Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) (34 page)

Alex and Gawain sighed
with relief. Gideon held out his arms for Darling, and reluctantly Valerie
released him. According to her own plan, she would be the first one to emerge
from the castle, and Darling had to be protected in case they encountered any
stray Fractus guarding the castle from the outside.

Sanguina went over to
the crank that let down the drawbridge. Because of the magic Reaper had woven
into the castle, she was the only one who could open it, and probably for the
last time. After today, it would likely be re-spelled to not respond to her
touch.

Despite the horror of one enemy and one friend dead on
the mission, not to mention a missing Oberon, a guilty relief that it was
almost over made Valerie suck in a deep breath of air. That was, until the
drawbridge crashed down and revealed over a hundred Fractus in black robes—the
ones who could control electricity—waiting for them on the outside.

“Draw the bridge back
up!” Valerie yelled, but it was too late.

Lightning crackled from the
Fractus’s hands and rushed toward Valerie and her army in a blaze of light.
Acting on pure instinct, she drew Pathos and held it high in the air, hoping it
would divert the path of the electricity.

The lightning hit her
sword, sending her staggering backward. Pathos glowed blue, and a wave of heat
shot through her palm into her body. It passed through her heart and she fell
to her knees.

“Listen to me,” Henry’s
voice was back, calm in her brain. “You have to use your vivicus power to save
yourself.”

Part of her wanted to
ignore him. She hadn’t been able to save Zaki or Jet or Galahad—did she really
have the right to use her power on herself? But her magic seemed to be
following Henry’s order without her consent. It rushed through her in a
torrent, catching her up in it. She let herself be drawn away by its current,
and it would have carried her away if Henry’s mind hadn’t forced her magic to
subside.

She sagged, and Sanguina
caught her before she hit the ground. Valerie forced her eyes to remain open.
She saw the Knights, and even some of the stronger prisoners, fighting the
Fractus.

“We must press our
advantage,” Sanguina said. “It will take them time to recharge and release the
lightning again, but one more burst of electricity will kill us all.”

Valerie nodded, and
reached for her magic for strength. It was completely gone, burned out from saving
her life. So she drew on something else, a strength she had before she even
knew about her power.

With a battle cry that she
didn’t know she was capable of making, she rushed into the fight. The prisoners
only had the weapons they had taken from the boys who had fallen in the
threshold of the Black Castle, but they fought with a fierce hatred that seemed
to give them additional strength.

Many of the Fractus
seemed confused, walking around in circles or voluntarily throwing their
weapons to the ground. This must be the effect of Elle, Will, and Henry. Her
plan had been for them to use their psychic powers to deter anyone who followed
them out of the castle—she had no idea that the enemy would be waiting for
them. Ceru took advantage of their confusion, and called winding vines to
emerge, tying the Fractus’s ankles tightly to the ground.

Amidst the growing
confusion, a majestic centaur came racing through the battlefield, trampling
Fractus beneath her hooves. In battle, Summer was nothing like the old,
defeated shell Valerie had met a few days ago. Even with her handicap, she had
an innate skill for battle, stepping carefully so that she caused maximum
damage.

Valerie saw that Kanti
and Cyrus had also joined the battle, each pairing up with a Knight. They were
only supposed to join the fight in a worst-case scenario, but they must have
decided this was it.

Cyrus was paired with
Alex, and they were an effective combination. Cyrus blocked blows from the
enemy and blinded them with his shield of light and then Alex knocked them unconscious.

Kanti and Hoel fought
back to back. She had a staff that she had been practicing with, but she used
it more as a diversionary tactic than a weapon, shooting flowers and rainbows
while Hoel took out their distracted attackers quickly and effectively.

Valerie was thankful to
see that Gideon gave Darling to Peach, who slipped through the fray toward the
place where Henry and the Empaths were hiding. Peach was in no condition to
fight, and her voice probably wouldn’t be heard over the sounds of battle.
Relieved of his burden, Gideon was immediately set upon by two Fractus, but
Valerie could see that even their combined effort would be no match for her
mentor.

Chrome, powered by his
rage and grief, leaped on his enemies and tore at their flesh with a ferocity
that was terrifying to behold.

As for herself, Valerie
fought next to the last person she ever expected to have her back—Sanguina.
Together, they deflected blows from the robed Fractus, who wielded metal staffs
with pikes on the ends.

Valerie was running on
pure adrenaline, and had the strangest sense of floating above the battle,
watching it, as she fought. She saw herself duck beneath a gleaming staff which
crackled with electricity. Though the attackers might not be able to cast
lightning again yet, their weapons were dangerous.

Luckily, Pathos didn’t
conduct the minor current, and Valerie was able to chop through the Fractus’s
weapon. Her attacker cast aside the useless staff with a grunt and leaped at
her with his bare hands, directly at her sword. She was startled and dropped
Pathos just in time. Another instant, and he would have killed himself on her blade,
and she would have another death on her hands.

“Cut me down!” her
attacker yelled, holding his arms wide and leaving his heart exposed. She
didn’t understand. Why would he want to die? “Kill or be killed, that’s what Reaper’s
orders are. It’s better to kill me now than to leave me with him after a
failure.”

Valerie shook her head,
uncomprehending, and missed the crackle of electricity that would have warned
her that a blow was coming from another source. Sanguina deflected the staff
inches from her head. But saving Valerie cost her—the Fractus quickly regrouped
and stabbed her in the side. Sanguina crumpled to the ground.

Valerie tried to lift
her, but her adrenaline had run out.

“Sorry, Henry,” Valerie
said, touching her brother’s mind as another Fractus raised his pike and
prepared to cut her down.

A fierce, protective
wave of emotion passed through Henry. Valerie almost lost her connection with
his mind as a blast of magic passed through him like a tornado. It reminded her
of when she was using her power as a vivicus—as if he would be carried away by
it, never to return.

All around her, the
Fractus dropped to their knees and then completely collapsed, some of them onto
their blades. She watched in horror. Surely this wasn’t what Henry had
intended. The power continued to course through him, threatening to sweep him away.
She had to help Henry stem the tide, just as he had helped her.

She concentrated,
imagining a funnel with his magic pouring through it. She forced the funnel to
become more and more narrow, slowing the flow of his magic. At first, it was
like trying to tame a hurricane, but gradually he pushed back against his power
with her, and they forced it to subside.

Only then did Valerie
realize that she was curled in a ball next to Sanguina, unable to move or even
open her eyes. Vaguely, she knew that someone was lifting her, grunting, and
carrying her away before she passed out.

A gritty, metallic taste filled Valerie’s
mouth when she awoke. Her eyes felt as if they were stuck together. She reached
up to rub them, but the bones in her hand had apparently turned to lead.

“Please tell me you
remember my heroics as I carried your unconscious body across the battlefield,”
Cyrus’s voice greeted her.

“Cy…is it over?” she
asked, trying to focus on his blurry face.

“Yeah, it’s over,” he
said, his voice turning soft and serious. “You’re safe now.”

He came into focus, and
she saw that he was covered in dust and grime. They were in a large, tan tent that
she had never seen before.

“Have you been with me
the whole time?” she asked.

“Of course. Henry’s here,
too, but he’s mostly been out cold, like you,” Cyrus replied.

The image of the Fractus
collapsing, some dying, flashed through Valerie’s mind, making her shudder at
the horror of it. She tried to push herself up, but she didn’t have the
strength. Cyrus put his arm under her shoulder and helped her shift position.

“Is he okay? How long
have I been unconscious?” she asked, trying to focus her vision.

“Two days,” Cyrus said,
and now that she was really awake, she could hear the bone-deep fatigue in his
voice. “You were starting to scare us.”

“I’m fine. My magic is
completely drained, though,” Valerie said, recognizing the familiar emptiness
that she’d noticed after saving Azra’s life with her vivicus power.

“It’ll come back. It
always does,” Cyrus assured her.

“And how’s Henry?” she
asked.

“He woke up a few hours
after the battle. He’s still weak and sleeping a lot, but he’s going to be
fine. He says his magic is already returning.”

Valerie let out a breath
of relief that Henry was healing. Had Darling helped him? The little creature was
nowhere to be seen.

“Is Darling okay?” she
asked.

Cyrus shrugged. “He took
off shortly after he was brought to camp. We figure he must have some of his
magic back or he wouldn’t be able to do that. I guess he wanted to be alone.”

“I wish he’d let us take
care of him for a change,” Valerie said softly.

“I guess he’d rather be
taking care of others than be taken care of—reminds me of you.”

Cyrus’s words were
sweet, but they were also a reminder of what she could eventually become if she
used her vivicus power often enough. This time, she’d saved her own life with
her power. And just like when she saved Azra and Sanguina, she didn’t regret
it.

That must be how Darling
had lived so long—using his vivicus power on himself whenever he became sick.
She shivered. The thought of living forever—especially without her mind intact—made
her a little sick.

She shook her head to push
away the thought. Now that her vision had cleared, she could see Henry was
passed out and Kanti was asleep on the foot of his bed.

“I can’t believe how
lucky we are to have you guys,” Valerie said, reaching for Cyrus’s hand.

Cyrus smiled and laced
his fingers with hers. “Sleeping Beauty over there and I feel the same way.”

“I heard that,” Kanti
grunted without opening her eyes. “You’ll pay for it later.”

Valerie’s muscles relaxed, and she smiled. It was good
to be loved.

The next day, Valerie
and Henry were ready to face the world. When they woke up, they were alone.

“Are you okay?” she
asked her brother.

“I should be asking you
that,” Henry said, biting on his already ragged thumbnail.

“I mean because of what
happened with the Fractus. It wasn’t your fault, you know. You couldn’t have
known they’d fall on their weapons like that.”

He ran a hand through
his hair, his eyes more tired than she’d ever seen them. “I know. But I can’t
help feeling guilty, even if they are the bad guys. I was so amped up because
once you went inside the castle, I couldn’t sense your mind. I was so scared you’d
been killed. And then you almost died from the lightning. By the time you
collapsed, all this energy had built up inside of me and it exploded out.”

“I know how hard it is
to control that much magic,” Valerie said.

“Yeah, but when it
happens to you, you save a life. You don’t take one,” Henry said, his voice
heavy.

“You were trying save
lives, too—we might have died if you hadn’t disabled those Fractus.”

“What scares me is that
I didn’t care if they lived or died. I only cared about saving everyone I loved.”

Valerie considered her
brother’s words and took a deep, shuddering breath before she replied. “I think
we have to face the fact that, whether we like it or not, people want us to
lead. And there will be times when we have to make terrible choices. We can’t
afford to let every mistake, every death, eat away at us. We have to try to
save lives as much as we can and grieve for those we’ve lost, but always keep
moving forward to make the Globe—and Earth—better.”

Henry stared at her, his
jaw loose with surprise.

“What?” Valerie asked,
hugging her arms around her body self-consciously.

“You’re a born leader.
And now that you’re ready to accept it, I don’t think anything will stop you.”

Valerie couldn’t help
flushing at her brother’s words. “I said we, bro. Not just me.”

Henry gave a bark of
disbelieving laughter and changed the subject. “This battle might be over, but
we’ve still got the Excision to worry about.”

“I haven’t forgotten
about Joe. We’re gonna stop it,” she promised.

Henry nodded
uncertainly. “I’ve got to tell him, anyway. If we fail, he’ll think something
awful has happened to me.”

Gideon entered,
interrupting their conversation. “Everyone’s excited to see you two.”

“They are?” Valerie
asked, uncomprehending.

“You trusted your
soldiers and gave them the freedom to alter the plan for surprises. It was a
bold move, and a smart one. If you had been more rigid, we would have lost more
Conjurors,” Gideon said.

“You really think that?”

He nodded once. “It was a wise chance you took—one
that I’ve never had the courage to do. But your job as their leader isn’t over
yet. They need to hear from you that this was a victory.”

Valerie and Henry
stepped outside, and their little army stopped what they were doing and
gathered around. Valerie saw that Sanguina’s arm was bandaged, and her
prosthetic leg had been lost, so she was on makeshift crutches. Kanti and Cyrus
had a few cuts and bruises as well. The rest of the Knights were worse for the
wear. Alex had a broken leg, and Hoel had a bandage around his head. Summer was
the only one who was unscathed—in fact, she practically glowed with new
purpose.

The sight of her
battered allies made Valerie’s heart swell with pride, despite her guilt and
grief. She cleared her throat and let her words flow without over-analyzing
them. “Even though I didn’t know him well, Galahad’s loss weighs on my heart,
as I know it does yours.

“I can’t call this
mission a true success in the face of such a tragedy, and I am so sorry that I
couldn’t prevent his death—or bring him back. But our battle was a victory. We
saved Darling’s life, and we proved that even a small group of us is a force
that the Fractus can’t ignore. Thank you all for risking your lives and
reputations on this mission, and for your faith in me.”

Kanti let out a little
cheer, and Valerie was stunned when everyone joined in, even Gideon and
Sanguina. Chrome sent her an image of a tattered flag blowing in the breeze—it
was a hard won victory, but a victory all the same. Tears streamed down the
faces of the Knights, but she didn’t see blame in their eyes, only grief. It
eased the burden on her heart that had seemed to grow exponentially over the
course of the mission.

Valerie let her tears
fall for all of the lives lost, and she tried to follow her own advice to Henry
and let go of a little of the burden she was carrying. Next to her, Henry
reached out and squeezed her hand. He was crying, too. Somehow, knowing that
they were shouldering the burden together made it more bearable.

“Let’s go home,” she said.

They decided not to risk
returning by way of Plymouth. Instead, they followed Ceru to the People of the
Woods. The return trip to Arden was simple, and before she knew it, Valerie was
leaping off the ledge that sent her sailing down to Arden.

It was somehow more
disorienting to be back home now than it had been after leaving Earth with
Henry all those months ago. She was fundamentally changed from the girl she had
been the last time they landed in the forest near The Horseshoe, like she had
aged a hundred years.

“I’ll report the news of
what’s happened to Azra,” Gideon said.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing
my old friend again,” Summer said. She had decided to join them back in Arden
after all, and the knowledge that at least one person had come out stronger
from the battle was a little balm on Valerie’s battered heart.

“Before you go, there’s
something I thought you could ask Azra about,” Valerie said, and then described
the orb in the throne room of the Black Castle that had briefly lit up.

Gideon’s eyebrows drew
together in thought. “I have never heard of such a thing.”

“Neither have I,” Sanguina
added. “The Black Castle was built centuries ago. That orb must have been installed
when the castle was first built, which was long before we were born.”

“But if Pathos was the
key, it must be a force for good,” Gideon said with certainty. “I will see what
Azra knows.”

Valerie nodded, and
Gideon turned to his Knights. “You have all embodied the true spirit of our Guild,
and I honor you. Your courage will not be forgotten.”

The little army drifted apart,
Kanti leading Peach and Henry back to her room, and the Knights and Empaths returning
home. Chrome had disappeared after they had returned to Arden and Ceru had
remained with his family in the woods, so Sanguina, Cyrus, and Valerie were
left alone.

“I need to talk to
Midnight right away. The Excision is tomorrow, and even if I have to convince
every last Grand Master tonight to change their mind, I will,” Valerie said.
Sanguina didn’t reply, but she could read the doubt in her eyes.

“You’re probably going
to need help. And it wouldn’t hurt if that help was charming and very good looking,”
Cyrus said. “Given those requirements, I guess I’m forced to come with you.”

The three walked to the Guardians
of the Boundary Guild. It was almost twilight, but the Guild was already dark
inside, as if everyone had gone home for the day.

“Something isn’t right,”
Sanguina said, and they increased their pace as much as they could, considering
that Sanguina was on crutches.

Sanguina opened the
tall, gothic doors, and inside it was silent. The door shut with a loud bang behind
them, and they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Oleander appeared before
them, coldly beautiful. “We thought you might not make it back,” she said, and sounding
as if she had hoped that they wouldn’t return.

“We need to see Midnight
right away,” Valerie said.

Oleander paused before
she responded. “The Council has taken her to a cell in the Justice Guild until
she performs the ritual tomorrow.”

“Why would they do that?”

“They said it was as
much for her protection as it was to ensure that she didn’t back out of
performing the Excision,” Oleander said.

Valerie turned to
Sanguina and Cyrus. “We have to go there! There has to be a way to stop this.”

Sanguina slowly shook
her head. “There’s no way into the Justice Guild past visiting hours.”

“Then we’ll track down
the other Grand Masters,” Valerie persisted.

“Val, I hate to say this,
but I don’t think knocking on doors without Midnight to back us is going to be
very effective. We’ll have to wait until they release her tomorrow,” Cyrus
said.

Valerie knew he was
right, but she had to do something. “What time is the ritual tomorrow?” she
asked Oleander.

“Sundown,” she replied. “All
of the Council will be there to witness the event.”

“That’s your chance to
convince them,” Cyrus said. “The Council has the power to decide to delay it
for a second vote.”

“Are you sure?”

Sanguina nodded. “It’s
rarely done, but it is possible.”

“You’ll have a better
chance convincing the seven of them than you will all of the Grand Masters
overnight,” Cyrus said. Then, in a softer tone, he added, “Besides, you have to
rest. You’re still recovering from the battle.”

As much as Valerie
wanted to deny his words, she knew he was right. She needed to be eloquent
tomorrow, and a little rest in the meantime wouldn’t hurt.

“If that will be all, I
really must insist you leave. It’s highly irregular to come barging in here in
the first place,” Oleander said.