by Kristen Day
"Avery," I called out to her. "Wake up! Come on, open your eyes!"
At my frantic tone, her eyelids fluttered and her arms twitched. Her breathing hitched suddenly as bloodshot eyes slowly cracked open and focused on mine. I watched as her delicate features hardened from a frail teenager into a determined fighter.
"Do it again," she demanded, her voice cracking.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Carmen tried to soothe her, but it only succeeded in enraging her.
"Do it again!" she stormed and fought to sit up. I supported her back while she crawled to her hands and knees and then finally stood upright on shaking legs. She drug her feet over to the maiden and stared her down with a fierceness I'd never seen from her.
"Do it again," she charged for a third time. Maera stepped forward with concern.
"I wouldn't suggest doing it again. Another testing so soon could kill you, Avery," she advised, but Avery wasn't listening. She continued to challenge the maiden with steady resolve and a wobbly stance. After they stared each other down for what felt like an eternity, the maiden finally nodded ever so slightly. Avery readied herself once more and squared her shoulders. Her slender jaw flexed as she concentrated and I found myself caught between the dread of watching this battle a second time and the heartwarming pride at her unwavering conviction and bravery.
Before I was able to prepare myself, the maiden's hand penetrated Avery's weak body again, lifting her from the trusty support of solid ground. Phoebe buried her face into Carmen's shoulder, unable to watch. With the exception of Blythe, the Captains looked on intently; worry and fear marring their features. Blythe, on the other hand, was watching me. Her relaxed mouth and curious gaze stood out amidst the turmoil unfolding around the fountain. Normally it would have bothered me to be stalked so intensely, but my mind was fixed on Avery's well-being.
The oppressive weight of uncertainty hung in the air alongside Avery's slight frame; kick-starting my pulse and sending adrenaline and electric essence darting through my body. Although her head tilted back at an odd angle and her body remained limp, I knew the true fight was playing out within her; a war between her essence and the weight of her physical body.
I stepped forward stiffly, my legs donning a mind of their own, deciding they wanted to protect Avery at all costs. Luckily, my warrior instincts convinced me to stand back and allow her this fight. This was something she must do on her own. She knew the risks. She also knew the reward. I just hoped neither would take her life.
Without warning, the maiden's startling emerald gaze disappeared behind her eyelids and she began to lower Avery back to the ground. With an aching slowness that gave me hope, she gently retracted her hand and left Avery to collapse on the grassy earth waiting beneath her. Tears burned in my eyes as her lips curved up into a tired smile. She peered up wearily to see me leaning over her.
"Nailed it," she croaked and I couldn't help but laugh. Deciding the maiden was taking too long to collect Avery's vial of elixir, I uncorked one of my own and poured a couple drops into her mouth. She swallowed it with a happy sigh and the color returned to her face within seconds.
I helped her stand on timid feet and limp to the bench Carmen had abandoned. As she sat down gingerly, the first of the Captains came to stand before the Maiden to begin their testing. Vette was the first victim, and I had to admit it was somewhat disarming to see the maiden lift his monstrous frame into the air with little effort. Not surprisingly, he passed with flying colors, as did Oliver, Trevon, Blythe, and Tanis. But Ruby's strength was similar to Avery's; quiet and steady. I wrung my hands nervously as she stepped up to the plate.
With a plastered-on face of bravery that fooled no one, she met the gaze of the maiden with guarded eyes. The maiden embraced her heart without a word and wrenched her body into the air. In a matter of seconds, her head collapsed backward and she let out an agonized scream that rattled my soul. A single tear trickled down her cheek and fell to its death down in the thick grass far below. The maiden closed her eyes and discarded her to the ground; releasing her into a heap of pain. The Captains scrambled towards her, but somehow Avery made it there first.
"Give me room!" she blocked them with her body, leaving them to look on helplessly instead. She placed her hands on either side of Ruby's head and concentrated with closed eyes. I looked on with quiet wonder as the color slowly returned to Ruby's face and her legs began to move. Avery let out a breath she'd been holding and Ruby's tear-filled eyes slowly cracked open.
"I failed," Ruby croaked softly, blinking as the tears overflowed onto her cheeks.
"Take her to the castle," Maera instructed me. "I will follow shortly with extra vials of elixir for the trip."
"Thank you." I nodded to her respectfully and then again solemnly to the three maidens.
With Avery's blessing, Vette gathered Ruby into his strong arms and carried her over the ring of bushes and towards the castle. Avery matched his step, her healing hand in Ruby's slender fingers. By the time we made it back to the veranda Ruby was able to walk on her own, but collapsed onto one of the filigree lawn chairs in a cloud of defeat. A waterfall of tears wet the smattering of freckles on her cheeks as I gestured for Avery to lead everyone else inside to prepare for the trip. I approached the swim Captain gingerly; taking a seat next to her and wrapping a comforting arm around her dejected shoulders.
"I'm so sorry," she managed, despair heavy in her tone. "I failed you."
"You did nothing of the sort," I scolded her lightly.
"Will you replace me?"
"Replace you?" I twisted towards her on the bench in shock. "With what?"
"Someone stronger," she met my gaze with confusion swimming in her eyes. "Since I failed the test."
"If failure was the requirement for being replaced, I would have been demoted to bottom feeder a long time ago," I crowed, spotting a hint of renewed hope sparkling amidst her shamed expression. "You're the strongest swimmer we have, and between you and me, you're definitely the most level-headed. Somebody has to keep those yahoos in line."
"Really?" A smile blossomed on her face. "So...I still get to go?"
"Of course." I climbed to my feet and extended my hand, immediately creating a new position that I was pretty sure didn't exist. "I'm appointing you Captain of the Captains. You'll be my right hand woman and I'll ensure they understand yours is the voice of authority."
"Are you sure?" She tilted her head, trying to read my expression in case I was kidding.
"First rule of being Captain of the Captains," I grasped her hand and yanked her up, "states that if the Paladin believes in you, you have to believe in you. Got it?"
"Got it," she repeated joyfully, her features radiating with pride. Acting as her crutch, I slowly helped her to the veranda door.
Twin screams from inside the castle walls cast us into silence only seconds before every organ in my body hitched violently and contorted in pain. My knees exploded with pain as they hit the stone of the veranda; my body immediately curling into a ball of writhing misery.
FALLON
The twisting had stopped, although the coiling in my stomach had not. Nausea welled up inside my throat as I suppressed the overwhelming urge to throw up. I squeezed my eyes shut in the hopes of forcing the walls around me to stop spinning at an unnatural speed. Fortunately, that's exactly what Selene and her army of witches were working to do. Unfortunately for my gag reflex, they had not yet succeeded in doing so. The massive turbine of the whirlpool was churning at full speed, roaring as loud as a jet engine and sending bout after bout of vertigo across my existence.
I hadn't felt the refreshing shower of moonlight in days and I ached to wrap myself in its strength. The witch's binds around my body had been removed, but now I was immersed in an even more sinister prison.
Like a dangling carrot I'd never reach, a tiny cobalt circle high above me hinted at the promise of blue sky. It could have been in a separate universe for all the good it did me. Beneath my dangling feet
the watery walls stretched far below, eventually disappearing into an infinite void of blackness. Then there was me; suspended somewhere between a slow, painful death shackled by abandonment and an equally slow, painful life shackled by witches and blonde she-devils.
I could still hear my mother's voice in my thoughts as I recalled our conversation, our promise. A promise I was currently regretting with my entire being.
"It is vitally important, my dear," she implored to my innocent mind. "Though the moon's dark energy courses through the veins of many, the moon's light essence lives in only two beings. You and I. It is our responsibility - our purpose - to protect it at all costs."
All costs. At the moment, all of those costs were running like wild horses through my mind. My supposed destiny, for one. How could I overthrow Selene whilst imprisoned in a whirlpool, powerless to escape? The destiny of the Auras was another. They needed a true Leader. A pure Leader. Someone who could show them the beauty and virtue of the moon, not just its immense power and tendency to control. But I was far from being their teacher.
The endless savagery of the whirlpool's revolutions, the intensity of its pull on not only my physical body, but my essence, and the cloud of helplessness hovering over my heart as I tumbled around in the belly of the whirlpool lasted for longer than I could have ever imagined. I could sense its wisdom, its...consciousness. It could sense my presence, and more frightening than that, the potential of my essence. It craved it. It poked and prodded at my skin, testing and hoping to find a way in; searching for a way to steal my essence from me.
My eyes blurred periodically as it surged around me, stretching my spirit and thoughts into a vacuum. It was in those moments when I hoped to die. Under its careless influence, I lost all sense of time, of who I was and what my purpose was. I could see no past and no future. The present was only a fleeting thought passing me by as I barely hung to consciousness. What was it waiting for? Why didn't it just kill me? End this charade and rip me apart? If I had to picture Tartarus, I imagined it would be something like that whirlpool; an endless torture without the reprieve of death to provide a small glimpse of hope.
I was pummeled back to what I assumed was the present as the delightfully cold spray from the spinning walls pelted my body. The muscles of my cheeks tugged at the corner of my mouth as I smiled in slow motion. Every sensation was magnified. Every exertion of energy was pressurized as if the beast could sense it. I welcomed the refreshing tingle of the droplets on my skin, but the unending sensation of floating was torturous. I had no control, no frame of reference, and nothing to anchor to.
Nothing I did worked. I attempted summoning my depleted essence to no avail. I screamed, kicked, and tried to reach the whirlpool itself; trying to negotiate my release from its grip. But it was as if I was of no consequence to the aqueous deathtrap I was in, or to anyone else, for that matter.
My thoughts spun just as fast as the whirlpool. Was anyone looking for me? Did they know where I was? Was Olivia still being held captive? Did they know what Selene was up to? I couldn't fathom why Selene and the witches were slowing the whirlpool, but I could only imagine it had something to do with Stasia.
The wail I heard every time they attempted to control it told me their efforts were not being used for good. No one without evil in their blood could listen to that sorrowful cry again and again in an effort to bring it back. The mournful sound made my skin crawl and broke my heart all at the same time. It was truly devastating.
The callous speck of blue taunting me from above suddenly began to shrink as a rush of noise careened across my eardrums. I was descending, being sucked down. This was it. I would soon be ripped apart, my essence eaten by an evil beast hiding in the depths of the ocean. Despite my willingness to give in just moments before, I suddenly found myself wanting to fight. Something in me still wanted to live. It was small, but it was there. Adrenaline shot through my veins while no amount of arm waving, kicking, or wiggling changed my deadly trajectory.
Completely out of ideas, I settled for peering down into the bleak cavity of darkness pulling me into the bowels of a watery monster. The roar in my ears increased to a point where I thought they would burst from the pressure. The listless tugging on my body turned more violent while I watched in absolute horror as my skin stretched outward at a sick angle. I knew I was now at a depth not fit for living beings, but the distance between myself and the surface wasn't my immediate concern. The tearing at my soul was assuredly at the top of my priority list. Just as my physical body flattened and expanded unnaturally again, my essence followed suit with a fresh wave of pain.
As if maniacal hands were locked around my ankles, I was jerked downward; the pressure around my feet increasing as well as my speed. In the blink of an eye, the world around me suddenly...changed. Although I could still see the massive turbine spinning above me, it no longer contorted and stretched my body or essence. The roar of the water no longer filled my ears. I was left dumbfounded by the severe turn my fate had taken. In place of the torturous sounds of death, erupted the most beautiful melody I'd ever heard.
It permeated my skin, my eyes, my heart. I welcomed it as my thoughts were wiped clean, replaced by blissful purity and everlasting beauty. My heart swelled with a celestial promise and I had the keen awareness that I was no longer alone. The mesmerizing notes caressed every inch of me, providing boundless love and the startling freedom of emotional release. A part of me knew it wanted something from me, but I didn't care. I wanted nothing more than to give myself wholly to its ethereal presence.
A feather light touch on my forearm compelled my attention and I trailed thin, gossamer fingers up an equally frail wrist attached to a flawless arm. Stark white hair coiled and fluctuated constantly, leaving me hypnotized. Melancholy eyes swirling with a myriad of blues and greens watched me with intense reverence. They contained their own impossible ocean, complete with waves, tidal forces, and irreparable power. I could have stared at her for hours, but she broke my trance when she slammed her kaleidoscopic eyes closed.
She brought both hands up, cradled my head, and pulled me forward so my forehead rested against hers. My eyes snapped closed as my existence was eclipsed by something much more dominant and raw. She listened to my thoughts, eavesdropped in my memories, and participated in every important moment I'd experienced in my life up until that point. Once satisfied, she pulled away and I waited for her reaction; too overcome by emotion to react.
"Taken..." Her lips formed words that were delivered awkwardly and unrefined. "... too...soon."
The despair in the stormy seas of her eyes spilled into my heart and I felt tears prickle at the back of my eyes. Her softened expression froze and she glanced upward before anger contorted her angelic features. She released me almost violently as her body seized; warping grotesquely. As I watched in shock, she opened her mouth and let loose the same mournful wail I'd heard one too many times. What used to be her body began to writhe and spin, morphing into liquid as she became enveloped by the walls of the whirlpool itself; leaving only the agony of her cry and the image of her pain to haunt me.
It was quickly replaced by the howl of water and a brightening of my surroundings as my body rose swiftly. The prevailing upward motion pressed upon my essence as the speck of blue above widened like a hungry mouth. Reality crashed into my consciousness with a vengeance as I was lifted out of the whirlpool altogether, only to become suspended directly above its massive chasm. I twisted around in an effort to understand what was happening, but all I could see was a ring of witches observe me with indifference and chant words that didn't make it to my ears.
A heavy blanket of dread attached itself to my thoughts and I wondered what their intentions could possibly be. It was evident that I was a tool; another piece of the puzzle gathered by Selene in her crooked quest for control. I couldn't stay still long enough to find her on one of the surrounding ridges, but I knew she was there, orchestrating her symphony of pain and destruction.
In the v
ery next moment my breath was taken when a stream of fervent energy slammed into my back, shot through my body, and exploded from my chest in a brilliant display of light. The pressure of the ocean's essence that channeled up from the whirlpool and diffused into the air above me was tremendous. I gasped for breath only to expel what I gained through my screams, all the while hoping once more for the sweet release of death.
Just when I thought I couldn't handle anything else, the agony-filled cry shattered my heart and echoed against my eardrums. It reverberated throughout my chest as endless essence filtered through me. Being used as a conduit, I was helpless to stop the draining. I was powerless to stop the witches who chanted or Selene's commands. My free will was stolen and my worth could only be tied to my usefulness to Selene. As my screams lost their strength and my body lost its motivation to fight, I could only surrender to the agony and wait for it to be over.
My mind succumbed to the horror of what it was being put through and swiftly dulled the physical effects, promptly losing itself beneath the beautiful defense of denial. All purpose and sense of time drifted upon a cloud of non-feeling thoughts. They happily explored the tombs I once lived in back at the House of Eventide. They considered my friends there, and even wondered what they were doing at that very moment. They thought about Stasia and Sebastian; my family. They thought of Mother and Father, and wondered if they were still fighting or getting along.
I also decided I wanted a buffet of sweets to feast upon. Scones, fudge, and every kind of cookie on earth. It had been days since I'd eaten anything substantial. I played out my last conversation with my mother. Her warnings. Her promise. And then, finally, I just thought of nothing.
After an amount of time I couldn't discern, the wailing was replaced with a sharp ringing as I peered up at the sky with detached indifference. A sudden motion caught my breath and I was thrown sideways, over the churning beast, and I crashed into the surrounding beach with a force that rattled my teeth. I laid there for what felt like forever, wondering what to do. Should I move? Lie there until someone came to get me? Try to fight? Throw up?