Oathtaker

by Patricia Reding

  A moment passed.

  Nothing happened.

  Mara looked to Dixon, then to Leala, and then to Fidel. The truth was not lost on any of them. The earth had not moved. Edmond’s oath was not sincere. He had betrayed them.

  “Oh, gracious Ehyeh!” she exclaimed, a cry in her voice, a hand to her throat. “Oh, Dixon, Lilith must have gone to the inn!” She grabbed his arm as she sucked in a breath.

  Edmond, a knife in his hand, lunged.

  Velia rushed him from behind.

  Before Mara could exhale, she and Dixon vanished.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Mara came to a quick stop, her legs buckling beneath her. Dixon pulled her up. She looked at him, her eyes wide with fear. They stood just outside their quarters. She opened the door and stepped inside, then nearly tripped over something. When Dixon grabbed her arm, she firmed her stance and looked down.

  “Oh, it’s Jamison!” She reached down. “No. No!” she cried. “He’s dead!”

  “Mara,” Dixon rushed past her, “here’s Samuel.” He reached down to the young man, and then felt for his pulse. Quickly he got back to his feet and pulled out his blade. Mara followed suit.

  They stepped toward the inner room and then opened the door.

  Utter silence greeted them.

  “They’re gone! Oh, Dixon, where could she have taken them?”

  A single bloody body lay on the floor. She had to know: was it Nina or Erin? She crouched down and rolled the body over. Erin. Blood covered her. Mara felt for a pulse. It was very weak. She wanted to heal her, but she knew she couldn’t. Time wasn’t on her side.

  Where had Lilith gone? Where had she taken the girls? Where was Nina? Her mind raced. Filled suddenly with an intense anger, all she could think was to hurry.

  Dixon’s bent down. “She looks bad.” Then he returned to Samuel’s side, Mara in his wake. “Samuel. Samuel!” He shook him.

  The man trembled. His eyes rolled back up into his head.

  “Samuel!”

  Mara grabbed his hands.

  “No, Mara, you can’t afford to use your magic. We need you,” Dixon cautioned.

  “But we have to know where Lilith took them. Don’t you see? It’s our only chance.”

  “Please, Mara.”

  “Dixon, he’s our only chance. We might still have time, but we have to know where she took them.”

  “Just use a minimum of magic then. You need to keep up your strength.”

  “I understand. I’ll do my best.”

  She pushed a faint stream of magic healing into Samuel. She felt him react ever so slightly. It isn’t enough. It isn’t enough! She increased the flow.

  Dixon shook the man. “Where did they go, Samuel? Samuel!”

  Exasperated, Mara again increased the stream of magic.

  Samuel coughed and sputtered.

  She turned his face toward herself. “We’ll send help as soon as possible, but you have to tell us where Lilith went.”

  His lips moved, but no sound came.

  She took his hands again, sending yet another stream of magic into him.

  His eyes opened slowly, then just as slowly, closed again.

  “Samuel!” Dixon cried. “Where did Lilith go? Where did she take them?”

  The man was silent.

  “It’s no use, Mara. You’ve got to stop.”

  Hot tears stung her eyes. She fought them back and pleaded, “Please Ehyeh, help us, please!”

  Samuel’s head moved. A faint sound escaped his lips.

  Mara’s eyes opened wide. “What did you say? Where are they?”

  His lips moved again.

  “I think he’s trying to say ‘sanctuary.’” She shook him. “Did you say ‘sanctuary?’ Is that where Lilith went?”

  He groaned.

  “Can you open your eyes? Just open your eyes. Please. Did you say ‘sanctuary?’”

  Slowly his eyes opened. He nodded ever so faintly.

  “Sanctuary. They went to sanctuary. Is that right?” Dixon asked.

  Samuel nodded again, then passed out.

  Mara jumped to her feet. “Let’s go!”

  “Can we get Ezra to help him?”

  Her tears fell. “We can’t. Every second counts!”

  “You’re right, of course.” Dixon stood. “Wait. If Ezra’s in the inn and carrying a crystal, we can—”

  “Do it. Quickly!”

  Directing his thoughts, he shouted. Ezra, help! Lilith took the girls! Mara and I are going back to sanctuary where she headed, but Samuel and Erin need your help. Hurry. Hurry!

  “I’m going to kill her,” Mara said, her jaw tight, her eyes hard.

  Dixon held her forearms. “Let’s go!”

  She spun her magic.

  Seconds later, they landed in the sanctuary stables. She sneezed from the hay dust, then pulled Dixon through a crowd of stable hands, all of whom stared at them.

  “Did you see that?” one exclaimed.

  “Who are they?”

  “I think I’m seeing things!”

  Mara rushed away, ignoring their stares and exclamations.

  “Where are we going?” Dixon asked.

  “I don’t know!”

  “Wait, Mara!”

  She stopped at the stable doors. “We have to keep moving.” She looked out at the crows. “Cover your head!” she exclaimed. Then she grabbed his hand, ran out, and headed toward the main building.

  A dozen crows rushed them. One clawed at her shoulder, another grabbed her hood. When she reached up to slap the beast away, yet another pecked at her hand, piercing it deeply. Dixon also fought off the savage birds.

  Several leaps later, the Oathtakers arrived at the main building. When someone opened the door for them, they hurried inside.

  Mara stopped. Crowds of people watched her and Dixon.

  “Are you all right?” someone asked.

  She looked toward the voice. It was a young Oathtaker. “I’m fine.” She fought for breath.

  Dixon stood at her side. “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know!” She looked at the thick crowd.

  Wait. What is that—that smell?

  “Oh!” she gasped as she bent over, her hand to her mouth.

  “What? What is it? Are you hurt?”

  “I can . . . smell her. I can— Oh!” She coughed and gagged.

  “What? You smell her rosewater? What?”

  “No.” She coughed again. “Can’t you smell that? Oh, and it tastes horrible!”

  “What?”

  “Lilith.” Mara swallowed hard. “I think I’m going to throw up!” she exclaimed as she turned away, covering her mouth.

  “What do you smell? Taste?”

  Her saliva ran fast and thin. She swallowed and swallowed, again and again.

  “What do you smell? What?”

  “Red.” She coughed. “It’s like my mouth is full of blood.” She turned aside and leaned over. Her stomach lurched. She feared she’d retch. She tried to hold back her nausea with a hand over her mouth.

  When she gained control over herself, she grabbed Dixon’s hand. “This way!” she cried.

  Following her nose, she rushed past sanctuary visitors and headed toward the main prayer room. She smelled Lilith. She tasted the red of the woman’s clothing, heavy and thick. Periodically she coughed or gagged.

  As they pushed through the crowd, the smell increased. Then, just as Mara had to stop again to fight back her nausea, the ground erupted before where she and Dixon stood. Fragments of foundation and flooring burst into the air. They covered their heads as debris crashed down and bodies flew out in every direction.

  A pack of grut shrieked outward.

  Instinctively, Mara confirmed that she wore her protection from them. “You wearing your tooth?” she asked Dixon over the gruts’ screeching.

  “Yes. Look, they’re attacking people in the crowd!”

  “Come on, let’s go!”

  One of
the beasts bounded toward them.

  The Oathtakers stopped in their tracks. Though the smell of death filled their nostrils, though the beast exuded evil intent, they stood defiant. It could do nothing to them.

  Mara grabbed the handle of a knife at her belt, pulled it from its sheath, and then threw it.

  Whoosh! The grut went up in flames.

  As she reached for another knife, Dixon threw a weapon. Another blast of heat and flame burst out when it found its target.

  Frenzied, they watched as the grut attacked sanctuary guests, leaving in their wake, bodies strewn about and blood splattered on the walls and floor.

  From off to one side, several Oathtakers threw knives and shot arrows.

  The gruts’ screams drowned out those from the crowd who sought to escape the melee.

  Another grut burst into flame.

  Mara couldn’t tell where the blade that killed the creature had come from. “Come on, Dixon,” she urged, pulling him. She hoped no one’s weapon hit them in error.

  A moment later they stopped when another grut tried to intercept them. The beast’s red eyes shone. As though it knew it could not attack, but was confused as to why, it studied them, screaming all the while.

  Dixon drew another blade. He threw it. His aim was true. The beast burst into flame, then disappeared.

  Yet another approached. Mara froze. She had no more knives and needed her blade to take out Lilith. Then she thought of something.

  She reached into her pocket. “Where are they? Where are they?” she cried. Her hands shook.

  There. There! She pulled out some crystals. Confirming there was no one close to the beast before her, she threw one.

  The beast went up in flame.

  An Oathtaker rushed by. Mara grabbed his arm. “Here!” she cried. She pulled his fist open and deposited some crystals in his hand. “Be very careful with those. Throw them at the grut. But be careful!”

  Once done, she and Dixon continued through the mayhem. They jumped over fallen debris and the bodies of the gruts’ victims as they neared the door to the inner sanctuary. A crowd surrounded it. Mara pushed through and then reached for the door handle.

  “Don’t!” someone shouted.

  “Stand back!” Dixon ordered.

  Whoosh! Another grut burned away.

  Mara felt the heat. She pulled her arms up to protect her face. Then she reached for the handle again.

  “No,” a man at the door cried, “don’t go in there! Some crazy woman just dragged someone in there and then ordered everyone else out.”

  “Mara, it’s got to be Lilith—and Nina,” Dixon said.

  “I know. It is Lilith. I can smell her!” Unable to control herself, she gagged. Then, she turned back to the door. Again, she reached for the handle.

  Just then, someone hit another of the beasts. A blast of heat burst forth.

  “Mara!” came a cry from the crowd.

  She turned to the voice. Velia pushed through to her.

  “Velia, get out of here. It’s not safe!”

  “But Mara—”

  “Get out. Get out! The grut!”

  Another grut went up in a flash.

  Velia shielded her face with her forearm, then turned to Mara. “Lilith’s in there.”

  “I know!”

  “Velia!” someone cried.

  A man headed their way. Mara had seen him in the crowd earlier, fighting the grut.

  “That’s Jerrett,” Velia said. “He’s an Oathtaker. He’ll help.”

  Again, Mara pulled at the door.

  Velia stood against it, holding it closed.

  “Velia, move aside!”

  “No, Mara, Lilith is in there.”

  “She has the girls.”

  Velia’s mouth fell open. “Oh, gracious Ehyeh. And she’s got my blade.”

  Mara’s heart sank. She hadn’t thought about the significance of that before. Lilith could cut off Rowena’s entire line if she killed the girls with an Oathtaker’s blade. With newfound strength, she pulled at the door again.

  This time Jerrett held it closed.

  “Get out of my way!” she ordered.

  He put one hand out. “There’s a back way into that room. Lilith will expect you to come barging in from here. Let someone distract her while you make your way to the other entrance.”

  “Don’t any of you hear me? She has the twins! There’s no time to lose!”

  “I’ll take you the other way. Let the others distract Lilith from here.”

  She glanced at Dixon.

  “Go!” he urged. “I’ll distract Lilith from here. Hurry!”

  “But, Dixon, she’ll kill you!” Tears sprang to her eyes.

  He held her gaze for a moment. “Go,” he repeated.

  “Mara,” Velia said, “you’re the only one who can—”

  “Kill her,” Mara said, her jaw set.

  “Right. Now, go! I’ll help Dixon to distract Lilith.”

  Mara turned to Jerrett. “Go!” she ordered.

  As Mara and Jerrett disappeared around the corner, Dixon opened the door and stepped inside. Velia followed immediately behind. She dropped down to the floor to make her way forward unseen.

  It was quieter inside the inner sanctuary than without. Its thick walls muffled the sounds of the shouting crowd and screaming grut. Lilith had turned out all the candles except for those immediately around the altar at the front of the room.

  Dixon allowed his eyes a moment to adjust to the low light.

  “I said, ‘get out!’”

  There was no mistaking that voice.

  He started toward the altar where Lilith stood, an Oathtaker’s blade in her hand. Nina was on its other side, holding the infants under her cloak.

  “Out!” Lilith demanded.

  As he stepped into the area the candlelight embraced, Velia crawled forward in the surrounding darkness.

  “Well, well, Dixon,” Lilith said when she turned his way. She smiled grotesquely. “So you made it back. I had rather hoped you wouldn’t be too late. I’m looking forward to sharing all of this with you.” She turned away.

  Nina stepped back.

  “Stay there,” Lilith ordered her. “So you’ve come to see me enter immortality,” she then said, turning back to Dixon. “You know,” she added, lifting her brow, “you could join me.”

  “What are you talking about?” He needed to keep her talking, distracted.

  Her head tilted. “So, Dixon, where is this lady love of yours, this Oathtaker you’ve taken such a fancy to? Mousy little thing from what I could see. What’s her name?” She hesitated, playacting. “Oh, yes. Yes, Mara.” She smiled condescendingly. “Did my grut do their job? Good thing I had this little thing with me.” She pulled out from where it was nestled between her breasts, a grut call. “That was a special touch, don’t you agree?”

  Dixon snatched up the idea that she’d unwittingly given him. If Lilith thought Mara had fallen victim to the grut, then she wouldn’t expect her to show up.

  “That’s right, Lilith.” He took another step forward. “So you called the grut up? Well they’ve certainly done their damage. But it doesn’t matter now what happened to Mara. It’s still not too late for you. Lilith, you must stop this—now.”

  “No. I’ve worked for this moment for a very long time—for nearly as long as Edmond has sought his revenge on you.” She paused. “How does it feel, Dixon, to have your friend betray you? Because, you know, that’s just how I feel about you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You served Rowena. Enough said. So now you can watch me take her place—circumvent her plans—once and for all. Just watch, and then you can be the first to feel the—warmth, shall we say—of my wrath.” She smiled, cheerlessly. “Yes, that sounds right. As soon as I’m through here. I look forward to it,” she added, her voice barely above a whisper.

  He watched her every move. Hurry, Mara! Lilith is in front of the altar with Velia’s blade. Nina is j
ust behind it. She’s hiding the girls under her cloak.

  “So, what is it you intend to do, Lilith?” he asked, seeking to buy time.

  I’m nearly there, Mara said.

  “You don’t have to do this, Lilith,” he pleaded.

  “Stay away,” she warned.

  I’m here, Mara said. Blast! The door is locked. Oh, wait, I know how to do this.

  You know how to do what?

  Unlock the door. I’ll move the tumblers.

  Hurry!

  Oh great Ehyeh. She’s jammed this one up with magic.

  Can you do it?

  Just—give me a minute.

  Hurry. Hurry!

  Dixon took another step. Lilith didn’t seem the least bit concerned by his advances.

  I did it. I’m coming.

  He willed himself not to glance toward the faint outline of movement that appeared seconds later in the darkness behind Lilith.

  Keep her talking. I’m going to change places with Nina.

  “Lilith, what possible good can this do you?”

  “Good?” she spat. “Why, Dixon, I don’t intend to do any good.” She started to turn away.

  “Lilith!” he cried. “Why don’t you just leave the girls be? They’re just infants. They can’t harm you.”

  She faced him full on, scowling. “You’ve always been incredibly naive, Dixon. Of course the girls can’t ‘harm’ me. That’s not the point. If they die, their power will just go up their line. No, this is the surest way for me to acquire the power for myself.”

  He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Velia crouched behind a pillar within steps of where Lilith stood.

  “Stop this, please,” he said, as Mara suddenly came into view. She stood, her finger to her lips, at Nina’s side. He willed himself not to turn his eyes toward her.

  Again, Lilith started to turn around.

  “Lilith!” he called.

  Just then, Velia rushed out from behind the pillar. She grabbed at Lilith’s legs, trying to upset her balance. She couldn’t kill the traitor, but she could distract her—maybe disarm her. And if Lilith did use Velia’s own blade against her, then its magic would die. Clearly, it was a sacrifice the Oathtaker was willing to make, a price she was willing to pay.