She willed Jovan to meet her eyes, and when he did there was frank disbelief in his gaze. Melody didn’t care. She sent him a brief image; it was all she could manage while still singing.
Jovan shook his head as if to clear it, but he understood. “Kill them,” he said, and wasted no time in plunging his sword into the closest rat. Kaeliph took his brother’s lead and started stabbing the rodents on his side of the pile.
It took some time to kill them all, with Melody’s haunting wordless song filling the room all the while – she did not fall silent until the last rat was slain. Without the protective envelope of power around her, the smell of the blood and the reality of the slaughter made Melody’s gut clench. She fell to her knees, sick.
When she had finished, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and leaned heavily on her staff to regain her feet. She was bone-weary, nearly as drained as she had been the day before.
Kaeliph offered her his arm and walked her away from the bloody carpet of dead rodents. “You did that,” he said. “You are a witch, aren’t you?”
Melody didn’t answer.
Jovan cut him a disgusted glance, wiping his sword on the least bloody rat corpse. “There’s no such thing, brother.”
“I know what I saw, Jovan.” Kaeliph brought Melody to the edge of the room by the entrance, helping her to sit with her back against the wall. “There you go.”
Thank you. Melody wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned her forehead on her knees. She took several steadying breaths that tasted like blood, but there was nothing left to sick up.
“There’s no such thing as magic,” Jovan repeated stubbornly. “Whatever nonsense mother told you.”
“Then why is it forbidden, Jovan? Why did Korith kill the Arena’s healers?”
“Because there were no real magic users for him to kill, Kaeliph. Those women were innocent.”
“So is she,” Kaeliph insisted, pointing at their young guide. “But she still stopped those rats. That was magic. Are we not going to talk about what happened upstairs? What about her staff lighting up? Or how I can hear her when she isn’t talking?”
Melody’s head ached. Calder had warned her, but if she hadn’t helped, they would all be— She squeezed her arms more tightly around her middle and leaned her head back against the wall. She missed the forest, her glade, her hammock. She missed Gorlois and Sherron … tears came unbidden to her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.
Jovan threw his hand up and stopped arguing. Kaeliph was right. There was no denying what the girl had done. He looked at her, silent and pale, her cheeks wet with tears. What was he supposed to do with her? Turn her in, as law required? Giving Duke Korith a witch might just make him forget his son's death – not to mention the deaths of the soldiers in Paltos and Rindale.
The memory of Coraline’s melting flesh drove the idea from Jovan’s mind before it had fully formed. Not a chance.
But could he just leave her here when the job was finished, with no word to anyone? Could he simply hope that Duke Korith wouldn’t find her? Or was he supposed to remain in this town until her father returned, and risk being found by the Duke’s men himself? Jovan had to admit that she had saved all of their lives with— whatever she had done.
“We should check out the other passages,” he said, breaking the silence.
Kaeliph looked over at Melody. “She may be too weak.”
But Melody was getting to her feet, using the staff but not relying on it, and she gave a reassuring smile that did not quite reach her eyes. Kaeliph stood as well, and Jovan scanned the chamber once more, searching for anything he might have missed.
“I think there’s a door back there.” He pointed to the shadows where the rodents had been, and Melody suddenly couldn’t breathe. She backed up until she hit the wall, turning her face.
No. Not that way. No. I can’t, please… They each saw her panic, though only Jovan heard her words tumbling over themselves in his head. Both of them turned to her, and Kaeliph touched her shoulder with concern on his face.
Whatever is behind that door cares nothing for the Innkeeper’s grain, I swear to you. Please, not that way. She could not name it, she didn’t even want to think about it, but Melody knew. The brothers couldn’t feel it, but she had glimpsed just a fragment of the nature of this place – and it was enough. To go further in was to die. That was clearer to her than anything.
“Jovan, she’s shaking.” Kaeliph touched her hand. “Melody? What's wrong? Are you cold?”
Melody just stared at Jovan, feeling him wanting to investigate deeper regardless of her warning – no, because of her warning. He stared back, torn.
“Jovan, come on," Kaeliph pleaded. "There are other passages back here.”
The older brother stared for a moment longer, then finally stalked past them, snatching his torch from the bracket. “Fine.”
Kaeliph took his torch and fell in behind his brother, motioning for Melody to follow. She did. As long as they were leaving this chamber, she would follow the angry Jovan wherever he wished to lead.
“How about this one?” Jovan pointedly stared at Melody as he stopped in front of a caved-in passage. There was room enough for someone – even of Jovan’s size – to fit through on top of the pile, and it was clear he wanted to investigate. She nodded meekly, feeling no threat from the wordless stone.
Kaeliph looked at the rocks, frowning. “I don’t think she should go much farther, brother.”
“Then let her stay,” Jovan snapped. “Stay with her, if you like. I’m going.” He easily climbed the cave-in and skinned headfirst through the opening at the top. They heard some loose rocks rattle, then there was silence.
Kaeliph tried to apologize, motioning for Melody to sit and wedging his torch in a smaller pile of rocks. “He just … needs some time.”
There was danger the other way.
He nodded, looking around. “I believe you. Jovan does too, that's why he's angry. Something just isn’t right down here.”
I know. The disapproval from the tunnel walls was shifting into an inaudible pulse, like a slow heartbeat. Melody leaned into the curved stone, rested her hands on the staff in her lap, and let her energy rebuild. She drifted in and out of awareness, lulled by the sound she did not hear. After a long while, Kaeliph spoke, his voice dreamy.
“Maybe it’s the Witherin.”
The wall Melody was propped against throbbed slightly, and she looked at Kaeliph, alarmed. He kept speaking with his eyes closed, unconcerned. Had she imagined it?
“Mother told me the Witherin was the Lich King’s lair, it was under the whole land, everywhere. It was how his armies moved from place to place. There were hundreds of entrances to the surface, before the Break – endless tunnels that would trap anyone foolish enough to venture in uninvited. The whole place was full of warped magic and creatures that he made or that just wandered in and were … changed. She said most of the entrances collapsed during the Great Battle, but some survived.”
The wall was definitely awake now, the unobtrusive heartbeat replaced by forceful, furious drumming, and Melody jerked away from it in fright.
Stop!
Kaeliph’s eyes flew open. He leapt to his feet with a shout at what he saw, drawing his rapier in one hand and grabbing Melody up with the other. He shoved her sprawling behind him, raising the weapon just as an impossibly large spider sprang forward. His blade pierced the spider’s belly, and it let out an angry shriek as it struggled to pull itself free, legs scraping at the tunnel walls.
Teeth, dripping with venom, snapped at Kaeliph’s arm, and bubbling black blood coursed down the rapier’s blade. He jerked his weapon free and plunged it higher, this time piercing one of the creature’s glistening eyes. Ichor sprayed out, splattering onto the walls and their skin as the spider curled its legs up under itself in a death spasm, screaming like nothing Melody had ever heard.
“Lich be damned!” Kaeliph cursed, shaking his arm where the spider's blood was burning his ski
n. He wiped at the spots he could see, and then knelt beside Melody. She flinched, trying to hitch herself backwards and away from the spider.
“Easy, or this will burn you— be still.” Kaeliph used the rest of his shirtsleeve to wipe the black spots from her cheek and forehead even as she struggled to back further away.
“Kaeliph?” Jovan’s voice was alarmed as he slid down the cave-in to them, and he stared at the dead spider, his mind insisting it couldn’t be that large. “What happened?” He looked from his brother to their guide, noting the black coating on the blade of the dropped rapier and the raw-looking spots Kaeliph was wiping at on Melody’s face.
“I don’t … I don’t know. We were talking and then it was just there.” Kaeliph helped Melody to her feet, handing her the staff.
We need to leave, she sent to Kaeliph, her eyes fixed on the spider. Please?
“You’re all right,” he assured her. “You’re fine. We’re fine.” He took a cloth from his belt pouch and wiped down his rapier.
Melody did not feel fine.
“What did you find in the passage?” Kaeliph asked, trying to sound normal for Melody's sake as Jovan had done earlier.
Jovan looked at their pale, trembling guide, and went along with him. “The beach,” he said. "That tunnel goes to dirt after a while and empties out above the cove.”
“That’s good to know. Think we’re done?”
Jovan shook his head. “There was one other passage. I want to know what’s going on down here.”
Kaeliph picked up his torch and looked at Melody, worried. “Can you make it a while longer?”
I’m fine, she lied.
Jovan was already on his way back to the other passage, alert for any other strange creatures. Whatever this place was, it was no mere basement. He’d be glad to finish up and collect the payment, which he was certain wouldn’t be enough for dealing with this madness.
There, off to the right. The space at the top of the cave-in was smaller than the last one; he’d have a tight squeeze. Kaeliph might make it, though … he turned to Melody.
“Is this one— does it feel all right?” He may not know what to do about the girl, but he’d be foolish not to use whatever it was she had. Melody tipped her head and rubbed at the biggest raw spot on her cheek, uncertain. The tunnel didn’t feel right – because it didn’t feel at all.
I don’t feel anything, she sent him, but she looked too concerned for that to be a positive sign. Jovan decided against sending Kaeliph alone.
“We stay together this time. All of us. I’ll tell you when it’s safe to follow,” he said, climbing up. The space was smaller than it looked, and it was too dark to see the other side. He put his torch arm through the hole first, then drew his sword and put it through the hole as well. He braced his elbows against the other side, hitched himself forward – and got stuck.
He tried to kick forward, but his belt caught on something and the loose rock around him shifted, pressing into his back, pinning him in place. Jovan heard a scratching noise approaching … fast.
Melody felt the change in the tunnel the moment Jovan cried out - it was triumphant. Jovan!
Kaeliph reacted to his brother’s shout, dropping his torch and bounding up the cave-in, struggling to catch hold of Jovan’s kicking legs. Melody joined him, pulling at the rubble that was holding the older brother in place. Jovan’s weakening screams drifted back to them through the wall of rock. Their efforts were aided by his thrashing, but by the time they had managed to free him, Jovan had stopped moving at all.
Kaeliph was frantic. “Jovan?” Blood soaked his brother’s chest, ran down his arm, and dripped over the rocks they perched on. White bone gleamed through his shredded flesh in the flickering light of the single torch. “Jovan!”
Jovan did not move.
Kaeliph! Melody’s alarm pierced through Kaeliph’s concern, and he looked up to see what had been feasting on his brother. This was no rat; this was white— except where its muzzle was dark with Jovan’s blood. It had red eyes set over huge teeth, and six legs that were propelling it down the pile towards him. Kaeliph pushed Jovan’s body out of the way and drew his rapier.
Melody tried to cushion Jovan’s progress over the sharp stones, guiding his head and shoulders into her lap. Her simple dress soaked through with his blood in the few seconds it took a terrified Kaeliph to stab the creature and stomp its head against the rocks. She fought not to be sick as gore splattered her face.
Kaeliph looked down at his brother, his face ashen. “I’m getting help.” He was gone before she could stop him, dropping his rapier, sprinting towards their entry point and diving through the hole with no heed at all for the dirt and blood on his once-fine clothes.
Melody knew that if she did not act quickly, Jovan would not live to see his brother’s return. She reached deep within herself, and sang.
Jovan’s pain overwhelmed her as she reached out with the music. Fury pulsed in the air around her, but she held the sound strong. His injuries were so much worse than Calder’s, though. As she struggled to mend the damage to his flesh, Melody felt her own heart begin to stutter and slow along with Jovan’s. He was dying.
No, she told him. No, no, no. Melody didn’t know or care if what she intended to do was even possible. The dark power in this place meant to claim him, but she would not allow it. The brothers had been kind to her, and she would not see them torn apart like this.
Melody poured more of herself into the song, feeling stretched as she willed Jovan to survive with everything she could muster. It wasn’t enough. Frustrated tears welled up in her eyes.
Goddess, please. Desperate, acting on instinct, Melody pulled energy from the carved staff at her side into herself, and into the song. A spasm ripped through her body as a surge of power passed through her and into him. The oppressive anger from the tunnel retreated, and Jovan’s breath came in a huge shuddering gasp.
He bolted upright as her song faded into echo, reaching for his absent sword even as his other hand flew to his shoulder, remembering the attack. The skin under the torn shirt was whole and unbroken. How? Dazed, he looked around – blood stained the rocks, the white rodent was dead, Kaeliph was gone.
Jovan looked over at Melody, alarmingly pale, in time to see her eyes roll back in her head and her body go limp. He caught her before she slumped over, laying her against his chest. Weariness sank into him, an exhaustion that went to his bones, but it wasn’t his – and he couldn't explain it. Jovan felt the chill of Melody's skin through their bloody clothes. He pulled her close, though his own skin wasn't much warmer.
“What did you do?” he whispered. Despite his confusion, Jovan knew he had to get her out of there, get her warm. He looked down the passageway, seeing the torch Melody had left behind. He gathered her easily into his arms and carried her to the hole to the inn’s basement. He had pulled himself and her staff through the opening and was reaching back for her when Kaeliph came bounding down the stairs two at a time.
He skidded to a stop, disbelieving. “You— you’re alive!”
“Help me get her,” Jovan snapped over his shoulder. Kaeliph looked down at the handful of rags and pitcher of water he’d begged Irma for. He watched Jovan draw Melody’s limp form through the hole in the wall with an arm that he had seen shredded with his own eyes. The blood was still there, his shirt was still torn to pieces, but Jovan was moving as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t possible.
“Kaeliph!”
Kaeliph dropped the rags and set the water down before kneeling at his brother’s side to ease their guide into Jovan’s waiting arms. She was freezing, he realized. Had she healed Jovan? Was that possible?
“Get her staff,” Jovan said, and Kaeliph was too stunned to disobey.
“By all the gods, dog, what is it?” Irma opened the basement door before Kaeliph could, since Attilus was whining and scratching frantically at the wood. At the sight of Melody unconscious in Jovan’s arms, Irma went white.
“Oh n
o,” she exclaimed. “Bring her up to her room,” the woman said, taking the pitcher back from Kaeliph. “Quickly, now. Use the back stairs, there.”
Attilus bounded ahead of them and pushed through as soon as Irma opened the door. Jovan laid Melody down on the bed by the window, pulling the thin blanket up to her chin for warmth – and to cover her bloody dress. Kaeliph wordlessly handed his brother the blanket from the second bed, and he tucked that one around her as well.
“Now then, what’s happened?” Irma pushed between the two men and laid her hand on Melody’s forehead, trying to shoo Attilus away with the other. The dog was having none of that, and bounded up to lay beside his mistress, whining and licking at her face.
“She just passed out,” Jovan said, his eyes warning Kaeliph to keep silent. “She’s not hurt. She’s just delicate, like you said.”
Irma clucked her tongue. “I never should have let her go down there again, the poor girl.” She looked up, noticing the condition of Jovan's shirt for the first time. “You're hurt!”
Jovan shook his head. “It’s not my blood," he lied, stretching his arm to show her he was telling the truth. “Also, your pest problem is over.”
“It was the rats,” Kaeliph said. “One of them got close enough to tear his shirt," he added, “and Jovan killed it. That’s the animal's blood.”
“That's when Melody passed out,” Jovan finished, seating himself on the second bed.
Irma looked from him to the door, uncertain. “Well then. Thank you for keeping her safe, I'm sure her father will be grateful.”
Jovan didn't move.
“I've the lunch rush to see about, so...” Her voice trailed off as she stood, gesturing towards the exit.
“We'll keep an eye on her.”
Kaeliph looked as surprised at Jovan's words as Irma did.
“Now, now,” the innkeeper's wife said. “There’s no need for you to stay, I can look after her just fine.” She furrowed her brow as Jovan stayed put, holding her gaze with inflexible dark eyes. Irma soon realized that the matter was not up for discussion.
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