Hostage (39 page)

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because… because he won’t let me.”

Aware of a presence behind him, Rowan turned. There was no shape to the thing, no existence as such, but it was there. There was no doubt that it was there.

“Let him go.”

“I cannot. I am he and he is me. We are one.”

“No, that’s not true. You’re making it true, but I won’t let you. I won’t let you take him away from me.”

“We are one.”
The darkness reached for them. Rowan simply felt the brush of air on his cheek, but Astrin screamed. Without thinking, Rowan dragged Astrin away from the deathly touch, away from the darkness, into the light.

“No, Rowan, no.”

Turning again, Rowan saw a pit opening behind them. Already the ground beneath Astrin’s feet was beginning to crack and crumble, falling into the abyss. Whatever Rowan was going to do it had to be now.

Rowan searched his mind, straining to find something, anything. He had to find a way. Only he could save Astrin, only him. Why only him? Why him? Why?

Then it hit him, almost as though it had been placed into his mind by someone else. He pulled Astrin closer to him.

“Hold on,”
he whispered; then he opened his eyes.

Rowan was somewhat surprised to find he’d physically lifted Astrin and was holding him in his arms. Astrin was gasping and sobbing with pain.

“Hold on,” Rowan whispered again. Then he looked around feverishly.

“Stone,” he gasped. “Give me something made of stone, or clay…
anything
.”

Neive disappeared and moments later returned with a large stone bowl. He had no idea where she’d got it, and he didn’t care; he only cared that it would serve his purpose. Gently laying Astrin back on the bed, making sure he kept tight hold of his hand, Rowan placed the bowl carefully on his stomach. Closing his eyes, he concentrated.

The bowl came apart and scattered over Astrin’s body like fine sand, startling everyone in the room. It settled for a moment and then disappeared, sinking into him.

Rowan found himself back within the strange mindscape, with a terrified Astrin. Rowan no longer had his arms around him although he was still holding tightly to Astrin’s hand. The ground was still crumbling, and Astrin started to slip.

“Hold on, Astrin. Hold on. Just for a little while now. I promise. Listen to me. Listen. You have to help me. When I tell you, you have to jump.”

“No. No, I can’t.”
Astrin’s eyes were wide and terrified. He shook his head, shrinking away, trying to pull his hand free.

“Don’t be afraid. You won’t fall. I won’t let you fall. I’ll come with you. Will you trust me?”

The frightened eyes, which were now a pale, pure green, searched his face. Astrin nodded just once, sharply.

“There’s something else. You have to roll, Astrin. Not here; back there. You have to move your body away from the bed. If you don’t, you’ll be trapped here forever. You’ll die here. Do you understand?”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I can’t go back there. I….”

“When you jump you will be able to. You have to concentrate, but you will be able to. Promise me you will, because if you don’t, it will be me who killed you, and I can’t live with that.”

“I promise,”
Astrin whispered.

“Good. Hold my hand. Hold tight.”

Rocks crumbled from beneath Astrin’s heel and fell into the abyss. He cried out, grabbing Rowan desperately. Rowan turned to face the darkness.

“Leave. Leave here now or perish.”

“I cannot leave. I am he and—”

“He is me… yeah I know. You’re one. Except you’re not. Now you’re mine. You absorb things don’t you? You absorb any alien thing that threatens you. You can’t absorb me because I have no existence here. But you did absorb the stone dust didn’t you? It’s part of you now. Just as you made yourself part of Astrin, I made that part of you. I control the dust, so now I control you.”

Rowan sensed a certain hesitancy in the darkness in front of him. Peering deeply into it, he saw something. Was it a crack? Closing his eyes, Rowan concentrated. Astrin screamed, making him open his eyes.

“Rowan, no—no, don’t. Please don’t. It hurts. It really hurts. Please, please don’t do that again.”

“It’s all right, Astrin, it will only hurt for a moment. Hold on. It will be over soon.”
Astrin screamed again. More dirt streamed into the abyss, and Astrin slipped. Was there enough time? Had it worked, or was he dooming Astrin?

“Jump. Astrin, jump—and don’t forget to roll.”

“No. No I….”

Clinging to Astrin as tightly as he could, Rowan hurled himself forward and both of them fell into the abyss.

S
AFE

R
OWAN
WAS
stunned, literally. When he threw himself into the pit, he’d thrown himself forward physically and struck his head on the edge of the bed as he fell. Hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. He didn’t fight.

He was aware of voices, but they seemed strangely distorted. He sighed, closing his eyes, feeling tired and drained. The same hands lifted him and laid him on one of the beds.

No. I should be doing something, something important
. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t remember what it was. He felt nauseated and had to lie still just to control his stomach.

Hands touched his forehead and chest, filling him with golden light. He recognized the touch of a healer and whispered, “Astrin.” As the word left his lips he sat upright, almost knocking Hersten over.

“Astrin. Where’s Astrin? Is he…? Is he all right?”

“Easy, Rowan. Rest awhile. You had a nasty bang on the head.”

“No. No time.” He batted the hands away and got to his feet. His head throbbed, but otherwise he felt fine. The bed where Astrin had been lying was covered with something like thick black tar. It was bubbling languidly.

Astrin had been moved to a different bed and was lying quite still. Neive and Charles were at his side, watching over him. Neither looked up, and Rowan’s heart pounded as he approached. Charles moved aside so Rowan could take his place next to Astrin.

Astrin was no longer thrashing and his face was calm and peaceful. At least he wasn’t in pain any longer, but was he…? Was he…?

Rowan took Astrin’s hand. It felt cold and lifeless. “Please, Astrin. Please be all right.”

“What did you do?”

Rowan looked up sharply, annoyed that anyone would intrude on his contemplation of Astrin’s face. He frowned at Neive. “What?” he snapped. She ignored him.

“What did you do?” she repeated.

“You said the—the thing absorbed anything nonorganic and locked it away inside itself. I took the bowl apart, like I did the wall in the prison, and let the stone dust sink into Astrin’s body. The thing absorbed the dust and it became part of it. I took control of the stone, so I also took control of the thing. I changed its energy. I told Astrin to roll away while I bound it with the stone and it couldn’t go with him. He went. It stayed.

“At least that’s what I wanted to do—what I wanted to happen. Did he make it? Did he get away? Did he…?”

Neive stared at him wide-eyed until she was displaced by Hersten, who was unable to stay away from his son for one minute more. Everyone froze in silence while Hersten concentrated hard.

After a few moments, Hersten stood up. He looked stunned. “It’s gone. The darkness is gone—completely gone!”

Rowan’s heart thumped back into life, allowing him to take a deep breath and squeeze Astrin’s hand.

“Astrin, please… please tell me you’re okay. Tell me you got away in time, that I didn’t hurt you. Please.”

The cold fingers in his grip twitched, and holding his breath Rowan looked down into the sleeping face as Astrin’s eyes fluttered and opened. For a moment they stared at each other, and then, moving as one, they threw themselves into each other’s arms.

“You came. You came for me. I was so scared, Rowan. I was so, so scared.”

“I promised, didn’t I? I’m just sorry I took so long.”

“You came. You came.” It was all Astrin could say through the sobbing, and Rowan just held him close.

The others stayed back as unobtrusively as possible, but none of them could leave until they
knew
. After a time they couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Astrin, how do you feel now? Are you feeling better?”

Astrin pulled back a little and raised a tearful face to his father. “I feel wonderful,” he whispered. “I feel like I’ve been reborn.”

With tears in his eyes, Hersten sat on the bed and put his arms around Astrin. “I thought I was going to lose you,” he said simply.

“I
was
lost. I was more lost than I have ever been before. But Rowan found me.” Astrin gazed at Rowan with adoring eyes. The look was returned.

“Soon we will have to sit down and work out exactly what happened. For now, I think I need to speak with your mother. She’s been so worried.”

“Mother.” Astrin looked stricken. “I forgot. I haven’t been in contact. I told her I’d keep her informed.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been taking care of that, although I’m sure she would be delighted if you contacted her yourself as soon as you feel ready. She’s been terribly worried about you since you left the Heart of the North.”

“Thank you.” Astrin relaxed again. Hersten gave him one more hug and reluctantly let him go.

“I think perhaps you should rest—both of you. You’ve been through quite an ordeal and must be exhausted. Unfortunately, that’s something my healing can’t help you with. There’s simply no substitute for sleep.”

“I am tired. But….” Astrin looked around, squinting slightly.

“What? What is it? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

Astrin smiled at Rowan and hugged him. “Try taking a breath between sentences when you speak. It will stop you from falling over in the middle. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just… It doesn’t feel late, and I’m hungry.”

Rowan collapsed against him, laughing. The stress of the past twenty-four hours and the relief he now felt gave the laughter a hysterical edge. Hersten chuckled too.

“Do you feel up to going downstairs, or do you want us to have something brought up?”

“I’m fine. I really am fine. I wasn’t joking. I feel better than I have for ages. All the stress is gone, the darkness too. I feel light and happy and safe and… and hungry.”

Rowan captured Astrin’s face to stare deep into his eyes. He searched for truth and let his mind slip into the eyes, searching. They were back. The stars were back, brighter than ever. All the paths were repaired and there was no sign of the darkness, no trace of shadow anywhere.

“Satisfied?”

“Very. You really are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside.”

“So are you. I’ll never be able to look at you without remembering how you looked when you rescued me.”

“And how was that?”
Rowan teased gently, his eyes twinkling.

“Like a god. Everywhere there was darkness, but you were shining. You brought the light in. You put breath in my lungs so I could breathe. You gave me strength when I would have fallen, something to believe in when I would have given up. You’re my savior in every way.”
There was nothing teasing in Astrin’s voice. He was deadly serious, and that seriousness touched Rowan.

“You saved me too. That moment you trusted me. When you jumped and rolled. You saved me from an eternity in hell, which is what my life would have been without you.”

“Aren’t we getting poetic? The simple fact is, I am here and you are here, and we are both strong and well and happy—and I want you so much that if we don’t move right now everyone else is going to be able to see it.”

Laughing, Rowan kissed Astrin briefly and let him go. There was no sign of weakness as Astrin got to his feet, no hint of his previous unnatural weariness. He looked tired but that was all.

W
ITH
A
STRIN
’
S
recovery, the whole atmosphere lightened. By the following day, with both boys fully rested and well fed, conversation was no longer carried out in hushed voices or traveling along somber lines.

News began to filter in from all over the South. The rebels had been more successful than they had ever expected. The computer mainframe, which linked Strebo’s secret laboratories and contained much of his research and development, had been hit from so many different places that it went into critical meltdown, causing the majority of the data to be permanently lost.

Although there had been a heavy toll in lives on both sides, both military and civilian, the whole mission was applauded as an overwhelming success. It was all anyone could talk about.

Almost a week after the “Storming of the Citadel” as the operation came to be called, Neive arrived back at the bar, having been absent for three days.

“Neive, we’ve missed you. Where have you been? Why didn’t you sneak in like you usually do?”

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you boys—I do not ‘sneak.’ Astrin, why am I not surprised to find you with food in your hand?”

Astrin grinned. “There’s nothing else to do, since Rowan won’t let me jump his bones because it’s too public.”

Rowan blushed furiously, much to Neive’s amusement.

“I’m glad you don’t seem to be confused about the way you feel anymore, Astrin.”

“Nope. The only thing that confuses me is why the heck it took me so long to accept it. I mean, in the name of the Gods, I knew from the beginning, maybe even from the first time I opened my eyes and saw him leaning over me with that frown on his face. He was like a dark angel, and he scared the hell out of me, but he fascinated me at the same time. Gods, even when I hated him, I was already half in love with him.”