“Of course. Anything you need,” she said solemnly.
“We should get the glamor back on so we don’t attract attention when we go to his locker.” I stood to face her. She stood without saying a word. She stepped a few paces away from me. She closed her eyes and made a whirling circular motion with her hands while murmuring like she did before.
“Done!” she announced and pointed at the mirror hanging from one of the walls. I turned around and for the first time saw what I looked like under the the glamor spell.
We went back to the school through the library appearing to be just two students walking in silence across the school grounds.
“Why are we putting this note again? I thought you said the Sanctuary was magically bugged?” Dr. McGrath asked.
“True, but I don’t want them to know that we know it. Plus, I want to make double sure that the message gets to the Sorceress,” I answered.
When we got to the hallway, I walked towards Kieran’s locker and pulled a blank notepad from my backpack.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to use the ladies room while you do that. I’ve been on a lot of liquids at the hospital, you know,” the doctor asked.
“Sure, no worries.”
She went on ahead of me to use the facilities.
I took out a pen from my pack and wrote the note then slipped it through Kieran’s locker door. The doctor was just coming back when I finished.
I gave her a thumbs up to show I was done. She joined me and we walked straight out of the gate without even a glance from the guards. We crossed the street and entered the wrecked office.
Hailey and Taylor showed up at the office a few minutes later.
“How did you guys do?” I asked.
“We’re going to try our best, Abi, you know we will. But these are really advanced magic for us. It’s really hard.” She did a halfway whirl with both her hands and a small blue fire formed in between which almost immediately fizzled out. She shook her head and her face showed frustration and disappointment. “I’m trying. I just don’t know magic, is all,” Taylor said.
“Hailey?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I’m no better. So we decided to bring other weapons.” She opened her pack to show a baseball bat.
I looked at both of them with absolute dread in my heart but I kept my voice steady and reassuring. Although in the back of my head I was wondering if I was exposing my friends to danger they were not prepared to face. “We got this. We just need one Xana and we have her.” I looked at the doctor proudly.
“I’m not fully recovered but I think I can help,” she said.
A small dust devil started to form in our midst. The whirlpool gained momentum and as I now expected its speed died away, leaving a near-opaque gray cloud suspended in the air. Once again, an invisible hand wrote a message over the gray smoke in the same ornate script Hailey and I saw before.
Hailey didn’t take a chance this time and pulled her phone and took a picture of the message. For good measure, I went in close to make sure I read and memorized every detail on the message.
“Go the Broken Mansion at 8:00 p.m. tonight. You can bring Dr. McGrath to take your parents home. She needs to stay outside and wait for them. She cannot come in with you. You need to come inside the cave alone.”
The group was still staring at the spot where the message was long after the smoke had completely dissipated. I looked at each one, trying to discern from their faces what they were thinking. I felt the palpable sense of dread and fear in the room but I also felt the strength of my own conviction. I will see this through, I will know the truth. I will save them even if it means dying.
CHAPTER 31
You Can’t Change Fate...
We all got out of the car and proceeded with the plan.
I reached the front of the Broken Mansion. I placed my hand on the rusted gated and stood there watching the evening sky start to cover the mansion in darkness. I thought it peculiar that silhouetted against the setting sun, the house truly outlined two halves of a broken heart. I don’t know why, but now more than any other moment we spent in this place, I felt the pang of betrayal. I knew that every step I took from this point forward would be an act of betrayal. And every moment got me closer and closer to the inevitability I cannot allow myself to consider much less accept.
I looked at the steps leading into the interior of the mansion and I retraced the footprints on the dust we made just a couple of days ago. I looked back down to see if I could see the doctor anymore but this vantage point was too steep and the thicket obscured everything down below. I turned around and continued on. The sitting room was exactly as I remembered but I didn’t even bother to look around. I went straight to the middle of the room where I know my fate would be waiting for me.
The glamour magic of the room gave way to the reality of the alternate dimension of the Netherworld. The darkness of the cave replaced the warmth of the seating room. The jagged edges of the chasm penetrated not just the mansion but the very fabric of this part of the Nether. Once again I felt the piercing stab of ache in my chest. A silvery light from the waxing moon sliced through the thick dark of the cavern. I gazed and marveled at the gaping hole up above. I could not help but think what the owners must have felt to bear the weight of treachery and duplicity. I kept walking slowly into the void.
Despite the coldness of the cave, beads of perspiration started to form at the base my neck and cold sweat trickled down my back. My hands were trembling violently. I thought it best to put them inside my pockets. I kept walking forward even though my mind was screaming for me to run away. Run! Run! I swallowed hard and pushed it all down and faced her.
“You are very brave to come in here alone.” The voice of the Sorceress rang melodically within the chamber.
“You said to come alone.” I said as defiantly as I could but my voice faltered.
“So I did. So I did. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.”
A massive bonfire whooshed into existence in the middle of the cave floor. The fire crackled and sent small embers adrift towards the crack up above like orange fireflies escaping into the night.
Two massive candle holders with no less than fifty candles the size of small trees ignited in front of me. In front of the fire and in between the massive candelabras was a long table covered in white linen. In the middle of the table were the Kerberian Box and the crown of the Destroyer of Kings. Below the table was a raised platform made of stone. The platform looked like a narrow bed made of smooth and shiny black marble. Around its edge was a carved a depression, no doubt designed to collect the precious liquid flowing from the living sacrifice. The drain led to a spout designed to funnel the blood into a bowl hewn from genuine crystal. A dancing firelight struck a facet of something shiny next to it. I saw the matching crystal dagger glint with unflinching icy menace.
I stood there staring at the table when the voice of the Sorceress pierced the silence.
“It’s your destiny, child. This is not your normal fairy tale. Not every “chosen one” means they were chosen for great things. Some of them were chosen to be a lamb for the slaughter.” She laughed a cold and joyless laugh that grated me to the core. I dug my nails into my palms to control my rising temper.
I need to give Hailey and Taylor time to find my parents.
“I don’t understand something and if I am to die tonight, I need to know why. You are already powerful. How much more power do you need? Or is there never enough for someone so consumed by greed?”
The Sorceress’s laughter reverberated within the cave walls that it felt like the Broken Mansion got hit with a small earthquake. Her voice became serious and I felt my courage crack around the edges. I stopped myself from flinching. “So young, so brave yet so naïve. What do you think I am trying to do? I am trying to bring peace. There used to be a time when everyone had
equal access to magic. But now, only the few and powerful have it. Those who were born of the bloodline and those who are ruthless enough to wrench it from others. The old King Maker made a mistake I intend to correct. I am trying to create a world where everyone is equal.”
“But what are you willing to give up for this equality? How do you intend to bring about this new world you envisioned?”
“Whatever it takes, child. But I don’t expect someone like you to understand. You had it good all your life. What would you know of sacrifice, suffering, and inequality; born of royalty. Enough is enough. The Trifama Alliance will fall and you are in no position to challenge me.”
“I don’t know what the mob has to do with my family and I don’t care. If you have a quarrel with them, you should take it up with them,” I retorted.
She laughed so hard that she bent nearly double. After a few more disgusting, gurgling chuckles, she straightened up and said, “Clearly, someone’s been neglecting your education. But ignorance is rarely bliss and never a valid excuse. With the crown, I can redistribute magic. I can restore it in the realms that have been devastated and the people whose magic powers have been stripped away by those who have been placed in charge.” She paused and eyed me more intensely from within her cowl. “I know it will require sacrifice. But peace always comes with a price.”
“Remember that there is also peace in a battlefield full of dead soldiers,” I said with a bit more bile in my voice than I expected.
“True, but that is a battle for another day. Tonight if you hold your end of the bargain, only one person will die. And then we will know what you are willing to sacrifice for peace,” she answered with an emphasis on the word “you”.
I felt her studying me, sizing me up with those unseen eyes. The silence was only broken by the crackling and hissing of the fire.
“You and I are not so different, Abigail. Maybe except for the hardship I experienced as a child, we are of the same character. I can see there is fire in you. You too will give anything and will do anything to get what you want.”
“I am nothing like you!” I yelled. My face reddened.
Whoa, girl! You can’t blow up right now. People’s lives are dependent on you keeping your cool.
“Anyone given the right motivation will do anything, even treachery and deceit, don’t you agree?” she asked.
“I think people who let themselves think that already lost the battle to be good,” I responded more calmly this time.
“But you are such a person. You just don’t know it yet. You will see, Abigail.”
She moved over to the table and summoned me closer. I tried to resist but I was powerless. My body floated towards her with the points of my shoes dragging against the ground. It stopped when I was about three feet from the Sorceress. I tried to look directly at her face but her cowl was still one dark mystery. Far more interesting was that I didn’t feel scared. I was worried for my friends and my family but I was not scared of what I was about to do because I knew the cause was just.
She clapped her hands twice and two figures in hoods and robes approached from either side.
“We need her prepared for the sacrifice.” She took something from the pocket of her robe. She turned away from me and murmured something. The last thing I recalled was the feeling of falling into a bottomless pit as I gazed upon the darkness inside the hood as she turned back and blew white powder in my face.
One moment I was standing in front of her, the next instant I was on the sacrificial table. The only clue I had that time had passed was I felt my body had been washed, my hair combed, and my jeans and t-shirt were replaced by a white robe. I was barefoot and my hands were restrained in front of me. I tried to get up but whatever that powder was that made me unconscious was still in my system. I tried to lift my head but it was too heavy. Then I realized my head was hanging on the lower part of the sacrificial table with my feet elevated. I heard chanting but I couldn’t make out any of the voices. All my blood had traveled to my head and I couldn’t get focused. The one consolation I had was that since I was now awake must mean that it was beginning to wear off.
I closed my eyes and ordered myself to clear my mind and to center myself. It was hard with the drugs fighting my will. I looked towards my right very slowly so they didn’t notice. I saw the three of them chanting over the crown while the Sorceress was waving a crystal dagger over it.
I looked towards my left and saw in the semi-darkness of the cavern Taylor motioning that we needed to go.
“C’mon! We have to go. Wake up!” Taylor shouted so loud that my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I involuntarily responded with a loud, “Shh, they might hear you!”
“They can’t. Let’s go. What’s wrong with you?”
Then I realized her mouth was not moving. Neither was mine. We were communicating telepathically. Either that or this drug was not just a paralytic but also a hallucinogenic.
“Can you move?” Taylor asked.
“I can’t. They drugged me. I’m paralyzed.”
“Try. Please try.” When I didn’t move, she added, “Here, let me help you.”
“No, stay away. I don’t want to take that risk.” I closed my eyes tightly to stave off the oncoming tears. I guess they will need to know. I was hoping they would be spared this moment. “Taylor, Hailey, please take my parents away from here, please. I... I need to see this through. I bought theirs and your safety with my blood. Don’t let my sacrifice be for nothing.”
“Abigail! No you must come with us. You must come with us. We planned this! We agreed that you would come with us! Now get up! Taylor, go there and get her!” Hailey yelled in my mind. Hailey was standing now with her fist balled up on her sides.
I looked over and in the corner of my eyes, I saw Taylor working her way back towards me.
“Stop! Please! You need to go! If you get caught, my sacrifice will be in vain. Please!” My tears were hot on my cheeks and pooling down behind my neck. I tried to shake off my tears by moving my head but to no avail.
“Abi, we know. We know all along that if it came to this, you would sacrifice yourself for us. And each one of us would have done the same if we were in your shoes. But we have a chance here. Please don’t throw it away,” Taylor said.
“Come with us! Please!” Hailey said.
I felt my heart breaking at those words. I never thought I would find friends who would be willing to give up their lives to save mine.
“Let me try...”
CHAPTER 32
But You Can Choose
Your Destiny
I closed my eyes and fought the calming sensation of the sedative. I focused myself once again.The force of my will strengthened my determination. I fought the drug with every ounce of resolve I could muster. I forced energy up and down my body to combat the paralysis. Then, I felt my toes start to wiggle but my upper body was still stiff. I continued my ministrations. Finally, I felt sensation returning to my arms, enough to be able to slide my body down the table. I rolled off the table towards the lower end and struggled to get upright. But I failed. I toppled to the ground. My eyes went wild with the thought they might have heard me.
Taylor moved closer. I heard her say, “It’s ok, Abi. They didn’t hear you. Let me help you.”
“No, Taylor. I will come to you!” I screamed in my head.
“Okay, but please hurry!”
I couldn’t take the risk that Taylor would come any closer. I realized that the paralytic influence of the drug was still affecting my feet although less so than my hands. I couldn’t get out of the restraints so I used my feet and elbows to crawl towards her. I got to the mouth of the tunnel and saw Hailey protecting two figures slumped on the floor. The cave was too dark to see their faces. I didn’t need to. In my heart I knew it was them. I wanted to hug them, tell them it will be ok. But the drug was still keeping me from speakin
g.
The mixed emotions of shock and longing broke my concentration and the force of will I was using to keep the drug at bay failed me. The drug took over me and I was once again, immobile.
Taylor must have sensed what I was going through and quickly assured me, “Don’t worry, Abi. They’re fine. They’re just weak. Let’s go! We’re done here!” Hailey’s voice rang in my head.
I was able to nod but no more. I couldn’t move. I felt Taylor’s hand close around mine. “C’mon, let’s go. We have to go.”
I nodded again. I closed my eyes and this time. I shut everything out and I put all my effort into combating the drugs. As soon as I felt the numbness dissipate, I slowly started to crawl again. It was slow and agonizing but I kept it up. I keep telling myself that moving would make the drug wear off faster. It was working. I kept wriggling forward and soon I could crawl using my elbows to pull me up. I found a rock about two feet tall. I crawled towards it and used it to prop myself to a semi-standing position. I saw Taylor rushing over to help me.
I was about to continue to hobble to meet her halfway when from behind, a sudden rush of heat and a flash of white light shot past us, illuminating the tunnel and lighting up the whole cavern.
I looked back and saw the Sorceress and her followers right behind us.
“Did you plan to double-cross me? Aww, Abigail. Did you think you could have your cake and eat it too? Come here, rescue your parents, and get away from me? I was just waiting for you to make a play. I know you have it in you. I just want to show what you’re capable of. Yes, that’s right, deceit and treachery. I told you, you and I are not so different. And you protested so much, what not even a couple of hours ago. Yet here you are, proving my point.”
The Obsidian Crown of the Lost Dominion Page 23