Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening (Mortiswood Tales)

by Gina Dickerson

  Bran dropped beside Kaelia and touched her face. ‘Keep still. I’ll draw the poison out, the wolf can’t save you this time but I can.’

  Kaelia’s back arched in agony as Bran splayed his hands above her chest, his violet light lifting her from the ground. She could feel the poison fighting for survival, clinging onto the inside of her veins with tearing barbs of evil. Her mouth opened in a scream but no sound emerged.

  Over by the cave, the Vallesm momentarily won against the Dybbuk inhabiting Calix’s body and managed to pin the latter to the ground.

  Bran trembled with concentration. The poison twisted from Kaelia, intricate trails of it twining around his light and piercing into his hands. Tattooed tracks became visible through Bran’s skin as the poison crawled up the veins in his hands, into his arms. The skin on his cheeks rippled as the poison snaked underneath, darting into the corners of his mouth. Bran tipped his head back and a torrent of oily liquid rushed from his mouth, spraying an inky geyser into the air before cascading in an arc around them and eating into the earth. Bran snapped his head back up, the liquid all having been expelled, and gently lowered Kaelia to the ground.

  ‘You’re okay now.’ He stroked her forehead, wiping away the lingering dampness of sweat.

  Kaelia’s voice returned. ‘Your skin.’

  Bran rubbed the marks tattooing his hands. ‘It’ll wear off, eventually.’

  Kaelia sat up, peering over Bran’s shoulder to where the Vallesm had Calix secured to the ground, its immense jaw held warningly around his neck. ‘I need to free Calix from the Dybbuk.’

  Bran nodded. ‘Don’t I deserve a thank you?’

  ‘Thanks.’ Kaelia’s legs shook as she stood.

  Bran loomed closer. ‘I didn’t mean words.’ He grabbed her, pressing his lips against hers, energy fizzing between them.

  ‘No!’ Kaelia pushed him with such ferocity, Bran catapulted across the ground.

  Bran stopped himself from hitting the outer wall of the cave just in time and landed in a crouched position. ‘You feel it too, Kaelia,’ he said laughingly. ‘This thing between us!’

  Ignoring him, Kaelia reached the Vallesm in one huge jump and laid a restraining hand on its rigid back. ‘Release him.’

  The wolf’s strong jaws clicked with release. Calix immediately sprung into the air, demonic screeches streaming from his mouth. Kaelia fired at Calix’s chest, her light forcing the Dybbuk out from Calix’s body. His battered body fell to the floor with a sickening crunch of bone and the possessing demon furled upwards. Kaelia dropped to one knee, linked thumb with thumb and forced out a steady stream of blue-white light at the shadowy figure. Still screeching, the demon’s mouth opened so wide it engulfed Kaelia in a shadowy cloud.

  The touch of Bran’s hand jumpstarted Kaelia’s back into life. With flickers of light tingling her skin, she grasped Bran’s hand, uniting their power. The hair on her head rose with static, every feeling heightened. She could see clearer, hear every tiny movement in the woods, and even taste the foul putridness of the Dybbuk.

  ‘See?’ Bran laughed, coal-black eyes glittering with excitement. ‘Nothing feels as good as this, Kaelia. We are amazing together!’

  In the belly of the shadowy Dybbuk they focussed their light. Exhilaration lifted Kaelia and Bran off their feet until they hovered above the ground. Kaelia’s hair streamed wildly, the tips flickering into flames. The combination of their light surged purple, streams tearing the evil demon apart. Kaelia turned her head, cold fragments of shadows grazing her skin as the Dybbuk exploded.

  ‘That was amazing, don’t you agree? I told you we make a good team,’ Bran said as their feet retouched the ground.

  Kaelia frowned, hastily dropping his hand. She did not want to process her feelings. There was not the time. ‘Calix!’ She hurried to him and pulled him onto his back, pressing her ear near his mouth to listen for breath. ‘He’s alive!’

  Calix’s left elbow was set at an odd angle with bone protruding from torn flesh. His face was streaked with blood and gashes from where the Vallesm had battled to restrain him throughout the demon possession.

  ‘You’ll have to set his elbow before you revive him.’ Bran towered over them.

  ‘I can’t!’ Kaelia shuddered at the thought of it.

  Without so much as a flinch, Bran knelt and forced the elbow back into correct alignment. ‘It’s over to you now. I can’t help him if he’s still alive.’

  Kaelia once more summoned her powers to revive Calix. After what seemed an age, it registered Bran was calling her. His voice sounded distant, a dream sound drifting across a vast ocean. Calix moved underneath her light although his eyes remained closed. She could feel power draining from within her, yet tethered by magical unbreakable bonds to Calix, she was unable to withdraw her hands.

  ‘Enough, Kaelia!’ Bran bellowed. ‘Stop it now or you will die!’

  ‘I can’t stop!’ Kaelia managed to utter.

  * * *

  ‘Damn it!’ Bran stepped back and fired a violet bolt at Kaelia, breaking the stream of orange-red light pouring from her into Calix.

  The wolf reached Kaelia first, sliding to cushion her fall before she hit the ground but it did not matter, she was already unconscious. Bran dropped beside them, reaching for Kaelia’s wrist to check her pulse. The Vallesm growled warningly but allowed Bran to continue.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Calix groaned from where he lay between the scratchy bracken. ‘I feel as if I’ve been hit by a double-decker bus. Where’s Kaelia?’ His eyes roved over to the Vallesm and Bran. ‘Kaelia!’ Despite the all consuming ache in his bones, Calix tried to drag himself across the ground to Kaelia. ‘Can’t you do your light thingy and save her?’

  Bran shook his head. ‘I can bring back the recently dead but I can’t revive the living.’

  ‘But she’s dying!’

  ‘I know.’

  From its position supporting her, the Vallesm emitted a lengthy howl.

  ‘You’ll really stand there and let her die?’ Calix attempted CPR on Kaelia but her chest refused to rise.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’re a sadist.’

  ‘I’m a realist,’ Bran countered. ‘If she dies, I can bring her back. I can’t help her yet.’

  ‘There must be a spell to bring her back. You know the old magic, don’t you?’

  ‘I do.’ Bran’s voice was calm. ‘But I’m not wasting my energy trying it when I know I can bring her back from the dead.’

  ‘But will she still be herself? Can you guarantee she’ll be the Kaelia she was before death?’

  Bran rubbed his chin. ‘She may be a little different.’

  ‘More like you, you mean!’

  ‘She could be.’

  Calix jumped up, clenching his fists. ‘You’ve been planning this, haven’t you?’

  Bran shrugged.

  Rage boiled inside Calix. He drew back a fist and punched Bran square on the jaw.

  Bran, taken by surprise, stumbled momentarily. He chuckled and rubbed his chin. ‘Nice try.’ In a flash he reached Calix and wrapped a hand around his neck, lifting Calix clean off his feet. ‘I could kill you with a flick of my finger.’

  ‘Do it. Kaelia will never forgive you.’

  Bran laughed. ‘True.’ He flung Calix away with such ease he may as well have been a rag-doll.

  Calix crashed into a tree and fell in a slump at the base of it. ‘Kaelia!’ he croaked, pointing at her.

  Kaelia’s face twisted, her skin turning an anomalous grey colour. She drew in a ragged, noisy breath. Bran, now beside her, listened intently for an expulsion of air.

  ‘She’s dead,’ he said without any hint of emotion.

  ‘No!’ Calix cried

  The Vallesm howled. The light in its glowing eyes extinguished until they resembled frosted glass marbles.

  Bran rubbed his hands together. ‘Right, Kaelia,’ he said under his breath, ‘this will provide a very nice bond between the pair of us.’

&
nbsp; * * *

  It was dark. Kaelia knew her eyes were open but she couldn’t see a thing, not even her own hand when she held it in front of her eyes. Willing her light to glow, Kaelia splayed both hands outwards. Nothing. Not even so much as a fizzle.

  ‘Calix?’ she called. ‘Bran?’

  Her voice echoed in the darkness, racing away from her before shooting back at treble the decibels. Her legs felt odd when she attempted to move, as if they weren’t attached to the rest of her body. There was a suction release as she lifted a foot and she was pulled rapidly over an edge she couldn’t see, until she was cemented upside down by her boots to the underside of where she had stood previously. A rush of blood filled her ears and her long hair streamed downwards into the never ending void, the necklace with the amber amulet bashed against her chin. Dank mustiness lent an extra layer to the suffocating atmosphere and each time Kaelia wriggled her legs, dirt crumbled from the ground she was suspended from, showering her and torturing her eyes with each tiny, painful crumb that found its way under her eyelids. Where was she? One minute she’d been saving Calix, the next she’d passed out and awoken here. Wherever here was. Even at night in Mortiswood, with the moon behind clouds, it wasn’t this densely obsidian.

  ‘Help!’ Kaelia panicked. ‘Hello, can anyone hear me?’

  Nerves frazzling over not being able to see a thing, Kaelia wriggled her legs but whatever was keeping her stuck by her feet, was unyielding. Without her powers she was helpless.

  Kaelia squinted, certain two small yet vivid red lights approached. ‘Help!’ She waved her hands about, hoping whoever was in control of the lights could see better in the darkness than she could. Her heart shot into her mouth. They weren’t lights, they were eyes.

  ‘I will reach for you.’ The glowing eyes drew level with hers.

  ‘I can’t see you!’

  ‘I will assist with your sight once you are released,’ the voice was clipped, pronouncing the words “will” and “with” as if they began with the letter “v”.

  ‘How do I know I can trust you?’ Kaelia coughed, choked by the rising stench of decay wafting from whoever was in the darkness.

  Eyelids blinked, momentarily extinguishing the red glow. ‘What other choice do you have?’

  Kaelia shrank back as large, bony hands dug into her forearms, bruising her instantly.

  ‘Joro, solvo!’ The voice bellowed. ‘Earth, release!’

  Kaelia’s boots gradually unstuck with a suction release and she fell, only to be caught by the owner of the glowing eyes. ‘I still can’t see!’ she wailed.

  A cold, dry palm covered her eyes, the hand making her head feel the size of a grapefruit. ‘Eyaer, blikja,’ the voice murmured. ‘Your eyes will now see and shine.’

  Kaelia was placed on her feet and the hand removed from her eyes. Kaelia blinked several times and gasped. The figure standing before her was a man like she had never seen before. Twice her height with pale-blue tinged skin and a mane of black hair tied back in a ponytail. ‘Where am I?’ She edged backwards. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Thom.’ He held out a hand. ‘Go on shake it, I will not harm you.’

  His name struck fear into her heart. ‘No! You’re the leader of The Salloki!’

  There was no escape route. Mud hung above her head, roots distending through it. The ground Kaelia stood on was hard and lumpy, raven-black in colour that was broken up by glittering crystal rocks. The same stretched on for as far as her eyes could see. Air was different here, unmoving without a natural breeze to freshen it. It tasted bitter, shrivelling the taste buds, reminiscent of when a used lunchbox is left too long with its lid on and the air inside turns stale. There was not a sun to shed light, nor was there another person in sight. Kaelia was alone with the Draugr. She crossed her fingers and hoped the Vallesm could track her. This place wasn’t somewhere she wanted to stay long in.

  ‘Are you fed up with sending Dybbuks after me so you decided to come yourself?’ Kaelia raised her chin.

  Thom smirked. ‘You have misconstrued our intentions towards you.’

  ‘I don’t think so, not after you sent demons to kill me!’

  ‘We have not.’

  ‘What were you doing, testing me? Seeing how weak I was?’

  Thom’s bony hand was heavy on her shoulder, his touch hot through her clothes, burning in a way similar to a branding. His eyes flared, catching hers within them. ‘We do not think you weak. We know how your strength will grow, Kaelia.’

  Kaelia squirmed out from underneath the Draugr’s hold. She may have temporarily lost her powers but in their place, courage burned strong. ‘Why have you brought me here?’

  ‘You died. I caught you.’

  ‘I’m not dead. I’m right here!’

  ‘Your body is not.’ Thom chuckled nastily. ‘I saw it all; you, depleting your powers to save the human and The Dark One watching you die. He could have saved you but instead he allowed life to slip from you.’

  Kaelia’s lip wobbled, she bit it to steady it. ‘Why should I believe you?’

  Thom shrugged. ‘I do not see either of your friends here now. Where are they, where is your wolf?’

  ‘I don’t even know where I am so how can I expect them to?’

  Thom gestured expansively. ‘You are underneath the earth. This is my place. Few have seen this, Kaelia, you should think yourself fortunate.’

  Despite herself, Kaelia laughed. ‘Fortunate? Being stuck here with you? It’s pretty much hell to me.’

  ‘You want to live, to return to your friends and your life, yes?’

  ‘Of course!’

  ‘I can help you if you promise me one thing in return. I have the power to send you back.’

  Kaelia already knew what the price would be. ‘You want me to join The Salloki.’ It wasn’t a question.

  Thom held out his hand.

  ‘Were you the one who killed my father?’

  Thom’s gaze was steady. He licked his yellowed, pointy teeth before replying. ‘I instructed the death.’

  Kaelia swallowed. ‘And my mum?’

  ‘I know nothing about your mother. I do not need to lie.’

  Accepting his words, Kaelia nodded tightly. ‘Did you capture my grandmother’s spirit?’

  ‘I do not generally steal spirits, they come to me.’

  Kaelia frowned, none of it made any sense. ‘How about me?’

  Thom’s hand was still extended. ‘You, Kaelia, are my only interest. Come with me, willingly, and I will reunite you with your body.’

  Kaelia looked around, checking for a final time. There was nothing else in the eerily barren land. Angry for having no other option, Kaelia grabbed Thom’s bony hand. There was no other choice than to accept his double-edged offer.

  * * *

  Calix, his back hurting from having crashed against the tree, finally crawled over to where Kaelia’s body was suspended in mid-air by the violet light streaming from within Bran. Bran’s hair blazed with cool, violet flames, his eyes glittered onyx dark. The Vallesm, sitting on its haunches and howling incessantly, paid neither of them any attention. The wolf’s eyes were closed tight, lost in grief.

  ‘How long will it take to revive her?’ Calix asked.

  Bran didn’t answer.

  ‘How long? Tell me!’

  ‘Stop nagging me.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘She should’ve returned already!’

  ‘Are you sure you’re doing it right?’

  Bran tossed him a look of contempt. ‘This isn’t my first time.’

  ‘Let lots of young women die so you can play puppet-master, do you?’

  ‘Shut up and let me concentrate.’

  ‘If you don’t bring her back, I’ll kill you and feed you to the Vallesm.’

  Bran flicked a spark of violet light in Calix’s direction, sending it biting into his cheek, enjoying the cries of pain. ‘Now is not the time for jokes, Human.’

  * * *

  Violet tentacles
wrapped around Kaelia’s hand, twining up her wrist and creeping over her forearm to form an unbreakable bond. Thom juddered violently, plumes of smoke engulfing them both in a purple hued ball. With a screech, Thom scooped Kaelia onto his back just as he abandoned his immense, Draugr form in favour of a terrifying horse-beast without ears or a tail. Kaelia couldn’t move, her hand trapped by what was now the horse-beast’s mane. She was forced to stay astride as the Thom-horse thundered through the barren landscape.

  Sweat had penetrated Kaelia’s jeans by the time Thom slowed to a halt. His horse flanks glistened wet and the mane, matted around Kaelia’s hand, dripped. She slid gratefully from the back of the beast as the mane unknotted. Her legs resembled the consistency of jelly and offered no support. Smoke swirled around Thom once more as he juddered back into his Draugr shape.

  ‘Ready?’ Thom’s fiery eyes narrowed.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘You must walk into the Drauguri Sea.’ Thom pointed at the still water behind Kaelia.

  Kaelia, who hadn’t noticed the change in scenery having been morbidly fascinated by Thom’s shape-shifting ability, scrambled to her feet. A sapphire sea spread before her, disappearing into a horizon devoid of sky or clouds. Overhead, mud and roots still hung, the occasional sprinkle of earth cascading down being the sole movement in the water.

  ‘And then what?’ Kaelia’s throat was dry. Why was her throat dry if she was nothing more than a ghost?

  Thom stepped into the sapphire water and it soaked into his dark clothing, ran upwards over his face, into his hair and down his back. ‘Allow the water to consume you, to fill your lungs and breathe new life into them.’

  ‘And I’ll return to my body?’ Kaelia stepped into the water.

  Thom nodded. ‘I will guide you back to your body.’

  ‘I’ll be me again, how I was before?’