Something did not add up with me. “You were all imprisoned because Tristan cast Gráinne's spell to find where Izolde was hiding after the Black Sword Riders came after her. That does not explain why the Black Sword Riders came after her and what was that they wanted from her,” I said.
“We still do not have the answer to this question.” Izolde had finally decided to break her silence. “We still do not know what it was that they were looking for. I have a question to ask you though. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“Well, that is a good question,” Pally laughed. “I should have asked it myself if I was not too busy beating your ass down,” he said to Tristan who would have taken a blow to him if Izolde had not intervened.
“Has anyone noticed that the fire that started when you landed in my cell is now getting stronger? If we do not leave this place immediately, we will end up like fried bacon.”
Beams of lights fell on Izolde’s head and smoke emerged as some strands of her hair got scorched.
“Okay, okay, please let my parents live and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“We need to free Izolde now,” Tristan shouted like a mad man.
“We need to know what the next riddle is. That may take us some time,” I said.
“Time that we do not have!” Tristan yelled.
“We need to improvise, and we need to do that quickly,” Pally said as another beam of lights fell on Izolde’s head and some of her red curls got scorched.
“Tristan,” I said, “Gráinne’s spell; it used to reunite you, now it may save you.”
Tristan clenched his teeth and started whispering the spell Gráinne had taught him centuries ago.
‘Iwissak Niano Ennoa Odakozik Dizaio Araskwicoq!’
White sparks burst as an electrical storm surrounded us.
“What’s happening?” asked Izolde, while Tristan put his arms protectively around her body. As the lightning storm encircled us, Izolde buried her face in his chest, eyes tightly closed.
The storm expanded, creating a small cyclone. Everything began to swirl around us with increasing intensity. With half-closed eyes, I saw the cell fade, replaced by images and symbols that moved around us like an old film reel.
CHAPTER 9
*
A strong hand grabbed me abruptly and a man with a well-built body took me in his arms and in a flash, he transferred me across a cell made of metal.
“Um... What just happened?” I said, trying to catch my breath.
“Who are you? the man said.
“Leave her alone!” Tristan, Pally, Percy, and Izolde came after us and took me from the man’s hands.
“Who are you people?” the man turned to confront my new allies and my jaw dropped.
“Owen? Is that you?” I stuttered.
“Owain actually. Have we met before?” He gave me an examining look.
He looked exactly like Owen, my ex-boyfriend whose betrayal with my ex best friend Lynette triggered the series of events that sent me to the Avallon Academy and consecutively to Thorn Prison from where I was now trying to escape.
Owen Hart. “The dude from table 6” as Lynette and I called him. We were both serving at The Drunk Lobster fish restaurant. He was a customer. I was serving his table when we first met.
I had been so struck by his blue eyes and his broad shoulders that I wanted to relive that moment, feel the same feeling, have my heart flutter ceaselessly again and again. He had rocked my world that much.
From that day on, I could not stop myself from rewinding time again and again. It was love at first sight. However, I had that inexplicable feeling that we had met before. For a long time, I thought Owen reminded me of someone from my past, but I could not recollect who that man, or boy, was.
Lynette had once told me that people could fall in love with a person they had just met if that person looked like someone they had loved before.
“The subconscious makes them believe that if the new person in their life looks like someone from their past who was good for them, the new person will be good for them too,” she had told me.
And now, that guy Owian brought those memories back to me. How could that be possible? I looked at him more closely. He had the same hair Owen had, same eyes and mouth, however, you could tell by his nose and the shape of his nose that they were indeed different people.
“We have no time for dawdling,” Tristan’s voice brought me back to reality. “Owian, time is running out and we need to get the heck out of here before they find out that we are trying to escape. We have already solved four riddles, or passed through four challenges if you like, and it seems that this is the final stage, the final key that we must find to gain our freedom. So please share with us what your personal story is; how you got here and what your secret passion was.”
“If this is the way to earn my freedom back, I will gladly tell you everything about me,” Owian said.
“MY FAMILY RUNS A SMALL hotel business in Montauk, New York. It’s said that the hotel has been under my family’s ownership for centuries,” Owian said.
“What is it called?” I asked.
“It’s called The Old Inn.”
“How old is The Old Inn?”
“Centuries old. Of course, it has undergone many additions and renovations, though a small part of the original building still survives. But you’d better let me explain,” he said.
“I was twelve years old, and my mother had just died when my father sent me to Montauk to spend the summer with his parents. My grandparents were remarkably busy working at the hotel, so I had plenty of free time but nothing to do with it. Trying to fight my boredom, I put my imagination to use. I imagined I was a private investigator following imaginary clues in the old building. It was noon when I snuck into the attic. There, I discovered a small storage space under the wooden planks of the floor. I found an old wooden box with an ornate carving on the lid. Yellowed lace, some yarn, and a golden heart cut in half were what I found inside the box. However, there weren’t just yarn and ribbons in that box. A small book with brittle yellowed pages full of paintings was also there. One of the pictures that impressed me was the portrait of a beautiful young woman with long wavy hair and a bouquet of flowers in her hands. Another painting that spurred my interest depicted a building resembling the old wing of our hotel. A sign reading The Two Sisters hung above the main entrance.”
“Why are you saying this to me?”
“Because the woman on that picture looked exactly like you.”
“How... I mean... I do not know what that means.” I was lost for words.
“My family’s hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Montauk. That makes me think that those drawings were quite old too.”
“So you are saying that... ”
“I suspect that one of your ancestors found her way to my family’s Inn.”
“Do you think... do you think... I'm...?”
Tristan busted to laughter. “It is the first time since we have met that Gwen has lost her words. Owian, you are my hero.”
I cracked a smile. My gut told me that I had to be honest with them. “It is not this little story of yours that shocked me as much your resemblance to someone that I used to know. Someone from my life before the Avallon Academy who hurt my feelings so bad that the emotional pain that he caused me triggered my time hopping skills and led Mordred to my house.”
“One coincidence after another,” Pally noted.
“Do you think that Gwen is the reincarnation of that woman in the painting?” asked Percy.
“In the four centuries of my life, I have not come across a single instance of reincarnation. There must be some explanation for this resemblance, but we should not focus on that right now.”
“Guys,” Owian intervened as he moved his hand to his neck, “I do not know if that is of any help, but I had with me that piece of golden heart I found in the attic.” He flashed the pendant he was wearing around his neck.
“Wait,” Izol
de exclaimed, “this looks like the golden plate that adorns the ring my parents gifted to me when I turned eighteen. Look at it; it has the same weird symbols engraved on it too.”
As we leaned closer to Izolde to get a better look at her ring, Percy’s voice echoed from behind. “It seems that my ring, the one I inherited from my grandfather, has a similar golden plate attached to it.”
“Please do not tell me that this is a coincidence. Again.” I said.
“This cannot be a coincidence,” said Pally, “especially since the ancient Persian earring I am wearing has also a golden plate like these. It has belonged to my family since forever. It has to mean something.”
“Can this be the key to the final riddle?” I said. “Owian, Izolde, Percy, and Pally. You all inherited one piece of a golden plate with weird symbols engraved on it. Maybe these are parts of a puzzle. Or maybe if they get together, a message gets revealed. Merlin said that five riddles must be solved. What if these golden plates are supposed to be the key to each riddle and we are one piece short to solving the final riddle and gain our freedom?”
“Who has the last piece?” asked Tristan.
“I do not own anything gold,” I said, “so Tristan, it has to be you.”
He gave me an eye roll. “If I had it, I would have known that.”
“Don’t be so sure,” said Izolde. “Look at your belt buckle. It looks like it is made of brass, but there is little piece shining on it. If it is made of gold, then it can be the piece we are looking for.”
It was indeed. We had five pieces; five, as the number of the riddles we should solve to break from Thorn Prison.
“What are supposed to do next?” asked Izolde.
Everyone was holding their golden pieces of metal, trying to figure out what to do next. Everyone except me; I did not have one.
“Let’s put them together,” Pally suggested. “If they are all pieces of the same object, put together they should shape a whole heart.”
That would have been a good idea, if it worked. Without the usage of specific tools or practice of magic, we could not separate them from what they were attached and put them together. We looked at each other puzzled.
“My ring is flashing again,” I almost jumped up out of excitement. “What does that mean?”
“Give me your hands,” Owian demanded. “All of you!”
We all held hands tightly. Owian gave immense glances to each of us, as sparks of electricity emerged through our woven fingers.
An eerie mist began to slowly engulf us. Lost in the same dream, we watched as a young woman walked in a half-lit chamber holding a candlestick. When the woman noticed our presence, she walked toward us. She stopped in front of us and lifted the candlestick a little higher. The flickering light of the candle glowed on her face. What Owian saw was the face of the woman on that old drawing in his family Inn; what I saw was myself looking at me from behind the candlelight.
“Beware of the look in the mirror,” the woman said, before she disappeared along with the mist that covered us.
Everything blurred around us, as if we were lost between two dimensions.
Izolde, Tristan, Pally, Owian, and Percy vanished into thin air. A bright light made my eyes close. When I opened my eyelids again, I was lying down on the floor of a fancy chamber.
Cushions, candle holders, books—everything that had just been spinning in the air fell firmly on the floor. I was in a fancy decorated room with expensive golden furniture, green velvet curtains, and red velvet drapes. I was alone in the room; my new friends and allies were nowhere to be seen.
A shiver went through my spine, as if that were the most bizarre thing that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
She was still looking around dumfounded when a beautiful brunette girl appeared from the other side of the room and approached me in a friendly manner.
“Are you Gwen?” she asked and lifted the corners of her mouth.
“I am. And who are you?”
“My name is Gwynette,” she said. “I cannot express how happy I am now that we finally meet.”
“I don’t understand.” I was confused. How did that young woman know who I was and why was she so happy for our encounter?
“Gwen, I am your sister.”
CHAPTER 10
*
Gwynette smiled as she moved closer to me and embraced me in a warm hug.
“Merlin said that you will come and save me,” she said.
“Is Merlin here?” I asked and my heart raced like crazy. I had so many questions and I needed to get so many answers. So far, I had only received a few hints that had led me to absolutely nowhere. After all that I had been through, I felt more vulnerable than I was when it all began. Except that now I had a sister.
In fact, that should not had surprised me that much. Camilla had already informed me that I had a sister whom I was supposed to help set free from the Thorn Prison. However, with all those challenges that I went through to get into this lavishly decorated room, I had forgotten what my initial goal was.
“Forgive me but I am shocked,” I said. “I did not know that I had a sister, not until right before I was locked up in Thorn prison. Are we really sisters?”
“If Merlin says so, then it is got to be true.” She had a kind smile on her face; she seemed sincere and was acting polite. I did not know how to react, but she seemed so genially happy to meet me that I felt obliged to return the warm welcome.
I responded back with a warm hug, however something deep in my heart restricted me from being happy.
“I did not know that I had a sister too,” Gwynette explained. “I always thought I was an orphan. Then Merlin sent me a message in my dream saying that my sister will help me break the Thorn Prison. The moment I saw you appearing out of nowhere in my cell, I knew that you are my sister; my savior.”
I looked around again. “This cell looks different than the others I have been in this prison. How long have you been here? How did you get in here? And why were you imprisoned?”
“I have not been here long. And I still have not figured out why they locked me in. I do not even know who have locked me in.”
“Did they treat you well?”
“Surprising well. They treated me like royalty. They did not even lock me in a cell. Instead they gave me this luxurious room like I am a hotel guest. I do not know what that means. What I know is that we must leave this place now.”
With a hissing sound the table we were standing by was set ablaze and withing seconds the entire room was ablaze.
“Follow me,” Gwynette ordered as she started running to the door.
“What just happened?” I asked as I followed her lead.
The door opened with a loud sound and a huge man with a long blond beard and blond hair in braids, holding a sword that was dripping blood, streched his hand to us.
Before I could react, he lifted me up in his arms and stormed out onto the corridor, pounding over the dead bodies of several WizGuards. The giant ran through the corridors of prison and only hoped that the exit was the destination. I hope we ran towards freedom. The huge fire that was now expanding to the cells of the Thorn Prison and dozens of WizGuards were running in the opposite direction to extinguish the fire.
“Who are you?” I had to shout to cover the voices and the noises of the mayhem. However, the man again remained silent. Suddenly, he stopped running, and carefully put me down and helped stand up on my feet. We had just crossed the main entrance of the prison, and that could only mean one thing.
“Are we free? Thank you so much whoever you are!”
“You see? I told you that we will make it,” a familiar female voice sounded right behind the giant’s body.
“Gwynette!” I yelled surprised and opened her arms to hug my newfound sister. “Did you follow us?”
“Of course, I did! I would not miss the fun.” Gwynette winked with a wide smile on her face. “This is Maleagant, my husband. And he is sorry he did not respond to you
r questions, but he is mute.”
“Your husband? I do not understand,” I said confused.
“Yes, we were both imprisoned,” Gwynette said.
“But why did not you try to escape before my arrival?”
“Because we could not have escape without the powers of the ring that Merlin gave you,” she said. “We need to get to a safe place. There we will have plenty of time to answer to all of your questions.”
Gwynette was right. We had to move to a safer place. My ring had started flashing again. However, this time all the five dots were flashing simultaneously.
Was that a sign that all five riddles were solved?
I recalled my encounter with Camilla in that London pub that morning.
“I am looking for your sister,” Camilla had said to me. “Your father was Leo DeGrance, one of the greatest mages and member of the Board of Wizards. You never knew your mother; she died when you were a toddler,” I recalled her saying.
Camilla had taken a smartphone out of her purse and turned the phone screen to me to watch. “You have a sister; her name is Gwynette,” she had said as she showed a series of pictures to me, one of them depicted the young woman that welcomed me a few minutes ago in that lavish guest room and helped me break out with the assistance of her mute husband named Maleagant.
“Gwynette had a twin brother who died at birth. That broke your mother’s heart and she never recovered. Your father died shortly after your mother’s death. Your name is not Gwen Smith. Your real name is Gwen DeGrance. It was the Board of Wizards that decided that you and your sister should be separated. Merlin insisted that you should not.”
Camilla had revealed that not only Merlin had hired her to find my sister, he had also left the Avallon Academy to gather an army of resistance. “They are coming for us,” she had warned me. “They are coming for you. They do not want you to reunite with your sister. Merin says that you must solve five riddles to break out the Thorn Prison and warns you to not draw no one’s attention on this ring.”
The Thorn Prison (Avallon Academy Book 2) Page 6
