My Merlin Awakening (32 page)

Vane’s gaze didn’t waver. “Not a master plan, but I did take advantage. You almost died in limbo—”

“I did die!”

“It’s made you afraid. If you’re going to be the sword-bearer, you have to get over the fear.”

I was going to kill him. My fingers curled into a fist.

He read the homicidal intention in my eyes and flipped me back below him, his big body crushing mine. “What do you think I went through watching you night after night? You don’t know how many times I wanted to jump into that damn pit myself. No one has had it easy in this hole.”

“Right. It’s been so rough for you. Going to banquets and having Leonora follow you around with big mermaid eyes.” I struggled against him, arching my body until he hissed. In pleasure? In pain? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I wanted a reaction. “Did she feed you any grapes today?”

“Not any sweet ones.” Vane grabbed my wrists and pinned me against the bed. “I need you to call Merlin. Tell him we’re coming. Tell him he needs to hold on just a bit longer.”

I stilled. “What’s going on?”

“I haven’t been allowed near him, but I hear his screams clearly every night. Lelex is no doubt trying to figure out what we know about the danger coming—the irony being we don’t know anything. But Merlin hasn’t broken. As far as I know, Lelex still isn’t aware that you’re the sword-bearer. It might be the bit of information keeping him alive. Except last night I barely heard the screams. It isn’t the blood moon. I’d hoped to use that distraction, but I don’t think we have a choice. My brother won’t last. We have to move tomorrow.”

I had no clue it was so bad. Matt stayed with me every night and I never asked. Shame choked me.

Vane released my wrists. He fanned my hair out around me, taking his time. In his pupils I saw the reflection of a dark, spun halo the hair made over the pillows. A finger traced the length of my amulet and paused on the stain of bruises that still lingered. Silent question flickered in hazel depths.

I caught his hand to stop him. “What do you want me to do?”

Leaning down, he kissed the pulse beating on my neck just above the damaged skin. “Tomorrow, I need you to die.”

***

Shortly after that, Vane snuck back out. The guards inspected my room every hour. I wrapped my arms around a pillow and squeezed it tight. It was the only comfort to be had in the hard length of the bed. My stomach tied in knots, I reached out for Matt. I waited for several seconds before a faint response came.

“I’m here.”

I bit into the fluffy bits of the pillow.
“Are you alright?”

I tried to see inside his mind, to see what he might be seeing. Only darkness stared back at me. I pushed further inside. I opened a door. The dim glow of a sconce showed me three walls of a dingy room. Suspended from chains, I saw Matt’s arms hanging in the air. I looked down at his bare legs, covered with dried blood. Flesh had been torn open in deep lines and left to fester after being whipped. Near his feet, shackles bit into skin. Green pus oozed from the wound, discoloring the area.

I was seeing what Matt saw. I pushed to see more. A tight, airless box surrounded me. It had no escape. It had no end. A slow suffocation
.
I couldn’t breathe—

“No!”

Matt shoved me out the door with a snarl and slammed it shut. I opened my eyes and saw only my chamber. I took a cleansing breath. It took me a second to center myself.

I closed my eyes again. In my mind, I saw the door again. I laid a palm against its solid surface.
“Matt, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’ll be fine,”
he replied.

I stood on one side of the door. He remained on the other.

“I’ll be fine.”
He repeated more softly.

“Hold on, Matt. We’re coming. Vane and I are coming.”

“Stay with me.”

The soft plea squeezed my heartstrings. I put my cheek against the plank. “
I will.”

***

The next night, guards walked me through a long tunnel. I stepped out into the light of the pit. The crowd cheered as soon as I entered. I looked up at them. I stood once again, an insignificant being, down in the pit as I had done for fifteen days in a row.

Three levels high, the circle of faces peered down. Leonidas stepped out from the opposite tunnel. The crowd roared with approval. He looked stunning. Under a thin tunic, his tanned skin glistened with just a touch of glossy sweat. The hard lines of his regal face had a dangerous edge. Firm legs balanced as gracefully as a cat. His lips curled in anticipation.

We crossed the bridge over the short moat and faced each other, armed with our spears.

It hadn’t been a huge surprise that Leonidas had chosen spears again after actually winning a match. I glanced up at the gargoyle sacrifice standing high atop the pit. Vane wanted me to lose tonight. I didn’t know who would volunteer as a sacrifice, but I had absolutely refused. I wasn’t about to lose a match and watch someone die. Vane eventually caved and came up with a riskier, yet infinitely more acceptable, plan.

I glanced up again. Good thing, because I would not have gone through with the sacrifice-one-to-save-all plan, even if he’d convinced me it was the only way. A handcuffed and leg-shackled Grey stood at the top of the pit.

Leonidas circled me. I moved to duck behind a half-wall that sat like a prop at a random location in the pit. My action caused Leonidas to shoot. A shock went through me as one spear struck cleanly into my chest. I ignored the stinging pain and threw my spear in an arc at him. I saw it nick him in the shoulder just before I dropped below the half-wall.

“Is that all you have?” Leonidas laughed, letting out a shrill whistle.

As Vane expected, the white bull came flying through a hidden door in the wall and across the moat. I had picked the half-wall so that the bull would come out just behind me. The bull charged me. It bent its head low. The horns aimed straight so it could gore me. I didn’t move. I waited for it to get as close.

Soft fur tickled my arm when I hooked onto the straps of leather around the bull’s middle. With one hand, I pulled myself onto its side. The bull went past the half-wall and ran straight at Leonidas. Leonidas gaped, collected himself, and then threw his spear. It sunk into the bull, but the stalwart animal never faltered. I hoisted myself fully straight onto the bull’s saddle. I hooked my foot into the stirrups to steady myself and at the same time I took aim with the spear. I let it fly.

The spear hit its mark. It struck Leonidas through the stomach. I pulled the bull to a stop before it trampled him. Leonidas gasped. His hands clutched the spear as he fell backwards.

The crowd stared at us, eerily silent.

I looked up. Lelex stood on the edge at the top of the pit.

“Get the prince the healer!” he yelled.

“The winner must be decided, Sire,” Theras said from beside the King.

Lelex glared at the crowd. “Fine, the maiden wins.”

The crowd nodded their agreement.

“Vane.” Theras beckoned. Vane walked up. Only two guards escorted him. Theras removed the necklace. “Heal the prince.”

As soon as the necklace was removed, Vane grabbed a sword from the older soldier’s side. He kicked him to the floor and caught the King. “I don’t think so.”

The King laughed. “You’ve tried this once before, wizard, what makes you think it will work this time?”

“I don’t,” Vane replied.

“Vane,” Theras said. “Don’t do anything foolish.”

Vane laughed. “You don’t know me very well.”

Vane sliced the King’s throat. He shoved Lelex to the ground and beheaded him. The guards looked on, momentarily stupefied.

“No!” Theras yelled.

Then, everything seemed to happen at once. A shocked roar arose from the crowd as the guards rushed Vane.

Lelex’s body fell to the ground.

Vane put up his hands, palms out. “
Agni
.”

Two fireballs shot straight at the guards. While still bound, Grey grabbed a fallen sword. Vane leapt toward him and cut Grey’s chains. Grey started fighting the guards at Vane’s side. It bought Vane time.

Vane put out his hands and aimed down at the stadium. “
Uksati agni.
”

Fireballs, one after another, like a machine gun, hit the sides of the stadium. The crowd screamed. Down in the pit, rocks started to crumble around me. Vane fired two giant fireballs directly at the waterfalls. Stone walls at the mouths of the waterfalls exploded. Water flowed freely. Heat from the fireballs caused the pit to start steaming. Through the haze, I saw Vane blast two more fireballs at the wall just above another waterfall. The roof started to collapse on that level. Vane had explained that the waterfalls were the ends of two central pipelines. Plugging them would cause water to back up and flood most of the palace.

Back in the pit, I directed the bull back to its door. The bull whined as it became hard to see through the thickening air. It still had a spear embedded in its hide, but the water seemed to bother the beast more. Above me, Vane and Grey jumped on a floating stone. They sailed down into the pit. Theras and Leonora came through the steam on the second floating stone. They landed at the same time as Vane and Grey. The stones floated close together. Grey jumped off one, while Vane stayed on.

On the other stone, Theras pushed Leonora behind him. He crouched, facing Vane, with his sword in hand.

Vane pointed to the crumbling walls around us. “You can fight me and I can kill you. Or you can try to save your prince. The pit is going to collapse.”

Leonora let out a cry and jumped off the floating stone to go to a bleeding Leonidas lying at the center of the pit. After a brief moment of hesitation, Theras straightened. He jumped off the stone and started to move backwards toward Leonidas. “I will come after you,” he promised. “You will die for your treachery, Vane.”

“You will have to find me first.” Vane jumped off the stone and ran toward Grey and me. The bull carried me across the bridge into the tunnel. Grey and Vane ran behind me. As soon as we got through, a skeleton crew of guards attacked us. Vane waved his hand and knocked them all out against the wall.

“You’re no fun,” Grey said to him and lowered his sword.

“We don’t have time to play.” Vane shot a fireball behind us. Rocks collapsed and closed off the tunnel from the pit. “Merlin is on the level above us. The armory and the other prisoners are near where he’s being kept.”

I jumped off the bull. The animal went straight to Vane. He snorted in a friendly way and licked Vane’s face. Vane grimaced.

“Aw, Vane, you have a widdle puppy,” Grey said.

I struck Grey with the blunt end of the spear. “That poor thing’s been through more than you.” I went to the bull and touched the spear. The bull whined, warning me to stay away from the area. I looked at Vane. “You need to heal him.”

“I’ve promised him more than that,” Vane said grimly. His hands glowed red and he moved to put them on the beast. “Don’t worry. You’ll be free, as I promised.”

I knocked Vane’s hands away from the bull. “No! You’re not killing him.”

Vane looked at me with strained patience. “It’s what he asked. He’s been through enough. You, of all people, should know that.”

I put my hand against the bull’s face. “You can talk to him?”

Vane nodded. “I promised him an end if he’d help us today.”

“Well, this is not the end,” I declared. I stared into the big brown eyes of the bull and put a hand on its wet nose. The pain in the beast’s eyes was a reflection of my own pain, but it went much deeper than mine did. I wondered if the bull knew anything else other than these darkened tunnels. I wasn’t going to let it die knowing just the pit. I straightened with a determined expression.

Vane cursed, correctly interpreting my intention.

“What?” Grey said.

“Ask the bull if he wants to go with us,” I told Vane.

***

The bull liked Grey. It decided to shadow him as we made our way through the maze of the palace. I traded my spear for a sword from one of the knocked-out guards.

Vane seemed to know exactly where to go and led us swiftly though the tunnels. We made it to the next level without encountering much resistance. Sounds of chaos still filtered from the general area of the pit. Collapsing the pit as a diversion had been brilliant because all the guards seemed to be rushing to the center.

The second level stood mostly empty. We waded through the half flooded interior.

“The wizards and gargoyles have been separated. I doubt there will be many guards, but it won’t be abandoned.” Vane directed Grey to the armory and the prisoners. “Ryan and I will get Merlin. Above all, get Excalibur. Take the bull. He’s a good distraction.”

Grey took off with the bull down the long hallway. Vane hurried off in the opposite direction. I followed him.

“You’re not going to like what you see,” he warned.

“I know.” I pictured the little bit of the horror Matt had let slip through last night. We rounded a corridor. Vane pulled me into a shadowy corner just beyond where five soldiers guarded a door with a slit at the top.