––––––––
I was in awe as I took in the ruins of Whitestone Castle. Undoubtedly this structure had been unbelievably grand in its day, but now the crumbling white bricks that made up the walls were charred from fire and the remains of the castle radiated a depressed empty feeling. The encroaching wilderness had attempted to regain the land as trees, ivy, and weeds grew in and though the gutted castle.
It took us just over a week of hard traveling on unicorn to make it here. I was surprised how easily the unicorns returned after the fighting. They waited for us just inside the forest on the hill. I was happy to have Vista back, and it was reassuring to see Cody astride Chett.
Even though he hadn't been officially crowned king, Jonus instructed Commander Glontor and the army to stay behind and assist the Waterkins with the post-war rebuilding while our group of thirteen set out on our quest to find The Book of Tor'Nock. I usually wasn't a superstitious person, but the number thirteen irked me for about one second. Then I shook the silly irrationality from my head. Our group included Shaw, King Jonus, Luka, Markella, Tamalie, Drexton, the two Giants Arjun and Dagmar, the two Dwarfs Cody and Matthias, the Waterkins Beliza and Brezkin, and myself.
At Whitestone we broke into smaller groups to more thoroughly search the ruins. My group consisted of Shaw, Jonus, and Tamalie. The ruins were perched on a cliff that overlooked a small stretch of sparsely populated forest. Beyond that ran the Mono River. It was a strange sensation to look across the river and know somewhere in that lush green field my adventure in Meric had begun. The cliff housing the broken castle was less than a mile wide, and below it on the other side was more forest containing white trees similar to the ones we saw on our way to Verna Mount. My group took the north side facing the river.
None of us had any idea what we searched for. I really didn't know what we expected to find, probably nothing. Our plan was to look here as thoroughly as possible, then make our way to Verna Mount. Once back in the Elf city we would research every book, dig up every rumor, and follow every lead pertaining to The Book of Tor'Nock.
During our search Shaw, Jonus, Tamalie and I came across an entrance to one of the Dwarf-made underground passageways that Charis had told us about. I couldn't help but wonder if this particular tunnel was the one in which Leticia attacked my mother. The opening to the passage was set directly in the filthy white brick floor of the castle. The four of us made our way down the wooden steps that opened into the five-foot high tunnel. All of us, being on the taller side, had to stoop so as not to scrape our heads on the dirt ceiling. The tunnel was dark, and cut straight through the rocky dirt of the cliff. Wooden planks and beams had been erected periodically to hold the dirt in place. Old torches rested in black metal brackets hung on the earthy wall. Shaw prepared two torches and passed one to Jonus.
The dark, dank tunnel slanted downhill and we didn't travel very far along before the passageway diverged into two paths. Even in the dim light, the left passage appeared to have a slight cave-in. It seemed like it might still be passable, but only just. I doubted whether Shaw would be able to fit his broad shoulders through.
"Why don't we split up and search both tunnels," Tamalie suggested, eyeing the options.
"I guess we could do that. We'd get through them faster," I added.
"All right," Jonus said, "Christina will come with me, and Tamalie with Shaw."
Shaw frowned but Tamalie said, "Well that won't work. I doubt you or Shaw will be able to fit through this tunnel." She indicated the caved-in one with a nod of her head. "Why don't Christina and I go this way, and you two take the clear tunnel?"
"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Shaw answered, narrowing his eyes at the slightly collapsed tunnel.
"Maybe I could move some of that dirt with my powers then all of us will be able to fit," I suggested.
"Don't do that. It could shift, and the whole thing could come crashing down, completely blocking the tunnel," Tamalie replied.
"We are certainly getting nothing accomplished by standing here. Girls go to the left, and we will go to the right. The sooner we get these tunnels explored, the better, because I seriously doubt we are going to find anything down here," Jonus stated as he relinquished his torch to Tamalie.
I was fairly certain Jonus was right. There was nothing down here but dirt and darkness, and even though Shaw audibly grumbled about it, we went in our separate directions. Tamalie and I crawled in the dirt to make it through the caved-in portion of the minuscule passage. We didn't have to crawl a far distance, maybe ten feet, and we were past the cave-in to where the tunnel stretched out before us five feet high again.
We walked in silence for a while, continuing steadily at a downward slope. I wondered how deep this tunnel would take us. The tunnel curved more toward the left, but I couldn't be sure. It was impossible to keep track of time in the tunnel, but I figured it was about ten minutes or so before Tamalie spoke.
"He wants to marry you. Did you know that?" she said with a hard, almost accusing edge to her voice.
It took me a long minute before I realized she meant Jonus. "No, I didn't know that," I replied, without any emotion in my voice.
I didn't really know how to think or feel about this news. I deeply cared for Jonus, and if Shaw didn't exist then... maybe. Even if Shaw wasn't a factor, would I want to risk ruining the wonderful friendship I had with Jonus? I'd always known Jonus felt something for me, but I never acknowledged just how strong Jonus' feelings had grown. I was going to have to have a difficult discussion with him. Probably once we made it back to Verna Mount.
"He told me the night before we went into battle. You know, the night after you kissed him." Her voice had a cold, unfriendly tone.
"Hang on a second," I said. "Jonus was the one who kissed me, not the other way around. And as for marrying him, I have no desire to marry Jonus."
She scoffed in reply. As we continued to walk, I decided I needed to tell her everything. If she was going to be angry over Jonus, I might as well let her know that I was really in love with Shaw. But I wondered why she would be mad that Jonus wanted to marry me. Why would she care? We reached the end of the tunnel before I knew exactly what to say. There was a faint light just over thirty yards ahead of us.
Tamalie picked up her pace a little bit, and I had to half jog to catch up to her. I reached for her when I was close enough, trying to grab her arm and stop her. I wanted to tell her about my feelings for Shaw before we left this tunnel and met up with the others. As soon as I touched her, my mind was plunged into darkness. For a split second, I thought it was a premonition, but it didn't feel right. An image formed in my mind, but instead of a black and white silent film, there was color and noise. The edges of the vision were still blurry. It was almost like watching a film on one of those reel projectors.
I heard a great battle in progress, and I looked out over what I knew to be the recent battle at Lakeland. I was on the hill looking down, but that couldn't be right because the Elves were already battling the Leviathans. I would have been in the middle of the fray. What I was seeing didn't make sense. And it became even more confusing when I spotted myself far out in the field talking to a shirtless Prince Jonus. We stood right next to the body of Gol'Gantar.
"So, you want to be Queen of the Elves," a menacing voice said next to me. I turned my head, even though I didn't want it to and I realized I had no control over my body. Or was this my body? Standing beside me on the hill was Rayliex.
Fear overtook me. I wanted to run, but my mouth opened and someone else's voice came out. It was Tamalie's voice, and I finally realized what was going on. I was seeing a past event. I was seeing Tamalie's past though her eyes.
"Perhaps," she said, "I cannot deny that I desire him. He should marry an Elf. He is royalty. I have no idea why he wants to marry that half-Elf. However, that is not the only reason I searched you out. Look at this..." She stretched her hand out over the battle scene, and far below I saw Jonus now rallying the troops to charge the Leviathans, "...all of this bloodshed. No one else needs to die for her, for that so-called Savior. We don't need a savior."
"Of course not. This warring is pointless, and you want what's best for your people," Rayliex said. His voice offered insincere comfort. "That was very clever of you to linger behind after the fighting began. How did you think to simply call out my name?" He was flattering her.
She grinned. "I figured that after you discovered her, you would stay close by, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. You do realize you will never get that moment? He never lets her leave his sight." She looked back down toward the fighting, and I saw Shaw and myself looking up at them. We had been trying to figure out who the woman with Rayliex was, and now I knew it was Tamalie's dark hair we had seen swirling around in the wind.
"Yes, Shaw is annoyingly good at his job, isn't he?" Rayliex snarled over Shaw's name like it was some sort of foul word.
"What if I could help you? Would you stop hurting my people? Stop hurting the people of Meric?" Tamalie asked.
"What did you have in mind?" He grinned at her and they turned toward the forest, walking away from the battle.
The colors swirled together for a brief second and then settled. Tamalie talked to Rayliex again under the cover of night. I saw a lake in the distance, and I realized they were still in Lakeland. Through Tamalie's eyes, my peripheral vision was compromised and I understood the reason for this was because she had her hood up.
"We are leaving in the morning to search Whitestone Castle," she told him.
"That is perfect," Rayliex said. "Get her into the passageways on the north side of the structure. I will create an obstacle there that will enable you to separate her from her Watcher. Then simply meet me on the other side of the tunnel."
"And you guarantee that my people will no longer suffer? That the people of Meric will no longer suffer?"
"My mother said that once Davis' offspring is out of the way, she will grant a peace treaty to the Elves. North and south will be united. There will be no need for fighting. She also asked me to give you this," he handed her a satchel. She looked, and there were dozens of silver pieces inside the soft leather bag, "as a token, not only of her thanks, but of her promise to you. High Empress Leticia keeps her promises. Tamalie, future Queen of the Elves and peace giver to Meric." He emphasized the last sentence in a sickeningly sweet tone.
My eyes snapped open. The vision ended, and I stared at my best friend. "Tamalie, what did you do?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw you. I saw everything you did. I saw your plans with Rayliex. Tamalie, how could you? I thought you were my friend," I stammered, trying to force out the bitter words.
She backed away from me, her eyes wide with awe. "How do you know that?"
She turned and bolted to the opening of the tunnel.
I ran after her, but I knew she was faster. She was out of the tunnel before I reached her, and when I finally broke free of the passage, the sight nearly brought me to my knees. The tunnel must have run under the castle and through the cliff, I stood in the forest spotted with white trees. The weather had turned ugly. Before we entered the tunnel, the day was just damp and grey. Now, ferocious winds whipped about and black clouds swirled. In front of me were hundreds of soldiers, men and Leviathans. Rayliex stood in front of them, a snarl-like grin twisting his features.
"How nice of you to join us." His voice was almost casual and he gestured behind me.
I spun around to see all of my companions forced against the smooth grey stone that made up this part of the cliff. Each of my friends had been chained around the wrists and ankles, with Leviathans holding the chains. I gasped when I saw Shaw struggling fiercely to free himself. I made to run toward him, but the air was thicker, like moving through cement. Rayliex was using his powers on me, and I stopped trying to run. I threw my hands up in his direction—of course they moved impossibly slow—and he levitated in the air. I pondered slamming him into the hard stone of the cliff face but his laughter caught me off guard.
"I would advise you to release me, unless you want your friends to die."
His voice was conversational, condescending. Each of my companions now had a Leviathan's hand clutching around their throats. Poor tiny Luka was a frightening shade of blue. And gentle Arjun looked sick from pain, and I knew that his broken arm must be agonizing the way it was twisted back, restrained by the chains. I slowly lowered Rayliex back to the ground and the Leviathans returned to holding the chains instead of throats.
"Now," Rayliex said taking a step toward me, "the way I see it, with your powers, you might be able to save two, maybe three, of them. You certainly can't save them all, not while I can so easily slow down everything you do."
He was right. My powers could not compete with his, especially not in these conditions. There were too many soldiers. Even if I could stop Rayliex, the soldiers would certainly take me down.
"If you would like all of your friends to keep their lives, all you simply have to do is surrender," he said, his tone light almost playful.
I didn't care. As long as the people I loved were safe, it didn't matter what happened to me. I turned toward Rayliex, resolved with my fate.
"No, Christina!" Jonus screamed.
"Shut up, Elf," Rayliex snarled. He vanished from where he stood, appearing a split second later in front of Jonus, and punched him in the stomach. Jonus doubled over.
"No!" Tamalie yelled. "You promised not to hurt them."
"Tamalie... what... did... you... do?" Jonus said between gasps of breath.
"I—I didn't—I—"
"Oh enough of this. What do you say, Savior? Yourself or your eleven friends?"
"Twelve friends," I corrected him, nodding my head toward Tamalie.
"You would risk yourself for the person who betrayed you? You are a fool," Rayliex scoffed.
"Christina. No. Just use your powers and get out of here!" Shaw bellowed, struggling against the chains binding him.
"I thought I told you people to shut up!" Rayliex roared again. He took one step to the left and punched Shaw square in the face.
"Oh, God, please no!" I yelled as blood gushed from Shaw's nose and mouth.
"Ah ha," Rayliex said, his voice returning to the disgustingly sugary tone. "Apparently I've struck a nerve. Didn't like me hitting him, did you, Savior?" He spat the word at me. Then he laughed. His dark blue piercing stare darted from me to Shaw, then he unsheathed his sword and held the razor sharp point to Shaw's neck.
"Please. Don't, please," I begged. My heart pounded like a jackhammer. How could I stand here and watch Shaw be slaughtered?
"Well, then," Rayliex sang again with his sickeningly sweet voice, "do you surrender, or should I start killing your companions? Starting with the Watcher."
"You're going to kill them anyway," I sniffed, not taking my eyes off Shaw.
"Not true, Savior," he said, almost gleefully, "They tell me you're a future seeing prophet, but apparently not a very good one. These people are of no concern to me once I have you. In fact..." he reached inside the folds of his blood red cloak with his free hand and produced a scroll of paper, "...my mother, High Empress of Meric, has instructed me to hand over this treaty. It guarantees that upon your surrender, we will cease all fighting and withdraw our armies into the south for a total of seven years. Seven years of guaranteed peace. All we want in return is you." Never taking his sword tip away from Shaw, he unrolled the scroll and held it out in front of Jonus. As he looked it over, Jonus nodded and I knew he realized the implications of such a deal. Seven years. Seven years of peace. My friends would be safe, and the people of Meric would have seven years of peace. Shaw, Jonus and the others could use those seven years to find a way to stop Leticia. They could find The Book of Tor'Nock in those seven years. What other choice did I have? I couldn't stand here and let him kill my loved ones. I couldn't stand here and watch him kill Shaw.
"Fine, Rayliex. I surrender. Just don't hurt them anymore."
My friends yelled and screamed in protest.
Rayliex didn't speak. He lowered his sword away from Shaw, to which I breathed a sigh of relief, and returned it to its sheath. He shoved the peace treaty down the neck of Jonus' shirt. Then he stalked over to me in long swift deliberate strides, and grabbed a fistful of my long hair right at the crown of my head. He yanked my hair, dragging me just a few steps to the nearest tree, an extremely large white barked tree still glorious in its fall plumage. Then he slammed my head so hard against the trunk of the tree that bright white spots flashed before my eyes.
Blinking rapidly to try and see through the white spots, something warm trickled down the back of my neck. The force of the blow must have split my scalp. The wind threw my hair in my face, but I saw Shaw struggling so intensely against his chains that his wrists bled. His crystal blue eyes were alight with rage, and his screams were indiscernible.
"Ah, this is interesting," Rayliex said, his voice syrupy as his malicious stare bounced from Shaw struggling at the wall to my face. "I wonder..."
He removed his grip on my hair and flipped open his cloak, revealing multiple knives lining his belt. He selected a thick bladed weapon and raised it high in front of him. "Oh, Watcher..." he practically sang, "...watch this." Then he rammed the dagger into my left shoulder. I shrieked in pain. The knife tore through muscle and flesh, scraped bone, and exited out my back to pin me against the tree. Tears flooded my eyes and unbelievable pain raced through the entire left side of my torso and arm. My shoulder was on fire. Blood saturated my clothing.
"You bastard! Leave her alone!" Shaw roared as he tried to surge forward. The Leviathans holding his chains yanked hard.
"Watcher, Watcher, Watcher... What did you do?" Rayliex's voice danced with laughter as he looked at Shaw's struggles. "Did you fall in love with her?" he laughed again even harder. "I didn't realize that to be part of your job description." He turned back to face me, another knife in his hand. He struck my right shoulder the whole way through to the tree. The pain was unfathomable. My legs trembled, and I wanted to fall to my knees, but I knew that would rip more pain through my shoulders. The entire front of my body was crimson and the metal tang of blood sat in the back of my throat. I felt dizzy and my head swam.
Shaw's screams cut through the air and the winds whipping around us increased to hurricane force. Thunder cracked overhead.
Rayliex laughed. "Do you, Watcher? Do you love her?" His cackle was unnerving as he lavished in the pain and anguish he inflicted. Shaw didn't acknowledge the question, he just continued to struggle. His tear-filled eyes locked on me.
Rayliex procured one more knife, but this time he rested the blade at my throat. "I asked you a question, Watcher. Do you love her?"
Shaw's silver blue eyes moved away from mine for a split second to the knife at my throat. When he spoke, his raging voice was quiet and cracked with emotion.
"Yes. I love her." He looked away from Rayliex to me. "I love you, Christina. I love you." His face broke into pure anguish as his eyes scanned my blood soaked body, but I was filled with a different emotion. For the briefest of moments, I forgot everything else. Shaw loved me. The tiny flicker of joy didn't last long.
Rayliex chortled with laughter as he stepped away from me. "The real question is does she love you, Watcher?" He spun around and walked over to Shaw, reveling in the sick and twisted game he played. I watched in horror as he raised a knife to Shaw's throat. "Let's hear it, Savior. Did you fall in love with your Watcher?"
My knees buckled. All strength left my body. I closed my eyes, and knew I was going to die pinned here to this tree. I was going to die. Opening my eyes, I focused only on Shaw. I ignored everything else but him. Rayliex, the soldiers, the howling winds, the pain racing through my body, even my other friends. At this moment nothing else mattered but telling Shaw how I felt before I died.
"I love you." My voice was barely more than a whisper, it was all I could manage. "I am so deeply in love with you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I tried a thousand times to tell you. I will always, always love you."
"How very touching," Rayliex scoffed, lowered his knife and punched Shaw in the gut.
"Your treaty!" I heard a woman's voice yell out. Was it Markella? Luka? Tamalie? My mind was hazy and I was losing focus on things. Even Shaw was a blur. The pain faded and coldness that had nothing to do with the howling winds seeped through me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered that my body must be going into shock.
"Oh you are right," Rayliex said his jovial voice tinged with disappointment. "I just couldn't resist after seeing these two profess their love. It's sickening really." His laughter blinked out for one iota of a second as he teleported from the cliff to where I was nailed to the tree. He came at me again with the third knife and this time he pierced me through the left thigh, just a hair below my hipbone.
"You know what's deliciously ironic about this...?" He paused dramatically, his voice still giddy, "...you betrayed your friend, Elf, and she doesn't even want your pathetic excuse for a prince. She's in love with the Watcher. How wonderfully foolish you must feel." His belly laugh echoed off the cliff.
My vision was almost completely hazed over and my eyes rolled around trying to find Shaw's face to focus on.
"Stop this!" Tamalie cried out through sobbing tears. "Take your silver back, take your promises back. I don't want this. Stop!"
"It's much too late for that," Rayliex replied through devilish chuckles.
The winds were so ferocious I could barely understand what people said. Or perhaps that was my slipping consciousness. I finally focused my eyes on Shaw, but it was hard. I couldn't hold my head upright any more, and even though I tried to keep my sight on him, it shifted upwards, over Shaw's head and up the face of the cliff. About fifteen feet up on the smooth grey stone were engraved letters. They were so faded and faint, someone could have scratched them into the stone with their fingernail. They were so worn that it was difficult to read what the three foot tall letters said. But slowly it came to me. There were two words etched in the stone. I couldn't believe it. It was not possible. How could this be here?
Armstrong Tunnel.
I had to be dying. Yes, that's what it was. This was some weird life-flashing-before-my-eyes kind of thing.
Rayliex's voice ripped my attention away from the mysterious words.
"I'm bored with this." His voice no longer sugary and playful, but dark and menacing. He unsheathed his sword. "All right Savior, time to die."
With his face full of malice he took one step forward and stabbed me in the side somewhere near my rib cage. I screamed as he wrenched the blade free, and the last drops of my life fell away. This was it. I knew I had mere seconds left. Faint cries and sobs came from far off in the distance. I wanted to see Shaw's face again, one last time before I let the darkness take me. I wanted to look into those unimaginable blue eyes one last time. But I couldn't look away from the letters overhead.
Armstrong Tunnel
Then my eyes caught sight of a woman even higher up on top of the cliff. She had her arms raised high and she was holding a long staff. Her silver hair whipped wildly around her head as the already devastating winds grew in intensity. Lightning cracked above, momentarily illuminating the blackening sky. The ground rumbled and shook.
"Charis?" I mouthed as I slipped into the blackness.