37

Now or Never

Evening dew covered the angled roof with a glassy sheen. Dylan, Nima, and Taya travelled slowly across the glazed surface and leapt onto a flat roof. As they peered over the edge, their sudden excitement was quickly replaced with hopelessness. The ground was a great distance—too far to jump.

“We have to find a low point,” Dylan whispered despondently.

He ran around the perimeter of the flat roof and examined their surroundings. The massive castle was a mishmash of angled and flat roofs of various heights. Towers and spires sprouted up randomly, seemingly without purpose.

“Over there,” Dylan said, pointing to a lower roof near an enormous tree outside the castle. “That looks like the only possibility.”

“It’s too far,” Taya said. “And how are we to get across all these rooftops?”

“Do you see a better spot?”

Taya shook her head.

“We can do this, Taya.” He put his arm around her. “Come on,” he said gently, “follow me.”

Dylan stepped onto an angled roof and placed one foot on each side of the peak.

“Be careful,” he shouted over his shoulder. “It’s slippery.”

• • •

Nero sped away from Dylan’s cell with his cape flowing parallel to the ground. The guard hurried behind him, trying to keep up. He had to run in order to match Nero’s pace.

Aluf, the head of the soldiers, led his men into the prisoners’ wing.

“Check all cells!” the leader screamed.

One of the guards stopped at a cell and gasped. Several men gathered around him and stared blankly at the pile of dead guards.

Aluf rushed over to them. “Oh my God! What’s happened here?”

A few moments later, someone yelled, “They’ve escaped!”

Fear rose up like a mist at dawn among the guards as the two groups of Tipple prisoners in the north hallway waited patiently. The prisoners in the west and east corridors crept toward the main hallway.

“Get it together, men!” Aluf commanded. “They’re still here. There’s no way all of them could have escaped. My troupe, follow me back toward the gates. Teo’s group, split into two and proceed down the north hallway. Check out the west and east corridors. We WILL find them.”

Sweat beaded on the brows of the waiting prisoners. The silent war cry quickened in their chests.

Nero stepped into the north hall, where the prisoners stood. He froze at the sight. Then he stepped back, pressed himself against the wall, and peered around the corner. The men of Tipple were too focused on the sounds of the approaching guards to notice Nero. The king recoiled and slid down the wall.

“What’s going on?” he cried through clenched teeth. “I’ve got a bunch of monkeys working for me.”

He sat for a moment. The clash of metal on metal and the cries of fighting and dying men arose like thunder.

“I will not allow these peasants to stop me from taking Aarial.”

Nero stepped into the hall of the fighting men. He towered over them, and for a moment, the fighting stopped; the men parted as they stared up in awe. Then the prisoners blocked his path, and he began hacking them down. Several of his own guards got in the way of his blade as he sliced his way through the group easily, without receiving a scratch. As he passed the last pair of dueling men, he turned and watched his men being overtaken by the skilled peasants.

From a distance, Nero spotted Nima’s open door.

“Oh my God!”

He flew into the room, picked up the bed, and threw it against the wall. On his way out, he slammed the door shut. It closed with a thunderous bang! With his head in his hands, he roared and spun into the wall before collapsing into a sobbing heap.

“Those ungrateful termites!” Tears of despair dropped onto the stone floor. “No…no…no.”

The icy floor against his cheek slowed his breathing. Slowly, his eyes cleared, and everything came into focus. A metal bar caught his eye. Instantly, he was on his feet and staring out the barless window at the brightening horizon. He picked up a bar and threw it onto the roof. “AHH!”

Dylan turned to the scream and the sound of metal bouncing off the roof above him.

“We’re out of time.” Dylan cried. “Go! Quicker. We’re almost there.”

Dylan waited for Taya and Nima to pass in front of him, and he pointed to where they needed to go. They proceeded across the roof.

“STOP!”

They all froze and looked back in the direction of the command. They could see Nero in the distance. He jumped from one rooftop to another, and then he was out of sight.

“You two go ahead. Jump onto this roof,” Dylan said, pointing to the next rooftop, “then jump into the tree and climb down.”

“No,” Taya protested. “I’ll slow him down so you can get away. You’re more important than I am.”

“You won’t slow him down. He’ll crush you like a bug. GO!”

Taya glanced up at him desperately.

“GO!” he shouted again.

Dylan ran back and hid under the overhang of the roof above them. He crouched and waited. “This is it. It’s now or never.”

As Taya and his mother disappeared onto the next roof, Dylan turned inward. Images passed before his eyes. He pictured himself in Stellar Hall, absorbing the things he needed to know. He saw Taya and himself training with Ravelle. The images twisted and swirled into a single water droplet—a suspended teardrop; the last memory of his father at the Gnarled Oak.

Thud! Dylan was shaken out of his reverie. At the edge of the roof, Nero smiled as he watched the two women run away from him, but his heart stopped and the blood left his face when he realized that Dylan was nowhere to be seen. As he spun around, he was knocked off his feet by Dylan’s powerful sword. He slid down the roof and landed on a lower, flat roof.

He managed to struggle to his feet while fitfully sucking in needed air. Glancing down at his shoulder, he saw an opening in his mail. Warm blood trickled across his chest.

Dylan watched Taya and Nima slide off the roof and into the tree. Then he proceeded cautiously. He took small steps down the angled roof and stopped at the edge. Nero was on one knee and appeared to be favoring his wounded shoulder.

“You’re more skilled than I thought, little brother.” Nero tried to speak with his usual force, but Dylan could tell that he was in pain. “Your powers are well developed. I’m impressed by the way you got my guard to lock himself up. I’ve not had to use that part of Aarial because everyone is afraid of me and will do as I say.”

“I am not afraid of you,” Dylan cried out in a deeper voice than ever before.

“Oh, is that right?” Nero smiled. “Come on down, little brother; let’s have some fun.”

Dylan made a move to jump but stopped himself when he saw Nero tighten his grip on his sword and run toward the place where Dylan would have landed. In one smooth movement, Dylan pulled out his knife, and threw it into Nero’s hand. The king dropped his sword and cried out. Dylan ran to a spot further away from Nero and jumped onto the lower roof as Nero pulled Dylan’s blade out of his hand. Blood trailed down his wrist.

Then he lunged at Dylan with his sword a-blazing. The boy stood still and stared into his opponent’s eyes. He blocked Nero’s sword with his own, but the power of Nero’s sword knocked Dylan’s out of his hands. Nero lost his balance and continued on past Dylan, who spun around and picked up his sword.

This time, Dylan approached Nero, who was still trying to get his balance. The two swords clashed, and sparks flew as they stabbed at each other and blocked blows. Dylan had never faced such a tough opponent. Nero had power and arrogance behind his sword, while Dylan had speed and skill. Each of them was fighting for his life, and for Aarial.

Time passed quickly. They were both tiring, but Nero was losing blood, and with that, strength. He knew he had to pour it on or he would be defeated. He started forcing every ounce of Aarial into his blows and pushed Dylan toward the edge of the roof. Dylan fought hard but could not gain control. Then with one terrifying blow, Nero knocked Dylan’s sword out of his hands and off the roof. The boy fell back, and his head hung over the edge.

Time slowed as Dylan watched Nero raise his sword high and thrust it down in the direction of his heart. He raised his arm and rolled away as the blade sliced open his forearm. The momentum carried Nero forward, and Dylan returned the blow with an elbow to Nero’s ribs, knocking him off the roof.

Dylan clutched his bleeding forearm and lay back on the roof. He was still for a moment and breathed a sigh of disbelief. Slowly, he peered over the edge, hoping to see a lifeless corpse. Instead, he saw Nero dangling from a hideous gargoyle that stared down at him mockingly. He could only hang on with one hand, for his wounded hand had little strength left in it.

Taya and Nima watched silently.

Nero struggled to pull himself up but was unable. He swung his feet wildly, trying to walk up the wall, but the distance between the gargoyle and the side of the castle was too great. His good hand held on while the bloodied hand helped sporadically. He fought for a while and then gave up and hung motionless.

No words passed between them, but Dylan felt an uneasy connection as he stared into the eyes of his father’s son. Everything before him slowed as Nero’s hand weakened. The king blinked and smiled up his brother.

“Life,” he hissed, “is a curse.” Nero gasped one last time. “Death…is the cure.” Then he threw both of his arms away from the castle.

Nero’s final vision was his own reflection in the eyes of a terrified boy. A roar echoed throughout the kingdom as the blade of Dylan’s sword tore through Nero’s back. Nero stared up at the sky vacantly, and blood trickled out of his mouth.

Then a ball of light with the tail of a comet shot out of Nero’s body and circled the ground. Taya and Nima froze at the sight. A deafening crack echoed throughout the valley as the light knocked Taya off her feet. Nima was upon her motionless daughter immediately.

Dylan recklessly searched for a way down. He climbed back onto the roof from which he had first struck Nero, and then leapt down to the roof beside the tree. After scrambling down the tree and sprinting around the castle, he came upon a motionless Taya. Nima hovered over her daughter with tears rolling down her cheeks. Dylan’s head dropped to his chest. His heart pounded and his hands trembled.

“No…no…no,” he whimpered.

Then, without warning, Taya opened her eyes. A crooked smile appeared on one side of her face. Dylan smiled back at her.

“There’s something different about you,” he said curiously.

Then it struck him. Nero’s eyes flashed before him and faded into Taya’s. The power of Aarial stared back at him.