The Golden Year and the Sorceress

by Isabella Hardiman

  A piercing scream cut through the shadows and smoke. I turned back to see who it was. I saw Naira through the waves of dust. She stood frozen still; almost as if nothing had happened. As if she had not even screamed out. She stared at her blood-covered torso in shock. She slipped off the side of the pillar, falling down meters at a time. Behind her I saw the scorpion tailed demon, it had pricked her. Everything slowed down and all I could hear was my heartbeat. Everything went quiet even the beasts ceased to move and all anyone or anything did was watch me.

  "PROHIBERE!"I screamed out. Naira didn't hit the ground, instead, she hovered inches above it and I ran to her. My hands were shaking as I took her in my arms and analysed the wound. A spike straight to the heart. Her eyes were wet with tears but she didn't moan. In fact, I was the one who was panting. This couldn't be happening. She cannot die on me. She cannot.

  "Everything is going to be okay. You are okay." A tear ran down my cheek. "You are going to be alright," I promised her. A whirlwind of sorrow filled me as I stared down into her innocent eyes.

  "I am afraid. I am very afraid. Leila, I am afraid of the dark. I don't want to die." She stared up at me with large wet eyes. She was just a child, a little girl, an innocent, a victim.

  "Don't be afraid. I am here." I tried to contain all my tears at once. I could not let her see my sadness or fear. She cannot die. I cannot let her die. This was not meant to happen.

  "I am going to see Northern again aren't I?" She asked innocently. "I am going to see my parents again, aren't I?" She asked and my heart broke with every word. She knew perfectly well that this was the end.

  "Yes. Yes you will." I replied, closing my eyes and I could not help but let tears run loose. How could I let this happen? This was all my fault! I could have saved her. I could have done better.

  Naira lifted her delicate fingers and wrapped them in my hand. "I don't feel scared now. Thank you Leila." She whispered, her lip shaking. "You have to survive this Leila. You deserve to survive this..." she smiled. "I see the light. I see such a beautiful place and I see them, they are here with me. I am happy, Leila. I am happy." She whispered in a daze. "I am ready. You can let go." She looked away, up into the sunlight and let the beautiful beams of light kiss her skin one last time. That moment would haunt me forever and I let out a sob as she went limp in my arms. Her heartbeat stopped and the world seemed a little bit darker without her smile.

  Chapter Seventeen- Deadly secrets

  A single, crystal tear dropped to the sand. My entire body was shaking. An anger consumed me like nothing I had ever felt before. I kissed her on the forehead and let a tear let loose. SHE WAS JUST A GIRL! A CHILD! I couldn't save her either. A deep emotional rift filled me as I closed Naira's eyes and placed her on the ground. My hands were stained with her blood and I could not help but break inside. They did this. They killed her. I felt as if I were about to explode. Bit by bit I was being consumed by my own fury. Like a storm had been unleashed inside me, tearing me inside out.

  An agonising shout filled my ears bringing me back to reality. Then I realised I was not trembling, everything around me was. The pillars had fallen and demons were recoiling in pain. The ground was shuddering as the fast vibrations transmitted off me and shook the earth. The ground was pounding around me and I could feel the vibrations getting stronger. The arena was shrieking. Guards ran to restrain me but they did not even get close before they were sent flying backwards. The demons had disappeared. I must have forced them back to their realm.

  I could create earthquakes, I could move mountains. The faeries look terrified. Well, except the Queen who... looked pleased with her work? The statues of the arena began crumbling to the floor, smashing, and falling to pieces. The gates followed along with some walls. Chaos overtook my mind. I was ripping the arena to pieces.

  Then something unexpected happened. Crack. The barrier force field that surrounded the city, stopping the lake from flooding it, cracked. Small fractures began to spread and I heard gasps, shouts, and panic. I could break it! I could flood the city. I could kill everyone here. I could end all of this now.

  Then the Seelie queen got to her feet, she looked concerned, scared even. It was her turn to be afraid- her time to suffer. I could not help but take pleasure in her uncertainty. Faeries may live for a long time but they could die. I could kill her.

  For a second I wanted to. I wanted to murder of all the creatures who had come to watch the games. Then I remembered the others. The others who died so I could survive. I took a breath as Northern's and then Naira's faces flashed in my mind.

  I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. Everything stopped pounding- except for my heart. Everything went silent and I opened my eyes to see the arena in ruins. "ARE YOU NOT AMUSED?!" I screamed.

  They looked at me with a new found respect and caution. They now know what I am capable of and so did I. The Queen looked more than cautious, she looked dumbfounded. They looked as if I were about to burst into flames, a wild fire that could not be controlled.

  The Queen began to back away into the shadows. At first I thought she had left and that this was all over. Then I saw her coming out of a side gate and into the sandy pit of an arena. She walked up to me and stopped inches in front of me. She looked as if she was analysing me. No guards had followed her out. "I must say I am impressed. You are much more like me than I expected."

  "You and I are not the same," I spat. I was nothing like her, she was dark. Cruel. Evil. A murderer.

  "Yes we are." She nodded her head fully convinced of her words. "We both are controlled by our hearts and emotions. That is clearly where your magic comes from." She paused. "You just don't want to admit that you have a dark heart. You like to pretend you are something else."

  "No," I cut her off. We were nothing alike. She was a monster who only took pleasure in somebody else's misery.

  "You can put an act to the entire world but don't lie to yourself." She paused. "Don't pretend you are better than me. I can see when someone has blood on their hands." She knew? That is impossible!

  "No." I repeated this word again, harsher.

  "Yes. You have blood on your hands. You have two people. It is as clear to me as water is to a fish. You are dark just like me." Two. The girl at the banquet and-and ... I could not even finish that thought. I began forcing the thought out of my mind.

  "NO!" I screamed. This time the earth beneath me shook and the arena quaked. The Queen looked at me this time, really looked at me.

  "Your final challenge is simple. No bloodshed. No beasts. No dragons or ice birds. I will be watching from the safety of my palace when you enter the Tomb of the goddesses. Your final challenge is to officially announce your connection to the magical world and break the final wall of the enchantment, which keeps your powers dormant." She sighed.

  "What?" I stared at her in disbelief. What was she talking about?

  The Queen made an impatient sound. "You didn't know that someone had cast a spell on you, did you?"

  Someone had cast a spell on me? "No. No, I didn't," I said through gritted teeth. She gave me a triumphant smile. I hated that she knew more about me than I did. I hated her. I hated this beastly woman.

  She gripped my hand with her sharp nails, cutting my skin but I didn't even flinch as beads of my blood fell. She cupped the liquid in her hand and began staring into it. "Well." She stared at my palm. What was she doing? "It was placed on you as a child. It was casted by somebody very powerful. The idea was to keep your powers dormant. Whoever cast it, clearly did not realise what they were dealing with. When did you first see the sign of your abilities?"

  "When I sacrificed myself to save somebody else." The memory of the Serpent attempting to kill Leonardo came back. I saved his life, he saved mine- yet all we ever managed to do was fight. It was our pride or the fact that we were both far too stubborn.

  "No, that wasn't your power." She shook her head clearly annoyed. I felt clueless. "That was a protection charm. A powerful one at that
." She paused.

  "Then it would have been when a wardrobe almost crushed my friend." I sighed. I missed Anna and could not help but feel guilty. She was the closest thing I had to a friend in the capital of Rumore. It had been nice to have a friend at the castle, even if it was only for a little while. She knew now that I would not be coming back.

  The Queen nodded. "Your magic must have finally worn down the enchantment but it didn't remove it exactly."

  This was insane!

  "Wait, you're saying...I still don't...I don't have all my power." I tried not to sound as nervous as I felt.

  "Of course you don't. What has been happening lately is just a taste." She looked at me as if I were absurd.

  "How do I break the enchantment?" So many questions had filled my mind.

  "You must drink the waters of the sacred lake of Tenebris." There was no way I would travel into the dark country! She snapped her fingers and a silver, bejewelled chalice appeared with a deep, blue liquid inside.

  "That's it?" I asked her. This seemed too easy. Where was the catch? It was more likely she had poisoned it.

  "This is a gift." She paused. "It is more of a gift than a challenge. Do not forget this, young Bourdet." She sighed. "I will put it down next to the hundred times you attempted to kill me!" I thought to myself.

  I gulped down the liquid. The sweet liquid was a mixture of fruits and sugary substances. I felt a gust of wind blow through my hair. I felt as if something surrounding me had been peeled off. I felt as if it was the first time I was breathing. I felt new. I felt as if I had been healed.

  Everything blurred and agonizing pain flooded my veins. I shrieked. That's when it happened. All of a sudden I was in a room. An end of a hallway and I could hear bickering voices in the distance. I pushed the handcrafted, grey, wooden, silver handled door open. It was a large open room. A room filled with silver, crystal chandeliers as centrepieces. The stone walls were grey matching the deep, emerald floor. There were two figures in the room and as I stepped further inside I realised they couldn't see me. They could not hear me. It was like I was not even there.

  What was this? This could not be a memory. Could it be a future or something that was happening right now? I saw a desk and a young man standing behind it with his back facing me. I could see his broad shoulders. His blond, golden hair and perfect pale skin. He threw a glass object to the floor and I heard it smash and crack.

  "I need you to find her!" he shouted. "I can sense it. There has been a change. She is alive! I know it. I just know it," He repeated. "I don't care what the king of Tenebris says. She is alive. I can feel it. The connection was strong back then and it is strong again."

  "But sire..." The guard dressed in green and black gave a cautious look. "I promise you, we have searched everywhere. We have found no trace of..."

  "THEN LOOK HARDER!" The voice bellowed, slamming his fist down on the desk. I noticed a tattoo out of the corner of my eye, a dragon. It was crafted with dark green ink or black. "She must be found. I must find her. Do not fail me again. You know the price." A force begins to pull me back, dragging me. Rip me from the room into a bright light.

  I woke up next to a firelight, on a soft velvet sofa. The purple cushion cradled me. My wounds were covered in dressing and peculiar creams. I wore new clothes that clung and covered me more. My hair had been washed and so had the rest of my body. I shot up.

  "Ah, you're awake." The Seelie Queen smiled, clearly pleased. "I was wondering when you would wake up."

  "What happened?" I asked, closing my eyes and cringing at the pain of my thundering headache. I felt weak and nauseous. I noticed that my clothes had been changed and I did not want to know how.

  A soft silk top that cut off like a V at my waist and a long skirt that covered my ankles. My shoes were ballet flats. "The water got rid of the spell but it also knocked you out. The sacred water is mysterious and powerful." She paced back and forward.

  "I had some sort of dream-" I squinted my eyes even tighter hoping for the pain to pass. It did and the memory of the handsome, blond boy came back. It felt so real. It felt so vivid.

  "The water cannot give you hallucinations if that's what you're asking. It was once used to show the future or warn someone." She rolled her eyes if it was common knowledge. She was stuck up and in some ways she reminded me of Leonardo's fiancée, Josephine. Warn someone? Who was that boy and who was he looking for? How did any of that include me?

  "Why what did you see?" she asked curiously. I do not know why I told her. My brain was still confused and I was not properly thinking.

  "A boy, a blond boy, with a dragon tattoo on his wrist." I saw it all coming back. The flawless green ink that marked his perfect skin. The anger that had flashed through his angelic face.

  The Seelie Queen was looking at me very seriously now. Her eyes had gone still and that amused look she always carried around was gone. "A little bit of friendly advice," Friendly? When was she ever friendly?! "If you cross paths with a boy with a dragon tattoo, run. Run as fast as you can."

  "What? Why?" I stared at her. He existed. He was real.

  "Just do. He is not somebody you want to meet. Especially you, my dear. He's properly hunting for you as we speak." She cut me off. "Now. I need one more thing." She paused. How did I not see this coming? "I promised to give you a secret and I will follow through." She paused.

  I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hear this or not. She was crazy! She was mentally insane actually. Not to mention she could lie to me. I nodded reluctantly. Sometimes information can be a burden more than a gift.

  "Whatever you think you know about your past, you are wrong." She paused. What does that even mean?

  "Excuse me?" I looked at her like a lost soul.

  "You think your parents burned in a fire. Your parents did not. You think your parents were villagers. They were not." She was circling me and I could not help but fall at the mercy of her words.

  "What do you mean?" I snapped edgily. I was becoming more intolerant by every second that she wasted.

  "Those villagers weren't your real parents. As if so much power would come to just anyone! Your real parents wouldn't have given you up without a fight either." She sighed. The nightmare of the burning village came back to me. Millions of questions swamped my mind. My knees go weak. How did she know this? Was she telling the truth?

  "How... how?" I stared at her. This was not happening. "Who are they?"

  "It's not my place to give you their names." She paused, slipping a bug into her mouth and crunching down hard. "It was only my job to clarify that you have no idea who you truly are or where you come from. You must question everything." She paused. "But we are done now."

  "NO!" I snapped, getting on my feet in seconds. No, she was not going to leave me stranded. Not like this. Not when she knew perfectly well who my parents were. She could not do this. Snap. One click of her fingers and I was teleported out of her domain. I felt myself twisting and falling frantically. I landed on the rough stone floor with a thud.

  "Leila." It was Cam. He was here. I jumped up defensively, immediately grabbing a sword.

  "Woah!" He lifted his hands up. "I am not going to hurt you!" No kidding, I was the one with the sword to his throat. "I am sorry about the Queen. I did not know she was going to do that. She promised me all she wanted was to talk."

  "Liar," I hissed.

  He shook his head and gulped down hard. "I swear. Take my 'not telling your lover about your powers' as a sign of peace." He pleaded.

  "Lover?!" I paused. "He is not my lover!" I thought back to Leonardo and then reminded myself he had a fiancée.

  "Whatever you say..." He looked at me in disbelief.

  "Where is Leonardo anyway...?" I finally looked around. We were among rocky, sharp mountains. The paths were narrow and beside them was clear drop. Where were we? Then I saw it behind Cam. A cave entrance decorated with peculiar markings. It was just like the drawing in Ethel's book. The Tomb of the Enchantresses.

>   The sky was grey and cloudy. No life appeared to be here. No greenery or animals or even the smallest of creatures. "He wanted to take a look around and he told me to wait for you." Perfect!

  I was not putting him in any more danger. We needed to move and now. "Cam, if I forgive you, you better not make me regret it," I muttered. All the sudden Leonardo was racing towards me.

  I stood frozen. "Leila!" He did not even hesitate to wrap his arms around me. I had missed him so much and I felt my heart ache a bit. He looked at my face to check if I was real. I noticed Cam's cheeky grin out of the corner of my eye.

  "What happened?" He looked at my outfit and cuts.

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  "But Leila..." He stopped when he saw my desperation to be quiet. "Are you okay?" He asked. Physically I was fine but emotionally I was drowning. I felt as if I were about to fall to pieces but I forced all my emotions out of my mind.