Frost Prisms (The Broken Prism Book 5) (3 page)

We can’t go back to that.

Hayden didn’t really see a way to prevent it though, short of getting rid of his father once and for all, but unless they got phenomenally lucky and a schism opened up in the Dark Prism’s bedroom one night, they would have no choice but to start sending mages to fight him again.

There’s no way I’ll be able to avoid that. Calahan will make sure that I get sent to battle my father to the death, no matter what.

Which meant that Hayden was probably going to die soon. He was too emotionally exhausted to be fearful just now, though the idea did raise a new question for him.

“What do you think the Council is going to do once Master Willow finishes telling them?”

Asher made an ugly face and said, “Nothing pleasant, I’m sure.” Then he continued, “In the immediate future, they’ll spread word far and wide of your father’s return so that people aren’t caught by surprise and have a chance to prepare themselves. Most towns will probably implement curfews again and open up the old underground shelters to hide in if Aleric shows up.”

“What I really meant was, what do you think they’ll do to
me
for being the one to bring him back into the Nine Lands? Do you think there’s any chance at all of them believing I didn’t do it on purpose?”

The expression on his mentor’s face was not encouraging.

“Some of them may believe you, but Cal won’t be one of them, and unfortunately this is a perfect way to discredit you and attempt to make you a villain now that he’s gotten you to close the schism for him. Remember, he’s acutely aware of the fact that you have more hero status than the entire Council combined, and that you could use that public support to get him ousted from his position.”

Hayden remembered that conversation from before he went into the schism, and how he had threatened to get Calahan fired if he made it out alive. It seemed like a long time ago.

“But now that I’m the boy who resurrected the Dark Prism, I’m going to lose all my adoring fans?” Hayden asked with a bite of sarcasm.

“You may,” Asher answered seriously. “Which is no small thing, even though you scoff at it. It will take every friend and ally you have to get you out from under whatever horrible fate Calahan plans for you.”

“What do you think he’ll try to do? Arrest me? Put me back in lead Binders?” The latter made Hayden more fearful than the former, as he had already had to wear the uncomfortable, heavy metal bracelets for two years and had no desire to repeat the experience.

Master Asher looked troubled when he said, “I wish I could tell you how the man will act, but he’s become more and more of a loose cannon where you’re concerned. The pressure to deal with the sudden return of mage-kind’s worst enemy will either delay his plans to tear you down long enough to send the glorious hero to deal with his evil father, or else it will expedite them.”

“Well that’s reassuring,” Hayden groaned, massaging his temples.

“We need to get you to the infirmary so you can rest while there’s time. The Council we be on us soon enough, and you’ll need your strength.” Asher motioned him towards the door, unlocking it so that they could exit and leading him down the hall.

Unfortunately, since all the Masters had abandoned their posts during the middle of class, students were milling around in the hallways or relaxing on the lawns, so plenty of people saw Hayden walk past with the Prism Master. A few people called out to him excitedly, congratulating him on his successful return and deducing that this meant the schism had been closed for good. Hayden ignored the chatter and pushed his way through the crowds to keep pace with Asher.

He was just outside the door to the infirmary when he spotted Tess at the other end of the hall. At first her eyes widened at the sight of him, and then her features transformed as the shock of seeing him alive turned to joy. She took a tentative step towards him and smiled, but he shook his head and turned away, trudging behind Master Asher into the safety and quiet of the infirmary. He couldn’t stand to face Tess right now, to be the one who turned her joy to misery when she heard that her mother’s killer was back.

He laid down in the same bed he typically used whenever he was holed up in the infirmary, while Asher tore around the room like time was running out, pulling elixirs from the cabinets seemingly at random and stacking them on Hayden’s bedside table.

It’s sad that I spend enough time here to have a favorite bed.

Asher threw a few bundles of rolled bandages at him and Hayden fumbled them and had to get out of bed and retrieve them from their various places on the floor.

“Why the rush?” he asked grumpily, head still throbbing as he crawled back into bed and reclined against the pillows, trying not to feel bad for getting the white sheets all dirty.

“Sorry, but there are things that need to be done quickly and not a lot of time in which to do them,” his mentor apologized without looking at him, still pulling a few last minute supplies for him and dumping them in Hayden’s lap. “I’ll leave these with you and be off. Try and get some rest.”

“You’re going? I don’t even know how much of these elixirs I’m supposed to take. Remember, I’m failing the subject this year…”

“Tess will help you—and Laraby, if I’m not mistaken.”

Hayden frowned and said, “I don’t want to see them right now, especially Tess. How can I face her after what I’ve done?”

Asher finally turned to look at him properly and said, “You don’t have the luxury of shutting out your friends until you feel better this time. Unless we can outsmart Calahan and his supporters, this might be the last chance you have to see your friends for a very long time.”

Hayden gulped, and before he could think of an appropriate response to that gloomy prediction, Master Asher had swept from the room and closed the door behind him.

Alone with his thoughts was not where Hayden wanted to be right now, so he dedicated himself to the task of getting cleaned up and bandaged. He filled a bucket with warm, soapy water and washed everything he could reach, peeling off the remnants of his clothing and depositing them directly into the trash can. Once he was finally as clean as he was going to get, he applied burn paste and aloe wherever it seemed necessary and wrapped the areas carefully with bandages, donning a clean robe he found in Mistress Razelle’s supply closet. He climbed into bed—one that wasn’t covered in grime, and was just about to close his eyes and try to relax when the door to the infirmary opened.

There were Tess and Zane, as expected. They somehow managed to look hopeful and grim at the same time when they approached.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that no one was really sure you’d make it back in one piece,” Zane greeted him, approaching the bed and pulling up a spare chair. “But once again, you’ve proven everyone wrong and managed to be a total beast.”

He was smiling at Hayden, but he obviously knew that something was wrong, because the smile was edged with worry.

Tess was silent, watching him carefully as she sat down beside Zane and began sorting through the elixirs on the end table, metering out some of each for Hayden without asking any questions.

“I’d hold off on the praise if I were you,” Hayden sighed, utterly weary.

Zane pursed his lips and said, “Why is that? Tess said you looked like death warmed over, but everyone’s talking about how the schism is closed now so things can’t be all that bad…” he seemed to reconsider as a new idea struck him. “Hang on—you’re not still crazy, are you?”

Hayden shook his head gently. “Not anymore, no.” He drank whatever Tess handed him, not even asking what each thing was for but simply trusting her. He began to feel better almost immediately—physically, at least.

“Whoa,” Zane leaned back in surprise. “You mean you actually
did
lose your mind for a while?” When Hayden nodded his friend grimaced and said, “What was it like?”

“Weird,” Hayden answered truthfully. “I couldn’t tell which thoughts were mine and which were the distortion, and eventually I forgot everything and everyone I knew. If not for Hu—the help I had, I would never have made it back.” It was still hard to think of Hunter as the Dark Prism.

Zane raised an eyebrow and said, “You mean those two normals you brought with you actually managed to pull their weight? Good for them!” He grinned in surprise.

“No—I mean, yes, Tanner and Harold both pulled their weight…I was actually the useless one most of the time.” He sighed. “But no, it wasn’t them who saved me in the end.”

“What are you talking about?” Zane looked confused. “You three were the only ones who went into the schism—who else would have been there to help you? Unless…you didn’t find one of the old expedition teams, did you?”

He looked around the infirmary as though expecting to see Delauria and her companions sitting in the next bed.

“No, I never saw any sign of the other groups in there.” Hayden sighed, preparing himself to get the worst part over with. “I met someone else in the other plane, someone who had been living there for years. He was the one who helped me at the end, when I was too far gone to help myself, and he carried me out of the schism on his back before I could get sealed inside while battling monsters.”

“Wow,” Zane whistled, impressed. “Where’s this random hero who saved the day and made sure you got back home? I’d like to shake the hand of anyone who can survive a schism for years on their own.”

Hayden frowned and said, “I doubt you’ll be able to. He’s probably off plotting to kill me and take over the world again.”

Now both Tess and Zane looked confused. For the first time since she entered the room, the former spoke.

“What are you talking about?”

Hayden’s heart hurt as he met her eyes.

“It’s my father, Tess. I accidentally brought my father back from the other realm.”

A terrible moment of silence followed this, during which Hayden’s two friends stared at him like they couldn’t even process the words that had just come out of his mouth.

“You—
what?
” Zane recovered first, looking incredulous.

“I found my father inside the other realm; he must have gotten blasted there the day my house exploded.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the magical explosion was bad enough to open a schism—actually, I’m more amazed that it closed itself before anyone else noticed it was there, given how bad the blast was.”

Zane was shaking his head slowly.

“Hayden, you must still be a little nuts if you think there’s any way you encountered the Dark Prism inside of a schism and brought him back into our world with you. It just…it doesn’t make sense…”

“The story of my life,” Hayden sighed. “Sadly, no, I’m not still crazy. I met my father on the other side—though I had no idea who he was and neither did he. If he had known, he probably wouldn’t have saved my life and brought me back here. The Masters think he was driven sane in there, since he was already crazy going in, and that he built a new identity for himself when he forgot who he was. Unfortunately, he got his memory back when he came through the schism with me. He nearly slit my throat in the back lawns, but he left me and escaped instead.”

“That can’t be true,” Zane insisted, no trace of humor on his face now.

“The Masters stayed around long enough to pump me for information, and then they went to do whatever it is they do to secure Mizzenwald and notify the Council of Mages that Aleric Frost is back in action.”

His friends stared at him in silence for a long moment. Compelled to break it before it spiraled horribly, Hayden blurted out, “I’m sorry,” to Tess.

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Whatever for?”

“Uh…” he started, “you know, for bringing my evil dad back with me on accident. I’m sure your father is going to hate me forever now, after all the Dark Prism cost the two of you the last time he was around.”

Tess scowled and said, “It wasn’t your fault, Hayden. No one knew he was inside the other realm, and if he really did save your life and bring you back here then…well, then I guess I can’t be angry about it.”

“You say that now,” Hayden grumbled. “But wait until he starts killing again…”

“As long as you’re around, there’s still hope.” She gave him a small smile that Hayden didn’t feel he deserved. “You’re the only one who’s ever beaten him before, and that was before you even knew you had magic.”

Hayden was about to open his mouth and tell her that she really shouldn’t put so much faith in him, because he still had no idea what happened on that day at his mother’s house, and after meeting his father and seeing how good the man was at virtually every task he set his mind to, he wasn’t at all sure he could take him in a fight.

Zane prevented him from voicing any of his concern by saying, “Tess is right. You did it before and you can do it again. I’ve seen you work your way out of every horrible situation you’ve been thrown into in the last four years. Your father should have killed you while he had the chance, because you’re going to end him once and for all this time around.”

Hayden had absolutely no idea what to say in the face of his friends’ absolute belief in him, so he said nothing at all.

“Get some rest,” Tess said soothingly, resting her hand on his. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”