Double Star

by Cindy Saunders

  Tonight, he could not believe his good luck. The three had unwittingly chosen a spot no more than two hundred meters from the prison where he was instructed to hold the girl. All he needed to do was lure her away from her companions. He would get her out of the way, and then present the two boys with their ugly fates... a moment he wanted to savor and enjoy.

  ***

  As soon as Liam lay down, he began to drift to sleep. Corm’s steady breathing a short distance away indicated he had already surrendered to exhaustion. Liam rolled to his side and put his arm around Ally. She moved closer and nestled her head into his chest.

  “Good night,” he whispered.

  “Night,” she mumbled. “Love you.”

  He smiled and looked to the heavens. “Thank you.” His thoughts danced to the rhythm of her heart and he fell into a deep and immediate sleep.

  ***

  Now!

  It was divine intervention—it must be. Caleb pulled the wooden instrument from his back pocket, the one he had picked up when the lad set it down. At the time, he was unsure as to why. But now, he knew. He walked half the distance to the sleeping three and placed it on the ground, transformed into his spider form, and crept to where they lay.

  He crawled onto the girl’s arm and then to her neck. His legs played with the thin, short hairs on her throat. When she stirred, he leaped off and scurried into the woods, changed back, and picked up the recorder. Softly, he began to play the same tune the boy played earlier. Was it coincidence that Caleb knew how to play this stupid instrument? Was it luck the song the boy kept playing was one of four he actually knew? No, he decided, it was Destiny, working to fulfill the Master’s promise to him.

  He worked the recorder with his lips and fingers and moved back toward the trees.

  ***

  “Eyck!” Ally sat up and brushed away whatever bug or, worse, spider was on her throat. Her eyes darted around but the intruder had disappeared. She was about to lay back down when she heard a familiar sound from the woods—a recorder, playing the song the little boy had played earlier. Had he wandered away again, at this hour?

  She caught a glimpse of a silhouette moving awkwardly through the trees. She reached beside her. “Liam, wake up.” But he remained asleep… and snoring. She smiled. I’ll point that out to him in the morning. She got on her knees and crawled between Liam and Corm. “Hey, hey!” she said, giving them each a shove. But exhaustion, or perhaps one too many beers, had taken over. They didn’t stir.

  I can do this. Who knows? It might be nothing, but when the song began again, she doubted it. The moon was bright and would provide all the light needed. It didn’t sound like he was very far away. “Joseph?” she called out, her feet already moving her into the woods.

  ***

  Caleb’s lips broke into a sadistic smile as her voice moved up behind him. He didn’t have to turn around to know his plan was working. Her voice was not accompanied by another, and he sensed the leaves behind him were stirring from a single pair of feet. The drug had done its part, and the other two were still asleep. She had willingly moved away from her friends, eager to help a stranger. Continuing to play, he walked deeper into the woods.

  The bushes with the thorny vines began to fill in the space between the trees. Although a vine occasionally crossed his path, the leather riding pants he wore protected his legs from nature’s tiny daggers. He reached the oak tree whose dead form he had committed to memory. Bushes encircled the tree, and vines gripped its lower limbs, as if trying to pull the skeletal remains down.

  His retreat reached a dead end. He fell to his knees, dropped the recorder and, after he transformed, crept onto one of the vines growing from the center of the bush. It moved like the head of a viper in search of a tree branch to cling to. He scrambled to the other side and changed back, knowing he was now completely concealed.

  ***

  “Joseph,” she called, continuing to follow the music. Something was weird about the way he ran and she began to get nervous. She envisioned the Pied Piper, calling Ireland’s children to their doom. Stop it. This wasn’t some grotesque fairy tale. It was simply a little boy. She turned around, no longer able to see where Liam and Corm were sleeping, and hoped she wouldn’t regret her decision to leave the camp. I’ll find him and then get lost myself.

  She avoided the fallen branches and bushes that dove at her ankles until something bit into her lower legs… something long enough to cut through her jeans. A vine had attached itself to the front of her pants. She tried to remove it and winced.

  “Joseph!” She held her hand to her eye. A thorn protruded from her fingertip. If he’s in here, he’s probably stuck on these. She pulled it out and flicked it away. As it dropped, she looked at her leg. Half a dozen of the prickly barbs protruded from her jeans.

  A sound came from the tall bushes directly ahead of her. The dense thicket looked alive. Dead, twisted branches waved in the breeze, inviting her closer.

  She began moving again. “Joseph, don’t run away from me.” A vine whipped across her path and cut into her right leg. The ground began to spin. Off-balance, she reached out and gripped one of the vines. Its thorns pierced her palm. “Ooww!” She made a fist and blood dripped from her hand, trickled onto the leaves at her feet. The sound sent a chill through her.

  She looked at the moving branches again and lifted her head, realizing they danced in silence. There was no wind. So why were they moving? A weird sense of déjà vu, and fear, began to consume her.

  The dream she’d had on her second night here… the bush Gabriel drew and Ian’s warning: That is a Gorgon bush. Their thorns incapacitate with a single scratch. Her inner voice screamed, It’s a trap!

  The warning, the recognition, came too late. Weak in the knees, she began to fall to the ground. Two gloved hands grasped her wrists and roughly pulled her through the bushes. The image of the old oak being suffocated by the vines was the last thing she remembered.

  ***

  Caleb threw the leather gloves on the ground and picked her up. But after only a short distance, he began to struggle. He put her down and began to walk backwards, dragging her the twenty-five meters to the tunnel entrance.

  The subterranean labyrinth stretched two hundred meters to the south and almost four hundred meters to the north. It was nearly invisible to those not aware of its existence. The main passageway was concealed in a small hill adjacent to the ancient gardens. Two life-size statues, hidden by the untended overgrowth, were the only clues that, at one time, this was the home of Minos, the ancient king. One of the sculptures bore the head of a bull and the body of a man, the Minotaur, and the other was a frightening likeness of Medusa.

  The ceilings in the underground maze were surprisingly high, and he pulled her down a series of narrow hallways, keeping track of the number of openings he passed before changing course. He navigated a series of switchbacks and finally reached his destination—a four-meter by three-meter room. There was no door to confine her, but that would not be necessary.

  He placed her body in the corner and picked up the sticky webbing he had spun the day before, while in spider form. Once he wrapped it around her and was confident she was adequately restrained, he reached for one of several vines. He had removed the thorns from the last thirty centimeters of their length and used them to bind her legs, securing the thorn-free ends. If she regained consciousness earlier than anticipated, she could stay perfectly still and respect her situation or find herself returning to the darkness.

  Exhaustion made it hard to think, but he knew the Master would be pleased. Just one more minor detail.

  He returned to where the two boys slept. He needed to inject as much poison as possible with a single bite. The drug would be wearing off and, if they realized what was happening, he might lose his advantage.

  In spider form, he crawled inside the boy named Liam’s pant leg. He sunk his fangs into the fleshy part of the calf, allowing the poison to flow freely. He did not want to wake him. Not un
til he was sure the venom had taken effect. After a moment, he let go and quickly scurried toward the other.

  Once done, Caleb waited at their feet and looked at their four horses. The large black stallion stared at him and began to whinny, fighting to be free of his tether. He would take that one when it was time to leave. That horse was clearly the strongest.

  ***

  “Pollux?” Liam sat up slowly and rubbed his leg where something had bitten him. He assumed it was the consequence of sleeping near a pond on a warm night and looked beside him.e he thouH

  “Ally?” he called out, and waited.

  “Ally!” Again, the answer was silence. “Corm!”

  “What is it?” Corm asked, groggy.

  “Where is Ally?” Liam tried to stand, but his legs buckled and he fell to his knees. Sweat broke out on his forehead. His breathing became heavy. He looked around but his vision was blurred, his surroundings distorted.

  He tried to get to his feet a second time, but a violent pain exploded in his chest and intense cramps erupted in his abdomen. He lay on his side and held his stomach. “Aaah!” he shouted when the pain became unbearable.

  Corm began to moan as well. Liam saw him try to get up, then flop back down to his blanket.

  “Corm,” he groaned between clenched teeth. He heard his friend violently retch on the ground beside him.

  What is happening? He looked around and saw multiple images of the same thing. And then, the distorted shape of a boy floated at his feet.

  Chapter 31

  Oisin offered to refill their mugs and walked to the firkin, but stopped midstride. Apprehension ran through him like a dagger, and he looked in the direction of the camp. The feeling of dread was impossible to deny. He nearly collided with Ian and Shane as they ran past.

  “Something is wrong!” Shane said.

  “I sensed it as well.” Oisin dropped the flagons and they raced toward the horses.

  “Wait. Where are you going?” one of the girls cried out, but the question went unanswered as the boys disappeared into the night.

  ***

  “Help us,” Liam begged as a wave of nausea rolled over him.

  “We meet again, although this time it is I who controls your Fate.”

  Despite his impaired vision, Liam saw the malicious smile that played upon the boy’s lips, and hope was replaced with despair when he realized who it was.

  “I believe the poison is taking effect. I will enjoy watching you suffer. This is for you.” Caleb drew back his foot and kicked Liam sharply in the stomach. “How does that feel? Not very good I imagine, given your present state.”

  Liam could not even utter a scream as he writhed in pain.

  “On a happier note,” Caleb continued, “know that Ally is in my capable hands. I will certainly take better care of her than you were able to. I promise.”

  ***

  Their bodies wrenched with spasms. It would not be long now. Caleb doubted they could still hear him but he went on.

  “You underestimated me, a grievous mistake. It is regrettable your precious forest and its magic cannot save you. We are stronger. Remember that. However,” he picked up Ally’s bag, “I do not believe we will meet again.”

  He attempted to communicate with the Master but, for the first time since he departed Crooks, he could not. No matter. He would arrive soon enough.

  It was two hours until sunup when he made his way back to the labyrinth… to his prisoner. She held the key to his future, among other things, and he smiled. Once the Master obtains what he needs, you belong to me.

  ***

  The two riders raced through the night. The glowing eyes of the demon horses they rode upon were the only features that distinguished them from their surroundings. The thunder of hoof beats was deafening as they roared by. The birds of the night took flight—fearful the malignant spirits within these beasts would reach out and turn them to stone. Their fiery breath, which hung in the air, was the only indication they passed at all as they continued to gallop toward their destination.

  Cepheus gazed into the talisman, monitoring the progress of the two warriors, while he stroked the two-headed raven on the perch beside him. His promise to Caleb was necessary, but he never intended to make the journey. He could not risk leaving the castle until the girl was firmly within his grasp. The boy would be disappointed but might live to return—if only to meet his fate. A pity.

  Caleb, without hesitation, had extinguished the lives of the two from Gilgamesh. And then the connection between them had been severed. Maelyn had no explanation for the separation and, although it caused unease, he knew there was no need for concern. Askari and Sukata were two of his finest, the magic within them as powerful as any in the castle. Nothing or no one was capable of standing between them and the girl. Of that, he was sure.

  ***

  Oisin directed Nemesis off the road, Ian and Shane close behind. He jumped from the saddle before the horse came to a stop and rushed to the spot where his friends were on the ground, their bodies still. “Liam! Corm!” He fell to his knees and attempted to turn Liam onto his back and break him from the fetal position he had assumed.

  “What in the name of Hades happened?” Shane shouted.

  Ian looked wildly around. “I do not know, but we must act quickly! Where is Ally?”

  “Liam, what or who did this to you?” Oisin put his ear to Liam’s gray-white lips and prayed there was still a breath of life inside.

  ***

  Where is Ally? The question broke through the cobwebs that filled Liam’s mind and the intense throbbing that pushed on his eyes. He gathered all his energy, tapped into the last trace of life within, and slowly opened his mouth. “‘Pider bite,” was all he managed before the darkness began to choke him.

  ***

  “Corm, stay with me, my friend!” But Shane’s command received no response.

  “They are inflicted with a spider bite!” Oisin cried.

  Ian grabbed Liam’s bag and dumped Thea’s potions on the ground. “Will one of these treat a spider bite? None of them bear a label!”

  Oisin cradled Liam’s head. “I do not know, but you need to make a choice!”

  “It is useless unless we know where they were bitten!” Ian picked up a bottle that contained a clear liquid.

  “Quickly,” Oisin said. “I hear the singing of the spirits! They are coming to take them—”

  The light from the second moon shone on the saber that hung from Pollux. Through the sheath, the blade erupted in brilliance. The ground around Liam and Corm glowed.

  “That is not the spirits we hear,” Ian said. “It is the sword.” He withdrew it and, as he looked at the blade, the writing shifted and changed.

  Put me near Achilles and the two-headed diamond.

  “Oisin! Shane! Roll up their pants! “

  Ian looked at Liam’s calf. The sword directed itself to the red welt that was now visible, and the tip penetrated Liam’s flesh.

  ***

  Liam’s voice was lost to the fire that burned through his body. He saw a specter in the distance. It floated toward him and he recognized the hair, the face.

  “Liam, go back,” his mother whispered, but the ghost’s lips did not move. “I will not let you pass. You have missed the second of Time’s markers. There is a tomorrow and the survival of everything around you dictates it be the path you follow. You must return and fulfill your destiny.”

  She was inches from him now, and he could see through her.

  “The evil hidden for centuries will soon be revealed. You carry a great weight, but it is one you cannot bear alone. Together, you have the power to defeat it. Always remember what lies within your heart,” she whispered and put a ghost-like hand upon his chest.

  “Do not leave me.” But his silent plea could not keep the spirit from fading.

  “The angel needs you. You must save her. Her strength will inspire and unite. Return to her, Liam.”

  Ally! Her face appeared in fro
nt of him, and he fought to be free. With effort, he opened his eyes. A face, inches from his own, stared down at him.

  “Ally,” Liam moaned.

  “No. It is I, Shane.”

  Oisin pushed him away. “I am sure he is not confusing you with Ally.”

  “Oisin?” Liam gasped. His mouth was dry, his throat tight.

  “Yes,” Oisin replied. “Shane, please bring water.”

  Oisin helped him to a sitting position and placed the pouch to his lips. He took only a sip but it cooled the fire that burned in his throat. The pounding in his head was another matter and his body continued to shake.

  “Corm,” Liam said and looked to his left. Ian held the sword to Corm’s lower leg and, when he lifted it, blood dripped from the tip. Corm slowly opened his eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Liam asked.

  “What the sword told me to,” Ian answered. “We did not have much time, did not even know where you had been bitten when your sword began to… sing.”

  “How ever did you decipher the meaning of the words?” Shane asked Ian.

  “You really need to read more,” Ian answered.

  Liam slowly got to his feet and took the sword from Ian. The writing on the blade was as he remembered and, as he held it, he felt renewed strength. “We must get Ally.”

  “Where is she?” Oisin said.

  “He has her. We need to go.”

  Shane’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

  “Caleb. When I awoke, she was gone but he was here. He poisoned us. He is an arachnid and… Ally believes he might be Adam’s brother.”