Angelina had gotten the wind knocked out of her and before she could recover, Madina grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her to her feet. Angelina grabbed for a small dagger she had around her waist but it was gone so she slammed her fist into Madina's stomach, expecting to be released but Madina only laughed.
"I am impressed, you had me going there for a second or two." Madina continued to drag the struggling Angelina by the hair, over to a table on the right side of the room.
Sir Taz struggled to his feet. He quickly glanced around the room. The other men were still trying to recover from their recent blow. Pendrake was bent over Merk. Koren was on his knees, Elise was trying desperately to push the heavy altar off of her leg and Madina was dragging Angelina across the room by her hair. Sir Taz raced to Angelina's aid but Madina turned and with a wave of her hand, sent him sailing through the air and into the wall near Merk and Pendrake.
Angelina could hear the sounds of fighting coming from below and was overwhelmed with the fact that they would all surely die. She grabbed for the daggers in her boots and they were gone as well. She couldn't figure out what had happened to them and she couldn't believe how strong Madina was. She couldn't get free.
Madina grabbed Angelina by the throat with her free hand, lifted her off her feet and slammed her onto the wooden table. She held Angelina down by the throat with her left hand and held her right hand in the air. A long thin dagger sped across the room and came to rest in her hand. She brought the dagger up and slammed it down at Angelina.
Angelina screamed as the dagger penetrated her left shoulder and embedded itself into the wood table. Madina was laughing with glee. This was turning out to be more fun that she had thought.
She released her hand from Angelina's throat, knowing that the princess was pinned to the table by the dagger. She held out her hand again and another dagger sped across the room to her. She was getting ready to plunge it into Angelina's right shoulder when Kimber came from behind with a small bit of straw that was burning and tried to light Madina's hair on fire.
Madina spun around and tried to slice the pixie with the dagger. Kimber nimbly flew out of the way and continued to taunt Madina with the flame.
As Madina was preoccupied with Kimber. Elise, with the aid of the still shaken Bishoff, pushed the altar from her leg. She knew she had to act fast. Bishoff helped her stagger over to a nearby counter and they started dumping the contents out of the small chests that were there.
Madina glanced over and sent a bolt of green light toward Elise. Bishoff pushed Elise out of the way and was slammed into the wall and lay there in a crumpled heap.
Meanwhile, Sir Taz had recovered and was helping Pendrake pull Merk to his feet. Madina saw the men getting up and sent bottles, weapons and chairs flying toward them. They were now fighting to keep the objects from striking them. Pendrake was hit by a large chair and staggered backwards, his sword falling from his grasp. Sir Taz flipped over a table and pulled Merk down behind it and Pendrake threw himself down behind it as well.
As soon as Madina turned away, Angelina took hold of the dagger and with all the strength she could muster she pulled it from her shoulder. She rolled off of the table and hit the floor with a thud. The pain was immense and she almost fainted. She rolled onto her back and pressed her hand against the wound. She lay there for a few minutes trying to get back into control. She glanced under the table to her right and saw the men hiding behind the table as all kinds of items crashed into it. She could see the back of Madina's legs. She was about to get up and crawl under the table to use the dagger on Madina when she saw her turn back toward the table.
Madina knocked the burning straw out of Kimber's hands and snatched the pixie out of the air. She whirled around, ready to send the dagger into Angelina and screamed in anger when she saw the empty table. She looked at Kimber, "You'll have to do then," as she pressed Kimber to the table and was about to finish her with the dagger when she heard Elise's cry.
"I've got the crystal!" she yelled as she held it up for all to see.
Madina saw the milky white crystal in the hand of Elise and lost control of her anger. "Enough of these games, I've toyed with all of you too long." She slammed the dagger into Kimber's wing, "I'll take my time finishing you off when I'm done with your friends." She turned and swiftly glided across the floor to where Elise leaned on a counter, still clutching the crystal.
Koren had gotten to his feet when he saw Madina heading toward Elise. He came up behind her and swung his sword. Angelina was pulling herself to her feet and saw him. She could hear the hum of the sword cut the air and thought for sure that he was about to end it all. But as the thought filtered across her mind, Koren was lifted off of his feet and sent crashing into nearby shelves containing all sizes and shapes of glass bottles. The shattering of glass was thunderous.
Madina had made it over to Elise. Elise instantly crumpled to the floor when Madina touched her. Madina now held the crystal in her hand and started to chant. The crystal began to glow and Elise cried out.
Angelina held her left arm close against her chest. Her shoulder was on fire but she had to do something. She picked up the dagger and had to grip it tightly because her hand was covered in her own blood from applying pressure to her shoulder wound. She could feel her tunic sticking to her back from the blood. She pushed herself up and stumbled over to where they were. She used her injured arm to grab Madina's right shoulder and pull her around to face her. As she did that, she raised the dagger with her right hand and plunged it into Madina's chest with all of her strength.
Madina shoved Angelina away from her. "What have you done?!" she cried in shock and amazement as she glanced down at the hilt of the dagger protruding from her.
Angelina swiftly reached out and pulled the crystal from Madina's grasp. As soon as the crystal came in contact with her blood, the light emanating from the Uzan crystal turned to a shimmering gold. She didn't notice as she staggered past Madina to try to help Elise. Her head was spinning and she felt as if she were about to pass out. She did her best to reach Elise and help her to her feet.
Madina wasn't able to stop Angelina from grabbing the crystal out of her hand. She knew the princess wouldn't know how to activate it. And besides, she would have enough time to crush them all once she healed herself. She began to chant and slowly pull the dagger from her chest. She was using a healing spell on herself and it would only take a minute or two before she was completely healed. She was done toying with them.
Elise was leaning on Angelina. It was then that she noticed the crystal in her hand and that it was still glowing. The magic had lost its direction when Angelina spun the sorceress around. Elise quickly wrapped her hand around Angelina's and pointed the Uzan crystal at Madina as she began to recite the chant that Madina had used on her.
Madina noticed the change in color and spun around, screaming in anger. The gold light flowed from the crystal and began to engulf Madina. It was getting brighter and brighter and the Crystal itself began to vibrate and hum loudly. Madina screamed something and the castle began to shake and rumble. They were all thrown to the floor. As Angelina was knocked off her feet, the Uzan crystal slipped out of her grasp and was tossed high into the air.
It was as if time had slowed as she helplessly watched the crystal tumble in the air. The bright gold light was still flowing from it, sparkling as the crystal continued its twirling motion. Angelina wasn't able to act quickly enough and the crystal struck the stone floor and shattered, sending pieces scattering in every direction. "No!" she screamed in frustration and anger. It couldn't end like this, not after all they had been through.
Things were falling off of the walls and the mortar was sifting out of the cracks between the stones and drifting in the air. They could hear the men yelling to get out of the castle. Angelina glanced away from the shattered pieces and over at Madina or what once was Madina. Now it was only a dried husk with a shiny gold dagger clutched in its bony hand. Angelina snapped out of her t
rance and grabbed the nearest piece of cloth and tried her best to pick up what was left of the Uzan crystal.
As she was being pulled to her feet by Sir Taz, she grabbed the edges of the cloth and held it tightly to her.
The men from downstairs had made their way to the main tower. There weren't any sardwolves in sight. Pendrake and Corbin had grabbed some of the tapestries off of the wall and tied the ends to the torch holders on the walls. They tossed the rest out of the windows.
Elise had already climbed or rather slid down the tapestry and was in the courtyard below. Stones were beginning to fall and the mortar dust was choking them. Angelina felt Sir Matthew grab her around the waist and pull her out the window. Her feet hit the cobblestones within seconds.
Once everyone was in the courtyard they began making their way clear of the castle grounds. Large cracks were appearing in the ground and they had to avoid falling into them. What seemed like an eternity must have only been a few minutes. They staggered out into the field and turned to watch the devastation.
The members of the group either sat or lay in the grass as they watched the ground open up and swallow the castle. The noise was deafening and the cloud of dust made their eyes water and choked them even worse than when they were in the castle. Everyone was covering their mouth and nose. It was only a matter of minutes before the dust cloud settled enough for them to see the castle sink beneath the earth and the cracks close up. All that was left was a large scar upon the earth where it had split open.
Angelina sat there in sheer exhaustion and defeat and began to cry. Everything that they had tried to accomplish, all those months that they had traveled and for what? For shattered pieces of the Uzan crystal which Airic would probably never be able to use to regain his youth. It was over and anything that Madina might have had to help him was lost. Boy did she make a mess of things.
Kimber walked over in front of Angelina, "I'm really sorry that the crystal broke. Maybe he can still use the pieces," she said trying to comfort Angelina. She had her wings folded neatly behind her. Since one of them had been torn, she wasn't able to fly. She had told Dax when he had asked if she were okay that her wing would rejuvenate itself in a few days.
Angelina wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. Her shoulder was throbbing and she now noticed that her hands were cut and bleeding from grabbing the shattered pieces of crystal. She opened the hand that held the cloth containing the pieces of crystal and looked at it. "I can't believe it," she whispered.
Elise was lying beside her while Pendrake was tightly wrapping stripes of cloth around her swelled ankle. She heard Angelina's last comment. "You did what you could," she reached out and put her hand on Angelina's leg to comfort her. "We'll take the pieces back. Maybe we can do something with them." She released Angelina's leg. "By the way, you almost had me going with your pretending to be Salene. Then I remembered all those talks that you had with Airic and figured he must have told you about her."
Angelina smiled, "Yes, he did. I was hoping it would catch her off guard." She was about to tell Elise that she thought it was hopeless to think anything could be done with the shattered crystal but Koren and Sir Taz interrupted her. "Let me take a look at your shoulder," Koren said even as he slid her tunic over to see the wound. Koren had small cuts all over from the shattered glass. He had a large bandage on his arm and Angelina could see blood staining it. The side of his face was bruised and swollen and his eye was almost completely swollen shut. She was surprised that he was helping to take care of the injuries of the other people when he must surely be in pain himself.
Sir Taz had fetched water from the nearby well, which luckily was far enough away from the castle that it didn't get destroyed. The water was dusty but clean enough to wash off their wounds and to drink. He began to bandage her shoulder.
Koren went on to the next person that was in need of attention.
Lord Ackbar came over and took the cloth and crystal shards out of Angelina's hand. "I'll wrap them up better so that none get lost and the edges won't poke though and cut you."
Merk came over and handed her a container of water. She took a couple of long swigs and handed it back. Sir Taz finished bandaging her shoulder and handed her a somewhat clean cloth that had been dampened with water so she could wipe off her face and the blood from her hands. He wanted to see how badly they were cut.
Angelina cleaned her face and then her hands. She only had a few cuts and they weren't very deep. In fact, most of them had already stopped bleeding.
"You'll be just fine," Sir Taz assured her as he got up. "I'm going to make sure everyone else is okay to travel and then we better get going." He headed over to where Bishoff was. Everyone in the party had a coating of mortar dust on them. It was in their hair and all over their clothes.
Angelina felt completely exhausted, mentally and physically. She glanced around and noticed that there was a muscular middle aged man sitting beside Corbin. He had dark bushy hair and dark eyes. He had on a pair of leggings which looked too small for him. She realized that she was looking at the now human Raffial. She had been worried about him when Madina sent the bolt of light after him and realized that he hadn't been on her mind since then. She was glad that he at least was free of his curse.
"It's getting late," announced Sir Matthew. "I suggest we get back to the horses and our packs and make camp for the night."
It was a struggle for everyone to get going because of their various injuries. They took it nice and slow. Bishoff was still dazed and had to be helped along by Thaddious. It was slow going.
When they came across the area where they had tied up the men, no one was to be found. Only the ropes remained. "Hopefully now that Madina is gone, they won't have a desire to harm us," commented Lord Ackbar. "But I think we should be ready just in case."
They then hiked to where they had left the horses and supplies. Since no one felt like continuing on, they settled in for the night. After everyone had a quick dinner, one by one they drifted off to sleep. Sir Matthew and Corbin were two of the lucky ones that walked away pretty much unscathed that day. They took the watch that night so the others could rest.
If Angelina thought she was sore that night, the next morning brought about more aches and pains. Her whole arm and shoulder throbbed and she felt battered and bruised. She wanted to sleep the day away, but knew that it wouldn't be long before they reached Raffial's house and then they could rest as long as they wanted. She noticed as she struggled to her feet that she wasn't the only one feeling sore.
Chapter 46
A Time to Recover
It was slow going that morning. They ate a cold breakfast of dried meat and some cheese. Once they got everyone into their saddles, they rode the best they could. Everyone wanted to get the ride over and done with but had to go at a slower pace so it wouldn't put an extra strain on the injured. All were eager to get back to Marlaina's and Raffial's house so they could rest and have their wounds properly attended to.
As they neared the farm, Raffial couldn't contain his excitement and he galloped ahead on his horse. When the rest of the group reached the farm, Marlaina was crying and hugging Raffial.
"Thank you, oh thank you," cried Marlaina as the rest of the party approached. "How will I ever repay you."
"Yes, thank you all," Raffial said in gratitude. "With all of the excitement yesterday, I didn't have the chance to properly thank you for what you did. I'm forever in your debt."
Angelina was glad to see Marlaina so happy. She also was glad to know that she would have hot water and hot food. She was thinking the same thing everyone else was.
"Please come in," invited Marlaina through her tears. "I'll get something hot for you all to eat and then I'll attend to your wounds." She turned to head into the house and stopped to face the group once again. "I'll never be able to repay you for what you've done. Thank you." She started crying all over again and Raffial put his arm around her and led her into the house.
The rest of the group fol
lowed and seated themselves around the table. Raffial began serving ale and fresh bread as Marlaina stoked up the fire and headed out to the chicken coup. She returned with four large chickens which Elise and Merk began to pluck.
As they were doing that, Marlaina left and came back with a large basket. She had filled it with salves, needles and thread and clean cloth. She first looked at the injuries that seemed serious and took care of those first. Sir Matthew, Bishoff and Corbin boiled hot water and helped assist Marlaina. She took care of Pendrake and Sir Asen who just had bruises and slight scrapes. Then she took a look at Thaddious who had a slight gash on his forehead. She cleaned it and then stitched it shut. Sir Matthew applied a salve and placed a clean cloth bandage over it and tied it loosely.
Koren had a deep cut on his arm which Marlaina cleaned and stitched. He had other cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Corbin applied the salve and bandage to his father's arm. He also applied a cooling salve to his father's face where it was bruised and swollen. The cooling salve would ease the pain and help speed healing.
The Uzan Crystal Page 36
