Narijt drole Forra. Akilten emen Forra arkanic Drakor kiomlot... The Source is revealed. The Source shall be unsealed by the Dragon’s blood revealed. The sword was made for him; it was his, by all means. Yet, its time had not come yet, and if he took it… She had seen the world shrunken into blackness.
Derek swallowed. Her face was too serious. No smile brightened her pale eyes and damned him if he didn’t understand why. Suddenly, he wanted everything to go back to normal, back to the way they were, before they embarked together on this mad journey and he began to be so aware of her; more than he already was, anyway.
“Now you sound like a true prophetess.”
Her stare darkened drastically.
“Your wit is returning so I take it you are strong enough to walk?”
The ice in her voice sliced through the pleasure of teasing her. Derek groaned internally. He should have wished for normality minus the constant disdain. Her defiant stare accompanied him as he pushed away from the wall, testing his legs.
“So it seems-”
A long screech interrupted him. Derek flashed his sword at once. The noise flew past them, reverberating on the rock which glow flickered softly.
Derek didn’t wait for the noise to cease and started down the corridor, gesturing to Sacha to follow. When she failed to obey, he grasped her arm harder, ushering her up. He walked briskly, stopping every few steps to crush against the wall, covering them from the potential enemy waiting ahead. The ground became rougher the further they went. Soon she had the feeling of stepping onto fragile needles, which broke under her boots. One particular crack made her wince; it reminded her of the sound of bones crumbling into dust, but she refused to look down at her feet.
The unnatural cry seemed to go on forever then it finally stopped. Derek pressed against the wall once more. She nestled against his back.
“What was that?”
“Shush.”
For once, she obeyed, her arms wrapping around his waist. In the renewed silence, their hard breathing echoed indefinitely against the now glooming walls . Protecting her with one arm - or maybe preventing her from moving forward before he ordered her to do so - Derek peered at the empty space in front of him.
The corridor ended abruptly, the rock cut into a hard staircase. From the bottom, he could merely see a platform about two or three hundred steps above, then more steps. The walls on each side were flat, without a turn or a curve to hide and take a safe rest. A long climb, completely devoid of cover - the perfect trap. Instinct screamed inside Derek’s head to backtrack and forget it all: Caer Lon, Elwyn; run back to the waterfall, dive and run some more. He breathed in deeply.
Sacha’s murmur almost made him jump out of his skin.
“Are we going up?”
Derek swallowed his fear and nodded before he secured his grip around the hilt of his sword.
oOo
Elwyn eyed the blonde lurking outside of his cage, suspicious. She had been turning around in circles for God knew how long. Her concentrated look could only mean trouble. He snorted, ready to harangue her, when suddenly the stone started screaming.
The sound poured silver liquid in his bones, exquisitely cold until it caught fire and threatened to burn him into ashes.
“What are you do- AAaaarghh! Stop it, stop!”
Elwyn tumbled down to the floor like a rag doll, twisting while the magic Fillin had unleashed gnawed at his magical link with Earth, biting, chewing, trying to tear it apart with teeth not sharp enough for a clean cut. He screamed and screamed for what seemed an eternity, and then the agonizing ripping stopped.
Exhausted, he toiled to push up on one elbow, just long enough to see Fillin licking her lips with a smug on her face which reminded him of an animal ready to feast. Elwyn rolled on his back, and let darkness engulfed him.
oOo
Her heart was trying to punch its way out of her chest and the feeling was excruciating. Every breath she took added pressure to her stomach. The lack of oxygen made her dizzy. Or it was the terror of hearing that terrible howl again. Derek squeezed her hand lightly.
“We’re nearly there, Sacha, just another flight of steps.”
She had no idea what he meant. The stairs in front of her nose went on forever. She could barely breathe. Her lungs felt as if they had been severed and the cut splashed with salt. The light from the walls was nearly a souvenir. She couldn’t make out the tunnel they came from, let alone the top of her current nightmare. Sacha sucked in air with difficulty and forced her legs to obey, putting one foot on the next uneven step and pushing up. Then another. And another. Pull, press, push. And again. Her knees threatened to break.
Her foot slipped on a particularly high step. Her back protested when she twisted to keep her balance, only ceasing its grouching when Derek put one arm around her to help her onto a surface which seemed wider than the others. She offered a smile though she feared it might look like a grimace. The hole inside her was still growing, wider by the minute; so painful. Then it disappeared.
Sacha leaned against the wall, breathing through her open mouth, uncaring how unladylike it might look.
“Water?” asked Derek.
To her satisfaction, he too sounded a little breathless. She took the jug, finding it uncomfortably light in her hand. She restrained herself to a small sip, barely enough when her throat was so parched...
“I think…” he breathed in deeply to settle his voice “I don’t like stairs.”
She chuckled and whined instantly as her abdomen squeezed painfully in the effort. Sacha swallowed her complaint, awfully conscious that Derek had put away the water without drinking when he was probably just as thirsty as she was. Keeping her head up sucked at her strength, dragging her toward the abyss.
“We’ll have to make you exercise more when we get home…”
In the semi-darkness, she nearly missed the smirk flashing in his stare. Sacha pulled a face at him; the short pause had steadied her sufficiently that she could look up. She saw nothing but the shadows of uneven shapes cut into the dark rock.
“How long do you think we need to climb?”
“I counted 284 so far, but I think I missed a couple.”
Sweet Lord, he had managed to keep tabs through the torture?
“… about a hundred feet, maybe more.”
Sacha struggled to push off of the wall, unsure if he meant they had climbed that distance, or it was still to come.
“Elwyn will owe me for this, and I assure you he is going to pay every penny.”
Derek hauled the bag higher up on his shoulder.
“Take a number.”
They stared at each other for an instant before resuming their climb, silently sharing their thoughts. Both hoped Elwyn was all right and would be fit to go down the stairs after they found him. If they found him. Derek nodded with a lopsided grin, and gestured her to move first.
Her heart skipped a beat, strangely puffing with gratitude. In his own clumsy overprotective way, Derek had offered more than the initial help she asked for. Sacha stopped on the first step to turn. With the difference of height, their faces were nearly at the same level.
The hug took him by surprise, yet it ended before he could react.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasu-“
Unwilling to hear what his ego had to say, Sacha silenced him with a kiss.
Surprised, he did not move until the soft pressure of her lips against his lightened. Then his free hand shot up to her hair to bring her closer, kissing her back passionately until her reserve melted. Sacha barely registered the sound of metal hitting the stone when he dropped his sword to press her against the wall as he abandoned her mouth to favour her neck and pressed devouring kisses just above her collar.
His tongue brushed on a particularly sensitive spot and her knees buckled. Derek steadied her somehow, pinning her harder to the stone with his lower body while his hands… Sacha refused to acknowledge what his hands were doing, except they were mo
ving agonizingly slowly.
The danger they were in, the strange lights, the cavern, the sword, the magic which affected both of them, everything dissolved, pulsing in the back of her mind. She had never imagined that kissing him would turn into this ravaging fire that consumed her from within. She had pictured light brushes of her mouth, her inexperience blooming in hesitation and timidity, not such… hunger. The cold in her back contrasted with the heat blooming inside her, forcing some sense into her.
“Derek…”
She fought to push on his chest, when her fingers trembled to bring him closer.
“Derek… Derek, stop...”
This time he seemed to hear her plea and backed abruptly. She missed his body against hers instantly, her hips instinctively coming forward for more caresses. Her head fall against the wall, her cheeks burning, her ragged breathing matching his.
In the semi-darkness, Derek’s dilated eyes burned with barely controlled emotions, his gaze fixed on her mouth, or maybe she was the one staring. Sacha forced her eyes away, embarrassed to feel so alive.
After a moment, the young man backed down another step and bent to grab his abandoned sword on the ground. Trouble perked under the mask of determination he was wearing again. He refused to look at her in the eye, so she took his arm.
“Derek I will not refuse you…”
She meant it. He was irritating and brave and bossy and honorable. She could not imagine a better man for her.
“You just did.”
The impatient retort brought up a smile, instead of flaring her temper. She yearned to brush her lips on the small frown between his brows to smooth it, nearly did so.
“Because you have the worst timing ever.”
Frustration bounced dangerously in the blue eyes now drilling into hers.
“You kissed me first.”
Sacha laughed, determined not to let him have the last word.
“That you are better not to forget; my lord.”
Derek shrugged and turned away, moving up the stairs again.
Chapter 30
The torch’s flame flickered, bouncing on the gold lace sewn on Fillin’s skirt. Elwyn crept away from the fence with his back to the wall, his gaze on his nemesis.
The noise of old paper being creased under bored fingers disturbed the silence of the dungeon. The blonde was seated on a stool in a corner, and fortunately didn’t pay any attention to him. As far he was concerned, she could forget his very existence, and he would live perfectly happily for as long as her monster of a father would allow him to.
Elwyn pulled his knees to his chest, biting back a whimper when the position added pressure on his broken ribs. He preferred to keep his mouth shut. Whatever she did, it couldn’t be a good thing for him, and it was better to make his presence as unnoticeable as possible.
The pain brought dozen of dark dots in front of his eyes; or were they fireflies dancing? He rubbed his eyes to chase the annoying glittering snow from them. The fireflies sparkled happily, brown and dark red. Each time he blinked, it seemed to be more of them. Elwyn pressed his fingers to his lids, hard. He didn’t remember hitting his head in falling this time. Surely he had. In no way could insects fly to form square and diamond shapes. The small points in the air shone in straight lines, brighter at the nods, the same way cords linked together to form … a net.
Elwyn closed his eyes for good. Hallucinating nets of fireflies was a bit spooky, even for him. Sacha would tease him to no end. She always said he had too much imagination for his own good. Sacha…
oOo
The stone changed into the land surrounding the castle; in spring, it was covered with delicate patches of white and lilac she liked so much. She spent hours walking the land to bring back armfuls of heather grass, which she used to freshen her chambers and his.
Sure enough, she was whirling near the edge with her arms widely open to the wind, close to the abyss, so close... He called her name.
oOo
His hand tensed around the hilt of his sword helped him to think, Derek realized. Even if he could hear Sacha’s light pants, and feel more than see her presence one step ahead of him, the cold contact eased the tingle urging him to grab her for more kisses. He surprised himself by running his tongue on his lower lip, teeth nipping at the flesh as if to bring her taste back into his mouth.
Surely he should say something. Not an apology, certainly not that; he didn’t regret for a second kissing her back. She could not be so naive as to touch a man, embrace him, as she had and expect he would behave. Yet, he should really say something now.
He bit back a smile. Sacha and he kissed like they quarrelled: her passion against his willpower, until she allowed him to discover the tender, loving woman she also was. He wanted both. Derek tightened his grip on his weapon and heaved out a breath, half-rasp, half-jeer. Emotions had spiralled in her wonderful eyes; he wondered if her feelings mirrored his own. They would explore them happily later. For now, he had to focus on their mission.
“It’s becoming darker the more we go up.”
“Yes, I noticed.”
Derek tempered his snap with a brush on her arm.
“Do you wish we use a candle?”
Her hair cascaded down her back as she shook her head, silk brushing his chest, distracting him.
“No, it’s all right. At least the steps are smaller here.”
Derek chastised himself internally. She noticed things to which he should have been paying attention. The steps were smaller, barely three inches high, if he had to guess. His boot bumped into the next.
“Sacha, the stairs are turning, I will take the lead, just step asid-“
She didn’t give him enough time to finish the sentence before she disappeared in the spiral the staircase now formed. Derek rushed forward, taking the steps four at a time.
“Sacha!”
He caught a glimpse of her shadow when she entered another corridor. Derek lunged and grabbed her wrist before she escaped him again.
“Don’t be foolish, we don’t know what’s ahead!”
“It’s Elwyn, Derek. I hear him…”
She tried to free herself from the iron grip but Derek held tight.
“We’ll find him, I promise.”
The smile that blossomed on her lips was so adorable he couldn’t do anything but answer it, releasing her forearm to link their fingers. Sacha used his distraction to untangle herself from his grasp and dashed off. Derek sprinted after her, cursing under his breath.
The corridor ended on another spiral staircase, except this one seemed made of cut stones bonded with mortar. In his haste, he put away the spider webs without wondering why the darkness had suddenly lifted so that he could actually see them. The screech of old metal in front of him made him move ever faster. It ate at him not to call after her at the top of his lungs. Was it another one of her visions? How could she outrun him after the exhausting climb? Idiotic, empty-headed little… the list of epithets unwound in his head.
Derek rushed through the fence he had heard shrieking open, the first of a long series of arches of stone and metal. Torches were suspended after metallic rings on the walls, lighting one after another the more they progressed up the passage. He didn’t take time to notice when the last archway opened into a different room in which iron fences had replaced the stones on the sides.
“Derek no, stop!”
Her cry came too late. His next stride took him across something cold and sticky. His foot stayed glued to the ground whilst he wanted to move forward, the motion sending him rolling against the wall. His left wrist hit the stone violently and he yelped in pain.
“Derek!”
A chuckle answered Sacha’s anguish, cold enough to freeze his blood.
“Oh, I would worry a bit more about yourself than him, if I were you. Pantswa nekem maorenia!”
A flash of silver whipped through space toward Sacha. She screamed, ducking her head instinctively with her face in her hands. Derek jerked to get fre
e from the invisible net restraining him.
“Sacha!”
The holly wood comb in Sacha’s hair lit up even before the silver lightning touched her. The bolt aiming at the dark-haired beauty quirked down, pooling around her like a halo. Sacha’s eyes widened in terror, her mouth open in a mute cry. Derek pulled and tugged, desperate to reach her. The silver light darkened, then paled, taking the fantastic colors of a rainbow all at once. The halo hardened into a shell, waving like a soap bubble.
Their assailant gawped, holding one hand up in preparation to repeat the spell. Derek yanked once again, his fury climbing higher by the second. Behind her shield, Sacha seemed to shrink and quailed, slipping away from his reach. He was about to yell again, but a roar Derek recognized as Elwyn’s stopped him.
“VANN JE HILSEN, SHER RELYOD!”
The silhouette in gold and blue hiccupped in a wet noise. Her malicious bronze eyes opened first in surprise and then into something Sacha would have sworn was fear, when the hand threatening her just a second before bumped into something solid.
The raven woman shivered uncontrollably as her own tears joined tips of water sprouting from the ground and the wall moss to surround her attacker. The woman’s shape started to waver, losing its density in a whirlpool of fog and wind. Her pale hair spurted around her face and in an instant the only thing that was left of her was a puddle on the floor.
The net vanished. Derek jumped toward the young woman before him.
“You!”
The flames on the torches hissed angrily, spreading to lick the ceiling. Still protected by the iridescent bubble around her, Sacha saw a giant arm strike down. Derek crashed against the wall, knocked out. Within the second, his sword flew across the fence, straight to Elwyn. Her brother lifted his arms to protect himself.
“Legi skjolD!”
The spell burst out of her mouth before she recognized the words. Droplets of metal rained on the floor with the noise of shattering glass when the sword exploded against a shield similar to hers. The large figure turned his golden stare on her instead of Elwyn.
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