“No.” he said. “You aren’t real. You’re not Cara. You can’t be. The Cara I know would never side with Sigela.”
As he backed farther away from her, he heard a crumbling sound. He turned around to see the land bridge dropping into the lava behind him. As he turned back to face Cara, she was upon him, rubbing her hands over his bare chest while coyly looking at the ground and smiling.
He opened his mouth and jutted his jaw forward, preparing to try whatever magic he had left to reveal the truth of Sigela’s illusion. Before he could speak, Sigela’s voice boomed.
“Save your magic. It will not help you resist her. Your longing for her beauty is not of my making, but comes from within you. You cannot hide from your true nature, and unlike you, I do know what your true nature is. I know your creation name. I gave it to you so many years ago. There is no need to proceed further. You don’t need my sister. I can give you all that you want.”
“No you can’t,” he said. “I already know your name for me, and I don’t need anything else from you. You just think I’m nothing more than loss, but I know there’s more to me than that—a piece of who I am from Terrada that is still missing.”
Cara slinked her way behind Merrick and wrapped her slender arms around his torso. He could feel her hot, naked breasts pushing and flattening against his back.
“If not the girl, then you can choose something else for your reward. I could send you home in an instant and make you forget you were ever a Drayoom. I could protect you so that you were never bothered by magic again. I can make you rich, and give you the real Cara and any other women you want. I can give you all of this and more in the new world that I will create. You could return to working the rest of your days in a life devoid of creation, innovation, and passion. Or you could rule the new world by my side. I can do any or all of these things for you—if only you will do one thing for me.”
Merrick tried to unclasp Cara’s hands as he stepped toward the stone well. As he moved forward, Cara followed close behind. He wanted to turn around and gape at her beauty, but he knew that doing so would seal his fate. Instead, he continued until he stood at the foot of the well. He smelled her sweet but pungent scent, like violets in spring mixed with something much headier, as she leaned over his shoulder, and peered with him into the dark recesses of the well.
“I was so relieved when I heard that you and I were not brother and sister,” she whispered. “There’s no reason we can’t be together now.”
She grabbed him by his shoulder and gently turned him around to face her.
He gazed at the proportioned curves of her perfect body before setting the butt of his staff on the ground in front of him as a barrier.
He leaned forward, his face almost touching the divinium sphere at the top of his staff. Looking at Cara in the glow of the precious stone, he could almost see past the illusion, and he knew that anything Sigela offered him would fall short of its proclaimed value. He also suspected that Sigela did not know his full creation name or she would have already used it to exert control over him. He also realized two other things. First, he understood that Sigela would not kill him because he was too important to her plans. Secondly, he realized that he wanted Cara more than he was willing to admit and that turning away from her might be the most difficult test he would face.
He silently asked for Terrada to give him strength.
#
Mona flew as one with the mighty lightning, racing toward Annoon and possibly, Merrick. Her incorporeal self laughed softly as she dashed across the sky, thinking how odd it was that she could be so in love with Eudroch, the very man that she had detested until just a short while ago. Her odious feelings seemed like a distant dream, far away from the way she now felt about Merrick’s brother.
She remembered back to the first time she had met Eudroch and how she had been so physically attracted to him that she had almost let him have his way with her. On one level she had been furious at his deception and his physical boldness, but she had also been excited by it. She now suspected that, at the time, she must have been suppressing her true emotions for Eudroch.
She had at one point thought that Merrick and she made a good couple, but now the idea of them together seemed like settling for second best, even though she still had feeling of love for him.
Eudroch had all of Merrick’s desirable traits—he was smart and creative—but with none of Merrick’s foibles. Eudroch was physically more appealing to Mona, even after Merrick’s magical transformation of his own body. But more than that, Eudroch was confident, and he knew what he wanted in life. He was not afraid of commitment or of standing up for what he thought was right.
Eudroch was a leader and had power. If everything that was supposed to happen with Sigela’s return actually came to pass, Mona was sure that Eudroch would be properly rewarded by the Fire Dragon, and that she would be there by his side as his bride.
Despite this, images of Merrick continued to parade through her mind as she instinctively thought of him to ensure that her self would survive the journey with the lightning. She didn’t want to think about him, but he had been such a big part of her life back home, that his image persisted.
Maybe she loved both of them in their own way. Merrick, like a brother and Eudroch, like a lover. But she used to feel that way for Merrick, didn’t she? Her mind hurt from trying to sort out her feelings for the two brothers. She hoped with all of her being that Eudroch would not ask her to do anything that would harm Merrick, but she knew that she could never deny him anything that he asked, even if it meant Merrick’s death.
CHAPTER 51
MERRICK FORCED HIMSELF away from the sensuous thing that looked like Cara. Despite the fact that the creature was not actually her, he still had to fight to control the passion that welled up inside him. He tried to focus on his mission and looked beyond her to the volcano beyond.
That was his destination. He must find Terrada. As he started to move past the stone well, Sigela’s voice filled the air again.
“My son, your quest is now pointless. You have no one left to live for. The boy to whom you have grown so attached has betrayed you and given Eudroch the key to your destruction, and even now, he races to confront you here, in Annoon. The woman from your world whose image you keep in your mind is in love with your brother, Eudroch. All the men who have claimed to be your father are now dead because of you. You have nothing—no one except for me, and I will always be there for you, my son.
“Eudroch expects a seat beside me upon my return, but your power is the true key to my revival. You need only give me your name, and I will ensure that you are the one to survive—not him. I will make you whole again and let you rule by my side.”
“Balach would never betray me. If you knew his creation name, you would know that it is beyond his nature to do so. And you don’t know Mona either. She may not be a Drayoom, but she’s no fool. She can see through any deceit that Eudroch can muster.”
“When you stand atop the mountain of life and death, remember my words,” Sigela said. “When you see that I speak the truth, reconsider my offer. But know this—Eudroch is cunning, and if you continue to refuse me, he will take your power when you meet. He will destroy you, and I will gladly take him to be at my side instead of you.”
Merrick bowed his head. He feared that there was some thread of truth in what Sigela said—especially the part about Eudroch coming to Annoon to find him. Either way, the Fire Dragon was definitely right about one thing—it was time for him to face his destiny and to at last discover his creation name.
He took one long look at Cara’s body and then continued on his way. Cara came up from behind him. She turned him around to face her, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him like a lover—as he had never been kissed before.
Their embrace lasted longer than Merrick could tell. He forgot about his troubles and that he might be heading directly for his death. All he could feel was her warm mouth. It would be so easy to stay where he
was, with the vision of her beauty.
He tried to remember how he had felt when he had believed Cara to be his half sister. He looked deeply into her eyes and saw the eyes of Ohman staring back at him. Remembering the voice of his mentor, Merrick found the strength to gently but forcefully push Cara away from him. He stepped back abruptly from the illusion of her, finally free of her hold on his body and his mind.
“I’m not sure how much of you is really Cara, if any, but the two of us cannot be together, even in this manner. If you are Cara, I want you to know that I saw your father. At least, I saw his ghost in the forest when I arrived here. I want you to know that his essence persists…and that even though he wasn’t my father, I’ll remember him that way forever.
Cara’s face remained emotionless, but a sudden fount of lava burst forth from the stone well.
“Ohman is the reason you grew up alone and without your people. He robbed you of your birth right!” came Sigela’s thunderous voice. “Your mother is the Earth Queen, and you are a prince, even if you are a soon-to-be dead one at that. If it were not for Ohman, you would have had all of your life to develop your power, to face your brother on equal footing. Because of him, your life will soon be over.”
“If I have to die to save my friends and the world that they will live in, then that’s what I will do.”
Merrick turned from Cara and from Sigela’s voice and walked toward the volcano with long, deliberate strides.
“I can give you your creation name right now. There is no need to disturb Terrada,” Sigela said. “I whispered it in your ear when you were in your mother’s womb. I looked into your being and named you for what you would become. I can set you free. I can tell you who you are.”
“I may not know my name,” Merrick shouted over his shoulder, “but I know who I am.”
He wanted to believe his own words, but inside, he knew that he still needed Terrada to complete him.
With each step farther away from Cara and Sigela, he expected the ground beneath him to crumble and for him to be cast into the molten lava. But the bridge held firm.
He knew he was doing the right thing by leaving Cara, but he couldn’t help but picture himself walking down the streets of Alexandria with her at his side. As a couple, people would look at them the same way he had gawked at ugly rock stars or rich corporate executives with their beautiful girlfriends. People would whisper that he must be rich or famous to be with such a woman. They would never believe that there was actual love between the two of them. No one ever looked that way at Merrick when he walked down the street with Mona.
He kept walking and almost smiled as he realized, perhaps for the first time, that even if no one was ever amazed at Merrick walking with Mona, there were traits more important than beauty and a perfect body. And Mona had them.
Most of all, she loved him for who he was—even when he was overweight, balding, and introverted. As he walked farther away from temptation, he focused on her to give him strength. If she were here, she’d have a better guess at Merrick’s creation name than he would, and unlike Sigela, Mona was someone whom he could trust.
As he arrived at the base of the volcano, the ground beneath him began to shake. Small rocks jittered up and down, and dust flew up around him as the ground beneath his feet finally gave way. He leapt with all of his might onto the side of the volcano. He balanced on a small stone outcropping and turned around to see that the bridge had crumbled into the moat of molten lava.
Now there was no turning back. The only way for him to go was up.
He whispered for his staff to shrink to the size of a baton and then placed the divinium-tipped rod under his belt. He closed his eyes, feeling the soreness and pain in all of his limbs. In his mind’s eye, he searched until he felt the power of the divinium tip of his rod. Trying to draw as little magic from himself as was necessary, he began climbing the rock face to the top of the volcano, keeping Mona’s face pictured in his mind the entire way.
There was a loud crash just to his left as a piece of molten lava hit the side of the volcano. Glancing hastily down, he saw that the fiery sea below was erupting like a boiling vat of blood, spewing up projectiles that flew easily high enough to hit him.
He reached deep inside himself and drew on more of his magic. With the additional energy, the soreness in his bones faded, and he climbed faster until he had to force himself to slow down, lest he misstep and fall to his death.
When he reckoned that he was almost halfway up the mountain, the wind around him strengthened as if Lagu was closely watching him again. He flattened his body as closely as he could to the rock and continued his upward climb. Soon the wind was joined by a driving rain that stung his face, made the rock slippery, and left his hands numb from the cold.
Even with the help of his magic, the pain in his body returned, but he struggled on, fighting for each foothold. After what seemed like an eternity, he neared the summit, despite all of the dragons, other than Terrada, conspiring against him.
As another piece of lava slammed into the side of the volcano to his right, he wondered why Sigela was trying to kill him, especially when she could have done so earlier so easily.
Suddenly, he understood. Sigela wasn’t trying to kill him. She was trying to weaken him and to force him to exhaust his internal magic so that he would be no match for Eudroch.
He cursed the rain and the wind and the fire and vowed to reach the top of the volcano and to defeat Eudroch no matter what. Three dragons together were not enough to defeat him, and neither was Eudroch. With Terrada at his side and in his blood, he would somehow win the upcoming battle.
Just as this thought passed through his mind, he clambered on top of a large jutting rock that resembled the wind-smoothed shape of a giant’s fist. He stopped for only a moment to consider its significance when the rock face that he clung to turned to the consistency of sand. His scream of terror echoed around him like the howl of a condemned man robbed of his last meal as he fell into the dark hollow of the volcano.
#
After they left their holding cell, Swella led Cara and Balach quickly away from the approaching footsteps until they arrived at what looked to be a dead-end. Swella ran her hand along the seams of one of the rocks until she found a tiny stone knob that was hidden in the shadows.
Balach looked on in wonder as one of the large stone blocks swiveled inward to reveal a cramped but welcomed passageway. He crawled behind Cara and Swella as they made their way through the narrow stone tunnel.
As they crawled forward, Balach again pondered his decision to give Eudroch the power of his creation name. It had been the only thing he could think of to save all of their lives. But thinking about how he had exposed himself by saying his name aloud made him feel nauseous and hollow.
At least Cara, Mona, and he were still alive, and Eudroch had sworn in front of his warriors that no harm would come to any of them.
Balach pushed his thoughts aside and tried to think of the bigger picture. He may have saved his friends’ lives for now, but he might have also given Eudroch the key to forcing Merrick to help return Sigela to the earth. His face grew hot as he wondered if his father would be disappointed in him if he were still alive.
His father would say that he had acted with a narrow mind—with no thought to the future. Balach only hoped that when Mona was physically reunited with Merrick again, face-to-face, that her true emotions would be strong enough to overcome the power of his own creation name. Balach was gambling on the fact that they would be.
The smell of fresh air made its way into his lungs. Soon, the three of them came to the end of the passageway, where shafts of moonlight shone through a few cracks in the stone above their heads. Swella motioned for him to break through the crumbling stone ceiling. Cara and Swella hid their faces as he used his shoulder to break through to the air outside. Before there was a big enough hole, he heard voices coming closer as if to investigate. He readied himself to defend the two women, but Swella stopped him.
She motioned for him and Cara to stay where they were and then shimmied out of the opening.
Balach began to doubt the wisdom of following Swella. He had no reason to trust her. Just because Eudroch had sworn not to harm them didn’t mean that he hadn’t assigned the task to someone else, maybe even to this woman. Maybe she wanted to go out first so that she could betray them to the Fire Warriors. Balach used his inner magic to reach out to the woman and to feel what was in her heart. This time, the sadness was gone from her. Instead he felt only two emotions—that of supreme love and of intense hatred. Both emotions were driving her to whatever she was up to. Balach only hoped that her hatred was focused in the right direction.
After only a few seconds, the noise above dwindled to quiet conversation although Balach could not make out the topic. Tired of waiting, he looked over to Cara who nodded her agreement and they both popped out of the opening, into the fresh night air. Swella was standing there, smiling at the two of them, surrounded by several of the Fire Warriors. Directly behind her, looking as if he might kill Balach and Cara, was the largest warrior Balach had ever seen. He was so tall and broad that the top of Swella’s head barely came to the level of the man’s muscular abdomen. Before Balach could react, Swella raised her hand and the crowd of warriors went silent.
“Don’t worry, my friends,” Swella said. “These warriors are on our side. And the big one here—it turns out that he likes me very much.”
Balach looked into the warrior’s eyes and saw the unmistakable look of true love. He turned his gaze to Swella, realizing that Eudroch must not have been the only one who had heard his creation name back in the pyramid.
Swella shrugged and motioned for them to join her as they readied themselves for the possibility of Eudroch and Merrick’s return.
The Conservation of Magic Page 41
