The Undying Illusionist

by Candy Crum

  Anger clenched her throat as she stood and examined the room further. Across the room on a table against the wall, she found several jars. When she reached the table, she opened one of them, nose almost immediately assaulted by the scent of blood.

  This is a room of death, she thought. She couldn't help but wonder how many people had died down here. She could only sense Amos' blood, but she knew what was in the jars was someone else's. She imagined several people had fallen victim to Talia in that room.

  Arryn took one of the smaller jars and made her way back upstairs, satisfied that she wouldn't find anything personal of Talia's down there.

  When she reached the door to Adrien's office, she carefully peeked to make sure no one was around. She'd been lucky so far, and she hoped her luck would continue.

  Assuming she knew Talia, anything personal she had would be kept in Adrien's office. Not only because he was her father, but also because she would believe that no one would want to go into his office.

  Even after his death, his office carried a certain level of respect and fear. Not even Amelia herself had wanted that office, and had avoided it at all costs. No other teacher, and especially no student, would dare nose around in there.

  Her office, however, the office of a sweet, kind Dean, would not be off-limits and thus would be at risk from nosy people, including young Jackson.

  No, if Arryn knew anything at all about her enemy, it was that she would hide her most important belongings in Adrien's office where no one would enter.

  She searched the desk, knowing it more than likely held the very item she was looking for. The bottom right drawer was sealed with another magitech lock, but like the one on the entrance to the basement, it was no match for Arryn’s skills.

  Within moments, she pulled the drawer open and stared into the space, empty save for a single box. She pulled it free and saw the same designs she'd seen on a blueprint in the box of Adrien’s things Amelia had given her. It was identical.

  Unfortunately, Arryn didn't have the key, but she knew that if she took it to Elon he would be able to open it without one, or he would just make another one.

  Arryn smiled as she clutched the box to her chest before closing the drawer and standing, crossing the room. She had what she came for and was confident that all the evidence she needed would be hidden inside.

  Arryn had almost reached the door when she heard the handle move.

  Shit! she thought, realizing at that moment that she hadn't kept her guard up. The one lesson Elysia and Cathillian had always reinforced for her, and she had failed! In her excitement, she had forgotten to sense for anyone who might be approaching or was already inside.

  She realized that she was at the highest point of the building when she looked out the window. If her magic failed when she fell out the window this time, she more than likely wouldn't survive the fall.

  Planning wouldn't matter anyway, because she'd run out of time. The door was opening right at that moment, so Arryn decided to fight instead of hide.

  Once the door was wide, another student, Leon, stepped inside, and he smiled as he locked eyes with Arryn.

  "Wow, I'm surprised it took you this long. We've been waiting for you to show up, though we figured it would've been a lot sooner than now," Leon told her.

  Arryn smiled sarcastically. "Well, I'm all for surprises. I feel like it really makes a person feel special to get the unexpected. For instance, I'm going to kill you, so if you happened to survive, it would be totally unexpected and seem like a real treat, now wouldn't it?"

  He shook his head, his smile never fading as he took another step and shut the door behind him. "Are you always so incessantly sarcastic?"

  Arryn shrugged. "I really feel like a good sense of humor is the key to any situation, even bad ones. Take yours, for instance."

  "My situation? I think you should probably be worrying more about yours. We have more power than ever thanks to Talia and Scarlett. With their help, we've been able to use the blood of others to grow and complete ourselves. We're unstoppable, and once you're gone, we're going to restore the city to the way it was, the way it should be."

  Arryn looked at him incredulously. "See what I'm talking about, Leon? You clearly have a wild sense of humor if you believe any of that crap you just spouted. And you have no more power now than you did the day you met Talia. I don't know if you've been bathing in the blood or drinking it or what the hell you been doing, but I promise you it doesn't work that way."

  He laughed. "Well, I think you'll come to understand once I show you just how strong I am. You're not walking out of here alive."

  "Funny, because I sure as hell didn't plan to walk out of here dead. Obviously, because I mean, how would that even be possible? Am I right? Who even came up with that saying? He was an idiot, and you're another one for using it. I'm bored—you're boring. Did I mention that I have attention issues?"

  While stalling, Arryn sensed that he was the only one present just then. No one was in the halls, and no one was below them outside, though she couldn't tell if anyone was on the lower floors.

  If she wanted to get out, the best way to do it would be to go out the window.

  Leon looked at her in confusion. He'd obviously expected her to quiver in fear at his presence, but she hadn't given him what he’d sought. "Okay, I'm done stalling now. You don't have any friends around, so let's get this over with. I have shit I need to do, like take down that bitch friend of yours."

  "Stalling?" He seemed angry, his entire body going rigid as his fists clenched. When he realized he'd been had and she hadn't even touched him, his face grew angrier.

  He threw his arms straight out, creating a blast of telekinetic energy that sent Arryn backward toward the wall. She managed to tumble in mid-air so her feet hit first, forcing her into a crouch on the wall before she pushed off, somersaulted across the floor, and rolled to her feet.

  She smiled. "My turn!"

  Echoing his own move, she threw her arms straight out, creating her own blast of energy to send him backward into the door. Leon wasn't nearly as agile as she was, slamming hard against the wood and grunting.

  Releasing her energy, her eyes turned black as she arced her hands over her chest and created two fireballs. Just as she was about to throw them, she saw his hand move, but didn't see the object until it was too late.

  The jar of blood she'd brought from the basement smashed into her face, breaking on contact, and shards of glass sliced her face and embedded themselves into her eyes. Completely unable to see, she couldn’t brace for his attack.

  His fists slammed into the side of her head, easily taking her to the ground because of the amount of pain she was already in. Wrapping her hair in his fingers, he slammed his knee into her face several times before dropping her head to the floor.

  "You know, I helped with the setup. It wasn't difficult. We already had the murders in place, and Talia had been to the Madlands. The remnant are under our control, the Chancellor is under our control, the entire fucking city is under our control, and you want to say that Talia hasn't given us more power? That we aren't more powerful?" He laughed as he stepped in front of her. "You're about to understand just how wrong you are, and I can't wait to see what I get for delivering your fucking head to Talia."

  Arryn was completely blind, since the little bastard had fought dirty. Not just dirty, but dirty dirty. She was covered in her own blood as well as someone else’s, someone innocent whom she should've been able to protect.

  The very thought of that pissed her off more than she could have imagined. Arryn used her power to sense around her, pinpointing her position in relation to the rest of the room. By her calculations, the window was somewhere behind her target.

  His hand once again wrapped around her hair as he snapped her head back, the angle causing incredible pain in her neck and head. But instead of giving him the satisfaction of knowing he was causing her any discomfort at all, she smiled.

  "You know, I think there
might be something to this blood thing. I suddenly feel very powerful," she told him, hoping to invoke even the slightest bit of fear in him.

  At that moment, she called on all her rage to save her as she thrust her hands into his chest, her magic blasting in all directions. Arryn was thrown backwards, her body smashing into the desk before flying backwards over it and into the wall.

  There'd been an explosion across the room, and she could feel air coming in from outside, though she had no way of knowing what had happened to her opponent.

  Taking a deep breath, Arryn used a little of what was left of her energy as she covered her face with her hands, making sure to keep her eyes opened as she slowly and carefully pulled her hands away. She used her nature magic to sense her own anatomy and physical magic to pull anything that didn't belong there from flesh and eyes.

  She blinked, sighing in relief since the broken glass was removed. She once again covered her face as she used her magic to heal herself, wiping the blood from her eyes as she did.

  Everything was cloudy at first when she opened them, but it quickly cleared and she took in the damage. Her body had somehow smashed the desk in half before landing on the floor behind it. She had no idea how she hadn't crushed her spine, but it was something she certainly didn't take lightly.

  Across the room, the entire wall and a good portion of the floor were missing, flames licking the wood where she'd used both telekinesis and a large amount of fire to blow her attacker into oblivion.

  She couldn't help but wonder if Leon actually made it outside and onto the ground below, or if he'd disintegrated in the blast.

  Either way, she didn't give a damn. All that mattered was that he had been a cold-blooded killer and now he was dead. He'd never hurt anyone else.

  Arryn could hardly move as she searched for the box. She sighed as she found the object she'd literally gone through hell to find to her left. Feeling unconsciousness approaching, she scooted across the floor and grabbed the box, pulling it to her.

  Footsteps sounded inside the room, and Arryn's entire body stiffened as her eyes widened.

  "Arryn!" Cathillian's voice called to her over the roar of the flames.

  She sighed in relief, thanking the Matriarch that it was her friend and not another enemy.

  "Over here," she croaked.

  "Celine is causing a distraction," Cathillian said. "Come on, I have vines ready to lower us to the ground. Pretty sure everyone's gonna know it was you, though. So much for subtlety."

  Arryn smiled, her head falling back as he lifted her into his arms. She took a breath, willing the words to come. "Well, you know me—I like to make an entrance. Or in this case, an exit."

  Wrapping her arm around the box, Arryn fainted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Elysia stood in the trees, overlooking the barrier to the other side. A Schatten shadow warrior had retrieved her and told her what had happened.

  Ever since the battle training, Elysia and the Chieftain had ordered the Schatten to fan out around the border, hide in the trees, and watch for anything out of the ordinary. They were to stay well inside the border so as not to be seen, heard, or sensed, and they were not to engage unless attempts were made to cross the border.

  Even with her precautions, somehow the dark druids had been stealthier than the shadow warriors had been able to detect.

  As Elysia looked down at body after body, she imagined the hundreds of animals that had been sacrificed for this incursion. Deer, raccoons, birds, and everything in between surrounded the Dark Forest border.

  The tree she stood in began to creak, and she looked down to see her father using a root to elevate himself to the branch his daughter stood on.

  "I don't understand," Elysia murmured, looking at the lifeless bodies decaying around their walls. "Ryel said the other walls weren't as heavily affected. It seems the southern wall is the worst, but they strung the dead out around our entire perimeter."

  "I can't pretend to understand what's going on here," the Chieftain muttered. "And while I don't like admitting it, at this point I can't help but believe they are more than capable of coming through our barriers. They can apparently come in anytime they want, so I'm not sure why they’re waiting."

  Elysia shook her head, unable to take her eyes away from the beautiful buck on the other side. He was one of the biggest deer she'd ever seen. It was early spring and there had been many births in the forest, but not even the young had been spared in their latest assault.

  "I'm beginning to wonder if this has anything to do with Arryn and Cathillian," Elysia mused.

  The Chieftain turned to look at her quizzically. "Why would you think that?"

  Elysia took several steps back, leaning against the tree trunk before sliding down to sit on the thick branch. A small squirrel ran onto her shoulder and hid inside her cloak. Smiling, she took a moment to pull him free and cradled him in her hands, gently stroking the side of his face with the pad of her thumb.

  She could sense the fear in the little one, and she took a moment to push her magic, reassuring him that as long as he remained in the Dark Forest, they would keep him safe. Within moments, the little guy had curled into a ball in her hands and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

  The Chieftain never said a word as he watched their interaction, giving Elysia a few moments to rest her mind and reassure herself as well as her new little friend.

  Finally, he spoke. "Why do you think this concerns Cathillian and Arryn?"

  "None of it started until they left. When Cathillian sent word, he told me that Jenna had shown up at the Arcadian gate and killed several guards. She's lost. Whatever redeemable qualities she may have had are gone. There is no saving her now that she has taken innocent life."

  "They're safe though, right?" the Chieftain asked. " I hope Jenna hasn't made any more moves."

  Elysia shook her head. "That's all he said. He said he tried to stop her, but she fled. He didn't give any more detail than that, but I feel like I'm missing a large piece of the story. Still, I can't exactly leave to hunt them down and find out what's going on, not with our own borders being threatened so often. I have no choice but to believe him and trust they’re safe."

  The Chieftain nodded. "They are safe there. If anything terrible were to happen, they know where we are. They would send Echo for help if they needed it. And while I couldn’t invest myself in a war against Adrien because of how much we stood to lose, nothing would stand in my way if we had to go to Arcadia now. I would move the very heavens to save them and any who stood with them. You should trust them. They know what they're doing."

  Elysia nodded. "I suppose you're right, but I can't seem to shake this feeling. It’s like a black cloud is hanging over all of us, like death and doom are in the air, breathing down on all of us. I'm afraid for them. I don't think it's limited to us here; I feel it for Cat and Arryn, too. Jenna wouldn't have stopped at Arcadia for no reason. There's a message there."

  The Chieftain laughed. "Are you blind? Have you seen my grandson? He's the spitting image of his grandfather! The ladies love him."

  Elysia laughed, far harder than she meant to. "Is that so? He apparently got his narcissism from you."

  "That he did. But Jenna always seemed jealous of Arryn. I don't think it was limited to the fact that Arryn showed more promise both magically and physically. I think it was because of how close she and Cathillian were."

  "Cathillian never liked Jenna. Even as a child, he only had eyes for Arryn. I'm no fool… I've seen how the other girls look at him. We raised our children to be confident, forward, and never to back down from something they wanted. Cathillian is no stranger to women, but he's never shown much real interest in anyone except Arryn. Jenna was always jealous of that.

  “I kept my mouth shut because I hoped she would use it as fuel make herself better and stronger. The need to impress someone else, while annoying when they don't notice you, certainly goes a long way when you’re doing things to make yourself strong
er."

  The Chieftain shook his head. "No, it only made her angrier. She worked so hard to try to get his attention, and failed at every turn. Arryn worked, too, but it wasn’t for Cathillian’s attention. It was for honor. Because Arryn never cared about love or other things, Jenna hated her for the way Cat took to her. She never saw how hard Arryn worked when she wasn't around Cathillian. She busted her ass every session and between them until she got the hang of whatever it was she was being taught to do. Cathillian always took notice of that."

  He leapt to the branch Elysia sat on and knelt in front of her. "Like his mother, he admires strength. The day Arryn came here, she had just lost everything, but she’d still fought her way through a dangerous forest to come to us. Arryn is a survivor, and he's always been drawn to that. I don't know if your gut is right. I don't know if the same cloud that hangs over us hangs over them, but I do know they are strong."

  "If I'm right, we need to keep them from the Dark Forest as long as possible. If Jenna is trying to lure Cathillian back, then we need to make sure they believe everything is safe here. That's why I lied when I sent Echo back. I wrote that everything was fine here, but that I would heed the warning. I'm just grateful that Echo didn't witness anything like this." She gestured with her free hand over the border to the sacrifices. "Jenna and Aeris are after something, and somehow Aeris has the most control. I have a feeling that if Arryn and Cathillian come back, war will find us."

  The Chieftain reached out, placing his hand on his daughter's knee. "I trust your judgment, and we will do what we can keep them away. When the time comes, when the children come back to us, if war does find us, we will meet it as we have done everything else. As a family."

  Elysia shook her head. "I can't lose Cathillian like I lost his father. I can't do that. I don't care how long I have to deal with the crude warnings. I will do all I can to keep Cat and Arryn away from the Forest, and I will find a way to end Aeris myself."

  ***

  Talia was pleased. Things had escalated quickly. After Arryn had escaped from jail, hid out for a few days before breaking into the school, killed another student, and blown the entire side of the tower away, her fate had been sealed. Even with the evidence in the box she had managed to steal, there was no way anyone would believe her.