Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (20 page)

*****************

SHAEL

Through the glass of the Daavi I could see that Joe had
succeeded. I had been scanning the waters outside of the kingdom for hours,
waiting for them to make their appearance through the invisible barrier.

He had the girl with him and they were alone.

I felt giddy with anticipation at the prospect of destroying
this girl, my cousin, once and for all, paving the way for my unhindered and
absolute rule of Terrin. Once Alina was gone and Jeb and his group were
destroyed, I would be worry free.

No one would be able to stop me, no one would even try.

‘My power would be limitless’,
I thought, as I conjured a bright red apple,
tossed it up in the air, caught it and took a large bite.

The Shadow and I were an unstoppable team.

I absentmindedly reminded myself to go check in on my
mother, because she still hadn't fully recovered from the power transfer she
had given the Shadow, but she was getting better every day. This good news of
the girls' capture would help her immensely in her recovery efforts, knowing
that she didn't do all that for naught. 

I wandered over to the window to look out at my kingdom.

I was the king.

CHAPTER
15

FAMILY REUNION

Joe and I made it to the shore
of Terrin, landing in almost the exact spot Jeb always made his entrance from.
I was sure Joe did that on purpose. If I made it out of this alive, I would
have to tell him his landing spot had been compromised.

Joe dragged me through the
ghost town, still decorated with red, and up the steep incline dirt path that
led up to the castle. My hands were still tied together and I was still a
prisoner.

At least I didn't have to be
careful of the sounds my feet made this time.

I had considered undoing my
magical bonds when we landed on shore and make a run for it, but I knew that
putting off the inevitable was only going to further delay the suffering these
people endured at Shael's hand. I was feeling pretty confident that I could
figure out how to activate the box if I was able to procure it and capture the Shadow.
The tricky part would be making my escape on my own.

I would have to deal with Shael
on a different day.

The last time I was at the
castle was very different. I was concealed from all eyes and scared but I felt
relatively secure because Jeb was with me. This time, everyone could see me and
even though I was scared, I knew I wasn't completely helpless. Having Jeb with
me would have made this whole thing easier, but I was prepared to face this
task head on. I was ready to confront my evil cousin on my own. I had to learn
to rely on myself and myself alone, to do what needed to be done. My mother taught
me enough magic in the precious few days we had together and with that
knowledge I mustered up all the courage I had and some I didn't have.

Joe dragged me through the
courtyard and to the left, down a confusing maze of stone hallways, different
than the ones I was in before. I realized quickly that I must be going to a
different part of the castle than last time. I tried to remember the turns, so
if I did manage to escape, I could find my way back, but after four lefts and
five rights I was completely lost. This part of the castle was also darker than
the other part I had been in. The stones were almost black and looked to be
really old and dilapidated. The floor we were walking on set at a decline,
indicating we were going underground.

He brought me into a chamber
even darker than the halls we had been in.

Joe and I stopped in front of
jail cell.

The large black iron door was
thrown forcefully open by Joe. He quickly untied my hands before shoving me
inside. He then closed and locked the doors behind me, throwing the key on a
nearby table. I ran up to the bars, shaking them vigorously, hoping they
weren't as strong as they looked but they wouldn’t not budge.

Joe turned back, hesitating in
his retreat. He gave me a look that almost displayed regret.

His desire to go home won and
he left me in this horrible place all alone without a word.

There was nothing in the cell
other than a rotting wooden bench and a dirt floor. There was another cell
across from me but it was empty.

No windows either.

‘Wasn't there supposed to be a window for ventilation?
’ I wondered.

I rolled my eyes and wondered
why I was worrying about ventilation at a time like this. I was starting to
feel a rise of panic but I stemmed it quickly. I needed to focus on what I was
doing and why I was there, not panic and freak out.

That was the old Alina.

I stood in the middle of the
cell with my arms down by my sides. I inhaled and exhaled slowly.

‘How do I get out of here magically?’
I thought.

The key!

I went over to the bars,
shoving my arm through one of the openings. The key was right there on the
table.

I wondered if Joe had done that
on purpose, in an attempt to help me. I extended my hand, trying to get the key
to come to me.

Nothing happened.

I closed and opened my hand
quickly again, with the same result.

Nada.

I pulled my jacket down,
straightening it with determination. I was just going to open the doors of the
cell with no keys with my magic, then I would go find the box, capture the Shadow,
and escape back to Jaffee, back to Jeb, in that order.

Several attempts at performing
the visual and projection magic I used earlier in the day had not yielded any
results. I kept trying to open the cell magically but it was just not budging.
And worse, I was starting to feel tired. Not sleepy tired but worn out tired.

I was draining my energy trying
to do magic.

Now I could imagine what my
mother was feeling and she was a million times more powerful than I was.

I stopped trying to use my
magic, hissing in frustration.

Then I sensed that I wasn't
alone anymore.

It was him.

“Hello Alina. I'm sorry it took
me so long to welcome you. I was only just informed of your arrival.” said a
calm Shael.

He was striding towards me in
calculated steps, his hands clasped behind his back.

“You and I both know that is
bull.” I spat.

I was not going to let him get
a rise out of me. He wasn't going to distract me with his words.

Shael raised his hands in mock
defeat and smiled. “You caught me. I admit it. I just wanted to see if my cage
would work on you and it does. How do you like it?” he had made it to the cell
and stuck his face in between the bars. His hands were holding a bar on either
side of his face.

“It's lovely. Can you get me
out now? Or am I to remain here indefinitely?” I wasn't going to shrink back
from him. I stood my ground against him.

“Oh no, you won’t be in here
indefinitely, just for a while. But I still want to know what you think about
this cage. I had it made special, just for you.” He said.

“What do you mean? It looks as
if this thing has been here for thousands of years. How did you make it for
me?” I asked.
 
I looked around me, trying
to figure out what this psychopath was talking about.

I sure hoped crazy didn't run
in the family.

“Why yes, it has been around
for a while, not quite thousands of years but quite a few hundred to be sure. I
recently added on though, in anticipation of your arrival. A nip here, a tuck
there, you know how remodeling goes. What do you think of the finished
project?” He looked expectantly towards me, waiting for a response.

‘What was I supposed to say?’
I wondered.

His face was still inside the
bars and I wanted to run up to him and punch his crazy-freak-whirlpool-eyed
self out. He was toying with me, this much I was sure of, but I wasn't sure
where he was heading.

“I don't know what you want me
to say, so my original comment stays the same. It's lovely.” I said.

“I'm sorry, I just realized that
you never knew what it looked like before. How forgetful of me.” He popped
himself out of the bars and started walking back and forth in front of the
cell, dragging his hands along the bars as he went, taunting me.

“You see, I knew that
eventually you would figure out who you were and what you could do and you
would come here, looking for me. My mother said you would, you know. You do
know who you are right?” he said, his whirly eyes locked on mine.

“Yes,
cousin
, I do.” I said, casually.

No need to beat around the
bush.

“Ahhh, so you do know.” Shael
clapped his hands together.

“Good, good! Well, I realized
that you would need protection from yourself, so I created a barrier around
this cell.” he ran back to the cell, sticking his face back inside the bars,
startling me, causing me to jump back from him.

“Want to know what it does?” He
looked behind him, pretending to look around for people that weren't there.

He started talking again, this
time in a whisper. “No magic can be done inside this cell!”

My eyes widened and my breath
hissed. He saw my stunned reaction and it pleased him. I was determined to not
let that happen again so I gathered my wits, quickly.

He retreated from the cell
again, walking backwards towards the middle of the room.

He was proud of himself for
one-upping me.

 
“Isn't that great?” he asked in a mockingly
sweet voice.

“Peachy.” I said, folding my
arms and cocking my hip.

It was my turn to mess with
him.

“You must be really scared of
me Shael. I mean, to go to all this trouble. I never considered myself scary,
or a force to be reckoned with but it now seems I may have underestimated my
talents. I know I have only been performing magic for a few weeks and you have
been magical all your life, so really, you have done me a favor. This little
creation of yours really boosts my self-esteem. The fact that you needed to
create a cage to contain me, to protect yourself from me, really makes me see
you for what you really are. A scared little momma's boy. I'm really glad that
we had this talk. I see things so much clearer now.” I said.

I sat on the rotting bench,
crossing my legs. Inside my head was faint and my heart was pounding, but I had
to remain calm, at least on the surface.

I could not let him think that
he had me.

Shael ran back over to the cell
but did not put his face in the bars this time. He looked really angry, the
swirls in his eyes moving faster than they had before.

I took great pleasure from
that.

“I am not scared of you.” He
said as though the mere thought of him being scared of me was unimaginable.

This time it was me who jumped
up and ran over to the bars. I stuck my face in between them like he had and
grasped the bars tightly.

“Oh yah?” I yelled. “Lower the
barrier Shael. Prove you are not scared of me. You are the great King right?
How can you be afraid of one little girl? Do it! Face me!”

Now I was getting somewhere.

I was challenging him.

He was nothing but a spoiled
brat with evil magic behind him. Challenging him the way I was had unglued him
and I was going to keep doing it.

“I mean, you have the Shadow, I
don't. What on earth could I have over you? What are you so afraid of?” I said
pointedly.

“I will not lower the barrier.
You hear me! You will do as I say, not the other way around. I am not scared of
you, I am containing you until I am ready to do away with you. How dare you say
such things to me! I am the King of Terrin!” he started sounding like a child
having a tantrum and I almost laughed.

“No, Shael. You are not the
King. I am the rightful Queen of Terrin and you will be bowing to me before we
are done here.” I said.

My voice was steady, my body
rigid. I don't know what had come over me.

‘What was I doing saying I was the rightful Queen?’
I thought
.

Shael looked at me, his eyes
malicious.

I had struck a nerve.

“What did you say to me?” he
asked incredulously, walking back towards my cell.

“You heard me. I don't need to
repeat myself.” I replied.

“You have only hours left to
live, cousin Alina. I suggest you get your affairs in order. No one will take
my throne away from me. Not you, not Jeb, NO ONE! You want to be brave? You
want to try to take me on, I will give you something to take on, don't you
worry about that.” said Shael. His words were formed very acutely, as if he was
about to explode.