Talisman (88 page)

Ferrol flashed a boastful grin.

Lazarus patted him on the back.  “
Very impressive
.  I had my doubts about you at first, but now…I couldn’t be more pleased with my decision to acquire your services.  Yes, very impressive, indeed.”

Ferrol laughed and directed his stare to Tanner.  “Well,
I try
.  Though I did have a little help from a few others, but the location was solely
my idea
,” Ferrol bragged.

Lazarus looked at Tanner and announced smugly, “It’s nice to see I have at least one
loyal employee
who measures up.”

“I wouldn’t put too much trust in him
, Lazarus,” Tanner laughed.  “Do you really think he’s going to let you walk out of here with the wand and all of its powers?  You just heard about his last attempt, and he didn’t want just the wand. 
No
…the reach of his greed stretched far beyond that.  What makes you think he won’t try it again?”

Ferrol
sharpened his glare as he looked down at the purple stone on Tanner’s hand.

“H
ey, Tanner…” Ferrol interjected with a grumble.  “Your birth-stone is the
amethyst, right?
”

Tanner didn’t confirm a thing.  He seemed to b
e bracing himself for something, and I didn’t have to wait too long to figure out what it was.

Ferrol’s dark eyes swirled with a fierce shade of gray
as he glared at Tanner.  “How’s your
sister?
  Adean, isn’t it?” Ferrol asked and gave the carnelian strung around his neck a pointed tug.  “Oh wait, I misspoke…
Wasn’t it?
”

Once I realized
that the original Carnelian Talisman who’d been killed by Ferrol turned out to be Tanner’s
sister
, it took all of my strength to restrain him (and that was almost not enough).  Tanner’s eyes blazed a dark shade of violet that at first glance, appeared almost black.  I had to resort to pressing my fingernails into his skin for him to pull himself together.  I accidentally used too much force and ripped some of the flesh on his arms —
but it got his attention
.

Lazarus cut in sharply
, “I’m afraid this reunion is getting a little too personal for my taste.  Can we get down to business? 
The wand?
”  Lazarus turned his stare towards me.  “I bet all those millions you turned a deaf ear to are sounding very sweet right about now, aren’t they, Ms. Wallace?”

I remained silen
t, holding on to Tanner’s arms.

Dead-set
on provoking me, Lazarus continued, “I would even be willing to bet that your own father wished he had taken his offer, too.  But alas, he didn’t…and neither did you.”  Lazarus seemed amused and shook his head.  “Now there
I
go, making things
personal
.  Excuse my infraction.”  He tilted his head in a sinister manner.  “Nothing left to do but hammer things out…
the old fashion way
,” and with that, the Talisman who reigned over the air waved his hand and threw a gust of wind towards us.  The breezy blast sent Tanner and I sailing across the cave and hurled us into one of its hard, jagged walls.

As soon as we
crashed onto the floor, Tanner grabbed me and whispered, “Shiloh, remember… Don’t let
any
of his poison inside your body,
by any means
.”  Tanner removed both of his silver hilts from a holster on his back and handed one to me.  “You’re far from ready for this, but
what the Hell
… Little girls have to grow up
sometime
.”  He brandished the handle with a flick of his wrist to reveal the sword’s glowing and razor-sharp, six-sided amethyst blade.

I jumped to my feet, just in time to see Lazarus and Ferrol swiftly approaching us.  My head became over run with Bea’s words of wisdom.  I thought ironically,
Where’s the decision?  Don’t draw it unless you intend to use it, my ass! More like, draw it unless you have a death wish
.

Both Ferrol and Lazarus had their sights set on me.  Ferrol hurled one of his carnelians
my way, but fortunately Tanner pushed me out its path.   Lazarus became so enraged by the fact that his “partner-in-crime” would betray him so quickly that he sent a whirling funnel of air towards Ferrol.  It wrapped around his body as it twisted him violently up to the ceiling of the cave.  After Ferrol’s helpless frame had been thrust into one of the stalactites hard enough, Lazarus waved his hand, commanding the funnel cloud to vanish.  Ferrol came crashing down fast and smacked the rocky floor with enough force to shake the entire cave.

While Ferrol
struggled to get his bearings, Lazarus pointed his cane at him and growled, “SHE’S
MINE
, FERROL! 
Don’t
you forget that!”  He then lifted his cane in the air and removed the ornate wood sheathing to reveal its true nature. The exposed walking stick was actually a
blade
— a royal blue blade with random flecks of white and black, obviously carved from his origin stone, the lapis lazuli.  Though his weapon wasn’t glowing, I had a sneaky suspicion it packed a good punch, just the same.

Tanner
took full advantage of Ferrol’s disoriented state.  He charged towards him, sword blazing.  Quickly, Ferrol rolled out of his way and averted Tanner’s first strike.  Violet sparks flew from the sword when it struck the ground.  Clearly pissed and ready for battle, Ferrol took his carnelian staff and slammed it on the ground.  Instantly, the staff became engulfed in flames.  Aggressively, he started rotating the flaming stick in front of Tanner.  Ferrol was hell-bent on protecting himself while he goaded Tanner with a ring of fire he’d created by twirling the staff in a circular motion.

Lazarus seemed pleased with the turn of events.  Since Ferrol was now
preoccupied with fending off Tanner, that was one less worry for him.  He could now get back to the job at hand —
killing me
.  Lazarus paused to rub his fingers along the wand’s shaft.  Still, the wand lay lifeless as he touched it.

“Do
n’t worry.  You’ll shine for me…
soon
,” Lazarus proclaimed boldly.

“Don’t get your hopes up
,” I announced as I waved the mystical amethyst sword and took an offensive stance.

Lazarus
let out a laugh as he gave his lapis lazuli blade a quick twirl.  “I’ve got a lot more up my sleeve than just
hope
, dear child,” Lazarus vowed and then sent a quick blast of air directed towards my hand, attempting to knock the sword from my grip.

After Bea’s little schooling the other day, I was fully prepared for any
underhanded tactics.  I’d already tightened my grasp around the silver handle and held onto the sword without fail.  Lazarus seemed vexed because his sneaky trick hadn’t worked.

“You might want to check your
other one
,” I announced and flashed a cheeky smile.

“Well, anything worth having
doesn’t come
easy
,” Lazarus grumbled and then charged towards me.

Before I knew it, I was fully engaged in my first official sword fight.  Unfortunately, he was quite skilled.  Our blades clashed repeatedly, and I was able to block
all of his strikes successfully, that is, until I lost my footing on some rocks.  When I tried to regain my balance, I lost sight of his blade for just a split-second.  I soon found it —
slicing across my thigh
. The harsh sting of the diamond-dust heightened my reflexes, so I was able to retaliate with a slice of my own to his forearm.  As I staggered back, I realized Bea wasn’t exaggerating when she told me “expect to get cut.”  Though the diamond-dust allowed the blade to sever my skin and stung like a mother, I could tell from the open rip in my jeans that the wound wasn’t that deep.

While Lazarus
grappled with the pain from the lash I’d inflicted, I checked on Tanner, who was still locked in a heated battle with Ferrol.  I realized I’d become too enthralled with their fight when I redirected my attention back to Lazarus, only to see his lapis lazuli blade about to strike my arm.  I jerked it away quickly, but his sword knocked my blade right out of my hand.  It ended up flying across the cave and landed in-between Tanner and Ferrol (almost nailing both of them).  Unarmed and defenseless, I stepped backward, only to run into one of the cave’s walls.  I was assuredly trapped.  With an overconfident stride, Lazarus prowled towards me.

A
vain smirk crept across his face.  “You see, my dear…This is what happens when little girls think they can play with the
big boys
.”  He cackled and added, “The diamond Wand of Adamas is too powerful and grand.  It was never meant to be in the hands of someone so young and feeble.”  Lazarus scoffed pompously, “Even the wand must think so, or else it would be in your hands right now…It must not like
common trash
either.”

From out of the corner of my
glaring eyes, I caught a glimpse of Ferrol’s flaming staff, which triggered a hopeful thought. 
The carnelians that Tanner gave me at Bea’s…I still have them in my pocket
.

Lazarus drew back his lapis lazuli blade.  “Give my regards to your father for me,” he announced mercilessly.

With that, I quickly pulled one of the reddish-orange milky stones from my pocket and threw it at him as he lunged towards me.

Lazarus’ eyes lit up with fear
when he spotted the stone and tried to jump out of its way.  His success was limited.  He’d managed to avoid the initial blow, but the force of the blast threw him back across the cavern.  I watched jubilantly as his body smacked one of the walls and then dropped to the ground in a daze.

I allowed Lazarus’
words to roll around in my head while I watched him struggle to his get to his feet.  It would be just a matter of seconds before he would be on me again.

The wand
, I thought,
That’s my only option
.  I climbed up the rocky base and looked down at the dormant wand.  I took a controlled, deep breath.  As I exhaled, I pictured every reservation I’d ever had about the nature of the wand and cast aside every one of my negative thoughts.  Focusing on accepting my destiny and its will whole-heartedly, I wrapped my hands around the shaft, just as I had done when I’d arrived earlier.  Instinctively, I checked on Lazarus, who was now rising to his feet.

W
ith one swift yank, I pulled up on the wand.  To my amazement, the diamond wand released itself to me.  The coal encasing it crumbled away like brittle ash.  The wand lay firmly in my hands, glowing vehemently with spectacular rays of white light that illuminated the entire cave.  The wonderment of this miraculous feat halted everyone’s movements.  Awestruck, their attention shifted to the magical spectacle that lay before their eyes.

The next thing I knew, Tanner cried out, “
NO, SHILOH!”

I turned to him, confused by his reaction.  Tanner had
an alarmed look on his face.  Ferrol’s expression was blank, but his eyes flared as his stare shifted towards his evil conspirator.

Curiously, I followed Ferrol’s gaze to Lazarus, who was unwrapping the leather
strap that had been wound around the handle of his lapis lazuli cane.  Once he’d finished removing the strip, Lazarus yanked the stone blade from its handle and cast it aside.

Lazarus cackled and announced, “
FINALLY
,” as he lifted what was now a gleaming metal handle in the air and extended it towards me.

I looked at it closely.
  My face froze once I’d realized
what
he was holding in his hands. 
The HILT! The wand’s platinum hilt!
  Despite the fact that the ancient and elusive handle was missing its horizontal cross-guard, it was the same size, had the same markings, was cast in the same metal, and held the same cut diamond stone fastened to the pommel of its base, just like in my dream.  It had been hidden on the end of his cane this
entire time
.  The next thing I knew, the absent cross-guard magically stretched out of the hilt’s sides like the wings of a bird, and then straightaway, the diamond wand I was clutching began to vibrate violently in my hand.  I felt it slipping from my grasp, so I tried desperately to hold on to it with all of my strength.

Just as Tanner screamed out for me to “drop it”, the wand flew out of my tightly locked grip. 
I SCREAMED!
  Both of my hands had been sliced open and blood was shooting out from them.
The sting from the diamond’s slash forced me down to my knees, and I watched virtually paralyzed from the agonizing pain as the wand sailed across the cave and thrust itself straight into the platinum hilt.  The two pieces were reunited once again and regrettably, it now rested in Lazarus Xcavare’s evil hands.

Tanner rushed over to my side. 
The look on his face shifted into a horrible grimace as he checked the gashes on my hands.