Spell Breaker

by J. A. Culican

  I hated small spaces. I held my breath and crawled inside the small cabinet anyway. Breathing as shallowly as possible, I prayed I could be anywhere but here.

  “That’s no way to greet an old friend.” Dag'draath’s voice seemed to reverberate through my bones. “Aria come out and play,” he purred, drawing out the word play in a strange sing-song fashion which was at odds with the harshness of his voice.

  I pinched myself. Hard. “Wake up!” I knew I’d slipped into dreamwalking and into the prison again, and it was the last place I wanted to be.

  “Little dreamwalker, come out and play.” His voice was closer, teasing me. “Where have you run to, little mouse?”

  I cracked the cabinet door just enough to see a shadow move beneath the closed door to the room, then pause. I could feel him standing there, waiting. Calling for me to come to him. I closed the cabinet door and pinched myself again.

  There had to be a reason I kept returning. Think. A connection of some sort. I opened the cabinet again, and this time his shadow was gone. I jumped out, knowing I couldn’t stay in one spot for long. I needed a place to lie down so I could focus on dreamwalking my scrawny self out of the prison for good, but I also needed to figure out how not to come back.

  I remembered where I found Beru. He used to hide to be alone. If I could get to one of his hiding spots, I could relax. I slowly crept to the door, trying to be as silent as possible. I pressed my ear to the door, listening for Dag'draath. When it remained silent, I reached for the handle, praying he’d moved on to search another room.

  A loud click echoed off the walls and I cringed. It sounded like thunder in the quiet and I debated whether to turn it further. I did not want to draw his attention if he had moved past me. I stood completely still as I waited to hear his horrible voice bellowing through the hallway.

  When I heard nothing after what felt like an eternity, I decided it was as safe as it would ever be. I turned the knob the rest of the way, pulling the door an inch toward me. Light spilled into the room. The hallway was clear from where I stood, but I had a fifty-fifty chance he was behind the door.

  When my impatience outweighed my fear, I decided to make a break for it. I couldn’t wait forever, and one way or another I’d have to deal with the consequences. Swinging the door all the way open before I could change my mind, I darted into the hallway. I turned full circle, hands up to fight if needed.

  The hallway was empty.

  I took a deep breath and ran toward the closest hiding place I remembered, trying to keep my steps light without slowing down. When I came to an open door, I flattened myself against the wall and listened.

  Nothing.

  Now or never. I craned my neck to look inside, darting back when I saw two men. Luckily, they were reading a map on the wall and didn’t notice me. I made a mental note to return to look at the map if I had a chance, then continued.

  I knew I was close. It was only one more turn, then four more doors to his hiding place. When I approached the corner my heart rate kicked up a notch. I listened for noise, and when I heard nothing, I stuck my head around it, just enough to survey the hall.

  All clear.

  I turned the corner, breathing easier since I only had four doors to go. I could make it. I crept down the hall, remaining as close to the wall as I could. The first two doors were closed, but the third was open and voices rose loudly from inside. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but laughter spilled out.

  I peeked inside. Three men. One facing the door, two facing away. I could probably slip by unnoticed. I looked behind me to make sure it was still clear. Voices came from the other end of the hallway now. My time was up. I needed to move immediately, so I darted across the door, praying to reach my destination.

  “Hey! A girl just ran by!”

  I reached for the doorknob of the safe room, panicking when I found it locked. I pulled harder, looking over my shoulder. I expected all three men to be staring at me, but no one had found me yet. I turned the knob the other direction, and by the grace of Yina’ane’ut it swung open. I pushed inside and closed the door, locking it behind me.

  By now the men had caught up and I could hear them searching. The doorknob rattled as someone tried it.

  I was too scared to breathe, so I closed my eyes and willed myself into a statue, holding my breath until I couldn’t any longer. When I finally chanced it, I heard them move past the door down the hallway. After a few minutes longer, their voices became distant and disappeared.

  I walked to the other side of the room, where a small, dirty window in the corner allowed a sliver of light to enter the room. From the faint glow, I was able to make out the cot I’d seen Beru take refuge on in the past. I lay down on the cot gratefully, catching a hint of his scent.

  Pushing it out of my mind, I tried to get comfortable and focus. I needed to get out of this dream. I closed my eyes, resting my hands by my sides.

  The room filled with light, and I sat up abruptly. Light streamed in from beneath the door as the knob jiggled. Then the door slammed, almost buckling under the weight of someone attempting to force it open with their body.

  “Aria, where are your manners?” It was Dag'draath. He was right outside the door.

  Forcing myself to lie down and close my eyes, I began chanting a refrain, hoping to wake up in my own bed. The door banged and cracked, threatening to open as I pressed my eyes closed more tightly.

  “Wake up.” Someone was calling me faintly, but it wasn’t here. It was someone on the other side, trying to wake me up.

  I focused on their voice, scrambling to latch on and climb it like a rope.

  The door gave way, flying off its hinges and across the room, narrowly missing me.

  I lost my breath.

  There was no air.

  I sat up, frantically scratching at my throat until I saw Beru was the one shaking me.

  “Wake up! Are you all right?” He had both of my shoulders in his hands and looked terrified.

  “Umm, yes. Thank you.” I sucked as much air as possible into my lungs, feeling my panic slowly subside. As it did, I realized I was in one of the bedrooms. I moved away from him as awkwardness pushed aside the residual fear.

  “You were in the prison?” He stepped around the bed, blocking my retreat.

  I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t. Brushing him past with one hand on the wall to steady myself, I headed for the door and hoped he wouldn’t follow. I had to check on Iri. I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep.

  Beru was quicker, moving in front of me again. “Why would you risk going back there?”

  “Do you really think I wanted to go back there? I didn’t decide to go back there. I don’t get to decide where I go when I slip into a dreamwalk when I’m already asleep.” I was annoyed, partly at his arrogance, but also because I needed distance from him. I was thankful he’d woken me when he had, but I didn’t want him to know what had almost happened.

  He reached out his arm as I tried to push past him. Somehow, I ended up in the nook between his arm and chest, and his body half-surrounded me. “If I have to wake up fifteen times a night to keep you here, I will.”

  I stared into his eyes and for a moment, I wanted to stay.

  He bent his head slightly, his face far too close for comfort, and as his eyes drifted half-closed.

  I did the only thing that came to mind—I ducked.

  He lost his balance and I was free to leave. “We still need to discuss this.”

  I walked away rapidly, wincing as he called after me, and made my way to the main room where we’d been taking turns watching Iri. I half-expected, half-hoped he’d follow me, but he didn’t. My heart sank even as I mentally smacked myself on the back of the head. I needed to decide what I wanted, or I was going to drive myself to distraction.

  I couldn’t deny our connection, and it seemed he felt the same. As time went on, we were becoming closer, but I needed to keep my distance. I still barely knew anything about him, o
r if I could trust his reason for being in the prison in the first place.

  I found myself drifting back to the various moments we’d been alone.

  We seemed to understand each other so well.

  I felt so connected to him I sometimes wondered if I could speak to him by thought alone. If I could, I was far too scared to try. I couldn’t feel so strongly about someone who was evil, could I.

  I leaned against the post, closing my eyes as I tried to push him from my mind. A moment later, I opened them and entered the main room to find Iri sitting up in bed eating breakfast as Sade fussed over him.

  They hadn’t noticed me standing there, and to my surprise, it looked like Sade was flirting with him while he ate it, and the food she was feeding him, up.

  He looked over, spotting me as she hand-fed him a strawberry. His face flushed and he pushed her hand away. “Aria.”

  She stood without looking at me and walked out the front door.

  I sat next to him on the bed, reaching my hand out to feel his pulse. I exhaled when I felt it, strong and regular. “It was touch and go last night.”

  “You saved me. Sade told me it was your medicine that saved me.” He smiled, eyes sparkling with gratitude.

  I brushed his comment off. After what he’d been through, I didn’t deserve any thanks. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Not ready to stand yet but getting there.” He returned to his food, eating as if he was starving. I imagined he was, since he hadn’t eaten much in the last three days.

  “Did she talk to you … about me?” I nodded toward the front door, unsure whether I should have even asked but unable to help myself.

  “She loves you. Go talk to her.”

  Was that really a good idea? She already wasn’t sure she wanted to continue our journey with what had happened, and I worried anything I said would make things worse. I could handle anyone else hating me but her.

  “Go,” he ordered, pushing me away from the bed.

  I got up, dragging my feet as I headed to the door. I saw her sitting by the water’s edge and made my way over to her. What could I say to convince her to come with me? To risk her life for me. She risked her life most days, but it was for causes she believed in. Maybe she didn’t believe in me anymore.

  I stopped, standing beside her. I hadn’t come up with anything brilliant, and she didn’t acknowledge I was even there. I cleared my throat. “Well, Iri seems to be in better spirits.”

  “He’s alive.” She leaned over to pick up a rock, throwing it across the top of the water, watching it skip seven times before finally dropping beneath the surface.

  “I don’t know where we went wrong, but you have no idea how important you are to me. I don’t want to go through life without you.” I spit it all out, saying everything I could think of to make her understand how much I needed her.

  She turned her head, raising an eyebrow. “Stop begging already. I’m coming with you.”

  My jaw dropped. “Really? When did you change your mind?” The second I asked I wished I hadn’t. I didn’t want her to reconsider.

  She skipped another rock, shrugging. “I don’t want to go back to being alone.”

  “I’ll never let that happen, I promise.” The thought of her being alone made me teary and I leaned in, needing a hug. I was prepared to face her rejection, but she squeezed back tightly, if somewhat awkwardly, for a moment before pulling away.

  “Okay, I’m done.” Smiling, I sat looking at the water. Right then, everything was perfect, and I had my best friend back.

  “When should we leave?” She threw another rock but it only skipped once.

  “Tomorrow. Iri should be strong enough to last a few hours in the back of the carriage by then.” I debated asking her about the moment I’d interrupted but didn’t want to test my luck.

  “Thank you. For saving him.” She evaded my gaze, as if searching for the perfect rock was the most important job she had at that moment.

  “I’d have done it for any of you.”

  “I’m sorry for what I said about Beru. I know you two have a thing. I was mad and I shouldn’t have said what I did.” She wrinkled her nose as she looked up.

  “Did you really think I’d pick him over you?”

  “Someday you will, Aria. But that’s okay.” She gave me a sad half-smile, then returned to skipping rocks.

  “Aria! Sade!” Beru called from the house, waving us back.

  “We're having a girl moment!” She yelled back at him.

  “It will have to wait. We’ve got bigger problems.”

  Chapter 14

  “So, she’s just attacking everyone?” I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I paced between the fireplace and the front door.

  “She wants us to come to her.” She sat beside Iri, watching me with a stoic expression.

  “None of us are ready to fight right now.” Iri pulled himself into a sitting position with some difficulty.

  I wasn’t certain if he’d done it intentionally, but the sight of such a powerful warrior struggling to sit up shook my confidence to the core.

  “People are dying. She shows no mercy to anyone. Women and children are fair game to her.” Beru shook his head, taking a sip from his cup.

  I noticed he’d been avoiding me since I’d returned with Sade, speaking only to the others, or if he had to speak to me, as part of the group. I’d guess I’d finally pushed him away too many times. I couldn’t blame him. I averted my eyes and tried to only focus on the problem at hand.

  I stopped in the middle of the room as a plan began to percolate. “We have to give her what she wants, but not how she expects to get it.”

  “How do we do that?” Astor spoke from the corner. He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten he was there.

  “I’m not sure yet,” I wasn’t back to a hundred percent yet. My thoughts were still slow, and I was frustrated by my memory lapses. Between dreamwalking the night before and all the healing I’d done, I still had very little energy.

  “We can’t play her game.” Beru stood up, addressing everyone else without looking at me again.

  This time, I didn’t hide my annoyance. It wasn’t some petty him against me game, but it seemed to me anything I said, he wanted the opposite. I saw Sade’s eyes sharpen as she looked between us, and I could tell she felt something was wrong.

  “I don’t think that’s what Aria meant.”

  Beru glanced at me for the first time since he’d called us back. His lips were a firm white line. Without notice, he walked to the front door and stormed out.

  “What’s that all about?” She gestured toward where he had just stood.

  “He’s mad because I wouldn’t talk to him.” I tried my best to downplay the earlier moment.

  “I’d think he’d be happy.” Sade smiled, cocking an eyebrow.

  I knew I'd be grilled for details when we were alone but I wanted to focus on what was important. “It's not what you think. Let's get back to what we’re going to do next.”

  “I’d like to discuss this now.” She grinned, but Iri shifted on the bed, clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed.

  “I knew it!” Astor walked over to the bed to join us. “There is something going on between you.”

  “Whoa! We are not discussing this. Not now, not ever.” I held up my hands and backed away from them. I didn’t know how I felt about Beru, but I certainly wasn’t about to discuss it with everyone until I did.

  “We’ll discuss Widow only. Your personal life is your own.” Iri tried to regain control of the conversation.

  Thankful for his efforts, I agreed and sat down in the chair Beru had vacated. “Widow is all I want to talk about.”

  “Astor, get Beru to come back please.” Iri pointed his chin at the door, and Astor nodded and left.

  “How are you feeling now? Any better?” I leaned over, placing the back of my hand on his forehead as I checked for any sign of fever.

  “I’ll be fine.” He le
aned closer, whispering. “I’m rather enjoying being pampered.” He glanced at Sade, who was refilling his glass as he spoke. They were complete opposites, but I hoped they could both let their guards down to the possibility of each other.

  “So, how do we beat Widow and her army?” She forced him to drink his water then took a seat on a chair next to him.

  Astor came in the front door with a stupid grin on his face, a scowling Beru following a few steps behind.

  I wondered what Beru had told him but didn’t ask. I decided to ask when it was just Astor, not wanting everyone to stop because of my insecurities.

  Beru took a seat in the corner of the room, folding his arms and stared at the ground like a petulant child.

  Iri took one look at him, glanced at me, then spoke to everyone. “We all need to get over the issues we have with each other. We must work as a team. To fight for one another without hesitation.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I knew he was right. We had to work together. Beru had always been there when we’d needed him. I had to give him credit for that. Maybe it was time for me to trust him a little more as well, at least when it came to him having my back.

  “I’m ready to fight.” Beru stood up and joined the group. He locked eyes with me.

  It was uncomfortable, yet I couldn’t look away from his fathomless eyes. I nodded silently but felt as if we were exchanging apologies.

  “Glad we got that sorted.” Astor stood between us, putting his fists on his waist as he smiled proudly. “Now back to the business at hand. She’s killed in at least five small villages we know of, but there could be more.”

  “Has anyone been successful fighting her?” I looked around the room.

  Her mouth tightened. “I’ve only heard of her terrorizing people.”

  “We don’t know enough about her. We need to find out her weaknesses.” Iri looked like he would jump out of bed any moment and go off fighting, and I could see from Sade’s expression she was worried about him doing just that.

  Astor gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “And why she wants you.”

  “I know why she wants me. Dag'draath sent her.” I sat down on a free chair to await the barrage of questions I knew were about to hit me.