Golden Apple, The

by Diener, Michelle

  Blue light hit him, sent him flying through the air. He slammed into the wall at the far end of the hallway, and lay, crumpled, paralyzed, the world shrinking around him, with darkness framing his vision.

  He heard Eric walking to him, the footsteps faint, as if coming from far away. He could not move, could only watch Eric’s black boots come closer and closer. Watch, helpless, as his foot drew back and slammed into his face.

  Chapter Thirty

  Sooty would not go through the wild magic sphere, and Kayla stepped through without her. The cold of the stone stairwell enveloped her, a shock after the steamy heat of the forest.

  Sooty leant forward, as if looking into a fishpond, and tapped at the sphere with her massive paw. It dipped through the shimmering light into the stairwell, and with a chirp, Sooty pulled it back. Her whole body shivered.

  Kayla crouched low, looking up the stairs to make sure no-one was coming, and then crept round the curve on the wall and peered around it to see what was beyond.

  Last time, it had been unlit, but it wasn’t dark anymore.

  Light flickered from torches along both walls, and Kayla realized how massive the chamber was.

  Something hung, strung up by its arms, head bowed, much as Soren had been, to her left, quite close, and she leant forward, trying to get a better look.

  It was dark purple, tall, and painfully thin. Its back was to her, and she could see burn marks across its shoulders.

  There was a clink of metal, and with a start, Kayla noticed Eric, standing with a grey-green giant, at the far end of the room.

  They were wrapping chains around something—someone—and Kayla risked rising up a little, straining to see who it was…

  Rane.

  Her heart seized in her chest, the pain forcing her to press a fist into her ribs.

  She began forward then stopped short. Where was Soren? He’d been right behind her. A mix of panic and anger rose up in her, choked her, as she realized he hadn’t come through.

  She edged back to the stairwell to see if she would really have to do this alone.

  As she rounded the corner, Sooty jumped through, crouching as low as Kayla on the icy stone floor.

  Wherever they were, it stood to reason they were not in the Great Forest. Eric had seemed genuinely afraid of it, back at Gaynor Castle. So it followed there would be no wild magic to draw on here.

  She peered out of the oval, to the forest beyond, and tried to draw power to her through the portal. It came reluctantly, she could feel the resistance as it passed through the shimmering purple light. Her hands sparked, but she was getting a sense now of how much power she had available at any one time, and she knew she couldn’t do much with what was coming through to her.

  There was a groan from the room beyond, a half-conscious sound, and she crept back to look, still pulling all the power she could.

  Eric had stepped back from the table, and the massive giant was pulling on a chain she hadn’t noticed, levering Rane up. His eyes were closed and his face swollen, his eyes puffy and black. He hung from the ceiling like a rag doll.

  Rage, pure and elemental, ran through her in a scorching wildfire, and she heard the air crackle as wild magic flickered and writhed from the forest through the sphere to her.

  It formed a small ball just above her shoulder, spinning fast as her anger.

  More. She needed as much as she could get.

  She glanced back at the sphere, and saw with a little dip in her stomach that it was shrinking. Her window was using itself up. And pulling wild magic through it seemed to drain its energy even faster.

  She looked for a way to get closer that would shield her from Eric’s view, and as she braced herself, ready to go, someone dropped down behind her.

  Soren.

  He puffed out a misty breath in the icy stairwell. Held up a stick, thick as her forearm and almost as tall as she was, to explain his delay. A weapon.

  At the back of the chamber, Rane let out a cry, and a rope of fear twisted through her. Eric held his staff in his right hand, a concentrated beam of blue light coming from the tip. Smoke rose up, and the acrid smell of burning cotton wafted across to her. Eric was burning Rane’s back through his shirt.

  The creature hanging in tandem with Rane lifted a weary head, and cried back in sympathy. The sound should have been pitiful, but instead was courageous, heart-wrenching.

  Rane raised his head to acknowledge it. His eyes glittered in the torchlight.

  She couldn’t wait a moment longer.

  She stood, lifted her hands, and yanked Eric’s staff from his hands, her fear and panic sending it straight up to the ceiling, where it hit the rock with smack and then fell back down.

  Soren took advantage of the distraction and ran along the wall, his stick raised.

  A shudder rippled through her as she concentrated on the chains that held Rane and his fellow prisoner, and light flashed, cutting through the iron.

  They both dropped.

  Neither was expecting it, and they landed hard. Rane rolled off the table, but the creature lay where it was, too exhausted, in too much pain, to move.

  “Help it,” Kayla murmured to Sooty. Then she took a bold step forward.

  Eric was staring at his empty hands in shock, then lunged for where his staff had landed on the ground. “It’s cracked!”

  The giant beside him pointed to her, then dived to grab Rane, hauled him up and held him tight.

  “You!” Eric flinched, as if she’d struck him. “You were here all along. I knew you had to be.”

  Kayla ignored him, her attention on Rane.

  He stopped struggling against the giant and lifted his head.

  She stood for a beat, and then another, heart pounding as she looked into his eyes. At the absolute desolation there.

  She felt a snap as her connection to wild magic was cut off. She spun, and watched the sphere wink out into nothing.

  Their escape route had disappeared.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Eric strode towards her, and she held out a hand to stop him, her fingers sparking.

  The ball of wild magic at her shoulder spun so fast, it was a blur. Bringing it through had cut off their escape hatch, and she had the sinking feeling this was not enough. Not enough at all.

  “How did you bring that in here?” Eric did stop, his gaze fixed on the sphere.

  “It comes when I call.” She wriggled her fingers, the purple green light at their tips shimmering.

  “Wild magic doesn’t answer to commands.” There was a hitch in his voice, the first sign of uncertainty he’d shown.

  Kayla ignored him, looked at the giant crushing Rane against its chest. She could see Rane struggling for breath, and she drew herself straighter, to do something—

  Soren sprang from the shadows, so suddenly, so silently, she jumped in shock.

  She’d forgotten about him, about his stealthy movement along the cave wall. They all had.

  He brought his stick down on the giant’s head, and it grunted, but didn’t flinch. It turned its head to him, and he struck again, this time across its face.

  A drop of blood, bright red against the green skin, trickled down the corner of its mouth.

  It lifted Rane up and tossed him on the table. Lunged after Soren.

  He leapt backward, stick striking out again. The giant advanced, unhurried.

  Kayla swung her gaze back to the table, to Rane.

  He was gone.

  She looked for him in the shadows, and then she saw the gleam of blue. His blade.

  The giant slammed a fist into Soren, and with a shout, he hit the wall and slid down it.

  Eric did not move, did not look back. He ignored the fight behind him as if the result was a foregone conclusion. His gaze didn’t waver from the wild magic sphere spinning at her shoulder.

  The giant reached for Soren again and Rane struck. He brought the blade down from behind it, slicing into its back, and it bellowed, the sound a vibration that
hurt her teeth.

  With a wild flick of its arm, moving faster than seemed possible for something so large, the giant knocked Rane back. He landed on his back on the floor, and Kayla winced.

  The giant turned from Soren, clutching at its wound awkwardly with one hand, the other making a fist, a hammer, to pound Rane into pieces.

  Its fist went up, and Rane tried to move, to scramble away, but there was no way he could.

  Like before with the asrai, panic and fear made Kayla draw more wild magic than she needed. It flashed through her, searing and alive, and the purple light that hit the giant was concentrated. Powerful. For a moment she was blind and deaf to everything, consumed by the light.

  The giant stopped mid-swing, frozen. It toppled sideways, crashing into the table, smashing it as it went down. Its arm caught in the chains used to hang Rane and it landed with its torso raised off the ground, swinging wildly.

  Blind-eyed. Dead.

  Her hand went to her mouth, blood pounding in her ears. What was left of the ball of wild magic drifted forward. It was no bigger than her head.

  She looked up and saw that Eric had at last turned to see what was behind him. He spun back to her, his face frozen in shock at what she’d done. He shook himself free of his stupor, and a light came in his eyes. Cunning and openly hungry. It snapped her back to herself.

  “I thought I’d have an earth magic witch to command, but this is better. Much, much better.”

  * * *

  Rane stared at his brother. Somehow free, somehow here. Soren lay, winded and gasping on the floor, and Kayla stood, alone in the center of the room, drawing Eric’s attention from them.

  She had used up almost all her wild magic. He could see the little sphere left over spinning around her, a planet to her sun.

  He knew now, without any doubt, he loved her. That he would die for her if he had to. Do whatever it took to get her out of here safely.

  To his right, something moved, and he saw Sooty had finally nudged the creature Kayla had freed to the wall, and it had begun to pull itself up. It was the same kind as the creature Rane had met by the river, and he winced as he caught a glimpse of its ravaged back.

  His own stung, a throbbing, burning pain, as if Eric was still at work on him. He could feel the line Eric had made as if it stood out like a ridge on his skin. Like some freakish abnormality.

  He took a step towards Soren, held out his hand, and his brother grasped it, his hold stronger than Rane would have guessed from the look of him.

  He was thin as a walking skeleton, his face haggard. He had a beard, and it made him look a stranger.

  His eyes gave nothing away.

  There was no time for talking. Rane turned back to Eric and Kayla, and pressed the dragon on the hilt of his knife again.

  It was time to kill the sorcerer.

  Eric seemed to sense his intent, because he moved, standing sideways so he could keep an eye on Kayla and Rane at the same time.

  “You lied about my princess, I’m assuming you lied about my gem, too.”

  “Strapped to my back.” Rane smiled. He reached his hand back, and felt…nothing. The gem was gone. He patted his shirt, keeping his smile confident for Eric. It must have slipped out when the stone giant had flicked him backwards.

  “Good. Then I have the two things I want from you, De’Villier. I don’t need you any more.”

  “Lift the enchantment, then.” It was his one fear. That he’d kill the bastard and still be stuck with his twisted torture-spell.

  Eric shrugged. “I lifted it already. Didn’t you feel it as you came into the castle?”

  Rane laughed. “Someone was kicking my head in. I didn’t notice much else.”

  He saw Kayla tighten her fists. She kept her voice calm. “It’s not like you to play fair, Eric.”

  His lips twisted in a sneer. “I couldn’t have the enchantment active while I…dealt with De’Villier. It would have interfered with the other things I wanted to do.”

  “Lucky me.”

  Kayla frowned, her eyes going to the shadows behind Eric, and Rane remembered Soren.

  Where was the idiot?

  He attacked out of the gloom silently, swinging the thick stick at Eric, managing a glancing blow to his shoulder as the sorcerer leapt aside. There was a crack, wood hitting bone, and Eric cried out.

  Not such an idiot.

  Soren lifted back his stick to strike another blow at Eric’s head. Eric lashed back, and Soren grunted as the sorcerer’s staff tip caught him in the gut.

  Rane circled the fight, knife out, his focus on Eric complete.

  Eric moved, turning, keeping them both in view. He raised his staff, its tip glowing blue, but there was a long, thin crack in the wood that started at the top and ran down a third of its length. Blue light leaked from it, hemorrhaging power.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Kayla thrust her hands out.

  Purple light flashed against blue, and Rane decided they were fighting for control over Eric’s staff. He was clutching it, his face contorted with effort.

  Rane circled the other way, to get behind the sorcerer and stab him in the back. Or cut his throat.

  As he moved, something flashed on the floor in the light Kayla and Eric were generating.

  The gem.

  Both Kayla and Eric turned to look at it.

  Eric did something, shoved Kayla back a few steps, and dived for it.

  The bastard was going to get his hands on it, after all.

  * * *

  Kayla regained her balance from the magical shove Eric had given her, hands out and heart seizing in her chest at the thought of what would happen when Eric touched the gem.

  But Soren must have seen it as well, seen Eric’s wild lunge, because he dived for it, too.

  “Soren! No!” He was going to sacrifice himself again.

  He ignored her, or didn’t hear her.

  To one side, Rane bellowed a warning as Eric and Soren hit the floor together, hands out, and she ran to him. Best to be close.

  Maybe Eric would get it first. Maybe…

  The gem-light flared.

  She threw her hands out, built a barrier of wild magic from where she stood beside Rane across the height and breadth of the dungeon.

  Sooty was behind her.

  Please, let Sooty still be behind her.

  The gem pulsed a moment, and she could see Soren and Eric clearly silhouetted. Then it stopped, as abruptly as it had begun, and Kayla shuddered as the last of the wild magic coursed through her and cut off. Used up.

  Eric was crouched low, a blue sheen of magic covering him like a turtle shell, his staff flashing strangely in his hands.

  The gem winked in the torchlight where Soren had dropped it.

  But Soren wasn’t there any more.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  The gem light shut off, and Kayla’s wall collapsed.

  Rane saw the last of her wild magic disappear, saw her flinch as it shrank to a minute point and wink out. Kayla had nothing left to use.

  He turned back to where Soren had been, staring at the spot. The gem lay on the floor, glittering, deadly, and beside it, lay Soren’s stick.

  His brother was gone.

  After everything, his brother was gone.

  Eric moved, just to the side of him, pulling himself to his feet.

  Rane felt as if the grindylow from the fog had slashed him open with its putrid claws. He looked across at Eric, and their eyes met.

  Eric recoiled, stumbling back.

  Rane felt strangely short of breath, strangely light-headed. He brought his knife up, felt a warm rush of satisfaction as Eric’s gaze went to the blue glitter of the blade. He could hear nothing but a pounding in his ears, and his vision narrowed, darkening at the edges.

  A scream, wild, feral, came from the stairs, and it was as if his earlier thought of the grindylow had conjured it up. It exploded into the room. Something had happened when he’d killed its mate. He must have snapped the con
trol Eric had had over it.

  And now he wished he hadn’t because it went for the closest target.

  Kayla.

  Sooty charged forward, hissing, her back up, but there was no chance she could stop it, it was almost on Kayla—

  It shrieked, arching its back, writhing in place. Rane felt white-hot pain along the line Eric had made in his back earlier, and from its place against the wall, the purple creature let out a thin, exhausted cry.

  Rane had seen its back, and knew with a crushing certainty its pain was a hundred times worse than his own.

  Rane forced his head right, towards Eric, and saw the sorcerer’s staff glowed blue again. He was working a spell.

  This was how he controlled his minions.

  He imbedded something in their backs, and when he wanted to, he could bring them to their knees.

  As Rane thought it, the grindylow did sink to its knees, keening, and then curled up on the floor, beyond sound.

  Rane only had one welt across his own back, and still his knees dipped. He fought against it, fought to stand upright. He welcomed the pain, hoped Eric kept it up, ramped the agony up another notch. Because while he did, Kayla was safe.

  He started walking to the grindylow, one foot-dragging step at a time. Sweat beaded on his forehead, on his upper lip, and he lifted an unsteady hand to wipe it away.

  “Rane?” Kayla’s call was soft, and even though he didn’t think it wise, he looked at her, met her gaze.

  She flinched at what she saw there. And he wondered whether it was his hatred of Eric or his pain that affected her.

  Then he knew.

  She turned to Eric with such rage, such focus, if there had been even the tiniest trace of wild magic in the air, Eric would have felt it.

  She moved fast, scooping down to grab up Soren’s stick, and he saw what she was going to do.