Dark Swan Bundle (79 page)

“I understand,” he said. He gently touched my arm, smiled weakly, and then tilted his head toward the darkness ahead. “Ready for more?”

I nodded, following him once again. We walked farther and farther from the flames, losing the light as we did. A strange flashback came to me, a trip to the Underworld where I’d walked through similar caves and faced tests to bring back Kiyo’s soul. How could I have nearly forgotten about that? I’d loved him so much, I’d faced Death herself. How did love like that change?

More tunnel crawling followed, and I wondered if perhaps this was a test for claustrophobic gentry. Gradually, though, the tunnel began to expand and expand until it suddenly dead-ended into a large cavernous room. Much like the
tunnel, everything here was simply rough rock with occasional glimpses of iron. A few torches lit the chamber, revealing its centerpiece: an elegant marble pedestal with an iron crown sitting on it.

“Seriously?” I said.

Kiyo and I hovered near the room’s opening, wary of entering. Yet, as I stared at the crown, it wasn’t any potential trap that sent a chill down my spine. Another test in my trip to the Underworld replayed in my mind: I’d been forced to wear my father’s crown, despite my protests. That crown had been platinum, but it and the one before me both had a similar silvery sheen. Both were adorned with purple jewels. Both had a harsh, martial feel to them. The one in the vision had been a little more delicate, though, with a bit more artistic flair. Designer planning had also clearly gone into this one, with its circle of jeweled spikes alternating in size, but my feel was that it was meant to be impressive, not pretty.

“It’s an illusion,” I said to Kiyo. “We can’t have reached it already. We’ve hardly done anything.”

He didn’t take his eyes off the crown as he spoke. “Snakes and walking through fire are nothing?”

“Well, no. But I expected more, considering all the hype.”

“The iron,” Kiyo reminded me. “You used magic to get through the fire. Most gentry would too—but imagine what it would be like for them in all this iron. If they even got this far. You’re … not cheating, exactly, but you’re bypassing a lot of the challenges here.”

“If it’s meant to be for gentry, then maybe the crown is too. Maybe I’m too human and won’t be able to claim it.” Man, that would suck.

“One way to find out.”

I stared at the crown, noticing how little light reflected off it. Was this it? Did I really just go up and claim it? Time to find out. I took a few steps forward … and the room abruptly became cold. A dark feeling, a feeling of power and pure evil filled the small space. What does evil feel like? You just know. I hastily returned to Kiyo’s side, but it was too late.

A male figure materialized before us, clad in beautiful purple velvet robes, embroidered and tailored in a way Dorian might have envied. This guy’s hair was nearly as beautiful, a pale white blond that shone in the torchlight and grazed his shoulders. Yes, definitely an impressively attired figure. The only thing that really detracted from it all was that he was a skeleton.

“Oh, fuck,” I said.

“What is it?” asked Kiyo, moving close to me.

“A lich. Like a … I don’t know. An undead necromancer or magic user.” My mind was frantically spinning. Liches used magic before their deaths to purposely keep themselves from the Underworld. It made them very hard to banish, according to Roland. I’d only ever heard of them in stories.

“Like a zombie?”

“No. Smarter. And they can also do—duck!”

Kiyo, always a hair faster than me, had already dropped down and taken me with him as the lich
hurled a ball of blue fire at us. It hit the wall above us, dispersing and blasting us with heat but otherwise doing no harm. More of that fire was already forming in its skeletal hand, and I knew it would aim low.

Kiyo transformed to his largest fox form and leapt at the lich, attacking the best way he knew how. His jaws started to close around the lich’s robe-encased leg, but a small gesture from the lich sent Kiyo flying. He hit a wall, shook it off, and growled, pacing and planning what to do next in light of this new development.

During their split-second encounter, I had just enough time to send my senses out through the wand. I touched the Underworld and attempted to form a connection. The butterfly on my arm burned like the snake’s venom, but I couldn’t open the way. It was like beating on a heavy locked door. More effort might have helped me break through, but I had no chance to try before another fireball came toward me. I dodged and rolled away. Seeing the lich deflect Kiyo again made me think an athame attack wasn’t going to be much help either.

The lich seemed to recognize my problems and laughed, a low, guttural sound that echoed unnaturally in the chamber. “You will not wear the Iron Crown. You do not possess the power to wear the Iron Crown.”

I was ready to evade another fireball, but a flick of the lich’s hand threw me back against the wall. I didn’t even have time to process the agony that caused to my wounds because the unseen force
that pinned me there hurt too much. It was like a million invisible needles were piercing my skin, going straight through me, and lodging in the stone to hold me in place. I screamed at the pain, and Kiyo instantly raced toward the lich again. The larger the fox form, the more animal he was, and I had a feeling this was just a gut reaction at seeing me attacked.

The lich threw him off again with that invisible force—only harder this time. Kiyo slammed against the wall, slumping down to the cave’s floor. Weakly, he tried to stand up on all four legs but was too disoriented and injured. The lich turned back to me, and I saw death in his eyes. Had I really joked about this being easy? The only one this had been easy for was the lich. He’d taken us out with just a few spells, and now I would die. This was why those who wore the Iron Crown were feared. If you could survive this, you could survive anything.

“You will not wear the Iron Crown,” he repeated, lifting his hands for the final spell. “You are not worthy.”

I summoned my magic, despite the pain. A gale force wind blasted into him, making him stagger back. So. He wasn’t totally impervious to physical force. Calling the magic was difficult, but when Dorian had first trained me, we’d practiced casting spells in a number of uncomfortable positions. I increased the force of the wind, pushing the lich back a couple more steps. The Iron Crown didn’t budge, but the wind had pinned Kiyo up against the wall, almost making him go flat. I
nearly hesitated, fearing I’d hurt him. He was still alive from the last hit. Surely he could handle this.

And that added force was a good call. It distracted the lich so that when I mentally pushed back against his spell, he couldn’t hold it. The invisible pins vanished, and I slid to the floor, landing shakily but upright. I still hurt and already felt worn out but held strong to my magic. It kept the lich away, but it also didn’t knock him into the walls the way he could us. His skull-face wore a perpetual grin, making this all that much more annoying.

“You don’t have the power,” he said, seeing I couldn’t do much more with the wind. “You are not worthy of the crown.”

White light began glowing between his hands. No fireballs this time. It was lightning. It flew from his hands with incredible speed—say, like, the speed of light—but I evaded it, with almost no thought. Lightning was in my skill set. My body was attuned to it, able to anticipate and avoid it even with its speed.

Nonetheless, the lightning blasted away half of the cave wall and the thunder that accompanied the bolt nearly left me deaf. Rocks and debris from the shattered stone were swept up in my windstorm, flying around the room like shrapnel. A few of them hit me. One cut my arm. In spite of it all, I laughed, sounding slightly crazy even to myself.

“You’re going to fight me with lightning?” I yelled above the raging wind, which I had managed
to kick up a notch after all. “Do you know who I am?”

“I know you will never have the crown,” the lich replied, summoning more lightning.

His words dug into me, and not just because my life was on the line here. It was the meaning behind them.
You are not worthy.
A dismissal of me. Of my power. He really didn’t know who he was dealing with, though. He had no idea of the power I could wield, even in this iron dungeon. No one would say it directly, but I was beginning to suspect I was the most powerful magic user since my father. This bastard lich was about to find that out. He’d see my power. I’d destroy him and take his fucking crown.

“You call that lightning?” I yelled, after dodging the next bolt. My magical senses touched the molecules in the room, the positive and negative charges. The scent of ozone was everywhere.
“This
is lightning.”

I didn’t need my hands. I could create lightning from the air. It blasted into the lich and should have disintegrated him. He stayed intact, unfortunately, but the way he wobbled and didn’t instantly go for another bolt told me I’d made progress.

The magic burned within me, filling every ounce of my being as I held onto the surrounding air. The wind still blew, the ions stayed readied. In the center of it all was the crown, the crown I was going to walk out of here with. I would stop this war and show Katrice and everyone else not to screw with me.

But first, I needed to finish this. I considered continually blasting the lich with bolts, but another idea came to mind. It would bring all of this to an end quickly. Scientists have long debated the existence of ball lightning, but I knew it was real. I’d never really used it in a serious way but had experimented. Some of the principles of its formation were like those of “regular” lightning, but a few quirks were what made it unique—and so hard to study.

I knew how to summon it. I knew what it could do in here. Whereas the magically created bolts the lich and I had wielded had been shaped and controlled, ball lightning was huge and radiating. It would fill this cave, incinerating the lich. I wouldn’t be surprised if it melted the walls. And the crown? The crown would survive—as would I, being the magic’s mistress.

The power blasted out of me, lightning forming an orb in the cave that exploded outward, blinding even my eyes. The walls shook, heat washed over me, and a roaring filled my ears. I heard the lich scream, a horrible, raspy sound. I didn’t let go of the spell until his cry faded to silence. The ball lightning disappeared instantly, almost startlingly so. My own control of such power surprised me a little.

My ears rang in the silence. The crown stood unharmed, as expected. The pile of bones I’d expected was not there, however. Instead, a small, wizened man stood before me, dressed in the same purple robes. I reached out and readied my magic for this new threat. He didn’t move,
though. To my astonishment, he smiled and gave me a small bow.

“Congratulations,” he said. He gestured to the crown. “You are worthy—if you can wear it, of course. And something tells me you can, if you’ve survived this much iron.”

I glanced back and forth between him and the crown, unbelieving. “I did it…. I won through. Won the crown. I defeated the lich … er, you … or whatever.”

“Certainly the lich was part of the test. It takes great magic to defeat one. But the test was about more than your power,” said the old man slyly. “It was about your determination. Your will. Your ruthlessness to get to the crown, no matter the cost.”

He stepped aside, waving his hand over at the cave’s side. I gasped. Kiyo—in human form—lay against the wall. His dark eyes were open, and I saw no obvious injuries. He was simply watching the interaction. I flew to his side, kneeling down.

“Oh my God. Are you okay?” I asked, helping him sit up. His breathing was even, though he looked a little addled. “Please … talk to me. Kiyo. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah …” He lightly touched his forehead and winced. “Hell of a headache.”

I could scarcely breathe. I felt numb all over. “You shouldn’t be alive,” I whispered. “You should have died.”

That ball lightning had eradiated the room. That had been my plan, after all. Destroy everything except me and the crown—and everything would have included Kiyo. In the moment, I had
forgotten. I had forgotten all about him. I’d been too fixated on the crown, on proving to the lich who the real badass around here was. Kiyo hadn’t mattered in that moment, and it had nothing to do with our rocky relationship. I had the horrible, terrifying feeling that it wouldn’t have mattered who was in the room.

“Oh, God,” I said again, pulling his head against my chest. Tears stung my eyes. “Oh God oh God. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what … I don’t know what I was thinking….” A nasty voice spoke inside my head.
Didn’t you?

“Hey, Eug, calm down,” said Kiyo, patting the back of my head. “I’m okay, don’t worry. You did it. You defeated it.”

He didn’t get it. He didn’t get what I’d done—or nearly done. Clearly, whatever crazy, powerful magic was involved here had protected him for the sake of the test. But if it hadn’t …

“Seriously,” said Kiyo, still not understanding my distress. “I’m fine. Just got tossed around too much. Now go get the crown. He said it’s yours.” I pulled away and looked into Kiyo’s eyes, eyes full of fondness and pride. I didn’t deserve that look, but we needed the crown, and we needed to get out of here.

I rose unsteadily and walked over to the pedestal. The crown sat there ominously, and I glanced at the old man. He nodded encouragingly.
If you can wear it.
I supposed there was one more test, one I might fail. When my fingers touched the crown, I felt nothing, only cold metal. I lifted it gingerly, almost afraid of what I did. It was heavy—far
heavier than my crown of state or fashionable ones. Yet, it fit my head perfectly, which was weird. When I’d first seen it, I’d been overwhelmed by its size. I’d been certain it would fall right off.

The old man beamed and bowed again. “And now it is yours. Its powers are yours. You can make armies tremble. You can rip away lands and subdue them. The world can be yours.”

Hoping I’d proven myself, I removed the crown. “I just hope I can end a war.”