by Kailin Gow
Shasta stopped short, her sword falling to her side. Rose looked on in horror. The Sorceress was right. Even if she was in Alistair's body, there was no way to destroy her without killing Alistair. And there was no way of getting her out.
“You can't...” Rose whispered to Shasta. “Please, you can't...”
But Shasta was undeterred. She wrestled out of Rose's grasp, raising her sword high once more. She ran towards Alistair, her teeth set, her eyes as dark and intense as his. “He's lying to us,” she said. “He's the Sorceress, he has been all along. He's had magical training, like the Sorceress has. He was the only one of us not to be affected by the Dark Forces – the only one not to have a spirit torment him! Why? Because he didn't need to – the Forces already had him! That book he read – the Book of Gwenyhfar – he probably had it all along.”
“That's crazy,” Rodney cut in. “There's no way Rodney could be the Sorceress. I've known him since we were but boys. There is nobody more honorable, more devoted to the cause, in all of Feyland.”
“If he wasn't the Sorceress before,” snapped Shasta, “he is certainly is now. Whatever he was – he's the Sorceress now. Alistair's gone. Maybe he was never here. Maybe it was the book that killed him. It doesn't matter. There is no Alistair. And whatever's left – we have to kill it. Have to fulfil our duties to Feyland at last. We've wasted enough time already!” She lifted her sword high into the air.
A clang and a crash stopped her sword in mid-air. Another blade had collided with her own, holding her back. It was Rodney, drawing arms against his own love, who had stopped her. Shasta looked up in horror, her blue eyes filled with wonder and pain. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Don't stop me – let me have my revenge. Can't you see, Rodney? This is my redemption. This is how I'll bring victory back to Feyland.”
“I can't let you do this...” Rodney whispered.
“I need to!” Shasta pleaded, hot angry tears welling up in her eyes. “This is the only way for me to beat it, to get rid of this shame I have – please, Rodney.”
“No,” Rodney shook his head sadly. “Not with Alistair. We can't risk Alistair.”
Shasta looked up in shock. Rose knew that Rodney had never dared contradict Shasta before. He had always been so sure of his love for her, so sure that he would follow her wherever she went, do whatever she thought was right. He had always trusted her implicitly. But now in Rodney's eyes Shasta could see anger and disappointment – and the coldness of his refusal.
“I won't let you hurt him!” Rose chimed in. “The real Alistair is in there somewhere – we have a duty to save him, to get her out of him...”
Shasta glowered at the pair of them, shaking with anger. “Cowards!” she spat. “You're happy enough to share in the glory, but when the time comes to be brave, to do what's necessary to save Feyland, you two...” She gasped, choking on her words.
Laughter, loud and chilling, erupted from Alistair's lips. “How interesting!” He said. “How little time it takes for you two charming lovebirds to be reaching at one another's throats. I should have known that your love was always a childish illusion – that deep down you two were never meant to be.”
Shasta and Rodney looked at each other, horrified and unnerved by Alistair's words.
“And you too, Rose,” Alistair turned to Rose, and she felt his cold, lizard-like eyes burning through her flesh. “Finally you see. Finally you understand!”
“Understand what?” Rose tried not to sound as frightened as she felt. “What are you talking about?”
“Finally you realize how much your first love means to you. Perhaps he is your true love after all. Just as I always suspected. Your heart already belongs to another.”
To Rose's surprise, it was Logan who stepped forth, his hand firm on his sword, anger in his eyes. Was Logan too, like Shasta, willing to destroy his friend if it meant the saving of the Twin Suns?
Alistair stared at Rose, his once-lovely face still and placid, only the rippling movement of a sneer disturbing his serene expression. “I know you care for me, Rose. But how much? What would you be willing to do to prove it?”
“I care for you!” Rose cried. “You know I do, Alistair. You have to listen to me – you can't listen to her...you have to break free!”
“Would you be willing to, say, jump off that mountain there, the way Breena did for her love. No magic interference to save you, Rose – would you be willing to jump off the mountain and down into the crater at its very pit where the suns meet the ground? Your paltry wings wouldn't survive such a drop – not even the Royal Wings of the Fairy King himself could do it! But if you love him, you would do it. Do you love him that much, Rose?” The Sorceress clearly was talking now. Alistair had cease to be.
Rose stood still in shock and horror. She felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew rationally that this thing speaking to her, asking her to die, wasn't Alistair at all – Alistair would never... - and yet she could not burn the image of his face, so cruel and cold, from her brain.
She shook her head, willing away the tears.
“Of course,” said Alistair. “For you love another, do you not?”
Rose turned red but said nothing.
“I will make you a bargain,” said Alistair. “I will release this hold I have on your alchemist love. But only if you do as Breena did. You want to be like Breena, don't you?” The voice was soft, soothing, terrible. “Just like Breena.” Alistair's eyes fell significantly upon Logan, and Rose blushed harder. “Well, now you can be. Now you can make your choice. Your life for Alistair's. And then you can be like the girl whose life you long for – in death, if not as in life.”
Rose started. How could the Sorceress know thoughts she had hidden away so deeply – her feelings for Logan, her pain at being unable to reach him. How Rose longed to do what Breena had done, to stake her whole life on true love...but as she looked at Logan she sighed. That was only a dream – a dream that would never become reality.
Only Alistair remained before her – a boy who had loved her, taught her magic when she was a child of thirteen – a boy to whom she owed her life. Could she refuse him now?
“Rose,” a low voice was at Rose's side. It was Logan, his eyes full of kindness and warmth. “Be strong, Rose. You have to be strong.”
Rose's lip began to quiver. “But what do I do?” She looked up at Logan with pleading eyes.
But Logan could not give her the answer she sought. “The choice is yours,” said Logan, taking her hand. “I don't want to lose you, Rose. But I can't stop you, either. You are a hero, Rose – you will do what you must do. I cannot make that choice for you!”
But you can! Rose bit her lip to avoid speaking. How could Logan be so blind – not to know that one word from him, one sign of affection, one pressing of his lips against her, would be enough to send her world spinning? How could he not realize that every day, her love for him grew stronger?
“A-hem!” Alistair stepped forth. “I hate to interrupt this special moment – but Rose, it is time for you to make your choice.”
Chapter 17
Rose stepped forward to look at Alistair. Even beneath the mask of cruelty he wore under the Sorceress's influence, he radiated with fey beauty, his long blonde hair flowing gently in the wind, his chin proud and stubborn, his straight noble nose leading up to eyes that had always been light blue until now – was this the man she loved? As she felt Logan's presence, his body against hers, she felt the surety of another love rise up in her. She knew it was an impossible love – Logan's heart belonged to Breena and Breena alone – and yet she could not deny its force on her. How could she sacrifice herself to save Alistair when she was so unsure?
“Hold on, there,” Rose sad. “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know that you'll go through with your bargain? How do I know that I won't die and you'll still keep Alistair's body?” She stared down the Sorceress as bravely as she could. Looking into Alistair's eyes, so contorted by the power of this evil, made
her feel sick. He was still so beautiful, even as he was possessed by so much darkness.
“You don't,” said Alistair, shaking his head. His expression was grave, but smug. The Sorceress clearly thought she had won. “But if you ever want to see your love again...”
“I won't do it,” said Rose. “I'm not taking any stupid risks. I won't go through with it unless I know for sure.” Her voice was firm.
“Clever child,” Alistair's voice was smooth and caressing. “You know not which one is your true love, so I see that you've chosen to hold back. But what of it? You are still in the same place you were at before, aren't you? Alistair is still possessed, and if you ever want to see him again...”
The Sorceress stopped suddenly, her voice falling silent. Alistair had begun to twitch and move, his eyes blinking wildly, his limbs jerking about spasmodically.
Suddenly his eyes were blue again, just for a moment, and his voice was his own. “I won't!” His voice was deep, urgent. “I won't let Rose die for me. Don't do it, Rose! I'd rather die!”
“Alistair!” Something in his voice, in the passion so clear in his face, awakened the love that lay so deep in Rose. She rushed to him, her heart beating faster and faster. How had she been so stupid as to doubt her love for him? Here he was – strong enough to defeat the Sorceress's power, even for a moment, strong enough to rage against her possession, to offer up his life for hers when even Rose had not been able to do the same for him. He loved her, Rose knew, loved her as she knew Logan never would, with the firm and devoted possession for which she so longed.
She had to save him.
“Fight the Sorceress,” Alistair was twitching and seizing up again as the Sorceress's powers took hold, his eyes darkening once more. “Use the book.”
Rose grabbed the Book of Gwenhyfar, flipping through it for anything pertaining to possession. She remembered a paragraph she had read earlier that day, a paragraph that had meant nothing to her before, but meant everything now. To Free the Sorceress from her Mortal Host...
First, there must be light...light to chase out the darkness. “Hurry,” Rose cried to the others. “We need there to be light – we can save him. But we have to make some light.”
“Our magic's almost depleted,” cried Shasta.
“It doesn't matter,” Rodney took her hand, staring at her with a look of desperate love. We have to try!”
“Remember what defeated the Dark Hordes?” Rose looked up. “It was the combination of Winter and Summer magic. Well, that's what we need now. Rodney and Shasta – hold hands around Alistair. Don't let him escape.”
Rodney and Shasta looked up at each other warily, and Rose could see that they were still hurt from their quarrel.
“No time for that!” she insisted. “You two love each other – fights or not – use that.”
With a nod, Rodney and Shasta joined hands. Logan drew his sword, his expression bleak. “If it doesn't work,” he said darkly to Rose. If it didn't work. Then they would have no choice. Logan would have to do his duty and protect them all – by slitting his friend's throat.
“I'll read out the spell,” Rose's voice was shaking as she looked at the Book. It had great power, she knew – but she would harness it. She would make its power her own. She no longer feared the book – she felt within herself that she could control it. As Shasta and Rodney linked arms, Rose could feel a single heartbeat pulsing through them all as their fear and their love for Alistair united into a single, throbbing force. “I'm not going to let you down, Alistair,” Rose whispered. “I'm going to save you, just hold on!”
Alistair's eyes momentarily became blue again; he began to shake and bend over in pain. “Rose!” He looked up at her, his gaze full of pure and simple love. How she wished that she could respond to this love – throw herself as wholeheartedly into this feeling as Alistair had done! If she had been more like Breena, if she had been able to tumble off the cliff as Breena had done...but no, Rose couldn't think of that now. She had to focus on getting Alistair out of there alive.
Alistair twitched and jerked once more, and then he was the Sorceress again. “Fools!” he yelled. “You think you can defeat me! I promise you, you have not even begun to see my power. You have no hold over me.”
“Fight it, Alistair,” Rose was whispering. “Fight it.”
Rodney and Shasta linked hands around Alistair, surrounding him so that he could not escape them. “We need to focus on making the light,” Rose said. “The book says we have to create light strong enough to banish the Sorceress from our midst. We have to trust each other.”
“But our magic...”
“It's going to have to last us,” Rose said. “Remember what the Summer King said, we're all in this together. We have to hold onto that. We have to focus on the love we have for each other. The love you two have for each other.”
“Love?” The Sorceress shrieked at them. “You genuinely believe love will solve your problems? Paltry fools – you can't trust one another. Rodney, you know Shasta will leave you one day....and Rose, you know that the one you love will never, ever return...”
“You be quiet!” Rose shouted. She quieted the anger within her. She had to focus on love right now, not hatred. She closed her eyes and began reciting. Shasta and Rodney squeezed hands, sending a pulse of energy – Summer gold and Winter blue – around the circle. “We are the bearers of the Light,” Rose recited from memory the words of the book. “We cast out the darkness. We hold the magic of fey fire.”
“We are the bearers of the light,” the others repeated. “We cast out the darkness. We hold the magic of fey fire.”
A slow blue-and-gold flame began to glimmer all around them, the combination of the colors of Summer and Winter.
“Fools!” the Sorceress was getting louder now. “You'll never banish me! I'll be among you, always.”
But the flame grew brighter and brighter, as Rose squeezed her eyes shut tight, feeling the energy pulsing around the circle. Her love for her brother, her love for Logan, her love for Alistair and Shasta all melded together with her love of Feyland – a single passionate and directionless emotion that engulfed her, engulfed them all. They had to be heroes, now – there was no time for fighting, no time for dissent. They had to trust one another. Shasta and Rodney were holding each other's hands tighter now, as if in apology for their fight. Logan was holding on tight to Rose.
And the flame grew brighter still.
“We hold the magic of fey fire!” they repeated. “We hold the magic frost fire!” The flame was burning bonfire-bright, now, and Alistair began to twitch and jerk, screaming in two voices at once – his own voice melding with the voice of the Sorceress.
“I will never leave you!” It was the Sorceress's voice.
But the light was shining now, all around them, so bright it could be seen for miles. So bright that even the denizens of the Winter Court would be able to see it and they would, Rose knew, begin to feel the first glimmer of hope they'd felt in weeks. The heroes of Feyland were winning their first battle.
With a scream, Alistair collapsed onto the ground. Rose ran over to him, breaking the chain, and the light vanished. She peered into his face, breathing a sigh of relief.
“His eyes are blue again!” she exclaimed aloud. “They're blue!” She gathered Alistair into her arms, hugging him tight. “He's back! He's back...” She couldn't stop herself from laughing joyously, pouring out all of her relief into their embrace
To her surprise, Alistair pulled her into him, pushing her onto the ground and planting a passionate, spontaneous kiss upon her lips. She made a small sound of surprise, but did not pull away as he found her lips with his, kissing her with all of his pent-up love and desire. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Logan staring at them, a curious and grim expression upon his face.
Rodney and Shasta laughed and cheered as the two broke apart. Rose's heart was beating faster than ever – a mixture of joy and confusion. She was so glad that Alistair was back, that he
was safe – but although his kiss flooded her with warmth and desire, something was missing. Something she could understand only out of the corner of her eye.
They rose, and to Rose's surprise Logan's hand was on his sword. “Wait!” he said harshly – so harshly that Rose flinched. “How do we know he's really turned back?” His sword was at Alistair's proof. “If you are the Sorceress still, I swear I...” He stared deep into Alistair's eyes, but Alistair returned the gaze, his blue eyes barely blinking.
“Don't worry,” Alistair said. “I know you're just doing your duty.” He patted Logan on the shoulder. “But worry not. You won't be called upon to kill your friend in Feyland's name today. It's me – the Sorceress is gone.”
Logan nodded, his face expressionless. He had, Rose thought, the hard nobility of the Fey at that moment – indeed, he had never looked so un-wolfish, so like a Fey, as now, as he swallowed down his passion and followed the call of his duty, willing to kill Alistair rather than see him possessed by the Sorceress once more.
