A leaping stream ran down between the pine tree wall and stony gate. Riders followed it, galloping at a feverish pace. The pounding hooves partially disguised by the noise of rushing water.
Octãhvia arrived on the heels of her henchmen. A sordid collection of hissing goblins, snarling Redcaps, salivating polar bears and ravenous white tigers preceded rows of armed warriors. The invisible barrier Hawthrin had created had been breached, and she strolled confidently into the courtyard of Elyssium.
The king remained rooted in place, watching the scene with hostile disbelief. “How did you pass through?”
Octãhvia cut him off. “That is a question better answered by your son.”
Etienne threw a murderous glance at Julien, who remained expressionless.
Laughter rang through the courtyard, like the chiming of bells. “Not that son.” She tossed her head toward Adrius who stood in battle stance, sword drawn next to me. Etienne’s face darkened but he said nothing. Flakes of snow drifted silently to the ground.
“You needn’t look so frightened,” she cooed.
The king’s face broiled bright red as he tried to contain his quick temper.
Octãhvia’s black eyes darted in his direction. “If I wanted your little kingdom gone, I’d have claimed it ages ago.”
“What do you want then?” Etienne ground through clenched teeth.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She still sounded like a little girl, sweet, and innocent, yet deadly. “She’s the one I’ve come for.”
Adrius stepped forward. “Over my dead body.”
The sound of scraping metal filled the air as Elven guards unsheathed their swords.
Her head snapped toward them. With a wave of her hand, the first row of Elven warriors fell to the ground, writhing in pain. She smiled.
Octãhvia stepped toward Adrius, her eyes fixed on me. “Come now. Is the girl truly worth losing everything you’ve worked so hard to protect?” Her glance shifted to the king.
“There’s no need for anyone else to suffer,” I said softly.
With a deep breath, I stepped out from behind Adrius, feeling uneasy about the sensations rippling through me. It was as if thousands of butterflies were fluttering inside my body, trying to break free. I held up my hand, briefly closing my eyes. Healing energy was something I was familiar with but the intensity of it came as a shock to my system. I could sense the swirling green light, stretching from me to the warriors. Seconds later their cries of pain ceased and the warriors stood and returned to their posts.
My eyes bulged. Adrius cocked an eyebrow. Julien frowned. I’d never been able to do that before. Healing was always a hands-on thing for me. This was like I transmitted the healing from me across the short distance to them.
Octãhvia stared hard and tilted her head for a moment. But when she regained her poise, she seemed pleased by what she had witnessed.
“You are right, darling. There is no need for others to suffer. Come, walk with me.”
“Go now,” she instructed her minions. “Things are well under control here. Find something else to do, pets.” They exchanged confused looks before retreating into the forest.
Adrius was not convinced. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, you truly need to work on your trust issues, love. I merely wish to parlay with the girl. Perhaps stake some sort of bargain around her special gifts. After all we’ve been through you would deny me even that?”
“Yes. I would.” His gaze was unflinching.
I touched his arm. “Adrius. If I go with her, then I know no one else will be hurt.”
“You believe that?”
“I believe…” I didn’t really know what I believed. That everything would be fine? That we were all going to die? “I believe… that this is the best way. Trust me. Please.”
He drew himself upright and scanned the long line of warriors fading into the twilight behind us. “No, Lorelei, I won’t let you put yourself in any more danger. This ends now.” Adrius was about to drag me away, when Julien turned to the leader of the Elven warriors, who were armed with arrows ready to fire on command.
“It’s time,” Julien said to them.
“No, Julien,” Adrius groaned. But it was too late.
I expected a fanfare or trumpets blazing or something significant to mark the end of our existence. But those two simple words spoke volumes as arrows seared into the forest after Octãhvia’s retreating army, commencing the battle between light and dark.
From the darkness of the forest stormed gnarling beasts and monsters, swords flailing and shields splintering.
I ducked and raced for cover behind a tree trunk, as an arrow whipped by me.
Warriors were cut down by blades of ice, and a cluster of Redcaps feasted on the flesh.
Julien leapt into the fray, slashing at the goblins and one by one they met with the same fate.
Adrius stayed close to me, keeping me in his line of sight. I scanned the area for Octãhvia, but she was nowhere to be seen. Bodies from both sides were dropping like rain all around us and the smell of blood overwhelmed me. I made the mistake of wondering how much worse things could get.
A deafening shriek filled the air. The sound was like the metallic scraping of nails against a chalkboard, only hundreds of decibels louder. I fell to my knees, hands pasted over my ears which felt like they were bleeding from the noise. A winged creature swooped over Octãhvia’s army. It resembled a dinosaur, but the lion body, eagle head and wings, and fiery breath streaming from a beak riddled with needle sharp teeth didn’t fit the description of any prehistoric beast I’d ever heard of. Real or imagined, it circled once and then swooped toward us. I’m not sure, but I think I screamed.
Adrius cursed. “Gryphon,” he snarled and drew his bow. Before he could fire a fourth shot, the creature grasped Adrius in its taloned claws, lifting him high into the air then dropped him to the ground. He landed with a bon- crushing thud I could hear even over the clanging metal and battle cries. For a moment, he was motionless.
I sprinted to his side, but a blast of fire came between us, singeing my hair, preventing me from reaching him. I was forced to scramble back to the sanctuary of my tree. I’d have to heal him from a distance which was still something new for me; I focused, mentally scanning his body to see where he might be injured. The image of fractured ribs had just formed in my mind, when the gryphon spiraled around gunning straight for me.
With a gust of flame it ignited my tree sanctuary, drenching me in a shower of melting ice, dagger like icicles piercing the ground. I made a dash for the bolder a few yards away. The beast followed, swooping low over my head with a deafening cry. I looked around in desperation. The Keep was a few hundred feet away… too far to make a run for it.
My mind raced. There was no where left to hide. If I could make it to The Keep and find a bow, maybe I’d be able to use the elements to help me bring it down. A flaming arrow or something… how hard could that be to conjure? I thought with desperation.
I watched as the creature circled and then swooped back toward Adrius. Without thinking, I jumped out from behind my cover, waving my arms madly, hollering to get the creature’s attention. Anything to draw it away from Adrius, who was slowly rousing, and within seconds climbed to his feet again.
But now I was in the line of fire, literally. I sped toward The Keep, staying as low to the ground as I could while still running. Wailing blasts of heat surged by me, the smell of ash and smoke filling my lungs, making it impossible to breath. Coughing and sputtering, I collapsed on the ground behind a stump, my eyes burning from the vapors. Just when I thought it was going to be my end, Adrius appeared across from me, steely determination raging in his eyes.
Stepping out from under the shelter of the trees, Adrius focused on the monster circling overhead and drew his bow. He took aim, with steady, deadly precision and a shower of arrows whizzed past, striking the creature in the chest like a pincushion.
The winged beast let out a long wailing cry and then swerved to the left before plummeting to the earth with such force it made the ground tremble and crack. White feathers stained with crimson twitched and then went still. Smoke streamed from its broken beak before the light from its glowing red eyes faded to black.
I used the distraction to scramble to my feet and ran toward The Keep, not pausing to look back when I heard Adrius call my name. Skidding through the door, I heaved it shut behind me and searched in the dim light for a bow. If I was going to help the ones I loved, I had to be armed with more than just my sword. Adrius was bleeding, but without something to defend myself from what was out there, he could die. I couldn’t let that happen. I raced into the storage closet where only a few weeks ago Adrius had dragged me, trying to save my life. There was nothing. The room was completely empty, every sword, spear, and bow removed and undoubtedly in use. I leaned against the wall, chest heaving, as I struggled to catch my breath.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” a melodic voice rang out from the dimness. Like an apparition, she appeared, ghostly, beautiful, and deadly.
The strength drained from my legs, as I forced myself to stand up straight. I was trapped.
“Come, do walk with me a while, won’t you?” She motioned for me to join her. Then she shook her head with a childlike sulk, but her eyes were sharp and cunning as ever. “All of this fighting. Such nasty business.” She tsked. “We can put an end to it all right now. Just you and I.” Her mouth pulled into a slow grin.
I stepped toward her. “I’ll go with you, but you have to give me your word no one else will be hurt.”
“Still negotiating bargains you can’t afford to repay. You truly are a slow learner, aren’t you?”
When I crossed my arms, she beamed warmly. “Only a little joke, darling. There’s nothing to repay. You’ll find witches are not as greedy as the fey.” She raised her hand and I jumped. “Relax, you have my word, dear. Not one soul will suffer at my hand.”
Nothing about her words rang with sincerity, but her word was all I had to go on, and if we were going to get through this alive, I had to keep faith in something… if only in myself. I nodded in agreement then she fashioned a doorway in the stone wall with a laser beam of white light and I followed her into the darkened woods.
Deafening silence enveloped me as we traveled away from the raging battle. After a while, she stopped and wheeled around to face me. A network of bluish veins was barely visible beneath the surface of her porcelain skin, lit by the cool moonlight reflecting off the snow. The eerie glow only made her look more lethal.
“You could have taken my soul hundreds of times over,” I said. “So, what are you going to do now? What is it you want?” I was aware of how brave I sounded. It was like listening to someone else taking control of my voice, because all I could feel was a mind-numbing fear that threatened to overtake me.
For the first time since I’d met her, she wasn’t smiling. She glared with fierce vengeance that shook every inch of my body. The Inner Eye safely hanging from my neck provided me with a series of images flashing like snapshots, none of which made any sense. A girl, a baby. A broken cradle of woven reeds, stained with blood. And a stake, a woman tied to it. Burning. I blinked, and the images faded.
“There is only one thing you possess that I want. And I will have it, in time. It made little sense to capture the soul of a Halfling with no access to her power. But now that you’ve awakened the prahna, it’s a much more appealing package, darling.”
I winced at the idea that the very thing I was hoping would defeat her was the thing she’d wanted all along.
“But you should understand, there is nothing your Faerie magic can do to stop me. It can’t protect you and it can’t protect them,” she said calmly. “Look for yourself.”
She held up her hand and a crinkling wall of ice formed, projecting images on its surface, like a movie screen. Only, what I saw surpassed the most terrifying horror flick imaginable. At the gates of Elyssium, where we had but moments ago been standing, was a growing pool of blood. In the middle of it lay Adrius. Broken. Motionless.
My heart leapt into my throat. I gasped for air. “This isn’t real… It’s a trick.”
“Is it?” Her patient smile returned.
“It has to be,” I cried. “When I left him…” I pictured the fallen beast he’d shot, before I ran. He’d been knocked unconscious, but he’d fought the creature and defeated it. “He was fine,” I finished, my certainty beginning to waver.
“Do you know what it takes to kill the creature he died defending you from?” She shook her head. “A mere Elvish weapon cannot terminate its life permanently. And when the beast had finished with him, it was my turn.”
I looked back at the image… at the distraught king, Hawthrin chanting spells… weeping healers trying in vain to revive him.
“I have to go back,” I cried.
But Octãhvia shook her head. “It’s too late. You can hunt for him if you like, pet, but there’s no use. Even your gifts cannot revive the dead.” She smirked.
“But… but you promised,” I cried, my voice strangled by the dizzying waves of sickness churning in my stomach, threatening to come up.
“I promised he wouldn’t suffer. And he didn’t. You see, tearing out his heart — which was spoken for, by the way — was painless for him. I am a woman of my word.”
Dropping to my knees, I wept in the snow, numb to the biting cold. Flakes were falling in slow motion, coating my face and hair, blurring my vision. Reality seeped away, leaving only the image replaying over and over like a recurring nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. He was gone. My Adrius was gone.
A voice whispered in my ear and a forceful tug pulled me to my feet. I peered around but it was still the two of us. Shaking ice crystal from my hair, tears frozen in place on my cheeks, I faced my opponent.
Tap into your emotions. Control them and you control the magic. The words filled me like a melody, as though someone was singing them in my ear. The pain and sadness gave way to a different set of emotions. I faced her with pure loathing.
It wasn’t difficult to let the anger build, embracing it in an easy hug. My blinding rage would have been frightening had it not been so all consuming. But my only thought was avenging Adrius. Cold venomous hatred bubbled up into my chest.
Concentrating, I raised both hands, barely noticing the strange luminous way they shook. A voice was whispering aloud, this time it was my voice, but they were not my words. It was a language I’d never heard before, and yet somehow it came to me.
In one swift thrust, invisible heat waves rippled through the air, slamming into the witch at full force. She flew backward through the trees, landing against the ice doorway as shattered shards pierced her skin; the merry tinkling of shattered glass across the frozen ground sounding wildly out of place.
Breathlessly aware of how fast my heart was beating, I kept chanting the spells.
Octãhvia was watching closely, her expression unreadable, but as she peeled away from the door, she snarled. She held up her hand stepping toward me, and paused. A force was holding her in place. Frowning, she raised both hands in the air summoning a curse. A blizzard swirled around her like a tornado which she directed straight at me.
The energy surging within me grew stronger and I chanted louder and louder in the foreign tongue. I mirrored her actions and the magic meant to destroy me altered course and struck her hands with full force, creating a link between us.
She shrieked, as the violent vacuuming of her life forces sucked out of her. A glowing curl of black smoke spilled from her body, coiling and snaking its way toward me. It was the energy force of her magic… black, which symbolized the evil.
Her prahna penetrated me, with a force that made me cry out. My bones vibrated as the dark energy entered my body, merging with my own. Crashing thunder echoed through the forest, the skies switched from black to white rapidly, followed by a blinding white explosion, throwing us both to the ground. Convulsions wracked me for several more minutes before the violent trembling finally came to an end.
When I climbed to my feet, Octãhvia rose across from me. She looked… different. Empty. Like a shell of her former self.
Adrius raced forward, his cloak flung back, fire smoldering in his eyes. He took one look at Octãhvia then rushed to my side. My mouth fell open, as a flood of emotions stormed me at the sight of him… Fear, relief, joy, love.
“You’re… you’re alive?” I cried and hugged him, tears stinging my eyes.
“Of course I’m alive.” He frowned, trying to make sense of what was happening. His hand brushed my cheek with a butterfly caress.
Merry laughter peeled through the forest. "Our hero, to the rescue. Now, the fun begins," Octãhvia snarled with an icy grin.
"No," Adrius said with a fieriness that rocked my soul as he faced her. "Now it ends.”
She lunged at me, teeth bared. Snarling like the wild tigers she kept as pets. Adrius jumped in front, pushing me out of the way.
“I don’t think she has any powers,” I shouted.
Adrius eyed me suspiciously for a moment, before moving toward Octãhvia. She wasn’t using magic to stop him.
Her musical laughter lit up the sky, the icy notes sending an avalanche of chills cascading down my back. Leaping away she kept us both in sight, pausing to weigh her options. Her desire to kill me burned in the depths of her soulless eyes, but without magic that desire battled an instinct to survive. Adrius was a skilled warrior and she had to know a fight would not end well for her. And yet she inched closer to me, searching for any opening to attack. Finally, she backed away, retreating toward the forest.
Adrius stepped forward. “You don’t really want to leave now. Her soul is the one you want and she’s there.” He pointed to me. “If you kill her, all of that power could be yours. Imagine what you could do with it.” He moved closer to her. “And without it, you have nothing.”
Her eyes snapped to the direction he was pointing, landing on me briefly before returning to him.
An amused grin spread across her face. “I have more than enough left in me, darling. More than enough to suck out your soul,” she hissed. “You think you’ll feel nothing but you’re wrong. The pain will be excruciating and you will beg for death before it’s over, elf.”
I raised my hands preparing to defend him somehow, but all I could summon was a small tremor.
Octãhvia laughed. “Without the knowledge of how to use it, the magic will be useless in your hands.”
Branches cracked and snapped, and there was a rustling of leaves. A group of her guards crept out of the forest, inching forward.
She inclined her head slightly and clenched her fists sending a shower of ice slivers raining upon them. As the last of her warriors crumpled to the ground thin wisps of light curled away from their bodies. Without glancing in their direction, she inhaled deeply, drawing their souls into her. It regenerated some of her magic, but nowhere near all of it.
“Killing them isn’t going to restore your powers,” I said, still trying to focus, the way I had earlier to access the energy.
Her head whipped around to face me, eyes narrow and savage.
“Absorbing my prahna will do you no good once the poison takes hold. Once you’re dead, I’ll take my power and yours.”
Something sharp pierced my skin, like a pin prick or needle. I grabbed my arm instinctively, as the searing pain began to spread.
Her eyes flickered to me, and then back to Adrius. His jaw tightened. My legs wobbled and then gave way, and I landed in a drift of snow.
With a satisfied smirk, she turned to leave.
“Come on, Octãhvia,” his velvety voice taunted. “You know I’m no match to your cunning sorcery. No one compels the elements like you do. Don’t leave now when things have just become interesting.” He looked at me, and for a split second a flicker of worry shifted his expression. It was there for a moment then gone. “If she dies, this will be the only chance you’ll get at possessing her soul. Leave now, and it will be too late.”
She paused, a flurry of snow swirling at her feet. Errant flakes landed on my skin and this time they didn’t melt.
“Does it satisfy you to know you’ve already lost?” He smiled, impassionate and menacing. She glared at him, her eyes wild with vengeance.
“It satisfies me to know you will never have her.” She moved to the left, and he met her there carefully blocking her path. “The binding curse is unbreakable, your bondage to me eternal. And her corpse will have turned to ash long before she will ever belong to you,” she spat the words as though they were poisonous.
He remained cool, unaffected. At least not externally. Coyly he stepped closer… baiting her. “She is of fey blood. Her body cannot die. And she already belongs to me,” he said, sounding calm and unworried.
The pain in my arm traveled up past my shoulder and spread to my neck and chest. Even lying in three feet of snow, my skin was searing.
Their unspoken standoff continued, as he matched her every muscle twitch with lightning speed. His fingers caressed the hilt of his sword and flames leapt high into the air. Finally, tired of their dance, she lunged.
Adrius aimed his sword sending a stream of fire at the Ice Witch.
Octãhvia countered with a stream of razor-sharp ice daggers. Fire and ice collided sizzling the air with black rain, smoke, and sparks lighting the sky. The searing heat from the flames penetrated her icy shield knocking the witch to the ground.
I staggered to my feet as my wounds began to heal. Octãhvia directed a stream of ice at me, which Adrius shielded me from with his burning blade. More of her animals lunged at us from the forest, and Adrius turned his flame sword on them, fighting them back.
Summoning as much strength as I could manage, I raised my hands, and pictured the Inner Eye gathering power from the elements around me.
From the hurricane of fire and ice, I sent a flaming shard of ice hurling toward Octãhvia. It struck her heart, piercing it through just as another fragment pierced my side. With a howling shriek, like air hissing out of a balloon, Octãhvia crumpled to the ground, contorting and writhing in pain. Blue green veins pressed against her translucent skin ready to burst through. Her eyes rolled back in her head, foam oozing from her ashen lips. The cold body of the witch withered and disintegrated, crumbling into a fine powder, becoming no more than white dust… indistinguishable from the snow blanketing the ground. Tens of thousands of glowing white wisps burst from her chalky remains, before swimming through the night sky and vanishing with a collective sigh.
I sank to the ground, weak and numb.
There was a sudden gust of wind, and the leftovers of her evil reign dissipated into the air. She was gone.
My head fell back into the melting ice and snow. It worked, we won, and Mythlandria was safe. Jubilant cries and cheers spread through the forest. They sounded hollow, drifting further and further away. I lay on the ground… a gaping wound where an ice shard had lodged in my side was now pulsating blood. The pain was dull and distant, and I was only dimly aware that it wasn’t healing. Something was wrong.
Throwing his sword to the ground, Adrius rushed to my side. “Lorelei, speak to me.”
Several others ran to me. Last of all was Zanthiel. He pushed everyone aside to get through, his expression freezing when he saw me. I was motionless in the melting slush.
“She’s hurt. We have to get her inside. Back to the castle,” someone said. There was a lot of commotion and shouting. Then Adrius gathered me in his arms, and we were in motion, racing toward the Citadel.
“Lorelei, open your eyes,” he urged. “You have to stay awake.”
“Is it over?” I whispered, my lips were brittle and cracked. I could taste the salty metallic tang of blood.
“Yes, it’s over.” His voice was strained, tight.
“Where is she?” I tried lifting my head.
“We won. She will never hurt you, or anyone else, again.”
“Good.” I mustered a thin smile. Lifting my hand, I stared at the sallow, bruised skin. I was exhausted. Sleep would feel so good right now, I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and drift into a deep slumber. My head rested against his chest. Just a little nap… “I’m c-cold. Just closing my eyes for a second… I won’t f-f-fall asleep.” My lids slipped close.
“No! Stay awake! Stay with me, Lorelei.” He shook me fiercely. “Listen to me— if you let the sleep take hold, you will never wake up. The poison seeps through your blood numbing your mind to the pain. And your body will slowly freeze to death from the cold eating its way from the inside out.”
“You’re always so dramatic.” I smiled weakly. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” I whispered. “I’m not dying, just… sleepy…” Each word slurred into the next, becoming barely audible.
“Stay awake,” a distant whisper insisted, forcing its way into my peaceful slumber. “Open your eyes.” The warm soothing voice was followed by a colder urging, “Sleep, let go — allow the sweet slumber of death,” it caressed. “I will bring you back.”
Alarmed, I tried to force my eyes open, but the weight was too strong.
“Open your eyes. You can’t go to sleep now. Stay with me!”
Foggy waves of darkness were pulling me under.
“I need you to live.”
They were the last words I heard, although I had no idea whose words they were. His voice trailed off… the sound drifting further and further away, until there was nothing. From the silent blackness I slipped into a dream. They were calling me, trying to convince me to come back. But it was so peaceful here. Death could not have been this tranquil…This easy. Nothing but pain waited for me in this imaginary world that had become my reality. I didn’t want to wake up. It was easier to sleep. To drift endlessly in this hazy dream. I could take sanctuary in the emptiness of the abyss. Free from poisoned words and daggers. Peace. Blissful peace. Another voice drifted by.
“Does she breathe still… is she of the living?”
I wondered what the answer would be, but no reply was offered. Another voice dialed in, like someone had changed TV channels and turned up the volume.
Please, Lorelei. Fight this. You have to come back to me. I need you — I love you.
It was familiar. Had I seen this show before?
Death beacons you. Welcome it, Ilyandra, whispered another.
Familiar also… and yet completely alien… Like something I welcomed and loathed at the same time. Then the channel flicked again and the voices were gone, leaving nothing but static, the dull white noise of my mind. No, this was easier. It was the other way that was so hard.
In dreams my mind drifted aimlessly. It made no sense why I was more obsessed with Adrius than usual — and more consumed by Zanthiel. I was wandering in the mist, and ran into the arms of someone familiar. And I was with Adrius, and he was kissing me with a fierce hunger that shattered my self-control. The sweet taste and delicious scent of him filling me, yet leaving me craving more. Arching me backward, he placed tormenting kiss after kiss, and each time his lips left mine for even a second, an insatiable ache raced through me, making me whimper. As the dream faded, I knew. This… This was what I had to come back for. Death was so final. It’s life that’s full of possibilities.
But then Adrius was ripped from my arms and someone else was in his place. Someone cold. He pulled me into his arms and it felt comfortable and right. Amidst the sharp tang of herbs, cool tender fingers caressed my face trailing down my neck and collarbone. And when his cold lips pressed against mine, I peeked up to see stormy silver eyes boring into mine, penetrating me with their icy hold. His kisses stopped and with a whiff of smoke he was gone, but the smoke continued to rise, billowing in an ominous black cloud. I couldn’t understand the burning sensation.
Scorching waves distorted my view as Adrius reappeared with someone else wrapped in his arms, a girl with flaming red hair and my eyes. I was burning in a flameless fire, and the girl with red hair smiled. I screamed while blistering heat seared my flesh, peeling it from my bones in charred flakes. Bound to a stake, my body cindered and slowly turned to ash.