The Assassin Princess (The Legacy Novels Book 1) (12 page)

“Hundreds?” Ami shook her head. “But that can’t be. If Adam brought you here after my father disappeared then it can’t be—”

“Ah, but it can,” Talos said, “because we are not in my layer here, just as we are not in yours. This is not the same layer that contains the lands of Legacy. As Adam has found he can travel through layers, he has also come to realise that time can be different between layers. He may leave here for five minutes, but to us in this cave it may have been a year. Believe me Princess Ami, I’ve been here a long, long time. You see, we cannot die. We that have been to the Mortrus Lands cannot die. Adam has tried to kill each of us and has failed each time.” Talos strained at his chains as he tried to move closer. “And so Adam now has a secret cave full of those who give him nothing, and cannot die. And now he has you, giving him his last attempt to find out what we do not know, though I somehow doubt Adam cares any longer about this information. He sent you in only to see if you
could
, and if, like him, you
would
; but his true focus is on corrupting you. Do you know how he intends to use you?”

Ami thought back, knowing that Adam’s power was wearing thin. She’d agreed to be with him, to take Legacy with him, and it’d all made sense at the time. Lord Adam, true ruler of Legacy, and she, just a princess, an art student who’d lead him into his land and then disappear back to her own layer, to her own world and life—or more likely, she would be killed. “Yes,” she said, nodding into the darkness. “I know what he intends to do.”

“Then you’re already one step ahead. The Mortrus Lands are a mystery to us all,” Talos said, “but it’s within that mystery that you’ll find the answers to all questions, I feel. But I warn you, do not lose sight of your true nature. Not the nature of your past, or the futures of Legacy or Adam, but your present nature, who you really are
right now.
If you let others mould you into something else, if you let Adam control you with his stolen and twisted power, then you’ll become someone else.”

Her true nature?
Ami saw the mirror in her mind, saw the columns and arches, the dress she was now wearing and the power that ran beneath her skin. Yes,
Dangerous
was her true nature, the one she’d chosen. She could almost feel the rose in her hand, the one she’d picked, the thorns that’d pierced her skin, the sharp shift in perception. Had it been real? Did it matter? A coolness filled her veins and she shivered. There was a certainty to her actions, though she was unaware of what that certainty was, but she now trusted it, and let
Dangerous
call the shots.

She picked up the sword and held it toward the unicorn, the light shifting dramatically. “I have something to give you,” she said, “and then we’re getting out of here.”

Ami stepped forward and placed her hand on Talos’s muzzle, stroking up toward his tired looking eyes. In them she saw her own reflection, though it wasn’t her at all, but the girl who’d been in the mirror—the true Princess Ami.

The unicorn stepped back, the shackles chinking tight. “You don’t know what this could do,” he said, trying to shake his head away from her. “It might be the end of you.”

“Hold still,” she said, and her hand slipped up to his horn.

A brilliant purple light flowed from her hand and traced the spiral of the crystal, small white flecks running through the colour, twisting round and round. It continued downward and passed through his body, his mane and tail shedding sparks. The unicorn began to glow and they both closed their eyes against the light, a flame blooming from the horn, shooting to the roof of the cave. It hit the rock and fell as snow, settling perfect and luminous white on the unicorn’s coat.

Talos came forward, the chains and manacles breaking and falling to the ground as he emerged in his own light, his coat shining, his horn once dull and used, now a sparkling and pulsing purple-white. The power was draining from Ami as she continued to feed the unicorn, giving him back the magic he’d once had. Then, knowing the moment was right, she released him. The purple light seeped away and faded.

She stepped back, leaning against the wall for a moment as she looked upon the magnificent creature. Standing tall and proud, Talos lit up the cave like a torch, his coat giving off a misty-white glow, his horn a beacon of light that outshone the sword in Ami’s hand many times over, expelling all shadows.

The old men shielded their eyes and cowered into the rocks—so many lining each side of the rough path. She would come back and free them, she had to.

“Thank you, Princess Ami,” Talos said, stretching his back legs. “I’m grateful, more than you will ever know. You have restored me—but this is a dangerous thing you’ve done. Adam will not let us leave.”

“Could we not face him? Together?” she asked, raising the sword in her hand,
Dangerous
still with her. “Surely we’ve enough power between us?”

“You would go against him, even after everything I have told you?” Talos stared down at her and blew his lips. “You are the brave one aren’t you? A true daughter of Legacy.” He looked out across the lines of chained men, moans and garbled words still spilling from their confused minds, and then looked back to Ami. “He still needs you, and as for me, what have I got to lose? So yes. Let us try.”

Ami smiled, thrilled.

“But be on your guard. Pull your power together and use the sword.” Talos bowed to the ground, low enough for Ami to climb upon his back. “Channel your power into the sword, for it also has much power you can use, and then, with both of us together? Maybe, maybe we can get away.”

“Where will we go? Can we travel through the layers?” Ami asked as she swung her leg up and over and was hoisted into the air.

“Once we are out, I’ll have enough strength to take us through the layers, and then…I think I want to go home,” he said, and focussed on the path ahead. “Now hold on tight and get ready to release your power, Princess.”

Ami held tightly to his snow-white mane and felt
Dangerous
readying herself, preparing for battle.

*

As they left the mouth of the cave, Ami saw him standing at the water’s edge, his hands behind his back, his hair swept from his porcelain face with the wind. He was staring at her. He’d been waiting.

She held the sword before her, and they charged forward from the mouth of the cave, purple beads of light running the length of the blade targeted directly at her dark brother.

And then, as sudden as their leaving the dark for the light, the world flipped, and flipped again.

The sun dazzled, the sea a mosaic of glass, and she hit the ground hard.

Her shoulder cracked and Ami gritted her teeth against the pain that ran across her chest. Everything had slanted, the water slapping her face. She turned her head toward the cliff, ignoring the bolt of pain that shot down her neck. Her eyes found the dark cave, and the unicorn before it, now muzzle down in the sand, Adam standing over him.

She pushed herself up, dizzy, and scrambled toward Talos.

The unicorn’s legs had fallen beneath him and Adam’s foot was planted squarely on the creature’s neck. There was a curious black substance creeping around the base of his horn. It looked like rubber, and was tinged with green light and flame. It sheathed his power.

“I told you it would be interesting,” Adam said, watching her struggle toward them. His eyes were on fire and pushing into her mind. She slowed, her arms and legs heavy. Ami looked away,
Dangerous
searching instead for the unicorn’s eyes.
Who you really are
they said. “Time to get rid of the problem here, wouldn’t you say? Now where is it?”

Adam’s foot stroked down the unicorn’s back and up his neck.

“Oh yes, here it is,” he raised his foot, and Ami knew what was to happen. She felt the weight of the sword in her hand still, and she brought it forward, hoping it would be enough, that it would do something to stop him—but pain exploded in her shoulder, and the blade dropped.

A second later Adam’s foot came down on the trapped horn, breaking the crystal from Talos’s head in a white blast of light that threw both of them to the ground. Talos cried out and the shard of crystal horn flew through the air, landing a few feet to Ami’s left, embedding itself in the sand. On his head, only a stump remained, flashing purple for a moment before flickering out.

Adam laughed. “And it’s done.”

Ami felt
Dangerous
swell up inside her, the power hers and the pain forgotten. She grabbed up the sword from the ground, and went forward toward the unicorn. Adam turned to her, but made no move to stop her.

She stood in front of Talos, the blade between them, and looked down at him. His coat still held its glow, though his eyes were fearful.

“Finish him then,” Adam said. “I dare you to try, sister. I’ve been trying for years, and the creature just won’t die.”

“Will you finish me?” Talos asked, his voice so quiet that only Ami heard him below the wind and waves. “Will this be the last of me?”

His story ran through her head, the cine film of a beautiful life so tragically taken, used, pointlessly crushed and left to rot in a dark place, far away from his land, his people, his home.

Would this be her fate also, once Adam had finished with her?

Adam waited impatiently behind her, and she knew that if she were to do something heroic, it had to be soon. She submitted to
Dangerous
.

“No,” she said, and smiled. “Go home.” She raised the blade high, and slashed the ground between them.

The beach split and peeled back like canvas, revealing a rip of white light and sparkles, ribbons that spilled to the sand. Adam moved forward but
Dangerous
paid him no mind as she reached down and grabbed the unicorn by the stump of his horn and slid him into the rip. He disappeared. The rip sealed.

Breathing heavily, Ami collapsed to the ground and covered her eyes with her fingers.
Dangerous
had retreated and Ami gave way to tears, now hot on her skin.

The sword had fallen.

She was in more pain than she’d ever felt in her life, and she felt more alone than she’d ever been before, stuck in a world of magical horrors and mysterious ways. She didn’t really know what she’d just done or how she’d done it, but she knew Adam would be furious.

She waited for him, listening to the music above, and to the voices that drifted just beyond it.

*

She watched the horizon, the magical place where the sky met the sea, where the sun burned hot above and shattered across the ocean. It was peaceful.

Adam had turned her onto her back with his foot, and she’d submitted, her tears gone, her eyes sore and exposed to the humid air. He was looking at her. He hadn’t said a word, though his eyes bore into her soul.

And so Ami kept her eyes on the magic.

In his hand was the shard of horn. He rolled it between his fingers, showering sparks of reflected sunlight across her face. She didn’t want to look at the horn, at Adam’s prize of cruelty. Talos could be dead for all she knew. She’d saved the unicorn from Adam, but perhaps the damage had already been done? How could she know? How could she know anything?

She didn’t belong here.

Her tears threatened again as she thought of those she’d lost. Her parents, and then Hero. Talos. How much more could she gain and lose?
Dangerous
was her only companion. She focussed on the horizon at the exact point where the two worlds met, but Adam shifted to block her view. The sun was behind him, giving him a halo he didn’t deserve. His black hair was like dark fire, his shadow falling fully across her.

He extended his hand and passed the shard of crystal horn to her. At first she didn’t move, she didn’t want to touch it, didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he poked her palm with it, its sharp edge cutting her. She grasped it.

She’d had in mind to throw it aside, but she didn’t. Instead she loosened her grip and felt its weight. It felt good. Her eyes were drawn to it, and as she watched, the dead crystal grew long and thin in her hand. It shone white, glowing, before smoothing out into shining steel.

Ami lifted the sword. It was a katana, just like Adam’s sword, just like Hero’s.

Adam snatched it back from her and threw it to the sand, the blade slicing into the ground. “Not quite yet,” he said, his expression blank.

Why was
Dangerous
not with her now? Had she deserted her? She searched for her in her mind but couldn’t find her. Only Ami the art student remained. Except, no, she was much more than that now. Adam had his own sword in his grip and was running his fingers along the blade, cutting his flesh, the blood dripping to the sand beside her head.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, wincing with each drop of red.

Adam looked down at her, his features demented. “You lost me my horse,” he said and stamped down on her shoulder.

Ami screamed, pain tensing its sudden claws into her, white flashes flickering behind her eyes. Her vision darkened and she knew she was close to passing out, yet somehow her mouth was moving and she was pleading. “Please, no, please don’t hurt me.”