Witek smiled grimly and Krystelle felt Asegeirr tense behind her as if he were preparing for battle. Her own body responded in kind and she allowed her muscles to loosen, entering a state of calm readiness. Staring into Witek's eyes, she saw malice reflected there she had not seen before. Witek turned to Cenric. "It's time."
"Time for what?" Krystelle said, snapping her head back to Cenric.
Cenric peered out to the altar at the center of the courtyard. "Time for all this to end," he said, stepping closer to the threshold.
Remembering Sebastian's admonition, Krystelle positioned herself between Cenric and the courtyard, "No, Cenric. You must not."
"Step aside Krystelle," he whispered. "I'm warning you."
Asegeirr stepped up next to Krystelle, axe in hand. "No lad, I'm warning you. You'll not be going into that courtyard."
Cenric lowered his head for a moment, eyes closed. Krystelle gasped as a dark mist formed behind him. "Last chance."
"Cenric, please. This is not you," Krystelle pleaded.
"So be it," Cenric raised his fists and the dark cloud moved forward. Before it reached them, Asegeirr pushed Krystelle to the side, charging forward into the mist. As he entered, it coalesced around him, trapping him within a web of fiber. Struggling against the wispy thread, he strained to break free.
Krystelle rounded on Cenric, "Let him go!"
Glancing over at her, the boy cocked an eyebrow and smiled, waving a hand at the web encapsulating Asegeirr. Horrified, Krystelle watched the web shrink in on itself, slicing through Asegeirr with a sickening squish. His axe fell to the earth with a thud as the misty cloud reformed, hovering above his remains.
"I suggest you stay out of our way," said Witek.
Tears in her eyes, she looked over at Caddo and Fergus, "Do something!"
Caddo shook his head, "I cannot. It is forbidden for us to interfere."
Witek stepped forward, "Unless you wish to share Asegeirr's fate, I suggest you stand aside." Krystelle glanced back at the altar and then looked down at Asegeirr's ruined body. She did not have the power to overcome this kind of dark magic. Nothing would be served through a pointless death.
As she stepped aside, rain began to fall from a cloudless sky. The backlash from Cenric's magic. She decided it was a fitting response. The mist retreated to hover behind Witek as Cenric followed Sebastian's footsteps into the courtyard and disappeared.
Rain continued to fall on them, soaking their clothes and running down their faces. Krystelle watched pink rivulets from Asegeirr's blood washing off the platform. She had known something was off with Cenric, but never imagined him capable of something so savage.
The minutes ticked past and the rain tapered away to a light drizzle. Krystelle ached to do something, anything. She sensed that any aggressive move on her part would trigger the mist still hovering behind Witek.
A brilliant yellow light exploded into the courtyard from the altar, causing them to shield their eyes. A tall figure emerged from the center of the light, stumbling into the courtyard.
#
Facing trial after trial, Sebastian felt his soul laid bare. With each test, the pain gripping his heart increased. He sacrificed friends, dreams, loves, hope, future. Nothing Caddo told him had prepared him for the level of vindictiveness and cruelty he experienced. The trials devised to protect the Heartstone were to purify him and prepare him, but this seemed so much more.
Once more, the world flashed. Sebastian found himself riding along a familiar dirt road. Taking stock of his new surroundings, he felt the tears streaking down his face beneath an armored helmet. What more could they ask of him? Everything he ever loved had been stripped from him in these trials. Almost everything.
He realized where he was and reigned in his horse. "No... not this. Anything but this."
Sterling Lex's ethereal ghost appeared beside him. Whenever he wavered in the testing, Lex appeared to push him forward into madness. "You can stop at any time, you know," whispered the sorcerer. "This can all be over. You don't have to do it."
Inhaling a deep, ragged breath, Sebastian urged the horse forward. Cresting the rise, he looked down at his uncle's farm nestled in the valley below. The brick wall and outbuildings intact. All was as he remembered it from happier days before Henrich Tornike and Gerlach Pwyll rained terror upon his family.
Riding down into the valley, Sebastian was vaguely aware of several riders accompanying him. A flurry of activity from the buildings showed him the farm's occupants were aware of their approach. His uncle strode out to the gateway leading into their small courtyard, scythe laid casually over his shoulder. The two farmhands stood behind him, makeshift weapons in their hands as they shifted nervously.
"That'll be far enough," said his uncle. "What's your business in these parts?"
Sebastian wanted to get down off his horse, remove his helmet, and embrace his uncle. That's not how the trials worked though. He knew what the test demanded. Perhaps if he gave into it, things would be easier.
Raising a hand, he ordered his companions forward. He forced himself to watch as they mowed down his uncle and cut down the two farmhands even as they turned to flee. Screaming, his aunt ran out from the main building, pitchfork in hand. They killed her too. It was done.
Bowing his head, Sebastian waited for the flash that would take him away from this place. When it did not come, he looked around the courtyard and saw Sterling Lex waiting by the door to the farmhouse. Bodies lay broken in the dirt, but his companions were gone. The task was not done.
Dazed, Sebastian crawled from his saddle and stumbled to the farmhouse door. Reaching out with a trembling hand he opened it, stepping into the dark interior. Dust drifted in the slashes of light seeping through the shutters drawn tight over the windows.
Peering around the familiar room, his eyes drifted to the oak cabinet positioned against the far wall. Her favorite hiding place.
Forcing himself, he took a step forward. Then another. Then another, until he stood before the cabinet. Opening it, he looked down at the little girl crouching inside, tears pouring down her face. Dagger in his hand, all he had to do was lean over and slit her throat. His little butterfly.
Looking up at him she sobbed, "Please Sebastian..."
Gripping the dagger, he told himself none of this was real. His cousin was long dead and this little girl was only an illusion. But he would have to live the rest of his days with this memory. The feeling of his blade slicing through her flesh. The desperate, questioning look in her eyes as the light faded, her last sight the cousin she loved murdering her in cold blood.
He knew the stakes. The whole world depended on this. A flick of the wrist and it would all be over.
"Let it burn," he said, throwing the dagger away. Turning, he ran for the door as brilliant light surrounded him.
#
Emerging from the light, Sebastian found himself back in the monastery courtyard. Witek and Krystelle were there with the two Caddo, but there was no sign of Cenric. Krystelle oozed tension and he could see her fingers twitching the way they did when she prepared for a fight.
"Tell me you have the stone!" shouted Krystelle.
Shoulders slumped, Sebastian shook his head. "I couldn't do it..." He trailed off. Stepping off the altar platform, he only made it a few steps before the light returned. He turned back to see Cenric materializing in the center of the brilliance.
"Is it done?" shouted Witek.
"It is," answered Cenric. The dark cloud hovering behind Witek whipped through the courtyard to settle on Cedric's back like a cloak made of the night sky. Horrified, Sebastian watched as the cloud merged into Cenric.
Opening himself, Sebastian allowed the magic to fill him once again. The blockage he encountered in the testing grounds melted away. He prepared to face his former friend. He defeated Cenric before, at Uriasz, but sensed something stronger in the boy now. Not just that his skills had matured, there was something else. Something that felt wrong.
"I
will enjoy killing you," said Cenric, his voice vibrating. Underlying the boy's familiar tones, another voice spoke through him. A voice Sebastian recognized. Cenric’s entire body shook so violently Sebastian thought he heard the boy's bones rattling. Before Sebastian thought to strike a preemptive blow, the rattling stopped and Cenric looked up at him, eyes glowing red.
"Yes, this vessel will do nicely." The voice no longer belonged to Cenric. He held up the blood-red stone in his hand, peering first at the stone and then fixing his glare on Sebastian. With a wave of his hand, he sent Sebastian flying back across the courtyard.
Crashing to the ground, he felt a great weight pressing him down into the dirt. Around him the air solidified, crushing him from all sides. Air! He thought. He needed air. He pressed back against the solid block, his lungs beginning to burn. Spots appeared before his eyes. On the verge of losing consciousness, he made one last, desperate push against the block.
It shattered and he gasped, gulping down the air rushing back into his lungs. Scrambling to his feet he faced Cenric, or rather Sterling Lex. He would never forget the sound of that voice.
Frowning, Lex sent another wave of power at Sebastian. Ready for it this time, he deflected the attack, and the next. Wave after wave washed over him and around him, and Sebastian fielded every one. Connected deeply to his elven magic he put into practice everything he learned from Caddo over the months spent at Daguranso.
His sense of time faded as he battled the sorcerer. Minutes, hours, or even days passed before they fought to a stalemate. Sebastian's innate elven heritage against Sterling Lex's lifetime of dark magic. Sparks flashed between them where their magical energies intersected.
The Heartstone should have given Lex the upper hand and Sebastian did not understand why the man did not tap into that power. Pressing up against Lex's magic, he could feel the sorcerer attempting to tap into the stone. Every time the dark wizard attempted to touch the Heartstone's magic it slipped through his grasp.
Reaching out, Sebastian attempted to take hold of the stone's magic himself. He connected, not with the stone in Lex's hand, but the earth beneath his feet. Power rushed through him and he sent a wave of energy that overwhelmed Sterling Lex, sending him sprawling to the ground. The dark wizard, clothed in Cenric’s flesh did not rise.
Caddo approached him, a rare smile on his face, Krystelle and Fergus trailing behind. "You've done well, Sebastian. The Heartstone is yours to command."
Sebastian tore his eyes from the body of his former friend, "But I thought I failed the test."
"The tests were not exactly as they appeared. There is more to claiming the Heartstone than sacrifice. Heartstone is not about giving up everything, gaining power, or even saving the world. It is about deciding that some things are more important than power. You can't become like the people you're fighting to pursue some so-called greater good. You have to stay true to who you are. You have to stay true to your ideals. And you have to understand that the end does not always justify the means."
"The tests...they were so...cruel."
Caddo nodded, "That is regrettable. Sterling Lex was able to influence the testing ground in a way we did not anticipate. I'm sorry for that. You should not have had to endure all that you did."
Bending beside Cenric's broken body, Sebastian removed the red stone from boy's lifeless hand. Holding it up to the light, he sighed. "I don't understand. How is it that Cenric came out with the stone if I passed the tests?
Caddo laughed, “You never would have defeated Sterling Lex if he held sway over the Heartstone." Walking over to him, Caddo pulled the stone from his hand and bounced it twice in his palm. "Just a bauble. Something we put in the testing ground as a placeholder, so to speak. Bouncing it twice more he threw it across the courtyard. As it flew through the air it dissolved into dust.
"Then where is the actual Heartsone?" asked Krystelle.
"There is no stone. At least not in the way you're thinking. The Heartstone is all of us. Each one of us in this world has their own part of the Heartstone. It's not something you could contain or own. It's not something you can possess. The Heartstone is hope, love, and life. It is laughter, joy, and friendship. Sterling Lex could never understand that."
"Then why put Sebastian through those tests?"
"Just because the Heartstone is not a physical object, doesn't mean that the power is free to be released. The spell holding the Ban together, at least the part created by the dragons in forming the construct that is the Heartstone, had to be released. The tests were designed to release and unlock the keys to that power."
Limping forward, Krystelle laid a hand on Sebastian's arm, "I am sorry about your friend. There was nothing else you could have done."
Gazing down at Cenric's wrecked form, Sebastian felt a tear running down his cheek. "You're right and I know that, but that doesn't stop me from feeling I should have done more to help him."
"By the end I do not believe there was much of Cenric left to help. Sterling Lex possessed him body and soul." The two of them stood for a moment longer over their friend and then Krystelle turned to Caddo, "What now?"
He smiled, "With the release of the Heartstone's energy, the final spells holding together the Ban will dispel, leaving a lot of stray magic to be dealt with."
"And the reverberation when someone uses magic?" asked Sebastian.
"Should cease," he said.
With that reassurance, Krystelle's thoughts returned to her mother and the kingdom at large. "I must return to Naevean to deal with that slut, Tanjia Loredanna and her Krenon friends. The sooner I am off, the better. It may take weeks to reach the capital."
Caddo gave Sebastian a knowing wink, "I think we might be able to get you there just a bit faster. Sebastian?"
Sebastian grinned, "Indeed we might." Stepping away, Sebastian lowered his head to focus. A ripple appeared in the air between him and the others. Krystelle watched as the ripples began to glow. With the faintest tearing sound, an opening materialized, clouded in a simmering grey haze. Sebastian waved Krystelle through, "What are you waiting for?"
Peering at the opening suspiciously, Krystelle decided she needed to trust her friend. Stepping forward, she passed into the gray mist as an icy chill shuddered through her body. The fog lifted, and she found herself inside the palace throne room in Naevean with Caddo, Fergus, and Sebastian close on her heels. A wave of Sebastian's hand dispelled the portal behind them.
Krystelle shook her head in amazement, "I never would have thought..." she muttered under her breath. Looking around the room she shivered. She had never felt entirely comfortable in this room. Now it seemed the air itself dripped with unseen menace.
The sounds of shouting outside the door to the throne room brought her up short. Regretting that she had no sword, Krystelle glanced over and saw Gabirel’s sword returned to its stand next to the throne. Snatching it up, she turned to face the door.
The door burst open and a small phalanx of armed men and women burst into the room. It took her a moment, and her jaw dropped. For a moment she found herself speechless. The man leading the charge got there first. It was Jeffry, with Daciana close on his heels. "Krystelle?” he said. “How are you here? Never mind. We can do all that later. Right now, I'm just glad you're here. Perhaps you can help. There's fighting in the streets. Krenon against Guard against Gabirel. It's a mess out there and I'm not sure how to stop the fighting."
Sebastian stepped up to the small group, "Perhaps Caddo, Fergus, and I can do something about all of this. Tell me more about what's going on outside."
Jeffry turned to him, looking him up and down, then glanced at Krystelle, who nodded. "There are three factions. The Krenon, the palace guard, and the Knights of Gabirel. The palace guards are divided some siding with the Krenon and some with Gabirel. We have most of the Krenon leaders cordoned off in the East Square, but their mercenaries are holding us off. Everything is a shamble. If we could somehow get to those Krenon leaders, I think this would all be over."<
br />
Sebastian looked over at Caddo before continuing. The little man nodded and Sebastian turned back to the group. "We can take care of that. Is there a courtyard nearby that we can use? A big one."
"Yes, the main entrance to the palace," said Krystelle. "Follow me." Heading off at a quick trot, Sebastian and the others followed Krystelle through the halls into the open square fronting the palace.
#
Although sounds of fighting echoed in the distance, the fighting had all moved away from the palace. Sebastian chose not to look too closely at the bodies scattered around, giving evidence to a fierce battle. "Caddo, are you and Fergus ready?" The little man inclined his head, indicating his readiness. "Then we will meet you there." Turning to the others he motioned for them to step back.
"What's happening?" asked Krystelle.
Sebastian smiled at her, "Just watch." Fergus and Caddo moved into position near the center of the open area, leaving a good space between them. As one, they crouched down, closing their eyes. Sebastian kept an eye on Krystelle and the others, ready to savor their reactions. It had been quite the shock the first time Caddo had done this in front of him.
For a moment nothing happened. The courtyard grew still as Caddo and Fergus focused. Then, almost imperceptibly, they shuddered and their bodies began to glow. It was impossible for Sebastian to say if the light came from within them or from without. As the light grew, their bodies began to pulse and quiver. With a bright flash, their bodies enlarged five times at least. With one final flash of light, Fergus and Caddo were gone, replaced with two serpentine figures.
Krystelle gasped, "They're dragons?"
Sebastian smiled. "Now you know the secret of Daguranso and why that monastery was never overthrown. And you know the secret of the dragons. Sorry about your courtyard." With a roar, the two dragons belched a blast of fire that scorched the earth before lifting into the sky, wings flapping.
Eligium- The Complete Series Page 58
