Burning Shadows
Page 24
“Are you okay?” I asked, clutching onto his arm, unable to believe he was here with me.
“I’m alive.”
As my energy returned, I examined him closer. His skin was red and blistered, but no black burn marks were visible. I lifted the bottom of his shirt and checked his chest—it was still gashed open from the grevling.
“I’m not sure I can walk,” he said. “I’m pretty beat up.” His left eye was swollen.
“Well, well, well…” a familiar voice sang. “Fancy seeing you here, saving your lover.”
I was too exhausted to fight Norill right now. The sound of marching boots and chainmail echoed in the courtyard. Soldats would storm in at any moment. I only had an ounce of power—and that would be it. Sitting up, I raised my bo staff and struck the rocks above the entrance. They fell, blocking it completely.
“Now you have no chance of escaping,” she said.
I shrugged. “Neither do you.” I stood while Anders remained on the ground, unable to stand up.
“Don’t you ever give up?” Norill asked. “Aren’t you tired of fighting a worthless cause? One you can’t possibly win?”
My power gradually returned. Still, it wouldn’t be enough to fight the witch, especially without Anders’s help.
Morlet, I called inside my head, hoping he heard and responded.
Kaia? What have you done? His voice sounded panicked.
I don’t have time to explain, I thought to him. I need your strength in order to fight Norill. Please. I waited for him to answer. Norill strolled closer to me—a predator observing its prey. Morlet had to know where I was in the castle. If he didn’t help me, then he’d be here at any moment.
The evil witch chuckled. “You make it too easy.” She lunged for me.
Morlet’s magic flowed into my body. Feelings of hate, anger, and rage flooded me. I swerved out of Norill’s reach. “You did this to Anders!” I screamed at her.
I sensed her confusion. Brushing her feelings away, I connected to my bo staff and released Morlet’s powerful magic. Norill flew through the air, landing in a pile of dead bushes. Running over to where she lay, I swung my weapon, intending to strike her head. She sprang out of the way and punched me in the side. Pain rippled through me, and I cried out, dropping my bo staff.
“Something about you is amiss,” she said. “I feel dark power calling me.”
She jumped, knocking me to the ground. I wrapped my hands around her neck, wanting to strangle the life from her body. She started laughing and shoved me off her. I sailed backward, hitting the ground hard. Revenge—I would have my revenge for what she’d done. I bolted to my feet.
Norill stalked toward me. When she neared, I punched, but she dodged my strike, slamming her knee into my stomach. Bending over, I gasped for air. Frenzied rage tore through my body. I spun away from her, grabbing my bo staff off the ground.
“Is he helping you?” Norill asked.
I pointed the end of my weapon at her chest.
“You shouldn’t be this strong.” Her eyes narrowed, the veins below them pulsing. “And I can feel hatred seething from you. What did you do?”
I forced a jolt of Morlet’s magic toward her torso. She zoomed backward, landing on the ground. I stood there, shaking with hatred. Norill didn’t move.
“Kaia?” Anders asked, trepidation filling his voice.
I’m done, I thought to Morlet. Please take your magic back. It’s too much. It stifles who I am.
I know, he said. It trumps everything.
His magic slithered out of my body, leaving me cold and off kilter. Thank you. He didn’t respond.
I ran over to Anders, kneeling beside him. “We need to find a way out of here,” I mumbled. “Fast.”
“Save yourself.” His entire body violently shook. “I’ll only hold you back.”
I placed both my hands above his body.
“No, Kaia. I’m not worth it.”
“I disagree.” Having harbored Morlet’s magic, my body felt strong, my power fully replenished. When I had tried healing Anders in the tunnel after the grevling attack, it didn’t dawn on me that by holding his hand, the medallion’s protection extended to him, thus preventing magic from being used on him. Since I didn’t have the medallion now, I should be able to heal him.
Willing my power to my hands, I envisioned it sliding out of my fingers and into Anders’s body. My fingertips turned to ice. Heal him, I commanded. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my power traveling through his entire body, mending every inch of him. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and my arms started to shake. After a minute, my power sang in joy and returned to me. Fire entered my hands, and blackness descended upon me. I collapsed to the ground.
✧
I peeled my eyes open. Anders was carrying me across the courtyard, my bo staff lying across my chest.
“Kaia,” he whispered, his voice no longer hoarse. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” I croaked.
“That was a very stupid thing you did,” he chided me.
I tried to smile. My body felt weak and didn’t want to obey. Several voices rang out from above us.
“Soldats are on the roof,” he said. “But don’t worry. I’ll get you to safety.”
Arrows sailed down around us. Anders cursed and ducked behind one of the larger dead bushes.
“What are you doing?” I asked. He should break a window, so we could enter the castle that way.
Movement started to return to my limbs as my energy gradually replenished.
Anders set me down and fumbled around under the bush. “Here it is.” He opened a small wooden door in the ground. “Get in.” Several voices echoed from above as soldats continued to search for us. I swung my legs into the tiny hole and fell ten feet into bone-chilling water.
Anders jumped into the water next to me. “Do you have enough energy to swim?” he asked.
He should have asked that before I jumped. Awkwardly treading with my bo staff in hand, I answered, “Yes.” My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The water and air were so bitterly cold that my teeth chattered and my ears ached. “Which way?” My voice sounded loud.
Anders took my weapon and attached it to my back using my belt. With my hands free, it was much easier to keep my head above water.
“Give me your hand so we don’t get separated,” he said. His fingers slid down my arm to my hand, pulling me along next to him. “We need to hurry. They’ll be after us in no time.”
“How do you know where to go?” I asked, my body shaking from the freezing water.
“I’ve been sneaking in and out of this castle for decades. This particular tunnel is fed by water similar to the one we traveled in by boat after we rescued the Krigers. Only, this one leads to the moat surrounding the castle and not to the lake.”
I groaned. We still had to sneak off the castle grounds and make our way through the capital. The task seemed daunting with morning rapidly approaching. My leg cramped, and I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to continue without complaining.
“Don’t worry,” Anders said, “we’re not going out to the moat. There’s an easier way.” The current suddenly picked up, pushing us along faster. “There’s a ledge up ahead. Do whatever you can to grab onto it. Otherwise, you’ll get sucked out into the moat.”
I rolled my eyes. I thought this way was supposed to be easier. The tunnel gradually lightened as we neared the exit. “You want me to grab onto that tiny ledge on the right?” I asked in disbelief. The ledge was only three feet wide by two feet deep. If I missed it, the water would carry me out into the moat where I’d easily be spotted by soldats. There was no way to slow down or swim against the strong current.
Anders angled his body. “Here we go,” he muttered. He let go of my hand and shoved me toward the ledge. Reaching out, I clutched onto it, several of my nails bending backward. Anders grabbed hold beside me. I threw my elbows up onto it, hoisting my body out of the water. The bo staff slipped out of my belt.
“I
got it!” Anders said, snatching the end of it before it sank into the water. He threw it onto the ledge and climbed out. “Let’s go.” He reached down, pulling me the rest of the way out of the water.
I stood on shaky legs and reattached the bo staff to my back. There was a narrow door that blended in with the rocky wall. “Should I use my power to blast it open?”
“No. Morlet will be able to sense you.”
I didn’t want to reveal that the king probably knew where I was. After he had loaned me his magic, I didn’t bother putting my shield back up.
Anders held his hand out, and I gave him my weapon. He pointed it toward the lock and rammed it down, breaking the door open. A disturbingly familiar smell greeted me.
“The dungeon?” I moaned. I was back to where I started—only even more exhausted, hungry, and tired than before.
“From here, we can reach the tunnel that stretches outside the capital’s walls,” he assured me.
Dripping with water and freezing cold, I followed Anders inside. Taking what little power I had left, I formed a shield around me, so Morlet could no longer sense my location. I didn’t want to lead him to the tunnels the rebels had worked so hard constructing. Just that small act made my head spin, and I tripped, almost falling. Anders took hold of my arm, keeping me upright. We went down hallway after hallway, passing dozens and dozens of prisoners. The stale air permeated with vomit and unwashed bodies.
We turned a corner, and the stairwell came into sight. I sighed in relief.
“Are you all right?” Anders asked.
“I’m tired.” A foggy haze hovered at the edges of my mind. Every ounce of energy I had went into maintaining the shield around my body.
“Hang in there a bit longer. We’re almost free.” The entrance to the tunnel was on the other end of the corridor across from the dungeon’s exit. We climbed the stairs, coming to the iron door. I pulled out the keys and handed them to Anders.
He smiled. “This makes things a lot easier. Once we’re out of here, you’ll have to tell me why there are no guards posted here and how you acquired these keys.”
I nodded, lacking the energy to smile or respond. He patted my shoulder and unlocked the door. We exited the dungeon and came face to face with four soldats.
Anders did a front kick, knocking the first one down. I removed my bo staff to use as a regular weapon since all of my power went into maintaining my shield. A sword sliced down toward me. I lifted my bo staff, blocking it. Another soldat grabbed me around the waist. Anders reached for the man’s head, snapping his neck. Anders turned and continuously punched the last soldat until he dropped to the ground. All four men lay either bleeding or with limbs contorted at strange angles.
The speed and efficiency in which Anders disposed of these men alarmed me. I opened my mouth to tell him he shouldn’t have killed them.
“Don’t even start with me,” he said, taking my hand and dragging me down the corridor. “I promised to get you out of here, and that’s what I’m doing.”
He threw open the door leading to the tunnels that extended beneath the capital to the mines. We ran down the stairs. Roy had told me to take the tunnel on the left. Anders grabbed a torch hanging on the wall and headed in that direction. The tunnel abruptly curved and came to a dead end. I turned in a slow circle, at a loss for words. This was where he’d told me to go. What were we going to do? How would we get out of here? Did Morlet discover the tunnel? Did he seal it up?
“Back here,” Anders whispered. Fifteen feet from the end, he started feeling around the wall on his left until one of the stone blocks wiggled loose. He shoved it forward, and it tumbled to the other side. “You go first,” he said, pushing me toward the small opening.
Relieved there really was a way out of this wretched place, I climbed into a pitch-black area. Anders passed the torch through. I took it, and he joined me, heaving the stone block back into place. We were in a narrow, dirt tunnel. He took the torch from me and led the way, the ceiling grazing the top of his head.
The tunnel seemed to press down, squeezing me. I rubbed my eyes. “Can we rest?” I didn’t want to stop and be in the tunnel longer than necessary; however, my breathing came fast and shallow. The events of the last couple of hours were catching up to me. My feet felt like lead, my legs grass.
“No,” Anders whispered. “We’re too close to Morlet and the castle. Once we’re further away, we can stop.”
I slid to the ground, unable to stand any longer. My head swirled with fog. Squeezing my bo staff, I tried to maintain my shield. Anders wrapped his arms around me, picking me up. He carried me through the tunnel. My head rested against his chest, and I fell asleep.
✧
I woke up lying on the ground. Anders sat at my side, gently stroking my hair. I snuggled closer to him, warm, content, and safe.
The events of last night came flooding back to me, and I flew upright. Towering trees surrounded us, the sun high in the sky, and the smell of pine mixed with dirt filled the air.
“We made it?” I asked, needing verification. He nodded. “We actually got past Norill, Morlet, and dozens of soldats.”
“Yes.” His warm eyes sought mine. “You saved me.” His voice was filled with awe. “Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.”
“I wasn’t going to let you burn to death.”
He rubbed his face and averted his eyes. “It wasn’t the first time,” he said.
“What?”
He ran his hand through his hair, hesitating before answering. “That wasn’t the first time I’ve been burned in a magical fire like that.”
I clutched the fabric of my pants, trying not to overreact. He’d been burned before? In a magical fire? How? Why? Trepidation filled me. “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“No.” His shoulders slumped forward. “The master assassin who raised me was a Heks.”
It felt as if I’d been plunged into snow. A Heks raised Anders? He didn’t have to elaborate for me to know it was a Skog Heks. No wonder he never shared anything about his past.
“It’s not something I ever talk about,” he said.
What horrors had he experienced? My stomach twisted at the mere thought. “When the curse is lifted,” I said, alarm slowly sinking in, “and the borders reopen, the master assassin—the Heks—will still be alive, won’t he?”
“Probably.” Anders’s eyes turned glassy. “I’ve seen things, unimaginable things… I fear for what’s to come. Vidar will be a good leader and help Nelebek, but he will need strong people by his side to support him.”
We sat facing one another. Anders’s face turned white. “What are you getting at?” I asked.
“We’ve never been so close to ending this,” he replied. “Now that we are, we must think of the future.”
I shivered, feeling someone watching me. Glancing around at the towering pines, I didn’t see anything. Anders reached out, his finger tracing a line from my elbow to my wrist, forcing me to focus on him again.
How could he have kept something so crucial from me? “It’s like I don’t even know you.” There was a whole side of him that he kept locked away.
“Just because you don’t know the details of my life doesn’t mean you don’t know me.”
Was this why he guarded himself from me—so I wouldn’t get too close? So I wouldn’t know what he suffered at the hands of the master assassin who happened to be a Heks?
Anders lifted his hands, gently placing them on my cheeks. “Kaia.” He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “You saved me.”
I wanted to wrap my arms around his body, pulling him against me. When we were together, I felt whole, complete, and content. One of his hands slid around the back of my neck.
“Are you going to kiss me?” I whispered. “Or are you going to run away again?”
“I would like nothing more than to kiss you,” he mumbled, lowering his lips within inches of mine. “To feel you. Taste you. But I can’t.”
“I’m bound to Vidar.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“He forbade me from kissing you.”
Suddenly, everything made sense. All the moments where I thought Anders was going to kiss me, but he moved away. It never dawned on me that he literally couldn’t. “He may have forbidden you from kissing me,” I whispered to him, “but he didn’t forbid me from kissing you.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned toward Anders, tenderly pressing my lips against his. His fingers on the back of my neck tightened, holding me in place. It seemed as if time stood still. I was right where I belonged.
He pulled away. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said. “But you need to marry Vidar.”
It felt as if he’d punched me in the gut. We had just shared a special moment, and he was speaking about Vidar. “Why?” Did he think his friend could give me a better life? Or did he think the master assassin wouldn’t suspect Anders had feelings for me if I was married to Vidar? Because I knew he felt something for me—I sensed it in the rawness of his kiss. In the brief moment he let his walls down.
“I need you to marry Vidar.” He kept his eyes focused on the ground, avoiding me. “Tell me you’ll marry Vidar.”
I couldn’t promise him that.
Anders whipped his head to the side. “Someone’s there.” He sprang to his feet.
My hands didn’t hurt to alert me to danger. I stood and scanned the area. Henrik and Stein stepped out from behind a tree to my right. “What are you two doing here?” I asked, relieved it wasn’t Morlet.
Henrik ran for me, lifting me in a hug and swinging me around.
“We felt you were in danger,” Stein explained.
“Yeah,” Henrik agreed, setting me back on my feet. “We were on our way to meet Vidar when we both knew you were in trouble. So we turned around and headed back toward the capital.”
“You came back for me?”
“Well, yeah,” Henrik answered, smiling down at me.