What Once Was One (Book 2) (42 page)

I clutched my chest as if I could hang on to my magic. It was a worthless gesture. I had to remember that the swamp’s effect wasn’t permanent, and that I was trudging through it to get to Krystal and the others.

The thin trees closed around us, entrapping us. Even though they didn’t have many leaves, they, along with the low fog, felt like a cage. We couldn’t see more than twenty feet in any direction.

As we walked, I constantly turned my head back because of the noise my feet made as they squashed through the damp swamp. It sounded like we were being followed. My robes clung to my body like moss. No matter how often I plucked them away, the damp fabric stuck to me.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t take them off. The tall reeds we waded through cut and slashed at my exposed hands and face—to take off my robes would expose my entire body. The most I could do was pull my hood down.

We followed Malik’s map, but it didn’t show much of a path. There were landmarks that indicated where to go, but even then, we found ourselves occasionally wading in chest-high water. My arms grew sore from carrying supplies and equipment over my head. The only bright side was I didn’t have to carry a sword, axe or armor. With each step, our feet disturbed the murky water until it turned deep brown. Panic seized me when I felt a creature slither underneath my robes. I froze, thinking it might be a snake. The creature swam out—only a frog. I breathed a little easier, and we continued onwards.

We ended the day at a safe spot marked on the map. The land was above the water and drier than any of the places we had traveled so far. We found a large, hollowed out tree big enough for the three of us to squeeze inside. We plopped our supplies and equipment on the ground.

Jastillian prepared camp while Rebekah hunted for food and I scrounged for dry firewood or kindling. The humid environment made it hard to find much in the way of firewood. I wished I had my powers. I could have easily lit a campfire and dried our clothes. Eventually, I found a handful of dead wood and made my way back.

It took a few tries, but Jastillian created a small, hot fire. Rebekah had brought back a snake and skinned it. We left it over the fire to cook and stripped off our clothes.

“What is that?” I asked Rebekah, staring at her pale skin. Between her breasts was a dark, finger-length mark that looked like a bruise or a lesion.

“What is what?” She narrowed her eyes, thinking I was staring at her chest. Then her gaze followed mine. “Leeches,” she said, plucking it from her skin. It stretched out and then let go with a tiny sucking sound. Blood trickled from where it had attached itself.

I gawked at her and Jastillian, realizing that they had dozens of the little black things clinging to them. Then I looked down at my own bare chest and jumped back. There were slimy leeches stuck to me as well. I hurried, prying as many of the things off me as I could. Their tiny mouths clung to my body. Blood ran down my skin. I shivered, but not from my lack of clothes. I reached into my trousers, my eyes widening as I found another leech.

We took turns, tearing off the leeches we couldn’t reach without help. When we were finished, we huddled around the fire, letting our clothes dry as they hung. I kept checking my skin, imagining the leeches still feeding on me. Jastillian and Rebekah couldn’t help but smile at my expense. My stomach growled from the rations I was on. They offered me a piece of their snake, but I wasn’t out of food yet.

After we ate, we put on our still-damp clothes and huddled together once more. We rotated watch, keeping an eye out for any troops roaming the area or any dangerous creatures lurking in the swamps.

I had a hard time sleeping, despite how tired I was. The swamp was more alive at night. Screeches, howls, and occasional growls surrounded us. I curled up in my robes with my dagger clutched in my hand. Normally, I would keep my fire ready, and it would also comfort me. But that option was gone. I squeezed the dagger’s handle even tighter as I remembered the collar. I never wanted to be without my magic again.

Time was agonizing in the mucky bog. Two days had passed and we were still stuck in it. The map said we still had two more days to go, but I was convinced there was never going to be an end to it. Every tree we passed looked like the one before. The alligator that watched us from the water had the same predatory glare as the previous one two miles ago. Even the mosquitoes I slapped
 
seemed to keep regenerating themselves.

As the cuts, scratches, bites, and welts piled up and the pain racked my magic-less body, one thought fueled me to continue—Krystal.

CHAPTER 23

We trudged onward through the mushy terrain. I ducked a leafless branch and snapped a broken one. The three of us barely spoke anymore unless we had to.

In silence, my thoughts betrayed me. Was Krystal in danger in a war-torn land? What revenge was Premier after? Was this war just a small indication of the gods’ war Renak had warned me about? There were so many questions and I had not one answer.

“Do you hear that?” Rebekah asked, stopping in front of me, yanking me out of my thoughts.

I paused, cocking my head from side to side. “I don’t hear anything.”

She grumbled and pulled out her sword. “Exactly. Ever since we arrived in this swamp, there’s
always
some kind of noise going on.”

A finch took flight, and a basking turtle dove into the water. That worried me. Animals tended to leave when something was wrong.

Jastillian reached for his axe and stared at an alligator that splashed the water and swam away. I unsheathed my dagger.

“Has Romenia’s army finally caught up with us?” I asked in hushed tones.

“Possibly,” Rebekah asked, squinting her eyes back the way we had come. “I know you and other wizards like Malik can’t use your magic in here, but what if other people can?”

I shook my head. “That’s not the way it works.”

“If the centaurs almost caught up to us, they could also have sent something else—something more powerful. Isn’t that how you wizards work?”

I bit my tongue and said nothing.

“We don’t know much about this land or its magic, Hellsfire,” she said. “There are dangers we were unprepared for.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep an eye out,” I said.

We walked faster, but did our best to do so in silence. We paused every few steps, scanning the thick fog around us, but we couldn’t see past our misty prison. Soon, only our squishy footsteps could be heard.

We jogged by a large alligator skeleton. The gleaming white bones were picked clean. We shared a look, as we found no tracks to indicate what had killed it. We discovered more bones the farther we went. Hidden in the reeds to the right were small frogs, and to the left was a long snake. No meat was left on them either.

After a few long minutes, something pierced the dead silence.

“Do you hear that?” I asked. It was a faint buzzing noise.

“Aye,” Jastillian whispered.

 
We stared into the dense, enveloping fog. I slowly turned my head, but the buzz surrounded us.

The noise grew louder, and I put my hands to my ears. The sound burrowed itself into my head until I froze. It became a melodious note that hypnotized us, drawing us toward it.

“No,” Jastillian said. He saw the trance Rebekah and I were in and shook both our shoulders. “Snap out of it!”

I blinked several times, letting Jastillian’s frantic face come into view. “What is it?”

“I know what that noise is! They’re Will of the Wisps!” he said in softened tone.

He pointed as tiny bright, beautiful orbs floated into view. As I turned my head, more of the lights popped into view, and the sound inside my head grew louder.

“They look like big fireflies,” Rebekah said.

“No. They’re far more dangerous. They’re like tiny bugs whose noise freezes you until they can sting you. I’ve heard the pain’s so unbearable that you have no choice but to open your mouth, letting them in. They eat you from the inside out. I thought they were just a myth.”

“What are we going to do?” I asked, clutching my dagger tighter.

Jastillian lowered his axe. “Our weapons are useless. There are too many of them and they’re too small. Cover up and don’t move. They’ve already seen us. Whatever you do, don’t make
any
noise. Noise and movement attracts them.”

We put away our weapons, and I pulled my hood over my head and closed my eyes. I remembered my training as the wave of bright lights inched closer. Their buzzing grew louder until they washed over us.

The Will of the Wisps flowed under and around my robes and undergarments, picking, prodding, and probing my skin. I bit down on my tongue so I wouldn’t cry out. They were like millions of bee stings, each holding their own tiny, sharp sword. My legs buckled and wobbled from the blinding pain.

As the cuts sliced deep and I bled, I tried pushing out the pain and ignoring it. It didn’t work. The Will of the Wisps were relentless, tiny things. Yet their stings were like music, forming notes to go with their buzzing sound. I wanted to cry out and sing, but I remembered Jastillian’s warning.

I dropped to one knee as the pain racked my body and the music drove nails into my head. Their sharp stingers darted into my lips, daring me to open my mouth and scream. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter as the thin layers of my eyelids were attacked, feeling as if my eyeballs were going to explode. I feared the deadly things would fly up my nose. I almost took off and ran through the swamp. There was one thought that saved me.

Krystal.

I remembered the first time I met her. How even though she was exhausted from running, she fought to free herself from the two men chasing her. My mind flashed forward to when we took back Alexandria from Premier. She was injured and in pain, but she led us through the tunnels and fought with us against the creatures of the Wastelands, killing as many of the beasts as she could.

Lastly, I thought about how she hadn’t feared even Premier, and fought on against his magic for her people and her kingdom. She was stronger than I and never gave up, no matter the odds.

I wasn’t going to die here in a strange land. There were still things I had to do. Thinking of Krystal dulled the pain of the Will of the Wisps.

But as the long minutes passed and the pain intensified, thoughts of Krystal became fragmented as the wisps yanked me back to the present. I wanted to scream and shout and run away. The wisps stripped away every defense. Just when I thought I was going to give in, their deadly touch lifted and the pain lessened.

I could barely keep myself from falling over. My legs were gelatin, and I put my blistered fingers to my eyelids, face, and lips. I felt open sores everywhere. Small drops of blood came from every part of my body. I opened my eyes and saw that Jastillian and Rebekah were alive and in just as bad a shape as I was.

The wisps left for much easier prey. The buzzing faded, but we didn’t talk, as dozens were still in view. They were drifting away, but if they heard us, they would come back. We crept away in dead silence and continued on the path out of this swamp.

I concentrated on the path in front of me, tiptoeing over the soft ground. I even held my breath as I avoided fallen branches and piles of bones, my movements slight and delicate. I didn’t want the Will of the Wisps to hear anything. I tried not to focus on the lights that surrounded us. There were still dozens in the area.

I stared at a group of a dozen or so from the corner of my eye. They hovered over a carcass that had been killed through other means. They made no move to attack it. That’s when I carelessly stepped on a fallen reed. The retreating wisps all paused. We stopped and I silently prayed to the gods that they didn’t come back.

The wisps floated in place for several long seconds. Suddenly, they flew back in our direction. I turned my head and hundreds of the tiny things descended upon us. I raised my hand, threatening to burn them all with my fire. Then I remembered I didn’t have any magic.

My hand fell to the side. What were we going to do? I couldn’t handle another attack from them. I stared at the wisps, letting the buzzing music creep into my head until it overtook me.

“Go, lad,” Jastillian said, pulling his weapon free. “We’ll hold them off for you.” His booming voice drew the wisps closer to him, as if they had found their prey.

I opened my mouth to object, but Rebekah covered it.

“Leave!” she said. “I promised the princess that nothing would happen to you.” Her dark blue eyes bore into me. “I keep my word.” She forced the map into my hand and pushed me away. I staggered backwards and almost tripped. “Now go!”

I could tell from the looks on their faces that they wouldn’t be swayed. I wanted to talk them out of it, but that would only attract the wisps’ attention and there was no time. If only I had my magic, the wisps would die.

I swatted a tall reed, then took the cowardly way and ran down the path the map indicated. I kept my head down and pushed through the wisps. A few clung and stung me, but they were drawn to the noise Rebekah and Jastillian made. I swatted those on me and continued to run.

I stopped running and gasped for breath as the buzzing from the wisps faded. I hesitated, knowing that I should keep going, but I couldn’t help but stare back at my friends. I owed them one last look, if nothing else.

Jastillian and Rebekah swung their weapons in a blur. Dozens of bright lights diminished and died, but there were far too many of them. The hardened warriors were growing sluggish. The earlier attack had taken its toll on them. They stopped fighting and covered up as best they could, no longer needing to draw the wisps’ attention.

I knew I should go, but I glanced back. Jastillian dropped his axe and fell. Rebekah covered him as they were devoured in the bright lights.

I tore my gaze away. They had made their decision, and I had made mine. I had to leave this place and find the others. I had to see Krystal again.

My feet turned to go and slipped in the bog. I froze. It was my fault everyone was in Southern Shala in the first place. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—live with my friends dying without trying to do something. We were getting out of this together.

I drew my dagger and charged, rushing back towards my friends. After all they’d done for me, I was going to save them even if I had to carry them out of the swamp. I yelled, drawing the attention of the wisps.

I kept trying to tap into my mana because there was no collar to block it off. It was still a part of me and I of it. The swamp drained my powers, but there should be a tiny portion I could conjure. Just a tiny bit and I could cast a minor spell for the fleetest of moments, and that would be enough.

But my magic never came.

As I ran closer to the pair and was consumed by the lights, I brought my dagger down into the bright stars, wanting to kill as many of the wisps as I could before grabbing the others and running away.

Instead, my dagger’s blade glowed, illuminating the area with a blinding blue light. It ripped through our world and tore a hole in it.

The tear sucked all the wisps in the surrounding area into another world. Ones that had been stuck in my hair or had clung to my body were pulled off me. Bits of dead leaves and reeds followed them. The hole tugged at my hair and robes, trying to take me into that other world, but I was too heavy.

I stared into the hole, seeing the wisps and plants that had been forced in. I glimpsed another world where long green stalks with bright flowers as big as my body bloomed. Before I could see any more, the hole sealed up and disappeared, taking all of the Will of the Wisps with it.

I helped the others up, and we all gawked at the space where the hole once was.

Rebekah turned to me and asked, “What was that?”

I remembered to blink and said, “I have no idea, but it led to somewhere.” I inspected the area. I tried to access my magical senses and my wizard’s vision, but all I felt was the Dead Zone sucking in my magic.

“I’ve never seen the dagger do that before,” I said. I didn’t understand it. Malik said magic couldn’t work in this swamp, but it had.

“Where did you get it, lad?” Jastillian asked.

“It was my father’s. He got it in the Burning Sands.” I scrutinized the sharp, beautifully crafted blade, staring at the words “I will be with you, always” in Caleea. I couldn’t sense any magic from it, but I never could. My mother had told me about the dagger when I was with Krystal, but she hadn’t mentioned it tearing a hole into another world or the magic it held. Either she didn’t want to, or she didn’t know.