Isaura (11 page)

Why did Henry have maps of the world? Did any of these
countries still exist? The guard, Kelvin, in Torv had told me about other
countries but I couldn't recall any specifics.

I returned the maps into the drawer, perfectly rolled. While
Henry was busy with Rane, I took the time alone to explore inside the castle
walls.

I'd been in Spade's library, studying their texts and their
language. It was interesting to read stories of their history which should have
been considered our history, but it had been different. The texts were written
by those who lived within Spade's walls. The entire library consisted of new
books, new texts. Most I'd never heard of. Some were novels, many were history
books with stories that had been passed down for generations.

I jumped, startled, when the first strike against Spade hit.
We should have seen it coming and been prepared, knowing Isaura was out there,
searching for me. I was her target and the townspeople were mere casualties to
her.

I was engrossed in reading as I felt the first rumble generating
through the town. The books shook, a few fell to the ground. My eyes widened
and pulse raced as I backed away from the shelf, unwilling to be crushed by it.
I didn't have to look outside to know what was coming. I staggered out of the
library, as I heard the sounds growing even louder outside. Within town, the
people screamed with fear, most having no idea what was going on.

“We're under attack!” I heard them scream clear as day. It
was a rally to get the troops of Spade in place.

The ground trembled with another quake as Isaura had
gathered her power and learned to use the Mindonsiphan to her advantage. I'd
studied and trained in Shadow, but my purpose was never to intentionally harm
anyone. Isaura though, she wanted to kill innocent people. Did she even have a
soul, it seemed impossible. “Come out, Olivia!” she boomed from just outside
the gates. I maneuvered through the city square towards the tower. The stone
walls held strong, but for how much longer? I hadn't seen her. I could only
feel her wrath as she had unleashed it on Spade. “Olivia. Olivia. Where are
you?” Her voice held a sing-song quality as she paced outside the grounds. Each
step was another rumble along the ground, an earthquake. “Come out. Come out.
Wherever you are,” she taunted me.

I maneuvered through the town, finding my way higher so I
could see what awaited us outside the stone gates. Spade was well protected but
how long these men could keep Isaura out?

“Olivia!” I heard Henry's voice and turned around to see him
and Rane walking alongside one another. “You need to get inside where it's
safe.”

“No.” I wanted Isaura to know I wasn't afraid and I needed
to see what we were up against. I refused to cower and hide behind the castle
walls.

Cate came rushing outside towards us. “You need to hide!” she
insisted.

Henry sighed. “I'm not going to just hand you over to her.
If she sees you, the minute she knows you're in here, she's going to storm the
castle and kill you.”

I won't deny that it was one of my concerns, but I also knew
if she could have broken through the barriers she'd have come into the walls already.
The stone was impenetrable. “Maybe not.” I tried to remain tough. I walked over
towards Rane and threw my arms around her in a hug. My breath tickled her ear. “Find
Adelaide and protect her at all costs. Okay?” I couldn't chance Isaura coming
after her. She may have wanted me now, but I didn't want to risk Adelaide being
her next target. If I didn't survive, Adelaide would.

Rane didn't speak. With wide eyes she took off in the
opposite direction descending the tower as fast as possible.

“What are you doing, Olivia?” Cate asked with trepidation.

“You can't.” Henry stared at me, concern pleading in his
eyes. “You can't let her take you.”

I scoffed under my breath. “You think she can?” I was tough
but I wasn't fearless. I walked towards the window embedded in stone. I was
careful not to be spotted, concerned if she did know exactly where I was it
might not take much for her to attack. I hid as best as I could, peering
through the opening and finding her outside. She looked harmless. If it had
been anyone else I'd have thought she was lost. Perhaps I should have been
grateful she hadn't come in disguise.

Henry watched for a moment before pulling me away from the
window. “You'll get yourself killed if you're not careful.”

“What do you suggest we do?” I questioned. “We have a
madwoman outside and she wants me dead. Come to think of it, as soon as she
finds out you're like me, she'll want you dead, too,” I reminded him bluntly. “Same
with Cate.” I glanced at her.

“I'll fight alongside of you,” Cate offered. “You don't have
to do this alone.”

“I need you here, Cate. Someone has to protect these people.”

Henry sighed. “Fine, fine, but you staying here isn't doing
anyone any good,” he reminded me. Abruptly he grabbed my arm, dragging me away
from the window and the highest point of the castle. Together we slowly
descended the tower.

“Where are we going?” I was going to slap him if he
suggested someplace safe.

Henry kept walking but glanced at me quickly. “How do you
think she found you?”

I shook my head. I hadn't considered it. “The Mindonsiphan,”
I answered slowly. “You think it has some sort of tracking ability?”

“It runs in our blood. It's possible we're linked together,”
he said. “Anyway there are more of us in Spade with Mindonsiphan than anywhere
else, right?”

Joshua was in Torv with Elsa and Aidan but Adelaide, Cate,
Henry and I were in Spade. “Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “You think it's
possible she can find us because we're all connected?”

“It's how I knew where you were when Isaura arrived.” Henry
stared at me. I felt another quake and gripped the stone wall. I stopped
walking, just trying to keep my feet upright.

“Is that so?” I was more than slightly surprised. When I had
needed it to guide me to find Joshua when he'd been taken by Craynor it hadn't
been so easy. Maybe I hadn't known how it worked. Knowing how to use Mindonsiphan
was a tricky business.

Henry shrugged. “Or maybe I just knew where you'd be.”

“How?” I asked him. What was he implying? He didn't answer.
He gripped my arm and led me further from the tower and back into the main city
center. “Where are we going?” I demanded.

“You're leaving, right now,” he stated. “The longer you stay
in Spade the more danger you pose to my people.”

I didn’t want to argue or fight with him. He was right. As
much as I denied wanting to leave it was my responsibility. I would not be the
cause of hundreds of innocents dying, including Adelaide. “Take care of her for
me,” I whispered thinking of the young girl I'd rescued just a short time ago.

“You'll be back.” He smiled, though I suspected he was
reassuring himself.

I didn't answer. “Protect her.” It wasn't a question but a
request. He led me down through the tunnels, an all too familiar place I'd
traveled once before. “Henry?”

“Follow the underground system. It'll take you to Torv in
two days' time, if you always head south, and don't stop. About thirty clicks
south there's a storage facility with bottled water and rationed food to get
you the rest of the way. We've always planned for war. I just never thought it
would happen like this,” he admitted.

I leaned towards Henry, resting my forehead against his. “I
can't do this.”

“Yes, you can.” He pulled back. “Joshua would want you to do
the same thing,” he reminded me. “You need to go now.”

“No.” I pulled back slightly. “You should go. You, Adelaide,
Rane, Cate and anyone else of importance. I'll stay. I'll fight. I'm who Isaura
wants.” I stared at him. “I'm not a coward, Henry.”

He sighed, pulling me into his arms. “I never implied as
much. Running doesn't make you a coward. It makes you human. Having the will to
survive is what we all have. I just, I want you alive, Olivia. Even if it means
you're on the run.”

“I've been on the run.” I stared at him, growing upset. I
was frustrated with the world, with what it had become. I'd been on the run for
over a year, trying to make a new system, trying to fix the damage that had
been created. Most of it had worked out in our favor, but Isaura had been born
from it and I couldn't take the chance she'd destroy everything we'd fought
for. “My friends in Shadow died because of Isaura. I won't let her hurt anyone
else,” I said. “You go. I'm staying here to fight.”

“Let me help you,” he pleaded with me. “Let me stand with
you, at your side.”

“No.” My voice was sharp and intent. “You and Cate protect
Adelaide. I need to know she will survive, no matter what happens with Isaura,”
I acknowledged. “You and Cate can teach her and help guide her through this.”
She needed people who understood what she was going through.

Henry accepted what I wanted. He didn't argue. There was
nothing he could say to convince me otherwise. Cate didn't try to stop me. She
knew the damage Isaura had caused once and how easily she could do the same
thing to Spade. I turned and walked back up the steps towards the bright light
of the outside world. Though still within Spade's walls, soon I'd face Isaura,
whether I was ready to or not.

There was never any other choice. Life had been that way all
along. I was born. I didn't have the choice to be born, it just happened. Again
I didn't have the choice who I would marry. The government had demanded I marry
Joshua. Although I eventually had been given the choice, it wasn't without
consequences and costs. Friends had died and I would always carry the burden
with me.

Isaura stood outside Spade's stone walls. “Where are you
going?” A guard shouted at me as I motioned for him to open the gate. I wasn't
dressed for battle. I was wearing a gown, the same one I'd put on that morning
with a mix of red and blue, the waistline cinched in white and fanned out. It
reminded me of a book I'd read in the library about a fallen country, and it
had inspired me to be so much more than I felt capable.

“I'm going outside. Open the gate.” The guard frowned,
unsure he should do as I said.

“Is that wise?”

“Probably not,” I muttered. “She wants me.” I wanted him to
know by lowering the bridge between Spade and the Gravelands, Isaura wouldn't
attack Spade. Two guards stood at their posts, lowering the entranceway.
Without hesitation I stepped outside. I would not fear Isaura. She was nothing
more than I was, a byproduct of men dabbling in science.

“Olivia. Olivia.” Isaura smiled. I didn't turn around. The
gate closed behind me as I stepped forward towards her. She looked harmless but
she had something planned. I just wasn't sure what it was yet.

“What do you want?” I stood with my feet planted on the
surface, waiting for her demands or her to try and kill me. It wasn't easy to
retain a level head knowing it might be my last moment on earth. I wasn't going
to be afraid. I was doing this to save Adelaide, Henry, and the entire town of
Spade.

“You, dear. Just you.” Isaura grinned as a wave of smoke
erupted around us. Her arms came up with it and I grimaced as I tried not to
cough. I felt myself incapable of moving. She'd done something to me, made it
impossible for me to run. I was paralyzed.

“Isaura?” I choked, barely able to get the words to my lips
as the air around us was impossible to breathe. With the smoke followed a dense
fog and my body grew rigid for another minute before finally falling to the
floor in a heap. My eyes blurred and grew heavy. The ground beneath us didn't
change but the castle behind us had vanished. “What happened? Where's Spade?”
Had she destroyed it and those people inside? My head throbbed as though I'd be
beaten with a brick.

“Not where but when.” Isaura laughed darkly. “I wanted to
show you this land before Spade was erected.” I struggled to stand, dusting my
legs of dirt as I took in the sight around me. It was all open fields. “2225,”
she said. “When Cabal had won independence from the Republic of China.”

“Why are we here?” I didn't understand the significance.
Unless she intended to kill me in the past so no one would ever find my body. I
wouldn't put it past her.

Isaura waved her hands and our surroundings changed again. I
had preferred the open fields and 2225 to this place. “Welcome home,” she
smirked. We were in a cellar. The room was dark, the walls made of cement and
smelling of mildew.

“Excuse me?”

Isaura smiled. “You have two choices. Save your dying
husband or kill me.” She waved her hand once more and Joshua appeared on the
floor. His face bloody, his leg badly twisted. Isaura retreated a few steps
before vanishing. I cursed under my breath as I rushed to Joshua's side and bent
down.

“Josh, can you hear me?” My hand reached down towards his
head, examining the damage.

Touching his warm skin, Joshua groaned in protest. At least
he was still alive. I closed my eyes and focused on him the same way I had when
I'd healed the injury to his chest. It took less time than I remembered as my
fingers glowed amber. Slowly the marks faded against his skin. Joshua's eyes
fluttered open, staring up at me. “Where am I?” He grimaced as he moved to sit
up. Although the injuries had healed, it still didn't erase the fact we were
locked in a cellar. I had no idea where we were or when we were. Considering
Isaura had found a way to travel through time, I didn't trust our surroundings.

“I don't know. Can you get up?” I asked, helping Josh to his
feet. His body trembled but he didn't protest or complain. He was always tough,
no matter the situation.

“This looks a little too familiar,” he muttered. “How do we
get out of here?”

“I have no idea,” I breathed, glancing at him relieved even
in the dark cellar with no windows I could see a faint overhead light. “To use
Mindonsiphan, I need a mirror or something for a portal. I can't just make us
disappear into thin air.”