Deliverance

by Brittany Comeaux

  For several minutes, Crystal watched Blaze’s breathing quicken again and his eyes growing wider. Suddenly, the color drained from Blaze’s face and the Gaull shard slipped out of his limp hand and fall with a CLANK onto the floor. Althea finished whispering and then backed away.

  Blaze’s legs began to shake, and Crystal rushed forward to catch him before he collapsed. They knelt down on the ground together and Crystal wrapped her arms around him. She wished she could ask what it was his mother told him, but she knew that he would not tell her.

  Just then, Althea knelt down in front of Blaze and said, “I wish I was alive so I could hold you right now, Blaze. I want you to know how much I love you.” She then turned to Crystal and said, “I want to thank you for turning him into a good man and for being there when he needed someone.”

  Crystal realized then that Althea saw her memories of her first encounter with Blaze. She smiled at her and said, “He always had the ability to be a good man; I just showed him the good he couldn’t see in himself.”

  “M-mother . . .” Blaze muttered. The two women looked at Blaze, who had his head turned down. He looked up with a tear-soaked face and said, “I swear that I will free you.”

  Althea smiled and said, “I know you will. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Blaze muttered weakly.

  With a flash of light, Althea’s form faded and turned back into a spirit orb and floated away.

  CHAPTER 21

  Bogdan angrily paced back and forth in the castle library in Cartigo. Saitar, standing petrified a few feet away, had just informed the king that there have been no sightings of Crystal and Blaze. He waited in agonizing silence, wondering when the king would snap. Saitar feared that if he said anything before Bogdan spoke again, his neck may be broken by the end of the evening.

  “They couldn’t have just disappeared! Someone had to have seen them and they just aren’t coming forward to report it! If it gets out that the princess is alive, the people of Cierith will surely rise against me,” the king shouted.

  “What do you think we should do, my king?” Saitar stammered.

  Bogdan paced for a little while longer, muttering to himself, before finally saying, “Send an announcement out to every village saying that anyone withholding information will be put to death.”

  “Yes my king,” Saitar replied and obediently bowed. He then turned around and left the library.

  Bogdan had enough to deal with without those two slipping through his fingers again and again; he was also getting nowhere finding the last Gaull shard. The only person who claimed to know where to find it wasn’t talking, despite nearly a week of severe beatings and torture. Bogdan then felt it was time to pay his special prisoner another visit. After a quick gulp of a full glass of scotch, he left the library and headed to the west wing of the castle.

  Bogdan climbed the spiral stairwell in the old western tower of the castle. At the top was where he kept his prisoner in a room that had filthy, rotting, wooden floors. It had been abandoned since the invasion, so Bogdan couldn’t think of a better place for him to have private talks with his prisoner.

  Two guards were stationed around the clock outside of the door, and when Bogdan approached, the guards saluted him and granted him entrance. One of the guards unlocked the door with a key tied to his belt and the king entered into the dark room, shutting the door behind him. The only source of light was a tiny window that was too high for anyone to see out of. The dim light coming from the window barely shined into the room enough to reveal the silhouette of a figure huddled against the wall.

  The room was void of a bed or any other furniture, so the rebel, Gavril, was forced to lie alone on the floor. Bogdan stared at Gavril, who did not look up when he entered, for several silent minutes. Even through the cloudy light passing through the window, he could see the cuts and bruises on his body. He almost smiled at the memory of putting them there.

  “Are you ready to tell me where the shard is?” Bogdan finally asked.

  A weary and broken Gavril lifted his head with all of his strength and replied, “What shard?”

  “You know damned well ‘what shard.’ Stop toying with me!” Bogdan rebuked.

  Gavril managed to sit upright, despite having several cracked ribs and a broken arm, and through the bruises on his face he muttered, “What can you possibly do to me that you haven’t done already? Nothing you can do to me will be worse than what you did all those years ago.”

  “I did not defile another man’s marriage! You deserved the punishment I gave you! You should have known what your fate would be when you decided to lie with my wife,” Bogdan growled. He began pacing back and forth in front of the wounded man.

  “Althea didn’t deserve her fate,” Gavril argued.

  Bogdan inhaled fiercely. “I gave her riches, jewels, and a life of luxury! How did she repay me? She not only spread her legs to you but she was also going to take my son away with you as well! You both deserved more than what you got!”

  “She didn’t want riches or jewels! She just wanted love. I gave that to her because you are incapable of loving anyone!” Gavril shouted through the pain.

  Out of anger, Bogdan then grabbed Gavril by the neck and squeezed. Even though his was already bruised and painful, Gavril stayed his ground and did not show weakness.

  “Why won’t you give in?” Bogdan screamed. He then tossed Gavril by the neck back onto the floor.

  Gavril coughed and hacked for air, which only hurt more, and rebuked, “I told you, no physical torture can be worse than the mental torture I went through all those years ago. Do you have any idea how it felt to make love to Althea knowing you would rape her the second you got home, and that there wasn’t a thing I could do about it? Not to mention, the pain I felt every time I saw a bruise on her body! When I watched her son get ripped out of her arms, it destroyed me! Perhaps the worst part was the look you gave me before making me watch you drive a knife into her heart!”

  Bogdan then drove his fist into Gavril’s already cracked ribs and grinned with satisfaction when he felt them break under his knuckles. Gavril screamed with pain and fell flat onto the ground. He struggled for breath again but despite being broken and battered, he said nothing more.

  Bogdan rose to his feet, brushed himself off, and said, “Well, I believe I’ve relieved enough stress for the time being. I have other important matters to attend to, so I will be back later.”

  With those last words, the king strolled out of the room as casually as if he had just been visiting an old friend.

  ****

  The Guardian of the Lost led Blaze and Crystal back to the entrance of the Lost Realm. Crystal clutched the Gaull shard in one hand and held Blaze’s hand in the other. His face was still pale and he was covered in a nervous sweat. Crystal could not imagine what Althea told him to do, but it seemed like even though she couldn’t know, she would have to try and find a way to comfort him and help him accomplish his task in any way she could.

  “You must not travel with the last shard while people are looking for you.” the guardian said after stopping at the archway, “Therefore, I will transport you both back to Cartigo.”

  “We have our horse tied up about a mile outside of the forest,” Crystal said.

  “Do not fret, your horse will be sent there as well,” the guardian assured.

  “Thank you,” Crystal replied. She then turned to Blaze, kissed the scar area on his neck, and whispered, “I’m here for you.”

  Blaze turned to her, squeezed her hand and smiled. She could tell he was still too much in shock to feel like talking, and she felt helpless watching him suffer.

  “Stand in the middle of the platform,” commanded the guardian. Crystal and Blaze obeyed, and once they were standing still, the guardian then said, “Good luck to the both of you.”

  With a flash of light, the scene around Crystal and Blaze disappeared and within seconds, the forest outside of Cartigo surrounded them.

  “Bear!
” Crystal cried.

  As the guardian promised, their horse had been transported right next to them. Crystal hugged Bear’s neck and brushed her hand across his black mane.

  “Why are you so attached to him?” Blaze asked.

  Crystal had been so used to Blaze not talking that when he finally did, it startled her.

  “I like animals,” Crystal replied, “And this one has been so loyal and sweet! I guess I also feel attached because he will always remind me of the journey you and I have been through.”

  Blaze smiled and embraced Crystal. She wrapped him arms around him in return and they held each other for several minutes.

  “I don’t know what will happen once we go in there. I have a feeling that this will be the final battle with Bogdan, and before we face him, I want you to know that I will love you until the end,” Blaze whispered.

  “I love you too, Blaze,” Crystal whispered back.

  Blaze then pulled away from her and kissed her. Crystal felt her knees weaken and she held onto Blaze’s neck for support. He pulled his lips away from hers and stared into her eyes briefly.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered.

  “All right,” Crystal responded.

  ****

  Thaddeus was beginning to feel tired again, despite having slept for several days. After waking from his first magic sleep and instructing Blaze to rescue Crystal and take her to the elders, he put himself to sleep again so that Saitar would not see them going to the City of Magi. He suddenly woke from his self-induced sleep after three days and realized that he could no longer see through Blaze’s eyes, so he felt better knowing that he and Crystal could achieve their mission without being caught.

  Thaddeus’s old body was crouched in the corner of the same cell he was sheltered in for nearly two weeks. His comrades were growing as weary as he was as they all desperately tried to get comfortable, but their efforts were in vain. Kerali had been a nervous wreck worrying about Breuvial, for he did not know what became of his fiancée after hearing that the hideout was destroyed, and the elf prince feared the worst. The twins, Maryn and Taryn, huddled next to each other and comforted one another, and even Sigurd wasn’t even pretending to not feel weak anymore.

  A guard then approached the cell, passed a bag and a canteen through the iron bars, and dropped them on the ground.

  “There’s your supper, rebels,” the guard barked.

  Sigurd grabbed the bag and canteen, but not before glaring at the guard. The dwarf then passed out the pieces of stale bread that were inside to everyone. The pieces of bread were no bigger than a human fist, and when they were all handed out, they all realized they only had four pieces.

  “Hey, we only have one!” Maryn said.

  “Yeah, in case you didn’t realize it, there are two of us!” Taryn added.

  “And you’re both halflings. You are half the size of a human and therefore you only require half a piece of bread!” the guard argued.

  “But you’ve been giving us each a piece up until now!” Taryn whined.

  “We’re running low on leftovers, so be grateful you got anything you brats!” the guard yelled back. He then banged his spear on the cell bars and laughed spitefully as he returned to his post.

  Maryn sniffed as Taryn desperately tried to break the hard piece of bread in half, and neither Kerali nor Thaddeus could eat while watching the pitiful scene. Then, to everyone’s disbelief, Sigurd walked over to the twins and without a word, dropped his piece of bread onto Maryn’s lap.

  “I’m not hungry,” he mumbled before making his way to the other side of the cell and sitting down.

  “That was so nice of you, Sigurd! Thank you!” Maryn cried.

  “Shut up and eat,” Sigurd growled.

  The twins giggled and then hungrily ate their pieces of bread. Thaddeus smiled, shook his head and then began to eat his own.

  About half an hour later, the twins had fallen asleep. Sigurd still sat with his arms folded on the floor and Kerali sat beside him while Thaddeus sat in the corner.

  Kerali leaned over to Sigurd and muttered, “All this prison time has made you soft, dwarf.”

  “Mind your own business elf! I told them I wasn’t hungry, so why waste the little food they give us?” Sigurd remarked.

  “Is that what you said to Maryn? I’m afraid I couldn’t hear it over the sound of your stomach growling,” Kerali retorted amusingly.

  “If you are so proud of those DAMNED Elven ears, why don’t you listen when I tell you to BE QUIET!” Sigurd growled as his ears turned red again.

  Both Thaddeus and Kerali laughed as Sigurd pouted and mumbled to himself. Then there was silence.

  “I wonder why we haven’t been executed yet, though. If we are still being fed, then they’re obviously trying to keep us alive,” Thaddeus brought up.

  “Thaddeus is right. The guards have been obnoxious as usual, but they haven’t physically harmed us, which is odd to say the least,” Sigurd said.

  “Well, I didn’t want to say anything, but Sigurd’s stomach isn’t the only thing I have heard that none of you have,” Kerali said.

  “What do you mean, Kerali?” asked Thaddeus.

  “Whenever Gavril was in the dungeon, do you remember how he kept asking to talk to Bogdan but he wouldn’t tell us why?” Kerali asked.

  “Yes. I remember how he left after a few days and hasn’t returned in over a week! I am worried that they killed him!” Thaddeus replied.

  “No, they didn’t. It’s even worse, actually.” Kerali ruefully replied, “They have been torturing him.”

  “What?” Thaddeus and Sigurd exclaimed.

  “I heard Bogdan telling the guards out in the corridor not to harm us because of a deal he made with Gavril. Gavril gave himself up and told Bogdan to torture him in exchange for our safety,” Kerali explained, the energy draining from his voice.

  “That fool!” Sigurd said sadly, bowing his head.

  Thaddeus closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “I just don’t understand why Bogdan would agree to something like that. It is very unlike him to show pity, especially to rebels,” Kerali said.

  “Whatever the case, we must help Gavril somehow,” Thaddeus said.

  “But how? There is no way out of this dungeon!” Kerali said.

  Suddenly, as if on cue, two soldiers walked up and stopped in front of the cell. The shorter one pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and opened the cell.

  “There is a way out if someone is there to help you,” said the taller one.

  “Blaze?” asked Thaddeus.

  After he said Blaze’s name, both soldiers removed their helmets and revealed their faces.

  “Crystal!” the three rebels exclaimed. The twins woke up to the noise and they both jumped up and approached the cell door when they saw Crystal.

  “Boss! I knew you’d make it back!” Taryn exclaimed.

  Crystal put a finger to her mouth and said, “SHH! Don’t worry, we went to the Lost Realm and found the last shard. Let’s get going and destroy the Eye!”

  “You can use holy magic now?” Thaddeus asked, struggling to stand up.

  “It’s a long story, but I will explain it later.” Crystal assured, “Right now I—wait, where is Gavril?”

  Thaddeus, Sigurd, and Kerali paused, unsure of how to tell Crystal what had happened. Crystal sensed their tension and feared the worst.

  Crystal put a hand to her mouth with her eyes about to well up with tears and whispered, “Is Gavril . . . dead?”

  “No,” Kerali replied, “but I’m afraid his situation isn’t any better than that.”

  Kerali then went on to explain what he had heard again, and even though Crystal was relieved that Gavril was alive, she still felt the tears falling when she thought of what horrible things Gavril was going through.

  “We have to find him!” Crystal cried.

  “No, dear, we will find Gavril after we get our equipment. I have some more of those potions I made for Blaze in a b
ag so once we find Gavril, we’ll fix him up and join you,” Thaddeus assured.

  “But . . .” Crystal protested.

  “They’re right, Crystal. Gavril would want you to finish this before worrying about him,” Blaze said.

  Crystal sighed before saying, “Very well.”

  “But when you find him,” Blaze began, “can you tell Gavril I need to talk to him?”

  “Of course, Blaze. Is everything all right?” Thaddeus responded.

  “Yes,” Blaze answered. He gave Crystal a pleading face that silently asked her not to say anything, and she smiled in assurance.

  “Whatever you do, please don’t let anything happen to him,” Crystal said.

  “Do not worry, we will take care of Gavril,” Kerali assured her.

  “I know,” Crystal replied. She then reached into her armor to pull out the shard and continued, “Here is the shard. Blaze and I will—WHOA!”

  When Crystal looked at the shard in her hand, it had a glowing pulse and was pulling away from her.

  “The shards must be reacting to each other because they are so close together! Quickly, you must go before Bogdan notices the other shards glowing!” Thaddeus cried.

  After bidding the others goodbye, Blaze and Crystal replaced their helmets and Crystal put the shard back into her armor.

  CHAPTER 22

  In his guard armor, Blaze spoke to a real castle guard and managed to find out that not only that Gavril was still alive, but also where he was being held captive and where the rebels’ equipment was stored. After delivering the message to the others, they split up into two teams with one team consisting of Sigurd and Thaddeus, going to find Gavril, and the other team consisting of Kerali, Taryn, and Maryn, going to find the equipment and freeing the other rebel captives. Blaze and Crystal then set off to find the other shards.