by Лори Девоти
Ceremony? Risk cocked an eyebrow, but kept the question to himself. Perhaps he was about to learn the source of Jormun’s power.
A skapt arrived and Risk followed him out of the hall.
As they approached the section outside where Kara and her sister were housed, an idea occurred to Risk.
“Is it a lot of work for you, waiting on all these witches?”
The skapt turned, surprise at being addressed written on his face. “Work? It’s why we exist. We thank the Great One for the privilege every day.”
Risk studied the skapt, trying to decide if he was one of the two Risk had met the first day. “Have you met either of these witches?” He motioned to the doorway that separated him from Kara.
The skapt frowned, his short arms hanging loosely at his sides. “Why would I?”
“You aren’t curious about them? About the legends?”
“Legends?” The skapt shook his head. “Witches are nothing but tools. They don’t have the power you or the Great One share.”
This wasn’t going as Risk had hoped. He changed gears. “But they are useful, and fascinating.”
The skapt stared at him, the skapt’s face blank.
This was getting Risk nowhere. “Would you like to see me change?” he asked.
The skapt’s eyebrows rose. “Yes.” The word came out in a reverent hiss.
Closing his eyes, Risk concentrated on transforming. Within seconds he stared at the skapt through canine eyes.
“They spoke the truth.” The skapt looked as if he might fall on his knees.
Risk glanced back toward the doorway. “Do you think you could do me a small favor?” he asked telepathically.
Hands clasped in front of him, the skapt replied, “Without doubt.”
After quickly changing back to his human form, Risk relayed what he needed. While the skapt scurried off to get the few supplies, Risk leaned with his forehead pressed against the glass. How he wished he could see Kara and talk with her in person, but the glass blocked all efforts — even his telepathy. He would have to depend on the skapt to carry his message for him.
And pray Kara still trusted him enough to do what he asked.
Kelly leaped forward, flinging a pebble-sized ball of power directly at Kara’s head. Without thinking, Kara somersaulted out of the way and landed on her feet, her own golf ball of energy forming on her palm.
“Excellent.” Kelly grinned. “No way the ice queen over there can beat us.”
Kara glanced over her shoulder at Lusse, who had stopped her own practicing hours earlier. Now she lounged on a bed of pillows, her faced turned toward the door.
“What do you think she’s waiting for?” Kara asked.
“Your boyfriend.” Kelly shook her head. “I’d like to know how she rated those pillows.” She glanced at Kara. “More proof the two of them are here as guests.”
Kara stifled a sigh. She knew Kelly was right, but she wished her sister would quit mentioning it.
A click sounded from the wall.
“What’s that?” Kara asked, glad of the diversion.
“Sounds like the call for kibble.” Kelly sauntered to the open slot. As she had guessed, a bowl slid through the opening. “Well, this is new.” Kelly pulled a folded slip of paper from under the pellets. “It’s got your name on it.” Frowning, she turned the paper over.
Kara snatched it from her hand.
“Don’t need to be grabby,” Kelly replied.
But Kara did. She knew the look on Kelly’s face; she was getting ready to suggest they destroy the note unread, and Kara couldn’t. It was from Risk; it had to be.
Giving her sister a quelling look, she walked to the end of the room and unfolded the note. Two words were written in a hasty scribble. “Lose Risk.”
“Lose what?” Kelly asked, her hair brushing against Kara’s neck.
“I…I don’t know.” Kara’s fingers tightened on the paper. Not exactly the reassuring message she had been hoping for.
“Well?” Lusse greeted Risk as he walked through the doorway. “Did you find the source?”
Ignoring her, Risk strode to the end of the tube near Kara’s. She and her sister stood huddled together at the other end, their backs to Risk.
“I asked—” Risk spun, anger and impatience sending a flare of heat through him. “Not yet. Soon.” He balled his hands at his sides. He had wanted to explain everything to Kara, his plan, why he was here with Lusse, that she had to trust him, and most of all that he would do anything to save her, sacrifice his own life and everything he valued just to know she was safe.
“How soon?” Lusse stood, kicking a silk pillow across the floor. “This…” She made a sweeping motion with her arms. “Is getting old.”
Without warning, the lights dimmed.
“Now what?” Lusse mumbled.
The ceremony. Then the battle. And Risk hadn’t got Lusse to wear the band Jormun had supplied yet. Risk wasn’t completely sure what the band did, but Jormun had emphasized that it would make the transition of Lusse from free witch to his property easier — assuming she won the battle.
“Here.” Risk stepped forward, the bracelet glowing in a delicate circle across his palm.
Lusse looked down her nose at the object. “What is that?”
“The equipment I told you about. Jormun’s one request.”
“That? He thinks that will keep me from killing his witches?”
Risk gritted his teeth. “You wearing it was his requirement for showing me the source of his power.”
“Really?” Lusse tilted her head and lifted her arms. “I feel a shift right now. Do you feel it?”
Risk did, and his anxiety grew. “Will you put it on?”
Lusse glanced back at the bracelet and sighed. “Give it to me. I’ll think about it.” She plucked the object off Risk’s palm and tucked it into the pocket of her skirt.
As she did, a loud monotonous hissing sounded behind them.
“Fascinating.” Lusse’s lips parted.
The wall separating their tube from the main one cleared. Standing shoulder to shoulder were the skapt, their eyes glowing and their bodies turned toward the Midgard Sea.
“What are they…” Lusse snapped her head back the other direction, toward the sea. Her inhaled breath turned Risk’s attention there, too.
“I never guessed,” she murmured. “I thought it was legend, allegory. Not real.”
A huge undulating serpent pressed against the tube. Its body so long Risk couldn’t see either its head or tail.
“You mean…” he started.
“Jormun. That is Jormun. He truly is the Midgard Serpent.” Lusse rushed to the glass, her hands trailing over the smooth surface. “When he was exiled it was said he was cursed to become a huge serpent that circled the Midgard Sea, his tail clamped in his mouth. But I never dreamed…” She inhaled, excitement sending quivers down her body. “Can you imagine? A shift this huge? The power he must emit?”
“Is he forandre?” Risk asked. The skapt’s reverent treatment of him was suddenly making sense.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. He has the power of hundreds, maybe thousands of forandre. And to think I was happy to capture a garm.” Lusse laughed. She spun back toward Risk. “The battle. When is the battle?”
His eyes still focused on the giant serpent, Risk muttered, “Soon. After…this.”
“Good. Good. This changes everything. Now there is much more to gain than just a couple of sniveling witches.” Picking up a pillow, Lusse hugged it to herself.
Startled, Risk glanced at her. What insanity did she have brewing now?
As the lights glowed back to life in their tube, Kara let out a breath of exhaustion. Kelly had insisted they spend the time during the ceremony pulling as much power as they could from the air.
“I know it isn’t much, but it is stronger now than any other time,” she had insisted.
Now that the snake-men had retreated and the serpent had sunk
out of sight to return to where he lived when not being worshipped, Kara slid to the floor and attempted to nap.
The click of the food slot startled her awake. She leaped to her feet and rushed over before Kelly could beat her.
A flat tray slid through.
“Another note from doggy boy?” Kelly asked. Her arms crossed in disapproval over her chest.
“No…” On the tray were two thin bracelets, similar to the ties the bartender had placed on her wrists before she’d gone through the portal, and another note. This one was from Jormun.
It is time to perform, my little witches. Wear these bracelets to protect you from harm. Jormun.
“What now?” Kelly stalked to Kara’s side. “No way.” She took the tray from Kara’s hand and dropped it back on the shelf next to the slot.
“But maybe…” Images of Kelly’s friend, the witch in the morgue, flitted through Kara’s brain. “Maybe it’s true.”
“You are way too trusting.” Kelly shook her head.
Kara bit her lip. “But if Jormun wanted to hurt us, why wouldn’t he just do it here while we’re trapped?”
“He doesn’t want to hurt us. He wants to use us. You told me yourself your hound friend said that’s what happened to…” She turned away, unable to say her friend’s name.
Kara stared at her sister, feeling her pain, but something inside Kara said she should wear the bracelet. She knew it wasn’t logical; but she just felt it. While Kelly’s head was still turned, she picked one up and slipped it onto her wrist.
The slim band thinned and tightened until it was barely visible against her skin.
“What did you do?” Kelly rushed over, grabbing Kara’s wrist. Kara just stared back at her. “Guess I’ll find out.”
“Damn.” Kelly picked up the tray and tossed it across the room.
“I feel fine,” Kara said softly.
“She feels fine,” Kelly mumbled to herself.
Kara turned, her shoulders shaking with pent-up emotion. She was out of her element. She’d come here to save Kelly and she was just making things worse.
Kelly stared at her. “Double damn.” She stomped to where the tray and second band had fallen. Shaking her head she slipped the bracelet over her foot and onto her ankle. “I’m not leaving here without you. So, I might was well share your fate.”
“But?” Kara looked at Kelly’s ankle.
Kelly shrugged. “Always have to do a little something unexpected — don’t you think?”
With a smile, Kara nodded and stared at her own band. She could barely make out the thin raised plastic — or whatever it was. Please, she prayed, let me be right at least about this.
The snake-men came for them less than an hour later. Kara wasn’t surprised. She knew those bracelets meant something.
When they arrived, they glanced at Kara’s wrist and nodded. Her brows lowered, Kelly held out her ankle.
“Where are we going?” Kara asked.
“The hall.” A gold-toned snake-man motioned for the twins to lead the way.
A huge ring of pulsing power was set up in the middle of the hall, the floor dirt instead of the stone Kara remembered. Jormun reclined on a floating dais filled with pillows. Risk stood next to him.
Kelly shot Kara an “I told you” glance.
Blinking back tears, Kara turned her gaze to the ring. Inside Lusse waited, her white cape rippling as if a breeze touched her alone.
How did she stay so clean and collected-looking? Even with the jumpsuit, which seemed to not only maintain body temperature, but also be self-cleaning, Kara felt worn and dirty.
The snake-man led them right up next to the energy barrier. The section faded and disappeared, forming a small doorway, just big enough for Kara and Kelly to pass through.
“What do we do?” Kara whispered to her sister.
Kelly glanced around.
Snake-man after snake-man began filing into the room, circling the ring.
“My God, how many are there?” Kara asked, her eyes rounded.
“Too many.” Kelly shook her head. “I don’t like this.”
Kara stared at the snake-men. There had to be thousands of them squished into the space now. The row behind Kara and Kelly pressed against the sisters, nudging them closer to the open doorway.
“We can’t fight our way through this many, can we?” Kara asked in a rough whisper. She hadn’t wanted to hurt even one of the somehow sad creatures, but the thought of turning on this many, slaughtering them by the hundreds before there was any hope of escape, made her stomach lurch.
“No. We can’t.” Kelly’s reply was flat, final. “We go in.”
Clasping hands, the pair stepped into the ring as one.
Jormun rose to his feet; the snake-men emitting a low hiss in response. “Welcome, witches.” He held up his hands. “We have had a challenge.”
Kara glanced at Kelly. Her sister’s lips thinned to a narrow line.
“The rules are simple. No death strike. Aside from that, last witch, or witches—” he gestured to the twins “—standing wins.”
No death strike. What had Kara gotten herself into that the phrase even had to be said?
Kelly gripped Kara’s arm tight. Her fingers digging painfully into Kara’s skin, she pulled Kara close to whisper, “We take her out fast.”
Kara’s shocked gaze darted across the ring to Lusse, who stood gazing at the snake-men, a content expression on her face.
“But, it doesn’t even look like she’s going to fight,” Kara objected. As the words fell from her lips, Lusse turned, a bowling ball — sized sphere of power flying from her hand.
“Drop,” Kelly screamed, yanking Kara onto the dirt. Loose soil flew up around them, creating a cloud, shielding them for a moment.
“What were you going to say?” Kelly hissed.
“Nothing.” Kara struggled to breathe, the dirt blocking her airways.
“You still think your boyfriend is here to save us?”
Kara swallowed, her throat dry and raw feeling.
Kelly grabbed her by the shoulders. “We can do this. Remember what we practiced. There’s at least one hundred times the power here that there was in our tube. Use it.”
A ball of blue flame landed inches away.
“Hell.” Kelly pushed on Kara’s shoulder, sending her rolling across the ground.
Kara landed on all fours, her chest heaving, dirt clogging her throat with each breath. Coughing, she looked up at the dais. Risk stared down at her, his hands fisted, his fingers white with strain.
“Lose,” he mouthed.
Lose? The note, this was what he meant. He wanted her to lose the battle against Lusse — the witch he claimed held him in bondage. It made no sense. Kara shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes.
“Kara!” Kelly screamed.
A stream of power snaked from Lusse’s hand, wrapping around Kelly’s ankle and jerking her to the dirt. Kelly fell, her fingers clawing helplessly in the loose soil.
Kelly. Kara stood, all thoughts of Risk’s betrayal and her own fear dissipating. Her arms held out, she concentrated >on pulling power from the room. Energy flooded into her, knocking into her like a speeding train. She staggered backward, her hand pressed to her stomach.
The power whipped back and forth within her body. Raising her head, she gazed around. The world around her changed, colored, as if she was seeing through blue-tinted glasses.
Kelly flipped onto her back, her hands flying forward, her own stream of power meeting Lusse’s. Her brows lowered, her mind focused, Kara held out her hand to her sister and let the energy she had pulled merge into her twin.
Kelly stiffened as the power touched her. Her head dropped against her chest for a second, as she accepted Kara’s strength as her own.
Opening her eyes, she smiled, and hit Lusse square in the chest with a gleaming streak of blue flame.
Eyes round, Lusse flew off her feet, the continuing line of Kelly’s power holding her six feet off t
he ground.
Kelly laughed, a harsh sound that scared Kara to her center. Remembering her own battle with the heady sensation of controlling so much energy, she jogged across the ring and dropped to her knees next to her sister.
“Kelly, let her down.” She pulled on her twin’s arm.
Kara wanted to win, wanted to escape, but if she lost Kelly to power madness in the process…
“Kelly.” She wrapped her hands around Kelly’s cheeks and twisted her face toward her. Her sister’s eyes stared up at her wild and vacant. Keeping her voice firm, Kara repeated, “Let her down.”
Without changing her expression, Kelly twisted her head back toward Lusse. The witch still hung in the air. For the first time, Kara noticed a tear in the other witch’s cape, a gray tinge to her skirt and stray hairs that clung to her angry face. Lusse’s face turning red with the effort, she whipped her body back and forth in an attempt to escape Kelly’s energy stream.
“Kelly.” Still no response. Pulling back her open hand, Kara struck her sister across the cheek. The sharp sound of impact echoed in Kara’s ears.
Kelly jerked, her eyes closing then snapping back open. Pressing her advantage, Kara grabbed her by the front of her jumpsuit and shook. Kelly stared at her for one heart-stopping second then dropped her arms.
Shrieking curses, Lusse fell to the ground with a thump.
“I had her,” Kelly murmured, her eyes darting side to side. “Had the power. Did you see me?”
Her hands still fisted in the front of her jumpsuit, Kara stared into her sister’s eyes. “You didn’t have the power. The power had you.”
“Had the power,” Kelly repeated.
“No, Kelly. Think. How did you feel? You weren’t in control.”
Kelly blinked slowly, warmth, intelligence and what Kara recognized as her sister returning to Kelly’s eyes.
“Oh, my God,” she muttered.
“I know. I know,” Kelly responded.
“No. The witch. Move!”
Kelly rolled to the side, a power bolt splitting the ground between them as she moved.
Lusse stood six feet away, her face dark with rage, her cape and dust swirling around her. “It’s my power. You pathetic upstarts.” She formed an O with her hand, another short stick of power appearing in the opening. With a quick overhead motion, she pelted the new bolt toward them.
