by A Lonergan
Then a little princess had come running through the castle looking for the boy-king and shouting about the woman that was at the bottom of the Waters of the Damned. And I knew. It was Willow finding more trouble for herself. The little princess had grabbed my hands in hers, which was certainly unusual and dragged me out of the castle and through Sector ten. All she did over and over again was tell me how sorry she was and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why.
Then as we neared the water, I saw how still it was and my heart sank. I went to dive in and the boy-king grabbed my arms. “I have lost countless men to those waters, thinking they were brave enough to withstand it.”
I wanted to tell him who I was. I wanted to show him in all of my glory the power Hel had bestowed upon me. But I knew better. If Hel had given me powers to thwart anything and Willow was her descendent. If anyone could do the impossible, it would be her. So I waited and waited with my least favorite people on the planet. Nico eventually showed up and for whatever reason, I liked him. He had spoken in my mind a few times and I could get on with his snarky attitude. He was slightly different around Cal, but I liked him all the same.
Ailia had explained that after Willow had gone into the water, you could no longer see anything. Black wisps and swirls had filled the depths. They had covered up anything and everything going on down there. I had tried to watch. I had thought about going in even against everyone else’s wishes, but I knew as Willow’s magic swirled around, that there was nothing I could do now. The little almost mortal was determined to save everyone, even if it meant she was put on the frontlines. It was one of the incredible attributes of her. It was something I hadn’t seen in a long time.
When she shot out of the water, I was stunned. Her body was covered in little pinpricks like she had been stabbed with needles thousands of times all over her body. Blood beaded out from the little holes. Shock rolled through me as I realized she was conscious. She rolled from her hands and knees onto her back. Ailia pulled her cloak from her shoulders and draped it over Willow’s exposed body.
I could have throttled the little queen for that alone. She had gone out here in her nightie and a skimpy silk robe. The water had practically destroyed the little piece of material that was keeping her modest. She gave Ailia a smile and then everything went to hell rather quickly.
The water in the pool surged and a giantess emerged from its depths. Her hair hung around her shoulders little tattered pieces of cloth barely kept her covered. She collapsed on the side of the water and her finger rubbed down Willow’s head with affection. Water splashed all over everyone crowded around us. I stood there in shock. The calls of the giants had woken Willow and she had answered their pleas. Ailia rushed to the monstrous creature and put her hands on her pale, green skin. The clearing illuminated in blue light as she pushed her magic into the other being. Cal placed his hand on her shoulder and his eyes blasted purple light.
With the attention off of Willow for a moment, I approached her slowly. I knelt on the ground beside her and brushed her wet hair from her face. “Hey, there, hero.”
She cut me a smile. “Heroine.”
“You could have died in there.” I cupped the back of her neck and pulled her into my lap. We were still pretending to be married and I didn’t know if I was doing this out of the need to touch her or the need to disguise my true panic. I needed her near me. Every time something happened to her, I felt myself falling harder and farther into a pit I knew I couldn’t return from. A pit I knew would do nothing for me, but yet, I was content with that. She wrapped her arms around my neck and the wetness from her body and the blood on her skin soaked through my clothes. I wrapped the cloak around us and held her. I held onto her like my life depended on it. And at that moment, it did.
Chapter Forty
Cal
I had watched as Balam had held Willow close to his body. He ran his hands down her hair and I knew, even if they weren’t married, Balam loved her. There was a tenderness in his movements and this time, the actions weren’t for my benefit. No, all he cared about was comforting her. I could see it on his face as everyone ran around the giantess and the chaos that came with that, nothing mattered to him but having her there in his arms. I knew because I had experienced the same thing as we were in the jail cell. I had experienced the same feeling after we had escaped. I had to touch her, I had to know she was okay.
My body was depleted after we had healed the giant. She still wasn’t completely healed but it was a start. I couldn’t imagine how we were going to free the rest and heal them too.
Ailia smiled. “She’s not married to him.”
We sat on the ground at the tree line behind the pool of water. After we had spent our magic, we had retreated away from the mass hysteria. After Willow was healed, she was going to go back in. I could see it and feel it in the air. Lawrence approached us in his nightclothes. His hair stood up on his head and he looked frazzled.
“What happened?”
Ailia looked my way before she answered her father. “I saw Willow in the hallway and followed her out of the castle. She was in a trance and I was worried about her. She stopped at the water and I warned her. I told her that she couldn’t go in and she looked at me and said they had called to her. She dove in and that’s when I raced back to the castle. I thought for sure she wasn’t going to make it but I couldn’t see through the water to know.”
Lawrence nodded his head and looked over his shoulder at the heroine. “I would assume she is going to go back in there?”
Ailia shrugged. “It would be fantastic, but we don’t have enough healers to help the giants.”
“I know a healer,” Willow said as she stood behind the king. She held the cloak close to her body and her hair had already started to dry in thick waves. Her skin was slightly pale but she looked good for the amount of magic she had put out.
“How long will it take for the healer to get here? I will pay riches beyond measure. The giants were our greatest ally and now their kingdom lays in ruins.” Lawrence hung his head.
“I don’t want your money,” a man spoke from the shadows of the forest behind us. “But I would like a good meal.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “This is Raymond.”
The man scoffed from the woods and took a step into the clearing. “Nice to meet all of you.”
The man was certainly no man. He resembled Balam in too many ways for him to be a mortal. My eyes flicked to Willow and she gave us a small smile. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that his name wasn’t Raymond either.
Chapter Forty-One
Willow
I had never felt so drained in my entire life. Not after fighting the sea monster, not after scaling the sides of castles, and not even after my magic had first manifested itself. No, I had never felt anything like this and my magic hardly wanted anything to do with me. I tried to call it to my skin but it wouldn’t summon. The only thing I had managed to summon correctly was Abaddon. He and his snarky attitude weren’t exactly welcome, but I had no choice. I had to get all of the giants out alive and there were too many of them. I didn’t know how I was going to go down there again and live through it. Especially with there being hundreds, possibly thousands.
“What an oddity,” I heard some of the Artrovian men whisper. “I knew she wasn’t to be trusted the moment she walked into the kingdom.”
Another replied back in a hushed tone, “Demons. I can hardly believe our king would allow them in.”
“The king doesn’t care about anything but marrying his daughters off,” another said.
My head spun with all of the rumors circulating in the air. I pressed my face into my hands. I could just barely hear Balam speaking to Abaddon in the trees.
“You cannot feed on the humans here,” Balam said with warning in his tone.
“The king said I could have whatever I like as payment.” Abaddon sounded far too triumphant.
“They are already suspicious of us as it is.” I could make ou
t Balam’s figure in the shadows. He paced back and forth between the trees.
“Who cares? They’re only mortals,” Abaddon growled.
“Mortals with magic. Do you see what the elves have managed to do? All they need is a dark grimoire and they can accomplish much. If you feed on the humans here, they will know it and we will be treated like the poor creatures in the pond, but no one will miss us.”
Abaddon sighed. “I suppose you’re right, but I want a fair deal when it comes to Willow. You promised me.”
Balam let out an exasperated sound. “We aren’t discussing this right now.”
Abaddon spoke louder and I knew he was doing it for my benefit. “You will have to tell her eventually. She will hate you if she finds out on her own.”
They stopped talking or I could no longer hear them, but it didn’t matter I knew Balam was keeping things from me and now it worried me even more. I pulled my damp hair over my shoulder and tugged at the ends. I would have to go back in soon and I didn’t know how I was going to make it out alive. The water had damaged my skin and my magic. But I knew I had to go in, they were all expecting it, even the giantess was. She was still laying down but her eyes watched me all the same.
Abaddon approached me slowly. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and a strange look on his face. “Before you go in there, I have to heal you.”
“I’m fine, I don’t need a healer.” Cal had rushed to the giant’s aid before mine. I obviously didn’t need a healer.
Abaddon crouched down in front of me. “You aren’t allowed to go back in there until I heal you. Your magic is depleted greatly.”
I held my hand out and muttered, “fine.”
He ignored it and placed both of his hands on either side of my face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. I felt a zap go through my body and I shivered. I expected that to be it and started to pull away. He held onto my face tightly and I continued to feel little zings across my skin. My chest jerked with each one. After a few more of his zaps, I pushed his hands away. He began to protest but I shook my head. “No, I think I’m good.”
And it was the truth. I no longer felt drained but I wasn’t jittery. There was no extra energy or healing floating around in my body, which was what I had always been afraid of. I had read about healers and I knew that they sometimes ove did it. It caused a lot of problems.
I sunk my toes into the grass again and somehow got the courage to walk to the edge of the water. The giantess watched me but she didn’t speak. I knew the look. It was despair, desperation, and fear. If I didn’t make it out of there, she would be the last one of her kind. Blood still flaked off of my skin but I knew every hole the icy water had made was closed now. I felt a little more confident knowing that. But I knew I would have to endure it over and over again until every giant was free. Or until I died.
No pressure.
I closed my eyes and was about to dive in when a warm hand wrapped around mine. It was Balam. I looked up at him and he gave me a determined look. One I knew I couldn’t change his mind on.
“Your magic is more potent than mine, but Hel created me. She pumped me full of her magic. She made sure I was one of the best to come here. You have almost died too many times for me to be comfortable with you going alone again. Last time I didn’t have a choice. But now I do.” He looked down at his boots then bent down and took them off. His fingers moved quickly and precisely. He threw them to the side and stripped off his shirt. There was a collection of gasps from behind us as they saw his scarring. I chose to not look at them. Something had happened the last time I had and I didn’t want to upset Balam again.
“You ready?”
I looked down at the water and nodded my head as the cloak fell from my shoulders. I knew I was practically nude. I knew that the whispers and the gasps were now toward me and my scarring. I knew we looked like the most dysfunctional husband and wife, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was saving lives. Balam threw me a lazy grin and dove in before I did. My toes stretched and I left the ground right behind him. My body arched in the air before the icy water pierced every inch of my skin.
We pushed deeper and deeper into the water until we were next to the second giant. I wanted to panic as I saw more down here with us, but I knew it would only make matters worse and it was going to be a long night.
Balam nodded at me and kicked off of the ground when I had my hands secured around the chain links. The male giant looked down at me and I saw relief there. I did the same thing I had done before, I exhaled magic onto the chains. But this time I knew what to do.
Instead of pushing up toward the surface as the chains were covered in my gooey magic, I swam to Balam’s side. His magic usually looked like mine, but not now. The usual black wisps were red and there was sizzling in the water around us. The temperature in the water picked up and I had to back up a little. He was melting through the chains.
After a few seconds, he pulled his hands away from the metal and the red magic clawed it’s way down the chains and ignited. The restrains fell free from another giant but my lungs were starting to burn. I looked at Balam in sadness. I gave him a short wave and was about to kick off of the ground when his hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked me back to him. His eyebrows furrowed in the center and he gave me another determined look.
His hand found the back of my neck and he brought his face close to mine. Under different circumstances I would have been hot and heavy all over. All I could do was float there with his hands on my body. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.
Was this considered a kiss? Why? What was going on?
Then he breathed air into my mouth and I wanted to laugh. There was nothing romantic about this at all. How silly I had been. He pushed me away from his body and something in his eyes had changed again. They were no longer burning hot embers, but something else. Something darker. He motioned for me to continue on and I couldn’t help but feel warm inside.
Chapter Forty-Two
Cal
Pride filled me up. I sat there against a tree with Ailia and felt pride. She was a healer like myself and that was a huge relief in itself. It explained my connection to her. It explained why I was drawn to her. It explained a lot more than I had wanted to explore. It gave me hope for our budding friendship. I knew we could both learn a lot together.
I watched the water ripple and another giant stumbled out of the pool. The giant laid on the ground and took a few deep breaths of fresh air before the other demon placed his hands on the creature and put new life back into him. He was done within a few seconds and something about it disgusted me. I didn’t know if it was the fact that Willow had another dark suitor or if it was the fact that he was a demon and they couldn’t be trusted. Either way, I didn’t like him in this kingdom. He had made an agreement with Balam in the tree line and I knew it was important because both demons weren’t too happy when they walked out.
I had watched while he had healed Willow and I felt awful that I hadn’t thought of it. That I had rushed to the aid of Ailia before her. Willow was strong and independent, I hadn’t thought anything of it. I had thought for sure she was fine without me. Then I saw the demon heal her and I felt remorse. She was supposed to be my friend and I had discarded her like a sick animal. I had left her too many times.
Nico crouched down in front of me. “She’s down there much longer than she was before, right Ailia?”
Ailia had leaned forward a few seconds prior but I hadn’t worried about it. Now I could see the sadness creasing her forehead and the fear in her eyes. Willow had been down there for a while, but I tried to remind myself that Balam was there too. It had to be different now, right?
Another giant came up. Then another. Then another until there was no room left in the clearing for all of them. How they had fit under the water without profuse amounts of magic was beyond me.
Ailia answered my questioning mind. “The elves created the pool. That’s why Willow came up with all the little abrasio
ns on her skin. It was attacking her, but her magic must be strong.” She looked me in the eye and tilted her head. “Her magic is unlike anything I have ever seen.”
“She is truly one of a kind,” I remarked with her.
“Her tattoo on her arm. It looks like a brand.” Ailia narrowed her eyes at me.
“Yes, it was.”
“What happened?” Ailia scooted closer to me.
Nico gave me a look before his voice filled my mind. “I don’t care if she’s your friend. She’s fishing for information and if she wants to know she can ask Willow herself.”
“It’s not my place to divulge that information. I’m sure Willow will share her story when she’s ready.” Nico was right, but there was also an entire chest of information that came with the territory of Willow and I wasn’t ready to dive into it all. How would one even start that conversation?
Oh, by the way, my sister is locked in my dungeon. She’s pregnant with the Elven king’s child and that’s why we are at war. They are evil but you already know that. Fat chance of that working out. I didn’t forsee our friendship continuing if I started like that.
Ailia smiled. “I will have to ask her someday when we have a friendship. She seems like someone I would get along with.”
Nico snorted. “Fat chance of that.”
I punched his shoulder. “Not the right time.”
Nico rolled his eyes and laughed. “She is not someone to easily get along with.”
“Nico and Willow have a love-hate relationship,” I muttered.
“More hate than love if I had to guess.” Nico gave us both a smile and Ailia giggled.
“You’re in love with her too?” Ailia asked Nico.
