ROSE
Chapter 35
Another flash of light came from the hedge, and twenty more armed guards appeared from nowhere.
I backed up from the guard that pointed his spear at me. “I hate Dark Magic,” I grumbled.
The guards were riding on horses and dressed in full black armor exactly like the knights in the Middle Ages complete with shields and swords. And I don't mean the cheap, fake plastic swords. I mean the long, wickedly sharp, double-edged ones. The days of the knights were gone a long time ago, but their weapons are still effective and deadly.
“Surrender and come peacefully to your highness,” the Chief said.
Unlike the other guards, he had a black horsehair plume on his helmet and Ash's coat of arms—a symbol of a burning black fire—on his shield.
“One, that will never happen. Two, Ash is so not my highness,” I replied.
I summoned fire and threw it at him. The other guards charged toward me, but then Logan, Ariel, and Skylar sprang into the action. I dodged a sword that would've sliced me in half and spooked another guard's horse by melting a patch of snow and setting fire to the grass in front of it. The horse reared, throwing his rider off. Then it galloped away.
The battle was a frenzy of ice, arrows, fire, and plants, but we were winning. I was kind of surprised that Ash didn't enchant the guards' armor with Dark Magic to make them invincible or something. Because only after a few minutes, I tangled the last guard in a cage of vines. I turned to face my friends.
“That was too eas—”
Then my eyes registered the horrible scene in front of me. Three guards stood behind Logan, Ariel, and Skylar. Each held a sword to their necks.
I knew it! The guards were only pretending to be dazed, so they could strike when we thought the battle was over.
“You will surrender and be brought to Ash,” the chief said. “And if you try anything—” He pressed the blade harder against Logan's throat.
I stood there frozen as the other guards surrounded me and drew their swords. What should I do? I was outnumbered, and my friends and sister were being held hostage. One swipe and the guards could behead them faster than I could take out twenty of them even if simultaneously.
I caught Logan's eye, and he sent me a silent message.
Don't do it!
I looked at Ariel and Skylar. They both said the same thing. But how can I not surrender? They will all die if I don't.
“Fine,” I said.
Two guards came and grabbed my arms. The others withdrew their blades and pointed it at our backs.
The head guard dug the sword's cold, sharp point against my spine. “Move.”
We walked as slowly as we could without getting poked in the back constantly. The guards led us across a gated drawbridge with archers that were ready to shoot crossbows at a moment's notice.
We couldn't see the castle at all outside of the wall, but once we crossed the moat, Ash's fortress stood in all its glory. The castle looked like a king's castle from the twelfth century with black stone walls, watchtowers at the four corners, and an array of other towers. The base of the castle was shaped like a square, but then it looked like Ash added smaller sections later on. The multiple additions made the castle seem sort of sloppy. But Ash wasn't sloppy. She was clever. Clever enough to make her fortress harder to navigate, harder to escape.
We entered the castle through twenty feet high doors and were led inside through a maze of dark, narrow hallways with torches that did very little good and more guards patrolling the castle and guarding every exit. There were so many armor-clad knights that I lost count by the time we reached the fifth hallway.
I racked my brain for a plan to escape the castle, but it doesn't matter. If we don't defeat Ash, there would be no point in escaping.
The guards made us climb flights of spiral stairs until my feet felt like lead weights. Finally, we reached a small metal door at the top of the tallest tower. Forget what I said about not needing an escape plan. We couldn't be put into that prison cell, or we would never get out. But as the guards opened the door, I saw what was actually inside—Mom, Dad, Ash, and a guillotine.
The guards shoved us inside and locked the door.
“How nice of you to join the party,” Ash said. “We were just getting started.”
From the raven talons that bordered the neckline of her blood-red dress to the metal barbs embedded in her black cape, Ash's attire was carefully devised to send chills down your spine. But what she carried was the truly dangerous item. In her hand was a five foot tall scepter. One look and I knew her staff stored Dark Magic.
“Guards, you are dismissed,” Ash said.
“My queen this girl is a tricky one.” The chief stuck a thumb in my direction.
“And I will handle her,” Ash replied.
“But—”
“Are you saying that I am incapable of dealing with this situation?” Ash snapped.
“No! Your highness.” The chief dropped to his knees and groveled.
“Now get out or—” Ash pointed to the guillotine.
The chief and all the other guards scurried away in a second flat. But in their haste to leave, they left the door slightly open. Ash didn't notice it, but I did and so did Logan, Ariel, and Skylar.
“Rose, Rose, Rose.” Ash shook her head. “You escape every trap I set for you, you won't surrender, and you won't give up. You've given me quite a headache, but nevertheless, I finally have you in my hands. And just in time for you to see what happens to my enemies.”
Ash grabbed Mom and dragged her to the guillotine. I didn't come all this way to give up so easily and watch my mom get killed the cruel, old-fashioned way.
I sprang through the door and fled down the stairs. Logan, Skylar, and Ariel followed close behind. Ash let out a loud roar of rage. I heard the metal door bang and angry footsteps following us. A small sigh of relief escaped my lips. The distraction worked.
As we rushed down the staircase, an alarm began to blare. I guess Ash did have some modern equipment.
When we made it to the bottom of the tower, the hall split into three different directions. Sounds of clanging armor came from the left and right corridors, so those were out. We plunged into the dark middle hall and kept running until we had to stop for a break. Then Skylar asked the million-dollar question.
“What next?” she said between gasps.
I put my back against the wall and slid down. Exactly. What are we going to do next? We couldn't keep avoiding Ash forever and let our time run out. We came here to stand up to her, and to stand up to her, we have to face her.
The clanging of armor and shouts of guards coming from the end of the hallway interrupted my thoughts. On the other hand, we couldn't get captured again, so we ran around the castle ducking and evading guards. But there was no time to play this game of chase. We only had ten more minutes until noon.
Luckily or maybe unluckily, the game did end when we reached a large set of heavy black marble doors. Two guards were close behind us, and there was no other way to escape. So we pushed the doors open, and I thought I was going to go blind.
ROSE
Chapter 36
After running through dark hallways, this dazzling white room was like someone holding a bright flashlight to your eyes. When my eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light, I realized this room was a throne room.
Twenty feet in front of us and on a raised platform was a large black throne with red feathers that sprouted from the back of the chair and fanned out like when a peacock raises its tail.
I took a step, and my foot caught in a large crack in the floor. My eyes followed the length of the crack, and I noticed the otherwise beautiful room was ruined by many tendrils of darkness that forced its way through the white marble walls and floors. The darkness cracked and split the stone making the whole room unstable.
The guards had somehow disappeared, and this chamber was a dead end wit
h no other exits. We turned back, but the doors slammed shut by themselves. I shook the large brass handle, but it was locked. We pulled on the doors, but they wouldn't budge no matter how much force we put on them.
From their hiding place in the shadows of the high ceiling, Ash and all the guards in the castle flew down to the floor.
Ash took her seat on the throne. “Stay for a story, Rose. This chamber stores and is sealed with Dark Magic. You aren't going to escape anyway.”
I gave the door one last tug then resigned myself to the fact that Ash was telling the truth.
“A long time ago,” Ash began, “there was a little girl whose existence was a mistake. Because she wasn't wanted, her parents looked at her with regret and anger, she was forced to stay outside even when it snowed, and she was given less food than everyone else. This went on for a few years until the little girl had all she could take. She killed her parents, but it wasn't enough to quench her thirst for revenge. If the world treated her with cruelty, she would return the favor. She swore she wouldn't rest until every faery is eliminated and Astella is under her control. Then and only then will her real reign begin.”
I shook my head. “Where's your heart, Ash?”
Ash didn't reply, but the coldness in those callous eyes told me she lost hers a long time ago.
“This little girl hated the color white,” Ash continued. “To her it stood for goodness, kindness, and caring. She never received any. So on this day, she crushed it to dust.” Ash's gaze flicked to the white walls and the dark tendrils that forced its way through the stone, crumbling it. “From its ruins she will build something darker and more realistic.”
Ash focused her glare on me. “And no one is going to stop her. Guards, attack!”
Guards surged forward like a wave of metal and weapons, but I didn't even feel scared. I was done being afraid. This is what I came here to do. If I had to die today, I would die fighting to the end.
A guard swung a mace at me. I dodged and used rainwater that trickled from the cracks in the room to push him aside. I tried not to seriously hurt anybody since they might be unwillingly doing this on Ash's order. But some guards were earnestly on her side. While I was fighting another person, I heard a clang of metal on metal close behind me.
I quickly knocked the other guy down and turned around. A guard stood behind me with his sword poised to stab me in the back. Thankfully, Logan—being as quick and observant as he was—had blocked the guard's strike with another sword.
Logan encased that guard in a cage of ice.
“Thanks,” I said.
“That's what friends are for—to watch each other's back,” Logan replied.
I blasted fire at another guard that was sneaking up behind him. “Right.”
I wanted to thank him for the many more things he had done for me than just watching my back. But being in a battle, it wasn't the best time to talk.
Ariel summoned green vines from the cracks in the floor and tied up guards. Logan was parrying with another person. Skylar used all the arrows for her bow, so now she was using a spear. She swept enemies off their feet and swatted them out of the air with the blunt end of the stick. But no matter how many guards we tied up or dazed, they kept getting up and won't back down. (Probably from the help of the Dark Magic enhanced armor.)
A few more seconds and Logan, Ariel, Skylar, and I were forced back-to-back. The guards formed a dense circle, surrounding our little group. I used water to push them away, but they kept coming. Then we got overwhelmed, and the guards moved in for the kill.
“STOP!” Ash yelled just before they started the massacre.
She got off her throne and slowly walked toward us. “After this much trouble these four cost me, I will do the honors myself.”
Now I started to panic. I knew defeating Ash wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't know we would end up in this situation.
Ash walked around our circle and studied our faces. When she reached me, she stared into my eyes. I stared back, trying to hide my true feelings. After a few seconds of looking at me, she seemed to get an idea. Her red lips curled into that evil, malicious smile that told me she had an even nastier plan for us.
“I watched your whole adventure,” she said. “You really do care for your friends, and they feel the same about you. That scene in the cave today was very touching. But alas, sentimental isn't my thing. There's still a bit of time before noon, so let's have some fun. But we do need space.”
Ash snapped her fingers, and all of the guards' armor started to glow orange as the metal heated up. There wasn't even time to draw breath before the light faded. Armor shells clattered to the floor, and black ash trickled from the chinks in the suit. A strangled sound escaped from my throat as I realized what she had done.
I know Ash was bad. I didn't know she could be this terrible. She killed all of her guards—the people who worked for her—and acted as if nothing happened.
“How do you guys feel about fighting each other?” Ash asked, breaking the second of silence.
“We would never do that,” all of us said at the same time.
After all we been through, we weren't suddenly going to go homicidal on one another.
“Then I will have to make you,” Ash said.
A pang of worry hit me. Could she really do that?
Ash spread her hands, and tendrils of smoke curled from her fingers and reached toward my friends. We scattered in different directions, but the smoke followed Logan, Ariel, and Skylar. They ran as fast as they could, but the smoke became quicker and caught up with them.
The darkness touched my friends, and they froze. Their pupils dilated until their eyes became all black, and their movements turned rigid.
Ariel charged and threw a wreath of flowers at me. (How is flowers an effective weapon?) I dodged right before it hit my face, but I caught a whiff of the blossoms' horrid stench that made me dizzy and nauseous. It was the same poisonous flowers Logan and I encountered in the cave.
I took a few steps back. “Ariel?”
But there was no reaction from her other than a deeper scowl. Then it was Logan's turn. He barreled at me with sword in hand. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. He swung, aiming for my neck. I formed a wall of ice to deflect his sword, but the force of his blow shattered the wall spraying me with ice shrapnel.
My friends formed a semicircle around me, forcing me to back up.
“Guys, please stop this,” I said.
“Don't even try. They only listen to me,” Ash replied.
Skylar swung her spear in a low circle close to the ground and swept me off my feet before I could react. I hit my head on the stone floor. The impact wasn't very hard, but it was just hard enough to reactivate the headache from the Griffgon fight.
Black spots danced in my vision, and I saw double of everything. I fought to stay conscious. I couldn't black out now, or I would never wake up. But despite my best efforts, my vision warped into a blur of indecipherable shapes and shadows.
Something cold slashed across my upper arm followed by stinging pain and warm gushing blood. My vision cleared, and I saw Logan standing upon me. His sword hovered two inches above my chest. I stared into his eyes. They were once warm and familiar, but now they were swallowed by darkness.
“Logan,” I said shakily, “would you really kill me?”
My voice must've gotten through Ash's spell because his fierce expression wavered, and his eyes turned back to blue. He looked from me crumpled on the floor, the gash on my arm, to the bloodstained blade in his hand and became increasingly confused. Then his eyes widened as he realized what he had done.
He stretched a hand toward me. “Rose, I—”
But then his pupils dilated, and he swiped at me again. I rolled out of the way just before his sword cracked the stone where my head used to be.
Lying on my back, I saw my sister, my best friend, and my hopefully someday boyfriend surrounding me with looks
of hatred and were ready to tear me into bits. It was like a scene from a horror movie. Though I knew none of this was their fault.
Ash was using them as puppets like she did to Vendela. My friends would never intentionally hurt me. But I couldn't evade them forever, and I couldn't strike back.
Ash lazily studied her fingernails that were painted dark red. “Do you know why I never grew a connection with Astella?” she asked. “I have no love for this place. I don't call this home or have any fond memories because the ones that love you are the ones that will stab you in the back.”
As if to prove Ash's point, Logan hefted his sword and raised it over my head.
“Please,” I pleaded.
I tried to get up, but between the headache and the nasty looks my friends were giving me, I was surprised I could get any words out.
I got to my knees in a begging position. “I am your friend, Rose. You guys are my friends. We have been through so much together. I know I can trust you.”
It seemed like a weak plea, but the black retreated from Ariel's and Skylar's eyes, and they turned back to normal. Logan, however, did not.
“Rose, I am so sorry.” Ariel helped me up. “I never meant to do that.”
“It's not your fault,” I replied.
I turned to face Logan. “Logan, you can do it. I know you can win against Ash's magic,” I said, hoping the sound of my voice might snap him out of the spell like it did before. But this time nothing happened.
“He may be the hardest to control, but I am keeping a tight grip on him—the one that will hurt you the most if you fail to save,” Ash said.
“Why don't you fight me yourself? Or are you scared so that you have to hide behind my friends?” I taunted.
“You are the one that should be scared,” Ash snarled.
She flicked her hand, and Logan retreated into a corner of the room.
“Try your best. Let's see if three little girls, who don't even have full magic training, can defeat me,” Ash said.
We attacked at the same time. I formed ice daggers and threw it at Ash, but she easily redirected them back at me. I got out of the way before I could get skewered by my own assault. Ariel sent vines creeping up on Ash, trying to tie her up. But Ash splayed her fingers, and the vines wilted and died when they contacted the black smoke. Skylar snuck behind Ash and tried to trip her with her spear, but without even turning her head, wisps of smoke curled from Ash's fingertips then solidified into a black dagger that raced toward Skylar's chest. Skylar ducked and just missed the dagger that buried itself in the stone wall an inch above her head.
Fated Loss (Red Rose & Black Ash Book 1) Page 16
