Laura walked for an hour before settling into a nook at the base of a tree and falling asleep. She didn’t dream, though, and when she woke at dawn, she set off again.
The cold of the early morning bit at her skin and she shivered as she walked, rubbing her arms furiously.
She focused on her steps, one foot in front of the other, and eventually as the sun began to rise higher into the sky, she started to warm up.
Her hair was a tangled mess, hanging loose down her back, the hair tie lost somewhere along the track, and her face stung where bushes had scratched her.
She walked with her arms around her body and her head down, realising that she was now moving uphill.
At midmorning she stopped to open one of her ration packs, choosing to snack on dried biscuits and butter. She gulped down the last of her water, hoping she might stumble across another creek somewhere soon.
As she continued up hill, the weight of her bag and weapons set in, and each breath grew shorter and raspier. She tried to pace herself, but it only made her lungs weaker. Each step proved to be harder than the last.
She wasn’t the fittest, and although she had managed to keep up over the past days, the walking combined with the lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on her.
She rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred, and pushed on. She glanced up. Surely I’m nearly there. The top must be close now. But she was faced with more bush.
Her vision blurred again and she swore she could see plants floating in the air. She closed her eyes and her mind was filled with a swirl of greens and browns. Then, she collapsed.
‘What do you mean you told her to leave?!’ Shouted Stella.
Gemma didn’t flinch, ‘this,’ she gestured around her, ‘this is all her fault. We are safer without her. We’ll be better off.’
‘Gemma, this is not her fault at all! The Wicked did this! It’s not just about her. This is something much bigger than we could have ever guessed. There is a threat of war against the entire Enchanted race!’ This time Stella was gesturing around her. ‘And we are all in danger, we are all going to be affected, no matter what! Yelling at Laura, making her leave, was not going to change that.’
Leo placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder, calming her instantly.
‘How long ago did she leave?’ He asked, eyes resting on Gemma.
She shrugged, ‘it was around midnight.’
Stella lost it again, ‘MIDNIGHT?!’
Leo rubbed her back, but it didn’t have the same effect, ‘Stell, I’m sure she would have stopped to rest along the way. She hadn’t slept at all. She shouldn’t be too far. It’s only 6, if we get going now, we may catch up to her.’
Grace, Drew and Logan arrived then, the fire out and their bags packed. The second they saw Stella, they knew something was wrong.
‘Laura is gone,’ Stella said bluntly.
Their face’s paled.
‘What are we waiting for? We have to get going!’ Grace said, horrified.
‘Why would she leave?!’ Logan demanded, only to receive a glare from Gemma.
Drew was already running.
‘Drew!’ Leo shouted and the rest of them hoisted their bags onto their backs, taking off after him.
The further they ran, the slower they became as exhaustion caught up with them. Eventually they slowed to a jog. Only Drew managed to continue at a run. He was in the lead, almost too far ahead for the rest of the group to see him.
It was midmorning by the time they arrived at the mountains base. They didn’t shout for Laura. They were too afraid it would draw unwanted attention.
But they all knew there was another reason why no one bothered shouting.
They should have undoubtedly caught up to her by now.
Which only meant one thing.
The Wicked had found her.
Laura awoke to the sound of rustling leaves and chirping birds. She sat up and glanced around, exhaustion still consuming her. But the end was close, she could feel it.
Soon, she would obtain the answers she needed. Soon, she would discover clues to the Wicked’s whereabouts.
Stupidly, the idea that maybe the Lost City was their hideout hadn’t occurred to her.
The idea that the coal left out was a trap to lead her to them hadn’t occurred to her.
The danger that was right in front of her had not occurred to her. Not until she suddenly saw figures ahead, running straight for her.
That was when those thoughts arrived, growing ever present in the forefront of her mind.
She was too weak to fight, too tired, and too inexperienced. She was outnumbered ten to one.
So when two Wicked launched themselves at her, latching onto her arms, she was too shocked to react, and instead of thrashing free and running, she gave up and fell limp in their arms.
Something was forced against her mouth and nose.
Then the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Lost City
‘Drew, come on, it’s nearly dark, we need to stop for a moment.’ Gemma wined.
Everyone was tired. Even Drew’s pace had slowed. At Gemma’s request, though, he spun around, fire flaring in his eyes.
‘Stop? STOP!? If you had kept your mouth shut we wouldn’t be chasing after Laura! This is your fault,’ he stormed down the line of people, ‘this is all your fault. Stella already told you that this was not just about Laura. That this was war. In case you have forgotten, Laura saved you back at that house. And she risked herself to save me from that Goblin Caspian and I fought. She killed someone for us, and she is struggling to come to terms with that. Did you know that? She is a good person. She has just lost everything. Her last hope is to find her mother safely. I can’t imagine how alone she must feel, especially with people like you treating her so awfully. I saw the way she looked when Caspian went missing. She already blamed herself for it. She already blamed herself for all of this. But it’s not her fault. It’s the Wicked! It’s James! God Gemma, if only you could grow up and take a look around at the damage you do.’
Drew didn’t wait for a reply. He was already gone. Gemma stood there, tears stinging her eyes as she stared after Drew. The thing was, he was right. She didn’t really mean what she had said. She didn’t blame Laura. She didn’t even hate Laura. She had let her emotions, her fear, get the better of her, and in turn, she took it out on Laura. She felt stupid.
Gemma blinked back tears and stormed through the group after Drew. If she wanted to change their minds about her, then she needed to find Laura and apologise.
Grace hurried after her, comforting her, insisting that this was taking its toll on everyone.
Logan, Stella and Leo were all too exhausted to say anything.
As they reached the mountains peak, Drew turned to his companions.
Their face’s shared the same expression as his own. Fear.
For the tower before them was consumed by fire. And in that tower, was Laura.
Laura awoke with a start.
She sat upright. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she took in her surroundings.
The room was dark, save for a crack of moonlight glistening through a small barred window. There was a door to her right and a basin in the left corner. She lay on an old wooden bed, dirty sheets draped over her body.
She swung her legs over the beds edge, her head pounding at the sudden movement. The wood creaked as she stood, stretching her limbs and ensuring she had no severe injuries.
All her possessions were gone, her sword, her dagger, even her watch. Then, a thought struck her. Leaning down, she felt inside her boot. Sure enough, her hands closed around her only weapon of defence left, her pocket knife.
Straightening, she crossed the dirty floor to the window. Smoke seared her nostrils and fear flooded her thoughts.
This was the Lost City.
She was at the top of a tower at least four stories high, with no escape, and fire licked at the stone buildings side.
&n
bsp; She hurried to the door, knowing she would find it locked. She was right. She assessed her position, thinking through what she needed to do next.
If she could figure out a way to escape, then maybe she could find her mum and Caspian nearby.
There was a click and the door handle began to turn.
The familiar feeling of fear gripped her body, controlling her mind, body and soul. She was only able to stagger backwards a few steps as the door opened, revealing James.
His voice was gruff, ‘how are we, lovely?’
The group stood at the city’s edge, staring out at the crumbling stone buildings, alight with fire. Despite the heat of the flames, the fire didn’t seem to be moving anywhere.
‘Another charm to scare us,’ Logan said.
Leo reached out to stop Drew before he could take off for the tower, ‘Drew, I think we all know what has happened to Laura. We need a plan, we can’t just run in head first. Then we’ll be caught too and that won’t do anyone any good.’
Drew gave a quick nod.
‘All right. We don’t know how many people are in there, or what they are capable of, but what we do know is that they are willing to do anything to have Laura’s power. We need to find her before they get a chance to do anything to her.’
‘And how do you propose we do that?’ Gemma asked, her voice seriously.
‘I think we need to spread out through the city and work our way to the tower. They probably have guards hiding and if we all walk in together we will all be caught. But if a few of us are caught, while others are still coming into the tower from the other side, well that’s better odds.’
Stella squared her shoulders and looked her husband in the eye, ‘let’s get going. We may not have much time.’
Leo gave his wife a smile, and took her hand, squeezing it tightly, ‘okay, everyone set out in different directions. If you get caught, tell them nothing and hold on until the rest of us find you. If you find someone, get them out, okay? Be careful.’
They gave each other a quick hug, whispering words of good luck. Then, each of them set off for the tower alone.
‘What do you want?’ Laura growled.
‘What do I want? Hmm, I want a lot of things. I want to be rich. I want to be the most powerful Wizard on this planet. It’s unfortunate how hard it is to obtain those things.’
She snorted, retreating backwards until her back was pressed firmly against the wall.
‘You are too much like your mother. Too… gullible. Too easily persuaded.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Well, how do you think we got you here? All we had to do was leave out a little coal and you came straight to us.’
Laura scoffed.
He glared at her and then continued, ‘we heard your little quarrel with your friend at the camp. Of course, we never expected you to leave the rest of them, but it good luck for us that you did.’
‘You’ve been watching us?’
‘Of course I have! We decided to leave you wandering along for a while, tire you out a bit. It worked too. You gave in much too quickly, it almost wasn’t fun,’ James closed the door and took a step towards her. His eyes were stone cold as he stared down at her.
‘What about my friends? You didn’t hurt them?’
He laughed viciously, ‘who cares, they weren’t who we wanted.’
Laura was struck by hope. She didn’t allow it to show, otherwise James would surely send Wicked after them.
‘But they are your friends too. How could you do that to Estella and Leo? They looked after you! Helped you whenever you needed it. And Caspian, he was your friend!’
This time he snorted, ‘when I told the Devils about you I was promised something much more important than petty friendships.’
She was disgusted, ‘you are horrible.’
He shrugged and moved closer to her.
‘Why did you decide it was time to bring me to you?’
Now was the time for answers.
‘Because we had all we needed. Besides you, of course.’
His voice sent shivers down her spine.
‘I don’t understand.’
He sneered, ‘of course you don’t. You don’t know anything about us.’ He stepped closer to her, ‘you see, our leader has despised the Enchanted since his birth. He has craved power, has yearned to rule the entirety of this world. When he heard about you from me, well, let just say he realised that his desire would soon be fulfilled. With power like yours, he would be invincible.’
‘So you did all those experiments on innocent people?’ Laura felt sick.
‘They were weak. You were our last resort.’
‘I still don’t understand,’ Laura stammered.
James’ grinned. ‘Our leader has been locked away for a long time, only able to communicate with us through the Devils. He told us that it was time for him to rise up. For him to take up his rightful place as leader. Starting to make sense yet?’
‘The soul,’ breathed Laura.
‘Very good. But we didn’t know how to find his soul. The Devils wouldn’t relay that information for we had no payment to give in return. Your mother though, she has just about every Charm there is. We knew taking her would not only allow us to seek out the soul, but provide us with a body for the soul to possess for the time being.’
‘Wha- How? You must be on the brink of death to be possessed by a soul? And my mum isn’t.’
James was edging closer to Laura still, ‘I wasn’t talking about her.’
‘Then who?’
But she didn’t need to ask. She knew.
‘I’m not sick either.’
‘Fortunately, Cara has access to a possession Charm. The second out leader takes your body, he will wield your power.’
Laura stepped sideways along the wall. ‘But what power do I have?! Everyone keeps telling me I have power. That I am valuable. But what is my power?’
James paused, ‘that is something I cannot answer. He never relayed that information to us. All he said was he needed you for his plans.’
‘But what plans?’ begged Laura.
He laughed a wickedly evil laugh, ‘you are quite ignorant, aren’t you? My dear, he plans on raising an army of Wicked, ridding the Spirit World of the Enchanted, and taking the Human World for himself.’
Gemma’s strides were quick, her eyes flickering about, searching every part of the night for any sign of movement. The fiery tower loomed up on her right, its flames warming her skin. She slowed to a stop and peeked around the corner of an old stone house. Sure enough, a Wicked Soldier sat in the dark corner, watching the tower intently. Soundlessly, she whipped her head back and drew her sword.
This was what she had been trained to do. Defeat evil. Once again, she had the chance to prove her strength. Her courage. Her ability to not cower like she did with the Goblin, but to stand and fight. This was what she was born to do, and she was going to live up to her family name, and the fierce reputation they had earned.
She spun swiftly to face the guard. He wasn’t alert like he should have been, so his reaction was slow, sluggish.
That was all she needed.
She lunged for him, slashing his arm severely as he stumbled to his feet.
His mouth fell agape, but he swallowed back his screams. He used his uninjured hand to draw his sword and the battle began.
Gemma could have finished him off easily, but she was like a cat chasing a mouse; keen to play with its meal first. So, Gemma gave a slight hesitation that allowed him to draw the sword. As he whipped it through the air, she swung her own sword up, jarring with his and sending bolts of lightning sparking into the sky.
She loved the fierce feeling of power that overtook her whenever she fought with a sword. It made her heart leap as the blades burned silver and gold light into the sky.
Their swords clashed again, and she was able to knock the blade from his hand with the fiery power of her own.
He lacked the training
she had. Wicked didn’t live like the Enchanted and most barely made it to twenty. Only a few who grew up as Enchanted and were soon found to be Wicked had the same training she did.
Gemma kicked the Wizard’s legs out from under him, forcing him to his knees. He slumped back against the stone wall, the fight in him lost.
She held the dimming sword to his neck.
‘Do it,’ he hissed
‘With pleasure.’
She pulled back her blade and slammed it through the Wicked’s hand, pinning him to the ground.
‘Follow me, and I will kill you.’
She yanked back her sword and took off for the tower.
Despite the mercy shown, the soldier had other plans for her.
All was quiet as Logan jogged along what he assumed was once the main street. He passed by old stone houses and stores, wooden signs still hanging from their windows. The road was wide, made of gravel, and in the middle of the street was an old cracked fountain, the water having dried up long ago.
He was careful to stop at every sound he heard, movement he saw, and shift in the air.
The tower stood before him, Charmed Flames still consuming it.
The closer he drew, the heavier the soldiers grew in number. He had already fought off three, and he didn’t want to resort to killing more.
Cautiously, he edged his way along the sidewalk, keeping to the shadows. The moon was full and light flooded the streets, giving him a clear view of his surroundings without having to use his torch and risk being caught.
As he closed in on the tower, he slowed his pace. He could see Wicked Soldiers; guards, patrolling the building. He guessed more were situated throughout the houses encircling the tower, ready to catch anyone who dared to approach.
One wrong move, and not only would he be caught, but the soldiers would know that they were coming for Laura, Caspian and Cara. One wrong move, and it was all over.
He couldn’t risk it. Despite what Leo told them, they all knew deep down that if one of them was caught, all those still free would be in serious trouble.
He stopped, crouching behind a rotting barrel, peeking around it at the tower. He watched the guards carefully walk the parameter of the structure, unafraid of the flames. A few stood with guns raised, the rest held swords.
The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) Page 22
