We broke for dinner and agreed to return after eating. Together the decision was made to continue the process as long as we had volunteers willing to come in, and I didn't get too worn out. Every thought running through my head led to collecting that crystal coffin and bringing my mother back to us. The sooner I completed this task, the sooner I could focus on that.
Taryk and I ate a quiet meal alone together. Xavier had gone on his “date” with Endryl, and Yuri had gone to eat with her grandmother. Celeste obviously didn't need to eat, and wandered the castle keeping her eyes and ears open.
We moved to the sofa in the grand hall and looked out at the grounds. I needed to see Jewel and Topaz soon. I checked in regularly via the bond, but always felt better after a visit. I leaned into Taryk's side as I rested and reflected on all that had changed in such a short time.
“How long do you think we have to keep her hidden to satisfy the prophecy?” If there was a hard and fast cut-off time, I knew the dark mage would be appearing at some point before it ended.
“Prophecy is funny like that. None of it is written in stone. The only certain thing is the sooner we defeat her, the sooner we can relax and stop worrying.”
“Ain't that the truth.” I closed my eyes, intending to rest for just a few minutes before we had to return to the library. I'd take my tiny naps wherever I could get them.
The musty smell assaulted my senses, and my eyes jerked open. This time I stood directly in front of the stone table that held the crystal coffin aloft. It lay there, dark and foreboding. I desperately wanted to place my hands on it and bring forth the light, to see my mother’s face and reassure myself she still lay there, but something held me back. Somehow this visit seemed different, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly how.
A feeling of impending disaster filled me. The discouragement felt as if it came from the ground, winding its way over my feet and up my legs. It climbed higher and higher, compressing my torso. I felt my breaths coming in short gasps. All I wanted to do was drop to the ground and give up, but I had no control over my body.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I reached for the dragon stone. I pulled its power into myself, then pushed it outward, at last breaking the hold over me. I sat upright on the couch, Taryk looming over me. Our foreheads cracked, and I collapsed backward. Blinking repeatedly, I gazed up at him.
“You already have one hell of a goose egg on your forehead.”
He shook his head wryly. “Yeah? Well, you're bleeding, so you lose.”
I reached up gently and pulled my hand away at the sticky wetness. Examining my fingertips, I sighed. He was right. Xavier came from the other room, cloth in hand. Endryl followed.
“I hope I am not intruding.”
I laughed, slightly hysterically. “Nope. Welcome to a day in my life.”
Chapter Eighteen
The split in my skin had already begun to close by the time they got the blood wiped off. Taryk wanted me to sit and recuperate. I just needed to get the magic returned to the last of the volunteers who were waiting. The urgency to bring my mother back to the castle had grown exponentially. I couldn't nail down the origin of the feeling in the dreamscape, but it lingered like a bad smell.
In spite of their wishes, they followed me reluctantly into the library. Celeste appeared as I waited for the next group.
“It seems your cousin is sowing seeds of discord amongst those gathered here. He is raising questions about whether you can be trusted. He has told some of our volunteers that you are only returning magic to them so they can feed the dark mage once again.”
“Damn that childish asshole. I knew he was going to be trouble.”
I let Xavier know via the bond that we needed to have a conversation before he brought the next group in, and he appeared almost immediately, closing the door behind him.
Celeste relayed to him the same message she had brought to me moments earlier.
“It's up to you what we do with him, Xavier, but we need to do something.” I had no patience for this behavior, and he could ruin our chances for victory before they ever got off the ground.
“I could talk to him again, but I doubt it would have an impact. So our choices are to banish him, or imprison him.”
“So, as much as I am against imprisoning people, I am deathly afraid if we banish him that he will seek out our enemy and betray us further. We cannot afford to have her know what we are up to before we are ready.”
He sighed, shoulders drooping. “You are right. At least without his magic it will not be an epic battle to imprison him. I will find him now.”
“Don't go alone. Find someone to help you. Taryk and I will continue with the current group. Celeste, will you see if you can figure out where he is right now, please? And ask for Yuri's help as well, if she is back.”
Celeste nodded and disappeared from sight. Xavier agreed he would get someone we trusted to help. He left and sent the next group in on his way out.
It took me only the next couple of hours to return magic to the remaining volunteers. At this point, we had a small army built up. And by small, I meant approximately three hundred. Without telling anyone else what I was doing, I had added a little something extra to each of the volunteers.
I'd argued with myself about it, knowing that technically it was wrong to change anything about another being without their permission, but I truly believed it could turn the tides in our favor if we found ourselves slipping behind.
In each volunteer, I had left behind a minuscule opening. Should any of them be in need, I would be able to push forth magic to bolster their power. I assuaged my guilt by the knowledge that I could not take from them in any way without their permission, and I had initiated no bond or other invasion of their privacy. I also made sure that the opening would only accept my own magic, nobody else could influence them in any way.
Since the bond did not exist to forewarn me, I would have to know some other way that they needed assistance, but I saw this as a last-minute reprieve. If our army looked to be in danger of losing the battle, I could open the floodgates wide and increase our power exponentially.
Sinking to the couch after the last of the volunteers left the room, I looked at Taryk. “We need to bring my mother back here. Tonight.”
“Whoa. I know you are in a hurry, but let’s be sure Solomon is dealt with, and we have a plan in place for the worst-case scenario. We need to proceed carefully in case this is a trap.”
“Whether it's a trap or not, I am NOT leaving my mother in that hell hole one second longer than is absolutely necessary.”
“I'm not saying we are. But you need to make an honest assessment of what is deemed necessary. All I'm saying is that we need to have everything prepared for whatever might come with that crystal coffin she's in. I highly doubt they put her there like that with no plan in place. We need to have a plan too.”
Before I could respond, Xavier came in with Celeste behind him. “We have a problem.”
“Of course, we do. Because why wouldn't we?” I leaned my head against the back of the sofa and sighed. “What happened?”
Celeste came to hover near me. “Solomon has disappeared.”
“What? How can that be? He has to be within the wards somewhere, right?”
Xavier cleared his throat. “If he is, we don't know where he could be hiding. Yuri is bringing in a team of wood sprites to help us search for him.”
“Jewel! We have to protect her.”
Reaching out through our bond, I checked in on them. Topaz confirmed it seemed quiet all around, and Jewel slept peacefully. I warned her to be on the highest alert and sent an image of Solomon to her. I let her know that she needed to call me at once if she saw him, or if she felt uncomfortable in any way with anyone who showed up in the stable. As soon as we found a trustworthy guard, I'd be posting more around their stall.
“No matter what, trust no one new until I have verified them. I will come and introduce any new staff to you personally.”
She
agreed, and I focused once more on Xavier. “Do you think this might have something to do with the fact that he didn't ask for his magic back? Because he still has it?”
“I hope not. That would mean he either somehow eluded her when she was draining magic, which would be okay, or he is in collusion with her and has been all along. Either way, he should not be able to get through the wards...”
“Perhaps our first order of business should be to alter the wards? Can we specify that he specifically is not able to pass either way, no matter what magic he possesses?”
“That's a good idea. I will do it now.” He stood to go, and I copied him.
“I want to come too. I have something else I want to discuss with you that involves the wards, so we might as well do it now.”
Using the bond, in case there were prying ears about the castle, I explained to Xavier what I had been thinking as we headed for the ward room. We tossed ideas back and forth as we walked, plotting and planning for various scenarios. By the time we reached our destination, we had a fairly solid plan in place.
As we left the ward room, Yuri arrived with her crew. We met them in the tunnels to allow them to cross the wards, and Xavier apprised them of the situation.
Yuri was incensed. “I knew he was a shady, good-for-nothing cretin! If he is here, we will find him. Come on, everyone, let's get him.”
She buzzed off with at least forty wood sprites racing after her, each intent on being the one to track the traitor down. Their competitiveness became obvious as they shouted good-natured insults at each other while they zipped up the stairwell.
“Well,” I said wryly, “if he is still here, they will find him!”
As we reached the turn off that led to the other underground hallway, we exited the stairwell, and confused Taryk.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
Oops. I'd forgotten he hadn't been listening in on our conversation and needed to be brought up to speed.
“We have fortified the wards for one of these rooms. It is where we will bring the crystal coffin when we get my mother.”
He sighed. “Ev—”
“Nope. I've talked with Xavier and we have it all settled.”
Now it was Xavier's turn to look confused. “Wait. You didn't discuss it with Taryk? I assumed you two were already on the same page.”
“We are. He just needs to catch up.” I made sure to use a tone that sent the message clearly. I would not be swayed by any argument. This needed to be done, and it needed to be done now.
We stalked down the rest of the hallway in silence. Our plan included minimal fuss and was very straightforward. The room we had chosen sat at the farthest end of this hallway. It had no other access point other than the singular door. It lay deep within the earth for maximum natural protection, and we had seriously beefed up the wards covering every last inch of it.
If we discovered that the crystal coffin did, in fact, come with any sort of magical spells, assaults or funny business, it would be contained to that singular room. We planned to open a portal directly to the room that housed the coffin, pull said coffin into the prepared room, and close the portal. Hopefully in less than thirty seconds. If any sort of hang up came along, we would deal with it.
I could not, in good conscience, leave her to lie in that dark, musty room. Assuming she had been there since the night she appeared to us in the study, when we thought she had died, it had already been too long. Hell, one minute would have been too long, in my opinion.
The three of us stood in the center of the room, making last minute plans. It had no furniture, and we planned to just lay the coffin on the floor. This lessened the chance of anything being used against us, should there be a scuffle of any sort.
Assuming the coffin itself would be extremely heavy we intended to use our magic to bring it through the portal. Taryk had demanded we do it that way so I didn't actually have to set foot in the underground room since we had no idea where it was located. He feared I would get trapped there alone, and they would have no way to attempt a rescue.
I had entertained that same concern while pondering all the ways we could be caught off guard during the rescue attempt and didn't like the thought of taking on the dark mage by myself. As far as I had come, I still had a whole lot to learn. I very much needed the more experienced ones in our group to back me up. I had no doubt that should we engage in a one-on-one battle at this point, I would lose. Sorely. And if I lost? Well, so did every being in every realm. No pressure, right?
Shaking the stiffness and tension from my joints, I took a deep breath. “Are we ready?”
The look on Taryk's face shouted without words that he believed we were making a major mistake. He had tried to clarify his thought process to me earlier, but I had stubbornly refused to hear him out. Part of me felt bad about it, but I couldn't abandon my mother, even for him. In my grown-up brain I knew that wasn't even close to what he had been asking of me, and that he only wanted to keep me safe. Unfortunately the petulant, head-strong teenager in me had been in charge at the time, and I shut him down without really giving him a chance. I'd have to apologize when we had done what I came here to do.
He refused to even nod, another way of showing me he disagreed. The only reason he joined us was to help keep me safe. If he had believed it to be less dangerous, he probably would have went to sulk in a corner.
Xavier nodded, and I opened myself to the power of the ring. The wards had been set such that no other could make a portal into or out of this room. The only way for anything bad to get in would be for it to come through the portal I made, either slipping in while it remained open, or hitching a ride on the coffin itself.
We each believed that to be the most likely scenario. I highly doubted she would be placed into a coffin and then left unattended without some serious mojo involved. After all, the scribe magic is what the dark mage lusted after, and the only way for her to get her hands on it would be to find out who had it now.
Expelling the breath in my lungs, I opened a portal directly to the dark room that I had seen the coffin in. Peering through, the darkness allowed us no sight. Taryk powered up an orb of light and sent it in. Sure enough, right where it had been in my dream, lay a crystalline coffin on a stone riser.
Xavier used his magic and called it forth. For a brief moment, it seemed like it wouldn't budge, then it slid through the portal and came to rest on the floor. As soon as Taryk's orb had returned to the room, I closed the connection.
In this light, it looked empty.
“Ev, are you sure...” Taryk's voice trailed off as I shot him a disparaging look.
“Of course, I am sure. Seriously? Watch.”
Reaching out, I laid my hand against the casket, waiting for the light to show them her face. Nothing. I frowned. Shifting slightly, I placed both hands against the smooth surface, stunned by how cold it felt. Still nothing.
“Ev...”
“She WAS in there! I saw her. With my own eyes! I am not making this up!” I could feel the hysteria coming on, but I could do nothing about it.
Xavier's voice broke in. “Everleigh, I know how much you wanted this to be true, but I believe we have triggered a trap. We need to try to put the coffin back. Quickly!”
Standing, I opened the portal to what should have been the earthen room with the stone plateau in the middle. A solid wall of dirt met us instead of the view we had been expecting.
“Damn it! What is happening?”
Xavier and Taryk both stood over the coffin, murmuring and working their own magic simultaneously. Spell after spell they cast, attempting to contain whatever evil I had just insisted on inviting into our midst.
For a moment, I just stared, unable to believe she hadn't appeared when I touched it. In spite of the desire to run away and hide, I got to my feet and began helping the guys. Any incantation I knew that I believed would be even remotely helpful I cast over it. Finally each of us cast our own trigger spell, so that we would be instantly alerted if
a single breath of magic disturbed the room.
Standing in the hall while I waited for Xavier and Taryk to lay even more magic over the door, the tears began to fall. She had been there, I knew it. I had not been imagining things, even though I had seen her in a dream, I had seen her.
I knew her soul still lingered within these realms, or she would have had a statue at the chateau. Unfortunately, this coffin did not contain her essence, and whatever it did harbor had just gained free entry right into the very midst of our safe haven.
What had I done?
Chapter Nineteen
We made the walk back to the library in silence. Sinking into the sofa, I put my head into my hands and cried. She had been in that casket. I saw her. And yet it lay in the room below, empty. A harbinger of evil and danger in our very midst. Who could say what horror I had dragged into the castle? I had endangered every being we brought here to be safe.
If it turned out to be a spy of any kind, I may have just given our position and plans away. If it turned out to be a gateway, I may have just opened us all up to attack. I let her prey on my pain, and the cost could be catastrophic for all of us.
Taryk and Xavier paced the room as they discussed contingency plans. We needed to be prepared for every eventuality and we had no time to spare.
Finally, Taryk perched on the edge of the sofa. “Everleigh, I'm sorry she wasn't in there. We will find her.”
“But she WAS. I saw her. I did not imagine it. And now I have endangered us all.”
“What's done is done. We need to be ready for anything. We need to gather what we can of an army and make our move before she has the chance to learn any of our secrets.”
I hung my head in shame. If I had just listened to their requests to slow down and learn everything we could before opening the portal, we wouldn't have been in this position. I wanted to retreat to my room and pull the covers over my head as I had done in my younger years. Although I had long since learned the lesson that ignoring a problem didn't make it go away, it still stood at the top of my list for ways to deal with unpleasantness. Especially if said unpleasantness was my own bloody fault.
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