by J. B. North
My body was cold and riddled with pain, but at least that meant that I wasn’t dead. I lay stretched out on my back on a hard surface, my muscles aching and sore, a feeling that I hadn’t felt much of since consuming the elixir of the plant.
Wherever I was, it was too dark to see anything. Just the fact that I was breathing and able to move was a relief. I did not expect to be in my human form, but I found myself absent of feathers, only wearing the red dress of my first form. I reached for my power, desperate for the warmth, but there was nothing. No pull of energy, no power running over my palms, nothing.
Frightened, I imagined the sunrise, but I didn’t shift. It was as if the cold had stripped away any strength that I had. I fought to stand up and reached for the wall, feeling only powdery frost. As I felt my way around, it soon became obvious that I was trapped in a dome of ice.
Shivering, I sunk to the ground and wrapped my arms around myself. I don’t know how long I sat there, eyes wide open in the dark, scared that I would starve to death in the tomblike ice prison. At some point, I curled into a ball on the ground and let my eyes close. I thought about Roland. How he’d found death on this island, just like it seemed that I would. I remembered the bright angel, no doubt the same one he’d seen before he left me. How long would it be before the angel came for me?
It was selfish of me, but I wished the angel would come soon so I could know what warmth felt like again.
Desperate, I pushed myself to my knees and let my elbows rest on the ground.
Lord, if I am to die, please…make it swift. I failed to defeat the dragon. I failed to complete my destiny. I failed to save Kurt. I paused as tears began to prick the corners of my eyes. I sniffled loudly. Just keep him safe. Or if he is to die in that prison, don’t let his suffering drag on…
“Forgive me,” I said aloud. The words were not only a plead to God, but to Kurt, Liana, Ayon, Cecile, and everyone else that would be caught up in a horrible, bloody war that might not have been had I been able to do what I was supposed to.
I let the tears run down my face, but the room was so cold that they froze on my cheeks. Knowing that there was no one here to listen to my sobs, I let them go, echoing in my ears in a prison that only made them louder.
It was only when I quieted that I was able to hear a crack. Surprised, I jerked up into a sitting position, and studied the ceiling, where it seemed that the sound had originated. That’s when I noticed that I could see a dim light through a thick layer of frosted ice. A fissure was spreading through the ceiling. I scrambled into a corner when something dark hit the ice again. The fissure expanded, snaking out in different directions. It was hit again and the crack spread even more until finally, it caused the ceiling to come crashing down. I hugged the wall, escaping most of the falling blocks of ice, except one that hit me so hard on the head that my vision failed me for a moment.
I didn’t have time to take in the outside world, though I knew it was still dark. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up effortlessly despite my protests.
“Stop struggling,” said a gruff male voice. “You’ll only hurt yourself.”
I let my eyes adjust to the light, which turned out to be a lantern. The man set a fast pace as he dragged me along. I was barely able to keep up, nearly falling over rocks that appeared in our path. Still, I was thankful for the warmth. We ended up going through tunnels that I never would have been able to navigate without a source of light.
As we walked, I studied what I could see of the man in front of me. He had black, glossy hair that hung down past his shoulders, and when he turned his head to look back at me, I could see the shadow of stubble along his jaw.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"Where do you think?" he said. "To the man you tried to kill yesterday."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and narrowed my eyes. "The dragon.”
Maybe there was still hope after all. Maybe if I just summoned my power. I reached for it again, but even though I was out of the ice prison, my strength had not returned.
"Why can't I feel anything?" I asked, trying not to let the panic seep through into my voice.
"Feel anything?" the man asked. He shook his head. "Ask the dragon."
I kept quiet for the rest of the trek through the tunnels. When there was a light at the end of the last one, my heart sank. I would face the dragon now, and what could I do? I couldn't kill him without my power, especially if he still had his own. I was hopeless.
Before I was brought out into the light, I could see people milling about among shelters of sticks and leaves. Up ahead, I saw the gap and the vines running from cliff to cliff. I was in the dragon's den, but the fact that there were so many people around him unsettled me. I'd expected him to be a recluse, living alone, destroying everything in his path. I guess every monster needs fearful slaves…
When the man and I emerged from the cave, everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and glared in my direction. One person, a young snub-nosed girl, even spat at my feet. "Filthy rat," she commented.
I blushed in anger. We were about to ascend a set of stairs carved into the side of the cliff when I thought I heard someone say my name. I looked for the culprit, scanning everyone until I saw her. Her brown hair was cut short, far different from the long hair she used to have. Roselle knitted her eyebrows in concern, looking around at the others that all seemed like they could kill me without regret. All my anger seeped away. Roselle was here and safe and alive.
I tripped over the first step and would've fallen on my face had the man not caught me. "For goodness sake, girl. Pay attention to your feet," he growled.
I swallowed my anger, and started up the steps, my legs feeling like lead. A domed building, made completely of ice, was frozen to the side of the cliff. I hated to go back into another ice prison, but I knew with the man dragging me that I would have no choice. We ducked into the igloo and before I could look up to see the dragon, I was blindfolded. I fought against it, but the man twisted my arm behind my back until I stilled.
"What will you do to me?" I asked, breaking the silence.
The voice that spoke was silky and smooth. "If it were a fair world, I would take your eye. You just about took mine." After a pause, he said, "Tell me, why did you attack?"
I pursed my lips, and refused to answer. If I told him that it was my destiny, he would either laugh or kill me on the spot.
"Do you work for King Ciaran?" he asked.
I gave a shake of my head, my lip curling in disgust. "Of course not," I snarled.
"Do you work for Queen Valerie?"
"No.”
There was a moment of silence. Then, he sighed and ripped the blindfold off my head, allowing me to see him for the first time.
One thing was for sure. His voice certainly didn't match his face. Like his comrade, he had long hair. It was blond and curly with a beard almost as long to match. His left eye was sealed shut, a burn mark still seared on the side of it, but the open eye studied me curiously, as ice blue as I remembered. While battling the dragon, I hadn't thought about how much it would hurt, but looking at another person, I almost felt sorry for what I did.
He lowered his eyebrows as I studied him. "You're surprisingly young. But you're powerful. I don't know who you're working for, but I can tell you this. You're on the wrong side. We're the good guys."
I snorted. "Everyone believes they're the good guys."
"And what do you believe?" asked the man with the long black hair. "Do you believe in death and destruction? Cause we're trying to stop a bloody war."
The glower vanished from my face. "How? The kingdoms are pitted against one another. There is no way out but war."
"I have a plan," said the dragon. "A plan that involves the death of two people, and no more."
"King Ciaran and Queen Valerie?" I asked.
"Precisely," he said.
I thought about it. "It’ll never work," I ended up saying.
He narrowed his eyes. "Expl
ain."
"Because to get to them, you must kill. Not only that, but people, loved ones, are disappearing, and I can't help but think that the war won't stop with just the death of the leaders. Then there will be a fight for the empty thrones and an unease against neighboring kingdoms that might still blossom into a war. If there is no leader, the people will make one."
He raised an eyebrow. "What would you do?"
I wanted to come up with a smart answer. Something that would fix everything. But the fact was... "I don't know."
"Then my plan it is.” He took a step closer. I backed away and glared at him, still untrusting. "Now, I'll ask one more time. Who is it that you're working for?"
"Myself," I spat.
He looked up at his friend, and shook his head. "Okay, Erik, take her back down if you would. I'll be along shortly to reseal the dome."
I didn't want to go back there. Panicked, I said, "Wait!"
He looked down at me, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Yes?"
"I...I know someone here," I said.
He and Erik exchanged a look. "And who is that?"
"Roselle," I answered. "We went to the same school."
Erik’s lip curled. "You know Roselle?"
“That's what I just said,” I replied.
“Change of plan,” the dragon said. “Go get her, Erik. We need to have a talk.”
A few minutes later, Roselle entered the igloo, her face pale. “August,” she said, with a respectful nod of her head.
August paced closer to her and looked back at me. “This girl tells me she knows you.”
Roselle looked at me and bit her lip. “Yes...we used to be friends.”
Erik spoke up. "Is this the girl that caused you to get sent on the quest?"
She looked up at him and nodded. "And...I know that her actions were influenced. I know the headmaster must have put this in her head."
"He didn't, though,” I said. “I came on my own. I don't belong to the conservatory anymore."
She looked at me pleadingly. "Ivy," she whispered with a shake of her head. She was just trying to help me out by saying that it wasn't my fault, and in part, it wasn’t. It was the fault of the last phoenix, who wrote the prophecy. A prophecy I still believed in.
I turned my attention away from her and focused back on August. "You can put me in your prison. You can lock me away in a cage of dark and cold, but I will never change my mind. And I will fulfill my duty.”
"To kill me?" he asked. "Because then your efforts are futile."
"We'll see," I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "Yes. You will."
He motioned for Erik to bring me as he ducked out of the room. "Follow me." He descended down the stairs, moving with lithe grace. The people parted for him as he walked past the tunnel opening and around the corner. When I saw what was hidden behind the stone, my breath was taken away. It was a temple made completely out of ice, and in the center, raised on a pedestal, was an orb that held familiar golden flowers.
"The plant of eternal life," I whispered as we walked up the steps.
August turned back to me. "But not all of the plant.”
He was right. The stem was cut short.
August waited for Erik, Roselle, and me to come to a stop around the plant before he touched the glass. Almost instantly, a bright light shone on his face, and the burn mark I'd left disappeared. He blinked both eyes open and met mine. "Your efforts are futile because you can't kill me.”
And that's when I knew that I was mistaken all along, that something was horribly wrong with the prophecy.
Because to get the plant, to come out alive, the heart had to be tested. The heart had to be pure.
-Chapter Twenty-seven-
August dropped his hand from the orb, studying my expression. "You seem to know what this means?"
"Your heart was…” I paused and narrowed my eyes, not ready to give up everything just yet. “You consumed the plant.”
"Most of it," he said. "I was told to put the rest in the orb. I hadn’t known then how it would affect the area around me.”
I crossed my arms, somewhat jealous that he’d been given something more than I’d gotten; knowledge. “And how is that?"
"It gives me an advantage over people, as long as I'm within range. It gives me power over who can shift."
I studied him, eyebrow raised. "Then why didn't you just take my power when I was attacking you?"
"That's the strange thing," he said, knitting his eyebrows. "I tried. Somehow, you resisted me."
I looked over at Roselle. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was closed tight, something I never knew her to be good at when we were at the conservatory.
August stepped past us, the heels of his boots clicking as he descended the stairs. "Erik, I'll meet you in the tunnels.”
Erik took a hold of my arm, but before he could drag me back down to the cave, I lunged forward for the orb. Even if August had a pure heart when he got the plant, I knew that hearts could change, especially hearts that are given power. Just before I touched it, the plant was grabbed out of the way by August, who had moved abnormally quickly to get it.
"Don't," he said, eyes flaming with anger. "If you touch this, you’ll die."
"Will you kill me?" I asked, flinching at how hard Erik gripped my arm.
August took in a deep breath. "Anyone who touches the orb will die unless their heart is pure."
His words pitted my own thoughts against myself. I had just said that hearts could change. Who's to say that mine hasn't?
"Maybe we should let her touch it," muttered Erik. "I won't have to keep running through the tunnels to get her either way."
Roselle slapped his arm. "Erik! Even after everything she’s done, she doesn't deserve to die."
I studied Roselle. She must have lived with these people for more than half a year and she’d only known me for a week. I didn’t like it, but it made sense for her to question me.
August set the orb back down on the pedestal. "Touch it if you want, but you do it at your own risk.”
I studied the orb, but didn’t move a muscle. Then, I looked up into his blue eyes. “I’ve gone through the test before. I consumed the plant, too. That’s probably why you couldn’t take away my shifting ability.”
August, Erik, and Roselle were struck speechless. "You went through the trials?" August asked. "How long ago was this?"
"Less than a month ago," I answered. "I was sent on a quest to get the plant and bring it back to the headmaster. Roland and Kurt came with me," I looked at Roselle. "Kurt—my brother—was captured by King Ciaran, and the natives killed Roland. On my way back to King Ciaran's castle, I landed clumsily and the stem of the plant was punctured."
Roselle shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe all that's happened to you since the last time we saw each other. Kurt is your brother?"
I nodded. “And he's still in the hands of King Ciaran.”
August put his hand on Erik's shoulder. "Let her go, Erik.”
Erik released me, and I stumbled away from them, unable to keep a sour expression from my face.
"Now that you know who I am, what I'm capable of, do you still think you need to attack me?" August asked.
I waited a moment before answering, "I'm not sure.”
"We're going to keep you separate from the others, for your safety, but you won’t need to go back to the cage," August said.
"Then where will I stay?" I asked.
"We'll make a shelter for you, but you'll have guards at all times," he said.
"For keeping me in or keeping them out?" I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you think? You tried to kill me, and even though I heal quickly, I'm not too fond of pain."
He began to lead the way back toward the main area. "How long will you keep me here?" I asked bitterly.
"Until King Ciaran is dead," he answered.
I clenched my jaw.
Erik pushed me forward. "Just because you told your
sob story doesn't get you off the hook. You're still accountable for your actions."
Roselle narrowed her eyes at him. "Even so…Shouldn't we do something about her brother?"
He shrugged. "That's up to August. But in my opinion, we can't afford to try. If we alert Ginsey that we exist, all our plans will be ruined."
As we rounded the corner, I hoped that I'd be able to stay in a shelter or tent, and not some igloo. If anything, ice would only weaken me further.
From behind me, Erik spoke up. "Roselle, go see if Aryl can gather people together to find supplies for another hut."
Without questioning him, Roselle hurried away to complete the task. The people didn't crowd me as much on my way back through them, but I still received threatening glares and angry mutters.
When we reached the farthest possible point in the gap, we found a small clearing large enough for another hut. “Looks like you’re running out of room,” I mused.
“Only out here,” he replied. “We can expand into the tunnels if needed.”
“Why haven’t you?” I asked.
“August likes to keep an eye on us. To make sure we abide by his rules.”
"What gives him the right to rule over all of you like this?"
He looked at me as if the question were stupid. "Have you seen his second form? He's a force to be reckoned with and a protector to all who live here."
"Have there ever been any threats besides me?" I asked.
"Well, of course," he said. “There are spies from Ginsey and Pira looking for us. They would attack if he didn't keep us safe. Plus the natives aren’t the friendliest of people, as you can tell by what happened to your friend.”
"The natives aren’t that bad. The girl that works as their healer is from the same school as Roselle and me."
"Oh, we know some of them are not from here," he replied. "But they brainwash them to think the same way. To wear funny clothes and paint their faces and act like savages."
A snort came from behind us, and I looked back to see a woman with wispy blond hair tucked up into a hair tie. Her face was creased with shallow wrinkles, mostly frown lines. "Have you ever even seen one of the natives?" she asked. "How would you know any of that?"