The girl tipped her head to one side. ‘You’re new here, aren’t you? I’ve not seen you before.’
Kaelia nodded. Why wouldn’t the girl say who she was? Kaelia tried again. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’
The girl laughed, a light, tinkling sound. ‘Did I forget to tell you? I’m always forgetting things and Aunty becomes really cross with me, she says I get it from my mummy. My mummy was beautiful and pretty. I’m supposed to look just like her.’
Kaelia stepped backwards, still clasping onto the Vallesm’s long fur. ‘How lovely but I’m looking for someone. I must find her as soon as possible. I don’t have time to chat.’
The girl nodded. ‘I know. You’re looking for your grandmother. Shall I show you where she is?’
‘Do you know who I am?’
‘Everyone knows who you are!’ The girl grabbed Kaelia’s hand.
Kaelia felt mean but snatched her hand back. ‘I still don’t know your name.’ Why wouldn’t the girl tell her?
The girl scrunched up her nose. ‘Did I forget to tell you?’
Kaelia suppressed irritation and nodded.
Laughter tinkled from the girl’s rose-bud mouth. ‘I’m Rosalie.’ She pointed at her lips. ‘And yes, named so because of my pretty lips.’
Kaelia gulped. ‘You can read my thoughts?’
The girl nodded. ‘Of course. Can’t you read mine?’
Kaelia shook her head and instantly regretted it.
‘Never mind.’ Rosalie shrugged. ‘I’ll show you where your grandmother is being kept.’
A thought struck Kaelia. ‘Rosalie, who is your aunt?’
Confusion shadowed Rosalie’s clear, amethyst eyes. ‘You don’t know.’ It was a statement; Rosalie already knew Kaelia didn’t as she had read Kaelia’s thoughts. ‘She’s Hel. My aunty is Hel.’
‘I can’t come with you.’ Kaelia backed away, the Vallesm sloping with her.
Rosalie smiled. ‘You can and you will. I already know you will. I won’t hurt you, I promise. They say my mummy was beautiful and I want to be like her.’ She laughed. ‘I forget sometimes Mummy is gone, but she was beautiful. They tell me she was.’
Kaelia trembled. Something about the young girl unsettled her.
‘Please,’ Rosalie held her hand out. ‘I will take you to your grandmother, I’m not lying.’
Kaelia knew it could be a trap but, looking around her, she had no other choice. She allowed the young girl to take her hand. ‘How old are you?’
Rosalie skipped beside her as they floated down the remainder of the corridor. ‘I forget.’ Shadows darkened the light of her eyes again. ‘I remember visiting your world and there was lots of noise and things fell from the skies, making the buildings fall. There was fire.’
‘Bombs?’
‘I forget what they were called.’ Rosalie sucked her lip. ‘It was so loud. I prefer it here. It’s quiet and I can paint all the time. I like painting.’
‘Did you paint all of these paintings from photographs?’
They stopped moving. ‘What are photographs?’
‘You mean you’ve met all of your aunt’s lovers?’ Kaelia waved a hand in the direction of the wall of paintings. ‘There are hundreds of pictures here.’ She shivered, noticing two of Thom. One as he would have been as a human, the other as he was now, Draugr.
‘I forget if I’ve met them all.’ Rosalie smiled softly. ‘I remember some of them but some names I forget.’ She pulled Kaelia again and they floated to the last painting on the wall. It was by far the largest in the collection. ‘This is my father. I forget his name but isn’t he handsome? I dream of him sometimes. He wants to see me but Aunty will not allow him to.’
In horror, Kaelia digested the image before her. It didn’t make any sense. Her lip wobbled, she bit it to stop the tremors.
Rosalie’s young face lit up, reading Kaelia’s thoughts. ‘You know him! I don’t think I’ve met him. I forget what Aunty says about him but I think she does not love him so much any more because she doesn’t want me to see him. I would love to see him,’ she prattled on as they floated down another corridor and into a room without a ceiling. ‘Could you take me to him?’ Rosalie lowered her voice. ‘If we go now, Aunty may not see us.’ She tugged at Kaelia’s arm excitedly.
‘I need to find my grandmother.’
‘Do you?’ Rosalie dropped Kaelia’s hand. ‘I’m sorry, I forgot.’
‘Where have you been?’ Bran called from the opposite side of the room. ‘I’ve found your grandmother!’
Kaelia couldn’t see Bran but hastily followed the Vallesm as it loped off in the direction of Bran’s voice. The room was split by pointed walls jutting unevenly into the centre, creating a maze effect. Kaelia picked up speed as the Vallesm whipped around a jutting wall.
‘Wait!’ Rosalie skipped after them, twirling and turning, the light skirt of her dress swirling around her. ‘I want to come with you.’
Kaelia tried not to think, not wanting to risk the young girl being able to read her thoughts. She skidded to a halt as the Vallesm stopped. Bran had his back to her, his arms hung loosely at his side. Before him was a gilded cage, its bars woven together and there wasn’t a door. Inside, a shape shifted and Kaelia could see it was her grandmother’s spirit.
‘Kaelia?’ her grandmother’s voice was a light as a breeze. ‘You shouldn’t be here. You must leave!’
Kaelia pulled ineffectively at the bars. ‘I’ve come to release you. Is Mum here?’ She looked around, hoping to see another gilded cage.
Cassie shook her translucent head. ‘Your mother is not here. I have not seen her.’
Kaelia jumped up and raced to Bran, pulling at his arm. ‘You can open the cage. You opened the gate and the door!’
Bran’s face was blank as he turned to face her. ‘I will open it if you promise me one thing.’
‘Anything!’
‘You will be mine.’
The Vallesm growled.
Kaelia looked from her grandmother’s caged spirit to the Vallesm and back to Bran. ‘What do you mean exactly?’
Bran’s tone was mocking. ‘Come, come, Kaelia you know exactly what I mean. You will be mine. My lover, my wife, mine.’ He held a hand out, ignoring the snarls of the Vallesm. ‘You and I together are electric. You feel it every time we touch. Together we will be undefeatable. Share your power with me and I will share mine with you.’
Rosalie skipped between Bran and Kaelia, her young eyes luminous. ‘I know you!’ She looked up at Bran, her fingers butterflying his outstretched hands. ‘I forget who you are but I know you.’
Bran stiffened. ‘I’m with Kaelia.’
Rosalie turned to Kaelia. ‘Kaelia is looking for her grandmother and she has found her.’ Rosalie’s face was sad. ‘But she can’t open the cage.’ She skipped over to the cage. ‘Only those born of this realm can open the locks here.’
Kaelia’s thoughts whirred. Only those of Hel’s realm, or more precisely, those born of Hel’s realm, could open the locks? Rosalie could open the locks as she was related to Hel. ‘Can you open the cage?’ Kaelia asked Rosalie.
Rosalie nodded, smiling sweetly. ‘I will open the cage for you, Kaelia. You are my friend.’
Kaelia nodded.
‘No!’ Bran bellowed. ‘Rosalie, you will not open the cage!’
Kaelia and Rosalie gasped. The Vallesm growled, louder this time and edged in front of Kaelia protectively.
Rosalie laughed her tinkling laugh and danced to the cage. It opened the moment her fingertips trailed across it. ‘Now, you’ll take me to visit my father? I forgot what he looks like again.’
Kaelia shook her head. ‘I do not need to take you anywhere for you to see your father. He is already here.’
Bran’s face turned to stone. ‘You know?’
‘That you are Rosalie’s father?’ Kaelia nodded. ‘I saw the portrait of you. I also know who her aunt is. Tell me why you are able to open the locks here, I want to hear it from your own mouth
.’
‘I think it’s time I introduced myself.’ An extremely tall woman slithered into view from behind one of the pointed walls. ‘Hello, Kaelia, welcome to my realm.’
Kaelia unconsciously reached for the Vallesm, burying her hand in its fur. The Vallesm pulled itself to his full height and lifted its head proudly higher.
Hel wore skin-tight iridescent clothing. Although she had the figure of a regular female, only her right side resembled human form. The left side of her was covered in pale scales, each shimmering in the light of the roofless room. Her left eye slanted and blinked in the opposite direction than was normal, her hair was a mass of black coils, and her right eye glowed fiercely purple. She lifted a hand and motioned to Rosalie. ‘Child, come here.’ She hooked a long left index finger under Rosalie’s chin, her nail ragged and sharp, and blew in the girl’s face. ‘You will return to your chambers to sleep and you will forget all of this.’
Rosalie smiled. ‘Oh, Aunty! I am tired, I am going to bed.’ Without a further glance, she floated from the room and disappeared.
Kaelia tugged on the Vallesm’s fur, indicating for them to slip away, and turned around. Hel was suddenly before her, blocking the path. ‘But ...’ Kaelia stammered, glancing back to where Hel had been a split second before.
Hel laughed. ‘I am everywhere, Kaelia. This is my realm. I move without sound, I hear everything.’ She licked her lips. ‘You are here for the old woman’s spirit.’
Kaelia nodded.
Hel picked her teeth, the left side were pointed, the right, smooth human teeth. ‘She never belonged here.’
‘But you trapped her!’ Kaelia trembled, fingers knitting around the Vallesm’s fur. She needed to feel its warmth.
Hel tipped her head back in laughter. ‘I did not!’ She waved her hand at the spirit Cassie.
‘No!’ Kaelia screamed, jumping forward she tried to grasp her grandmother’s spirit but it faded away. ‘What have you done with her?’
Hel grabbed the Vallesm around the neck as it launched at her, easily holding the snarling wolf at arm’s length. With her other hand, she grabbed Kaelia, lifting her off her feet. ‘I sent her to where her spirit truly belongs. Agree to pledge yourself to my nephew and I will release you and your pet.’ Her lips twisted at the word as she said, ‘alive.’
Kaelia scratched at Hel’s hand to no avail. Her eyes swivelled to Bran. ‘You have a lot to answer for!’
Bran laid a hand on Hel’s arm. ‘Aunt, release her and I will pledge allegiance with The Salloki if that is what you wish. Kaelia does not belong here any more than I do.’
Hel considered it. She smiled a cattish smirk, and released Kaelia and the Vallesm. Bran caught Kaelia in his arms. The giant wolf crashed to the ground, whimpering.
‘Let go of me!’ Kaelia bucked in Bran’s embrace until he let go. ‘You’re part of The Salloki whether you want to be or not! You’ve been lying to me all of this time!’
‘I didn’t lie; I just didn’t tell you.’ Bran grabbed her wrist again, his hold rough. ‘Be quiet if you want to live!’
Hel laughed. ‘You have not visited me for centuries, Nephew. Not since you gave me Rosalie when she was a baby.’
Bran’s face turned puce. ‘I didn’t give you Rosalie. You demanded her. You said if I didn’t give her to you, you would banish her the same as you did my mother!’
‘Your mother is a deceitful whore!’ Hel spat. ‘Did I not raise you as my own?’
‘I am not yours,’ Bran screamed. ‘I have a mother!’
Hel paced around him, her height far outreaching his. ‘A mother you have never known. Have I not been good to you? Where do you think your powers come from? They are my gift to you. How can you spurn me when I do all you ask of me? I have given you everything. We are family. When you asked me to hold the old woman’s spirit for you, did I not oblige?’
Kaelia gasped. ‘You were behind the capture of my grandmother’s spirit?’ She twisted her wrist but Bran refused to let go. Kaelia punched him but he didn’t even notice.
‘And when you asked me to send Dybbuks, did I not send them?’ Hel stroked Bran’s hair. ‘You are a beautiful one, my nephew. Very much like your mother.’
Kaelia punched Bran again, this time in the face. It was so hard he stumbled backwards and Kaelia seized the opportunity to slip from his grasp. The Vallesm pulled up beside her, blood streaming from its neck where Hel had sunk her nails into it.
‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this!’ Bran screamed. ‘I would bring Kaelia here and free her grandmother’s spirit and earn her gratitude.’ He turned to face Hel. ‘You were supposed to keep out of it!’
Hel’s face contorted into an ugly shape. ‘And receive nothing in return?’ She howled with laughter. ‘Did you not stop to think, Nephew, to consider it strange I asked for nothing in return?’
‘I promised to visit you,’ Bran shouted. ‘I promised to bring you more spirits. I was ready to kill for you, to feed your vile creatures and the disgusting giantess guardian of yours. All you had to do was stay out of the picture so I could play the hero and Kaelia would fall in love with me, and her power would be mine!’
Kaelia wobbled, her hand falling onto the Vallesm, which moaned weakly. Its blood dripped down its chest onto the ground. ‘You’ll be okay,’ Kaelia whispered. ‘We need to find a way out of here.’
‘You think I need more spirits?’ Hel screeched. ‘I have enough. I want her!’ She rounded on Kaelia and extended a long finger. ‘I don’t care for The Salloki. I do not need them. I am stronger than they and my power will extend into the human realm once I harness Kaelia’s powers for my own.’
In a blink, Hel had scooped Kaelia up and held her aloft. A sharp fingernail pierced the skin on Kaelia’s forehead. ‘Keep still, this will hurt for a brief moment.’
‘Enough!’ Bran flew at Hel, knocking Kaelia from her grasp. ‘I will not allow you to control Kaelia’s mind.’ He glanced at Kaelia. ‘Go!’ he bellowed. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this!’
Hel threw Bran across the room, whipping his words away. He crashed against the wall and slid down but jumped back onto his feet and fired bolts of violet light at her. Hel laughed, and launched at him in retaliation.
‘In the pocket of my coat,’ Bran shouted to Kaelia. ‘There’s a lighter, use it!’
Kaelia was terrified and confused, with the Vallesm struggling to keep up, she ran from the room and stumbled into the portrait corridor. Feeling in the pockets of Bran’s coat she located the lighter and stared at it dumbly. ‘What do I do with it?’
The Vallesm dropped weakly beside her, its huge bulk crashing to the ground. Kaelia bent down and laid a hand on the wolf’s deep fur and cried. Tears fell unheeded from her eyes and dropped onto the wolf’s head. Slowly, the wound around the creature’s neck began to heal and it stirred. Kaelia stared at it, realisation dawning.
‘My tears healed you!’
The Vallesm rubbed its huge head gently against her leg. It stood and paced protectively around her, growling continuously.
Kaelia turned the lighter over in her hand. She flipped the lid open and flicked the wheel, igniting the flame. It flared wildly, causing Kaelia to fling it away. The flame grew taller and wider until the edges licked the walls of the portrait corridor and the tips reached up to the ceiling. Yellowy-orange light parted to reveal achingly familiar trees.
‘It’s a way out!’ Kaelia shouted to the Vallesm. ‘It’s a doorway back to our world, to Mortiswood!’
Kaelia cautiously lifted a foot over the flaming edge and looked back to the wolf. ‘Come on!’ she shouted as Hel appeared. ‘Hurry!’
The wolf howled and with a flick of its tail, jumped through the flaming doorway with Kaelia. They tumbled onto the bracken in the woods and Kaelia pulled herself up, staring through the burning doorway in horror. Hel stepped over the flames and snapped bracken under her large foot.
‘You cannot escape me!’ Hel laughed menacingly. ‘I will control you, Kaelia!�
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‘You will not!’ Bran appeared behind Hel and fired a ball of light at her back.
Hel screeched, writhing as the violet light consumed her in cool fire. She screamed even more as Bran superhumanly pulled her back into her own realm.
Kaelia reached into the doorway. ‘Bran, give me your hand!’
‘I told you we are two sides of a coin, Kaelia. Different yet alike. We both have power, we are both searching for our mothers but I come from a line inherently evil.’ Bran’s smile cracked. ‘You would never have done to one of my loved ones what I did to your grandmother. You freed her with your courage, never forget that. Goodbye, Kaelia.’ With another burst of violet light Bran sealed the burning doorway behind him.
* * *
Kaelia burst into tears, and collapsed, exhausted. Myriad thoughts rushed through her tired mind. If Bran had only wanted to harness her powers for himself and he was Hel’s nephew why hadn’t he let Hel take her? Why had he sacrificed himself for her? She wrapped Bran’s coat tight around her. The Vallesm lay patiently beside her and furled its warm, furry body against hers.
A tear slid from Kaelia’s left eye and slithered into her mouth. The tiny droplet of water caught at the back of her throat and Kaelia choked, scratching at her neck. The Vallesm, unable to do anything else, howled. Kaelia reached for the wolf, her fingers scraped the ends of its guard hairs then she fell onto her back. Breath froze in her throat; her eyelids fluttered, and slid shut, casting her into darkness. She was still, face locked in frozen anguish. For a few moments, she dreamed.
The sun was shining; Kaelia could feel the prickle of its heat on her bare arms. A gentle, warm breeze caressed her, lifting the ends of her hair in its grasp and allowing it to slip through its fingers. She was wearing short denim shorts and her feet were bare, grass tickled them as she moved forward, crushing daisies underfoot.
She felt safe. The other times she had been here, it had been night. In real life she had been here many times before in the daytime. Now, in this faintly misty dream world, it was quiet with the only break in the silence being the sweet twitter of birds. They made a pleasant change from the bark of foxes. She trailed her hands out as she walked, her fingertips catching the rough bark of trees as she meandered through the small copse and emerged on the other side.
Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening (Mortiswood Tales) Page 28