Chapter Sixteen

 

 

 

 

How many days had gone by? Shade stared out the entrance of The Great Divide as the snow flurries hurried by, whipping in the wind and landing in piles upon piles of snowdrifts. The land was all glistening white, like a million diamond jewels embedded into the earth. Time didn’t exist here. Nothing but her, Dylan and Corb. Corb was rarely there, always away with duties. Duties to whom? What else existed beyond this white abyss? Shade longed to remember but couldn’t.

She enjoyed her time with Dylan. They had found a library filled with books, some ancient and crumbling, others not so old, but nothing from the modern world. Shade knew the literature of the current time was missing but couldn’t, for the life of her, remember a single title of a book she’d read recently. It bugged her to say the least, but Dylan would pull her away from the dusty volumes to play chess to pass the hours. His company was comforting, and she never felt happier. Or so it felt that way to her.

This particular day, she was in one of the atriums where frozen trees and flowers littered the room, covered in frost in icicles. She wondered if they were alive under all that ice. Maybe they were. It seemed that not a lot died in Faerie. Everything was alive in one way or another. As she walked past the atrium, she had an overwhelming urge to enter. She walked to the middle of the atrium and looked up. The light illuminated the vast room from the skylights above, and the flurries floated down gently, sticking to her hair.

She sat down on the frozen ground and began to dig. She dug and dug with nothing but her own hands and a rock she found partially sticking up from the ice until she hit the dirt under the floor. Once she got an inch down into the permafrost, she reached up and plucked the acorn-like seed from her necklace and gently laid it in the hole. Covering it up with the mixture of dirt and snow, she patted the site down and got back up, wondering exactly what she had just done.

Shade stared at the spot where she had buried the seed. She hoped the purpose of it would come to her. Her actions baffled her, and she couldn’t even begin to find a reason for why she had felt compelled to do what she’d done. I’m losing my mind, she thought. She turned to leave and ran right into Dylan.

“You okay? I was looking for you.” He gave her a hug and then observed the pile she had just patted down. “What are you doing? Hey, where’s that acorn charm? Did it fall off your necklace?”

Shade shook her head. “No, I buried the seed.”

Confused, Dylan glanced between her and the pile. “Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know. I felt like I had to.”

“Do you know what that seed is for?”

“No. Do you?”

“No.” He shrugged, taking her hand in his as he led her out. Walking the halls was a favorite pastime of theirs. It made the place feel not so enclosed. “Maybe you do know, but you just can’t remember. Maybe you know subconsciously.”

She nodded, feeling a bit foolish for her unexplained actions.

The rumble of the ground made them freeze in their steps. Was it an earthquake? Shade wondered. She gripped onto Dylan, and they both turned around back toward the atrium.

The sound of ice breaking and shattering made them want to run, but after a moment, the noise faded, and all was silent once more.

“What was that?” Shade asked.

“I have no idea. Come on.” He pulled her toward the atrium to investigate the ruckus.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she mumbled, unsure of what they’d find. At the entrance to the atrium, they peeked around the doorway to find a completely changed room. “Oh, wow!”

They both ran inside to find an enormous oak tree, fully grown and extending its branches high up above them and out of the roof of the castle. Its grey leaves looked dusty, but the overall color of it was a metallic grey. Its majestic branches stretched across the room, filling it with its reach.

“What is that?”

“It’s an ancient oak of Faerie! I’ve seen only one other before, but I can’t remember where.” Dylan wrinkled his nose as he dug through his memories, failing to come up with the answer. “No matter. I just remembered that they are supposed to be sacred and offer something to those who are in need.”

“Wow!” was all Shade could muster. She reached out to touch the smooth bark at the base and marveled at how gigantic it was. How had it grown so fast? The seed she’d planted had been so tiny. “It’s beautiful.”

“What’s this?” Corb’s brash voice echoed across the cavernous room, making both of them jump. They gripped onto each other as the Ice King walked toward them and the oak tree. “Where did this come from?”

“I planted the seed I had on my necklace. I didn’t know what would happen. This tree just sprung out of it,” Shade offered. Her voice cracked as the rage on Corb’s face slowly faded.

“I see,” he answered back. He scanned the large trunk of the tree before landing his eyes back on them. “Do you know what it does?”

They both shook their heads and the Ice King sneered at their ignorance. “Good.” He turned and left, leaving them baffled.

“What was that about? What’s he mean by that?” Shade whispered. Dylan shrugged and turned toward the great oak tree.

“I don’t know, but he doesn’t want us to know, either.” He reached out to touch the tree, but nothing happened. The great branches above swayed, with the wind caressing its limbs.

“Maybe we shouldn’t know.”

“Maybe. Come on.” He led her out of the atrium once more and to the library.

 

***

 

Corb paced the throne room, exasperated by the discovery of the great oak tree in his atrium. He was powerless to remove it. Its magic was earthbound and older than he was. He wondered if Shade and the Teleen warrior really didn’t know what it was or what it could do. They shouldn’t. Corb’s magic was powerful enough to make them forget such things. The Teleen would’ve known, otherwise. There was one which grew as part of their cavern home.

The great oak trees of Faerie were rare and stood hundreds of feet tall. The silver metallic sheen to their bark made them stand out from all the other trees around them. In Faerie, they offered sanctuary. They could teleport a person anywhere they needed to go. If one simply wished for home, it would take them to another ancient oak tree closest to where their home was.

There was one ancient oak tree in the Teleen Caverns, hidden in an open cave in one of the many vast tunnels of the underground city of Teleen. If Dylan had known about it, he sure didn’t seem to remember it. Which was just as well. Corb couldn’t risk them discovering what the tree really was: a portal out of The Great Divide.

It did, however, make him extremely nervous. There had been no way out prior to the tree springing from its roots in his atrium. How did Shade know the seed around her neck could be planted? He’d seen her ampules of memory and the acorn-like seed dangling at her throat, but he couldn’t remove the charms. It was forbidden in Faerie. To try to remove them would send him flying from a jolt of power, not from Shade, but from the land itself. Memory was precious, and memory charms like hers were indestructible unless she took them off willingly, herself.

Something must have told her about the seed. How else could’ve she known about its magic? Maybe she hadn’t known. Maybe the wretched seed had called to the earth, and she was simply drawn to obey it. She probably had no idea why she buried it.

This revelation made Corb laugh out loud as he paced the throne room. He was still wearing his traveling gear, all black, worn leather and sheaths for his daggers. Exhausted, he spun to go to his chambers and rest. But Shade was standing before him, vibrant in an ethereal way. Her long white gown seemed to float slightly about her, swaying in an invisible breeze. Her long, dark hair was down, laced with frost as she watched him.

“What do you want with us?” A voice full of whisper drifted from her cherry lips. She was stunning, and for a moment, Corb was disarmed. She reminded him of Kilara so much. Her stance, her long flowing hair… though Kilara’s was a lighter color than Shade’s, and she had tanner skin. Still, the beauty and power emitted from this halfling was intense and spurred his senses.

“Where is your Teleen slave?” He remarked, hoping to snap away her confidence.

“He’s resting. I left once I knew he’d be completely asleep.”

Corb laughed, finding her amusing. “It must be a dire request to have left your true love behind in such a manner.” Approaching her, he pushed his own power against hers, testing the boundaries of her control.

She wavered, her eyes coming into focus as she felt the prickles of his icy power. Gasping, she stepped away, looking as if she had just realized she was in the throne room, alone with him. “Answer me,” she managed to say through her fear.

“I don’t have to answer to you. You have to answer to me. Where can I find Kilara? Where is she hiding as she slumbers?”

“Who’s Kilara?” Shade sucked in a breath and continued to step back until her back was pressed against the frozen, polished wall. Its freezing temperature didn’t affect her anymore, and she welcomed its cool, solid surface.

“Don’t be coy with me, halfling. She’s probably contacted you at least once by now. What did she say? Where can I find her?”

“If I tell you, will you let us go?”

He paused, studying her expression as if to find treachery in her two chocolate eyes. Without finding anything that hinted of deception, he twirled around, pacing once more. “No.”

“Then I’ll never tell you.” Shade turned to walk out but stopped when Corb abruptly appeared before her.

“You will tell me, or your Teleen boyfriend will suffer my wrath. I can always encase him in ice again… but that would be merciful.” He gripped her neck and gave it a firm squeeze. Shade scratched at his wrist, pulling to no avail. Her breath squeaked as he pressed harder until stars popped into her vision.

“Please….” She managed before he suddenly let her go, sending her crashing to the floor. Gasping and coughing, she bent over and attempted to catch her breath. She rubbed the sore spots on her neck and glared up at Corb. “You may have erased our memories from us, but you’ll never get what you seek. You can encase us in ice, torture us, whatever you like, but you’ll never find what you want the most. Ever. She never wanted you to!”

Shade scrambled to her feet before his anger burst again. This time he remained still, focused on her with a snarl on his face. His breathing told her he was reining in his temper and was about to lose this battle as he quietly seethed from her words.

“No matter what you do, you won’t find her. She made sure of that,” Shade spat at him, disgusted at his lack of control. She prayed he wouldn’t keep his word on torturing Dylan, but she had to run right now, or he might do something insane.

She backed her way out into the hall, keeping one eye on Corb and one on her route of escape. As she turned to go, his voice echoed in her ears, bringing her fear into check.

“You may be right, Shade. But I have eternity to find her, even after you are long gone and your children are grown and dead. Don’t ever forget, you are not the only descendant to come. Your children’s children will be haunted forever until I find her. So you think about that in your little human brain. You choose the future of your children, or I will do it for you. I can wait a very, very long time.” With that, he disappeared from the throne, rushing by her in a blur and down the hall toward his chambers, leaving Shade shivering in his wake. The cold was nothing compared to the aching defeat she felt cracking inside her soul.

He was right. He did have an eternity, and she had nothing but her mortal life of magic to contend with him. If she didn’t cave in, someone down the line would, and that someone would be blood of her blood regardless of what happened now. Nothing could stop him. Why hadn’t Kilara told her of this? Was it worth keeping the Ancient safe? Shade couldn’t defend herself against Corb, but Kilara might be able to subdue Corb if she was attacked. These thoughts were running rampant in her head as a million possibilities surfaced, slowly calming her frantic heart.

She’d figure it out. She just needed a little more time to think things over, maybe discuss it with Dylan some more. Her actions today had not been thought out well, and she was paying for it. In the meantime, she’d stay out of Corb’s way.