Fire and Ice (39 page)

Octãhvia stepped toward Adrius, her
eyes fixed on me. “Come now. Is the girl truly worth losing everything you've worked so hard to protect?” Her glance shifted to the king.

“There's no need for anyone else to suffer,” I said softly.

With a deep breath, I stepped out from behind Adrius, feeling uneasy about the sensations rippling through me. It was as if thousands of butterflies were fluttering inside my body, trying to break free. I held up my hand, briefly closing my eyes. Healing energy was something I was familiar with but the intensity of it came as a shock to my system. I could sense the swirling green light, stretching from me to the warriors. Seconds later their cries of pain ceased and the warriors stood and returned to their posts.

My eyes bulged. Adrius cocked an eyebrow. Julien frowned. I'd never been able to do
that
before. Healing was always a hands-on thing for me. This was like I transmitted the healing from me across the short distance to them.

Octãhvia stared hard and tilted her head for a moment. But when she regained her p
oise, she seemed pleased by what she had witnessed.

“You are right, darling. There is no need for others to suffer. Come, walk with me.”

“Go now,” she instructed her minions. “Things are well under control here. Find something else to do, pets.” They exchanged confused looks before retreating into the forest.

Adrius was not convinced. “What are you up to?”

“Oh, you truly need to work on your trust issues, love. I merely wish to parlay with the girl. Perhaps stake some sort of bargain around her special gifts. After all we've been through you would deny me even that?”

“Yes. I would.” His gaze was unflinching.

I touched his arm. “Adrius. If I go with her, then I know no one else will be hurt.”

“You believe that?”

“I believe…” I didn't really know what I believed.
That everything would be fine? That we were all going to die?
“I believe… that this is the best way. Trust me. Please.”

He drew himself upright and scanned the long line of warriors fading into the twilight behind us. “No, Lorelei, I won't let you put yourself in any more danger. This ends now.” Adrius was about to drag me away, when Julien turned to the leader of the Elven warriors, who were armed with arrows ready to fire on command.

“It's time,” Julien said to them.

“
No,
Julien,” Adrius groaned. But it was too late.

I expected a fanfare or trumpets blazing or something significant to mark the end of our existence. But those two simple words spoke volumes as arrows seared into the forest after Octãhvia's retreating army, commencing the battle between l
ight and dark.

From the darkness of the forest stormed gnarling beasts and monsters, swords flailing and shields splintering.

I ducked and raced for cover behind a tree trunk, as an arrow whipped by me.

Warriors were cut down by blades of ice, and a cluster of Redcaps feasted on the flesh.

Julien leapt into the fray, slashing at the goblins and one by one they met with the same fate.

Adrius stayed close to me, keeping me in his line of sight. I scanned the area for Octãhvia, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Bodies from both sides were dropping like rain all around us and the smell of blood overwhelmed me. I made the mistake of wondering how much worse things could get.

A deafening shriek filled the air. The sound was like the metallic scraping of nails agains
t a chalkboard, only hundreds of decibels louder. I fell to my knees, hands pasted over my ears which felt like they were bleeding from the noise. A winged creature swooped over Octãhvia's army. It resembled a dinosaur, but the lion body, eagle head and wi
ngs, and fiery breath streaming from a beak riddled with needle sharp teeth didn't fit the description of any prehistoric beast I'd ever heard of. Real or imagined, it circled once and then swooped toward us. I'm not sure, but I think I screamed.

Adrius cursed. “
Gryphon
,” he snarled and drew his bow. Before he could fire a fourth shot, the creature grasped Adrius in its taloned claws, lifting him high into the air then dropped him to the ground. He landed with a bon- crushing thud I could hear even over the clanging metal and battle cries. For a moment, he was motionless.

I sprinted to his side, but a blast of fire came between us, singeing my hair, preventing me from reaching him. I was forced to scramble back to the sanctuary of my tree. I'd have to heal him from a distance which was still something new for me; I focused, mentally scanning his body to see where he might be injured. The image of fractured ribs had just formed in my mind, when the gryphon spiraled around gunning straight for me.

With a gust of flame it ignited my tree sanctuary, drenching me in a shower of melting ice, dagger like icicles piercing the ground. I made a dash for the bolder a few yards away. The beast followed, swooping low over my head with a deafening cry. I looked around in desperation. The Keep was a few hundred feet away… too far to make a run for it.

My mind raced. There was no where left to hide. If I could make it to The Keep and find a bow, maybe I'd be able to use the elements to help me bring it down. A flaming arrow or something
… how hard could that be to conjure?
I thought with desperation.

I watched as the creature circled and then swooped back toward Adrius. Without thinking, I jumped out from behind my cover, waving my arms madly, hollering to get the creature's attention. Anything to draw it away from Adrius, who was slowly rousing, and within seconds climbed to his feet again.

But now I was in the line of fire, literally. I sped toward The Keep, staying as low to the ground as I could while still running. Wailing blasts of heat surged by me, the smell of ash and smoke filling my lungs, making it impossible to breath. Coughing and sputtering, I collapsed on the ground behind a stump, my eyes burning from the vapors. Just when I thought it was going to be my end, Adrius appeared across from me, steely determination raging in his eyes.

Stepping out from under the shelter of the trees, Adrius focused on the monster circling overhead and drew his bow. He took aim, with steady, deadly precision and a shower of arrows whizzed past, striking the creature in the chest like a pincushion.

The winged beast let out a long wailing cry and then swerved to the left before plummeting to the earth with such force it made the ground tremble and crack. White feathers stained with crimson twitched and then went still. Smoke streamed from its broken beak before the light from its glowing red eyes faded to black.

I used the distraction to scramble to my feet and ran toward The Keep, not pausing to look back when I heard Adrius call my name. Skidding through the door, I heaved it shut behind me and searched in the dim light for a bow. If I was going to help the ones I loved, I had to be armed with more than just my sword. Adrius was bleeding, but without something to defend myself from what was out there, he could die. I couldn't let that happen. I raced into the storage closet where only a few weeks ago Adrius had dragged me, trying to save my life. There was nothing. The room was completely empty, every sword, spear, and bow removed and undoubtedly in use. I leaned against the wall, chest heaving, as I struggled to catch my breath.

“I didn't think you'd come,” a melodic voice rang out from the dimness. Like an apparition, she appeared, ghostly, beautiful, and deadly.

The strength drained from my legs, as I forced myself to stand up straight. I was trapped.

“Come, do walk with me a while, won't you?” She motioned for me to join her. Then she shook her head with a childlike sulk, but her eyes were sharp and cunning as ever. “All of this fighting. Such nasty business.” She tsked. “We can put an end to it all right now. Just you and I.” Her mouth pulled into a slow grin.

I stepped toward her. “I'll go with you, but you have to give me your word no one else will be hurt.”

“Still negotiating bargains you can't afford to repay. You truly are a slow learner, aren't you?”

When I crossed my arms, she beamed warmly. “Only a little joke, darling. There's nothing to repay. You'll find witches are not as greedy as the fey.” She raised her hand and I jumped. “Relax, you have my word, dear. Not one soul will suffer at my hand.”

Nothing about her words rang with sincerity, but her word was all I had to go on, and if we were going to get through this alive, I had to keep faith in something… if only in myself. I nodded in agreement then she fashioned a doorway in the stone wall with a laser beam of white light and I followed her into the darkened woods.

Deafening silence enveloped me as we traveled away from the raging battle. After a while, she stopped and wheeled around to face me. A network of bluish veins was barely visible beneath the surface of her porcelain skin, lit by the cool moonlight reflecting off the snow. The eerie glow only made her look more lethal.

“You could have taken my soul hundreds of times over,” I said. “So, what are you going to do now? What is it you want?” I was aware of how brave I sounded. It was like listening to someone else taking control of my voice, because all I could feel was a mind-numbing fear that threatened to overtake me.

For the first time since I'd met her, she wasn't smiling. She glared with fierce vengeance that shook every inch of my body. The Inner Eye safely hanging from my neck provided me with a series of images flashing like snapshots, none of which made any sense. A girl, a baby. A broken cradle of woven reeds, stained with blood. And a stake, a woman tied to it. Burning. I blinked, and the images faded.

“There is only one thing you possess that I want. And I will have it, in time. It made little sense to capture the soul of a Halfling with no access to her power. But now that you've awakened the prahna, it's a much more appealing package, darling.”

I winced at the idea that the very thing I was hoping would defeat her was the thing she'd wanted all along.

“But you should understand, there is nothing your Faerie magic can do to stop me. It can't protect you and it can't protect them,” she said calmly. “Look for yourself.”

She held up her hand and a crinkling wall of ice formed, projecting images on its surface, like a movie screen. Only, what I saw surpassed the most terrifying horror flick imaginable. At the gates of Elyssium, where we had but moments ago been standing, was a growing pool of blood. In the middle of it lay Adrius. Broken. Motionless.

My heart leapt into my throat. I gasped for air. “This isn't real… It's a trick.”

“Is it?” Her patient smile returned.

“It has to be,” I cried. “When I left him…” I pictured the fallen beast he'd shot, before I ran. He'd been knocked unconscious, but he'd fought the creature and defeated it. “He was fine,” I finished, my certainty beginning to waver.

“Do you know what it takes to kill the creature he died defending you from?” She shook her head. “A mere Elvish weapon cannot terminate its life permanently. And when the beast had finished with him, it was my turn.”

I looked back at the image… at the distraught king, Hawthrin chanting spells… weeping healers trying in vain to revive him.

“I have to go back,” I cried.

But Octãhvia shook her head. “It's too l
ate. You can hunt for him if you like, pet, but there's no use. Even your gifts cannot revive the dead.” She smirked.

“But… but you promised,” I cried, my voice strangled by the dizzying waves of sickness churning in my stomach, threatening to come up.

“I promised he wouldn't suffer. And he didn't. You see, tearing out his heart — which was spoken for, by the way — was painless for him. I am a woman of my word.”

Dropping to my knees, I wept in the snow, numb to the biting cold. Flakes were falling in slow motion, coating my face and hair, blurring my vision. Reality seeped away, leaving only the image replaying over and over like a recurring nightmare I couldn't wake up from. He was
gone
. My Adrius was gone.

A voice whispered in my ear and a forceful tug pulled me to my feet. I peered around but it was still the two of us. Shaking ice crystal from my hair, tears frozen in place on my cheeks, I faced my opponent.

Tap into your emotions. Control them and you control the magic.
The words filled me like a melody, as though someone was singing them in my ear. The pain and sadness gave way to a different set of emotions. I faced her with pure loathing.

It wasn't difficult to let the anger build, embracing it in an easy hug. My blinding rage would have been frightening had it not been so all consuming. But my only thought was avenging Adrius. Cold venomous hatred bubbled up into my chest.

Concentrating, I raised both hands, barely noticing the strange luminous way they shook. A voice was whispering aloud, this time it was my voice, but they were not my words. It was a language I'd never heard before, and yet somehow it came to me.

In one swift thrust, invisible heat waves rippled through the air, slamming into the witch at full force. She flew backward through the trees, landing against the ice doorway as shattered shards pierced her skin; the merry tinkling of shattered glass across the frozen ground sounding wildly out of place.

Breathlessly aware of how fast my heart was beating, I kept chanting the spells.

Octãhvi
a was watching closely, her expression unreadable, but as she peeled away from the door, she snarled. She held up her hand stepping toward me, and paused. A force was holding her in place. Frowning, she raised both hands in the air summoning a curse. A blizzard swirled around her like a tornado which she directed straight at me.

The energy surging within me grew stronger and I chanted louder and louder in the foreign tongue. I mirrored her actions and the magic meant to destroy me altered course and struck her hands with full force, creating a link between us.