Reign of Darkness

by Michaela Riley Karr

  My eyes were foggy. When I squinted, I could see the Epidemic’s ink rotating around my heart like a vulture circling a beast close to death.

  Not long now, I thought to myself. But, you have to try.

  Standing was out of the question at this point, so I leaned forward onto my hands to crawl over to the locked, barred door once more. There had to be some way to break out. With movement, however, my vision became clearer, and I could suddenly see that there was an unknown object between me and the door. Like a big, lumpy blanket or something.

  Ever so slowly, my mind registered that it was not a big blanket or even a pile of blankets. It was something wrapped in a dirty sheet. Something that was long and lean and had shaggy hair at one end. My mind reached clarity all at once, and I scrambled on my hands and knees over to the unmoving, blanket-clad lump.

  “No, no, no,” I mumbled over and over, my clogging throat distorting my voice. “Wake up! Wake up!”

  Luke was unnaturally still. My eyes played tricks on me that his chest was moving up and down, but it wasn’t. I gripped his rock-hard shoulders and shook him with all the strength I could muster, ignoring the fact that the sad sheet he was wrapped in was stained a rust-colored red in multiple places.

  Old blood. Dead blood.

  “Luke, wake up,” I repeated, my voice unrecognizable now. I felt my face breaking. “You can’t be dead. You can’t be.”

  Injured, sure. You could come back from injured. But not dead. Death was permanent. My mind spiraled.

  Why is he dead?

  Because you ran off like an imbecile. Like a child. Away from your protectors who have promised to guard you with their lives. And now, one of them has fulfilled that vow.

  It’s. All. Your. Fault!

  I broke. My wails echoed throughout the dungeon and back to me until my own noises were all I could hear. Memories of Luke played through my mind. His taking me back and forth to Stellan each day. How he saved me from drowning when our ship went down. How he’d helped me to find Sam during the war. Everything all the way back to that trip we’d taken over the mountains to Mineraltir, just the two of us, before I even knew what he was. How he’d gotten me back out of that kingdom just before Duunzer’s Darkness claimed it. And now, I would never see his eyes change colors with his emotions ever again.

  I rocked back and forth with Luke’s head in my lap, quiet once it crossed my mind that Rhydin had his body thrown in here to illicit this exact reaction from me. So, I sat there silently with tears flowing in rivers down my cheeks, imagining the most painful way I would take my revenge upon Rhydin. It was due to this stillness that I jumped when the big door to the dungeon creaked open softly.

  I quickly wiped my face and shook my head, trying to clear it. I couldn’t bear to let go of Luke’s broken body, but I situated myself to face the bars with as fierce of a look I could manage. A posture and expression that argued I was tough as nails rather than the shattered soul I was. I figured it was Rhydin coming down to see me, to rub his victory in my face. But it was Robert who suddenly stepped into the frame of my cell.

  Anger flared through me. I snarled, although my ferocity was dampened by a couple of nasty coughs, “What do you want?”

  He appeared anxious. He kept darting looks over his shoulder back to the entrance of the dungeon. He replied gently, “Please, Linaria, you must listen to me.”

  “I will do no such thing,” I wheezed, and then gestured to the bloody sheet in front of me and the body it covered, “You’ve done enough.”

  “Linaria, I… I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Robert pleaded, his voice growing quieter and faster. “Rhydin lied to me. All I’ve ever wanted is to be with you and your brother.”

  “I don’t believe you!” I accused furiously before having to stop and cough again.

  At this, I heard a jingling noise and then a metal clang. I opened my eyes from coughing to see Robert standing in front of the open cell door. He had my full attention now as he hurried in, knelt by my side, and began searching his pockets. His eyes looked different. They were clear with no trace of the delusional rage that had often occupied them every time I saw him. Robert withdrew a small, glowing vial from his cloak pocket along with a terrifying looking contraption that had a needle on one end.

  “What are you doing?” I mumbled, starting to lose consciousness.

  “Saving my daughter’s life,” he responded quickly, still appearing to be hurrying for whatever reason. “I joined Rhydin because I wanted my children to grow up in a world free of Royals. It seems to me that a world ruled by Rhydin is far worse, and I will not let him kill my children.”

  Robert fumbled with the needle device for a few more seconds, snapping the vial onto it, and then reached for my arm. I probably would have still fought him if I’d been at full strength, but at this point, my body was as limp and unresistant as a noodle. He injected the glowing blue solution into my arm, and then threw the needle to the side.

  Its effects were almost instantaneous. My fever broke, my head cleared, and my lungs felt clean again. A rush of energy flooded my limbs, and before my very eyes, the ink of the Epidemic faded from black to indigo to royal-blue to finally the pale blue-green that veins are supposed to be. I flexed my normal-colored fingers and hands, absorbing what had happened.

  Robert stood and held out his hands to me, “Come along. We must go before Rhydin discovers what I’ve stolen.”

  I laid my hands upon Luke once again and asked, “Is someone really going to miss one vial?”

  “No,” Robert breathed anxiously as he dug around in his pocket once more, “But this will be missed.”

  My jaw dropped open as Robert dangled none other than my locket in front of my face. I stuttered as I took it, “H-How?”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Robert replied rapidly, and then he held out his hands to me again, “We need to go. Now!”

  “I…” I stammered, looking back down at Luke anxiously, “I can’t leave him.”

  Robert responded edgily, “Linaria, if we take him with us, I won’t be able to transport us away! As it is, we need to get outside to do so. We can only transport in to the palace, not out of it.”

  “But Robert-…” I tried to plead.

  “He’s dead, Linaria,” Robert replied firmly, taking hold of one of my hands as he tried to pull me away from Luke. “I’m sorry, but you can’t help him now!”

  “Please,” I whimpered, gazing into Robert’s Allyen eyes, “Please, Father.”

  Robert huffed in frustration, but there was no denying the softening of his features at the sound of the name he’d yearned most to hear. In only a second, he bent down and grabbed Luke’s lanky body, heaving it over his stout shoulders. Luke’s fingers and toes almost touched the ground due to Robert’s short stature, but he was aloft nonetheless. Then, he shoved me gently toward the open door. Before I knew it, we were running.

  I hopped up the stairs out of the dungeon and nearly tripped over two knocked-out guards posted outside the door. No wonder Robert had been so jittery. It was obvious to anyone walking by that something fishy was going on.

  “This way,” Robert breathed as he jogged through the door with Luke. He led us down a southern hallway built of black onyx stones and amethyst decorations, although we were running far too fast to truly take in how Rhydin had decided to decorate his imperial palace. Part of me took a moment to relish how strong and sure my feet felt underneath me. It was like a breath of fresh air after how weak the last few days had left me.

  The surety left me when Robert and I rounded a corner to where three hallways joined together, coming face to face with none other than Eli and Kino, the former Auklian advisor and the Lunakan woman who answered Rhydin’s every beck and call. Both of them were clad in the sleek, black uniforms of Rhydin’s new military, and confused expressions crossed both their faces as they took in the sight of Robert and I together.

  “Robert!” Eli sneered after a swift glance at my u
nbound wrists, my health, and the locket around my neck, “How could you? Master trusted you!”

  “You’ve betrayed us all!” Kino screeched as she drew her blade.

  “Rhydin betrayed us first, and if neither of you can see that now with how he rules over Nerahdis, then you are both truly lost!” Robert argued. Then, in a swift motion, Robert let Luke’s body slide down his back to the floor while he began working his hands.

  After a few milliseconds, the brightest golden orb I’d ever seen materialized in his hands, and he chucked it squarely at Eli’s chest. The Auklian man only narrowly avoided it, his large glasses askew on his face, and I looked on in awe at my father.

  He was using his Allyen magic. After at least two decades of ignoring it and only using the power given to him by Rhydin, his birth magic was still alive and stronger than ever before. Once an Allyen, always an Allyen. A smile cracked my face.

  Kino rushed toward me, and I barely summoned my sword in time to block her ruthless blows. Kino was much taller than me and moved like a predatory cat, so I stayed in a defensive stance for a few minutes. When she paused to make some sort of verbal jab, I took my chance and fired a magical charge.

  It slammed into her shoulder, leaving her uniform burned and ragged as she yelped. She growled as she flipped her blonde-tipped hair out of her face, “Oooo, I’m gonna make you wish you’d died!”

  She threw one of her hands into a circle motion, and a magical wind sprang forth and knocked me backwards. I tried to remain on my feet, but the gust was too strong and the midnight tiles beneath my feet too slick. Sliding backwards, I reached out and hooked my arm through the nearest window, holding on until Kino’s spell stopped. Then, I darted forward, and our swords clashed once again.

  “Open your eyes, Kino,” I pleaded as we pushed against each other, “It’s only a matter of time before Rhydin betrays you, too! He killed Adam and Jasmine, and he lied to Robert for decades. Can’t you see?”

  “All I can see is that my master would never betray the one who brought him your head on a platter!” Kino responded silkily.

  I engaged with her again, sending two magical charges in her direction, when I heard Eli mock my father, “You were his right hand, Robert! You had it made! All of us wanted to be you!”

  “What, a puppet?” Robert spat derisively as he thrust another spell in Eli’s direction, sword-less, “Rhydin isn’t all that he seems, Eli! There’s something not right with him. You need to get out while you can!”

  “Why?” Eli cackled as he mustered another wave of aguamage power to try and sweep Robert off his feet like an undertow, “Your position is officially open, and I’ll deserve a promotion after this! You’ve lost everything because of that rotten daughter of yours!”

  “You’re wrong,” Robert nearly whispered as he jumped to the side of the flowing water, “I was empty as Rhydin’s second. She’s saved me, but you’ll never understand.”

  I was having trouble concentrating on Kino, my heart full, when abruptly, Robert’s voice became a lot louder as he called to me, “We don’t have time for this, Linaria! We need to leave before Rhydin returns!”

  I grunted. Did he think we were fighting just for fun?

  “Come here!” he shouted again.

  Confused, I parried a few more of Kino’s blows before blasting her in the chest with such a quick spell that it more exploded her backwards than really hurt her. In the same moment, Robert tripped Eli and thrust him forward into a suit of decorative armor centered in the junction of the three hallways. I rushed over to him, and in only seconds, he grabbed my shoulders and planted me right in front of him. Then, he took one of my hands and said, “Do as I do.”

  Robert began a series of movements. Stepping out with his right foot, raising his right hand and stretching it outward in an arching movement, and then turning his whole body as he thrust it toward Eli. A small orb materialized and shot at the Auklian, who easily doused it with his water magic as he sprinted back toward us.

  “Now!” Robert cried, his gaunt face showing some color for the first time.

  He began his movements again, and I mirrored him. He stepped out with his right foot; I stepped out with my left. I followed his right arm with my left, channeling my magic and his due to our joined hands through the amplification of my locket, and a much bigger orb than I’d ever seen emerged.

  Eli’s eyes grew wide as the light of the spell flashed over his glasses, and he tried to turn and run. However, we released our combined power upon him, and he was blown off his feet and hurled to the ground.

  Suddenly, the halls became silent. We ran over to Eli, his chest charred and ragged. Squeaking noises came from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. He stared up at us helplessly, unable to move, his thick lenses shattered and his wavy hair in disarray. The man who had guarded Sam’s cell in the war and fought me at the Archimage Palace. The man who tricked me into going to Lunaka Castle the night my magic awakened by disguising himself as Sam, and the man who tried to hurl Frederick off a balcony to fake his death. The man who threw the lever that killed the Royals. That same man lay here broken at our feet, and rage filled me at the sight of him.

  “This is for all of us,” I said quietly as I raised my blade and touched its point to his chest. “For Sam. For Frederick. For Queen Gloria. For Luke. For me.”

  Then, I pushed on my sword, and his sputtering stopped.

  Robert hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder, “We need to go.”

  Suddenly, panic filled me, and I glanced in every direction. “Where’s Kino?”

  Robert looked around briefly as he trotted back to Luke’s body and heaved it back over his shoulders. “She must have gone to find Rhydin. All the more reason to hurry!”

  I took one last look at Eli and sealed him away in my memory. Between his and King Adam’s deaths, it was beginning to feel like the end of an era. But this era would only end once it was Rhydin that my blade punctured.

  The two of us took off again, racing down the next hallway as fast as was possible with Robert’s load. The sunlight was disappearing fast, and this added to my anxiety. We needed to get away from this palace before darkness fell, or we’d be easy targets out in the open. After all, it was my insistence on bringing Luke that meant we couldn’t simply transport away once we got outside.

  Once we reached the end of the hallway, Robert began to breathe a little easier when the petite, wooden door came open in his hands. We left Rhydin’s palace of cold, dark stones behind for soft grass, silent trees, and the faint smell of pine. However, the feelings of tension and fear didn’t leave me.

  I called ahead to Robert who jogged in front of me, “Where do we go now?”

  “We keep moving,” my father responded over his shoulder. “Hopefully, the battle will keep Rhydin distracted, and he won’t come after us. Our presences will disappear if we can reach the mountains.”

  “Battle?” I repeated. My mind hinged on that one word as my feet slowed. “What battle?”

  Robert appeared to inwardly regret his words as he stopped running and turned to face me. He hesitantly answered, “There’s a small skirmish occurring just over that hill. Between Rhydin, as well as some of his forces, and several of your friends.” He pointed in the opposite direction.

  My heart wanted to sink and lift at the same time. They’d come to rescue me, but now they were battling Rhydin without my help.

  “We have to help them,” I declared as I spun on my heel to march the other way. Once I turned, my ears could pick up the faint clangs of swords and booms of magic.

  Robert paused, but he must have decided it was no use trying to argue with me because he simply started trotting toward the hill without a word. We spent the minutes it took to reach the hill in silence, and I couldn’t help but study my father’s back as he ran in front of me, Luke’s limp arms and legs bobbing.

  I’d never known I was capable of the magic that we performed together to end Eli. There was so much about being an Allyen
that I hadn’t gotten to learn from Grandma Saarah before she died. Before she was killed trying to protect Keera, Rosetta, and I from Rhydin. Perhaps now I would be able to fill in the missing pieces of my magical prowess from my father.

  As we rushed toward the battle, Rosetta continued to flash in my mind. Her oval, freckled face framed by her straight, sandy hair. The last time I’d her, she’d helped lead Sam, Rachel, and I to freedom outside of Rhydin’s prison tower in the Great Desert. She refused to come with us, insisting that she could save Mikael, the boy who’d essentially faked her death to kidnap her to go follow Rhydin. She promised me she’d join me when she could…but that had been over a year ago.

  I called out uncertainly, “Father…?”

  Robert halted in his tracks so rapidly, I thought he might trip under Luke’s weight. He stuttered, “Y-Yes?”

  “Is my sister okay?” I mumbled.

  A gray hue overtook Robert’s face. I imagined it wasn’t easy to think of the love of your life having a child with someone else after you left. I was almost fearful his anger would return, but he answered stoically, “Yes. She’s fine. She lives in the citadel around Rhydin’s palace with that boy.”

  I released a breath I’d never realized I’d been holding for over a year. Rosetta was still alright. She could still join me someday. I could only nod my head in thanks, and the two of us started up our hurried trek once more.

  It was twilight by the time we crested the hill, and when I witnessed what was below us, heat flooded my body and adrenaline kicked into gear. This battle looked like it’d been going on for a while. Everybody was spread out in a tiny clearing in the trees. I saw all my friends, minus Princess Cornflower and An-…Sabine’s two boys, as well as perhaps half a dozen Ranguvariians and four dozen of Rhydin’s soldiers.

  There were also dead lying in the dirt in black uniforms alongside those whose uniform had been faith and hope in our rebellion.

  We wasted no time and edged down the hill, remaining hidden in the trees. Once we were within several yards of the main action, Robert chose a larger tree to set Luke against, and I hoped no one would disturb him while we were forced to leave him alone. My throat was starting to swell up again, so I pushed myself away from him. There was a time to grieve and a time to fight. This was the time for the latter.