The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (13 page)

“Madam, please! I want to help these people as well, but I―” Armonie interjected.

“Armonie, is it not the law of our Angelic Lord Nestor that we are to preserve life whenever possible? Would this child’s blood not be on my hands if I were to let her die? Now please, her time is dwindling. Allow me to assist them unhindered, dear one.” She turned from Armonie back to Hector, lifted a pendant from around her neck and placed it into Hector’s hands.

“One of my duties as a High Priestess is to guard the secrets and precious resources of my province. This pendant will allow you access to certain areas―secret places. Do you understand the seriousness of what it is I am doing?” Her gaze bore through him. Hector nodded again.

“Good. Long ago in this area lived an elf called Warwick. In his exploration of these lands, he came across a cavern in the woods. Inside it was a miraculous spring that could heal even the gravest of injuries. He chose to exploit it, selling the spring’s water for profit. When the source of this miracle was discovered, the cavern was sealed off and the spring’s water fell under control of the Order of Nestor. Now, as you probably already know, magical resources have been strictly rationed ever since the unfortunate shortage. Usage of this spring is very carefully moderated…however, tonight I’ll make an exception,” she whispered.

“To find the grotto you must pass through Lindenvale Cemetery, and I’m sure you know of the dangers that you may encounter in such a place,” she said, giving him a meaningful look. Hector blinked a few times and shook his head no, which seemed to shock the priestess. “Why, you’ve not heard of the wraith sightings? I was quite sure that everyone must have become aware of the recent threat.”

“I’m so sorry Madam, but we are strangers in this land. What exactly do you mean by wraith?” Hector inquired. He shot worried glances over at Penny to make sure she was still breathing. She felt miles away, watching the gravest of expressions come over the priestess’s face.

“There is no time to explain. Just please understand that you must proceed into that area with the utmost caution. If you see a wraith, you will have to defend yourself, do you understand?” the priestess warned.

“Y-yes―but how will I know one if I come across one?” Hector stuttered.

“You’ll know,” Armonie said in a hollow tone from the corner of the room. There was an oppressive silence for a moment, then the priestess proceeded to give a hurried set of directions to Hector. Penny could only make out her final words.

“You must go now. Take this poor child with you. She will need to be completely submerged to ensure that she is rid of all the seeds. You won’t have long―she’ll be gone before dawn breaks.”

P
enny felt the bounce of Hector’s step and heard the sound of his feet cutting through mounds of dead leaves, but the world in her eyes had become a mere pinhole in a heavy black sheet. She felt compressed, as if everything that she had ever been was being packed down into a tiny jar and forgotten.

Hector had enchanted himself before they set out so he would be strong enough to carry her on his back, yet his breathing was harsh and his demeanor harried. With each jarring step he took, a little more life drained from Penny’s limp body. Minutes slipped by all too quick. Time didn’t seem so expendable a commodity when there wasn’t enough of it left.

They passed under the iron gate and into the cemetery, the effect of the medicine Penny had taken fading. She could not stop herself from wondering how exactly the parasitic seeds in her blood were going about killing her, and the wondering made her sick with fear. Hector must have heard her soft whimpers, because he used what little energy he had to distract her.

“Don’t worry. We’re nearly there already. Think about something else, all right? Talk to me,” Hector instructed as he took the first steps past the gnarled and weather-beaten gravestones, all carved in unfamiliar shapes. Their glassy black marble surfaces reflected the moonlight. The names of those long deceased were etched into the stones in spindly Elydrian script. Penny’s eyes passed over each of them with a heavy heart.

“Penelope, talk to me!” Hector shouted at her, interrupting her morbid brooding.

“About what?” Her voice was weak and slurred to her own ears, and she shut her eyes.

“I don’t know. Anything. Tell me about―a fond memory, how about that?” he said, and Penny shuffled through the memories of her life. Images of days gone by appeared to her like embers in a darkening hearth.

“There was this one afternoon my mom took me to a lake in the woods. I was―maybe eight years old, I think. I wore a little white dress with blue flowers on it and it made me feel so pretty. I remember we got there in the late afternoon―just when the sky gets that yellow tinge, you know? We ran along the shore and ate sandwiches. It was so warm and the lake reflected the sky like a mirror. No one else was there but us, and it felt like we were the only two people left in the whole world.” Penny could see the day in her imagination like a dusty photograph. She could envision her lacy white dress and the ghost of her smiles.

Hector either didn’t or couldn’t respond and stopped moving. When a few long moments passed, Penny opened her eyes.

“Look,” he breathed, gesturing with his head to the sky. Amid the swirling clouds of mist there floated a cluster of transparent, glowing entities. They reminded Penny of the deep sea creatures that bobbed with the currents of the ocean, sightless and delicate. The apparitions moved as if underwater, pulsing with a gentle incandescent light, wandering through the air without an obvious destination. Their frilled appendages fluttered, each one unique.

“What are they?” Penny whispered.

Hector shook his head and began walking again at a faster pace, still looking up in reverie at the entities. After a few minutes of moving along through the clusters of dead leaves, a great twisted tree trunk loomed out of the mists. More of the ethereal creatures danced and weaved among the crooked branches, like a string of lights hung on a Christmas tree. Grass swept high and wild around the gnarled trunk, obscuring the area. Hector laid Penny down with her back to the tree and tromped through the dry grass. Penny’s eyes remained fixed on the sky, and she decided that whatever the beings above her were, they weren’t dangerous. They seemed almost sad, or lost. She took several deep, sharp breaths as a sudden and cruel wave of pain tore through her.

“I found it!” Hector cried from somewhere behind her. He emerged from the tall grass and proceeded to help Penny crawl through the overgrowth until they reached a tiny opening in a metal fence that bordered the graveyard. Hector forced Penny through, each movement digging into her like a hot knife. With effort, they emerged out the other side on a small path bordered by trees. A line of chalk-like powder was laid on either side of the road.

Hector picked Penny back up and hurried. The opening of a cave sealed by a set of stone doors became visible through the gloom of the tree-lined path.

“Look, we’ve made it! You’re going to be okay!” Hector shouted, sounding as relieved as if it were his own life that was about to be saved instead of hers. Penny could not muster enough energy to reply, the crawl through the fence having all but finished her off. The hot pain in her chest was growing unbearable, and her heart was skipping beats.

The doors opened with a grinding rumble the moment Hector pushed the pendant into the depression. When they stopped their trundling movement, all that was left was a vacuum of silence and the cold air that sighed out of the gaping throat of the cave, coaxing them as they twisted down into the cavern.

In the darkness, Penny could see luminous crystal formations growing from the ceiling and the sides of the wall. The tunnel seemed to be made of a sparkling mineral that glittered like thousands of miniature constellations. Another short turn through the tunnel and they came to the spring itself. The water was eerily placid and smaller than a pond, but it sunk deep and black. A few bits of old furniture were piled up in the corner, some covered with filthy sheets.

“We made it! Penelope, look!” Hector cried, scraping across the smooth stone and putting Penny down near the edge of the pool. It felt impossible to keep breathing; even the shallowest of breaths brought a jolt of agonizing pain. She was overpowered by weariness as Hector tried to shake her awake, and could not find the strength to move. In the furthest reaches of her perception, Penny became aware of a voice beckoning to her, as if someone was calling her from far away―a sound lost on high winds. She felt Hector pick her up again, cradling her in shaking arms and causing Penny an enormous amount of pain. She didn’t want to take the plunge into the dark waters. What would come after that seemed as if it would be much more difficult than fading away in Hector’s arms.

Before she could process another thought, she felt herself tumbling through empty space. She crashed like a bag full of stones into the icy water, the angry cold biting into her and refusing to let go. Penny’s eyes shot open in shock and she caught a glimpse of Hector’s distorted visage through the rippling surfaces. Helpless, she watched as the dark gathered with every inch she sunk into the pool. Her legs and arms immobilized, she was unable to fight against the water that seemed to be dragging her downward. Penny choked and had no choice but to suck in great mouthfuls of frigid water. It was a point beyond pain or fear; there was only the most sublime explosion of emotion―the last spark of a firework. Seconds later, her heart stopped and her eyes drifted closed.

But she did not see darkness.

There, on the very thread that separated life and death, flashed an image. Penny found herself face to face with a black iron mask, smiling mirthlessly atop a flapping black cloak. It was glad to see her. It was a cold face, devoid of humanity, yet so expressive it seemed alive. It welcomed her hungrily and without words, the tips of its cloak reaching out in anticipation for her.

I’ve been waiting for you…I’ve been looking for you,
a voice hissed, sounding like dead leaves rattling across pavement. Sublime horror filled Penny and she was filled with a sudden desperation to live, so long as it meant escaping this masked entity. The trails of the cloak reached for her, winding around her ankles and pulling her downward.

I am yours, and you are mine.

NO!
Penny screamed. With a soundless blast of retaliation, Penny’s whole body jerked back to life. Her heart pumped as she clawed at the water toward the blur of light that offered her only escape. She had to move, she had to live. Death was no longer a comfortable form of noble defeat, but a hideous void where that grinning mask waited, patient and still. With every ounce of strength she possessed, Penny kicked her way upward and tore through the surface of the pool.

When she felt the dry, musty air of the cavern touch her tongue, Penny knew she had escaped from the masked entity’s claws. Hector’s voice echoed in the cavern as he pulled her from the spring and dragged her thrashing body out with a single powerful motion. For several long moments she kneeled on all fours, evacuating every drop of water from her lungs. Unable to stay upright, she collapsed in an exhausted heap, her head finding Hector’s knee.

“Penelope!” he sputtered, wiping the thick masses of wet hair from her eyes. Penny looked up at him, her chest still heaving. She smiled at his look of relief, a light flutter of nervous laughter escaping.

They both laughed with unbridled relief, sharing the moment with shy elation. Penny closed her eyes again and sighed. Part of her was screaming to let Hector know what she had seen as she’d crossed the border of life—to warn him—but another part wanted to never speak of it, to keep it locked safe inside and let it be forgotten, though she could not imagine how she would ever forget that atrocious image.

“Do you think you’re going to make it?” Hector inquired. Penny thought about it, taking her time to reply.

“I think so,” she said, her eyes still closed. “Everything’s stopped hurting―Only, I feel really tired, like I’ve just run miles and miles without stopping. But it feels like― I don’t know, I just want to lay here for a while, if that’s okay…”

“Of course it’s okay,” Hector laughed with endearing warmth.

Whether she rested there for hours or for mere moments, Penny wasn’t sure. Time seemed to have lost much of its importance since she’d entered the grotto, and a subtle sadness now ached within her, though she could not understand why. She would have stayed there through the night if a noise reverberating through the tunnels had not stirred her from her tranquil half-sleep. Alarmed, Penny sat up.