by Kristie Cook
“I think it is time for another, ah, session if you will.” He gives me a smug grin. I refuse to cower but my legs feel as though they are on the verge of collapsing beneath me from fear.
Dugan presses his fingertips against his temples and before I have time to react, the pain returns just like before. The pulsating lights orbiting my head in perpetual circles make me dizzy. Swirls of color and sound surround me. Then suddenly, the world stops spinning and I’m no longer alone. Lying on the ground in front of me is a tiny, baby girl with golden curls.
Maddie. She is here, ghostly pale with fever and struggling to breathe.
I am frozen in shock, willing myself to realize that this is not real.
It can’t be real.
Before my very eyes she turns blue; she is suffocating. Her big blue eyes are about to pop out of their sockets. She is gasping for breath and I start panicking.
“Maddie!” I scream as I rush over to help her, but I’m too late. I cradle her lifeless body in my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Then she is gone.
Vanished.
But she is replaced.
My mom is before me on the ground, writhing in pain and foaming at the mouth. She is covered with snake bites, and her skin is turning black where the venom has infiltrated her system. Once again I fall to my knees, trying to heal her. But it’s no use. I am too late again.
Now Hannah is here. Lying on the floor, her limbs sprawled out in very unnatural ways. Her arms, her legs, her neck. All broken. She doesn’t move, she doesn’t scream. She just lays there. And there is nothing I can do to bring her back. As soon as I reach out for her, she disappears. I am helpless to save the ones that I love. The pain in my chest is agonizing; this is too much to bear. It’s not real, it’s not real. I keep chanting to myself. I find myself humming Maddie’s lullaby to try to keep calm.
“Open your eyes, Mia.”
I am startled by the lyrical voice. I open my eyes, and before me is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Waves of golden hair fall down to her waist. Her rose-colored eyes appear gentle and kind, but there is a sense of power radiating from her, emphasized by the warm light that engulfs her from head to toe. She has appeared from nowhere and her radiance is so bright I have to shade my eyes.
“Who are you?” I struggle to do as she asks and after a few seconds my eyes finally adjust to the light.
“I am here to help.”
“How?” I ask uncertainly.
“You are my Chosen One. The power is within you. But you must first believe in yourself.”
I hear soft moaning coming from behind me. Reluctantly, I turn away from the golden lady and see Grey. He is standing before me, blood pouring out of every orifice. I cannot see his golden skin. I can’t see anything but red and the indigo blue of his eyes. Unlike the others, Grey speaks to me.
“Help me,” he pleads weakly.
“This isn’t real!” I scream at Grey and the glowing lady.
“Mia, please! You have to help me.” He makes a gurgling sound and spits blood on to the ground in front of me.
“I can’t! This isn’t real! You can’t be here!”
“The power is within you,” she whispers to me before she vanishes and leaving me alone with Grey.
We are not alone for long. Suddenly, I am surrounded by everyone I love.
Mom. Paul. Alberico. Hannah.
Maddie.
Everyone that I have ever cared deeply for is, before my very eyes, dying and needing my help.
The tingling gets stronger and stronger until my fingertips are actually glowing.
“Please, Mia. You have to. Please,” Grey pleads.
An explosion of yellowish-light brighter than the sun erupts from my hands. I feel the power surging through me until the last of my strength is gone. I vaguely remember someone screaming, “No Mia, don’t!” before I am swallowed up by the darkness once again.
Chapter Fifteen
“Has she opened her eyes yet?” I hear a familiar voice ask worriedly.
I’m disoriented and smell the familiar scent of fresh honeysuckle and cinnamon. For one brief moment I think I may be back in Á lfheimr and I don’t want to open my eyes only to discover I am still locked away in the dungeon.
“Not yet,” says a velvet voice that reminds me of Grey. But he can’t be here, can he? It’s all in my head. It was always all in my head.
I run my fingers across a plush, soft, expensive feeling downy blanket, and realize that I am definitely not on the rock hard cot with the dirty, flimsy sheet any longer. My eyes pop open and I immediately sit up, only to nearly collapse again from the pain that shoots through my head.
“Easy, Mia. Easy,” says the warm voice that I now recognize as Alberico. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. Just lie down and try to relax.”
“Alberico?” I croak out. I clear my throat and try again, but I’m still barely able to produce an audible whisper. Luckily, everyone in this room is blessed with elfish super-hearing powers. “What happened?”
“How are you feeling?” Alberico asks me, placing the back of his hand to my forehead as though checking to see if I have a fever.
“What happened?” I ask again, my voice a little stronger this time.
“After you didn’t come down from your room, I went up searching for you,” Grey explains. “I am so sorry, Mia. I never should have let you out of my sight. If I would have just insisted on going with you, this whole thing never would have happened.” He looks sad, and my heart aches seeing him in pain.
“I don’t blame you. It’s fine.” I rub my temples trying to relieve some of the pressure in my skull radiating from the killer headache. “How long have I been out for?”
“Just a few hours. It’s just after midnight.”
Then I remember what made me rush out of Á lfheimr in the first place and a panic sets in. “Where is Maddie? Is she...?” I can’t even finish the question. A part of me doesn’t want to know the answer.
“She is fine,” Alberico answers me, and grasps my hands in his own. “She pulled through and her stats are looking much better. It appears you inherited your mother’s over-dramatic flair. If you would have just been patient, you would have realized that modern medicine is a wonderful thing. You can’t just go around healing anybody and everybody, my sweet girl. Not only will it wear you out, but most of the time it is completely unnecessary.” Alberico’s smile is warm and indulgent.
“Maddie is okay?” I ask one more time for reassurance.
“She is fine. I went and visited her myself yesterday,” Grey interjects.
“You went to see my sister? Why?”
He looks almost embarrassed at first, like he doesn’t want to tell me.
“Well, after you disappeared, I had to do a bit of damage control until we found you.” His indigo eyes beg me to understand. And I do. My mom would have been expecting me after my frantic reaction over the phone. When I didn’t show up, she would have been worried about me when she should have been focusing on Maddie. I am immensely grateful to Greyson and his obsessive need to tie up loose ends.
“But how did I, I mean, we...how did I escape?”
“What do you remember?” Alberico asks.
“I remember …” I start to say, but I stop. I remember everything, but the words are hard to spit out. I remember being taken by Brian and Jacoby. I remember being thrown into a cell and tortured. I remember Jacoby telling me his story. I remember Dugan torturing my mind. I remember Jacoby promising he was going to help me escape.
“Jacoby! Where is he? Is he still here?”
“Yes, he is still here. He is locked in the dungeon awaiting his sentencing,” Alberico informs me.
“Awaiting his sentencing for what?”
“For kidnapping the princess of course,” Grey interjects.
“But you can’t punish him! He helped me escape!” I am on my feet now.
“He is the one who kidnapped you, Mia. How can you expect me not to punish the
person who kidnapped my daughter?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. He helped me. You have to set him free,” I beg Alberico.
“He can’t be trusted.” Grey’s eyebrows are furrowed in frustration.
“Alberico, please. You have to believe me. He isn’t a danger to us. He doesn’t want to be like that. He’s good. He’s not evil like the Dark Elves. I know he isn’t.”
“What was his role?” Alberico asks me kindly.
“Yes, he was there. But Brian is the one who grabbed me and transported me to the Underworld.”
“And Jacoby did nothing to stop him,” Grey points out.
“Yes, but he didn’t have a choice,” I argue. “Dugan tortures anybody who goes against him. Jacoby risked a lot when he helped me. We have to grant him amnesty or something. Dugan will hunt him down and kill him for helping me.”
Alberico is watching me closely as though trying to decide whether to trust my instinct.
“Are you certain we can trust him?”
“Absolutely. I know he is good. Please, Dad? I know I’m right. I’ve never asked you for anything, but I am asking you now. Please release him. Please do this for me?”
Alberico sighs heavily. “I’ll have to call a council meeting and inform everyone of the new developments. Jacoby will need to give a formal testimony as to what occurred as well.”
“Thank you!” I sigh in relief. “Can I go see him now?”
He eyes me warily.
“Please?” I plead.
“I think you need to rest, my dear. You are incredibly weak right now. Using that much magic all at once is extremely draining. I really should insist that you rest first,” he sighs heavily. “But I suspect you will sneak down there the moment you are alone anyway.”
“Probably,” I admit, causing him to chuckle at my stubbornness.
“Grey, please escort Mia down to the dungeon to see Jacoby. Keep her safe. I’m going to go call on the council. I will join you down there shortly. I am so thankful you are here safe and sound,” he says as he kisses the top of my head.
As soon as Alberico leaves my room, Grey shuts the door and turns to face me.
“I don’t understand why you would want anything to do with the jerk who kidnapped you. This is one time I will not follow orders. I’m not taking you down there.”
“Yes you are! If you don’t, I’ll go by myself! And I guarantee my father would not be very happy with you about that.”
“He is the enemy. Why would you want to see him?”
“You don’t even know him. He was just doing what he was ordered to do. He never hurt me!” I stomp past him, but he holds out his arm, blocking me from the door.
“Let me pass.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“I’m serious Grey. Let. Me. Pass.”
He stares at me trying to break my resolve and when it doesn’t work he sighs in defeat.
“I don’t like this.”
“You don’t have to.”
He leads me through the east wing and down a flight of stone stairs to the dungeon. There is only one cell down here and it’s nothing like the dark, scary looking dungeon I just spent the last few days in. Besides one wall being constructed of steel bars, it resembles any other room in the castle, just a lot less extravagant. Jacoby is sitting on the bed with his head in his hands looking down at the ground between his feet.
“Jacoby?” I say tentatively as I approach the cell.
“Hey Lark,” he greets me. While his voice is nonchalant, his eyes reveal relief at seeing me. He stands and walks over to the bars and places his hands on top of my own. His familiar touch sends an electrical jolt through my hand and straight to my heart.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper earnestly.
“I’m fine, the accommodations are quite lovely here. Much nicer than the one we provided for you anyway.”
“I told Alberico that you helped me. He agreed to grant you amnesty. He’s calling a meeting with his council right now. He’ll be down here soon. You’ll have to give a testimony about everything that happened but then you should be good.”
He squeezes my hands and offers me a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m tired. And I have an awful headache. So what happened? I remember some of it but most of its still fuzzy.”
“I transported us to your bedroom. A Light Elf was keeping watch nearby and sensed when we arrived. He brought us both here. I was arrested on the spot and brought here to this lovely room,” he gestures around and smiles lightly.
“But what happened … you know … before that?”
“Well, Lark, you sorta turned into the sun, and you know how the Dark Elves feel about the sun,” Jacoby smirks, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I know he is trying to make a joke but he’s hiding something important from me. He presses his forehead to the cool cell bars and shuts his eyes tightly, as if trying to fight back some sort of emotion before looking at me again “I’ve been begging for any information on your condition, but nobody would tell me anything. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see you in one piece, Lark.”
“Why are you calling her that?” Grey asks from the entrance.
“Who are you?” Jacoby asks, noticing him for the first time.
“A friend of Mia’s,” Grey answers.
“Well, ‘friend of Mia’s’, if you’ve ever heard her sing you would know why I call her Lark.”
“Mia doesn’t sing.”
“Aha, but she does. Perhaps I know her better than you do?” Jacoby instigates.
Grey scoffs in response and walks back up the stairs.
“Friendly,” Jacoby mutters.
“He doesn’t approve of me talking to you,” I whisper even though I know Grey will undoubtedly be able to hear me anyway.
“Why ever not?” Jacoby fakes surprise.
“Oh I don’t know, something about you not stopping Brian from kidnapping me. Oh, and the fact that you happen to be the beloved Prince of the Dark Elves.”
“Yes, there is that. Did you at least tell him I also helped you escape and therefore will never be able to return to the Underworld for fear that they will punish me brutally, perhaps even kill me?”
“Yes, but his mind is already made up. You are not to be trusted.”
“I can’t say I blame him,” he shrugs with a smirk.
“But you aren’t bad, are you?” I ask him seriously.
“I’m no saint.”
Yes, he’s definitely not a saint. He has done evil things, but I refuse to believe that he’s an evil person. He wouldn’t have helped me if he was.
Grey clears his throat loudly to get our attention.
“Alberico is coming,” he announces and I step away from the cell.
A few seconds later, Alberico descends the stairs with Frederick, one of his guards, and Finnegan trailing behind him, red-faced and obviously irritated.
“Your majesty, please be reasonable.”
“I told you, as I told the rest of the council, Mia has given her statement and our first assumptions were false. If she believes the prisoner is on our side, then I believe her. It is no longer up for discussion.”
“But—”
“Remember your place, Duke,” growls Grey. “If His Majesty has decided to offer him amnesty, it is none of your concern.”
Finnegan looks taken aback and furious as he looks from Grey to Alberico and finally to me before he storms back up the stairs.
“Jacoby, could you please tell us what happened?”
“When Dugan dismissed me from her cell, I knew that I had to get her out of there. I hunted down my contact to try to get the amulet early. It wasn’t finished yet. Then I heard her scream, so I knew I couldn’t wait for it. I rushed back to her. I had just returned when she lit up the room, and the Dark Elves were kind of, um...well, freaked out, so I grabbed her while they were distracted and transported her to the first place I thought of, her bedroom.
“Frederick,” Alber
ico nods to the guard and he steps forward immediately to unlock the cell to let Jacoby out.
“What do you mean that I ‘lit up the room’?”
“As bright as the sun,” Jacoby answers.
At first I have no idea what he is talking about, but then I remember the golden lady.
“That wasn’t me,” I tell him. “You must’ve seen her too.”
The three of them silently stare at me like I am a crazy person.
“Who are you talking about, Mia?” asks Alberico kindly.
“The golden lady. She kept saying ’the power is within you’ and a bunch of other crap about being ’the chosen one’.”
“I assure you, the only ‘golden lady’ in the dungeon was you,” Jacoby says.
“But that’s not possible. I can’t do that!” I stamp my foot in frustration. I’m already part elf, I don’t need to add ‘glowin-the-dark’ to the mix. “She talked to me. I’m not crazy! I know she was there!”
“Alberico, do you think this means—?” Grey doesn’t finish his question.
“It can’t be anything else,” Alberico smiles. “She has been blessed.”
“Blessed? By who?”
“You have been blessed by SÓ l, my dear”
“Who is Soul?”
“SÓ l is the Goddess of the Sun,” he states simply.
“And how do you know I’ve been blessed by her?”
“Do you think we are all capable of controlling the light from the sun?” His blue eyes twinkle with pride. “You’ve been chosen by the goddess.”
“Why would SÓ l bless her if she is the one prophesied to break the curse that SÓ l herself placed upon the DÖkkÁ lfar?” Grey questions Alberico as he runs his hand nervously through his hair.
“I am not sure. But it is certain that she has been blessed.”
“Maybe I’m not the one in the prophecy after all?” I ask hopefully.
“If you aren’t the one, who is? You are the only one to fit the description,” Grey points out. “Alberico has no other children. So you are the only Half-blood child of a Sovereign one.”
I shrug in defeat, “I was just hoping I guess.”
