by K.L. Bauman
Chapter 12
Cage
“What?” Echo asked. What kind of help would a dark creature like a water wraith need from a human? She stood with her dagger still pointed at the figure. The sky was darkening. She’d soon be alone, in the dark, with a water wraith!
The wraith’s voice was still a whisper, “I need your help.”
Echo looked into those strange, mystical eyes. They were so sad, so sincere. She lowered her blade a fraction. “W-Why would you need my help? Aren’t you supposed to pull me into the water and kill me or something?”
The man gave her another crooked smile, softening her fear like heat softens chocolate. “Yeah, something,” he said, his voice now appealingly deep and slightly rough around the edges. “If I meant to kill you, you’d be dead already.” His smile had the sudden opposite effect as a chill ran the length of Echo’s spine. She raised the tip of her dagger again, though she knew her weapon would do him no harm.
They stared at each other for a moment. Echo felt her cheeks grow hot as he continued to smile at her. She felt incredibly vulnerable--if he wanted to, he would have no trouble luring her into the water. Even worse, she was sure he knew it. She cleared her throat and spoke, “What do you want from me? I’m only human. I don’t have any special powers. I’m not magical.”
The wraith gave her a curious look. “Wraiths can sense other’s energies--all the little details of their thoughts, emotions, and desires that make each person unique. That’s how I was able to lure you so easily. I can sense things in you that you don’t even know about.” He smiled again, making Echo feel awkward and uncomfortable.
She felt something else, too--annoyance. How dare he invade her thoughts and emotions? Still, she was curious enough to ask, “Like what?”
“I knew your favorite food was chocolate and strawberries,” he answered softly. Echo said nothing, so he continued. “I know everything about my, uh, victims.”
Echo stifled another shiver as she kept her gaze and dagger steadily on the wraith. Shimmer approached and Echo unconsciously raised her free hand and placed it on the horse’s neck. A surge of energy ran up her arm as Shimmer lent her strength. The wraith watched intensely at that small movement and then nodded approvingly. “You and your horse have a very strong, very bright energy--brighter than any I’ve seen for a very long time. You have a unique connection. I believe you’re the ones who can help us. I believe you have the strength to free us.”
“Free you?” Echo asked, though she was ready for this conversation to be over. Whatever this creature thought about her was wrong. He was confusing her with someone else.
Lines formed between the wraith’s brows as his face became serious. “We’ve been slaves to dark magic for centuries. It’s one of our weaknesses. We just can’t seem to resist it, kind of how you wouldn’t be able to resist me.” He looked at her smugly, irritating her again. Then his face sobered. “Once we’re caught, we can’t defy the dark magic or we suffer pain more terrible than you can imagine.” Echo’s mind flashed to moments before when the wraith had been screaming and squeezing his head. She felt a small seed of pity in the pit of her heart.
The wraith continued, “Many of us have been enslaved. We’ve drawn so many to the water, we’ve lost count.” He lowered his gaze, as if ashamed. “But we’ve tried to save as many as we can, taking them to the River Guardian or the Other World.”
“What about the ones you couldn’t save?” Echo blurted.
The wraith’s eyes met hers. He shrugged, “Can’t save everyone.”
Echo whispered her next question, insanely curious, but wary of the answer, “What do you do with them?”
The wraith’s features were dark as he scratched the back of his neck. “Some things are better left unspoken.”
Echo swallowed. She had to force away horrible images of what a water wraith could do with a drowned body.
The wraith spoke her name, causing her to jump, “Echo, will you help?”
“How do you know my name?” She was suddenly aware of the darkness closing in around them. The stars were popping out in the sky and only the crickets and frogs continued their song, leaving the birds to slumber.
“I’ve been watching you for a while. Name’s Cage,” he extended a hand again. Echo looked at it this time as if it were a hissing snake. Cage raised an eyebrow. “A hand shake is the human form of greeting, isn’t it?”
“Not for me. Not anymore,” Echo said darkly. A lump involuntarily formed in her throat as she thought of Brecker. She moved closer to Shimmer so she could feel her warmth.
Cage lowered his hand. “I know that Belzac has captured your brother.”
Echo’s hands went cold. The doon who’d enslaved Brecker was Belzac?
“I’m sorry. I had hoped to reach you both first. Belzac is my master, too. And my enemy.” Echo shifted nervously as the wraith continued, “Degus freed him somehow with her sorcery, but I think he’s after his own purposes now. Once he’s completely free of her control, he’ll fulfill those purposes.” The wraith suddenly released a growling yell and squeezed his head again as he doubled over with pain. Echo stood frozen for several minutes, not sure what to do or expect. Finally Cage stood and, through streaming eyes and heavy breath said, “Your brother is lost, Echo. Being magical creatures, water wraiths can block the curse somewhat, but a human doesn’t stand a chance.”
Rage blossomed inside Echo. “SHUT UP! Just SHUT UP! Brecker is not lost! We’ll find him and we’ll find a way to break the spell!” She lowered her blade and stomped threateningly toward the wraith, away from Shimmer, until she was inches in front of him. She had to tilt her head back in order to see into his eyes.
Cage studied her, his expression half pitying, half amused. His face stirred the fire that had started in Echo. His voice only added to the flames as he spoke, “You’re being naïve.”
Echo breathed heavily as she responded, “Why would I ever help you? You only want to help yourself! What about all the people you’ve killed? What about all the suffering you’ve caused? You’re no better than Belzac!”
Cage move so quickly, Echo didn’t have time to react. His clammy but strangely warm hands were suddenly on the sides of her head, his expression fierce and determined as he looked into her eyes. He clenched his jaw, causing a muscle to bulge. Echo gasped as Shimmer’s enraged scream filled the air. Before the horse could come to her aid, a wall of water shot out from the pond and blocked her from Echo. From the corner of her eye, Echo could see small fish darting around frantically in the wall, confused at their new position.
Echo was certain Cage could feel the panicked thundering of her heart. The silvery mist swirled in his eyes, hypnotizing her. She was suddenly transported to a thousand different times in a thousand different places. She saw Cage and other water wraiths bound and tortured by dark spells cast by dark beings. She watched, horrified, as they tried to break free, only to suffer great pain and even death. She saw the wraiths lure people to the water; some they led to the River Guardian or to the Other World; others writhed frantically until their bodies went limp in the water and they were dragged away into darkness. She watched the wraiths, forced by Degus’ strong, evil magic, attack a couple and their son (who seemed oddly familiar) near a river. They were also given to the River Guardian, but the boy faded from the vision. She saw the water wraiths pulled away from their families, their friends, and their homes as they were ordered to perform horrific duties in the name of dark magic.
Echo felt Cage’s pain, his fear, his desperate need to be free. The flood of another’s memories and emotions was overwhelming. Her eyes streamed with tears and she felt like she was going to faint. Her body shook as if chilled. She wanted to get away, but she couldn’t move.
Cage finally pulled his hands away and Echo fell to her knees. She wanted to kneel there and sob, still affected by what she’d experienced. Cage placed his fingertips gently under he
r chin and raised her face toward his. His expression and voice were soft, “Now do understand?”
Echo’s body refused to stop shaking as she looked at the wraith’s sad face. He helped her to stand, sending a wave of heat through Echo’s body. With the images of what Cage’s people had been through still flashing in her mind, she said weakly, “I’ll help if I can.” She still believed the wraith was making a mistake about her. How could she even begin to stop such powerful darkness--especially when she was terrified of her own room at night?
Cage gave her another lopsided grin and Echo couldn’t help smiling back. He was still holding her hand.
Suddenly, Cage let go as another figure leapt through the trees and lurched furiously toward the wraith. Echo gasped and grabbed her blade as Cage changed form, back into the frightening, ghostly figure. The wall of water keeping Shimmer away crashed to the ground with a loud splash. Shimmer approached as Echo squinted in the dimming light, attempting to discern what was going on. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized the second figure was Keebo.
Keebo attempted to wrestle with the wraith as he growled furiously, “Leave her alone, you freak! I’ll kill you!” Echo stood in shock, one hand holding a dagger, the other grasping Shimmer’s mane. The horse pawed the ground with her hoof as fish flopped everywhere, trying desperately to return to the pond. Echo wanted to help the stupid things, reminded of the images of people drowned by water wraiths. But her attention was fixed on the struggling figures.
Cage easily maneuvered around Keebo’s attempts of punching, hitting, grabbing, or biting. The wraith no longer had any discernible facial features, but Echo was certain he was probably smiling. The ghostly figure wrapped around the boy, pinning him against a tree. “Had enough?” Cage growled, his voice eerie again. Keebo struggled against the restraint and then seemed to melt into the tree.
Echo blinked for the first time in several minutes. What just happened? Before she could do or say anything, Keebo leapt out from behind the tree, a ball of fire suspended above his hand. Cage glided away quickly and gracefully, not to mention carefully. Keebo drew back the flaming ball, ready to release it on the wraith.
Snapping out of her state of shock and confusion, Echo raced to Cage, placing herself between Keebo and the wraith. Keebo’s face turned from triumph to horror. He couldn’t stop the blazing missile from leaving his hand. It shot straight at Echo!
Echo readied herself, focusing completely on the blazing ball. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. For once, she was calm, focused, and ready. As the flames grew close enough for her to feel their heat, she fanned her blade furiously in front of her. The ball struck the steel, sending out sparks that singed Echo’s arms, and then ricocheted into the pond. The water sizzled madly as it swallowed the ball, dowsing the flames.
Silence followed. Everyone stood frozen for a moment. Finally, Echo lowered her dagger and turned toward Cage. The wraith took human form and glared at Keebo who stood in shocked silence.
“You okay?” Cage asked Echo as he began to stride toward Keebo.
Echo reached out a hand to stop him, “Wait. It’s okay, he’s my friend.”
“I know. That doesn’t make him my friend,” Cage answered. But he thankfully stayed put. He and Keebo glared at one another for a moment more. Then Cage whistled sharply and stepped back. Echo nearly screamed again as the enormous black figure of a horse--no, a kelpie--a demon horse notorious for drowning its riders, burst out of the water. Shimmer reared and released a sharp, challenging whistle. She felt the horse’s fury, but held a hand against her as signal to stay put. Shimmer reluctantly obeyed, shaking her mane, snorting, and pawing the ground. Echo was certain, had she not been there, Shimmer would’ve fought the kelpie to the death. She watched, wide eyed, as Cage approached the horse that was nearly invisible in the darkness.
Cage patted the jittery creature on the neck and whispered words that Echo couldn’t understand. The demon quieted slightly under the wraith’s touch. Cage looked at Echo, gave a crooked smile, and said, “Kelpies are our horses--well the ones we’ve captured and tamed, anyway.” The horse reared, stomped, and danced in place next to its master, looking anything but tame. “As long as I’m with him, Velth won’t hurt you.” He looked curiously at Echo and Shimmer. “You know, most horses are terrified of kelpies.” Shimmer snorted again and stomped a hoof, clarifying her definite lack of fear toward the demon horse.
Cage studied them a moment more before leaping onto the kelpie’s back. He glared at Keebo again and pointed a finger, “You watch out for her. And you,” he said, now pointing at Echo, “I will see again soon. We have things to discuss.”
With that the kelpie reared, its eyes and nostrils flaring a fiery red in contrast against the darkness. Cage resumed his natural form astride his stead--two dark, formidable figures looming over them in the night. The sight was terrifying and amazing. And then, they were suddenly gone, racing madly from the pond toward the river and leaving nothing behind but an eerie echo of a horse’s scream in the chilly night air.