“Blackroot Pier,” I read.
“Vega Jane,” said Delph in a tone I had never heard him use before.
“What?” I whispered back.
But I needn’t have asked. I could see what had prompted his words.
The small, black vessel had rounded the bend and was drawing closer to the pier. At the back of it, holding a long steering oar, was a dark-shrouded figure. The boat glided over the water as if it was riding on the air just above the surface of the Obolus.
The shrouded figure expertly guided the craft to a gentle stop at the warped boards of the pier.
There was a lantern attached to a bent rod affixed to the boat’s gunwale. It gave off enough of a glow for us to see the face of the gent piloting when he lowered his hood.
We all took a step back when we saw him. It appeared to me that Rubez was a skeleton, only someone had forgotten to tell him he was no longer alive. Everything about him was bony, hollow and dead.
Yet his eyes glowed fiercely in the lantern light. The glow seemed to be the same as the fiery red of the letters on the sign. He opened his mouth and spoke at the same time that one long, bony hand reached out and beckoned to us.
“Draw close, those who wish to cross the Obolus,” he said in a voice that sounded like the low throaty rumble of an attack canine. “And Rubez will oblige.”
We drew close, stepping up onto the fragile pier, which lurched sideways under our collective weight. I thought we were all going to go tumbling into the water, but the thing righted itself and we stood level a couple of feet from Rubez.
I started to step on the boat, when Rubez barred my way with his oar. It was dripping wet and slimy.
“Oi,” I called out as I jumped back. “You said to draw close and you’d oblige.”
“Rubez is needing his due,” he croaked.
I stared at him. “What sort of due?”
In answer, he looked at the planks of the small boat and then over at us.
“Got room for four and no more.”
I looked at the others and then turned back to him. “But we’ve got five.”
“Four and no more,” he repeated.
I pulled my wand. “And I said we’ve got five. Now, I know you want some sort of payment. And I’ll be glad to give it. But we’re all crossing this river.”
He smiled at me and his teeth were bloodred. And I noticed for the first time that his arm, exposed a bit as he wielded the oar, was covered in dark scales, like a fish. He raised his oar and then pointed it over my head.
The next moment, Delph screamed. I turned. He was on his knees, holding his head, his face contorted in agony. I grabbed him but he threw me off, fell onto his belly and started convulsing.
“Delph! Delph!”
Petra and Lackland tried to help, but they were thrown backward by some unseen force.
I pointed my wand at Delph to try to incant something that would make whatever was hurting him go away. But it was as if something was gripping my wand and pulling it away. I whirled around to stare at Rubez. He just stood there, his oar still held high, and I knew it was the source of Delph’s agony.
“Stop it!” I screamed. “Stop it, please.”
Rubez slowly lowered his oar, and Delph instantly ceased convulsing. He lay there panting.
I knelt next to him and gripped his hand. “Delph?”
“O … okay, Vega Jane,” he mumbled. “Pain’s gone. O-kay.”
I turned back to Rubez venomously. “Why the Hel did you do that?”
“Four in me boat, no more.”
I looked over his vessel. “Okay, then we can make two trips. Three and two. That meets your bloody rule!”
His smile vanished and he held up a solitary finger. “One trip, not two.”
I stood, faced him and squared my shoulders. “So what is your due, then, eh?” I truly didn’t understand what the bloke wanted.
He glanced down at the dark waters and then back up at me.
“One of you must swim for it if you want to get to the other side. That’s me due. If you don’t want to swim for it, you can stay here, the lot of you. And you won’t be alive in a few slivers.” He looked over my shoulder as he said this. “They’re coming.”
“Who’s coming?” I asked sharply.
He lowered his gaze to me and his eyes were like fists of fiery blood. “Death,” he hissed. And that sound filled me with a dread that not even the shriek of a jabbit could inspire.
I looked down at the gently lapping waters and then across toward the river’s other side, which I still couldn’t see from here.
I turned back to Rubez. “Is there truly no other way?”
“Only one.”
“What?” I said eagerly.
“I can turn five into four. Then the remainders can ride in me boat!” he ended savagely and raised his oar threateningly. “Which one, eh? EH!”
I held up my hands and cried out, “No. I’ll swim for it.”
Delph rose on shaky legs. “Vega Jane, you’re not that good of a swimmer.”
Harry Two danced around my feet and moved his forelegs as if to show how powerful a swimmer he was.
“No,” I said. “I’ll go.”
“No,” snapped Delph. “You can’t always be the one to go it alone.”
Lackland said, “How ’bout the canine, eh?”
“Shut up, Lackland,” I barked.
Delph pulled me aside and whispered, “Let’s have a go at him and take his blasted boat.”
“You saw what he just did to you. And his oar apparently is more than a match for my wand.”
Delph said in a normal voice, “Then how do we choose, eh?”
Petra said, “I vote for Lack to go in.”
Lackland swore under his breath. “Why me?”
“Well, we need Vega’s wand to get through, don’t we?”
“That’s bloody ruthless of you,” snapped Lackland. “What about Delph? Or are you too wonky over the bloke?”
Delph and Petra both looked like they had been walloped by a colossal.
Before Petra could answer, Delph said, “I’ll go. I’m a strong swimmer.” He added in an embarrassed tone, “And like Petra said, we need Vega’s wand to go on.”
“No, Delph,” snapped Petra. “You’re not going in there. Bloody Hel, I’ll go.”
Lackland interjected, “Look, why not the ruddy canine, eh? Will somebody tell me that? It’s a bloody beast.”
Delph shoved him. “Harry Two is worth five-a you.”
“Enough,” I shouted. “I’m going in.”
“But we need you to —” began Petra.
I pointed my wand at them.
“No, Vega Jane,” screamed Delph. He knew what I was about to do.
Harry Two barked and lunged at me, his mismatched eyes wide with distress.
I said, “Subservio.”
Instantly, their eyes became unfocused and they stood rigidly before me. I pointed my wand at the vessel and they all climbed in, Harry Two included.
I drew a deep breath as I looked at them one by one, my gaze holding finally on Delph. Would the last impression I have of him be one of stark betrayal? And there sat Harry Two, frozen, but inside I knew he could see what I had done. I felt deep shame all around. But I had no time to dwell upon it.
I turned back to Rubez, who was waiting expectantly.
“Anything you can tell me before I dive in?” I asked coolly.
He appraised me for a few long moments. Then he glanced overboard. “What’s down there needs sorting out, don’t it? Whether you’re the one to do it?” He shrugged. “Only you can answer that.” He gave me a wicked grin, which made my blood boil. I told myself that I would survive this if only so I could face this bloke again and turn him to dust!
Rubez used his oar to push off from the pier. I watched them drift away. It had occurred to me that this might be the last time I would see Delph or Harry Two. I should have felt teary. I should have felt something. And truth be known,
I did. A terrible, terrible emptiness. As though all I had or had ever felt was gone.
Then they disappeared in the mist that had sprung up over the water. All I could hear was the splash of the oar against the water’s surface as Rubez carried all of my companions away.
The Subservio spell would only continue to work while I was in relatively close proximity to them. But by the time the effects wore off, it would be too late to stop me.
I held up a solitary hand and said, “Good-bye.”
Then I stepped to the edge of the pier and looked down at the Obolus River. Delph was right. I was not a very experienced swimmer. There simply wasn’t that much water in Wormwood. I had no idea what awaited me in the foul depths, but standing here thinking about it was not doing me any good.
So, gripping my wand, I took a deep breath and dove in.
I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to expect when I hit the water. Well, I supposed I thought it would be cold and miserable, but it really wasn’t. In fact, it felt warm and comforting. When I broke the surface of the water that changed.
I took a breath. At least I tried to. But when the air hit my lungs, I thought my brain would explode. I gasped and writhed and when I was about to lose consciousness, I did the only thing I could think to do. I dove under the water.
After nearly suffocating above water, my mouth was still open when I went under. The liquid poured into my lungs and I knew then that I would die when my lungs filled like buckets.
But I didn’t die. The pain in my head went away and I gulped breath after breath and as the water poured through my lungs, I felt strangely replenished. I lit my wand and looked around. The water was so murky that even with the illumination, I could see only a few feet in every direction. I swam on, gliding smoothly through the water. I wanted to make sure that I was heading in the right direction, so I broke the surface again and stared ahead. But it was so dark and the pain in my head became so fierce that I had to dive back under again.
A cold chill invaded my insides, even as my outside felt warm and comforted.
If I can’t breathe out of the water, how will I escape this place? Was this the due that Rubez demanded? The sacrifice that most would be unwilling to make?
Me imprisoned in the Obolus forever?
I pushed these troubling thoughts away and swam on, hoping I was traveling in the right direction.
Rubez had said that things in here needed sorting out. I had no idea what he meant by that. I assumed that there were vile creatures lurking in the water that would do their best to kill me. If so, I was as prepared as I could be.
I held out my wand and said, “Crystilado magnifica.”
What I had expected were water demons whose ferocity and lethality would match those that walked the land. That, I could understand. That, I could fight, and perhaps win. But that wasn’t what I saw.
“Nooo,” I moaned. I stopped swimming and started to sink to the bottom of the foul river.
The great battlefield on which I had been given the Elemental by Alice Adronis and then nearly killed lay before me. Only, this time I was part of the great battle. I was astride a muscled steed. I was outfitted in chain mail. I carried a great spear in one hand as I flew through the sky. Just as Alice had done.
I had seen this same image before in a dream, thus I knew what was about to come. The blow hit my image full in the chest and I tumbled off my steed. I fell, and as my image fell, it happened.
The image and myself became one. And we were both falling so fast and so far that my breath was torn from me. I looked down at my chest and there was the wound, deep and bloody. And the pain pierced me so badly that I cried out and my mouth instantly filled, not with water but with blood. My blood. And then I felt no more.
And that scared me more than anything else had.
For there is only one reason a wounded person feels no pain.
This was no dream. This was no image.
This was my death.
Me, Vega Jane.
I was no more.
I hit the bottom of what I supposed was the Obolus River and then a remarkable thing happened.
I kept falling. It was as though the riverbed there had opened, the dirt moving aside, allowing my plummet to continue to a place that was somehow even deeper.
My eyes had been closed all this time because my courage had reached its limits. But now I had to open them. I heard the heavy staff strike the stone floor. I looked up at the tall, lean, near-cadaverous figure.
It was Orco. With his great, long nose, which had three openings. His totally black eyes looked me up and down. His awful mouth opened, revealing both his black teeth and the long tongue with the trio of arrow ends. He hissed and struck the stone again with his cudgel.
This caused me to spring bolt upright and stand before him. I looked down at myself. My clothes were as dry as if I had never stepped foot in the water.
I looked to my right and there it was.
The wall of the dead. The mouths were open, the eyes the same. No sounds came from the mouths, but in the pleading eyes I heard more misery than I could possibly bear.
I looked back at Orco. He was smiling in triumph. And I knew why.
I looked down at my chest and saw the gaping hole there, my stilled heart right underneath. I put out my hand toward it but then drew back. I could not bring myself to touch my own mortal wound.
I looked up at Orco.
“Certe,” he hissed, a triumphant look on his features.
Was I really dead? But how could I be? I had never really been on that battlefield. So how could I have been mortally wounded?
“I am not dead,” I said firmly.
In response he pointed with his clawed fingers to my chest. “Certe.”
I shook my head stubbornly. “I am not dead.”
He pointed to the wall and raised his cudgel. I felt my feet leave the stone floor. I was hurtled across the space and slammed into the wall. I could now hear the words spewing from the poor souls imprisoned there.
The next thing that happened to me was the most dreadful of all.
I was sinking into the wall. It felt like I was being dissolved from the inside out. I could feel myself … vanishing, parts of my being disappearing from me. As I looked wildly around, I somehow knew that once my mouth and eyes were the only things left visible of my being that I would be lost, trapped here forever.
My thoughts turned fleetingly to Delph and Harry Two. And even to Petra and Lackland.
And then as I sank farther into the stone a voice came into my ear.
It was not from the death wall.
It was a voice from inside my head.
Vega, death is only fear. Without fear, there is no death. Without death, there are no bars. Without bars, there is only freedom.
A voice speaking in my head at this moment should have driven me completely mad. But it didn’t. For some inexplicable reason, it gave me pause. Then it gave me calm. And then it gave me something much, much stronger. Perhaps the strongest thing of all.
It gave me hope.
I looked at my hand, which was still visible. And in it was clutched my wand.
And I recalled that in our first meeting Orco had feared my wand.
Which of course meant that he feared me.
Vega Jane.
I was a sorceress. I had a wand. I had a need. Thus, as Silenus had informed me, I could come up with a spell to fill that need. The exact words weren’t important. It was the mind, body, spirit all coming together as one, just as Astrea had said. Just as I had done spontaneously back at her cottage, without even a wand to aid me.
My entire being concentrated on only one thing. I made a slashing motion with my wand and screamed out with all the breath I had left.
“I am not dead!”
There was an enormous crack, like a thunder-thrust, and the wall broke right down the middle, freeing me.
I stepped clear of the rubble, my wand held high.
For the first time in the presence
of Orco, I felt no fear. The bars of my prison were truly broken. But in him I saw, with satisfaction, uncertainty in those cold black eyes.
He and I squared off on the stone, circling each other. When he raised his cudgel, I raised my wand, bracing to throw off his attack. He lowered his cudgel, but I kept my wand pointed right at him. He glanced down at my chest. I did the same.
I gaped. The hole in my chest was gone.
I looked up to see that cruel face staring at me.
I could not help myself.
“Certe,” I hissed.
And then I was hurtling upward, through stone and dirt and into the crush of water. Up, up, up I went until I thought the pressure I was feeling all around would smash me flat. The next instant, I sputtered and spit and thought I was going to drown. And then I realized something.
I was breathing air once more, not water.
I looked across the surface of the river in all directions. It looked the same to me, which meant I did not know which way to go. I was flopping around in the water, suddenly exhausted from my struggle down below. I went under the water once but managed to push myself back to the surface. Then I went under again. And I didn’t know if I could find the strength to keep fighting.
Something grabbed me and I kicked and thrashed to free myself. I tried to point my wand, but my arms were pinned to my sides. I broke the surface of the water, and stopped struggling.
“Delph!”
He was facing me, holding me up in his strong arms.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Are you mental? What the bloody Hel d’you think? I’m savin’ you.”
He turned on his back, held me under my arms and kicked off.
“Do you know which way to go?” I asked, immensely relieved by his presence.
“We lit a fire on the shore as a landmark. Heading right for it.”
“I’m sorry I had to cast a spell over you,” I said.
“Figured that’s what you done when I came outta it.”
“Have you been searching for me long?”
“Long enough.”
At last my feet bumped against something and I realized we were in the shallows. Delph helped me to stand.
The Keeper Page 28
