In the Shadows (20 page)

Grey releases me from his arms as soon as he’s convinced I’m not going to go tearing out from our hiding spot, revealing our presence to the Dark Elves.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I shake my head no.

“Of course you aren’t. I’m sorry,” he says, reaching over and sliding his hand over mine. I bite my lip in an attempt to keep the tears forming in my eyes from spilling over.  He wraps his arm around me and my head falls onto his shoulder.

We remain hidden for a few more minutes until Grey and Adele can no longer hear the Dökkálfar.

“I’m going to go make sure the coast is clear,” he says before ducking out of the hollowed tree.

I stare at the ground, with my knees pulled up to my chest, still not quite over the shock of knowing that Hannah’s here. I feel Adele’s eyes on me so I glance up and get the impression she wants to ask me about something. Since I’m not really in the mood to socialize, I return to gazing at the mossy-covered ground peppered with small pebbles and twigs beneath me.

“He cares about you, you know?” she says deliberately.

“I know.”

“Do you care about him?” she asks.

“Of course I do,” I retort indignantly.

“Then stop toying with his heart.”

I gape at her in shock. How dare she accuse me of toying with his heart?

“I’m not trying to offend you, Princess. I’m just asking you to be gentle. If you don’t reciprocate his feelings, stop leading him on.”

“I’m not leading him on. It’s not like that between us,” I say defensively. The fact that she called me ‘princess’ instead of Mia does not escape my notice. “Grey’s my friend.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” she says curtly. “But it’s obvious to everyone that you hold his heart in the palm of your hands. Just—just please be gentle.”

“I don’t—”  Before I can finish speaking, she holds her finger up to her lips and I know that she’s warning me that Grey is close enough now that he’d be able to hear me and a moment later, he pops his head back in.

“All is clear,” he says. “The river is only about twenty yards from here.”

He offers his hand to help me climb out from the hollowed tree, but I decline, freshly stung by Adele's accusations and not wanting to give her any other reason to believe that I’m leading Grey on. He only looks confused for a moment before he shaking it off.

We follow Grey and within minutes the trees gradually begin to thin out and the river appears in sight. Knowing how close we are to finding the
Noctis vigeo
and finally being able to return to Álfheimr we pick up our pace. The sweet smell of the white blooms is stronger now, almost intoxicating.

The only sound other than our footsteps is the trickling of the foamy river. The water is so dark that I can’t see any trace of fish, or stones or even any plant life. I can’t tell if it’s because it’s so deep or if the water is just that dark.  I'm contemplating picking up a stone and tossing it in to see what happens when Grey exclaims, “There they are.”

I stop and look at where he’s pointing and he’s right, there they are, a whole field covered with white blooms is before us, climbing up the sides of the purple mountains that we have finally reached.

There is a collective sigh of relief as we achieve what we came here to do, but at the same time, a sense of dread comes over me as I realize that they can return to Álfheimr now. The next part of my journey, the one I have to face alone, is upon us and I’m still not sure how I’m going to do this.

We each gather up a handful of the flowers, taking special effort to collect the entire root, then place them in the tote that Adele brought. Once she is satisfied that we have gathered enough, she straps the bag across her chest, a nervous smile on her face.

“Okay, let’s get back so we can do this,” she says. I think it’s funny that she says ‘we’ since she’ll be concocting the antidote herself. I force myself to smile back. Grey stands beside her and she reaches out for his hand, then he turns to me with his opposite hand outstretched so that we can transport home together.

It’s time.

My heart is pounding frantically as I try not to panic and I know that he can hear it. My hand shakes as I reach out for his. He peers down at me, his eyebrows knitted up in confusion. “Are you ready?” he asks.

I nod and start counting “One. Two. Three—”

And just before the warmth starts to rush over us, I wrench my hand free, falling to the ground in a heap as Adele and Grey vanish into thin air, leaving me all alone.

Chapter Twenty-One

I
know I only have about thirty seconds before Grey and Adele realize that I didn’t make it back with them. However, I’m counting on the fact that they will be so preoccupied with getting to work on the antidote that it will buy me some time. Except I highly doubt that. Grey is probably already on his way back here so I'm not taking any chances. I take off in a run towards the deepest part of the woods and once I’m sufficiently convinced that I’m sufficiently hidden from view, I reach down into my pocket for the map to the Black Crystal.

By examining the hand-drawn map, I determine that I’ll need to head west. From what I can tell, my destination isn’t too far from here and if I follow the river upstream, it should take me straight to the Olfossά waterfall. That’s where I’ll find the Black Crystal. If I’m lucky, I’ll manage to reach it quickly enough that Adele won’t even have time to finish the antidote and I can heal Isobel myself, like I should've been able to do in the first place. Then I can prove to them all that I’m not just some little weakling.

I follow the river at a run, desperate to reach the waterfall before darkness falls in the Underworld, not wanting to remain here alone any longer than I absolutely have to. I’m running so hard and fast that soon my legs are Jell-O, my shirt’s drenched in sweat, and my lungs are burning.

I hear the thunderous sound of heavy water hitting rocks and know that I’m close so despite the protest of my aching body, I push on harder until  find myself at the mouth of the waterfall. I bend over, resting my hands resting on my knees as I struggle to catch my breath.

Looking around to make sure I’m still alone, I reach into my pocket and pull out the map again. The way Finnegan has drawn it makes it appear that the crystal is on top of the waterfall which doesn’t make any sense until I realize that perhaps he was trying to indicate that it is hidden behind it?

How can I get behind the waterfall without actually going through the water? Is the water only deadly if consumed? There’s really no way to know. There’s no time for me to figure out another way to get through the waterfall. I try not to think about how terrified I am, but instead remember that the sooner I get this over with, the sooner I’ll be back in Álfheimr, and Isobel will be better, Jacoby will be free, and nobody will doubt my strength ever again—if I survive.

It looks like this time around, getting wet is the least of my worries as I prepare myself to face the consequences of diving into the unknown yet again. I slip off my backpack and my shoes then I approach the edge of the river, taking note of the heavy pressure of the water hitting the rocks. Then I take a deep breath and jump through the wall of water.

The pressure pushes me down instantly, but I kick hard, swimming horizontally as long as I can hold my breath, knowing that I need to get behind the waterfall in order to reach the crystal. The water burns my skin like acid and I feel the tingling sensation as my body tries to keep up with the healing process as I swim on.

I swim for what seems like an eternity when I feel like I can’t hold my breath for one second longer and then I push on even further until my lungs scream out in desperation for oxygen. When I resurface, I’m in a dark cave illuminated in a blue glow which emanates from a flame circling a golden pedestal that has a black diamond resting atop it.

The water is now shallow enough that I can walk the rest of the way, and as I ascend the edge of the water I can see how puckered and damaged my skin is.

I step onto the slate-colored ground that feels cool against my bare feet. The cave flickers with shadows cast by the blue flame and it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. When they finally do, I realize that in order to reach the blue-flame encased pedestal, I'll have to walk across a stone bridge—a very narrow stone bridge.

As in, I might as well be a tight rope walker.

It’s only about thirty feet long but that part isn’t what has me frightened. It’s the fact that I can’t see the bottom of the cavern underneath the bridge that scares the crap out of me. There’s nothing but a dark abyss beneath me and with one false step…well, I don’t even want to think about that.

This is going to be a balancing act—almost like a balance beam. Maybe I can do this if I think about it just like that, like walking across the beam in those beginner gymnastic classes I took the summer after I made the varsity cheerleading squad. Unfortunately, this time I won’t have the thick mats to cushion my fall.

I reach my arms up into a “T” and take one slow, deliberate step then another, and another, never dropping my eyes from the goal right in front of me. 

I let out a giant sigh of relief when I finally make it across after one hundred painstakingly careful steps—I count each and every one of them.

As I near the blue-flame enclosed pedestal I notice the markings and letters etched into the sides. I recognize them as the language of the elves from all those hours spent in the Álfheimr library with Grey learning about the history of the Ljósálfar.

Ωάr¥ŋ£ƨƨ ΩiΩ fάſſ fró∩ ŧħ£ ſiʛħŧάŋΩ iŋ ŧħ£ ƨħάΩóϖs óf ŧħ£ pſiʛħŧ

Iŋŧó ŧħ£ Ω£pŧħƨ ϖiſſ p£risħ άſſ Ŧħάŧ Ωάr£ Ωiƨŧųrɸ tħiƨ p£Ω£ƨŧάſ.

I guess I should have paid attention when Grey was trying to teach me the basics of the language.

I can’t believe that I did it. I found the Black Crystal all by myself. I swam through the river of death, walked across the narrow stone bridge and reached the Black Crystal without anybody’s help. I’m not helpless. Isobel knew it and now I’m going to be able to heal her without Adele’s stupid antidote. 

I reach my hand tentatively out toward the flames that are as high as my waist and realize that it’s cold. How strange. I reach through the blue flame and pick up the Black Crystal.

As soon as it’s in my hands the blue flame combusts loudly in a sonic boom, deafening me and knocking me backwards with such force that I land on my butt right on the edge of the cliff. I use my arms to shield my eyes from the fierce blue light exploding in every direction like a starburst.

I hear an evil cackle in the distance that sounds eerily familiar, like something out of my nightmares. Realization dawns over me but before I can pick myself up off the floor and get the heck out of Dodge, I’m surrounded by dark shadowy figures.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” Herdis and the other Shadow Elves have appeared out of nowhere.

“No.” My voice is shaking. My ears are still ringing and my watery eyes haven’t quite adjusted back to normal after witnessing the recent light show. What was that?

“You removed the Black Crystal.”

“I—I know,” I stutter. “I need it to heal Isobel.”

“Who told you of the stone’s healing properties?” Herdis demands firmly, even though her voice is disturbingly calm, like a snake waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to strike.

“Finnegan told me it would give me the strength to heal Isobel since I wasn’t able to on my own.”

Herdis looks at me with wide eyes. “The Duke? Why would he do such a thing? He of all people knows what would happen if the Black Crystal was ever removed from its pedestal.” 

“He was desperate to save his wife,” I try to explain.

“He was most certainly desperate. Though I doubt very much he cares whether Isobel lives or dies,” Herdis says heartlessly.

“How can you say that? Of course he cares! He was devastated when I couldn't help her. That’s why he told me about the Black Crystal. He said it would make me strong enough. He was so upset!”

“My dear, you don’t understand. The Black Crystal is not simply a gem used to increase strength. Why did you not heed the warning?”

“What warning?”

“The one clearly written on the golden pedestal.”

“The engraving? I can’t read elfish. What does it say?”

She turns to the pedestal that once held the Black Crystal and translates the reading:

“Darkness did fall from the light

And in the shadows of the plight

Into the depths will perish all

That dare disturb this pedestal.”

“What does it mean?”

“What does it mean?” she repeats, shaking her head in disbelief. “It means that this stone was the only thing holding the Dökkálfar in the Underworld; that’s what it means.”

My heart stops beating for one, two, three beats and then picks up again double time, frantically beating against my ribcage, pumping the blood through my veins with such velocity that I feel like I’m burning alive from the inside.

“That can’t be—all this time—nobody ever said anything about it—the prophecy?” My words comes out just as jumbled as they are in my head.

“No one told you because very few people even knew, and no one wanted to risk the Dökkálfar somehow making the discovery.”

“Then how did Finnegan find out about it?”

“Your father must have told him.”

“But—Finnegan—if he knew what would happen, he wouldn’t betray my father like that, not even if he was truly desperate to save his wife. Would he?”

“I’m sorry, my child, I suspect that Finnegan has another allegiance.”

“No. No, that can’t be. I don’t believe it.” I shake my head in disbelief when suddenly the memory of my last encounter with Sól resurfaces.

Not everyone is who they seem.

Sól tried to warn me. I’m such an idiot, and now I’ve ruined everything.  “So I really did it? I broke the curse?”

Herdis nods solemnly and I think I might throw up. I bring my palm over my mouth but it’s no use. I bend over at the waist as the meager contents of my stomach lurch out of me until there’s nothing left but acidic bile and I’m left painfully dry heaving.