Deliverance (23 page)

“What the hell do you mean? The shard is
right there in front of us! Our job doesn’t get much easier than
this,” replied Blaze.

“Exactly, Blaze.” Crystal replied, “This is
too easy.”

“Look, I know Bogdan. If he knew about this
shard, it would be at the castle, not sitting here in this decrepit
place. He doesn’t waste time getting what he wants, so we can’t
waste time either,” Blaze replied. He then trotted up to the altar
against the protests of the other rebels and grabbed the shard.

The second Blaze’s hand touched the gem, the
front doors slammed shut behind the others. Sigurd and Gavril tried
to open them by slamming into them several times, but they were
sealed shut and would not budge. Then, without warning, dozens of
Daldussan soldiers came pouring out of various hiding places and
pointed their weapons at the rebels.

Crystal tried to shoot fire balls at the
soldiers, but she was suddenly surrounded by a force field and none
of her spells would work. She didn’t have to see Saitar standing a
few feet from her to know that it was he who had trapped her. She
then glanced at Thaddeus and saw the same force field around him as
well. The two mages then watched helplessly as their friends were
taken prisoner.

All except for Blaze.

“Wonderful job, Blaze,” said a voice from
the shadows. Bogdan then walked towards Blaze and laughed.

“What?” Blaze asked, confused and in
shock.

“You did a splendid job! Without your help,
I never would have caught the rebels!” Bogdan said.

“What?!” Gavril shouted.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Blaze
shouted at Bogdan. He then glanced frantically back and forth
towards the rebels.

“Don’t be so modest, Blaze! It isn’t like
you to not take credit for your work! Our plan to infiltrate the
rebel base was a success! I never thought the rebels would be
stupid enough to believe you, but they all fell for your little
act!” Bogdan gloated.

“You liar! I had nothing to do with this and
you know it!” Blaze screamed.

“I KNEW you couldn’t be trusted!” Sigurd
yelled. The dwarf then roared and charged at Blaze, but he was held
back by several soldiers. He continued to yell as he was lifted up
and his feet dangled above the ground.

“He’s lying!” Blaze yelled. He looked
frantically at Crystal, but his heart sunk when he saw her face. He
saw a look of complete and utter betrayal. A lone tear streaked
down her cheek, and for a moment, the whole world seemed to stop
before Blaze. The look she gave him absolutely killed him, and he
wanted nothing more than to grab her, hold her and swear on his own
life that he was innocent. Blaze could no longer speak; his heart
felt like it was lodged into his throat.

Bogdan then grabbed the shard from Blaze’s
hand, but the prince was still staring at Crystal and didn’t even
notice.

“And what about my part of the bargain?”

Suddenly, the rebels gasped when they saw
Lord Valamar step from behind a group of soldiers and approached
Crystal.

“Hello, Darling,” he said seductively to
her. She then tried to back away, but the force field stopped her
from moving more than a few inches.

“Ah yes, Lord Valamar.” Bogdan responded,
“Because of your help, you are now free to marry Crystal, or should
I say, Princess Amelia Atteberry.”

Suddenly, Crystal’s head snapped into
Bogdan’s direction, who was smiling smugly and staring right at
her. When he saw her shocked face, he howled with laughter.

“Yes, my dear, Blaze told me your little
secret,” Bogdan said.

“Crystal please! You must believe me!” Blaze
cried.

Bogdan laughed again and said, “It’s time to
leave with these fools. Saitar, transport Valamar and his fiancée
back to the castle.”

“NO!” Gavril yelled. He then elbowed the
soldier who held onto him in the face and charged toward Crystal
with an outstretched hand to reach for her. Blaze too charged
forward to grab her, but they were both too late. Saitar had
grabbed ahold of Valamar and Crystal and disappeared just as
Gavril’s hand came within inches of the barrier. The force field
surrounding Thaddeus disappeared after Saitar was gone but before
he could cast a single spell, several soldiers disarmed him and
tied his hands behind his back.

Enraged, Gavril then charged at Blaze and
yelled, “You traitor!”

Blaze braced himself for the impact, but
Gavril was still able to knock him to the floor and land on top of
him. The general gripped Blaze’s neck and began punching him
unmercifully with his free hand.

Blaze tried in vain to defend himself when
he suddenly felt the weight lifting off of his body. He looked up
to see Gavril being pulled away by a couple of soldiers and
fighting them off. Blaze got to his feet and tried to reason with
Gavril after he fought off the soldiers, but the former general
immediately charged at him again. This time, instead falling to the
ground again, Blaze felt glass breaking against his back. Blaze
then realized that he was falling through the air and so was
Gavril. He fell and fell for what seemed like an eternity and then
he finally felt a sharp pain on the side of his body. He then
realized he not only had fallen off of the cliff and into the river
below, but he was also submerged under water.

Blaze struggled with all of his strength to
find air, but the strong current of the dark river kept pulling him
under as if an anchor was tied to his legs. He couldn’t breathe,
and it was so dark that even though he could open his eyes, he
could not see the surface. As his lungs burned, he could hear rain
starting to pound onto the surface of the water, and so he tried to
use his ears to find it. By some miracle, it seemed, something
pulled Blaze to the surface.

However, just when Blaze gasped for air,
something hard hit him in the face. He realized it was a fist when
Gavril screamed, “I trusted you!” Another hit to his face, “We all
trusted you!” Another hit, “I should have known you would never
change!”

Gavril then somehow got onto land and
dragged Blaze with him. He then started punching Blaze again, and
even when he tried putting his hands up in self-defense, Gavril
started punching his ribs and chest too. Every single hit became
more and more painful, but eventually, they stopped after Blaze
stopped struggling.

“Get up you piece of shit!” Gavril yelled.
When Blaze still didn’t move, Gavril picked him up by the collar of
his shirt and repeated, “Get up!”

“Just leave me alone! I didn’t do a damned
thing, but apparently, my word will never be enough for you!” Blaze
cried.

Gavril replied by punching Blaze yet again.
He released his grip on Blaze and the prince fell hard to the
ground. Blaze didn’t even bother to move. No one believed him. No
one would ever believe him again. He had nowhere to go and no one
to care about anymore, so even when he heard Gavril’s sword being
removed from its sheath, he didn’t care about dying anymore. I give
up, he decided. I’ll just let him kill me.

And yet, his heart still wanted to live.

Blaze finally understood what that
mysterious force that overpowered his mind was. It was one of those
things that Crystal was always talking about. A heart . . .

Blaze was starting to actually feel like he
had one after all. It was a shame that he could never share it,
because now he stared death in the face, and frankly, he welcomed
its sweet release. The seconds ticked by at an impossibly slow
rate, and finally and without thinking, Blaze muttered, “Just do
it, already.”

After that, he suddenly heard the sword
being plunged into something, but he felt no pain. Did he die
already? He knew his body couldn't be numb, because after all, he
still felt the rain beating down on his face. He opened his eyes to
see Gavril kneeling over him. The general had plunged his sword
into the ground next to Blaze’s chest.

Blaze looked Gavril in the eyes and said,
“Why the hesitation?”

Gavril pulled the sword out of the mud and
stood up. Then Blaze saw something he never though he would see;
Gavril seemed to be crying. Even through the pouring rain, he could
see the anguish and despair on the general’s usual stone face.

When he realized that Blaze saw this, Gavril
then turned around to face the other direction and called back to
Blaze, “Get out of here. I never want to see you again.”

Blaze sat up and said, “What the hell do you
mean?”

Gavril turned back to Blaze and yelled, “I
said LEAVE! Leave before I change my mind! If I ever see you again,
I will NOT hesitate to kill you!”

Even though he had no idea why Gavril was
letting him go, Blaze summoned all of his strength to stand up and
then without another word, he ran.

For what seemed like hours, all Blaze could
think about doing was running and even when his chest and his legs
burned tremendously, he didn’t stop. Through the pouring rain he
went, and he had no idea where he was heading. Despite everything
that had just happened, the one thing that caused him the most pain
was the look he saw on Crystal’s face. It was forever burned into
his mind and he never in his life wanted to see it again.

He finally stopped running and fell to his
knees. The image of her sadness and hurt felt like a stabbing pain
in his chest. For a moment, he closed his eyes and faced the sky,
allowing the pounding rain drench his face. He didn’t want her to
remember him this way, the man she thought betrayed her. He didn’t
want to ever leave her again, but rather, he wanted to find her, to
hold her, and to protect her. He wanted to feel her lips on his
again and because of the pounding drops of rain beating down on his
lips, he could almost feel her kiss again. Most of all, he wanted
to stay with her . . . and to be with her.

As soon as the rain began to lighten up,
Blaze looked ahead and saw what looked like a cave. Hoping to find
shelter from the rain, he rushed towards it and ventured inside. It
was wet and chilly but he felt better now that he was out of the
rain. He sat down on the hard stone ground and buried his face into
his hands. Then, for the first time for as long as he could
remember, he began to cry.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had
any tears fall from his face, if he ever even had before. He didn’t
know what he could possibly do to save Crystal, but all he knew was
that he needed had to do something. He didn’t want to wait any
longer, but Blaze knew that running around in the rain would get
him nowhere, so he lay down and once he found a somewhat
comfortable position, he prepared to rest for the night or until
the rain stopped falling.

As he lay on the rocky floor, Blaze
contemplated what he would do to get Crystal out of the castle.
Eventually though all he could think of was Crystal herself. He
thought about the way he kissed her under the moonlight and how she
was the first person to make him feel like he wasn’t alone. He
finally realized that he wanted to kiss her again and again for
many years to come.

Crystal made Blaze feel more alive than he
ever felt before and she almost seemed to give him a purpose in
life. Even through the wet and chilly air in the cave, Blaze felt
her warmth enwrapping him as he thought about her. She was the best
thing that ever happened to him or would ever happen and he knew
then and there that he had to save her so he could tell her exactly
how he felt. He then made a vow that he would not stop until he had
her back in his arms and that the next time her saw her, he would
make sure she knew just how much he cared.

Then, for the first time in his life, Blaze
desperately prayed to Caris to give him the strength he needed to
succeed before falling asleep on the hard cave floor.

CHAPTER 16

The vision of the ruins disappeared before
Crystal’s eyes with a flash of smoke and immediately afterward, the
foyer of the Cierith castle surrounded her. The teleportation
process made her quite dizzy, and even though she was able to keep
her feet steady, she could not move in time to avoid Valamar’s
grasp. As soon as they reappeared, Valamar wasted no time in
grabbing Crystal by the arms from behind her so that she couldn’t
get away.

“Ow! Stop it!” she yelled.

Valamar responded by bending her arms,
locking them against her back, and clutching them even tighter. Her
wrists were thin enough for him to wrap his entire hand around them
both and hold them firmly.

With a low, seductive laugh, Valamar
playfully, yet lustfully muttered, “Got you.”

He then ran his fingers on his free hand
softly from Crystal’s neck slowly down her chest, which made her
skin crawl, and then suddenly grabbed her necklace off and yanked
it off. Crystal then felt a sting where the chain had snapped
against the skin of her neck.

“I’ll take this. Saitar told me about how
this little thing controls your power, so I don’t think you’ll need
it,” he said, dangling the pendant mockingly in front of her face.
He then tossed it to Saitar and said, “Store this away somewhere.
Oh, and don’t forget this.” Valamar then untied Crystal’s belt,
which had her blade sheathed on it, and threw it to the elder as
well.

“All right,” replied Saitar, who then left
the room through one of the side doors.

After he was gone, Valamar brushed his lips
along Crystal’s bare neck and whispered, “Alone at last. Only this
time, there will be no interruptions . . .”

Crystal bent her leg and kicked Valamar in
the shin, which made him release his grip on her and fall to the
ground. Without her sword, Crystal couldn’t hope to fight him, and
her magic would burst out of control and completely drained her
energy if she tried to cast a spell, so the only option she had was
to run like hell, and she took it.

As she ran towards the exit, she suddenly
heard Valamar yell, “If you value the lives of your friends, I
suggest you stop!” Crystal immediately stopped in her tracks, but
did not turn around.