Heartmender

by V. Romas Burton

  Ceasing my movements, I looked down at the golden hilt. There were no markings except the circle with the line slashed through it. I ran my thumb over the emblem. Whoever made this weapon had definitely put a lot of time and care into making it perfect.

  I gripped the sword in my hand and left the white circle. A sword this spectacular shouldn't be left in the shadows.

  Once my foot stepped outside the circle, the blood-red door reappeared, sending waves of relief through my aching muscles. Though I hadn't defeated Schism, I was excited to tell Claire about his severed hand.

  Standing to the side of the red door, Claire stood with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, waiting.

  I kept my fingers around the hilt of the sword, feeling less confident. This fight could be worse than the one I had just endured.

  As I walked closer, I gave her a small smile. "Hey, I'm, um, alive."

  Claire narrowed her eyes at me. "I can see that."

  "Sorry about earlier," I said sheepishly.

  Sighing, Claire picked up the lantern and rod and took out her keys while shaking her head. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just surprised and glad you're still alive." She flicked her hand before placing the bear key into the lock. As she opened the door, she glanced back over her shoulder with an exasperated sigh. "That was my favorite bag."

  Giving her an apologetic smile, I tried to cover where Schism had sliced through the strap of her satchel. Sighing once more, she shook her head and walked across the threshold.

  I followed Claire through the doorway, expecting to find myself back in the forest once more. But as I walked through, I let out a gasp. We weren't in a forest. In fact, there wasn't a tree in sight.

  As I took another step forward to investigate, a searing pain shot through my leg. Letting out a cry, I grasped the spot on my thigh where Schism had sliced through my skin. When I pulled my hand away, my fingers came away bloody, and sharp pain flared from the wound on my arm. I attempted to take another step, only to fall. My face planted straight into the warm, black sand covering the ground around us. Footsteps soon rushed toward me, spraying sand with each step.

  "I have to admit, I was impressed when you first came out and could still walk," Claire said. She dug through her pockets, probably for more of that green liquid. With a huff, she flipped me over and popped the cork out of the bottle. Soon, the familiar sting of the salve ignited against my nerves. I sucked in a sharp breath but relaxed as my wounds began to numb.

  "Most people come out with hundreds of cuts or missing limbs. But here you are, summoning Ophidian’s right-hand monster from the Shadow Realm with only two gashes."

  I sunk into the contours of the sand, allowing its warmth to seep through my body.

  "It may seem like nothing," I said, glancing over to see that Claire had settled herself on the sand next to me, examining the salve on my leg closely. "But it wasn't going very well in the beginning."

  "Oh, I was sure he was going to slice you like bread," Claire said a little too confidently.

  I frowned. "Thanks."

  "Well, I told you not to be stupid, but what did you do? You ignored me and were stupid." She recorked the bottle and sat back on the black sand, crossing her arms over her chest.

  I couldn't help but let out a laugh. Even though Claire continuously called me stupid, she faithfully patched me up, saving my life again and again.

  "I'll try to listen next time. I promise.”

  Claire stared at me with a quirked eyebrow. “Speaking of slicing . . .” Her eyes locked onto something beside me. I moved my arm, following Claire's line of sight straight to the sword. Reaching my hand out, I grasped the hilt and drew the sword toward us.

  "Addie," Claire said, her eyes not wavering from the sword. "Where did you get that?"

  I studied the sword as I had before. There was such a magnificence about it, I wondered if it was owned by a king or some kind of royalty.

  "I don't know," I replied, looking up at her. "It just came to me."

  "While you were in Ira's Vindicae?"

  “You know about Ira’s Vindicae?”

  She scoffed. "Just because I can't experience the Choices myself doesn't mean I don't know what lurks within them."

  "Does that mean you can tell me what's in the next one?"

  Claire shook her head. "I've tried that. If I tell you what lies ahead, Ophidian possesses my body, sealing my own thoughts shut. Now, don't change the subject. You got that sword in Ira's Vindicae?"

  I nodded. "Hasn't that happened to everyone?"

  Claire shook her head again, still staring at the sword. "No one has ever come out of the Third Choice with a weapon. I told you before, most of them have lost their limbs. Very rarely does anyone come out with all four still intact." She eyed me, trying to piece my story together.

  "Claire, I don't know," I replied, suddenly defensive of the sword. "I was bleeding to death, and then the sword came and helped me get through the fight in one piece." I looked down at the sword and smiled, thinking of the confidence it had given me to overcome my fear of Schism. I had a strong feeling that it was the same enchanted sword Claire had told me about earlier, but why would a magical weapon come to me?

  “That's how I remember you,” Claire said, pulling my attention back to her.

  "What?"

  "Your smile," she said as she pulled out a small green sack. "Whenever I saw you and Lyle at the market, you were always smiling. It must have been hard to be alone all this time."

  I swallowed, remembering the trips Lyle and I made to the market and how I always looked forward to them. Lyle would promise me one small item if I behaved. But now I only had the memories. A thickness coated my throat as tears welled in my eyes. Shuddering, I placed the sword on the ground between us before lacing my fingers together to try to prevent the tears from falling.

  "Does that help?" She motioned to my hands.

  I gave a slight nod, squeezing them together.

  "Hmmm." She opened the small sack, pulling out yellow berries and popping them into her mouth as she stared off into the black desert.

  I watched her closely, willing my heart to ignore the years of torment. "Where do you get all that?" It was a question I had been wondering for a while. Now, since I was being healed again and we weren’t going anywhere, was as good a time as any to ask it.

  Claire had been living in Ophidian's Realm for who knew how many years, but never seemed to grow hungry or thirsty, and she had her own home. Where did it all come from?

  "All what?" she asked mid-chew, glancing over at me.

  "All that. Your things." I unclasped my hands and pointed to her bag, then to the bottle of green liquid in the black sand next to her.

  "Oh." Claire swallowed. "That."

  I stared at her intently, waiting for an answer. By the look on her face, Claire wasn't in a divulging mood. She fiddled with the bag of berries, making me more curious of their origin. Letting out a sigh, she placed the bag back in her vest pocket.

  "When I was first brought here, Ophidian was set on never letting me leave. Apparently, my mother's trade with him included all of eternity." She waved her hand in the air, rolling her eyes. "Ophidian wanted to stick with that."

  She tried to sound nonchalant, but I could see the pain on her face.

  It was still difficult for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Claire was Doctor Magnum's daughter. Never once had he mentioned her. No one had. To think he had held onto the pain and torment of losing his only daughter all these years. I couldn’t imagine it. At least I had Silas to confide in after Lyle disappeared. Doctor Magnum had lost both his wife and daughter to Ophidian.

  "But," Claire said, pulling me away from my thoughts. "I coaxed him into a trade." She rolled her eyes again at my surprised expression. “It's not like I was extremely cunning or anything. You'll learn Ophidian loves to trade. Especially when there's a heart involved. So that's what I traded."

  I frowned. "How would that work? You don't know wher
e your heart is."

  She shrugged. "Easy. I told Ophidian I would trade him my heart, the one promised to him by my mother that he never got, if he allowed me to leave his realm and look for it."

  I blinked a few times, not understanding what Claire just said. She was willing to trade her heart to Ophidian, too? Confident, strong Claire was willing to give her heart to the Beast?

  “But why?” I stammered. “Why would you give your heart to that monster?”

  Claire’s eyes turned cold, her voice sharp as she replied, “Unlike Lyle, no one is coming to save me. I have to look out for myself.”

  I bit my lip and looked away, not knowing how to respond. I felt the burn of Claire’s glare on my cheek before she continued.

  "Ophidian accepted the trade right away. But there was a catch."

  "Of course there was," I muttered, glancing at her. There was always an underlying aspect to every trade.

  "I would be able to leave to look for my heart, but only when I brought someone successfully through all Seven Choices." Her voice lightened from its icy tone, sounding defeated as she looked past my head into the abyss of the black sand. "A terrible thing, isn't it? I get rewarded by bringing someone else to their death."

  "How many people have you led through the Seven Choices?" I tried to bite back the question after it left my lips. The look on Claire's face was enough to shame me for asking.

  "I can't remember," she mumbled. "I remember Lyle." Her face was stern, her mind focused, spinning as she tried to find the answer. "But I can't seem to remember the others. I know there have been many. So, so many. I remember their cries and their screams. It used to keep me up when I tried to sleep. But after Lyle, it's all a blur."

  How could Claire know she had taken people through the Seven Choices, but not remember doing it?

  Warmth flowed through my muscles, alerting me that the salve had healed me once again. I stretched out my legs before bringing them to my chest. Rocking slightly, I hesitantly asked, "How many times have you been allowed out of Ophidian's Realm?"

  "Only a few. That's how I have all my things. I looked for my heart, but along the way, I gathered supplies to bring back here to survive." She stared down at her empty hands. "Sometimes I would visit my dad, just to see how he was doing. I would watch him work in his office, helping patients. But he never saw me."

  "What do you mean?" If Claire had been lurking around Barracks, someone would have seen her.

  She let out a long, tired sigh before looking back at me. "Ophidian owns me. I belong to him in his realm. In our realm, I'm nothing but a shadow—a ghost drifting between two worlds, never belonging anywhere."

  My heart beat slowly inside the satchel, weighted by the burden Claire had to bear.

  She noticed my pained expression and quickly added, "But it's been a while since I've left."

  I nodded, acknowledging she didn't want to talk about Doctor Magnum. But there was something else that did need to be discussed. Something that didn't seem to fit.

  "You said there was a catch," I began, stretching my legs into the sand. "And I think there is.” Claire nodded in agreement, waiting for me to continue. I reached out and grasped a handful of the midnight granules, allowing them to pass through my fingertips. "I think Ophidian wants you to believe you're making the choice on your own. But, really, he decides when you leave."

  Claire let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, that makes sense."

  I nodded. But there was still something about the agreement that didn't seem right. Why would Ophidian want Claire to save people until the end of the Seven Choices? Wouldn't he want them to be picked off in the earlier Choices, only the strongest surviving the end Choice?

  The image of the black heart of my nightmare flashed in my mind. Ophidian was the only one who could create a black heart. There had to be a connection between Claire saving Traders and the black heart.

  But every heart needed an owner, including a black heart. The horrid reality struck me to the core.

  I swallowed. "Remember how you said you lost the people when you first came here—that they were attacked by the siti?" She nodded. "Then you began to save them, patching them back together and helping them heal."

  She nodded again before the wrinkle returned between her brows. "Do you mean Ophidian wants me to keep saving Traders so that they can make it through the Seven Choices?"

  I gave a wary nod. I didn't know what was at the end of the Seven Choices, but I knew Ophidian was too conniving to allow Claire so much freedom. He had to have another plan. While I still didn't know the meaning behind my nightmare, the mere fact that Ophidian existed gave me the feeling that my hunch was correct. Ophidian wanted to turn the Traders’ hearts black.

  "But that means . . ." A look of terror crossed her face as she clamped her hand over her mouth. "I—I've been helping him all this time! I thought I was being clever in trying to go back into my realm and find my heart, but he's the one who came out on top." Claire dropped her head and clenched her fists. "That dirty snake. I swear, I'll make him pay."

  As Claire muttered threats to Ophidian, I brushed the sand from my hands and legs before standing. A twinkle caught my eye, and I looked over to see the emblem on the sword. It gave off a quick flash of light before returning to its normal color. I paused, staring at it.

  “Addie, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s this symbol,” I said, reaching out to the sword. “I’ve never seen it before.”

  Claire followed my gaze to the emblem, her face quickly shifting from anger to a knowing smile. “Well, now I know why you were fine coming out of Ira’s Vindicae.”

  I pursed my lips, not agreeing with the word “fine,” but too curious to know what she knew. “Why?”

  A smug smirk appeared on her face. "Because" —she pointed to the emblem on the sword— “that's the mark of the Mender."

  Chapter 21

  My expression was not kind.

  "The mark of the Mender," Claire repeated, giving me an equally unfriendly look. "Don't be stupid, I know you remember the story I told you."

  I remembered the story all right, of the young blacksmith and his pure heart. How he had lost half of it to the Beast to try to save his love. But I didn't know what the Mender had to do with the enchanted sword. He hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Why would a sword with his mark suddenly show up to help me? I didn't even believe he existed. He had never helped me before; why would he now?

  "Don't tell me you still doubt," Claire replied with narrowed eyes.

  I plunged the sword into the black sand, using it to heave myself to my feet. Once I regained my balance, I pulled it back out.

  "It's not that I doubt," I clarified, sliding the sword through the ring that held the satchel's strap. "It's that I can't believe."

  "Isn't that the same thing?" Claire questioned sarcastically before standing. She picked up the lantern and rod before tossing a smug look over her shoulder. "If I can't make you believe, I'm sure going to laugh in your face when you're wrong."

  I smirked then let it fade away. I genuinely hoped I was wrong and that the Mender would save us from this nightmare. But so far, he hadn't. Why would he now?

  We began the trek across the black desert toward the next Choice in silence. Claire walked ahead of me, barreling through the sand as I followed behind, squeezing my hands. I hadn't meant to upset her.

  But as we continued forward, the sand began to shift beneath our feet. Like spirals of snow on the icy ground, the sand pulled us to and fro as a harsh wind blew gusts at us. In a matter of moments, we had sunk knee-deep into the thick grains.

  "What's going on?" I yelled to Claire over the howling wind.

  "It's Ophidian!" she yelled back, her face turning pale as the dunes shifted her away. "I don’t know why, but he doesn't want you to succeed!"

  I dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding a wave of black sand as it crashed next to me.

  None of this made sense. Ophidian had wanted all the other Trader
s to make it through the Seven Choices. Why not me? Unless there was something at the end of the doors he didn't want revealed.

  "Addie!" Claire yelled, her voice whisked away by the wind. "Watch out!"

  I turned in the direction of her voice only to be met by a towering wall of sand. I pushed my thighs against the granules, attempting to move myself out of range. Instead, I sunk to my waist.

  I slugged through the black sand, grasping at it in handfuls as I pulled myself through, hoping to outrun the giant wave. But as I attempted to flee, it continued to follow me.

  I looked over my shoulder and gasped. I no longer saw the wave behind me, but, instead, a towering, thin man made of black grains. His chin was perfectly chiseled with a strong jaw bone that could slice through wood. The granules surrounding his eyes shifted and swirled in the shape of two serpents slithering from his temples and down his neck. His cropped hair flowed with the wind, black particles at its edges flying into the abyss. A wide, sharp grin extended across his face. The only parts of him that weren't sand were his eyes. A pair of yellow eyes, narrow as a snake's, stared down at me as I tried to keep my head and chest above the sand that was insistent on pulling me down.

  "Well done, Adelaide," he said. "I hear from my ward that you put up quite a fight."

  I scowled as soon as I heard the voice, recognizing it from his earlier possession of Claire. Ophidian. Of course he would come here to finish me off after I had sliced Schism's hand off.

  "I don't plan on dying here," I replied, making sure I stared straight into the Beast’s snake eyes. The sand around me continued tugging at my body.

  Ophidian cocked his head to the side, his lips peeling back over sharp teeth. A thin snake on his face twisted and curled around one of his eyes. "You don’t? Well, that's good to hear. I can't have you dying when there's someone who’s been trying to live long enough to see you again."

  I let out a gasp, my heart bursting with excitement and dread as the sand opened beneath Ophidian. Rising as if suspended on invisible strings, a lifeless body with dark curls and spectacles, covered in black sand, appeared.