Inked (The Ink Keepers Book 1)

by N. I. Rojas

  “Sirina!” -Mackenzie called, exited. He walked a few steps towards the light. - “You’re alive!”

  “Oh, Mack! You came just in time. My father must be so worried now. Come to me, Mack! Save me!” -Sirina’s tone of voice changed from heaven to hell. Now her melodic notes were so painful, so desperate, as if she really was living punishment during the time Mackenzie was away. - “I told you not to leave. Something bad is happening!”

  Rouge urged them to cover their ears, but Kyra really wanted to hear the conversation between these two. Rouge recommended them to jump into the pit. It was better dying that way than to a mermaid’s angry song, but Kyra told them to wait. She wasn’t leaving Mackenzie with the mermaid.

  “Where are you, Sirina? How can I save you? Tell me a clue!” -Mackenzie said, his words bouncing through the tunnel.

  “A hide-and-seek game! How much you love games, Mackenzie! You are such a child. Let's play if you want.” -Sirina said, but Kyra warned Mackenzie that something bad was happening with his mermaid friend.

  Everything was like asleep, the waters inside the maze were silenced, when a few seconds ago they could listen the force of the current hitting nearby. Not even the wind was blowing. The birds and insects started falling from the sky, disappearing inside the pit of dancing shards. Fishes in flying bubbles stood stuck in the middle of the air, like in a single invisible whirlwind. Everything was on pause, except the evilness. Stains came closer to them, marking all but the gap at their feet. Kyra and Rouge jumped a few times, avoiding being touched by the poisoned ink spots that now rested like dense mud in every place.

  “Are you safe, Sirina?” -Mackenzie asked worried.

  “Of course, I am. If my life had really depended on you, I would be dead already.” -She answered back, displaying her true nature. She was beautiful, but empty. Her eyes shining, but lacking emotion.

  “I don’t understand… The Wizard said you were a prisoner. Where are you?” -Mackenzie asked, pacing around as the Witch he hated so much.

  “Here and there. See, now I have a way to leave the lagoon. I’m free to fly as you are. There’s nothing that can take us apart now, Mack.” -Sirina said, while appeared hovering right behind him. - “Wasn’t this what you wanted? Me to walk to the world you like so much? Now you can take me, Mack! Now I can go with you.”

  Mackenzie was speechless. Kyra walked to him, standing close, grabbing his shaking hand.

  “Don’t you dare touching him, human girl! I know why you have come.” -Sirina defied Kyra. - “You just want to kill Mackenzie, take his place and renew this world. You don’t care about him… He’s just a puppet to you, witch. I know everything about you… I know why you are here.”

  “Do you? Have you seen my father? Tell me where my he is. I just want to take him home.” -Kyra protested, retreating a few steps.

  “Only your father is what you want?” -Kyra nodded. - “And Mackenzie? You want him? And your destiny, Keeper? What about it?”

  “I’ve come just to save my father. Mackenzie can choose what he wants. I don’t care about him and his bad choices. He’s a betrayer, just like you are.” -Kyra said.

  “He loves me, you should know. I sing so deep that his tears flow unnoticed. I send him messages and make him spend his day less bored.” -Sirina gloried herself. - “I make him see things.”

  “I have read about this. I assumed long ago that you stole his shadow too, just to keep him here during all this time, meanwhile you learned to torture him with visions and blame.” -Kyra accused.

  “How can you say that? You read about this? How if you just love your dusty history books?” -Mackenzie turned at Kyra, accusing her. - “You are a library rat who lie! You deceived me with your witchcraft and your smell. You lie!” -Mackenzie yelled at Kyra with angry face. Her heart was appalled with such accusations.

  “Fairy tales are for kids like you, but someone gave me a book containing all this secrets. You’re not the only one who keeps secrets.” -She snapped.

  “Mack? Don’t listen to her.” -Sirina called him with seductive voice. - “Let’s kill the Keeper now.”

  Chapter 24: Enchanted All

  Mackenzie looked at Sirina, confused. One thing was to have fun, play some games, perform jokes a little beyond the accepted, but killing Kyra was just further than what Mackenzie had in mind.

  “No.” -He yelled back, standing in front of Kyra, shielding her with his body.

  “Don’t get closer to her, Mackenzie.” -The mermaid ordered. - “I swear you both will pay for it.”

  Mackenzie defied Sirina by holding Kyra’s hands. Everything trembled around, the floor, the walls, the pit. Kyra feared. She hadn’t gone that far just to die crushed at the exit of the maze. The walls started falling apart, a giant tridimensional puzzle breaking into pieces. Everything crumbled, the maze fell as fragile as a tower of vanilla wafers.

  “Are you afraid now?” -Sirina asked with a proud smile on her face. - “The giant doggy is coming. He’s hungry and just devouring you will satiate his hunger. As she created it, thirsty for your blood, the animal won’t stop until finishing with you.”

  Mackenzie grabbed his head with both hands. He felt so confused… so hurt… so desperate while he fell to his butt on the solid floor. Sirina was acting with cruelty, threatening his new friends, defying him. Every word was bouncing in his head and he just wanted to expel from his brain every word he had listened in the last minutes. Kyra had accused Sirina of stealing his shadow. Sirina hadn’t defended herself from the accusation as she always used to do when he accused her father of the offense. Worst was the fact that Sirina had lied to him, he had seen it. The fluorescent creatures from the water hadn’t eaten neither him nor the Lost Boys. He wanted to know what to do. He felt as small as a child, waiting for a mother to guide him, begging for solace.

  “Mackenzie… Look at me. We need to get out of here. The trail of fog leads to that pit. We must trust Incantatrix.” -Mackenzie lifted his gaze. Kyra was crouched in front of him, her fingers softly caressing his baby hands. His face confessed his fears, his pain. Diamond tears gathered in their hands. - “Unless you want to go with the mermaid… In that case, we must split ways now. You choose, but we’re jumping.”

  Standing up, Kyra looked at him for the last time. Ready to jump, she volunteered to be the first. Her heart broke more when she didn’t saw Mackenzie at her side. Kyra felt sad for the loss, as they would never be the same after this cruel distancing.

  “Well,” -She said her goodbyes to Rouge and the Lost Boys. - “See you in the other life.”

  “Or in the next chapter.” -Rouge said trying to cheer the kids up as they would coward if knowing death was a jump away. Kyra closed her eyes thinking happy thoughts. Maybe that way she could fly, just as her friend Ash always suggested. With extended hands, she prepared herself to let her body fall backwards into the unknown, when strong hands grabbed her by the waist, forcing Kyra to open her eyes, leaving behind the dreams and memories and the what if’s.

  “Don’t count on leaving me behind any time soon.” -Mackenzie trusted with a baby grin. He took an impulse to fly, then both fell straight into the pit of dancing shards. Rouge and the boys jumped right after them, valiant to yell their favorite yahoos.

  Everything twisted with an unknown magical glow. The brightness was as wonderful as the light filtering through diamonds. Dancing rainbows greeted them the more they descended. And Kyra was holding tightly to Mackenzie while discovering the gleam in his eyes as he watched her earnestly. She knew she cannot die that way, without knowing. Pulling Mackenzie closer to her, Kyra planted a rough kiss on his lips.

  It was just a brief moment when both closed their eyes, corresponding to one another. Their kiss was fresh as oxygen coming from the purest rainforest. A kiss unadulterated, sacred as a newborn’s first gaze.

  Curious, Kyra wasn’t thinking about the final tests coming next week, as she should. She wasn’t even worried about the results of her advance tests,
or perhaps the huge bunch of birthday cards she left forgotten. Her mind was busy thinking about the fever she felt right behind her ears. The strange shine in her eyes when she saw her image reflected in Mackenzie’s eyes. Trying to decipher the monologue of her beating heart, thinking about unresolved ideas, unexplained sensations and more kisses. They heard a splash, immediately followed by the coldness of waters.

  “Oh, troll droppings.” -Mackenzie protested, both breaking away from the kiss. - “We fell to the maze again?”

  Kyra grunted in disbelief. Rouge and the boys also fell into the water close to them.

  “I saw it all. Now confess… Wolf or woodcutter?” -Rouge asked. The question was left floating in thin air as the waters started dragging them. Kyra, whose mouth was still opened ajar, mesmerized by the magic of her first kiss, received a rush of water. To their surprise, it was sweet as dew, like the one she collected from flowers. Sweet and satisfying, like cracking open a juicy watermelon. Hasty was the water, moving them in circles like in a Fair Wheel. Everything ended as fast as it had started. And the whirlwind over their heads faded away, displaying just the open sky.

  They fell in dry land; a cobblestone path waiting before their eyes. Two long red backdrops were scattered on each side, covering a path that mysteriously hoped to be discovered. Kyra walked at full speed. If the sentence she wrote turned to be completely true, that must be the exit of the maze and her father would be waiting right behind those curtains.

  Pulling the red drapes with strength, Kyra didn’t even flinch. The fabric fell to her feet, heavy, forcing the many particles of dust to fly and foul the air. Behind the curtains, a phantasmagoric version of a forest was waiting for them to be the next victims.

  “I’ve been here just once, but I’ll never forget. This is certainly the densest part of the Enchanted Forest.” -Mackenzie informed.

  Leafless, crooked trees with shapes designed to scare and sow fear opened the way. High in the sky the moon gleamed. Its otherworldly glow transformed the circulating clouds into translucent ghosts of light. Stars were splashed in the black mantle of heaven, as the freckles on Kyra's cheeks.

  “At least we left the maze behind.” -Kyra said trying to fix her rebel hair without success. She was so sure her hair waves were now just as chic and soft and silky as barbed wire. Miraculously, her face was no longer smeared with dust and dirt.

  “We are hungry.” -One of the boys said. They were all hungry. Kyra looked everywhere. Her father had to be close. He had to… She had endured everything, trying to rescue him, still remembering the mission he trusted her with. But to free the Graphylux she didn’t know what she needed or what she was supposed to do. In this place, enchanted all, she was just a useless schoolgirl.

  “This place isn’t different from the woods I have to cross every single day and night. Silent in the beginning but one foot inside and the noises will reach you. No movement now, but soon you’ll find no exit while unseen creatures chase you among the shadows.” -Rouge declared. The three Lost Boys looked at her surprised, listening to Rouge’s explanation.

  “I’m going in… No matter what terrible creatures I stumble with, I need to bring my father back.” -Kyra said bravely. She gave a few steps forward. The three brothers and Rouge walked alongside her. Mackenzie stayed a few steps behind, head fallen, thinking hard. Finally, he plucked up courage, reaching Kyra’s side.

  “Wait.” -Mackenzie grabbed Kyra by the hand. They all turned around to see Mackenzie face to face. He was nervous, almost as if they were spying on him. The words he tried to say, without thinking it too much, were coming directly from his heart as aggressive as a blood flow but he wasn’t ready to speak with such audience. What Mackenzie wanted to say was just for Kyra to hear. Only for her to know his truth. He was overly excited for this idea that had just occurred to him. - “Um, guys… just Kyra now.”

  “Is everything okay?” -Kyra asked trying to sound convinced that the answer to the question was a simple yes, but she was wrong.

  “The thing is… I cannot go with you.” -He finally said.

  “What?” -Kyra interrupted him, releasing his hands. - “Why?”

  “The Wizard will be expecting us both to show. I’ll go, but you need to rescue your father and get out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere… I don’t know how to do it… I’m not leaving without you.” -She confessed. A smile of satisfaction burst from Mackenzie's lips. It was more than enough to know that she felt the same thing he was feeling. Only now he realized that he couldn’t tell Kyra each one of his feelings. If doing so, she'll never go. The Wizard would capture and sacrifice her, and he wouldn’t see Kyra ever again. Mackenzie knew he would regret what he was about to do, but it was the only way.

  “You have to do exactly as I tell you. Find your father and take the boys home with you. You’ll know what to do then. Never look back. Never return. There’s nothing for you here.” -He surprised himself with his tone of voice. It was the grumpiest voice he had ever heard, the most hurting tone, and it belonged to him. Mackenzie was sure that Kyra would be upset, she would turn around and walk away from him. But she didn’t.

  “I know what you’re doing. You’re sacrificing yourself just to save me.” -Kyra stood before him defiantly. She wouldn’t accept his arrangement.

  “I’m not. You’re a witch, face it. There’s nothing good for you here. You better return to your books and continue living like a library rat.” -He said without turning his gaze. Walking fast to end with the space that separated them, Mackenzie tried to grab Kyra’s hands, but she wrestled like a wild beast. A single tear was running down her face, a single drop with the power to break him inside, but he fought against the emotion. He succeeded in holding her hands, placing something between her fingers.

  Kyra didn’t dare to look at the object, hiding it furtively between her clothes.

  “I’m leaving now. Sirina is waiting for me. I belong with her. All this was a fun adventure, but we must end it now. I'm running out of time to accomplish what I was asked to.”

  There was no time for explanations. There was no time to lose. He didn’t even have time to mourn the tears she spilled for his fault. Everything going on was his fault. If anyone deserved a punishment ... if someone ought to die ... That was him. He knew he had to do the right thing. Mackenzie had no doubts. He wasn’t afraid. That, too, was a lie. He was so afraid, and was cheating himself, denying that feeling again and again. He had never been a coward. If he hadn’t done things by courage, he had done it to avoid losing respect. This time he had many reasons sustaining his actions. He no longer wanted to hurt Kyra. It was time to make things right. It was time to give Kyra her life back.

  Respect. That was the main thing. Kyra had a respect among the creatures living in Alter Land. They were faithful to her without knowing her yet. Many creatures had been waiting for the Ink Keeper to come, but maybe not too many knew with certainty that she was there already. That ought to be Mackenzie’s first mission. Inform the good creatures that the Whisperer, the true Keeper was there, and that she was in danger of death.

  Loyalty. That was the next point to work. Sirina, his mermaid friend, had broken a bond they shared. He needed to restore it, even if it costed him his life. But Sirina won’t like what he was planning at all. Maybe she’ll never talk to him again, but he had to give it a try. He couldn’t accept that Sirina had just turned evil in a week, or that she had been a treacherous, two-faced friend during all his life. He could think of her been manipulative, greedy sometimes, but evil, he couldn’t accept it.

  Mackenzie had never dared to approach Incantatrix’s house. Every part of the Enchanted Forest was her home, but her house, her hideout, was in the gloomiest part of the forest. Kyra and the others were still far from it, but Mackenzie was so close he could imagine her working some spell. He needed to talk to her; this witch was dangerous, but more powerful than many others.

  What a big surprise to see a multitude of creatures gathered i
n her orchard. She had always had the best flowers, the juiciest fruits, the best of the best. How she harvested such great stuff, the fattest pumpkins, the longest green beans, the sweetest potatoes? Mackenzie always wanted to know. Maybe magic was the reason.

  Incantatrix had a good hand for good food, Mackenzie thought, and he felt nostalgia inside, just imagining Smarty Pants and his brothers there, indulging themselves into those mouthwatering foods. Flying low, Mackenzie circled the witch’s house. It was a nice-looking place unlike other witches’ homes. No black cauldrons in the porch or creepy brooms to scare the visitors away.

  Watching the crowd, Mackenzie spotted some trolls, elves, fairies, animals, forest people, and some Inklings too. It was a great opportunity to talk about The Whisperer’s fate. He set foot on the ground and started walking among the creatures while they looked at him with angry expressions. Suddenly, Mackenzie felt tiny, tinier than the rabbit or the mouse. Tinier than the fireflies and the bees. Tinier than ants.

  Everybody began to whisper and the secrecy reached Incantatrix’s ears. Arms closed in her chest; she was waiting for him in the porch. Mackenzie swallowed hard.