Deliverance (32 page)

“Wow!” Blaze replied, astonished, “It must
be fun to be a mage.”

After smiling and shaking her head, Crystal
continued down the stairs with Blaze trailing close behind her.
They began hearing wailing and cries echoing in the distance, which
made Crystal slow down and pull herself closer to Blaze for
comfort.

Finally, the orbs shined their light on an
odd archway. As soon as they stepped through the archway, the floor
began to glow to reveal a large, round platform. The platform was
surrounded by an enclosed gate that glowed dimly and didn’t
resemble any kind of metal. The only opening was the one they came
through even though another gate door lie directly across from it.
The new gate door, however, was closed and when Blaze tried to open
it, he discovered it was locked.

“There’s no lock here! How can this thing be
locked without a lock?” he exclaimed.

Crystal then waved her hand and the orbs
disappeared. She looked all around her and noticed that the area
surrounding the gate was completely black. There were no walls or
any scenery beyond the gates surrounding the platform. It was
complete emptiness.

Suddenly, a figure began to take shape in
the middle of the platform in front of Crystal. White and gray
smoke circled the floor up to eight feet high. Fearing for
Crystal’s safety, Blaze ran to her side and drew his sword.

He pointed his sword at the figure, who as
soon as it took form, said in a deep echoing voice, “How ignorant
of you to draw your blade to something you do not understand . .
.”

The figure was well over eight feet tall and
resembled and sounded like a man. He was definitely not human, but
Crystal could not figure out just what he was. His body was covered
in a long, gray, hooded robe that lightly brushed across the floor.
His hood was up, but his white and gray patterned face could be
seen. His eyes were empty and completely white, and he appeared to
be bald, but his hood covered most of his head.

The being moved closer to them, but instead
of walking, he seemed to glide across the floor, as if he didn’t
have feet under his robe. He then spoke again, “Lower your sword,
Blaze. It will not help you in the Lost Realm.”

“The Lost Realm? So we did make it!” Crystal
said.

“Indeed, Crystal, you have,” the figure
replied.

“How do you know our names?” Blaze
demanded.

“I am the Guardian of the Lost.” the figure
said, “I am neither alive nor dead; I am merely a manifestation of
the memories of those trapped here. I guide the souls to their
resting place once they are free. If there were no souls trapped
here, then I would not exist. I know every living being who comes
through here because only those who the lost souls know can free
them. You are both known here, and so I know you as well.”

Blaze then sheathed his sword hesitantly. He
and Crystal then straightened up.

“Where is the soul we must free?” Crystal
asked.

“Follow me,” the guardian commanded. He then
turned around, approached the locked gate, and the gate disappeared
as soon as he came within a few feet of it.

Crystal and Blaze walked side by side right
behind the guardian, and as he glided out into the black area, a
small path appeared before him. The path led along into the
darkness and the end was nowhere in sight. It was then that Crystal
noticed small orbs of sparkling light floating around in the
distance.

“What are those?” she asked the
guardian.

“Those are souls that are trapped here.” the
guardian explained, “Their spirits may take their original human
shape, but only when someone approaches to free them. Before that
time, however, they float around as spirit orbs.”

Suddenly, another platform appeared a little
ways ahead of them and they followed the guardian right onto it.
Once again, this platform glowed as they stepped onto it, but this
one was smaller than the first. Once Blaze and Crystal were both
standing on the platform, the path behind them disappeared.

“Now then, it is time for you to release
this lost soul,” said the guardian. He then said into the empty
space, “Come forth, Malcolm.”

An orb appeared from somewhere in the
distance and floated onto the platform. It hovered in the center of
the platform for a few seconds and then suddenly took the shape of
a man.

“Malcolm!” Crystal cried.

Malcolm’s body was mostly transparent, but
his face appeared almost alive. He was covered in a misty cloak
which had a hood pulled over his head.

“Crystal! Thank heavens you were able to
escape the castle! I spoke to Thaddeus in his sleep and he told me
you had been captured!” Malcolm cried.

“Why are you here, Malcolm?” Crystal
asked.

“When I died, a piece of the Eye of Gaull
came with me here. It seems that I must give it to you so that Eye
may be destroyed once it’s fused back together,” Malcolm
replied.

“Thaddeus mentioned that I would learn what
I need to do to use holy magic if I came here,” Crystal
replied.

“Yes, my dear,” Malcolm replied.

“So then only I can destroy it?” Crystal
asked.

“No, holy magic cannot destroy, Crystal.
Holy magic and dark magic are both needed in the world for balance.
One cannot exist without the other, and therefore, holy magic is
needed to add balance to the darkness that makes up Eye of Gaull.
This will weaken it so that an outside source may destroy it,”
Malcolm explained.

“Outside source?” asked Crystal.

“Holy mages carry out Caris’s work on the
world she created. Light and darkness cannot act on its own, but
must live through the deeds of humanity. Therefore, another human
must destroy it after you have done your part,” Malcolm
replied.

“I’ll do it,” Blaze replied.

“Good.” Malcolm said, “Just use your sword
to smash it when the time comes, and it will be instantly reduced
to dust.”

“But Malcolm, how is it you know this? I
thought someone had to be born a holy mage?” Crystal asked.

“That’s what most people believe, but there
are very rare occasions when a hybrid mage is born. A hybrid mage
is someone who can use both elemental magic and holy magic. There
are some hybrids also born with the ability to use dark magic
combined with elemental magic. The last hybrid mage is said to have
lived over five hundred years ago,” Malcolm explained.

“But what does that have to do with me?”
Crystal asked.

“Well, there is something I never told you,
Crystal. You see, when you were a child, your mother wrote a letter
to me about a concern she had about you. You had shown signs of
elemental magical abilities at a very early age, so once you were
older, Thaddeus was going to privately tutor you.

“However, your mother told me that she
noticed something peculiar about you one day when she was playing
with you in the garden. She said you noticed a bird with a broken
wing in the grass and went to help it. You picked it up and asked
your mother to heal it, but as you held it, it suddenly flew away
like it had never been injured! Your mother told me that you
thought she had done it, but she swore to me that she did not heal
the bird, you had. In other words, you showed signs of both
elemental and holy magic as a child, and therefore, you showed
signs of being a hybrid mage,” Malcolm explained.

“So then, before you died, when you said I
needed to use holy magic to destroy the Eye of Gaull, you didn’t
mean that I needed to acquire it, you knew I had the power all
along?” Crystal asked in disbelief.

“Well yes, but you must figure out how to
awaken it. I am afraid all I can tell you is that you are stopping
yourself from using it,” Malcolm replied.

“What does that mean?” Crystal asked
confusingly.

“Just remember what we talked about that day
in my study. Your emotions get the best of you, but only because
you let them. It’s your negative emotions, to be precise,” Malcolm
explained.

“How can I stop them from controlling me?”
Crystal asked.

“I am sorry, dear. To truly defeat them, you
must figure it out yourself,” Malcolm replied.

Crystal sighed and said, “I see.”

“What about the shard?” Blaze asked.

“Come here; I shall give it to you,” Malcolm
said.

Blaze walked hesitantly up to Malcolm’s
ghost. Once he stood in front of him, Blaze held out his hand.
Malcolm held out his own, transparent hand with his palm facing
down, and the shard suddenly appeared in Blaze’s outstretched
hand.

“By the way,” Malcolm said to Blaze, “I
would like to apologize for threatening to kill you.”

Blaze laughed and said, “Well, I suppose it
opened my eyes to what Bogdan really was, so I suppose I should
thank you for it.”

Malcolm smiled and slowly started to fade
away when he said, “And I want to thank you for protecting
Crystal.”

With that, Malcolm disappeared with a flash
of light.

“His soul is free now,” the guardian
stated.

“Well then, let’s get out of here so we can
destroy this thing,” Blaze said, turning back to Crystal.

“I am afraid you cannot leave yet,” the
guardian said.

“Why not?” Crystal asked.

“There is another soul that Blaze must
free,” the guardian replied.

“Me? Who is here that only I can free?”
Blaze asked confusingly.

The guardian did not respond, but simply
called out to the empty space once more, “Come forth, Althea.”

“ALTHEA? My mother?” Blaze exclaimed.

Suddenly, another orb floated right behind
Blaze. He turned around in time to see the form of a young woman
taking shape. She had long, spiraling, black curls atop her head
and she had the same blue eyes as her son. She had much fairer skin
than he did, but Blaze still looked just like her.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Blaze!” Althea
cried.

She attempted to put her hand on his face,
but it went right through his skin and made him shiver. Blaze tried
to speak to her, but he was so stunned that no words came out.
Crystal walked to his side and put her hand on his arm, which
startled him enough to help him speak.

“Mother . . .” was all he could say.

“It’s all right, I understand this is
probably quite a shock,” Althea responded. She then turned to
Crystal and said, “Who is your friend?”

“This is . . . Crystal,” Blaze stammered.
Crystal smiled.

“Are you . . . courting her?” Althea
asked.

Crystal blushed as Blaze muttered, “You
could say that, yes.”

“She’s beautiful!” Althea said.

“Thank you,” Crystal replied, still
blushing, even though she thought Althea’s beauty far surpassed her
own.

“Wh . . .what are you doing here?” Blaze
asked in a weak voice.

Althea sighed and began in a soft voice,
“Well, when I was killed—”

“Killed? Bogdan told me you died of an
illness,” Blaze interrupted.

Althea sighed again and responded, “I can
see you do not call him ‘Father,’ so that will make telling you
this much easier. I am afraid that Bogdan lied to you about my
death, Blaze.”

The color drained from Blaze’s face. Crystal
felt stunned herself, but in a way, she wasn’t surprised that
Bogdan wasn’t telling the whole story of the death of the mother of
his child.

“So how did you die?” Blaze asked.

“Well, the best way to explain my death is
to show you the events that took place and led up to it,” Althea
responded.

“Show us?” Crystal asked.

“Yes.” Althea responded, “Here in the Lost
Realm, we are given the ability to show visions of our memories if
necessary. I must warn you, however, because you may be shocked and
disturbed by what you see.”

Althea then bowed her head and suddenly, a
scene slowly appeared before them. They were in the middle of a
wedding scene and dozens of richly dressed people sat in pews
watching a judge delivering his speech to a bride and groom. Althea
then stepped aside so that they could see the scene.

“This is . . . the castle in Daldussa!”
Blaze exclaimed.

“Yes, Blaze. This is the day I married
Bogdan,” Althea responded.

Just then, the bride and groom turned and
faced each other and Blaze and Crystal saw a much younger Bogdan.
Despite his age, Crystal easily recognized him. She also noticed
that he did not have the scar across his left eye, but his sharp,
intimidating features were still there. He also had the same dark
hair, skin, and eyes. The young Bogdan lifted the veil from the
bride’s face to reveal a very young and frightened Althea. Bogdan
was nearly a foot taller than the frail young girl.

“You don’t look any older than eighteen!”
Crystal exclaimed.

“I had just turned seventeen the day before,
actually,” Althea replied.

“You were still practically a child!”
Crystal muttered in disbelief.

“I did not want to marry so young, nor did
even I want to marry Bogdan.” Althea explained, “My father was the
king of Balim, which is a kingdom southwest of Daldussa, and he
wanted to form an alliance with Bogdan. After Bogdan was crowned
king three years before the wedding, my father offered to give me
as his wife in exchange for an alliance. Bogdan agreed, and so
three years later, once I was old enough to be married, here I was,
petrified and unsure of what would come next.”

Crystal felt disgusted that a man could sell
his daughter like that, but what made her gut wrench more was the
look on the young Bogdan’s face when he said, “I do.” He then
kissed Althea and the crowd clapped. By the look on the young
Althea’s face, Crystal could tell this was the princess’s first
kiss.

“Little did I know,” Althea said sadly,
“just what kind of horrors would await me over the next four
years.”

The scene suddenly changed again to a scene
with the young Althea in a library. The Althea in the vision was
sitting in a chair reading a book when Bogdan marched into the room
and snatched the book out of her hand. She jumped out of her chair
with a scared look on her face and tried not to look him in the
eyes. He then started yelling at her and asking things like “What
have I told you about that?” and “How dare you disrespect me!”