Deliverance

by Brittany Comeaux

  Crystal walked ahead of Blaze and allowed the shard to pull her in the right direction. It pulled her up the stairs onto the second floor and she soon realized that she was being led to the throne room. They walked down the open hall that faced the courtyard and after stopping right in front of the doors to the throne room, Crystal felt the shard tugging from inside of her armor, so after Blaze peeked inside and saw no one was in there, he gestured for her to follow. Once they were both inside, Blaze then shut the doors behind them and used the legs of a small table to block the handles. He then hurriedly blocked the other doors in the room to make sure no one could get in.

  The stone pillar prison sat just on the side of the throne and the Gaull shards, which were glowing in unison with the one Crystal carried, were set on a table beside it. Crystal pulled her armor off, and as soon as the shard she had was visible, the other shards began sliding towards her and a couple of them even fell on the floor and continued sliding. Blaze ran over to the shards and gathered them up after pulling his own armor off.

  “All right, let’s fuse them together and destroy the Eye,” he said.

  Crystal walked over to him while he held the other four shards in his hands and as soon as she held her shard up to them, they glowed brightly and with a quick snapping sound, the Eye of Gaull was whole again.

  Blaze placed the Eye into Crystal’s hands and said, “All right, do your stuff.”

  Blaze then removed his sword from its sheath and took several steps back, ready to strike. Crystal held the Eye out in front of her with both hands and concentrated on what Malcolm said. You are holding yourself back rang through her ears, and she tried to think of what negative emotions she needed to overcome.

  She thought hard, but her mind was clouded when she saw the mirror where she and Gavril hid while her parents were killed. She remembered the exact spot where she saw their bodies in a pool of blood. Even though Gavril tried to hide her face and even though he instructed the soldiers to keep her away, she still saw their bodies. Their eyes were still open and her mother still looked terrified. She remembered seeing Gavril shut their eyes, but the image of her mother’s horrified face when she saw her husband die was burned into Crystal’s mind forever.

  Gavril begged August to keep his sword, and of course, now Crystal knew why, but the king kept insisted on being unarmed to negotiate with Bogdan peacefully.

  Please keep it with you, August, Gavril had said.

  I am willing to resolve this peacefully! August responded.

  Believe me, this will not end peacefully no matter what you do! Please, keep yourself armed! Gavril pleaded.

  I am ordering you, as your king, to step down and take my sword! August commanded.

  And I am begging you, as your friend, to keep it! Gavril continued to plead.

  Eventually, her father did agree to keep his sword. She remembered when Bogdan burst through the doors and marched up to her parents. She could still remember her father pleading with Bogdan to spare his family and the way Bogdan ridiculed him in response. Bogdan drove his sword through August’s heart before he had a chance to defend himself or his wife. Bogdan laughed as Elaine cried out and embraced her husband as he fell, and before he even hit the ground, Bogdan mercilessly murdered her as well.

  Bogdan had slain the last holy mage.

  Crystal knew her mother was the last person who would deserve a sword through the heart, and the fact that Bogdan killed her when she had done nothing to provoke him. She hated Bogdan. She wanted him to suffer for what he did! She wanted him to die slowly and painfully!

  Crystal struggled with her emotions while she continued to grasp the Eye in her hands.

  “Come on, Crystal! You can do it!” Blaze said.

  “No, I can’t! I can’t stop picturing the night my parents died! It was in this very room! I just can’t!” Crystal cried.

  Just then, the Eye started pulling towards the stone pillar while still in her hands. She knew that it was feeding off of her hatred for Bogdan and tempting her to use its power. She pulled away with all her might for several minutes, all the while with Blaze encouraging her to resist. Eventually, she was able to break free and the Eye of Gaull dropped from her hands and onto the hard floor.

  She dropped to her knees and sobbed, ashamed of her inability to overcome her weakness. As Blaze bent down to hold her, she cried, “I don’t know what to do Blaze! I cannot find a way to overcome my anger!”

  “I wish I knew what to say, Crystal. I wish I could take it away from you,” Blaze replied.

  “I am pathetic! I can’t believe I have come this far just to fail!” she sobbed.

  “You haven’t failed yet! You had to be taken away from me to realize just how important you are to me! Think of everyone who needs you, and you’ll find the power you need!” Blaze told her.

  Just then, they heard a banging sound in the direction of the double doors. The doors shook violently as someone on the other side banged on them again, and after a third pounding, an explosion blew the doors open. Smoke filled the doorway as three people stepped through.

  The Eye then rolled across the floor towards the person in the middle and he picked it up and said, “Here you are, my King.”

  The smoke cleared and Saitar handed Bogdan the Eye of Gaull. He laughed and grabbed it while Valamar walked in Crystal’s direction.

  “It was awfully rude of you to steal my wife before our honeymoon, but now you will be punished for high treason and Amelia and I will be leaving for my mansion so that we can finally consummate our marriage,” Valamar said to Blaze.

  “Go consummate yourself,” Blaze spat back. He then stepped in front of Crystal with his blade drawn and Crystal put her hands up, readying herself for when she needed to cast a spell.

  “You are without a doubt the rudest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting!” Valamar countered.

  “Blaze is twice the man you wish you were, Valamar!” Crystal yelled.

  “You will step aside and let the men handle this, dear,” Valamar told her.

  Crystal responded by emitting flames from her hands and startling Valamar. She grinned when his eyes widened and he took several steps back.

  “Do you like being knocked out that much, Valamar? You must, because every time we are forced to interact with you, you end up on the floor somehow,” Blaze countered.

  “Shut your mouth! This will most likely leave a scar!” Valamar bellowed, pointing to the spot on his chin where Blaze kicked him. It was then that Crystal noticed the bruise under Valamar’s chin.

  Bogdan stepped forward with the Eye in hand and said, “Enough!” He looked at Blaze and Crystal, laughed again, and said, “I must say, you two made this easier than I thought it would ever be! Here I was, trying to drag out information about the shard from that rebel you call Gavril, and not only do you bring it to me personally, but you were also thoughtful enough to fuse the shards together for me!”

  “We will not allow you to hurt Gavril anymore!” Crystal yelled. The flames around her hands then grew brighter.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve kept him alive all this time for a reason. You see, he and I had a little unfinished business to attend to, and now that I’ve got what I want, I will use the power of Gaull to fry him to a crisp!” Bogdan gloated.

  “We know all about your unfinished business,” Blaze remarked.

  “Is that so?” Bogdan replied.

  “Yeah.” Blaze replied, “You see, we just came from a little place called the Lost Realm, and I happened to be greeted by my mother there.”

  Bogdan stopped smiling and stared Blaze down. He did not speak for some time, and then he finally managed to mutter, “Did you, now?”

  “Oh yes, and she told me some interesting things, one of which was how Gavril had an affair with her.” Blaze blurted out, “Oh and I also heard about how you murdered her.”

  Bogdan rolled his eyes and responded, “Congratulations, Blaze. You know the truth now! It does not matter anymore;
the bitch is dead and the bastard who slept with her will join her soon. There is nothing you can do about it!”

  “Oh it does matter,” Blaze muttered, “and I have a little unfinished business of hers to see too, so you won’t be doing anything with that gem until I do.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Bogdan replied. He then exchanged glances with both Saitar and Valamar and muttered, “Get them.”

  Thaddeus and Sigurd climbed the spiral steps up the old tower. Both of them had trouble keeping the pace, Thaddeus because of his weak old bones and Sigurd because of his short, stubby legs. They eventually stopped when they saw two guards outside the door and cursing themselves for not getting their weapons first, but Thaddeus had an idea. He was a very experienced mage, and even though he did not have his staff, he could still cast small spells without a problem.

  “Wait here,” Thaddeus whispered. Even though it was barely audible, Sigurd read the old mage’s lips and nodded.

  Thaddeus crept up the steps and found a hole in the floor boards under where the guards were standing, so he lifted his hand to the hole and shot two energy darts at the guards’ necks. The guards became instantly electrocuted and fell to the floor with a THUD! Sigurd then came running up the steps and they both approached the guards’ unconscious bodies.

  “Brilliant! How can such a small spell do so much damage?” Sigurd praised.

  “Actually, it’s where I hit them that mattered. That spell alone is only strong enough to startle someone and doesn’t actually do harm unless it hits a sensitive spot like the jugular. It seeped through their skin and sent a nasty shock through their bloodstream, but it was still only strong enough to knock them out for an hour or so,” Thaddeus explained.

  “Well, that’s still a job well done. Now let’s get Gavril out of there,” Sigurd replied.

  “Of course. Oh look, this guard has a key!” Thaddeus said. He then grabbed the key from the guard’s belt and unlocked the door.

  What Thaddeus and Sigurd saw next absolutely stunned them both. Even though they knew what had happened to Gavril, nothing could have prepared them for the site of his broken body lying almost lifelessly on the floor. Gavril opened his eyes and when he saw them, he smiled slightly and gave a sigh of relief

  “By the grace of Caris . . . are you mad, Gavril?” Sigurd muttered.

  “Are the others . . . free as . . . well?” Gavril asked weakly, taking a breath in between words.

  “Yes, my friend,” Thaddeus replied. He bent down beside Gavril and examined his wounds.

  “They were not harmed either, thanks to you,” Sigurd said.

  “Thank . . . goodness,” Gavril stammered.

  “Shh! Conserve your energy. The others are going to get our equipment and a bag of potions I had when we were captured, so I will give you one before we go to find Blaze and Crystal,” Thaddeus explained.

  “Th—they’re here?” Gavril stammered loudly.

  “Yes they are! They have the last shard and they know how to destroy the Eye as well, so we need to go and meet them after you’ve had a chance to recover,” Thaddeus replied.

  “No! I have broken ribs and a broken arm, but I can still walk! Let’s go find them!” Gavril pleaded. He tried to sit up, but he cried out with pain and fell back down.

  “Stop pushing yourself, you fool! You will only make your condition worse!” Sigurd growled.

  “Have to . . . find them . . . before . . . Bogdan!” Gavril weakly breathed out.

  Just then, they all heard someone say, “Gavril . . .”

  They turned to see Kerali holding a bag and Thaddeus’s staff in one hand and another bag as well as Sigurd’s axe and Gavril’s sword in the other. The elf had already equipped his bow and quiver. When he saw Gavril lying on the floor, he dropped everything except one of the bags, reached into the bag, and pulled out a small bottle of green liquid. He rushed over to Gavril’s side and picked his head up enough for him to swallow the contents of the bottle.

  “Where are the twins?” Thaddeus asked.

  “At the bottom of the stairs, waiting to flank anyone who tries to come up,” Kerali replied, still looking at Gavril. He had just finished swallowing the whole bottle of tonic and Kerali lie his head back onto the ground and waited for several minutes. Thaddeus and Sigurd then got their equipment together and continued to wait.

  “The color of his skin is returning to normal.” Thaddeus replied, “Which arm did they break, Gavril?”

  “Left . . .” Gavril whispered.

  Thaddeus gently pressed on Gavril’s left arm and asked, “Does that feel any better?”

  Gavril winced, but said, “Actually, yes. I think the bones fused back together already.”

  “Excellent! This potion works much faster than the one I gave Blaze, so I estimate that within an hour or two, you will be back to normal,” Thaddeus said.

  All of a sudden, they heard an explosion somewhere in the castle on a lower floor. They all exchanged worried glances.

  “Crystal . . .!” Gavril cried.

  “Gavril, keep calm,” Thaddeus replied.

  “It’s all right; I think I can walk now!” Gavril said.

  “Okay then, help him get his shirt and vest on,” Thaddeus told Kerali.

  “And my sword,” Gavril added.

  “You can’t possibly hope to carry a sword in your condition!” Sigurd exclaimed.

  “My sword!” Gavril repeated.

  “Very well, Gavril. Let’s make haste; by the sound of it, Crystal and Blaze most likely require our help,” Thaddeus stated.

  ****

  Crystal soon found herself fighting Saitar, a much more advanced mage than herself, while Blaze fought Bogdan and pushed him away from the stone pillar. Crystal also had to keep an eye on Valamar, who she saw sneaking around the sides of the room. Saitar’s magic was proving to be more powerful, however, so she charged for him with her blade drawn and blocked spells that he sent her way.

  She finally put him on the defensive as she struck from different directions with her short sword. He blocked her attacks with a magic energy shield, but she proved herself to be too quick for the old elder and cut his arm. Saitar dropped to the floor from the impact but before Crystal could strike again to disarm him, someone grabbed her from behind with a knife held to her throat and she sprung into defense mode again.

  It was Valamar who had grabbed her, as she soon discovered after she grabbed his hand that held the knife, twisted it, and turned around to knock it out of his and with her own blade. However, just as she was about to deliver a kick to knock him to the floor, Crystal was suddenly surrounded by the same magic binding that had trapped her in the City of Magi.

  Crystal cursed Valamar for distracting her before she could disarm Saitar as she struggled to break free. She heard Blaze cry out her name, but when she looked in his direction, Saitar cast the same binding spell on him. Blaze fell to the ground and lost his grip on his sword. Valamar grabbed Crystal’s arms and held them behind her with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her neck. Bogdan then roared with laughter.

  “You have become soft, Blaze! Before you joined the rebels, you would never have been distracted by someone else in danger; you would have kept fighting and destroying just like I taught you to. She has become a weakness for you,” Bogdan bellowed.

  “Shut your mouth! If it wasn’t for Crystal, I never would have had the strength to keep moving forward! Don’t forget, I managed to get away from the soldiers you sent after me and sneak into and out of the castle! It was all because of her, and that is a strength you will never be able to acquire!” Blaze yelled at Bogdan.

  “And yet there you lie defeated on the floor! Don’t lecture me about your inner strength nonsense when it still failed you!” Bogdan yelled. He then lifted the Eye of Gaull, began to approach the pillar, and said, “Now then, I have the power of a god to acquire.”

  Just as he came close to the pillar, however, a force field appeared around it that zapped Bogdan when
he got closer.

  “Not another step closer, Bogdan!” Thaddeus yelled.

  Crystal turned to see her magic mentor holding up his staff and Sigurd, Maryn, and Taryn at his sides. She then heard Gavril yell, “Crystal!”

  Crystal then saw a beat-up Gavril being held up by Kerali from one of the side doors and her heart leapt.

  “You’re all right!” she cried.

  “Well, mostly!” Kerali shouted back. He then gently sat Gavril down and pulled out his bow and an arrow, readying them into the shooting position.

  “Dammit! Where are all these rebels coming from?” Bogdan yelled.

  Kerali then shot an arrow at Saitar, who managed to dodge it, but it broke his concentration on the binding spell. Once freed, Blaze quickly grabbed his sword and charged for Crystal and Valamar but before he could save her, she elbowed Valamar in the ribs, swung her leg along the floor and tripped him, and when he was on his back, she gave him a swift kick to the groin. Valamar whimpered and howled with pain as he writhed across the floor in the fetal position; all Blaze could say to Crystal in response was, “Remind me not to piss you off.”

  Crystal smirked back at him.

  Suddenly, a bunch of guards showed up to investigate the commotion. They looked at the rebels and drew their blades.

  “Get the rebels!” Bogdan commanded.

  The guards obeyed and charged at the rebels. Kerali stayed behind near Gavril shooting arrows from afar and making sure that Gavril was protected while he waited for his body to recover more. Sigurd roared and charged head-on into a group of guards, swinging his axe furiously and incapacitating them one by one. The twins ran quickly through the crowd with their blades drawn. While Maryn shot poison darts and throwing knifes, Taryn sliced through several guards’ legs and knocked them onto their backs.

  Saitar then threw an energy orb at Thaddeus, which made him lose his focus on the force field around the pillars. Thaddeus then sent ice daggers after Saitar, and the two quickly became interlocked in an intense battle. Crystal fought off several guards with her short sword and cast several spells as more and more showed up. Blaze incapacitated a couple of guards when he saw Bogdan sneaking his way to the pillar.