Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) (32 page)

“I think,” she said, letting her walls down
just a little, “that you can call me just Jezebel.” She sat up and
started putting her clothes back on. “For now.”

CHAPTER 20

Katya and Gryffon examined the pedestal more
closely, searching for clues how it might connect to the image of
the sword. It was the passage about strength, courage, and
fortitude and underneath the choices were several different colored
substances. Gryffon reached out and gently touched one, but not
enough to indent it, and his brow furrowed.

“I think these are all metals,” he informed
her.

“Metals?” Katya wracked her brain for a
connection. “Metals that could be used to make swords?”

“Possibly,” he stroked another sample, “I
think that this one is some sort of bronze mix.”

“I’ve never seen a bronze sword,” she said
doubtfully.

“No, I’ve seen it for ceremonial daggers,
especially as it is a less expensive alternative that still looks
like gold from a distance, but they tend to bend easily if they are
made too long. Sometimes they’re mixed with tin, but it can still
either bend or break if you have too much or too little.”

“As in, they’re not strong enough?” she said
meaningfully.

“Right,” he stated shortly, realizing the
significance of this revelation and putting new effort into
determining which of the samples would be best for forging a strong
sword. “This one is copper,” he paused, “I think. Also not the best
for swords.” He moved on to another, pausing for a long moment and
a frown creased his brow. Katya waited for him to say something.
Unfortunately, she had never had the interest in knowing metals so
she could offer no help.

“Iron,” he said finally, “also not the best.
But this,” he said almost reverently moving to the last, “Is most
definitely steel, and forged steel is what I would want my sword
made out of.”

He laid his hand over the steel and pressed.
The glowing faded and the pedestal scraped its way back into the
floor, the sudden noise making Katya jump despite herself. As the
last of the stone melded into place with only a tiny line betraying
its existence, a transparent image appeared above the pool. It
looked to be a pile of metal, slowly spinning in a circle.

“I’m going to assume that was a good thing,”
Gryffon commented.

They got a gentle feeling of agreement.

“Alright,” Katya moved to the next pedestal,
“the next one is the one about honestly, trust, and loyalty. This
one just has a bunch of lines and curves.” She squinted at the
choices. Two were bent lines at a right corner each pointing a
different direction. One was straight, one was a half circle, and
another was a wavy line.

“The bent lines could be books,” Gryffon
offered, “like you can read them like an open book because they are
so honest.”

“Maybe…” Katya acquiesced, but wasn’t
convinced. “The half circle could also be open arms, as if they
have nothing to hide. But which of the books if your suggestion was
the case, and what do either of those have to do with a sword?”

“Swords have points that look like the bent
symbols, maybe it’s important which way they are pointing to.”

“Like true north?” she said
half-jokingly.

“Could be,” Gryffon walked swiftly towards
the entrance to the cave and peered outside. After several moments,
he returned and seemed to compare the symbols to something.
“Doesn’t look like they are…but maybe you’re on to something with
the true thing. People who are honest are truthful, you can trust
in the truth, and loyalty is being true to something.”

“Well, if that’s the case then I would bet
that it’s the straight one,” Katya piped in, “the very word itself
comes from being straight-“

“Like an arrow that flies straight is said to
be true,” Gryffon cut in excitedly.

“Or a board that is cut straight is also
true. Or,” she paused for emphasis, “a sword that is straight would
wield true.” She laid her hand over the straight symbol and looked
to Gryffon for his approval. He nodded his agreement and she
pressed.

The pedestal retreated into the ground with
the first and the image above the pool swirled and reformed into
the likeness of a straight sword.

The last pedestal loomed before them. Katya
let out a sigh. “Okay, something that has to do with a sword that
represents love, peace, and forgiveness…”

“Um, naming your sword is like loving it,”
Gryffon suggested, shrugging.

“Open arms represents love and forgiveness.
That could be this one…” Katya leaned in closer for a better view
of the symbols. “What do you suppose these represent?”

Gryffon threw some ideas out, “the circle
could be a target…could be everything connected…”

“What about the long rectangle, a square edge
on one end and rounded at the other.”

“I’m not sure.” He paused in contemplation.
“This one is shaped like a shield. If you love yourself you protect
yourself with a shield?”

“Maybe the circle is supposed to be like the
wrist-guard; don’t a lot of swords come with that to protect your
hand? And the shield. And this cross-like one could be the hilt.
Maybe these are all parts of a sword.”

“The last one there could be the sheath
then.” Gryffon chewed his lip. “If that’s the case, than which one
is love, forgiveness, and peace?”

They both pondered this.

“You would sheath your weapon if you meant to
be peaceful,” Katya suggested.

“And you would put it in a sheath to protect
it if you had respect - or love - for your sword.”

“I suppose the same would go for being
forgiving as well, that you would sheath your sword?”

Gryffon shrugged, “It seems to fit, can you
think of anything else?” She shook her head. “Well, I guess that’s
the one we’re going with then.” Before he could press it in,
however, he suddenly gripped his chest.

Katya was at his side in moments and she
grabbed his arm to support him as his knees gave out. “What’s
wrong?”

Gryffon just closed his eyes a moment,
leaning on her for support, before straightening back up. “I’m
fine,” he stated through clenched teeth.

“You’re not fine. What is it?”

His breath continued to come in short bursts
and when he didn’t answer she removed his shirt, looking for the
source of his discomfort. It soon became apparent as a mangled mess
of scarred flesh glowed bright red in the middle of his chest.

Katya hissed. It was a blood-rune if she’d
ever seen one. And unfortunately she had. “Where did you get this
from?” she asked with distaste.

The pain seemed to subside and Gryffon
resumed breathing in a more natural pattern. “From Lady Jezebel.
The lovely emissary for Gelendan.” Gryffon laughed humorlessly.

Katya narrowed her eyes. “I should have
known.”

“Oh?” asked Gryffon, his demeanor slightly
lifted at this camaraderie, “I didn’t realize you had had the
displeasure of making her acquaintance.”

“I know of her, and have seen her from afar,”
Katya acknowledged. “Don’t tell me
she’s
mixed up with
blood-magic? I thought you said it was only through her to her
father that Treymayne was interested in? Wouldn’t her use of
blood-magic send her to the top of their watch list?” Katya knew
about his situation, and he had filled her in on more of it during
their journey, but she hadn’t realized exactly how twisted it
really was.

Gryffon fidgeted uncomfortably. “Well, yes.
It was more her father that I was supposed to be concerned with
because at that time we didn’t realize the extent of Jezebel’s
madness. It wasn’t until events with Layna complicated things and
she revealed her involvement with blood-magic by sending a pack of
her hellhounds to kill us.”

“What the blazes is going on with everyone?
And they let this woman be an emissary?”

“By the time I knew about the hellhounds, I
had been compromised and they were less likely to believe someone
who disobeyed direct orders to bring a girl to the Shadowlands to
figure out why she had the mark of the Dark King on her neck. Not
to mention she was the first emissary in perhaps ever. And how does
that saying go? ‘Keep your enemies closer’? But nevertheless, we’re
getting side-tracked. Yes, it was that vile creature that gave me
this wonderful memento.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Aileen said that it was a life-sucker, that
apparently while the beast was torturing me she accidentally used a
bloodrune which will use my energy to replenish hers if she needs
it.” He paused and a dark look came over his face. “Or if she wants
it, it sounded like, and it was only that she hadn’t realized that
she’d done it that she hadn’t starting draining me. Perhaps she’s
finally figured it out.”

“Well, how do you get rid of it then?”

He shrugged, a resigned look on his face, “I
don’t know.” He straightened, and re-buttoned his shirt. “But right
now we have others matters that demand our attention. I believe we
decided on the sheath?” He held a finger over the symbol, waiting
for her response.

She gave him a stern look, not wanting to let
him drop the subject so easily, but he was right that they had
other things to do at the moment. She gave him a curt nod.

He took a deep breath and pressed the symbol
that they hoped represented a sheath.

For a long moment nothing happened. Katya
counted her breaths and on the third, the pedestal started to move.
As it did so, a mist started filling the room spilling out from the
pool.

*

Jezebel sighed irritably. Devon reached over
and hooked his finger under her chin, bringing her face up to meet
his, giving her a tiny tingling of power that faded as his touch
did. “What’s the matter? Not enjoying practicing your power
anymore?”

She gave him a small smile, not liking the
weakness in the feelings that were developing for the man. “Not
enjoying having it so tantalizingly close,” she clarified, “only to
have it disappear once again.”

“You will get it eventually. I know I at
least am not minding the delay.”

She snarled at him. “Just make sure you don’t
forget your place Devon,” she sniped, “our little activities may be
useful to me for the moment, but that doesn’t mean you get to treat
me as though I am not your superior.”

“Of course, my lady,” Devon humored her,
though his tone did not sound in the least bit subservient. To top
it off, he followed it up with a rather hard slap to her
backside.

She yelped in pain, and suddenly was thrown
down a familiar path. Power rushed past her inner self and she
reached for it greedily. She drank it into her being and as she
retreated back to her physical body, she brought part of it with
her, opening a channel to the river.

She laughed hysterically. “I did it!” she
shouted in ecstasy. “I have my power back!”

She gathered up a gigantic ball of fire in
her hands, basking in the feel of it before hurling it at the wall
of their house-arrest cell.

“I did it,” she said more calmly this time,
glancing over at Devon who looked more properly in his place,
giving her plenty of room as the fire still danced across her skin.
“And I remember
everything.
”

*

Nathair winged over the landscape, his dragon
vision easily making out the shapes far below him. His army spread
out across the land, covering fields and forests. From above, he
could see the vast expanse of its reach.

He was pleased with himself. It had taken
such a short amount of time to gather this impressive force, and
already he was making plans to move it onto Treymaynian soil to
gather them into his empire.

He felt an ever increasing urge to overtake
Treymayne, and the area in the north especially. For some reason he
had a strange feeling that there was danger to him there. Ever
since he had determined that he could not be trusted trying to get
to his girls at present, their mission was a constant distraction
to him. If he couldn’t assimilate them into his forces yet, he
needed to be master of their domain.

Glancing down at his forces once more, he let
out a blast of fire in contentment, streaming it across the air
like a golden archway. His army looked like a black stain creeping
along the landscape, expanding outwards. No one would be able to
withstand it.

His Godhood was established in Gelendan, his
army was ready to invade, and his plan with Jezebel was in place.
Everything was going perfectly.

*

As the pedestal disappeared into the roiling
mists, three tendrils of green smoke started swirling together into
a smoky cloud of light that slowly snaked its way into the pool.
The stones lit up one by one underneath the image of the sword, and
then they all flashed in unison and the cavern filled with the
thick fog.

They watched and waited. The emotions coming
from the pool were emitting a soft calm hum, and the mists were
nothing harmful. Even so, Katya had an uneasy feeling like
something was creeping up on them, not from inside the cave, but
from beyond.

Katya glanced around worriedly. “I hope that
this works,” she said softly, “I can feel a darkness growing
nearer.”

Layna’s voice suddenly broke through the
haze.

“Those who fear the darkness,” she stated in
a strong voice, stepping out from the mists and holding a very real
sword, her eyes glowing bright white for a moment before darkening
into their usual hue, “haven’t seen what the light can do.”

* * *