryck said. “It reacted with its reflection in the ice, didn’t it?”
“Yes.” I crossed my arms in an attempt to generate warmth. “But what does that mean? What happened?”
“It must have opened a portal to Earth Kingdom. Since we’re both alive, we have the staff, and the creature is gone, it seems we were successful in our quest.”
“Successful? I disagree. I would never wear such a thing unless it was against my will.” I picked at the gauzy fabric. What an impractical piece of clothing.
The cold air helped to clear my head, and the dizziness began to dissipate. Maveryck stood, leaning against the staff as he walked toward me.
“We should get off this mountain and try to make it back to the Wult inn while there’s some daylight left. After that, I intend to find out what happened to our lost companions.”
“I agree.” I still felt unsettled at the prospect of losing my memories, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Mav
eryck reached his hand out toward me, and I stared up at him. Wind whipped snow particles around him, shimmering like tiny diamonds as they stuck to his skin. A powerful sense of longing stirred inside me as his gaze met mine, confusing me. I pushed the feeling aside and grabbed his hand, but when my skin touched his, the powerful, almost painful feeling of longing washed over me again.
After I stood, he didn’t release my hand as I’d expected. Instead, he only stared at me, his expression mirroring my confusion. Despite the snow, heat welled inside me, and I forced myself to catch my breath.
What had happened in Earth Kingdom?
Had I fallen for Maveryck? The thought seemed ludicrous on every level possible. He wasn’t my type. He was cold, emotionless, and horrible in a fight. Besides, I’d sworn never to fall in love again. But as we descended the mountain, the air grew warmer, and as it did, the shell covering my heart melted the tiniest bit.
Perhaps this wasn’t the end.
This was the beginning.
Deathbringer
Marked by death from the beginning—she will come in flame and ash, wielding the fire gifted to her of her fathers. She will cross worlds and mend the rift. She will bring death to the unbelievers, life to those marked by the ancient one. Her life will bring death, for she is the Deathbringer.
-Lucretian, First Druid of Faythander
Chapter 1
Fate sucks.
Why? Here’s a great example—I’m fated to destroy the world. There was this big prophecy about a person who would wield fire and come in flame and ash to kill everyone. And that person is apparently me.
Why me? Good question. I’ve never been given a straight answer. But if all goes as planned, I will change the course of an asteroid headed for our planet and then proceed to destroy the world. Yes, it’s all doom and gloom and very literally the-sky-is-falling madness, and I have nothing else to say on the matter except this…
Fate sucks.
“You’re saying there’s no way to stop the asteroid?” I asked Dr. Jackson.
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