A Threat of Shadows (43 page)

Finally, Ayda looked up and smiled. “A gift from my people.”

With that, she gave the ball, engulfed by light, a nonchalant toss.

It tumbled through the air and landed next to Mallon on the altar. The Rivor drew back. He reached out to touch it, but a spark from the light whipped out at his hand, and he drew it back sharply.

“Keep him near it,” Ayda whispered.

Alaric gathered as much energy as he could in the space of a breath. Before Mallon could step back, Alaric reached his hand toward the Rivor. “
Alligo!
” He hissed the same spell Gustav had used to keep them rooted to the ground this morning.

Mallon froze, everything below his head locked into place. Gustav, at the very edge of the spell’s range, bent over and tugged on his feet, struggling to move them. Both of them cursed and struggled against the spell.

“That won’t last long,” Alaric said. He could already feel fractures in the spell holding Gustav’s feet.

Ayda was staring at the white lights wrapping the ball of darkness. “They need more power, more energy.”

Alaric looked desperately around for something, anything. There was nothing to draw from. The courtyard was stone. There wasn’t even a fire to pull energy out of. His eyes fell on the frozen flame sitting on the altar.

“Would the potential for a big fire help?” he asked, nodding toward the frozen flame sitting on the altar.

Her eyes widened and a wild grin spread across her face. She took the flame and turned back to Mallon. He was still looking uncertainly at the dark ball spinning on the altar completely enclosed in a web of light.

Ayda walked up to him and looked him squarely in the eye. She pointed to the bundle of light encasing the dark ball. “You did not destroy my people. I just want to make sure you understand that it was the elves that defeated you.” She glanced over her shoulder toward Alaric and the others. “With a little help.”

Then Ayda held the tiny crystal flame in her palm. She blew on it, setting it to quivering. It burst into a living flame.

Mallon’s eyes widened and she smiled at him.

“Everyone knows that darkness is only dark until you throw in a little light,” she said and tossed the flame at the altar. It landed on the little ball of darkness and light, spreading out and dancing over the surface.

Ayda turned and walked over to Kordan’s still body. She kissed his scaled head gently then turned toward Alaric.

Alaric stared at her for a moment. Her face was bright and easy. Nothing about her sparkled or flashed, yet she looked more alive and real than he had ever seen her.

“We should go,” she said, glancing at the flame that was spreading across the ball of darkness. “Quickly.”

Chapter 52

Alaric called to Douglon, who was stirring against the wall. The dwarf staggered over and helped Alaric drag Brandson to his feet. The three of them stumbled back toward the keep, following Ayda and Milly.

At the door of the keep, Alaric paused and looked back. The others crowded behind him, watching breathlessly.

The blackness was spreading, now covered in orange flame. The white lights that had held it in a ball were stretching out, reaching for each other and creating a web that stretched over the darkness. Mallon strained back against Alaric’s spell. He shot spell after spell at the ball, trying to destroy it, but each one was merely absorbed, swelling the size of the darkness trapped there. Gustav snapped his feet free and raced to Mallon, clutching at his arms and tugging at him, but the Rivor didn’t move.

“Gustav!” Brandson yelled, “Get away from there!”

Gustav looked toward Brandson for a moment, then went back to pulling on the Rivor.

With a rush of noise like a great wind, or a blazing fire, the ball shot out into an enormous size, enveloping Mallon, Gustav, the altar, and half of the courtyard.

The orange flame, which had been stretched almost to invisibility, flared up. The web of white lights joined with it, creating a shell of brilliant white fire. Alaric shielded his eyes from the searing brightness as a wave of heat rolled over him.

There was a low trembling in the ground. The circle of darkness and flame collapsed down with a concussion like thunder. The ground shook and debris shot out from it, pelting Alaric with pebbles and spreading a thick cloud of dust.

The earth shuddered, and the nearest wall of the courtyard trembled and collapsed. Alaric and the others lurched away from the keep, shielding their heads from the stone and rubble raining down.

The ground rumbled for several more seconds, stones continuing to fall from the keep, then slowly, everything fell silent.

No one moved for a long moment, then Alaric stepped quietly through the haze toward the place where Mallon had been. A breeze stirred the cloud of dust and revealed a gaping hole in the ground where the altar had stood. It spread halfway across the courtyard and was deeper than Alaric was tall.

There was nothing inside it but rubble. No altar, no Gustav, no Kordan, no Mallon.

Ayda stepped up next to him and beamed. She drew a deep breath and flung her arms out. “It’s gone!” she sang.

“What was that dark thing?” Milly asked.

“A piece of Mallon,” Ayda said, “He infested me with it the day my people sacrificed themselves.” She smiled impishly. “I just gave it back to him.”

“Gave it back?” Douglon asked.

Ayda smirked. “Well, I gave it back surrounded by a web of my people.”

“Your people?” Milly asked faintly.

“What was left of them,” Ayda answered. “They were very angry. And then we added some fire.” Her smile widened to a grin. “Turns out that’s a destructive combination.”

“Turns out?” Alaric asked. “You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know for sure, but I had a suspicion. You could say that I understood the concept of what would happen.”

“However you did it, it was well done.” Douglon motioned to the crater. Then he grimaced and pulled his arm back protectively to his chest.

Ayda looked at him in exasperation. “I only left you alone for one night.” She walked up to the dwarf and grabbed his arm.

Douglon grunted but didn’t pull his arm away. “I don’t need you to fix it,” he grumbled. “It’ll be fine.”

Ayda touched the wound gently. Douglon let out a sigh of relief and Ayda patted his cheek sweetly. “Now stop getting hurt.”

“The lights around the darkness,” Milly said, still looking puzzled at the great hole in the ground, “were they…?”

Ayda sobered. “The elves have held the darkness in check for eight years. They continued to hold it until the flames destroyed the darkness.”

“And them?” Alaric asked.

“And them.”

Alaric looked at the pit, a surge of loss rolling through him. So many elves destroyed. Not that they had exactly been alive before, but the price of killing Mallon had been a heavy one. Next to him, he caught sight of Ayda’s face, blazing with pride.

“It’s all they wanted,” she said. “To destroy him. They’ve waited for too long.”

She breathed deeply again and laughed. Seeing Alaric’s sober face, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t be so serious, Alaric. This is a good day. The best day in a very long time. We’ve won. And the only losses on our side today were those who went willingly.”

Alaric looked cautiously at Ayda. “So are all the elves… gone?”

Ayda wrinkled her nose. “No, not all of them. Just some.” Then she cocked her head slightly. “The ones that are left do seem a little more withdrawn than usual, though.”

“Perhaps they can be, now that they don’t have to hold the darkness back.”

Ayda nodded. “Perhaps. They are small and tired now.” She sighed. “And I suppose they will be bored for the rest of my life.”

Alaric smiled. “Maybe we can find some other great force of evil to fight.”

Brandson groaned quietly, and Ayda looked at him, noticing for the first time that he was slumped against the wall.

She walked quickly to Brandson and knelt down next to him.

“Can you fix it?” Milly asked, her voice breaking a little.

Ayda sat back on her heels and looked helplessly at Milly. “I’m sorry. It’s animal poison. I can heal wounds. That’s just putting things back together. But poison—poison spreads and… and things aren’t broken, they’re changed. I don’t know how to change them back.”

Brandson groaned.

Alaric walked up to Brandson and knelt across from Ayda. He gently lifted the pants Milly had cut open out of the way so that he could see the wound more clearly. There were streaks of dark red climbing up his leg and the flesh was hot.

“We need to get him some medicine,” Alaric said. “Let’s get him to his horse.”

“What are we going to do?” Douglon demanded. “Find some sort of poison doctor out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Alaric grimaced. “You already have.”

They all looked at him blankly.

“Evangeline was poisoned. What do you think I’ve been studying this whole time?”

“And you have antidotes stashed nearby?” Douglon asked.

Alaric sighed. “Let’s get Brandson to his horse. It should take less than a day to get to my castle.”

“You have a castle?” Milly asked.

Alaric smiled weakly. “Well, no one else has claimed it for over a hundred years, so yes. I have a castle.”

They just kept looking at him.

“And Evangeline is there. And all of my research on poisons.”

Then Brandson moaned and the group jumped into action. Alaric and Milly each ducked under one of Brandson’s arms, helping him walk. Douglon led the way back through the keep, shoving any large debris out of their way. They reached the room with the horses and Brandson sank into a chair.

Alaric led Beast to the doorway and cast out to see if any monsters were nearby. The explosion must have scared them off, because there were no large life forms down in the valley. Everything he felt was far off on the hills.

“The valley is relatively safe, for now. We should hurry.”

Alaric and Douglon helped Brandson claw his way up onto his horse. Douglon mounted his horse next to him and tugged and pushed the smith into a better position on his saddle.

“Sorry,” Douglon muttered gruffly, his eyes showing far more concern than his voice.

“Here,” Alaric said, moving next to Brandson. “Someone will need to ride next to him to make sure he doesn’t fall, but I think I can help him a little.”

Closing his eyes, Alaric took a deep breath and recalled spells he hadn’t tried in a year.

He found the one that he’d first tried on Evangeline. The one meant to slow the spread of the poison. It sat in his mind discarded where he had thrown it when he was furious that it couldn’t work well enough.

Taking a deep breath, he set his hand on Brandson’s leg and whispered the words he couldn’t quite bring himself to say out loud.

When he opened his eyes, everyone was looking expectantly at him. Brandson moaned again.

“I don’t think it worked,” Douglon said.

Alaric ignored him and closed his eyes again. It had worked. He could feel it. He could feel the energy stopping the spread of the poison, blocking it at the edges. He felt the smallest bit of poison slip through his net and knew that Brandson’s time was still limited. But now, he might have the time he needed.

Then Alaric reached up and held his hand toward Brandson’s face. “
Dormio
,” he told the blacksmith, and Brandson’s head slowly slumped down on his chest, his brow relaxing and his breath calming.

Milly, eyes wide in alarm, rushed up to him.

“He’s fine,” Alaric assured her.

“He’s not fine,” Ayda pointed out.

Alaric glared at her again. “He can’t feel the poison. And I slowed the spread of it, too. We should have several days before…”

Milly nodded tersely.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Douglon demanded.

The group headed out of the valley with Milly riding behind Brandson, helping to keep him seated. Douglon rode alongside, ready to help if needed.

Alaric led them south, back out of the valley and along the same trail they had taken to get there. That night, when they set up camp, the exhaustion of the last few days settled heavily on him. He could sense Kollman Pass getting closer. For Brandson’s sake, he wanted to rush, but his own desire to get back there was steeped in reluctance.

The ruby hung around his neck again, its weight familiar but no longer comforting against his chest. He now had the antidote for the rock snake venom, but it didn’t matter. If the energy in her ruby wasn’t enough to bring her back, what good was an antidote? The swirls of red light felt fragile and delicate.

He was never going to be with her. This would be the end. He would heal Brandson and send them all on their way. And then? Then the only question was whether he would wake her to say goodbye or just let her slip painlessly away.

Chapter 53

They rose early the next morning, trying to reach the castle by evening. As they saddled the horses, Alaric looked at Ayda. “You never told us how Gustav managed to trap you as a tree.”