A Shadow Flame (Book 7)

by Jordan Baker

  Stavros nodded.

  "Yes, we can do that," he said.

  "My magic is gone but my strength is returning," Calthas said.

  "I have enough power to move the others," Ehlena said, then she smiled at Coraline and sent a wisp of white vapor toward the mage. "It isn't much of a blessing, but I hope it will help."

  "Thank you," Coraline said. "Now please go, and when your powers return, you must do what you can to destroy this place."

  They made their way out of the temple, with Calthas carrying one of the mages, Stavros another and Ehlena the other two, with her power. As they exited the temple doors, they turned and saw Coraline walk up to the large crystal at the center, her arms outstretched, and she rose up through the air and embraced the crystal. Energy sparked through the air around her, filling the temple with blinding light that swirled with dark power. Dark tendrils gathered around the mage, and began to attack her, but she clung to the crystal, shifting its power to match the resonance of the rest of the crystals in the city.

  A powerful flash filled the temple and beams of light shot through the city, followed by a shrill and powerful scream from the direction of the palace.

  "We must go," Stavros said to Ehlena and Calthas. "Calexis will be sure to come here, and we will not be able to fight her as we are."

  He tried to gather his power to travel, even a short distance, but he was too weak, and all the three of them could do was to hobble across the open square, toward streets that they could see were teeming with grey soldiers and Darga, fighting the soldiers that had come to liberate the city. Almost like the sound of thunder, it was as though the air itself began to shake, and a dark smudge of grey smoke shot from the palace toward the temple. Calthas, Stavros and Ehlena turned and, through the shadows that filled the temple, they saw the silhouette of Coraline in the blinding light of the crystal, then she disappeared, as though she had been burned away by the light.

  Inside the temple, Calexis saw the mage smile at her before she disappeared into the light, and she suddenly felt the power that had been gathered in the giant crystal begin to flow outward, into the city. She reached out to the crystal and felt it resist her magic and she could tell that something was different about the spell, that it had been altered in some way. Furious, that the mages had tricked her and were now stealing the power that she had taken so long to gather, she used the power of the shadow to grasp the crystal and began extracting it directly. Even though she was able to take much of it, she felt it resisting her still, and Calexis thought she felt a presence of some kind within the light, and it burned with anger that felt like the dreaded truefire she hated so much. The heat of it burned her, simply from touching the stone. Darkness began to swirl around inside the crystal and Calexis suddenly felt the poison of the shadow begin to flow into her, adding to the dark power she already possessed, and she realized what the mages had done, that they intended to restore the people of the city and take the shadow from them.

  Summoning her power, she used the strength of the god within her and grabbed the stone pedestal that stood beneath the crystal then wrenched it from the stone floor and began smashing the crystal with it. Pieces of stone and dust flew from the pedestal but the crystal remained. Infuriated, Calexis summoned more power and she grew in size and smashed her fist into the crystal again and again, focusing her strikes upon it, each blow burning her with raw energy. A crack appeared in the crystal, and a moment later it shattered, releasing a blinding flash and sending thousands of tiny pieces exploding through the temple. Calexis felt the countless tiny cuts in her face and the shadow within her raged at the amount of energy that had escaped, but she had already managed to take a large amount of it, and she knew that there was more power almost within her grasp at the palace, but first there was the matter of punishing those who had interfered with her plans.

  Covered in tiny shards of crystal, and surrounded by a dark grey cloud of shadow, Calexis turned away from the center of the temple and walked out through the open doors, not noticing the glimmering wisp of light that hovered in the air for a moment where the crystal had been, before it flitted away. Once she was outside, she saw the two mages and the weak little goddess at the far side of the square, trying to make their escape, dragging several of her black robed servants along with them. She shifted her form to shadow and shot from the temple toward them. The mage, Calthas turned and cast a weak shielding spell, but Calexis appeared from the smoke and the spell crackled and fizzled as she walked right through it, and reached for the mage, with tendrils of dark power gathered around her like snakes of shadow in the air, all of them poised to strike.

  A shriek echoed from the sky, followed by a distant clap of thunder and a blur of blue and crackling energy shot from the sky toward the dark queen and smashed into her, knocking her backward and away from Calthas. Calexis slid backward but stayed on her feet, and in her hand she held a jeweled sword that glittered silvergold and crackled against the matching blade that Lexi held. The two of them leapt away from each other.

  "Lexi," Calexis said. "I was wondering when I might see you again."

  "You see me?" Lexi asked. "No, you do not see me."

  Like a bolt of lightning, she shot forward, and Calexis met her blade with her own, and the impact of it shook the air. Calexis laughed then she leapt backward, landing atop the temple.

  "Glorious!" she said as Lexi sprang from the stone square and attacked her again, the clash of silvergold steel and the crackle of lightning reverberating through the city. Calexis turned to dark smoke as Lexi struck at her again, her blade whistling through the dark grey cloud that disappeared and moved away from the temple, toward the palace.

  Lexi stood atop the temple, angered that Calexis would be so cowardly, but she turned and saw the two mages and Ehlena watching from the ground, and she leapt back down and walked toward them.

  "You are not recovered," she said to Ehlena.

  "She took the shadow into her to free us," Stavros said.

  "You are already poisoned, Ehlena," Lexi said.

  "That is true," Ehlena said. "A little more will matter little at this point. Can you do something for me, Lexi?"

  "Yes," she said. "What is it?"

  "The power that flows within you, the power of Stroma," Ehlena said. "Can you make the lightning flow into me?"

  "You want me to attack you?"

  "Not exactly," Ehlena replied. "But that may be the easiest way to explain it."

  "I don't want to fight you," Lexi said. "I like you."

  "Just hold my hand and tell your power to move to me, like you would attack, only slower, if such a word can be used to describe lightning," Ehlena said. "You won't hurt me. I promise."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes," Ehlena said with a smile. "We don't have much time."

  "I must kill Calexis," Lexi said with a serious nod.

  "Then take my hand," Ehlena said, and she held out her own toward the blue dragon girl. Lexi took her hand, and energy began to crackle along her arm.

  "It won't hurt you?" she asked again.

  "It might hurt a little," Ehlena said. "But it won't harm me."

  Lexi nodded, then her energy flashed across her hand and began to course through Ehlena. She clenched her jaw as the raw power seared over her body and shot through her, and she was surprised at the sheer amount of energy that Lexi possessed. Ehlena had to wrench her hand away, and Lexi stepped back with a worried look on her face, obviously concerned that she might have hurt her, and Ehlena looked up at her, with lightning still flickering in her eyes and she blinked, clearing her vision.

  "Thank you, Lexi," she said. "I will be fine now."

  Lexi looked at Calthas, who smiled at her, and the old mage, Stavros, and she glanced at the black robed mages.

  "Why do you carry them?" she asked.

  "They will soon be free," Stavros told her. "And it will soon be very dangerous here when the others arrive."

  "Then you must go," she said. "I must go al
so."

  "I have told Aaron that the spell is broken," Ehlena said with a frown as she stared in the direction of the palace. "I do not think he can hear me."

  "I will tell him," Lexi said. "He will listen to me when I yell it to him as a dragon."

  "Be careful, Lexi," Calthas said.

  "You be careful too," Lexi told him, then she turned and disappeared in a flash of light as she took off toward the palace.

  "How were you able to take the power Lexi gave you?" Stavros asked Ehlena. "If I am not mistaken, it seemed to almost be a form of death magic."

  "It is similar," Ehlena said. "But if it is freely given it is a little different, and it will last only a short time. I should be able to protect us from the Darga and the grey soldiers until our powers return, for I have some knowledge of Stroma's power."

  "Well that's a relief, because it looks like there are around a dozen of those winged Darga headed this way," Calthas said.

  Across the rooftops, heading toward the palace, Lexi leapt in blinding blurs of energy, moving to where she knew her mother was waiting along with Aaron, about whom she was now even more worried. She landed atop the palace wall and saw Calexis standing in the open courtyard waiting for her. She also saw Aaron standing at the top of the steps to the palace, staring at her with an almost blank expression on his face, though something about the way his eyes looked seemed dark and cruel, in a way that reminded Lexi of her brother. Angered by the knowledge that Calexis must have done things to him, she jumped down from the wall and walked toward her, sword in hand, and ready to attack.

  "Now, my dear Lexi," Calexis said. "Let us see if you are worthy to be my blood."

  "I don't want to be your blood," Lexi said. "But I would like to see you bleed."

  "Well then," Calexis replied with a fanged grin. "Come, child."

  Lexi shot forward and swung her sword in a lightning fast attack, but Calexis disappeared in a wisp of black smoke and the tip of the blade sliced harmlessly through the air. Lexi spun around as she heard laughter behind her, and barely dodged her mother's blade as it whipped through the air where she had been standing only a moment before. In a blur, she leapt to the side, then back again as Calexis attacked once more, and Lexi felt her blade connect, but only barely.

  "You have learned to fight," Calexis said, then she reappeared behind her and pain lanced across Lexi's arm. "But you are no match for me."

  Lexi moved again, her blade striking metal as Calexis blocked her attack, and she moved even faster, flitting from place to place as the courtyard began to darken with shadows. It was as though she was in more than one location at once, and Lexi struck wildly at the shifting shadows that would dissipate with every swing of her sword, only to reappear a moment later. Her mother's irritating laughter filled the courtyard and Lexi felt pain and saw a gash appear on her leg. She leapt backward and spun around, bringing her sword around in a whirling arc, blocking another strike that seemed to come from nowhere. The courtyard became even darker and it seemed as though there were shadows everywhere. Lexi darted to a spot between the shadows and she swung her sword around blindly, hoping to hit Calexis, but the shadows simply parted and returned.

  "You cannot fight the shadow with a sword," Calexis said. "My power is too vast for you to even understand, Lexi."

  "I will find you," Lexi said, making sure not to look at Aaron. "And I will stop you, as the mages stopped your magic. I will free Aaron, just like the people are free now. Do you hear that? The people are free. You have no power over them."

  "You always were a little simple, Lexi," Calexis said with a laugh. "Always to my great disappointment."

  Lexi felt another cut on her shoulder and she dodged to the side and raised her blade, blocking yet another attack.

  "Face me," she said. "You are a coward."

  "I do not care what you call me," Calexis told her. "I need not answer to such a pathetic creature."

  "I will kill you," Lexi growled. "I will burn you with fire."

  "You will?" Calexis laughed as the shadows filled the courtyard.

  "I will destroy you, like you destroy people," Lexi told her, then she slammed her sword into its sheath and began to shift into her dragon form.

  Calexis appeared before her among the shadows and dark grey smoke, and she began to shift as well, growing is size and gaining reptilian features, though not completely a dragon.

  "You wish to fight me?" she growled. "Then show me your power, dragon."

  "You will burn," Lexi growled as her transformation was complete, and she took in a deep breath and let out a blast of burning hot fire.

  Calexis stepped to the side and Lexi followed her with a stream of fire that burned a path through the shadows. Lexi began to take in another deep breath when she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. She heard a snapping sound and felt another sharp pain, this time in her side. She looked down and saw sharp metal bolts sticking from her, and two more hit her from different angles, one lodging in her shoulder, the other in her left leg. Lexi howled and pulled at the bolts, but they would not come out. Several more shot toward her, obscured by the smoky shadows that billowed all around her, and she managed to knock one away, but two more hit her, one in the chest, the other in her neck.

  Chains pulled tight as she tried to move, and Calexis walked toward her, laughing as more bolts hit their targets. Lexi tried to suck in another breath, but Calexis moved quickly and struck her in the side of the head with her claws, her powerful blow nearly sending Lexi into unconsciousness. Her vision blurred, Lexi tried to breathe fire but another blow to the side of her chest, so hard that she felt as though her powerful dragon bones might break, knocked the wind from her, and acid fire spilled from her mouth, pooling in flames upon the ground. Calexis hit her in the head again as the chains that held her pulled tight, then Lexi felt yet another blow connect with her skull and her legs gave out beneath her. She fell to the stone cobbles of the courtyard, barely able to see from the jarring impact of the powerful reptilian fist that hit her yet again.

  "I must thank you, Lexi," Calexis said. "You have gained power that I have sought, and you brought it right to me."

  Lexi tried to growl, the frustration and anger burning deep inside her, but Calexis hit her again, driving her head into the ground so hard the impact cracked the stones beneath her. She tried to move, but the chains held her tight and the iron spikes that pierced her limbs and body sent waves of pain through her. Lexi glanced through the fog of the shadows and caught sight of several Darga, hanging onto the ends of the chains, which were run through metal rings, fixed to the stone courtyard, and in her delirium, they resembled her brother Draxis, with his cruel grin.

  Calexis spun her sword around in her hand, then she pointed the end downward and laughed as she plunged the blade toward Lexi, but she froze as lightning bolts hit her and shot toward the Darga. Lexi growled and rose to all fours, then she blasted fire and lightning around the courtyard, burning the Darga and several of the chains they held. Lexi knocked the sword from Calexis' grasp as she smashed into her with her powerful dragon shoulder. With lightning filling the courtyard, Lexi sent another blast of flame toward the other Darga, then she began pulling the iron rods from her, ripping them from her flesh, her anger overwhelming the intense pain.

  Struggling against the lightning that coursed through her, Calexis scraped her sword up from the ground and she turned toward the blue dragon at the center of the whirlwind of fire and lightning just as three iron rods shot toward her. She blocked one but the other two hit her directly in the chest, and the chains to which they were attached yanked her forward as Lexi pulled on them and let out a blast of fire directly at her. Calexis screamed as she took the brunt of the fire directly, and its blinding heat seared her rotting flesh faster than her power could repair it. She shifted to smoke and the iron rods fell to the ground, then she reappeared right in front of Lexi and she swung her sword and cut a deep gash in the dragon's shoulder. Lexi bellowed in pain and snapped at Cale
xis with her razor sharp teeth, grabbing hold of her arm, then she whipped her head to the side and sent her tumbling to the ground as her arm was torn apart at the elbow. Black blood spilled upon the ground as Lexi spit out the severed limb and turned to face Calexis, but the dark queen disappeared again in a cloud of dark smoke.

  Tendrils of shadow snaked through the air and began wrapping themselves around Lexi, absorbing her lightning, and she tried to blast at them with her fire, but the shadows parted and moved away from wherever her flame touched. More shadows wrapped around Lexi, circling around her neck and choking her, preventing her from breathing fire. She slashed at them with her claws but the shadows were suddenly without substance and it was as though she was attacking nothing, and the dark tendrils that wrapped around her tightened even more. From the smoke, Calexis appeared, with her arm beginning to reform, but made of shadow and smoke. In her remaining hand, she held her sword out, ready to strike as she walked toward Lexi. Calexis raised her blade and held it over her for a moment, then she brought it down in an arc toward Lexi's neck, a stroke powerful enough to cut through scale and bone.

  Upon the steps, Aaron peered through the fog and shadow, and he heard echoes in his thoughts, words and voices that he knew. Calexis spoke, as she always did, with cruel laughter, taunting him, and he heard another voice, one that seemed familiar and it was angry and filled with fire and crackling with energy. In the darkness, he saw flashes of fire and blinding light, and more words echoed in his thoughts, about things he knew should make sense, but he could not focus upon them. All he could think about was keeping the shadow away from his power, hoping to distract Calexis long enough for something to happen. Aaron was not sure why he wanted to keep her focused on him, but he knew it was something important, and more words began to echo in his thoughts. Another voice whispered something about the people, that they were free, and the other voice shouted it with fire, and Aaron remembered that the mages were working to break a spell to free the people. From the darkness that surrounded his thoughts, Aaron looked through the smoke and the shadows and he saw fire and light glimmering in the darkness, then he suddenly felt a familiar power as lightning flashed toward him. The shadows parted for a moment and he saw Calexis holding a sword, and he saw it swing toward the neck of a dragon with scales the color of the sky and eyes that spoke of sadness and rage.