Burning Shadows

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  Not wanting him to know the truth of his words, I climbed under my blanket on my bedroll. The fire had almost died out. I’d considered telling them numerous times about the task ahead of me, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to see the looks of repulsion on their faces. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  Stein chuckled. “Now I’m worried.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help you?” Henrik asked.

  “Just being here, being my friend, is more than enough,” I answered.

  “Well, you got that,” Henrik said. “If there’s anything else, make sure you tell us.”

  “I will.”

  Stein kicked dirt on the fire, putting it out completely.

  ✧

  We reached the lake outside the capital just as the sun set. I scanned the area, not seeing anyone.

  “Wait here,” Stein ordered. “I’m going to do a loop. Maybe the rebel is hiding nearby.”

  Henrik and I gladly removed our sacks and sat down, resting our tired feet.

  “I’m not sure what you’re doing on Vidar’s behalf,” Henrik said, “but I hope you’ll be careful.”

  A cool breeze blew over the lake, caressing my face. “I will.” I hesitated. Should I tell him I planned to rescue Anders? Would he insist on coming with me?

  “We need you,” Henrik continued. “We can’t afford for you to be injured. And I don’t want anything to happen to you because I care for you.”

  “Thank you. I promise to be careful.” If I told him I planned to sneak into the castle, he would never let me go, regardless of the mission.

  He nudged my shoulder. “Still won’t tell me what you’re up to?”

  “It’s part of what must be done to break the curse.”

  A whistle rang out from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder. Stein stood next to a man in his thirties, who was dressed in plain brown commoner clothing. Groaning, I reluctantly got to my feet, gathered my belongings, and headed over to them with Henrik in tow.

  “This is Roy,” Stein said. “He’ll take you into the capital from here.”

  “We best be going,” Roy said. “We need to be in the tunnels before the mines close.”

  I groaned—we were going into the capital through the underground tunnels where my father died. I hated the tunnels.

  Lying on his stomach, Roy lowered his feet into the dark hole, disappearing from sight. “Okay!” he yelled up. “Come on in.”

  Stein scanned the area one more time. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “This is an entrance to a tunnel that leads straight to the mines.”

  “Which will be crawling with soldats,” Henrik grumbled.

  “I entered this way with Vidar and Anders when we came to rescue the Krigers.” The underground passageways were a combination of man-made and water-carved tunnels. Some led to the mines, others to the castle or rebel hideouts.

  “Do you know this guy?” Stein asked, pointing a thumb down into the hole Roy had entered.

  “I’ll be fine,” I assured him. If Vidar arranged for Roy to get me into the capital this way, he had to be loyal and trustworthy.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Henrik said. “I hate good-byes.”

  I quickly hugged him and Stein. Without another word, Henrik took hold of my wrists and lowered me into the hole. When his arms were fully extended, he said, “Don’t do anything stupid,” and released me. I dropped to the ground, landing on my feet. Thick, musty air made breathing difficult. With my heightened senses, I felt, rather than saw, the confining rock surrounding me.

  “A torch is too dangerous,” Roy whispered. “Take my hand. I know the way.”

  I held onto him as we trekked through the pitch-black tunnel. Several times, I sensed other paths diverging off from ours. Once or twice, we passed a steep ledge that plummeted to a great abyss. My eyes never adjusted to the dark. My head started to pound from the warm, stale air and the fact that I was underground with no easy way out.

  Roy came to a stop. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to exit with the miners as they leave for the night.”

  We had entered the tunnels just before sundown. It must be the middle of the night by now.

  “Are you tired?” Roy asked.

  “Exhausted.”

  “There’s a small crevice around here. It’ll be a safe place for us to sleep for a few hours.” He fumbled around the rocky wall to my left, searching for the area.

  I sensed it behind us. “Over here.” I squatted down. “Is this big enough for the both of us?” It was only three feet tall by three feet wide, and fifteen or so feet deep.

  “Down here where the ground disappears into colossal caverns, a small area like this is perfect. We can’t accidentally fall to our deaths.”

  I crawled into the confined space, Roy right behind me. “Maybe I should be closer to the opening,” I said, apprehension setting in. “Will you switch with me?”

  “No. I want to be near the opening in case a soldat is patrolling the area. Nothing can happen to you.”

  I lay down and imagined I was walking through the forest with towering trees, fresh air, and open skies. Under no circumstances could I focus on the thousands of rocks sitting just feet above me.

  ✧

  The ground shook—it was another jordskjelv. Roy reached out, grabbing my foot. “Stay put,” he ordered. Dust from the ceiling rained down, and I covered my head with my hands as terror set in.

  The jordskjelv ended, and everything went still.

  “Are you okay?” Roy asked.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, praying we weren’t stuck. “Is the entrance blocked?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’m fine.” Covered in dust, but unharmed. My hands suddenly throbbed with intense pain, alerting me to danger. A ringing sounded in my ears. I cried out, curling into a ball.

  “What’s the matter?” Roy asked.

  It felt like a rope was tied around my torso, tugging me out of the cave. I tried to get around Roy to follow the pull.

  “What are you doing?” Roy hissed, blocking my way.

  “I… I don’t know. Something is calling me.” The ringing sound magnified, making me dizzy. I clutched my head, trying to think. The last time something pulled me like this had been when Norill and I were subconsciously linked. “You have to keep me in here,” I grunted. Was Norill in the mines?

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  I cried out, unable to answer him through the pain. Curling my fingers into fists, I tried to ignore the intense desire to follow the pull. Except—I needed to follow it in order to discover what wanted me.

  I shoved Roy, trying to make my way past him. He wrapped his arms around my chest, pinning my arms down and holding me in place. He spoke in my ear, the words unintelligible over the ringing in my head.

  Shield yourself, my father’s voice boomed in my head. I’d only used a shield once when I was with Anders and we were escaping from the castle grounds. I didn’t know if it would work now, but it was worth a try. When I called on my power, it instantly responded. I willed it to wrap around my body to protect me. It eagerly did as I asked. The pull lessened to a bearable level, and the ringing sound vanished altogether.

  I stopped fighting Roy and relaxed. “Okay,” I said, panting. “I’m good.” He released me. With my sleeve, I wiped the sweat off my face.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “For now.”

  “Let’s get out of here. Follow me.”

  Trying to keep my shield in place, I crawled out of the cave after him.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to control yourself?” he asked.

  “I think so.” It took a lot of energy to maintain the shield.

  “We need to go slow in case one of the tunnels caved in.”

  What if the exits were blocked and we were stuck down here? As we crept through the dark tunnel, the pull strengthened from up ahead and to the
left. I tried ignoring it, but the feeling only intensified with each step I took. The medallion hanging around my neck warmed.

  The tunnel gradually lightened, and we entered a round room lit by a single torch. “We’re going to wait here for the miners,” Roy whispered. “They should be done with their shift soon.”

  I slid to the ground, trying to ignore the increasing pull emanating from my left, much stronger than before. Sweat poured down my temple, and my arms shook. I continually reinforced my shield. The pull started to worm its way in, cracking it. My breathing became shallow, my vision blurring.

  “Kaia?” Roy said. “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head—I was losing control. “Hold me in place before I do something stupid.”

  He sat down behind me, wrapping his arms and legs around me.

  “I have to figure out what’s going on.” Something was calling me, and I needed to discover the source. It had to be significant since the medallion blocked magic.

  “It’s quitting time. There are hundreds of miners and soldats down here right now. You can’t go running around in the tunnels.”

  A miner entered the room, tossing two mining uniforms at us. “Everyone’s leaving. If you two want to leave unnoticed, now’s the time.” He left.

  “I want to stay and investigate.”

  Roy cursed. “Vidar said you’d be difficult, but he didn’t say you’d be this difficult.”

  A sheen of sweat coated my arms and legs. It took every ounce of willpower I had to keep what was left of my shield in place. “You can leave me here,” I said. “I can do this on my own.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” His arms tightened around me. “You’re a Kriger.” His voice was desperate, yet tinged with a sliver of hope.

  I couldn’t let him down. “This pull has something to do with me being a Kriger. I need to see what it is.” I leaned my head back against his chest. “You have to trust me.”

  “Okay,” Roy answered. “But we wait until everyone is gone before we go looking for it.”

  We remained that way for quite some time. When it became eerily quiet, Roy released me. I staggered to my feet, pulling the mining uniform on over my clothes in case a soldat on duty for the night saw me.

  Once similarly dressed, Roy peered out of the room. “All clear,” he whispered. “Let’s go.”

  “I feel the pull coming from the left.” He headed that way, and I followed. The tunnel curved, and then opened to a cavern so large that neither the top nor the bottom was visible. Keeping close to the rocky wall, I inched my way along the narrow path etched into the side of it. After twenty feet, we went into another tunnel. When we reached an intersection, Roy looked at me. I pointed to the tunnel on the left, and we went that way. The torches cast an eerie, red glow on the chiseled walls.

  A throbbing pulse shot through my body, and my shield crumbled. My mind became clouded, and the pull intensified. I lost control, shoving Roy out of the way and running around him. Something sang with joy as it danced around me, drawing me toward the source of the pull.

  I flew to the ground, Roy on top of me. “Kaia,” he yelled in my ear. “Focus! Try to think rationally.”

  The medallion was pinned between my body and the ground. It heated up, burning me. My mind cleared. I needed to shield myself. Calling on my power, I willed it around my body, begging it to protect me. The pull lessened.

  “I’ve got it under control,” I said. Roy hesitated, but then released me. I sat up, trying to steady my breathing. Farther down the tunnel, the sound of miners chiseling into the rocky ground echoed. “It’s nighttime,” I whispered. “Everyone should be gone.” My shield wavered, and I willed it to remain in place.

  “Stay here,” Roy said. “I’ll take a closer look.”

  “I’m coming with you.” I forced myself to stand, keeping my shield firmly around me.

  “You can’t lose control again.”

  “I know.” Not giving him a chance to respond, I slunk along the tunnel as quickly as possible without making any noise. Voices echoed from up ahead. I took the torch hanging on the wall and put it on the ground, snuffing it out. Now concealed in the shadows, I made my way to the edge of the tunnel, throwing all my power into maintaining my shield.

  The end opened into the middle of a massive cavern sixty stories tall and ten stories wide. Soldats stood at the bottom about thirty feet below from where I hid, monitoring a dozen miners who were digging in the center. I leaned forward, trying to get a better look. A thick, bright blue substance oozed out of the ground. A soldat shouted and threw a pail to the miners. One miner grabbed the pail, placing it on its side while another miner used a metal tool to push the substance into it.

  “Now pick it up!” a soldat yelled.

  The miner stood, lifting the filled pail with shaking hands.

  “Bring it here.”

  The miner carried it over to the soldats, who held their swords out before them. He carefully lowered the pail to the ground and backed away as if it might explode. The soldats surrounded the pail, guarding it as they would the king.

  “Holy moons,” Roy whispered. “They’ve found Heks magic.”

  I had always been told Heks magic came from deep within the world. It was common knowledge that the previous Skog Heks opened the mines in an attempt to unearth the magic herself. Men had been digging for over a hundred years to no avail. The blue substance was enchanting. It radiated beauty and power along with an ugly darkness. I wanted to reach out and touch it…

  The medallion flared with searing heat, startling me. It almost felt as if the medallion was being lifted off my chest and pulled toward the Heks magic. My hands spiked with pain, and I stifled my scream. An invisible force pulled my body down into the rocky ground. “Must. Leave. Now,” I said through gritted teeth. It felt as if thousands of knife tips were poking me. My body collapsed. The shield around me started to disintegrate, and my inner power danced with joy, pressing in on me. Tears filled my eyes. The Heks magic in the world sensed my power—and wanted it.

  Roy lifted me in his arms, grunting. He snuck back down the tunnel. Once we were far enough away from the cavern that no one would hear us, he started running.

  “I can’t get you out of the mines as planned,” he said. “Curfew is in effect.”

  Which meant soldats would be patrolling the streets. “Do you know which tunnel leads to the king’s castle?” I asked, trying not to think about which tunnel we were in. It was lit, meaning it was one of the main arteries. My father had died in one similar to this.

  “I do, but there are guards along the way.”

  “Take me straight there. We can try to avoid the guards. If necessary, I will neutralize any we run into.” Time was of the essence. Norill couldn’t know the miners unearthed Heks magic. In order to prevent her from using that magic to replenish her own and create more Heks, she had to be destroyed.

  However, if I killed Norill, a new Skog Heks would enter Nelebek. The only way to save us all was to conceive Morlet’s child so the Krigers could kill him. Grei Heks had told me that when Morlet died, both Skog Heks and Grei Heks would die with him. A new Grei Heks and Skog Heks wouldn’t enter Nelebek at that time because my child would serve as the new Heks of the kingdom—filled with both good and evil magic.

  ✧

  The intense pull receded now that Roy and I were on the other side of the capital, far away from the cavern. Standing in the musty tunnel, I tried to remain calm by focusing on the task before me.

  “Up these stairs, there will be a door,” he whispered. “A key is hanging on a nail to the right of it. Unlock the door, but be sure to put the key back. When you open the door, you’ll be inside the king’s castle.” His forehead creased with worry. “From there, you’re on your own.”

  I knew exactly where I’d be—across from the entrance to the dungeon.

  “Thank you for your help.” I hugged Roy.

  “Once you’re done with your mission, exit the castle this way. W
hen you come down here, take that tunnel.” He pointed behind us. “It leads to the forest. But be careful—soldats patrol the tunnels at all times.”

  I removed the miner’s uniform and handed it to Roy. I’d been so concerned with sleeping with Morlet that I hadn’t stopped to consider how I’d get into or out of the castle. Nor did I take into account the danger I would be putting myself into. Hopefully, the next time I was down in the tunnels, not only would my mission be complete, but Anders and my bo staff would also be with me.

  “Make sure you’re alert in there,” he said.

  My hand reached up, brushing the medallion—it would protect me from Morlet’s evil magic but not a soldat’s sword.

  “Thank you for getting me here,” I said. “You can believe me when I say the Krigers will defeat Morlet. We will end this.”

  “I hope so. Good luck.” He headed back the way we came.

  I proceeded up the stairs completely alone. At the top, I unlocked the door and entered the familiar corridor on the main floor of the castle. No one was in sight. My hands shook from pure terror. This was insane. I couldn’t barge into Morlet’s bedchamber and demand he sleep with me. I didn’t even know where his bedchamber was located in this huge castle.

  What was I going to do? I couldn’t stand there like a frightened deer. My palms became clammy, my stomach cramped, and my breathing was so loud I feared a soldat would hear it. The image of Norill finding the Heks power source in the mines flashed before my eyes. There wasn’t much time. I had to do this.

  I forced myself to walk along the corridor. A buzzing resounded in my ears from my nervousness.

  Women’s voices came from up ahead and to the right. I turned down the next corridor, hoping to find them. About twenty feet ahead of me, two women dressed in servant attire carried trays piled high with dirty plates.

  “Excuse me,” I called to them, trying to keep my voice firm. “I am in need of assistance.” I put my trembling hands behind my back so they wouldn’t notice how scared I was. If only I had my bo staff to calm my raging nerves.