“She shrieked in agony—a cry so horrific I shall never wipe it from my soul.
“I did not know what was happening, but dared not let go of Bryntar’s jerking body. Her soft skin transformed into fur and scales beneath my fingers. Her screams mingled with those of grinding bones.
“The energy expanded to such a degree that I thought we would both explode.
“Then came deathly silence. The mist dissipated. A monster lay in the water. The white fur covering she wore became her skin, the nail-studded helmet, a horn on her forehead. Her leather boots were the feet of a lizard.
“Everything transformed, except her eyes. They blinked open. Stunned, I stared.
“She tried to speak, but only succeeded in emitting guttural croaks.
“I had unknowingly made her into a dragon-like monster with my desire to be together—the only creature that could live as long as I would. I did not understand until many seasons later that her desire to be with me was the cause of her radical transformation. The lagoon fulfilled her desire in the only way possible. Even so, I shall always blame myself.
“I released her and backed away, guilt and horror swarming like a sickness through my body. Remaining as I was would be my punishment. I would never leave her.
“Bryntar rose from the water on two legs and hovered over me, trembling. She saw her reflection and . . .”
Taroc’s words become black smears across the page. I close the book, shaking and unable to read more. Stunned, I stare down at my dressing gown and know it belonged to my dear Bryntar before she became a monster.
Sixteen: The Seeking
I lock away the terror of Bryntar’s transformation. It happened a long time ago and will not sway my decision to find the lagoon. The possibility of becoming normal becomes a deep longing: never feeling someone’s pain or thoughts as if they are my own, never needing to control my energy, never worrying about causing damage. I wonder about withstanding the pain of transformation. Surviving a battle with Aru is even more frightening.
Darkness slips into the study unnoticed while thoughts collide in my mind. Is the lagoon still hidden deep within the Ice Mountains? How can I convince Bryntar to take me to the place that changed her life? Without her, I can never find it.
I finally understand the reason for all the secrets. I hope Taroc can somehow hear me. “Thank you for allowing me an innocent childhood.”
My hand absently brushes my skirt as I get up from the floor, another puzzle to uncover. Where does Bryntar hide the clothes I wear? I leave the study to find her, concentrating on creating light to find my way in the dark.
The silence of the caverns sends shivers up and down my spine. Shadows slink over slits and cracks in the walls with my passage. Even repaired, my home will never be the same without Taroc. I cannot stop the unanswered questions in my mind concerning life and death. How can I save the island from a beast that creates earthquakes? How much time will pass before it comes after me? Can I find the lagoon and become normal so I am free?
Arriving at Bryntar’s room, I knock on the door and hear soft, uncontrollable sobbing. “I am coming in, Bryntar.”
She is not in the room. I circle around, tuning into her feelings. They come from behind an undamaged wall. More secrets. My fingers slide along the cold, textured metal. A lever moves and the wall swivels out to uncover elegance inside the hidden room. Hundreds of candles flicker like tiny, warm stars. Furniture carved in intricate patterns decorates the ancient room.
Bryntar stops crying. The sanctuary rests in unspoiled silence.
I touch the warm wood of a wardrobe and sense that Taroc built it.
Bryntar lies on the floor next to the beautiful bed she used to share with him. She is too large for it now. She clutches the blue and gold fabric that drapes over the bed and I die a little inside.
Centuries have passed since she shared this room with Taroc. I struggle to block her feelings and lay down next to her, taking a large claw in my hands. She shudders, but says nothing.
We remain there until most of the candles burn out and she sits up, hunching over her knees as if to ward off pain.
“Thank you, Elandra.”
“I am so sorry about what happened.”
She lifts her head. “You found his books.”
“Yes, dear Bryntar.”
Her eyes grow soft and wistful as she gazes around the room, her deepest sorrow buried now. The silence stretches and I wait.
She finally speaks. “You still want the lagoon?”
“I realize the lagoon chooses the transformation. That I must be exact in my desire to be normal.”
Bryntar searches my face and nods. “More danger in finding lagoon now.”
She rises and shakes scales and fur still covered with the dirt of her cave repairs. I
follow her as she stalks from the room and closes the door to her past.
Sudden drumbeats bang into my head and I grab a wall for support. Overwhelming reminders of my mother’s death stagger me.
“What is it?” Bryntar asks.
“Drums. Beating in my head.”
“Where?”
Confusion muddles my thoughts as I try to locate the source of my feelings. The drums seem farther away now, yet they intermingle with something familiar. Daniel? His heartbeat throbs next to mine. “I do not understand. I feel Daniel and the drums together. How can that be?”
Bryntar looks at me sharply. “Quick. Search caves.”
She bounds ahead and I hurry to keep up, hampered by the gown around my legs.
Tension knots in my body. “Daniel. Daniel. Where are you?” He must be here somewhere. Maybe the library. He wanted a map of the island.
Dread daggers into me. I remember his frustration at being a prisoner, his grief at the deaths of his father and brother, his determination to get back to his mother and sister.
Bryntar runs to me. “Not in the lower caverns.”
“He is gone.”
She stops abruptly.
Not once did I consider the trauma he experienced, the heartbreak it must have been for him to land in a world so different from his own. “I should have cared more about him. This is my fault.”
“Feel him,” Bryntar says.
I close my eyes and concentrate. Daniel’s feelings are so clear it is almost like his eyes are mine. “He runs in spite of his leg pain. Scared at what chases him.” I cry out when he falls, which breaks the connection. His last feelings of regret linger.
I can hardly breathe. “Something happened to him. I feel nothing now.”
“You feel trees, grass, ice?”
Reliving Daniel’s last feelings, dry dirt, cracked leaves and broken sticks become clear. “No ice.”
“Caught by Kepyrs.”
I need to ask though I do not want to. “Did they kill him?”
“Ceremony first.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Sacrificial pit is one day away.”
Images of sacrifices from books I read as a child make my skin crawl. “Tell me they will not bury him alive.”
“Burn alive first.”
Screams bounce from the walls. Mine. I choke, gasp in dry heaves. Hang my head over the floor until I have nothing left in my stomach.
“We will save him.”
Save Daniel? Instant relief spreads through me. I vow to myself that if we succeed, I need to find a way for Daniel to go home.
New thoughts overwhelm me as I hurry after Bryntar. What if the Kepyrs catch her? How can I save Daniel without being captured?
Bryntar passes Taroc’s study and leads the way to the storage room. She opens the door. “Pack food.” She throws me three bags with straps.
I gather fresh and dried fruits and tubers, stuffing in as much as possible.
Bryntar moves large bins to uncover another door. Darkness gapes inside. She leans over and hauls out a canoe for two people made from a hollowed-out log. A strange metallic shirt rests in the bottom.
“Take. Protects heartbeat from beast.”
“It did not protect Taroc at the lagoon.”
She glares. “He took it off.”
“I needed protection before we explored the island. It would have hidden me from Aru and stopped the earthquakes. Taroc would still be alive and . . .”
Steam furls from her nostrils as she interrupts. “Aru needed to awaken your powers.”
Shocked, I cannot believe she purposely exposed me to the beast. “You knew Aru would find me?”
“It is your destiny.”
“I will change it.”
“No choice over destiny.” Her voice cracks with emotion.
My throat is so tight swallowing is impossible. Marveling at the lightness of the fabric, I snatch the protective shirt and complain. “This is too big.”
“Remake to fit.” Bryntar throws the bags of food inside the canoe with a few blankets and lifts it over her head to push past me.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“To the study.”
My legs falter when we reach Taroc’s chambers, memories fresh in my heart.
Bryntar’s steel resolve astounds me. She collects Taroc’s boots, fur-lined coat, pants, hat and gloves and throws them in the canoe.
“How can you shut out your feelings?”
She hisses. “To save Daniel.”
I have controlled my thoughts and feelings too little to think I will ever be able to save anyone when their lives depend on me.
She lifts the canoe once again. “Stay inside. Get warm clothes. Back before daylight.” She disappears past me. The thumping of her feet fades to nothing. I am alone in my destroyed home for the first time. An icy coldness seeps into me.
Determined to change my destiny, I return to the storage room, grab the protective shirt, a heavy circle of rope, a knife. I haul everything past the broken ridges in the stone path to Bryntar’s room.
When I open her secret chamber, it is hard not to feel like a thief. Relief sweeps through me when I fling off the flimsy dressing gown and search her drawers for the warm clothes needed for the Ice Mountains. I find the most delicate undergarments ever seen and put them on. The softness and warmth of the fur lining of pants and boots warm my freezing legs and feet. The heaviest coat and hat are made from thick jaguarat fur. I find Bryntar’s sewing kit and try to ignore thoughts of the revulsion Bryntar must have experienced after she transformed. I hurry from the chamber.
She leaves a candle that flickers high above the staircase. I stumble up the curved stairs and slump to the floor. My body screams for rest. I sink to the floor and thread the needle with slow fingers, refusing to think about what is happening to Daniel. My stitches take forever as I adjust the metallic shirt to fit my chest. When I twist the last knot, sleepy warmth seeps into me from the softness of the fur coat. I lean against the wall and close
my eyes.
It seems like only seconds later that Bryntar shoves through the door. The wind whips like an icy claw. Her face glows, the purple cast more pronounced against her white fur.
Only once have I seen her more frightened, when she thought I was dead.
She hollers over the wind. “Protect yourself. Hurry or Daniel dies.”
Seventeen: The Rescuing
I wipe sleep from my eyes. “What happened?”
Bryntar stuffs the metallic shirt in my hands. “Must go. Now.” She throws the rope coil around her shoulders.
“Tell me.”
She rushes back out the stone door without a word.
I hurry to put on the metallic shirt under the fur coat, pull on the hat and shove the knife in my belt. I look down the curved staircase wondering if I will ever see my home again and slip out the door.
Wind slams me to the ground. Bryntar disappears among the dark trees.
“Wait.” I strain to stay upright and center on the power within. Every cell tingles with energy, giving me renewed strength. I lean into the blasts of wind, keeping Bryntar in sight until I catch her.
“Control yourself,” she says.
I follow her eyes. My body glows with light. My surprise causes it to fade.
“Please, tell me what happened.”
“Witch controls Kepyrs.”
Bryntar hisses, steam from her nose dissipating in the wind. “She tells tribes you create Daniel. They kill at sunrise.”
I cannot stop shaking. “If Daniel dies, I am to blame. This is my fault. I should have talked to him about his problems.”
“We are to blame. Come.”
“Can we make it before . . .?” I cannot say the words.
“Now.”
Tiny whirlwinds of dust and dead leaves bounce around my legs. I control my rising panic by shutting my mind to all thoughts of Daniel. It will be impossible to continue if his fear overwhelms me.
We clear the forest to see a wide plain before us. Storm clouds swarm overhead. Bryntar lifts me to her back. I straddle the ridges and hang onto her neck as she bounds forward in great lurching strides.
“Do you have a plan to rescue him?” I ask.
“No.”
Soon rain spills from the sky like a veil. Heavy winds throw raindrops as hard as pebbles against our faces. My nervousness increases. The vast open spaces leave us exposed to unknown dangers. I scour the terrain but see only immovable dark shapes through the downpour. It gives me little comfort knowing anything else out here has the same problem in this blinding storm.
The rhythm of Bryntar’s great strides lulls me. The scent of sweet spring flowers drifts from the dampness of the fur coat. I close my eyes.
. . .
Much later, Bryntar stops running. I slip off and land on the ground.
“Ow.”
She pulls me up. “Stay alert. Kepyrs over mountain.”
The rain drizzles. I gaze up at a mountain of rock. Boulders and sharp ledges jut through thick mist as if disembodied. I try not to lose Bryntar as we climb over uneven rocks, cling to clumps of grass, slide in sticky mud. Over and over. Higher. Harder.
Breathless, I long for light to replenish my hair, yet strain to reach the top before the sun rises. Severe pain shoots through my head and into my right arm. Daniel. I grab my arm and slip on moss, tumbling backward.
“Bryntar!”
Sharp rocks sting as I roll down the mountain. My knees bang into a ledge and I tumble off into mist. I am going to die. I hit the swaying branches of a large tree. Their sharp needles stab me, but I cling in desperation.
“Elandra. Where are you?”
“Here.”
I lose control from the pain, the loss of time and especially the thought of more climbing. Light flashes from me in every direction. Bushes burn. Rocks split. Trees topple. I stare at the destruction.
Bryntar leaps into view on the ledge above me. “Smart to use light.”
How can I tell her I lost my temper? That I have no control at all? I balance on a slippery branch and reach for her outstretched arm.
“Hurt?” she asks.
“Not enough to stop.”
She tosses me to her back. “Hold tight.”
I grasp a ridged plate as she lunges upward.
The clouds disappear and the moon shimmers in a sky grown lighter. Bryntar eventually reaches the peak. Tension tightens every muscle. It will be sunrise sooner than I want.
I climb off her back and flatten myself on the ground, swallowing hard. In the village below, the dark shapes of a thousand huts squat in a wide meadow. Large fires burn on three sides of a dark pit in the center. I know Daniel is in the pit because his terror bites into me.
“Are the fires for protection?” I ask.
“Place to burn sacrifices. Cover with dirt.”
My skin crawls. “You mean Daniel is standing on buried victims?”
Bryntar hisses. “Barbarians.”
I creep down the mountain after her, bile souring my throat. A glint of a knife in the moonlight catches my attention. Guards lurk in the shadows. I plan a r
oute to avoid them so I can remove Daniel from the pit before the village awakens.
Bryntar stops. “Stay. Hide here.”
“You cannot go down there.” I try to remove the circle of rope from her arm. She resists. “I can hide easier. Please, Bryntar.”
A puff of steam rises from her nose. She sighs and releases the rope. “See the river?”
I locate water on the far side of the village.
“Any trouble. Go there. I come.”
I heave the rope to my shoulders and sag with the heaviness. I keep low to the ground, knowing my clothes do not blend with the darkness. My heart thumps. I sneak into the center of the village and avoid stepping on anything that would alert my presence. Flames roar like wild animals around the pit and I hide in their grasping shadows. My clothes stick to my body from the heat. The aversion to the pit crowds the edge of my mind. I force myself to concentrate. Find Daniel. Find Daniel. Find Daniel. I creep toward the throne at the far end of the pit, lift the heavy rope to the ground and tie it to the stone pillar underneath.
I crawl fast. Unwind the rope and fling it over the edge of the pit, hoping it is long enough. “Daniel. It is Elandra.” Please hear me. Please hear me. “Daniel. I am at the end of the pit by the throne. Climb up the rope.”
Sweat pours down my face. I dare not go down to find him. How long can I wait?
A sudden jerk on the rope startles me.
“Elandra?” His voice is raw.
“Come on. Hurry. We have to get away before the sun rises.”
Daniel climbs up the rope.
My arm throbs and my head swirls with his pain. It does not stop him.
I hurry back to the stone pillar ready to untie the rope we will need if we make it to the Ice Mountains.
When Daniel appears, I pull hard on the rope to help him over the edge. “Come on.”
His breath comes fast and hard as he crawls toward me.
I remove the rope, coil it and slip it over my neck and under my arm. Its weight burrows into my shoulder. Fear overrides the throb in my right arm and it fades. I wish the same for Daniel, for he has experienced too much pain on this island.
Drums split the air.
Enchantress Sacrifice Page 8
