by Amber Morant
“I'm sorry, but I can't. If I get this power, then we could be the best thieves in the entire country. Besides, there's even a friend waiting for me at the citadel. I can't leave him to die either.”
“Then promise me. Promise me you will come find me as soon as you get what you wanted. I won't leave the tunnels until you do.”
Elona embraced Roland one last time. “I promise.” She separated from him and ran back to the entrance. “I will be back, don't ever doubt me. After all, I am Elona, Tore’s greatest thief and escape artist. My luck won't dry out today.”
“If you don’t come back I will go out there looking for you!” Roland shouted down the tunnels after her.
***
The citadel was almost completely destroyed now. Only a few towers still stood on the land. She could recognize the library in the rubble but no sign of the fairy-broom. To get to the tower that held Elindel’s supposed power, she had to climb over the rubble and furniture that would never be repairable. Elindel had only once hinted at where the room stood and if it was as powerful as he claimed, it should still be standing. She could even see the room where time stood still was hanging high above, only a few pillars still holding its structure together.
She stepped over another broken bookcase. A squeak came from underneath the shelf and Elona looked down to see her teacher hiding under the rubble except his eyes were glowing a bright red and his skin looked like a shadow. The only connection to it having been her teacher was the small pair of glasses that were now broken on his face. In one hand he held a small pile of clothes and his other hand held a broom that was now split into two.
“Stay right there, I'm coming!” Elona pulled one of the shelves off of the teacher then a large strobe that had broken from the wall. It scratched at her hands and arms, but she continued to dig him out.
“Elona?” The teacher asked then let out another small squeak. His body began to shrink into a small mass that was no bigger than an infant. It squeaked again. And tried to cover itself with the broom but failed.
“Wait, you're the broom-fairy. You've been the teacher and the fairy this entire time? Don't move, I've got you.” Elona started to dig faster. She was in shock to learn the fair had always been near her and knew she had to save him or her conscious wouldn't let her live it down.
She reached the fairy who was gripping onto the straws of the broom tightly. It looked up to her in fear, but didn't run away. Instead they climbed up onto her shoulders and made a purring noise. He was surprisingly soft and fluffy despite how sleek his body was. It was the first time she had been this close to the fairy and them not being hidden inside of the broom. Elona wanted to just stay and cuddle with the soft fur the fairy had but knew if she had to get to the secret room before it was destroyed as well by the attack.
“I take it you're coming with me?” Elona stroked the fairy’s soft fur down to his long tail. He was more primate than what the books portrayed a fairy to be. Despite this, she had seen the fairy use magic before to control the broom and even shape shift so it was possible this was just another form it preferred to take on over the winged pixie look.
Another rumble brought Elona to the ground, causing the fairy to grip her tighter. She climbed carefully out of the rubble and back onto solid ground so she wouldn't get trapped like the fairy had. Elona escaped the rumble and felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking back, she could see bright red blood seeping through her pant leg. Attached to a piece of wood further back was a torn piece of her pants that was now stained with blood.
The fairy squeaked and rubbed its head against her cheek. “I'll be fine. It's just a little scratch. Look.” Elona hopped on her injured leg. It stung and almost made her yelp out in pain, but held it in to avoid making the fairy worry. Now let's get going.”
Elona was unsure about if it was worth it to go to the room anymore, but at this point, returning empty handed would be useless. With the fairy on her shoulder, she felt confident she could make it. The pain was still strong in her leg, leaving her limping the rest of the way. She was thankful the rest of the path was clear or she would never make it to the door.
A loud creak filled Elona’s ears and she looked up to see the last pillars holding the timeless room collapsing. “Oh shi-” she didn't get a chance to finish before having to run away. The door to the room opened with candles flowing out and falling next to her. One of the candles hit the fairy who yelped in pain from the hot wax. One of the walls of the citadel was still standing a few feet away so she dodged behind it and braced herself for impact.
The room crashed behind her with a thunderous boom. She turned to peer around the wall to see the damage and moaned in despair. She could see dust floating into the air before falling to the ground in a thin layer. It would have seemed almost natural if not for the fact that the dust rose back up and repeated the process multiple times with the candles also rising in the air and floating before falling back into melted wax on the ground again.
“The Magic must have released. Come on, fairy. Let's get this over with now before we get spotted in this mess.”
Reaching the door after all of the destruction was simple now save for the pain in Elona’s leg. The door was sealed with multiple locks all across yet she only had the one key that supposedly opened it. She pulled the set of keys out and shuffled through them until she came across an old rusted key. The handle had a small bump on it that looked like a closed eye. It bothered her and reminded Elona of Elindel in some way. Even the fairy shivered when they saw the key.
“Well we better get this done.”
She lifted the key up to the door and pushed her energy into the key as she had done with the other magic she had done. The key lifted from her hands and latched itself into the largest of the locks before turning. The other locks clicked as the key turned and unmatched from the door.
Elona swung the door open after all of the locks unlocked themselves. It was dark inside, but she could hear something dripping onto the cold stone in the distance. She lit a small flame in her palms and stepped inside. With every step, Elona could hear something splashing under her feet. There was a strange odor that filled the air, making her scrunch up her nose and cover it with her sleeve.
“Wonder what is making the room flooded…” Elona wondered aloud.
She lowered her flame to the ground, but the liquid was too dark a color to distinguish what it was. Begrudgingly, Elona gave up trying to find out what it was and decided to investigate the rest of the room. In front of her was a large stone table with books and parchment spread across. She recognized a few symbols drawn on the parchments to use for sharing the energy of nature around her in a ritual but the others and the writing were indistinguishable.
The fairy tugged at Elona’s shirt and pointed to the far wall. Elona walked over to where the fairy was pointing and brought the flame up to see what was there. She could smell the foul odor even more now and reached out to feel what she imagined was a set of handles standing up. The fire lit them up so that Elona could see the pure white of them curved in an elegant fashion.
She leaned the fire closer and gasped. “No. It couldn't be.”
Elona’s fire burst into a giant ball in her moment of shock and saw the rest of the room now. Multiple bodies were scattered across the room, all having the symbols that were on the parchment etched into their bodies. What she had thought were handles at first were the rib bones of another person who had been almost perfectly cleaned of all meat save for the skull. Her stomach churned and wanted to run, but was frozen in place.
The fairy squeaked again, climbed down into the pools of blood and transformed into their human form. “Elona, we need to get out of here.” They began tugging at Elona’s sleeve and then dragging her towards the door.
“Fairy, who were these people? What did he do?”
“Necromancy most likely. Stole the life energy from every single one of his previous apprentices.” They pointed to the one that was almost a pure skeleton. “
That one was here when I first moved into the citadel. I thought they had left to travel the world and learn from other magicians. At least Elindel said that was what happened.”
Elona looked around the room one last time before getting out. She pulled her shoes off inside the room so there were no tracks of blood leaving the room. If Elindel saw any sign that she had entered the room despite being told not to she believed her body would be next on the carving block. What she feared even more was the fairy joining her in death.
***
The attacks had gone quiet outside. Almost all of the buildings nearby were destroyed, but there were no guards roaming the streets yet. Neither Elona or the fairy knew if they had won the war or if the body of Elindel was trampled into the ground, never to rise again. She would need to go to the walls to find out the outcome of the war, but there was no time to waste if Roland was awaiting her.
“Just put you in my pocket and if anyone asks, the key didn't fit the lock.” Elona started to pocket the keys but froze. The handle of the key had a glowing blue eye on it that was staring up at her. “Just a trick of the light. Still jumpy is all.” She lifted it up above her head and moved it around. Despite the different angles, the eye was still there and followed her no matter which way she pointed the key. Then it blinked. “No! It's a spell! If Elindel sees the eye on the key, he’ll know I went in there.”
She shoved the key deep into her pocket and looked around to find a way to remove the spell. Roland was waiting for her, but she didn't want him to get trapped in the mess she had placed herself and the fairy in. With the battle halted, Elindel was going to be on his way back soon and an instant teleportation gave her no chance of waiting for him to travel.
The two climbed over to where the library was, the fairy now in his small form. Books were scattered across the ground with some destroyed beyond recognition. The two worked together to find a spell that would undo what happened on the key. She was thankful that the fairy had taught her how to read before, but wished she had learned to read before so it would have gone so much faster. For the amount of time it took her to go through one page of a book, the fairy had already flipped through over ten.
“Here!” Elona pointed at one of the spells. “Remove sight. This should work.”
The fairy and Elona sat next to the book and concentrated on the spell. She could feel the energy passing between the two of them. The key began to glow a deep shade of red with the eye fluttering closed. She sealed the spell and examined the key. It seemed to have its eye closed, but quickly thrust back open again. The whites of its eye was bloodshot now and filled with rage.
“We need to find another spell. Quick before Elindel gets back.”
Again, they scrambled to find another book. The fairy found an illusion spell to make the key look like its old self. Again they tried, but it only lasted a few seconds before the eye opened back up again. This time there was a second eye on the other side of the key. Elona slumped into a pile of books, unsure what to do anymore. The eye just continued to watch her every movement, judging her for every attempt to hide the proof of being in the room.
The fairy climbed up onto Elona’s shoulders, too tired to look anymore. She wondered if it was best to just give up for now and hope that Elindel didn't notice. The citadel had been destroyed so there was almost no way for Elindel to kill her without someone noticing it. At that moment she had an idea and climbed down towards a pile of rocks. She lifted them out of the way and placed the set of keys underneath so that no one could see it, nor could the key move out from under the rocks.
She climbed back to where she had been relaxing and thought about Roland, who was still waiting for her. “Fairy, do you think you could get to Roland for me and tell him not to wait? I don't want him to get hurt because he got involved.” The fairy brushed their head against Elona’s cheek. “I know you don't like people, but just try at least for me.”
The fairy jumped off of Elona’s shoulders and ran off out of vision. She prayed the fairy would be safe this way and wouldn't come back. The air grew warm around Elona and she could see sparks flying through the sky. She recognized it as one of Elindel’s teleportation spells. She had timed herself perfectly as Elindel arrived with no notice of her own plans to avoid death one last time.
***
“Elona! What are you doing here, girl? The entire citadel is in shambles and you waited for…” His voice trailed off as he saw the books scattered around her and his last remaining room still standing in the distance.
“I figured if I took off you may not find me. Besides I didn't get hurt, during the main attack I hid so when I returned everything was destroyed.” Elona looked up at Elindel wondering if he would just accept that and leave any more subjects of her activities alone.
Elindel’s eyes narrowed as he picked up one of the books. “We're you trying to salvage my library while you waited as well.”
Elona shifted in discomfort. “Well yea I tried but started reading too. Just in case we lost the war and I had to defend myself.”
“Art of illusions is an interesting way to defend oneself. Especially when many of these require more power than what you have or at least a second person.”
“Yea, was hoping I could find one I could do.”
“I see…” Elindel stepped over to the necromancy room and examined the locks. “Elona, where are my keys?”
Elona shrugged, realizing Elindel suspected her now. “During one of the strikes I dropped them. Couldn't find them afterwards.”
Elindel charged at Elona and struck her with his bare fist. It sent Elona flying across the ground yet Elindel still charged at her in anger. “You left the keys here for the enemy to just pick up?! Do you not realize the damage that could cause for the kingdom? The king granted me that room specifically to keep the kingdom safe.”
Her eyes widened as she heard the king was in on the necromancy, but still had to feign ignorance. “I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I'm sure we will find them eventually.”
“Don't bother. If they are still here I can summon them to me.” Elindel flicked his wrist in the air. “Ah, there you are darlings. Come on now, come out of your hiding hole.”
The rocks hiding the keys shifted in their place as the keys attempted to break free. Elona squirmed in fear. Not only was the eye on the key open, but there were now two eyes that would give away what she had done. In seconds the keys finally released themselves from their prison and floated past her. Their eyes gave one last look of distaste towards Elona before landing in Elindel’s hands.
“As I thought. You can't exactly listen can you?” Elindel waved his hand over the keys and the eyes shut close for good. “Now that you saw what happened there, I suspect you know what will happen next, there shouldn't be any questions or disagreements on what will happen to you.” He sighed. “I did so enjoy teaching you though. You're not that strong yet either, so hopefully it won't be a waste of a spell to sap you of your energy.”
Elona stood up and grabbed for a dagger at her waist. “I won't be another one of your corpses, Elindel.”
Elindel chuckled. “Your spunk amuses me, but do you really think that will help you?” He waved his hand through the air and Elona’s dagger disappeared. “I'm not the most powerful Mage for nothing, Elona.”
Her mind raced, unsure how she could escape the predicament. In the corner of her eye, she saw one of the books opened to an invisibility spell. She smiled up at Elindel. “No a dagger won't hurt you, but an invisible one will.” Before Elindel could reply Elona copied the movements of the invisibility spell and felt a cold rush of water cover her skin.
Elindel roared in anger and began sending out blasts of fire in the direction Elona had been. She had already moved before he had sent the spell out and barely dodged the flames that licked at the back of her neck. Elindel could no longer see her, but the spell wouldn't last long. The adrenaline and fear made her feel queasy and the spell drained her of much of her energy.
She
looked around and grabbed a small sharp rock. As she touched it, it went invisible as well. A sigh of relief escaped, thankful the stone wouldn't give her away. Another ball of fire shot out towards Elona, now realizing he was listening to her every movement and her sigh had given her away. Every step needed to be muffled to get close to the mage without him noticing. It was a time she was thankful that before meeting him, being a thief taught her to soften her steps in case of these emergencies.
“Elona, just reveal yourself already. You did this to yourself so there isn't any hope of you escaping.” His head turned in different directions, listening for any movement.
Elona got close up to Elindel, feeling the heat of his body warm her own. Only a day ago did she love the warmth that comforted her, but now it was her worst nightmare. She didn't regret knowing now or when she got more powerful Elindel would have killed her anyway. Silently, she lifted the stone up ready to strike the killing blow.
“Don't even dare.” Elindel thrust his arm out towards Elona sending her flying. “Killing me like a caveman won't do you any good.”
Elona launched against the necromancy room. A jolt of pain shot through her back and watched as the spell of invisibility faded away. She couldn't remember how the spell went and even if she did, she had no energy left to stay invisible again. It was once again down to her own luck and skill to stop Elindel.
Elindel was on the other side of the room so he couldn't see her yet. She looked around for something to fight with. Near her feet was her dagger that Elindel had made vanish. She silently whooped in excitement at her luck. If she could get the Mage close to her, it was possible she could fatally stab him. It was a small chance, but she was willing to take it. If she did indeed die because of killing him, at least she knew Roland and the fairy would be safe and no other Mage apprentice would be killed for necromancy.
“Come on out, Elona. No point in hiding. Just acknowledge you decided on your death today and it will be alright.”
She could hear his footsteps growing closer, stopping, then continuing again followed by more taunts. If only she had chosen not to go along with Roland’s plan, then she would be safe outside of the city and finding a new home with him instead of facing death’s door. He was only feet away from her now and she could feel the heat emanating from his magic. She used the last bit of her own magic and brought forth the flaming dancer again to attack with.
