by Casey Herzog
“I’m sure you never thought about this, but it’s possible the Elders orchestrated this whole thing. Don’t you find it coincidental that this disease only affected you? They used a dangling carrot to get you to cooperate. I can’t take you with me, but I’m going to tell you what you need to do. You’re going to find redemption in my.” I told him what he needed to know, and what the Elders would get from him whether he wanted to give it to them or not. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to continue without him by my side.
“I need to apologize profusely for my role in all of this. Your father might be alive had it not been for me. I can’t say positively that his death happened because of anything I did. It hurts me to think of the pain I caused you. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to end things before they begin, but I find myself wondering what could’ve been. Do you think there’s still a chance for you and me? It doesn’t matter if they were responsible for the illness. The symptoms were severe enough I couldn’t even walk. They took the freedom of mobility away from me. I had no control over my bodily functions. I was in an embarrassing situation. I would have made a deal with the devil.”
He didn’t know it, but that was exactly what he had done.
Chapter Eighteen
I was still thinking about William and his current predicament. He had done something I’m not sure others could have. He took a chance and let the inevitable occur. His feelings for me made me fall for him, but my heart was breaking with the very notion he was putting himself in danger all over again. I felt like I was throwing him to the wolves.
I remembered some harsh words given to me in the heat of the moment. I had been told leaders make hard decisions. I didn’t know how true that was until I was faced with a dilemma. There was no way I could give him a free pass without proving himself.
I had made the journey to the school and I was standing in front of Professor Bethesda with a tale of woe. He never interrupted the entire time I was speaking. I wanted his advice and somehow to unite everybody. Some were ready to fight, but others felt powerless.
“You have said a mouthful, Gillian. I never thought William would be a problem. He had always been such a good student, and your father spoke highly of him. He was given the keys to the kingdom without any of us realizing he was working his own agenda. I can’t say I blame him with what he was facing, but it’s hard for me to justify his actions. He has decided to make amends, but it’s not going to be easy. We all have things we regret, but none of us really has a chance to go back and do things the right way.”
His words were wise, and I did feel bad about what William was going through.
“I need your counsel and for you to talk to the other teachers. I’m sure you feel it coming. The hunter is on the warpath and taking Damien cannot be tolerated. I can see from the expression on your face that there might be a way to reach him. I don’t care about the cost; I will pay whatever price to get him back. Our strength is immense, but it needs to be fortified.” I waited, but my patience wasn’t disguised as I was pacing the floor.
“There is something that will allow you to enter the forbidden zone. Only those in touch with their inner being are able to enter the realm. You won’t know what is real and you’ll see things that will make you question your sanity and drive you to the edge of madness. Only one person has survived. Of course, you might have a chance, considering it was your father. He went in there to retrieve more of what he was researching. What he came back with were the magic eyes. It took a lot out of him, and his life was shortened due to the influence of the magic eyes telling him what to do. I don’t want you to go in there empty-handed. Unfortunately, the magic eyes need to be extracted from you before you enter, otherwise it will only tear you apart, leaving you with only a semblance of who you are.”
I didn’t like the idea of anybody taking the magic eyes away from me. They had become a part of me almost like my heart. “I did say I was willing to pay any price, and I meant it. Damien needs me, and I won’t let him suffer in silence. He’s brave, but he struggles and I don’t even know if it’s already too late. It’s a chance I’m willing to take, regardless of my own personal sacrifice.” Having the magic eyes was an awakening that allowed me to see things more clearly. I was no longer allowing my father’s assumed disapproval keep me from my destiny.
“I have something your father brought back with him, but he never did say where he found it. We locked it up and made sure to shield it with a magic spell.” He turned towards an empty space on the shelf. He moved his hands in the air until there was a green orb that he thrust forward, giving substance to something that wasn’t there.
“I don’t believe my eyes. It’s been here the entire time.” I looked at the amulet and felt the magic coming off of it. I felt dizzy and lost my equilibrium; the room was spinning out of control. I heard the professor’s voice, but it was like trying to hear it through a wind tunnel.
“I’m sorry but it’s the only way. I know they have become a part of you, and I wouldn’t dream of taking them away without good reason. I need you to know that what you’re going through is withdrawal. It’s only going to get worse over time and the pain will be excruciating. I saw what happens when someone loses magic eyes. Your father didn’t want to talk about it, but he lost it and you found it.”
It was no wonder that my father had been a shell of what he once was. If I felt this way, then I could only imagine what he had gone through all of these years. Finding it was a revelation and losing it was like having your guts pulled out with brute force.
“You won’t have any power in there. There’s nothing to prevent you from getting lost with Damien. I’m trusting you know what you’re doing. In your absence, I will talk to the others and bring forth an assembly with the students. Hopefully, by the time you return, the army you are looking for will be ready for you. I wouldn’t want to wish this on my worst enemy. Your courage in the face of overwhelming odds is an example to all.” He turned abruptly with what looked like a stick and placed it in the center of my forehead. I felt like I was falling and there was nothing to grasp. The images of my life up to this point scattered in the air with memories escaping me.
I landed on what looked like a chess board with living pieces. I landed where the queen would be the strongest of them all. The black king standing tall across the other side of the board was dressed to go to war. His face was covered by a shield of armor. He didn’t make any moves, but I could hear him breathing from where I was standing. He finally revealed himself to be Jasper. I was stunned momentarily, but I was going to have to act.
I thought about William and I reached down deep to find something that was missing. I looked at what I was wearing and it was some kind of ceremonial robe covered in jewels. It would be a sought after commodity by any collector.
Jasper stepped forward with his hand up to get my attention. He had it.
“I’m the hunter, and you are too late. Coming here was foolish when you don’t even know how to play the game. Damien will remain a pawn for as long as I deem it necessary. You may hold the queen’s position, but that’s not going to stop me from decimating your force.” He made a motion with his gloved hand and the pieces began to move. “I know how this works and that gives me the upper hand. The Elders will be pleased to have you off the board. I live to serve, but here I am the master.” His voice rang out with an echo. Everyone who stood by him was cold and calculating.
Jasper’s promise to decimate my force was not made in jest. My pawns fell quickly, leaving me exposed and with only those willing to throw themselves on their swords to protect me. Damien was there and not there at the same time. His body was present, but his mind was a blank slate. He was moving around like somebody was pulling his strings. There was one person in the corner reluctant to do anything.
“It looks like there might be dissension in the ranks. Are you sure they will follow you without question? I see at least one who doesn’t jump when he’s told.” I was trying to make inroads.
The rules were something I was familiar with. This game was made in the image of our creators. There were many depictions, but nobody really knew how we came into existence. It was mostly guesswork meant to supply answers to questions that we didn’t even know we had.
“You worry about yours and I’ll worry about mine. I have no problem sacrificing one of my own. A leader has to be ready to put people in danger for the sake of the mission. The one you refer to will be punished for disobedience.” The scream that ensued was not meant for anybody squeamish.
The man in the corner fell to his knees with his hands up over the shroud covering his identity. I felt sorry for him, but grateful he was willing to walk away from a fight.
“An army is only as strong as the weakest link. I do believe your weakest link is keeping you occupied long enough for my forces to converge on your queen.” They moved quickly and efficiency. They were slashing the adversary standing in front of them. Some did fall, but others remained hopeful. I had to believe I was responsible for their strength against an enemy who thought it was superior in every way.
“His suffering will be internal if I have anything to say about it. You have come here on a fool’s errand and one that you will pay for with your life. The hunter comes after his prey without mercy. Death is your reward for interfering in my business. You think you know me, but you don’t. They will never allow you to pull back the darkness to see the light. You have nothing but your wits and that’s barely enough to stand there and fight to the finish.” He showed me his power by making wings sprout from his pawns. They took flight and swarmed down until my loyal soldiers were breathing no more. Their heads had been severed from their bodies
Fire spewed from their mouths with them screaming the entire time. I was at a loss for words unable to string two sentences together. He was right, and I was dead wrong. Two more soldiers burned to a crisp with the ones responsible howling an intense burn from their throats.
“This isn’t going according to my plan. I’m not through until every player is off the board.” The only ones in his line of sight were me and the king. He remained motionless beside me. “What you don’t realize is that death does not scare me. I don’t seek it out, but I’m not going to run away from it either.” He was looking at me with his eyes burning bright hot white.
“I would be impressed had you had any chance of winning. This life is over for you and leaving here is never going to happen. You have only yourself to blame for coming here without doing your due diligence. You should have conformed to military thinking. You don’t even have magic eyes, which make killing you less than satisfying. I have played with you long enough. I was curious to see what you were going to do, but it doesn’t look like I have anything to worry about.” He was hungry for the kill and was staring at me, his eyes never leaving me.
“I see one problem with threatening my life. You’re all the way over there and I’m all the way over here. It’s not like I can fight back with any kind of power. Why do you hesitate when I couldn’t be more insignificant than an insect on the bottom of your shoe? I’m not ready to die, but I will for the right reasons.” I was standing strong, but my entire body was shaking on the inside.
“You’re either foolish or you have no idea of what you’re up against. It doesn’t matter; I’m through playing this game. I was hoping for competition, but you have been a mild amusement at best. I know the school has the magic eyes, and there’s no place to hide them from me. I will have what is mine and nobody will stand in my way without feeling my wrath.” He came forward wielding a flaming ax aiming to take off my head.
Chapter Nineteen
I found myself looking at him intensely and not moving from where I was standing. That flaming ax was gleaming with brightly burning fire around the blade. He was getting closer with each breath he took on the battlefield.
I had no plan, and there was no protecting me from what he was obviously wielding with expertise. He swung the ax, cutting down the king in front of me so that we were standing toe to toe.
“Do you have any last words?” I wasn’t expecting Jasper to say that, but it did open up a moment to gloat a little.
“Damien is gone.” Those three words froze him in place as he looked around to see Damien was indeed off the board. “You were too engrossed in me to notice how I maneuvered my players on the board. I found it easy to keep your attention. They surrounded him and drew him back to where he was safe.” He looked stunned, but that wasn’t going to remain for very long without him doing something about taking his prize possession.
“It’s… It’s… It’s not possible. You don’t have any power. Magic was stripped away from you. This has to be some kind of trick. There’s no way you could do this as a mere mortal.” I had him looking around and I was using that time constructively. I just needed a little more time before he decided I wasn’t worth the effort.
“I don’t have any power. I used my god given intellect to lure you into a trap. I didn’t know coming here that I was going to find you, but it doesn’t surprise me. You’ve been a topic of conversation amongst the magic community for a few months. It didn’t take me long to figure out you were responsible for what happened to Damien. Like I said, I don’t have any power, but I recognize it when I see it.” I had him thinking and not paying attention, which was what I needed at the moment.
“What do you mean by that? Who do you think you are to come in here and take away my child? I’m the creator, and Damien will be the first of many to follow in my footsteps. They will all be reborn in my image, and made to embrace the dark side. I’m going to make you pay in unimaginable ways for taking him away from his destiny. The pain you’re going to go through will tear your mind apart from its source.” He was bragging about his power, puffing out his chest, which kept him from getting rid of me.
“It must kill you inside not to know my secret. There’s nothing hard about it and you pretty much left yourself open. I don’t know if you’re ready to know the truth. You seem a little fired up, so maybe it’s best I keep the secret to myself.” His curiosity was going to make it easy to keep him from killing me outright.
“You are a troublemaker and deserve to die by my hand.” He brought the heated blade up to my throat and I showed I could stand up to just about anything. I could feel my skin sizzling. It was painful, but it was nothing compared to the expression on his face.
“Go ahead if that is what you really want to do. I would think it would be more important to know how I was able to get Damien from your grasp. If I were you, I would want to know in case it were to happen again. You could take precautions and make sure all your bases are covered.” I was cringing, and the pain was intolerable, but I was not going to give him the satisfaction of screaming in pain.
His nostrils were flaring, and I still didn’t know who was underneath the armor. I had a feeling I was going to find out, but it wasn’t going to be right now.
He took the blade away from my throat letting me breathe a sigh of relief, which I’m sure didn’t go unnoticed. He stood there thinking about what to do. I knew he would never rest without knowing.
“I hate myself for asking, but how did you do it? I’ve been racking my brain and I just can’t figure it out for the life of me. In here, I’m the one who makes people dance. Here, I make the rules and they follow without question. The one that caused me doubt was dealt with harshly. He will know the next time not to mess with my power. Tell me everything; you’re not leaving until I find out.” He was going to kill me anyway and keeping him centered on me was the only thing preventing my immediate death.
“I want you to look around at what you made here. This is a prison, but what you didn’t account for was the power of magic. It is always within us, and all we need is somebody to come along to fan the flame. I didn’t have to do a damn thing other than bring this with me.” With a little sleight of hand, I was able to bring with me the amulet.
“That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t feel anything fro
m the amulet to warrant having the power to take Damien from this place. You’re stalling for time and it’s not going to work.” He raised the ax and the fire exploded and consumed the blade.
I wagged my finger back and forth with a smile on my face. He seemed genuinely surprised by my reaction. “I haven’t told you the best part. You really are impatient. I would suggest you work on that. The amulet wasn’t for me. I certainly couldn’t get anything from it, but those with magic could be given a jumpstart. You look confused. Is it necessary for me to give you a blow-by-blow description? I took a chance and it paid off. The amulet doesn’t give me any power, but it does return what you took from others. Damien was still weak after fighting you off, but the soldiers you put on my side were given a gift.” I could see he understood, but to give him that information made it necessary for him to get rid of me in the most extreme way.
I felt like hands were pulling at me and I only had to let go, which was exactly what I was going to do. I closed my eyes with the ax swinging in my direction.
It went right through me without making a mark. It flew from his hands and my smile only infuriated him further.
I came to life on top of a table with Damien and the others putting their hands on my body. Together, they were able to use their combined force to bring me out before it was too late.
“It’s about time; you really do know how to cut it close. I could only keep him talking for so long before he was going to act. He really does have a big ego. He has every reason to believe he is stronger than one. That is where we will be the strongest. I’m not foolish enough to think I can take him on my own.” Both soldiers who had fallen in my name were weighing heavily on my conscience. I would always know how I was instrumental in their final and last breath.
Damien was wobbling and fell back to land safely in a chair. He looked white as a ghost and any energy he had to fight back was torn from him. He would need time to recharge, but I wasn’t sure time was on our side.
