I thought about the Watchers who had lost their lives, protecting people they barley knew whilst away from their own family and friends.
And then it happened.
The room went entirely black. I lost consciousness for a moment, and then I woke up, gasping for air. I looked around me, but in the darkness I was entirely alone. There was no one and nothing except the darkness and me.
I opened my mouth. In my head I screamed “hello,” but I listened and there was no sound that left my lips. There was only silence and a bitter cold, causing my whole body to shiver.
I thought perhaps I had fallen unconscious, but I could feel my feet. I was able to walk, lift my arms, open my mouth, even touch my own hair. I could feel everything, but in the darkness I was unable to see my own body.
Was this a trick my opponent had played on me? I knew these mages to be skilled assassins, but this was magic unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced.
Was I dead and lost to the void?
“Father?” I mouthed the words, though once again they were not audible.
I waited and listened carefully for the slightest sound. I waited for a voice, a movement, anything to tell me I was not alone.
Nothingness. I was gone and lost to the world. I would never see my sister again, and I thought back to what Gemma had told me. Who would be Claire’s strength if I was dead? How could she possible survive, knowing she had lost everyone in her family. Not even Declan’s love would be enough to keep her sane after a loss so great. This would destroy her.
Ezra…
I had never gotten the chance to fully commit myself to him. We had spent so much time together fighting off our enemies and searching for answers we did not have. We had never been allowed to make our relationship public. I would never see him again, never feel his touch, never hear his sweet voice.
“Clara!”
“Father?” I asked again, this time hearing my own voice.
I blinked, and the darkness dissolved. The room, the faces, and the fighting returned. Except everything looked duller than before.
I shook my head, thinking I must have been mistaken, but the room, the battlefield as it were, had changed drastically.
No, you’re not thinking clearly… I thought.
I shut my eyes, squeezing harder this time, and opened them again. I had not imagined it.
Everything in the room, even the people within it, appeared in shades of gray. It was as if a heavy mist had engulfed the entire room. The people around me seemed to move at a slower pace. What sort of cruel trick was this? Was this Aralyn’s doing, or had she been bluffing and Stefan was somewhere inside the manor? Did he have strong enough powers to do something like this?
I glanced around the room, finally observing my allies. They all appearing to be alive for the moment, but they did not seem to notice the affects of the spell as I did.
I focused my attention on my opponent, the man with the sword. He had struck me with his weapon. Perhaps the enchantment was stronger than anything I was familiar with. Perhaps mages in Ninomay knew of enchantments my spell books had never taught me.
Since’s the man’s speed had decreased, I allowed my eyes to wander to the staircase. Aralyn was nowhere to be seen, but I knew she had gone upstairs. She had probably barricaded herself with Lukas. I did not know how much time we would have to save him, or if she had already escaped and this fight was nothing more than a distraction.
I could not lose Lukas, not now when we were so close.
Don’t do anything foolish… I thought to myself.
The shades of gray did not dissolve. The staircase was calling my name, begging me to approach it. My opponent moved at a slower pace now. I could easily walk around him, avoiding him and his sword altogether. Did I dare attempt it?
Without a second thought I ran. I ran like my life depended on it. I could see the staircase, and I was so close. That much closer to Lukas, that much closer to ending this battle.
A sharp pain entered my leg, and I fell to the floor. I laid inches away from the staircase, but I was eye level with the floor now. I slowly sat up, but my leg still stung.
I glanced down, and though everything else remained gray in color, I could see a red puddle leaking through my dress. I could see the blood trickling down to the floor. Whatever this was, however this was possible, this new state of existence did not make me invincible.
I looked up and saw my opponent. He stood over top of me once again, and this time he had his sword aimed to strike my chest.
I held my hands out in front of me. I still moved quicker than him, though somehow he had stopped me from reaching the staircase. I stared into his eyes, forcing my magic to focus on him and nothing else. I tried to push aside the thoughts about Father, the ones that had blinded me before. I tried to look at the man and forget that he, like Kade, only sought to kill me.
Don’t kill this man…
I winced and released my magic. It poured out of me like a waterfall. It felt like a weight had been lifted from me, like I could finally breathe again. I closed my eyes and prayed to Circe my magic would reach him faster than his sword would pierce my heart.
Thud…
I opened my eyes, and the colors in the room returned as if nothing had ever changed. The sounds of others fighting in the room had stopped, and I glanced back in hopes of my allies still being alive. I could not be bothered with what happened to my opponent when I feared my magic had killed everyone in the room.
Everyone else seemed frozen. All eyes were on me. My allies and our opponents had stopped fighting, and I could not understand why.
I stood up. My legs shook at first, but I regained my balance, and I dared to glance back at my attacker. A puddle of blood leaked down the stairs. His head had been crushed, and the remained of his body laid on the stairs.
I knelt down, nearly vomiting at the sight, and quickly looked away. It took every muscle in my body to stop myself from vomiting. Every muscle in my body to not look back at the others, who undoubtedly continued to stare at me. I had become the most vulnerable person in the room, yet no one challenged me. Instead they stared, focusing solely on me, not even glancing at the corpse behind me.
My actions could cost not only Lukas’s life, but that of the other eight people in the room with me.
I looked to Keanu for some sort of reassurance or explanation. He only offered me a puzzled expression and an open jaw.
What was I?
If no one planned to attack me, I knew what needed to be done. I would not wait any longer for the fighting to reconvene. I had killed yet another man, but today I did not have the luxury of reflecting on my mistakes, my sins, or my own demise.
I bolted up the stairs. I felt tired, like I didn’t have it in me to keep going, but I had to do this. It did not matter if my magic had drained me in a way that was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I didn’t even glance back, though the silence still continued on. I could hear my heels against the steps, but I was almost at the top.
Keep going. Keep moving. I told myself, biting down on my lip every time a jolt of pain ran up my legs.
No one stopped me. I could make it, and only death itself would stop me from reaching Lukas now. I only hoped I was not too late. I prayed the darkness would not return for a second time and ruin my chances.
I reached the top of the staircase, hesitating for only a moment. At the sight of the first door, I opened it and dared to step inside, not knowing who or what awaited me.
36
Graveyard
Lukas was on his knees in the middle of the room, gagged and tied up. His face showed no signs of abuse. He looked more intact than perhaps even I or the others downstairs. They had not harmed him, though this fact brought me little comfort. Aralyn had been ordered to keep him alive for a reason.
Aralyn stood behind Lukas with her nails digging into his neck. She smiled at me, not even bothering to ask how I had made it upstairs. For all she knew her allie
s could be dead. Watchers could burst into this room at any moment, and she would be surrounded.
For once I had the advantage.
Her smile, however, suggested she knew the odds. Perhaps she had played out the scenarios in her head. Perhaps she knew I came alone without any backup. I had raced up the staircase like a chicken with its head chopped off. Now I had to face the final test.
“I was hoping you would find us,” Aralyn said.
It was the first thing she had said that I truly believed. I had entered the first room I saw, and to my surprise Lukas was here. It seemed they had done a poor job of hiding him, or rather they had wanted someone to find him.
The room we stood in had no furniture except for a nightstand with a single candle on it. Drips of oil appeared visible on the candle. The windows were bowled shut with wood, but the door had been kept unlocked. I had purposely kept the door ajar upon my arrival in case Keanu or the others sought me out. Aralyn would have to move if she wanted to shut the door.
“Stefan left you here to die,” I said.
She chuckled.
“Someone will die, but Stefan won’t carry the blood on his hands. Lukas will be deciding who lives and dies,” she replied calmly.
I looked to Lukas. He refused to look my way, to even acknowledge my presence in the room. His face remained pinned down like that of a pitiful, helpless dog. I waited for one of his smart remarks, but he had nothing.
Aralyn had already warned me that Lukas was left with choosing between Claire and I. I wondered what the consequences would be if he refused to choose. It seemed unlikely Aralyn would be forgiving.
Aralyn kicked Lukas with her heel, gaining a grunt from him but nothing more.
“Choose, Lukas. Clara or Claire? One will live, the other will die. Don’t test me. I’ll carry out Stefan’s orders, and we both know what happens if you refuse,” she said.
I bit down on my lip. Something had to be done. I waited for Keanu to burst through the door. I waited for my allies to save us from this situation I had no control over. I kept waiting second by second for someone, anyone to save us.
But no one was coming.
Aralyn held all the power. Did I really want to test my luck by performing a spell? Considering what happened downstairs, I doubted my ability to control myself. If anything happened to Lukas because of my own magic I would never forgive myself. If anything happened to him Stefan would win.
Lukas glanced up at me, allowing our eyes to meet momentarily. Tear ran down his face, and then before I could give him a more thorough exam, his attention returned to the floor.
I could taste blood now and slowly released my lip. I wanted to scream. I wished for Claire or Ezra to be here, thinking the they would be better equipped for this.
Aralyn was right. I had come from a town with nothing to an island full of things I could not begin to grasp. Despite being a Kanelos girl, I was not better off than Lukas.
Keanu, where are you? I wondered, thinking from this room I could not hear whether anyone downstairs was alive or not. I heard not footsteps approaching, no sounds, no voices. It seemed it was only Aralyn, Lukas, and I. I feared what had happened to Keanu and the others since I had abandoned them. I had gone after Lukas without a second thought, without thinking how it might affect my allies.
“Lukas?” I asked.
He ignored me entirely. The decision he was forced to make was not an easy one. It was the kind of decision I would not wish upon my worst enemy. And yet, I half expected him to blurt out Claire’s name. He had the choice between saving the woman he loved and a woman he had only recently met.
The choice seemed obvious. I could hardly blame him if he chose her over me. His relationship with Claire was no secret to me, and it seemed Stefan had gained insight into their history as well. I expected Lukas to say her name, but I also did not want to die. I did not believe him to be selfish enough to let me die for his own desires.
“I will not ask again,” Aralyn said more sternly, tightening the grip on her staff.
Footsteps approached, and Aralyn pushed Lukas aside, causing him to fall against the floor. She extended her arm out toward me, casting a spell in the blink of a second.
A blue bolt slammed against my body, knocking the air out of me, and pushing me back into the wall. My body seemed to hit the wall at full force. I winced and groaned, feeling the bruising on my back.
Keanu entered the room with Watchers following behind him. He still held onto his dagger, which had remained enchanted, and rushed toward Aralyn. She dogged his attack and extended her staff in his direction. The two weapons came into contact with one another, but Keanu forced down on hers with relentless strength.
She jumped back, avoiding the touch of his magic, but by now the remainder of the Watchers surrounded them in a circle. Two of them grabbed Aralyn, while another two quickly sought to place cuffs on her wrists. She screamed all the while, wiggling and cursing.
“You’re wasting your damn time! Lukas was never in any harm. You bastards, you were played like fools!” she screamed, laughing hysterically.
Keanu nodded to the Watchers. Several of them moved away from Aralyn, allowing me to see the cuffs had been successfully placed.
Keanu approached me, extending his hand, and helped me up. I groaned as I stood up, but I searched the room for Lukas. I did not know if we had defeated Aralyn’s allies, and I did not want to lose sight of him again.
Lukas remained exactly where Aralyn had left him, and I let out a long sigh. My pain was nothing in comparison to the pain I had imagined if we lost him.
“Are you hurt?” Keanu asked, squeezing my arm gently.
I shook my head.
“Nothing serious,” I said, offering a weak smile.
I glanced over him, noticing some blood on his shirt.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not mine.”
He smiled faintly and then refocused on Lukas. He rushed over and helped him up.
Lukas’s neck appeared red and covered with several scratches, but otherwise he looked unharmed. Even with Keanu standing next to him, he still refused to look him in the eyes. Instead his attention returned to me, and I remained speechless.
Everyone in this room knew about the decision Stefan had tried to force out of Lukas. I doubted Aralyn would ever mention it again, even at her own trial.
I, on the other hand, could not find the words. Lukas had kept silent, despite Aralyn’s demands. If it were not for Keanu another person could have died on this day.
“If I die, more blood will be on your hands!” Aralyn yelled, still squirming against the Watchers who held her.
Keanu redirected his attention to her, daring to step closer whereas the others had moved away.
“No. You will lead us to Stefan, and if you refuse you’ll meet the fate you deserve. You have only yourself to blame,” he said firmly.
She spit in his face.
He shook his head and wiped it off, ignoring her actions altogether.
“Take her downstairs. Let her see what fate awaits her,” Keanu said, gesturing for the Watchers to leave.
Like Aralyn, I did not know what horrors awaited us downstairs. I hoped Keanu had remembered we needed more of Stefan’s allies alive rather than dead. I was no one to judge if some had been killed during the fight, but we needed to bring back as many as possible to the palace.
The Watchers joined together, assisting in forcing Aralyn out of the room. I watched as they left, trying to count how any of us were left.
Ahna… I thought, realizing out of all the women who left the room, I had not seen her.
“Keanu… where is Ahna?” I asked, hearing my voice quiver.
He turned around, frowning. He did not answer me.
“K-Keanu?” I asked again, this time genuinely scared of any answer he could give me.
I glanced over at Lukas, who had moved closer to us. His face was also grim. Both of them knew the answer, and deep down I knew it as well.
<
br /> “Clara…” Keanu said softly, holding out his hand.I shook my head and bolted out of the room. I ran down the stairs, thinking of nothing but Ahna. I had not known her long enough to consider her a friend or even a reliable ally, but she had proven loyalty in our most desperate time of need.
I knew Ahna had been loyal and brave to venture outside her home with strangers. And yet I found myself hoping, praying, she had abandoned us out of fear or selfishness rather than had died honorably.
I had demanded this impossible task of her. I had asked her to join us because of her connection to Kade, but at what cost?
I reached the bottom of the staircase and froze.
Bodies were spread out across the foyer. Blood puddles decorated the floor. Several mages had died, but I noticed a majority of them remained alive, tied up at the feet with cuffs on their wrists and gags in their mouths.
Everyone stared at me upon my entrance, and despite being amongst the living, I felt as thought I had entered into a graveyard.
37
Kill or Be Killed
I stared down at the man I had killed with my own magic. That much I knew remained true. He was hardly recognizable anymore, but I still remembered him vividly, as I did Kade. Their images were embedded into my brain.
You did this… I thought.
I shook my head and looked away from the corpse. I could not let the man’s death consume me, at least not now, not while I searched for Ahna.
I dared to look further across the room, ignoring the bodies of people who had wronged our world with their crimes. I kept looking until my eyes finally caught sight of a redhead amongst the others.
Without another thought I rushed to her side and knelt down. She laid on her stomach, but I could tell from the dress and hair alone that it was Ahna. Even so, I turned her body over. She rolled over motionlessly. Her arms flailed like that of a doll, and her eyes remained empty. Her face was pale with blood leaking from her lips.
Clara and Ezra Page 20