Alcharr nodded. “It will be up to Yane to distract everyone. I’ll lead you there. I’m familiar with the palace, with the time Yane and I spent avoiding everyone.” His attempt for a lighthearted comment failed, and he gave Kyllian a concerned look. “But can you handle the crystal on your own?”
The wizard grinned, but there was little amusement in his smile. His eyes held a steely determination that somehow comforted Yane. “I have to,” Kyllian said.
They made general arrangements, whereupon Kyllian explained the full directions Sandros had given him the day before. Yane began to have a fair clue of where the crystal was located. Truth be told, it was really a no-brainer. The dryads’ palace had been built as the epicenter of the magic they worked to keep the plague lands green. The most powerful men and women of their kingdom had pooled their powers there for the purpose of fixing at least a measure of the damage done to the ground. But it was a continuing battle, since if the dryads didn’t feed the greenery with magic, everything died again. Therefore, it stood to reason that the crystal that killed life energies would be located below ground, where it could reach the very core of their land.
At last, they could no longer delay putting their plan into practice. Kyllian and Alcharr found a hiding spot, and Yane went to open the door. Predictably, on the hallway outside, he spotted two guards. “Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning, Your Highness,” one of them answered. Shockingly, he sounded quite respectful. Perhaps for this day at least, the guards would try harder to disguise their dislike for nymphs. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Do you know if my parents are awake?”
The second man nodded. “They are, Your Highness. I believe they are rechecking everything downstairs.”
Yane thanked the guards, then returned to his room. This was it. As his lovers left their hiding spots, he shared a look with them. On impulse, he pressed brief kisses to both their mouths, sobering before they could even comment. “Here we go. I’ll distract the guards. You two leave after that.”
There were nods all around. Just as Yane readied himself to exit the room once more, Kyllian pulled him close and pressed his mouth to Yane’s. Behind Yane, Alcharr wrapped him in his arms, squeezing him tight. “Be careful, all right?” he murmured.
Yane didn’t know who Alcharr was even talking to. Technically speaking, the hardest job would be Kyllian’s. He and Alcharr would just have to go through the day as if nothing were wrong and make sure no one thought of investigating the crystal. Still, for a few moments he allowed himself to bask in the warmth of the kiss and the affection his lovers provided.
They broke apart all too soon, and when Yane started regaining his composure, he realized they didn’t know what guards provided security for the crystal. “Kyllian, there must be some soldiers protecting the thing.”
“I realize that,” Kyllian answered. “If your parents did choose to add guards, I suspect it’s a recent development. No one is completely trustworthy, and rumors of the crystal would have reached the wrong ears in its ages of existence. The proof lies in the fact that the wyrms have found out now, of all times. But don’t worry. Between Alcharr and me, we’ll handle it.”
Yane wanted to believe that, but he still felt terrified. At this point, however, there could be no going back. He wondered if he could get Dorien to help but put that thought out of his mind. He couldn’t trust his friend, not for something so important, at least, and Dorien would be busy with his own wedding anyway.
And so, Yane acknowledged the wizard’s words with a nod and broke away from the embrace. With another look toward his lovers, he exited the room and closed the door behind him. Thinking quickly, he said the first thing that came to mind. “Have you seen my betrothed today?”
“I do believe he is still in his quarters,” the first man replied.
“Would you go give him this message from my part? I would like to see him in the gardens at his earliest convenience.”
The guard hesitated. “Certainly. But, My Lord, are we to leave your room unattended?” The second soldier would automatically have to follow Yane around, as per his station.
Yane shrugged. “It’s not like there’s anything valuable in there. Besides, we don’t have servants who would steal, and you’d only be gone for a few minutes.”
Even if he went for a nonchalant remark, he put a degree of authority in his voice. He might be a nymph, but he was also a warrior and had spent three quarters of his life fighting wyrms that would eat this man alive. He wouldn’t take any disrespect, not this time.
The man didn’t question his order again and simply took off to do as he’d been told. Satisfied, Yane gestured the second guard to follow. Doing his best to keep a straight face, he left the royal wing of the palace and headed to the ground level, where the wedding preparations would be taking place.
As soon as he entered the main hall, he was intercepted by his mother. “Oh, thank the gods, Yanentah,” she said. “Why did you take so long waking up?” She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the main entryway. “Guests are already arriving. I have people asking for you, and I don’t know what to tell them.”
People asking for him? What in the world? Who could be showing such interest in him at this hour? His heart thundering, he allowed his mother to lead him there. Once they reached the main hall, Yane caught sight of his father talking to a tall, familiar-looking man. At first, Yane couldn’t quite figure out where he’d seen the guest before, but when he and his mother reached them, he finally understood.
“Greetings, Prince Yanentah,” the man said. “I’m Ogash’Dral. I do hate to intrude on you and your family during such a special day, but I had an issue to discuss with you that could not wait.”
Yane’s heart fell as he realized the seriousness of the situation. This man was Hash’s father. Apparently, whatever excuses the dragon had made for his family didn’t work out. It was the last thing Yane expected and a problem he did not need.
His father smiled tightly. “I understand His Lordship sent his son to inquire into the appearance of a human in Tanarak. You can imagine we were quite surprised. We had no knowledge of such a thing happening.”
His father’s usage of the royal “we” spoke volumes of the other man’s anger. Yane plastered a smile on his face and said, “It completely slipped my mind. The only thing I can tell you is that His Lordship’s son—Has’hendral, if I’m not mistaken—left with the human.”
The explanation might later cause them problems, but it had the temporary advantage of placating both his father and the dragon. Additionally, it wasn’t an actual lie, since Hash had indeed left with Owen. Ogash’Dral might suspect he was hiding something, but he wouldn’t be able to call Yane out on it, especially not now.
“I see,” the dragon said. “I suppose I owe you an apology then.”
Yane’s mother intervened before the dragon could say anything else. “Not at all. We’d be honored to have you as our guest for the ceremony.”
As his parents made nice with the dragon, Yane suppressed a sigh of relief. For the moment, he’d dodged danger. But the day was only just beginning. Who knew what other unpleasant surprises would appear?
After Yane left the room, Kyllian and Alcharr waited for a few moments, their ears peeled to catch the exact moment when the coast would be clear.
Kyllian heard Yane initiate a conversation with one of the guards but didn’t catch the words. He was too busy focusing on the magical message that suddenly appeared in front of him. Frowning, he took it in his hand and opened it. Almost instantly, he felt like he was going to vomit.
Alcharr must have noticed the change in his demeanor. “What is it?” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s from Fayre,” Kyllian answered. “It seems Sassaki and Hash went to Tanarak to help the nymphs when the wyrms attack.”
All the blood drained out of Alcharr’s face. They both knew what the message meant. Essentially, if they destroyed the cry
stal, Sassaki and Hash faced almost a certainty of death. But if they didn’t, an even worse situation might appear.
It occurred to Kyllian the night before that the crystal was too powerful to have its influence on the plague lands fail. If anything, it should be strengthening with time. Something else must be amiss, something even darker and more evil. Kyllian feared that the crystal might very well intend to expand its influence over the entire world. It was a stretch, but not entirely impossible to achieve. Sacrifices held a tremendous energy, which was why they could be used to boost the power of a crystal. But if the crystal in question didn’t need boosting to achieve its normal potential, it stood to reason that it might grow bigger and more dangerous than ever.
“We can’t back down,” he said, keeping his voice level in spite of the pain in his heart. “I didn’t mention it to Yane, but I believe the crystal might be seeking to grow further, to control Uli itself. This is bigger than us now.”
Alcharr looked a little green but nodded. “We should go. It won’t take long for the guards to come back.”
Without further ado, they left the room. There were still guards in the royal wing, but not on this particular corridor. Still, it wasn’t easy to evade the watchful eyes of the dryads. It took far too long, for Kyllian’s comfort, to reach the royal apartments.
Unsurprisingly, once they were there, they found themselves facing a new obstacle. This particular room was well guarded, something that, of course, did not surprise Kyllian. Like he’d told Yane before, he’d expected this development.
“Don’t do anything for now,” he told Alcharr. Insofar as he could, he wanted to avoid involving the eagle.
As such, he muttered a couple of simple spells that would not draw to much energy out of him. A gust of wind broke through the large windows in front of the royal quarters, spraying the five guards with glass. The distraction gave Kyllian time enough to shoot forward and take out three of the men. Unfortunately, the other two recovered and were about to draw the alarm when Alcharr descended upon them from behind. Two well-placed hits from the eagle and the soldiers fell in a crumpled heap to the floor. The five were only unconscious, but it would hold them until this whole business was done.
“I thought I told you to stay put,” he told Alcharr.
“You’re not the boss of me, at least not outside the bedroom,” Alcharr answered cheekily.
In a strange way, the comment made Kyllian feel a bit encouraged. Chuckling, he went to the door, muttering another spell to figure out if there was someone else inside. It seemed to be empty, although beyond, even through the simple probe, he sensed deep power. It messed with the spell, and he couldn’t be sure if the crystal was guarded or not.
Shrugging to himself, he opened the door and let himself in the room. Together with Alcharr, he dragged the unconscious guards inside. They used a quilt on the bed to improvise bindings and gags, since Kyllian didn’t want to waste his magic on it. After they finished, he smiled at the eagle. “Go on. People are bound to wonder where you are, and you need to keep an eye on your father.”
Alcharr hugged him. “Take care and good luck.”
With that, his lover left the room. Kyllian took a deep breath and closed the door behind Alcharr. From this point on, he was on his own. It was, perhaps, the most important thing he’d ever done in his life, and it made him sick to his stomach to know that it might bring about the death of Sassaki and Hash. He didn’t know the wyrm all that well, but the man struck him as both iron-willed and caring. At the same time, Kyllian forged at least a certain friendship with Hash, but the destruction of the crystal could wipe it all away.
Pushing aside his misgivings, Kyllian studied the room, paying close attention to each detail. The passage to the crystal wasn’t immediately evident, but with Sandros’s instructions, Kyllian found it, masked by a huge bookcase. It would be easy to move it away, but unfortunately, there were a number of powerful wards beyond that might make his job harder.
Carefully, he removed the tome he knew would part the bookcase from the wall. Indeed, seconds later, the piece of furniture revealed the hidden doorway. No obstacles seemed to exist, and no guards. However, Kyllian’s powers saw what the physical eye could not. A heavy magical barrier protected the passageway. This might be more difficult than Kyllian initially thought.
Knowing he didn’t have much time, he set himself to work. Closing his eyes, he delved deep in the material of the spell, weaving his way through the ward, finding its weaknesses. It was a strong spell, so it took him quite a while until he succeeded in his task. But at last, the barrier fell.
Of course, the magical shield was only the first step. As Kyllian walked inside the passageway, he found more wards, some thicker, some slighter than the first. There were no actual guards, a fact for which he felt both thankful and surprised, but as time continued to fly, Kyllian was beginning to doubt his own ability to do this on his own.
However, he persevered. Lower down he went, through the seemingly endless corridor, the darkness and small space choking him. At one point, he must have left the surface, because the temperature started to decrease more and more. Even as he started to despair, the passageway suddenly opened into a huge chamber. In the middle of it, the crystal floated, at first glimpse looking white and pure. But beneath the surface, Kyllian caught sight of the dark energies looming just underneath the surface and seeping all over the chamber. Unsurprisingly, the effects extended into the ground around them. Everything felt lifeless and dead. Kyllian wondered how anyone could have ever believed this thing would protect them.
Kyllian frowned at the crystal. “You’re not going to beat us,” he said. “I’m destroying you if it’s the last thing I do.”
He thought he heard ghostly laughter, and out of the blue, an image appeared in his mind. He saw Sassaki being torn apart by his kin while Hash helplessly tried to fight the wyrms back. He saw the dragon dying, his remains scattered over the waters of Tanarak. He watched as the darkness spread from the plague lands until it engulfed the whole of Uli, seeping into the astral realm like an infection.
“No,” he shouted. “It won’t be like that. We will beat you.”
He took a deep breath and ignored the mental assault. So the crystal knew his weakness, but it didn’t understand his strength. It couldn’t grasp the fact that people were capable of the most incredible feats for their loved ones. Kyllian clung to the trust and affection he felt. He imagined Owen’s smile, his voice as he wondered if, perhaps, there could be a way to make wyrms and dryads accept each other.
“Never,” a voice whispered. “You will never succeed.”
Kyllian cast everything away. He focused on his task, searching deep into his soul for his very center. Wind blew around him as Kyllian unleashed his magic on the crystal. Lightning crackled around him, the power of the storms at Kyllian’s fingertips. He poured it all over the evil in front of him, over and over until he thought he had nothing left to give.
Much to his dismay, the power of the crystal didn’t yield. Even so, after a while, Kyllian did see the effect of his spells on the thing. The darkness seemed more obvious, the façade of the crystal dissipating completely. The laughter he heard turned into anger. His efforts were not in vain.
Taking a deep breath, Kyllian sent a bolt of lightning at the crystal. It hit the accumulation of energy with a deafening noise. For a few moments, nothing happened, but then the crystal seemed to glow even darker and a shot of energy flew straight to Kyllian. Kyllian managed to dodge it, although he came close to being taken out. The crystal seemed to have understood this wasn’t a game and Kyllian truly did intend to destroy it.
As the battle continued, the crystal made several assaults that made Kyllian lose his focus. Soon, exhaustion threatened and Kyllian knew he was moments away from losing the chance to destroy this evil. There was only one thing left to do, one thing he could try to save the people he’d come to care about so much. He felt disheartened as he recalled Sassaki and Hash,
but he encouraged himself by thinking this was what they all wanted, to save the plague lands from the malignant influence of the crystal.
Before he could convince himself to back down, Kyllian focused his every bit of remaining power on the one spell that could, at this point, give him a chance against the crystal. Alas, its absolute strength stemmed from its self-destructive nature. Few wizards ever survived using it. In fact, there was an almost percent probability that Kyllian would die.
But he’d never been afraid of death. He’d lived for too long and seen too much to be scared of it. He had his regrets, of course. He’d have liked to see his brother achieve his full potential as a wizard. He’d have wanted to have a chance at a relationship with the men he’d come to care about. But it was for these men and for Fayre that he needed to do this.
Kyllian pooled every single drop of energy into one single spot inside of him. He kept nothing back, turning himself into a mere conduit for the attack he would release. A hurricane burst around him, beating against his flesh, roaring angrily. A lightning storm burst out of Kyllian’s heart, angry bolts aimed straight into his target. Kyllian had the time to see the necromantic crystal shatter into a million pieces before his world turned into pain and then complete and utter blackness.
Alcharr fidgeted as he watched his father talk with Valderr. In a few minutes, his brother would have to go below and wed Yane. Things didn’t look good.
“Be calm, son,” Amadeus was saying to Valderr. “This is the right thing to do.”
It should have sounded comforting, but it ended up anything but. To Alcharr, his father’s voice sounded foreign, cool, and almost slimy. Valderr offered the man a weak smile. “Yes, Father. I know.”
Amadeus clapped Valderr’s shoulder and left the room, supposedly to give Valderr a few moments to gather his thoughts. It would be Alcharr’s job to escort his brother downstairs. From there, Valderr would be on his own. Fuck. If something didn’t happen soon, all they’d done would be for naught.
Hyacinth, Scarlet - Craving Owen [Tides of Love 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 16
