A few of the people watching timidly shout out their agreements, a noise Farah doesn’t like at all. She stands, her tail slapping against the back of my leg as it swings back and forth. At least there’s no fire involved. Yet.
“We must take back our lives,” Rilla continues to rile her growing crowd. “No more hiding ourselves in the shadows, starving ourselves, and stealing from the poor to survive.”
I should have known this speech was leading to something else beyond a lecture. She’s using what happened with us as an excuse to call innocent kids into a war they can’t possibly win. I knew this woman was trouble.
“It’s time for us to stand up and say, ‘We’re done being afraid’.”
As the crowd becomes more energetic in their agreement, I notice a group of cloaked figures moving as one to break through the crowd and join us.
Mariah drops her hood and several of Rilla’s supporters back off, though surprisingly more stand their ground.
“What is going on?”
Rilla steps up to Mariah and says in a low voice meant for no one else to hear, “I’m done waiting for you to make your move. The coven now follows my commands, as they should have all along.”
Mariah opens her mouth to argue, but no sound comes out. From the way she clutches at her throat, it’s obviously not her nerves keeping her silent. Rilla is using magic to silence her.
“Together,” Rilla says to the entire village which has now gathered, “we will take back the lives stolen from us. It is time to rise from the shadows and liberate Ebroe. Who’s with me?”
The crowd roars their agreement and a hint of a smile from Rilla causes my blood to go cold. As the people surrounding us continue to show their enthusiasm for Rilla’s speech, the sorceress’s attention turns to Mariah. Any feelings of distrust I might have had toward her before are confirmed by the expression of loathing she shows toward the coven leader.
“Kneel.” The crowd easily drowns out Rilla’s words to Mariah, at least for everyone who’s not as close to them both as me. “Pledge your alliance to your sorceress like a good little witch.”
Mariah struggles, but she can’t fight the power of Rilla’s magic. As she drops to one knee, my hand reaches out to grab Rose’s arm. I try to back us both out of the crowd, but it’s too late. Once Mariah kneels, the entire village follows suit, making it impossible for us to escape unnoticed.
I drag Rose down before Rilla decides to turn her wrath on us.
“I think,” I say, “I should have changed my shirt.”
Chapter Nine
It’s obvious by how easily the people of Rilla’s little rebel camp are able to pick up and start their march they’ve been planning this for a while. Rilla had been searching for an excuse and it looks like she found it in us. The only ones who seem at all surprised are the coven.
Rose and I stand as far from the others as we dare. Even though they are busy, they aren’t too busy to forget about us and we have to deal with the creepy feeling of constantly being watched. I don’t understand. Rilla used us to make her point, so why doesn’t she let us go now?
“Where is Ebroe?” I ask. “Tell me they’re not about to drag us in the wrong direction.
“It’s the same village we’re headed to.” Rose twists a bit of her hair between her fingers and stares blankly toward an area with a kid sharpening his knives.
“Oh. Well, that’s good at least.” I watch a boy strap a quiver of arrows to his back and solemnly check the tension of his bow. “Wait, no. That’s bad. These people are about to invade the village. How are we supposed to receive help from the people there if they’re under attack?”
Rose’s only response is to chew on her bottom lip. Very reassuring.
“Sin.” Rilla beckons from a few meters away. “You’re with me.”
I have no interest in having my lungs crushed by her magic or whatever else she can think of doing to me, so for now my only option is to do what she says.
“Farah, stay.” I turn to Rose. “Look after her, will you?”
Her face twists into something between disgust and fear. “What? Me? Why don’t you take her?”
“I don’t want Rilla to use her.” I wave over to Rilla to let her know I’m on my way. “Don’t worry. She’ll be good. Probably.”
When I’m sure Farah’s not going to follow, I hurry over to join Rilla.
“You’ll walk up front with me,” she says the moment I’m near. “We’ll lead the group through the front gates of Ebroe, down the main road to the castle. The streets should be busy this time of day, so it won’t be difficult to gain the attention of the entire village.”
“Great.” I nod. Even more people to go up against the few kids with bows and rusted knives on our side. Awesome plan. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“We’ll need to show as much force as possible from the moment we walk into view of the village.” She waves for the march to begin. “With me in the lead, and yourself dressed as a sorceress, most of those who might otherwise fight back will think twice.”
“Super.” I tuck my hand into my pouch of dust for comfort. “About what percentage would you say is ‘most?’“
She doesn’t answer. She’s too busy ordering people around.
At least I now know why she’s forcing us to go. I really should have changed when Rose offered other clothes.
We aren’t far from Ebroe, which makes me more depressed than ever. If only we’d made it a little further without being attacked, we could already be well on our way to the University.
Ebroe is bigger than Rose’s village, with a castle in the middle, though it’s in only slightly better shape than the ruins the group had been living in up until now. If it’s the reason Rilla chose to invade this village over another, I’m not seeing the appeal.
We don’t slow down as we approach the village. Rilla leads the way through the main gates which appear never to have been closed in my lifetime and past lines of buildings where the occupants close their doors and shutters as they see us approach.
The closer we get to the castle, the more people we encounter outside doing their usual business and the bolder those people seem to be. They don’t run the second they see us, though as soon as they eye Rilla’s and my clothes, they take a step back and let us pass.
We’re almost at the castle and I’m dumb enough to start to relax when a man steps in front of us brandishing a large blacksmith hammer like a weapon. He’s built like a truck, and doesn’t come across as though he has any intention of holding back even though he’s twice the size of both of us put together.
“Who do you people think you are coming into our town like this?” His voice is deep and carries far down the road. Several of the people we’d passed earlier move in to stand with their blacksmith.
We’re forced to stop or attempt to walk through them. Rilla’s hand twitches like she’s readying her magic, so I reach for my dust, just in case.
“Move out of the way,” she says.
The idiot actually shifts his hammer in his hands to prepare to defend himself, or worse, attack.
“We won’t be bullied in our own home, sorceress,” he says. “You cannot tell us how to live our lives anymore than—”
I don’t find out what he was going to compare her to. With a flick of her wrist, the huge guy flies through the air to land heavily against a building wall and crumple to the ground. While a number of the townspeople who watch gasp or shriek their shock and rush to either help him or hide, there are more who grab whatever items they can use as weapons and begin their attack.
Two things become clear very quickly. First, Lou’s time practicing Taekwondo doesn’t seem like a waste anymore. Second, Rilla isn’t going to use a speck of magic helping me out. She’s too busy watching her own back to be bothered with my problems.
I’m able to blow dust at one of the villagers, but when he goes down, three more come at me. A rock grazes my face, just below the eye and I dodge away from a la
rge woman who swings at me with the wooden handle of a broom. As she takes another swing, two others come from behind and grab my arms, preventing me from going for any more dust.
The end of the broom lands hard against my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. No matter how hard I struggle to take in a breath, it feels like I’m going to pass out before I swallow in a mouthful. I’m limited to short gasps of air, and I’m already seeing stars when I glance up to once again see the broom being swung. This time it’s aimed for my face.
I grind my teeth and hope my jaw doesn’t break. But the pain doesn’t come. Farah leaps from the crowd and pounces on the woman, forcing her to the ground hard enough to knock her out. She then turns on the two holding me. Problem is, with them behind me, she doesn’t have a good angle of attack. When she leaps, they use me as a shield, shoving me forward while scrambling away.
Her claws dig deep into my shoulders, and I can’t hold back a scream of agony. Even after she realizes she’s attacked the wrong person, she doesn’t back off. She props her massive weight against me while straining to reach around either side of my head with each of her own, snapping at the people who’d been holding me.
I topple under her weight, and to add insult to the injuries, she uses me as a springboard to attack the people running away in fear.
Staying on the ground to catch my breath and maybe have a nap seems like such a good idea, until I’m nearly trampled by a group of Rilla’s people as they fight their own groups of villagers.
As I shuffle to my feet, my head pounding and the wounds on my shoulders burning, I pick up the broom and use it as a crutch. It still hurts to breathe, and the pain in my chest and shoulders is almost unbearable, so I take a second to lean on the broom and scan the crowd to calculate my best next move. A dozen men and women stare back at me, their makeshift weapons drawn as they tighten their semicircle around me.
The only good thing about the situation is my corset gives them cause to hesitate, which in turn gives me more time to think. I’m clearly outnumbered, Farah’s off chasing down other potential attackers, and I only have enough dust left to affect one of them, at best.
I do have one trick left. If I use the dust to make myself appear more threatening, maybe they’d back off entirely. But if Farah in her chimera form hasn’t scared them enough to all run away, what will?
“You don’t want to do this,” I say, hoping to gain more time. “Turn around now, and I’ll let you go.”
Think of Gran’s stories. Besides wizards, what would a village like this be terrified off?
The image of the dragon lazily wrapped around the stone tower in Gran’s book flashes in my mind. It’s so obvious; I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to think of it. I only hope I can remember what he looks like.
A couple of the braver of my attackers move as though they’re about to lunge forward and I throw out my hands to stop them.
“Enough.” I wiggle my finger at them. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
I bring the last of my dust to my lips and breathe life into the illusion while I concentrate on the features of the dragon. I’ve never tried to make myself appear as something so large before. I only hope people concentrate on things like its teeth and claws and don’t notice the tail is probably passing through a wall or something.
Of course the first to notice my change are the people surrounding me. It takes them a second, but soon enough their weapons are on the ground and they are desperately trying to flee. The fighting doesn’t last much longer as both sides see my new illusion and attempt to run or hide.
I want to laugh at my triumph, or utter another warning for the few who haven’t noticed me yet, but I stop myself. Can dragons talk?
Luckily, Rilla catches on to what’s happening quickly and sees through my magic.
“You will stand down,” she says loud enough I’m sure the entire town can hear her. “There will be no more fighting. This castle and all of Ebroe are now under my leadership. Any who wish to debate the matter can take it up with me personally.”
No one makes a move as their eyes travel between her and me. It only takes a moment for anyone who hasn’t already done so to drop their weapons.
When Rilla talks again, her tone is much kinder and doesn’t carry nearly as far, though I can see no one is any more fooled by her apparent kindness than I am. “Don’t you see? I only wish to set you free from The Sword. From now on, you’ll be able to live your lives without the fear of wizards terrorizing your village. I will protect you.”
Most don’t seem convinced, but no one has the guts to say anything in front of the sorceress or her dragon.
I’m not sure if she’s satisfied by the silence or if she realizes my illusion is probably going to fade soon. Either way, she sighs and says, “I hope in time we will come to trust each other. For now, return to your homes and I ask for everyone to stay there until morning. Perhaps tomorrow we can return this village to the way it should be.”
Chapter Ten
“Impressive,” Rilla says once the road has cleared of everyone except her own people. “Your quick thinking prevented many casualities on both sides.”
“I thought you said they’d be too afraid to fight.” I check my shoulder wounds and am glad to see the blood has already started to clot. I’d still love a couple of bandages though. “They didn’t seem very afraid to me.”
Rilla gives a good impression of being sad, though I don’t trust her for a second. “This town has been through a lot. They’ve come to fear everything, including changes for the better.”
“Are they?” Rose walks up to us with Farah at her hip. “Better off? Because as far as I can see, you’ve just guaranteed this village’s destruction. The moment The Sword hears about this...”
“But they won’t,” Rilla interrupts. “Not until I want them to, at least. My people guard every exit and entrance into this village now. No one can come or go without my approval. It’s perfectly safe here.”
Rose seems like she’s ready to start another fight. “What about the people? If no one is allowed in or out, how will anyone trade necessary items like food? And the farms are all outside of the town walls. Who will man them if no one’s allowed in or out?”
“The situation isn’t permanent,” Rilla says. “Now if you’re done questioning my authority, perhaps you could go make yourself useful by joining the witches as they cook our meal for this evening. Sin and I have business to attend to.”
“Oh, she’s with me.” I only smile as Rilla tries to glare me into silence. “If you want to talk to me you can do it in front of her and Farah.”
If she wants to use her magic to force us to do as she says, there’s nothing I can do to stop her, but with any luck she’s already wiped out from the battle. Also, it doesn’t seem like attacking us now would be in her best interest. She probably wants me alone so she can use me one last time.
She takes a second to compose herself before saying. “As you wish. Please, come with me. It would be better to discuss things further in private.”
Against my better judgment, I follow Rilla into the castle. The inside looks worse than the outer walls with collapsed sections lying in piles around each room we enter. The further we go into the building the worse everything seems.
Rilla brings us to a room where there’s nothing left beyond blackened rubble. I’ve had enough experience with fire to recognize the signs. Scorch marks reach all of the way up the walls to what would have once been a ceiling, though now there’s nothing but open sky.
“I remember hearing about this,” Rose says into my ear.
“The fire?” I ask.
She nods. “I was a kid when it happened,” she says. “But I remember up until the castle of Ebroe was attacked, people still believed the sorceresses might yet take back the country. When The Sword came, they wiped out the entire castle, servants and all. Barely a handful survived.”
I pull a face and continue to examine the walls. “Why would wi
zards care about servants?”
“It was meant as a warning for anyone who might want to go up against the wizards,” Rilla says. “They wanted to be sure no one would attempt to stand against their forces again. It worked. We’ve hid in fear ever since. Until now.”
If she’s trying to convert us to her side, she’s doing a terrible job. I have even less interest in fighting wizards now that I know they were able to take out a castle and the hope of an entire kingdom in one swift move. Rose was right to say the village is screwed.
Rilla stops the moment she walks through the next door and lifts her head as though to sniff the air.
“The protection spells are still active. A good sign.” She puts a hand up to indicate we should stop. “I’ll go the rest of the way alone. The spell won’t hurt me, but you two wouldn’t be as lucky.”
Without waiting for a reply, she disappears down a set of spiral stairs carved into the stone I hadn’t noticed before she started walking on them. Rose grabs my arm, checks to make sure Rilla doesn’t change her mind and come back up, and then leads me to the far side of the gutted room.
“This isn’t good,” she says.
Was she only noticing this now? “I agree.”
“Well then, shouldn’t we take this opportunity to leave?” She swings her hand toward the door we’d entered through.
“And go where?” I ask. “You heard her. She has the entire village on lockdown. Besides, there’s no point in freaking out now. The worst is already over. We survived the mob attack after all. And we have Farah, remember? I’m sure it will be a few days before any wizards find out what happened, and by then we’ll be long gone.”
She doesn’t appear any happier. “Will we?”
The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) Page 24