armor of magic 02 - rising light (17 page)

“Bastard,” I mumbled, choking on my own saliva.

“Shh,” someone hissed in the darkness.

“Who’s that?” I asked, completely ignoring the request to be quiet.

“Dude, shh.”

Julian.

I swiveled around in the dark, trying to locate Julian’s whereabouts. But whenever I moved, the flow of blood draining from the deep slice in my neck increased and needled my body with pain. I had to remain still to keep the bloodletting process from speeding up. Also, what an annoyingly melodramatic way to kill someone. But Cagliostro was nothing if not that.

“Julian, where are you?” I whispered.

“Dude, if you’re not quiet, you’ll wake the bats. And trust me, you don’t want that to happen.”

“What are you talking—”

He didn’t need to elaborate because just then the demon-bats stirred awake. I could hear their wings flapping as they dropped down from the ceiling and began to encircle me. Tiny bites pierced my bare skin, and a loud gurgling followed. The little bastards were feeding off of me. And it burned like liquid fire being injected into my pores. Their sharp teeth must’ve been releasing a venom while they sucked on me because my head began to throb and my mouth went dry. The only thing I could do to alleviate the pain was allow myself to pass out.

thirty-one

I awoke to the sound of Julian shouting. I had no idea how much time had passed, but the pool of blood below my head had increased in radius. The demon-bat bite marks sizzled against my skin like tiny bubbles of acid. Two hulking demon shifters with red skin and black swirling runes were yanking Julian down. He kicked and writhed against their stronghold.

“You’ll be okay. You still have the Armor,” I tried to yell, but it came out as a deflated murmur.

Julian reached out to me as they pulled him away, his fingers brushing against my arm. “Whatever he does—I mean
whatever
—don’t help him decipher the Scroll. Just keep your—”

Julian was cut off when one of the demons slammed the butt of a dagger against his forehead, knocking him out.

Where were they taking him? I wondered if he had already given Cagliostro information about the Scroll. He couldn’t have. Otherwise he’d be dead. I wanted to pull myself down from the pipe and help my friend. But I just hung there like a helpless fool, the blood draining from my neck, while they lugged Julian’s hapless body away. I couldn’t imagine the type of torture Cagliostro would inflict upon him, trying to unlock the Scroll. But I was sure I’d find out.

***

Some of my blood made its way into my mouth. The bitter metallic taste jolted me awake. Had I fallen asleep or slipped into unconsciousness? It was hard to know at that point. Either way, my body was tingling and aching. My ankles felt like they were going to snap off.

In the distance, the sound of someone’s footsteps grew increasingly louder, until the shadow of a man stood before me. The stench smacked my face: boiling tar and sulfur.

“Miss Farrow.” Cagliostro almost sang the words.

I didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.” He stepped closer to where my body dangled upside down like a side of beef in a meat warehouse.

“You might as well kill me, Cags. I’m never giving you what you want.”

“So you’d rather die a martyr for that out-of-date relic called the Monarchy?”

“I’m no martyr. I’m just not an idiot. If I unlock that Scroll for you, the world as we know it comes to an end. And I’ll die anyway, but disgusted with myself for having intentionally helped you.”

He chuckled lightly, kneeling down to meet my eyes. The blacks of his eyes gleamed like two inky beetles. “Oh yes, the end is coming. But I have a feeling you’ll be more than willing to share your decoding secrets with me. By the time I’m finished, you’ll be singing out how to unlock the Scroll.”

“Nothing you do will get me to help you. You already killed Asher. And now you don’t have any leverage. So why don’t you just walk your demon mage ass out of this cave and let me die a painfully slow death?”

“So confident, Miss Farrow. I like that about you. Your blind faith in yourself. It’s quite admirable.”

I ignored him, closing my eyes. I tried picturing Asher and me in the shower; his strong hands massaging my body. A grin must’ve appeared because Cagliostro struck my cheek hard with his foot, causing a river of blood to roll down my face.

“You’ll change your mind,” he said, then clapped his hands.

Two more of those hulking red demons came marching into the cave carrying torches. The place lit up with an orange glow. Suddenly, I felt incredibly exposed, being naked and all. But when my eyes adjusted to the light, it wasn’t Cagliostro or his minions that caught my attention.

Directly across from me—upside down with their eyes blindfolded and their mouths gagged—hung my parents.

My parents!

“Mom! Dad!” I yelled, but they remained still.

It had been over four years since I had last seen them and there they were just five feet away from me hanging upside down. I needed to free them. I needed to save them from whatever torture Cagliostro had been inflicting the last four years. But I was helpless. My blood began to boil. I twisted and jerked around, wishing I had the strength to get down and tear Cagliostro apart with my bare hands. Why wasn’t my Armor working?

I called their names again, but neither of them made a sound or stirred. But I knew they couldn’t be dead because Cagliostro would need to use them as leverage. He’d torture them to get me to cooperate. Force my hand at giving him the secrets embedded within me to unlock the Sacred Scroll. Or maybe he’d torture me to get them to cooperate. No doubt about it—torture would be happening soon. Hot tears welled in my eyes and rolled down my face, dripping into the blood below.

***

Cagliostro blew out an abrupt breath along with a few indecipherable words and my parents snapped awake.

“Fiona!” they cried out in joyful unison.

But that was short-lived because one of the demons slammed a heavy whip across my father’s back. The sound of skin tearing echoed through the cave. I cringed for my father and let out a sob.

“Please, please don’t!” I yelled, knowing this would do no good. Cagliostro wouldn’t stop until he had what he wanted.

“Fiona,” my mother whimpered. “Do not give him the cipher. Whatever they do to us, please don’t—”

The other muscular demon took a club and smacked it across my mother’s ribcage. The sound of bones cracking reverberated off the cave walls. Why weren’t they using their Armor? What was going on inside this cave? Cagliostro had some powerful mind control going on, leading us to believe we were powerless. But we weren’t. Not if we were wearing the Armor.

“Mom, Dad. Remember the Light is in you,” I called out.

Cagliostro cackled like a maniacal jerk. “The Light can do nothing for you down here.”

I glanced over at my parents. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t see the glow of their Armor. They wouldn’t have removed it. They knew better than to part from the magical suit of protection. But I couldn’t detect it. Maybe that’s because the two people hanging from the ceiling weren’t my parents but some sort of mind control trick that Cagliostro was using to break me.

“I don’t have anywhere to go, Miss Farrow. The event at Rhapsody Grove isn’t for another couple days. That gives us forty-eight hours of perpetual ‘enhanced’ interrogation. I’m thinking of using the rack to help persuade you. Have you heard of this device? Perhaps in your medieval history courses?”

I ignored him, putting a mental block on his fear magic. If I could stay focused and trust that the Light was in me, then maybe my Armor would activate.

He smiled, pointing to a horizontal rectangular frame with chains fixed to pulleys that attached to a ratchet mechanism. I didn’t need him to explain how the thing worked, it was clear he’d stretch their limbs until they dislocated and eventually ripped apart from their bodies.

“That’s quite a contraption,” I said calmly. “Looks painful.”

Cagliostro didn’t appreciate my lack of fear over his threat, so he ordered one of the demons to take down my mother’s body and attach her to the wooden frame. He knelt by me, making sure my eyes remained focused on the device. He snapped his fingers and the demons began turning the handle. My mother’s frail limbs began to stretch and she howled like a wild animal caught in a snare. I had to believe it wasn’t really my mother, but rather an illusion. Just another form of manipulation Cagliostro was using to break me down. My heart wavered because it was a huge risk. What if it really was my mother being tortured in that despicable medieval device?

“Stop!” she cried out. “Please stop!”

“Mom!” I screamed, unable to stop my emotions from bursting out.

“Please, Fiona. Just decipher the Scroll for him,” she wailed.

And I had my answer.

My parents were tried and true Protectors of Light. They’d never concede to evil. No matter what. They were willing to be separated from their daughter just to protect the Scrolls. While that wasn’t the most reassuring truth to me personally, it was the only truth. It was our destiny to protect the Light. It was our duty to go to
any
lengths to keep the Sacred Scrolls safe from evil. There’s no way my mother would cave in that easily, if ever.

Cagliostro’s warm breath brushed against my ear. “In a few moments, your mother’s limbs will be ripped apart from her body. There’s no coming back from that. And let me assure you, it’s a brutally painful way to die.”

I glanced up at the demon mage and smiled. “Go for it.”

Shock registered in his shiny black eyes. He stood up and kicked me in the head. “You foolish girl!”

The pain splintered across my skull, but I closed my eyes and focused on the Light. I focused on my Armor. A burst of magical energy shot through my head and the pain subsided. My helmet was working again. I decided to keep quiet about it and pretended to pass out.

Cagliostro clapped his hands and the demons followed him out. When it was clear, I looked around for my parents, but they were no longer with me. And they hadn’t walked out with Cagliostro, so my instincts had been right. Cagliostro was using some serious illusions and mind fuckery. He couldn’t kill me or Julian because he needed us to provide the cipher. So he’d just keep mentally and physically torturing us until he had the information. I was certain I wouldn’t break, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Julian could see through the mind games. I had to get down and find him before he gave Cagliostro anything.

thirty-two

The cave grew quiet except for the repetitive dripping of my blood. That sound alone was enough to drive me nuts. The Armor was activated, but I still couldn’t figure out how to get down. Not with my hands bound behind me and my feet chained high above. I didn’t have much to work with. I tried calling on my sword a few times to no avail. I continued hanging in the dark with the blood slowly being drained from my body, which was incredibly lame.

The minutes slowly passed.

I thought about Asher hanging from that tree.

My vision blurred.

One drop of blood plunked after another.

Then my body went completely numb. Even if I could call on my sword, I couldn’t feel my limbs to hold it up. I was completely useless. All that time I thought I had my shit together. Thought if I could take down Lucius Diamond, that Cagliostro wouldn’t be a problem. But as I hung there with the blood rushing to my head, it became clear that I had failed. Ezra had taught me better. What had I done wrong this time around? I’d be sure to ask if I lived to see my Guide again.

The fear magic had once again gotten the best of me. Wasn’t I born a Protector of Light? That meant I was set apart. I had something special inside of me. Sure, the Light was in me, but that’s not at all what Cagliostro was after. He was after my unique DNA. The DNA coding that had made me a Protector and had the power of unlocking the Sacred Scrolls. And if I was created with a special coding, didn’t that mean I could tap into it to get out of this mess? I didn’t know for sure, but I had nothing to lose by trying.

“Ez, I don’t know where you are or if you can even hear me. But I need some help. I’m running out of juice here and can’t seem to sync up with my Armor. So please, whatever you have to do, do it. Even if that means shattering me into a million pieces.”

I didn’t really want to be broken apart into a million pieces, but I was willing to do whatever needed to be done.

From above, I noticed my magical boots warming up like I had been sitting next to a fireplace after coming in from the cold. The warmth prickled through my toes and rolled up my ankles and legs. My breastplate pulsated and jolted my heartbeat like a defibrillator, kicking me back to life. The pool of blood below lit up from the reflection of the glowing helmet.

I was back in business! My Armor had been restored to full capacity. The fear magic and mind control Cagliostro had over me had dissipated.

Once the feeling returned to my fingers, I called on my sword and carefully sawed through the chains around my wrists. When my hands were free, I swung my body forward and up, swiping my sword across the rusty pipe above. My feet were released and I dropped to the ground, landing in the puddle of blood. Once I tore off the remaining chains, I cloaked myself, hoping Cagliostro and the others wouldn’t be able to detect me as I searched for Julian.

I followed one of the pathways, using my sword to light the way. The labyrinth of underground tunnels kept leading me in circles, which told me Cagliostro probably had a spell over the entire place. I closed my eyes and began chanting the ancient words of the Logos. Hopefully Julian would hear me and somehow lead me to his location.

A vision appeared. Julian tied to a pole, his back bleeding from deep slash marks. The torture had begun. I continued repeating the Logos just above a whisper, trusting I was being led down the right path.

After a few twists and turns, I heard the sound of whips slapping against bare skin. An overwhelming scent came to me: coconut oil and salty air, but also a rancid aroma of burning tar. I was close.