December Moon (The Raven Saga) (26 page)

"It's dangerous, I know, but it's worth the risk. Duran is never going to stop. As long as he is alive, he'll never stop killing and he'll never stop trying to get to me and everyone that I love."

Christoff stood up, "I'll do it. I'll go in."

Lilly smiled, "That's very kind and very brave of you, Christoff, but you can't. It needs to be one us because of the silver. If the silver touches you, you'll be hurt. December and Tabitha are already injured so that just leaves me. I want to do this."

Lilly took another stake from the bag and wrapped the silver chain around the end, tying it in a knot to keep it firmly in place. She stood close to the cave's entrance and waited for December to finish casting her spell.

Lilly soon began hovering an inch or so in the air, a translucent bubble surrounded her body. She pushed her fingers through it to make sure she could pass the stake through without it bursting. It worked.

Turning, Lilly smiled first at December and then the others before turning back towards the cave. She took a small tentative step, almost swallowed by the cave, before she heard her name being called.

"Lilly!"

She stopped, turned and saw Oliver running as fast as he could towards her in the distance.

She smiled sadly at him and turned back towards the cave. Oliver was alive. Now she had even more of a reason to go in and destroy the vampire that was threatening her entire existence.

"No!" she heard him yell but she continued to move into the darkness.

Seconds later, rocks began to fall, showering the entrance completely with large boulders and stones. It was blocked.

Lilly followed the sounds of the continuous rumbling as the two vampires fought in the darkness.

As if December could sense the darkness, the bubble suddenly lit up. Lilly smiled.
Her magic is getting stronger
, she thought before she continued to search for signs of the two enemies.

They had managed to break through from the original cave into a series of others, small and large and with small jagged pathways scattered off in many different directions. Small rocks continued to fall from all around as she scoured for signs of the two vampires.

Hearing the echoing sounds of voices bouncing off of the walls around her, Lilly stopped and waited for a moment as she tried to work out which direction it was coming from.

"You're not going to get out of this alive, Walter. You should have minded your own business."

"It is my business when you're playing with my own family, Duran."

A loud crash ensued as the two threw themselves against one another.

Soon, Lilly could see them both. The sudden influx of light caused them to stop momentarily and take note of who had entered.

Duran laughed and shook his head.

"You witches think you can kill me with magic? I think not!" he said as he rushed towards her. Walter jumped on him from behind and plunged his teeth into the other vampire.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he yelled, pulling Walter from behind him and throwing him against the side of the cave, causing a thunderous roar.

Walter barely flinched and was back within a second, but not before he spotted Lilly's silver embellished wooden stake.

"I'll make you sorry for turning me into one of you, Duran."

"Ha... you might be a vampire, Walter, but you'll never be like me."

"I never wanted to be like you. You should have left me with Vivian."

"I saved you from Vivian."

"You made my life even more of a living hell."

"I should have known better than to choose you. There were others far more grateful to be changed than you, Walter. You make me sick."

Those words turned Lilly's stomach, could he have been referring to her father?

The smell of blood filled her nostrils as she prepared for the moment when she could impel the beast.

But they moved as fast as light, making it almost impossible to choose the right second to act.

She watched and listened to the sounds of the mountain slowly caving in all around her, thunderous roar after thunderous roar.

"Now Lilly, now!" yelled Walter as he threw Duran into her path. She had a split second to do the deed and so she launched herself forward with all her might and plunged the stake deep into Duran's heart before stopping completely still and waiting to see if her plan had worked.

But he shook his head and tutted.

"Lilly, are you still not aware that a wooden stake will not kill me?" he asked with a smile that suddenly became twisted as he realised that it was no ordinary wooden stake.

She had to know, she had to know about her father, before he died.

"Did you transform my father?" she asked.

His eyes bulged from their sockets and his veins began to throb.

"Duran.... Olivier... did you transform my father. Jackson Tulugaq? Jackson Taylor? Did you? Is he a vampire?"

Smiling a horrible, twisted grin, "Silver-tipped stake?" he asked and she nodded.

"Clever... girl..." he muttered, adding, "Jackson was... Vivian's... toy... not mine," he said finally as he fell backwards to the floor.

"I planned to...ch... change him... but he disappeared before..."

Suddenly his face was no longer that of a handsome young man, but that of an exceedingly old one. Lilly watched as his looks quickly faded, his skin disappeared from his bones and soon all that was left of him was a pile of dust on the ground.

Walter stumbled towards Lilly. He was hurt.

"I don't know if the bubble will hold us both, Walter, but we must try."

But he shook his head, "No Lilly. Go. Get out as fast as you can. The cave will completely collapse any moment. You must get out alive. For December, for Rose, for your father..." Walter said before he collapsed on the floor on top of Duran's dust.

"No, I won't leave you here," she said to his unconscious body as she grabbed him, using all the strength she had left to lift him into the bubble.

They hovered, dropping down to the ground, but the bubble remained intact. They turned and Lilly tried to envisage the way out, but it all looked the same. Not knowing if she was taking the right route, they half floated, half bobbed against the ground along a makeshift pathway she hoped would lead them to safety, all the while thinking about her father.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Oliver sweated profusely as he carried rock after rock away from the cave's entrance, aided by Christoff.

December watched him. She wanted to help but she had to concentrate hard on the bubble inside the cave. If her concentration waned for just a second, it could mean instant death for Lilly, although she didn't even know if it was working.

She couldn't even break her concentration to try to communicate with her best friend.

Oliver hadn't said a word. Tabitha had tried to find out about the others, but he was far too focused on trying to get into the cave.

Soon though, voices could be heard and Tabitha tried to stand up to see what was going on, but she was weak.

Around the corner came Carmelo leading a small group. Zoltan rushed forward to Tabitha when he saw what had happened.

"Zoltan!" she yelled with relief, hugging him tight and kissing him hard on the lips.

"Lilly is inside, December's concentrating on a protection spell so whatever you do don't interrupt her. She went in to kill Duran with a stake and the silver. My grandfather came and rescued us but he and Duran were fighting. It caused everything to collapse. You've got to do something. We don't even know if anyone is still alive!" she said to them without taking a breath, and then continued, "oh and this is Christoff... he was being kept by Duran but he is one of us now."

Suddenly there was an almighty crash as more of the mountain came crashing down on top of the cave.

Everybody went silent.

"Lilly," sobbed Oliver as Carmelo approached him and placed a hand on his back. Everybody was silent as it dawned on them that they might have lost her. Then suddenly, a voice could be heard.

"She's still alive!" yelled a voice from the distance. "She's alive... and so is Walter... albeit barely. Keep digging."

It was Ruby, drifting down the mountain, followed by Moira who was limping slightly, looking a little bedraggled.

The group descended on the fallen rocks and formed a line, Oliver at the front with Carmelo, lifting the rocks and handing them along.

Moira rushed to her daughter's side but December didn't even look at her. Her eyes were so full of concentration that Moira sat beside her and joined her. Together, the protection bubble would be stronger.

Moira swore she saw December's lips lift a little at the sides as she began to utter the same words over and over.

A couple of hours later and the entrance to the cave was almost clear. With the last boulder larger than the rest, they all grouped together to push it aside.

A gap just big enough for one person to squeeze through presented itself.

Without saying a word, Oliver pushed himself through.

"Oliver... here," said Zoltan, who handed him a lighter before he disappeared.

Flicking the lighter on, Oliver searched what was once a wide open cave. Huge boulders and rocks scattered the ground. He had to duck, to avoid hitting his head on the lowered ceiling.

"Lilly?" he whispered, careful not to cause too much noise.

He listened intently but there was nothing but silence.

He followed the only path free of rocks and continued to whisper her name.

Listening carefully, he thought he heard a gentle cough.

"Lilly?" he said, increasing his pace.

"Oliver?" said the quiet voice of his girlfriend.

"Yes!" he smiled, "Where are you?"

"Over here, but be careful. We're trapped."

Oliver followed the sounds of her voice until he found her. She was encased in a large bubble with an unconscious man to her side. A huge boulder rested precariously on top of them. December's spell was keeping them from being crushed. If she moved forward, the boulder would undoubtedly fall and she was unsure if the protection spell was strong enough to protect them from something so huge and heavy.

"Lilly... I'm so relieved to have found you. I thought you were dead," he said, trying to keep the tears from his eyes.

"And I thought you were dead too. Those other vampires..."

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm all right. But we need to get you out of here. Will the bubble stay if you move?" he asked, desperately just wanting to hold her in his arms.

She shook her head, "you need to go back out and tell December what's happening. We need this bubble to stay put so we can move. It's the only way."

"No, I don't want to leave you."

She nodded at him and smiled, "Oliver, you must. We'll be okay. Just go. Come back only when she's ready, and be careful."

She managed to push her own hand out of the bubble. He squeezed it and held it to his lips.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

He turned and stumbled out as fast as he could, smaller rocks and dust, falling behind him.

As he found his way back to the only visible exit, he fell out into the moonlit night and dusted himself down as he explained the situation.

December and Moira were sitting in the exact same position as when he'd left, in a trance, keeping the protective bubble active.

"We're going to need the help of some of the other witches," said Ruby, "there's no way we can interrupt my two girls now. If they become distracted, the bubble might burst."

Carmelo took charge immediately, "Zoltan, we need you to run back to the others and bring the witches to us. Bring Kyran. As fast as you can."

Zoltan immediately leapt to his feet and changed into a huge wolf before their very eyes, his clothes ripping off his body and falling to the ground as if in slow motion. He bounded off into the distance without a single word.