Born of Magic (Channeler Series) (14 page)

“Girls, heat the furnace, melt the ore.”

“Why us?” I said in defiance, refusing to make this easy on him.

My rebellious behavior was met with a slap across the face. My cheek stung and throbbed with pain. I could feel the welt in the outline of his hand swell up.

“She's the only one who can heat this ore enough to melt it, that is, with your help she can.” He pointed to the network of pipes and metal casts set up around the furnace. “The melted ore will flow through these pipes and into the casts, where my men will make the most perfect army of swords ever seen. Imbued with her power the swords will melt away the weapons and shields of anyone foolish enough to cross me.”

A sly tear glided down the girl’s cheek. I could tell that she never wanted her magic to help some monster like Caspere, but it appeared we had no choice. He pulled us closer to the furnace, forcing her hands towards the base of the giant pot

“Do it,” he shouted at her, and slapped me across the face once more.

The girl pulled away. “No, I will not help a mad man like you,” she shouted. Her hands were clenched at her sides.

Her resistance was met with another slap to my face. “Do it or this young girl suffers.”

The men at Caspere’s side drew their swords and pointed them at us, ready to strike us down if we did not do as he commanded. Their blades were made of a dull, silvery metal and were filled with chips and dings along the edges—they had seen their share of use.

The girl lifted her hands again and began to heat the pot. I could see the magic turn red and then pour out of her hands as quickly as it flowed into her. She was using every ounce of energy she had. The stone pot turned a faint shade of red as it started to heat up.

“I cannot get it any hotter—” she pleaded.

Caspere tugged on my chain. “That is what this dog is for.”

He glared at me and I knew that there was no other choice. I began to channel a steady stream of magic into the girl, careful not to overwhelm her. I feared what giving her too much power would do to her. Would she burst into flames? The stone pot turned bright red and surges of heat burned our faces as the ore began to melt. Caspere jumped up and down in excitement as one of the men watching over it signaled it was almost ready.

The girl’s nose began to bleed, her body shaking as the magic she was using began to overpower her. She was near the breaking point, about to collapse from pain when the ore was finally ready. Caspere tugged against our chain and pulled us away. My wrists felt as though they would snap from the force. Painful red indents were left in my skin around the cuffs.

The pot was tipped over and the molten metal poured into the casts. Men doused the molten swords with water, and the room filled with steam. It burned my eyes, and I could barely breathe. The girl seemed comfortable in the environment. I wondered how many countless hours had she spent in this hell?

The men pulled the glowing red swords and began to sharpen them while they were still hot. Sparks lit up the room like shooting fireworks within the cloud of steam that still swirled around us. The room was chaotic and loud as the men worked vigorously to finish the weapons. There was a rhythm to the banging of their hammers as they worked at the same pace.

I guessed about fifty swords or so were formed from the first batch. I watched in near awe at the process. A few minutes later, one of the workers brought one of the new swords over to Caspere, and the metal sang as it was handed to him. The sword appeared to change color from different angles, at first a vibrant blue, then dark purple, and then deep green.

I had never seen anything like it before. The vicious weapon wore a beauty like no gem or piece of jewelry that I had seen before. Caspere waved it around with a grin that outshone anything he had presented before.

“Perfect. Prepare for another batch,” Caspere commanded. He then handed the sword to one of the guards that had chained us. “Give that a try.”

The man nodded and accepted the humming weapon. He turned to one of the other guards. “Draw your sword.”

The guard did as he was instructed and took out his sword, holding it in front of him. The older guard that wielded the new weapon took one swing at the other’s sword. I watch as the old steel shattered the moment it contacted the beautiful new weapon. A purple glow radiated from the new sword as it swished through the air unchallenged. Shards of steel flew through the air and Caspere’s eyes widened and he bounced up and down.

Caspere shouted as he grabbed the weapon back from his guard, “Get to work, quickly. I want more.”

We were brought back over to the furnace. The girl next to me seemed dizzy and tired, barely able to stay on her feet. I was hurting her with all the magic that I had channeled into her.

I whispered to the girl, “I’m sorry.”

She nodded back at me, her eyes never meeting mine. The pot was full once again and she raised her hands to it with reluctance, and began heating it for the next batch. I waited a moment, praying for some miracle to save me from having to cause her pain once more. Nothing but another agonizing slap across the face came. With every heartbeat I could feel the stinging in my cheek.

“Now,” Caspere said in a gleeful rage.

I flooded the poor girl with painful, overwhelming magic.

We continued this process for five more batches. I didn’t know how she managed to keep going. Every time it drained more out of her. Her pain grew worse and her ears began to bleed. She was strong, stronger than anyone I had ever met. She never stopped or collapsed, though she looked near to it the entire time.

The room was filled with clouds of burning steam, the clanging of hammers, and sparks flying through the air. It never ceased. My lungs were burned with each breath, my eyes watered from the scalding heat. This place was hell.

By the time we had finished the sixth batch the day was gone. The girl struggled to walk as Caspere dragged us back down the hallways we had taken earlier that day. He skipped all the way. The girl’s skin was like snow and her face was stone carving staring off into the distance, eroded by years of harsh weather.

Caspere guided the girl and I into a large, brick wall room. There were no bars, no wooden floor, just stone. I figured he kept her here to prevent her from ever burning herself a way out of this nightmare. Two men rolled a giant stone door over the exit and we were trapped in the darkness.

I rushed over to the girl and pleaded to her, “I’m so sorry.”

She didn’t say anything, just wrapped her sweaty arms around me and cradled me while she cried. I must have been the first companion she had seen in some time. She was covered in sweat, dried blood, and smelled as if she hadn’t bathed in months. I held her back.

“Help’s coming,” I whispered to her.

“Whatever will keep you going,” she replied between her sobs.

“No, I—” I was about to tell her about Tevon, but she squeezed me. She had been promised salvation before, I could tell, and she did not want to hear it again.

This girl was now more important to me than anyone else I had even known before. We had bonded over our suffering. It felt as strong as the bond I had made with Edgar, and I vowed I would take her away from this.

“Helendra.”

“Thank Etherea you’re okay,”
she answered. Her voice was still very faint.

“There is another girl here. She needs help as well. Will Tevon save her, too?”

“Of course,”
she said—she sounded surprised.
“We would never abandon someone in need. Tevon will be there tonight. Be ready.”

My heart leapt for joy. I pulled away from the girl’s arms and looked at her through the darkness. In Etherea I could see the bruises on her face and arms, the tears streaming down her cheeks. I smiled and wiped them away.

“They’re coming tonight to rescue us.” I almost shouted the news to her. I stopped and placed my hands over my mouth in fear I would alert someone and give away our rescuers element of surprise. That they may have been the only advantage that they had.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up at me. “You’re serious aren’t you? Who’s coming?”

“A mage from the mages academy. His name is Tevon.” A merry smile came on my face that spanned from ear to ear.

“The mages academy? I thought that was just a fairytale.”

I was surprised she had heard of them at all. Before Aton had told me, I had never heard of such a thing. “Apparently they’re real, and they’re coming for us.”

She looked at me and shook her head, “You’d better stop filling my head with dreams.” Her voice was bitter and stern. She curled up into a tight ball and crossed her arms.

It was no use—she wouldn’t believe me. I sat down next to her and stared at the door, waiting for it to open to a friendly face. “You’ll see,” I said in confidence, trying to reassure myself as much as her.

The night passed as I stared at the door. Still, no one came. I had no way of knowing time it was, but I could tell in my heart that it was close to sunrise and still no rescue. The girl had slept beside me all night, casting aside my promise of rescue. I was glad she had, I was wrong.

“This may be harder than we realized, Jasminis,”
Helendra said. Knowing her, she had sensed my loss of hope.
“Caspere has you well guarded. We are working on a way to get you out of there, but the stone prison you are in makes it difficult.”

I refused to let hope return to me again. I had been let down enough, and I made no reply to her. She made no further efforts to ensure me otherwise, and I knew I was alone. We were alone.

The girl awoke after my one sided conversation with Helendra. She looked up at me and could tell I had stayed awake all night in anticipation. “Idiot,” was all she said to me.

The door opened, forming a small crack, and my heart leapt for a moment, then sank even further after I saw two plates of horrific food come sliding in. The girl grabbed one and began shoveling it down. The smell of rotten vegetables emanated from it. I was beginning to piece together all the different smells that had come together to make that horrific stench of Caspere’s: the sulfur smell from the factory, the snakes from his chambers, and the rotten food from the kitchen. He lived the same hell as us, only his twisted mind enjoyed it.

I forced the food down my stomach, my body aching for the nourishment. We spent the day sitting in separate corners as the day inched along. The girl seemed to enjoy it, as she did not have to return to that factory that scalded her face and melted her lungs. Sitting in a dark, uncomfortable cell all day was how she relaxed.

There were no thoughts I could find for comfort as we passed the day away, only wishing for this time of peace to last as long as it could. There were no visitors or rescuers, only the two meals and bucket of nasty water that were tossed in to us.

As we both grew tired, I could tell night had come again. The girl was now sleeping in the corner; likely frustrated with the false hope I had given her. We didn’t speak to one another that day, and with night here now, I found it a good idea to get some sleep. There would be no knight in shining armor tonight.

The silence lulled my eyes shut. Then the girl sat up from her restless sleep. “You know, together we could end this.”

I looked over at her. Her eyes were focused on the ground in front of her as she sat against the cold brick wall.

“What do you mean?”

She trembled as she spoke, “Together—“ she stopped and tugged at a loose strand of her tattered hair. “We could heat this room enough to where we wouldn’t have to spend any more miserable days here. We could find peace.”

My jaw dropped and I gasped. She had lost all hope, any will to live. At that moment I remembered the vow I had made to myself to save her from this. She may have been strong at once, but now she needed me to be the strong one. “No, I’ll get us out of here.”

She sighed in exasperation, “I don’t know why you keep lying to yourself—”

Before she could finish, a rumbling came from the door. It was opening, but much slower than it usually did. It budged open several inches, but then it stopped. Grunting could be heard from the other side, followed by heavy breathing. I jumped to my feet and rushed over to it.

“Help me. We need to open this door,” I said.

She shook her head at me, “You don’t want to know what’s on the other side.”

I didn’t care; some hope was better than nothing. Even if this led to another disappointment, I knew that I had to keep hoping, for her sake. I placed my hands against the hard stone door and tried to roll it to the side. I pushed with all of my meager might, trying as hard as I could in desperation to open this gateway to freedom. It took a moment, but it finally budged open just enough for me to squeeze out. I looked to the opening and my heart nearly stopped from the shock.

Aton’s face peered in. “There you are. Come on, we have to go now.”

While I didn’t trust him, he had come back for me, and he was a way out. The girl jumped to her feet and bolted over to the door with me. I crawled out after shooting her a smile that just screamed, “Told you so.” She tried to follow behind me, but could not squeeze through the small gap as I had. Aton began to run out of the room.