The Amulet (27 page)

“Yes!” he shouted back.

Vivianna was upon her again. Faedra swung her
sword just in time to meet with her opponent’s and averted the loss
of a limb.

“Do you think Jocelyn can handle those
redcaps by herself for a minute?” Crash - she dodged another blow
that struck the altar stone, sending more sparks flying.

There was silence for a moment, except for
the clashing of metal on metal.

“I think so,” Jocelyn shouted back.

“Faen, distract this evil fairy for a moment,
would you?” Faedra asked and shot an icy glare at Vivianna who just
smiled at her vindictively as she came at the Custodian again with
her sword.

“It would be my pleasure,” he spoke with deep
satisfaction as he flew over and descended upon Vivianna with a
clash of his sword, giving her no choice than to give up her
onslaught on Faedra.

Vivianna screamed something incoherent at
Faedra, who could see the fury in her eyes.

Faedra dropped her sword, dodged past the two
of them who were fighting with a vengeance and grabbed the Book of
Anohs from the altar. The stone in the amulet blazed to life as she
ran with the book into the shadow of a monolithic stone.

“How do I do this? Oh, God, what do I do?”
she mumbled as she looked over to her two friends who were fighting
for their lives. “Well, whatever you do, Faedra,” she told herself,
“Do it quickly.” She opened the book, but found that of no help; it
was written in a language she couldn’t understand. Then she had an
idea. What if she imagined the weather she wanted; would that work?
Could it be that easy? She took hold of the amulet, closed her
eyes, and concentrated. A moment passed and she could feel cold
splashes on her face. She opened her eyes and looked up. Dark
clouds had appeared from nowhere and it was suddenly raining -
hard. Within seconds, she was drenched through to the skin.

“Ha,” she cried, “it worked.”

“Not… helping…!” Faen grunted over his
shoulder between parries with Vivianna.

Faedra closed her eyes again and the rain
stopped as abruptly as it had started. “Sorry,” she called out to
her now soggy cohorts who she could see slipping on the wet ground.
“That was stupid, Faedra,” she cursed at herself.

She glanced over to see how Jocelyn was doing
and was horror struck as she watched a redcap sneak up and spear
her from behind. Jocelyn gasped and slumped to the ground.

“NO!” Faedra yelled as anger surged through
her more blindingly than she’d ever felt it before. Thunder roiled
ominously in the air around her; a low growl to begin with that
turned rapidly into a noise so vicious the sky sounded like it was
being ripped apart.

She could feel her body surging with an
energy so powerful it was overwhelming. Faedra held her hands up to
the sky, asking for more, accepting every tiny particle the
atmosphere could provide her. At that moment, a bolt of lightning
struck her in the heart. But instead of it killing her, she
absorbed it, molded it; her whole body crackled loudly. Then she
realized it was her that was making the noise, not the thunder.

She opened her eyes, which were now glowing
with the bright blue-white radiance of the lightening she had
absorbed, and threw her hands out in the direction of the redcaps,
unleashing every particle of electrical energy she had molded
inside of her. Six bolts of lightning flew from her palms hitting
each redcap directly in the chest, killing them on contact. They
slumped to the ground, also. Faedra fell back against the stone and
attempted to steady herself. She could feel her legs weaken beneath
her.

Vivianna was momentarily distracted by
Faedra’s show of power, enough that Faen had been able to knock the
sword from her hand and was now holding his to her throat. He
kicked Vivianna’s sword out of reach.

With the last fragment of will that Faedra
had left, she stumbled over to where Jocelyn lay unmoving on the
wet ground. She sat down beside her and lifted Jocelyn’s head,
cradling it in her arms.

“Jocelyn, oh, no. Please, God, not Jocelyn.”
Big fat tears rolled down Faedra’s cheeks as she carefully moved a
clump of wet hair that was splayed across her friend’s lifeless
face. She looked over to Faen in desperation, tears flowing down
her face. He was still standing motionless, holding his sword to
Vivianna’s throat.

“Oh, Faen,” she cried, “I think she’s
dead.”

Faen’s eyes blazed with an anger Faedra had
never seen before. He swung his sword high above his head and was
just about to wield it with a fatal blow to Vivianna’s neck when
Jocelyn coughed. He stopped mid-swing and looked over to where
Faedra and Jocelyn were on the ground.

Jocelyn breathed in, an urgent gasp as if
coming up for air. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled up at
Faedra.

“You’re alive?” Faedra half laughed, half
cried, she was so overjoyed.

“They must have missed my heart,” Jocelyn
whispered, her voice sounding gravelly.

“She’s alive, Faen!” Faedra called.

Vivianna took advantage of the distraction
and flew over Faen’s head to stand behind him on the altar stone.
Faen whirled around, but just as he did, she spat some more words
that Faedra did not recognize, and something appeared in her hand.
At first glance, it looked like a spindly tree branch, but it
glittered with sparkling red stones. Vivianna glared at Faen and
then over at Faedra; she muttered something else and slammed the
staff hard on the stone.

The red stones emitted what looked like
whirling red laser lights that within seconds had encircled
Vivianna.

She gave Faen a malevolent smile. “Until we
meet again, Guardian,” she said smoothly with an incline of her
head.

“No,” Faen cried, lunging out with his sword.
But Vivianna was gone. His sword came crashing to the stone. Faen
shouted something Faedra didn’t understand and from his tone of
voice, wasn’t sure she wanted to, either. He sheathed his sword
angrily and strode over to where the girls were sitting on the
ground. His expression altered in an instant as soon as he reached
them, replacing the one of anger with one of compassion.

“Jocelyn,” he cupped her face, his eyes full
of concern. “My dear sister, are you alright?”

She smiled at him. “I am fine, Brother, it
missed my heart.”

Faen hung his head and heaved a sigh of
relief. They looked at the bodies that were strewn all around
them.

“Where did Vivianna go?” Faedra asked. “And
what was that thing she had?”

“It was the ruby staff,” he replied. “It has
the power to transport you in an instant to anywhere in any realm.
I have only heard of it, I have never seen it before. It holds dark
magic. I do not know how she came by it; I was told it had been
destroyed.”

They had been so focused on Jocelyn they
hadn’t noticed that the Valkyries had advanced, and were now
forming a semi circle around them. Freja moved forward from the
line again.

“Well done,” she said to all three, her
features devoid of emotion. “Redcaps make excellent warriors.”

All of the maidens held out their spears,
lowering them so they were pointing at the bodies on the floor.
Faedra watched as the redcaps shimmered and disappeared.

“Our job here is done, Guardian,” Freja
continued, “as is yours.”

The horses all backed up in one fluid
movement and then turned. They walked through the stones of the
circle and disappeared.

Faen scooped his injured sister up off the
cold, wet ground. Faedra pushed herself up, which took more effort
than she could have imagined, and stumbled over to the book. She
leaned over and scooped it up, wrapping her arms around it and held
it tight to her chest.

“We need to get this back to Azran,” she
croaked.

“Jocelyn, there must be a portal nearby, can
you sense one?” Faen asked.

Jocelyn closed her eyes for a moment and
concentrated.

“Yes, Brother, there is one at the cathedral
we passed, but I do not know where in Azran it will take us,” she
replied.

“We will have to take our chances,” he said
as he looked at Faedra, and could see her complexion graying and
her legs weaken. Jocelyn noticed, too.

“Brother, take Faedra back to the car. I will
wait here until you come back.”

Faen looked with concern from his injured
sister to his weakening charge.

“Go. I will be fine,” Jocelyn reassured
him.

The Guardian laid his sister with care on the
altar stone and turned to Faedra.

“Come, young lady, we need to get you some
sugar water,” he scooped Faedra up just as her legs gave way. She
gave him a weak smile, she had no energy left to do anything
else.

He turned back to his sister. “I will be back
in a moment.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

After Faedra had replenished her energy
levels by drinking nearly every bottle of sugar water she had
prepared, she drove them to Salisbury Cathedral. It was an
impressive building; the spire towered several hundred feet above
them. She had read somewhere once that the weather vane on the top
of the spire was the size of a donkey.

“This way,” Jocelyn pointed, and headed off
in the direction of where she could sense the portal.

Jocelyn’s body had healed itself in the time
it took for them to reach the cathedral, much to her brother and
her friend’s relief.

Faedra was still holding on tight to the
book, and Faen was scanning the area all around them as they
followed the younger fairy to the portal. There was no telling
where Vivianna could be. It wouldn’t surprise the Guardian if she
turned up and tried to take the book away, and he wouldn’t feel
comfortable until it was safely back in the castle and under some
stronger magical bonds than last time.

Jocelyn came to a sudden stop, and made a
sharp turn. “Over there,” she said. She reminded Faedra of a
Bloodhound sniffing out a scent. “Here it is,” she stated as she
came to a sudden stop on the path. Jocelyn recited an incantation
and told Faedra and Faen when the portal was open.

“Get ready with your sword, Jocelyn. We do
not know what awaits us on the other side,” Faen instructed
cautiously. Jocelyn conjured her sword and Faen drew his from its
sheath. He looked down at Faedra and gave her a wry smile. “As for
you, my little
Kenget
, I believe you can hold your own.
Energy balls at the ready?”

She smiled back at him, her eyes twinkling
from the reflection of the ball of blue light that was now bobbing
above her free hand.

“What does
Kenget
mean?”

He laughed. “It means Warrior.”

Faedra bopped him on the arm with her elbow.
“I hardly think so,” she blushed. “Vivianna out-sworded me every
step of the way.”

“Faedra, do not underestimate yourself. You
had never held a sword before today and survived a fight against
one of the best in our realm - Vivianna has been training since she
was a child – and you are still alive to tell the tale. To be
honest with you, I do not know how you did it,” he looked at her
with pride. “I believe you will be a formidable Custodian,” his
smile slipped and his eyes saddened. “I think perhaps, you will not
need me anymore.”

Panic flashed across Faedra’s face. “You’re
not going to leave me, are you?” Her energy ball fizzled out with
her question.

He considered her panic-stricken face for a
moment and a warm smile curved his lips. “No, Faedra, I will not
leave you, unless you wish it. Shall we?” He motioned in the
direction of the portal.

Faedra’s body relaxed and she smiled back at
him, the ball of light reappearing in her palm.

The three of them stepped into the portal on
full alert. A second later they were standing in a cobbled street
in the City of Azran. People meandered past them, going about their
business. Faedra closed her hand, Faen sheathed his sword, and
Jocelyn’s disappeared.

Faedra looked around and noticed something
that filled her heart with joy.

“Look!” she shouted as she pointed to a
window box hanging on a wall nearby. “The flowers, they’re growing
again.” They all wandered over to the window box. Bright green
shoots were starting to poke their way through the soil. “It
worked; the plants are growing. When I took the book from Vivianna,
it must have broken whatever hold she had over it. We did it!” She
shoved the book at Jocelyn and wrapped her arms around Faen’s neck
to give him a hug. He picked her up and swung her around. A laugh
escaped him as he got caught up in her excitement.

Her outburst had caught the attention of some
passers-by, and suddenly gasps of shock and surprise were
resonating all around them as people stopped to see. Faen eased
Faedra to the ground and they turned to scan the crowd that was now
increasing in number by the second with people looking intently at
the book.

“They found it!” A man shouted from the
crowd. There was silence for a few seconds, then the crowd erupted
and surged forward. At first, Faedra thought they were in serious
trouble, but as soon as she was scooped up and planted on a
burly-looking fairy’s shoulder, and watched as the same thing
happened to Jocelyn and Faen, she realized that these people were
pleased to see them.

Cheers rang out down the cobbled streets and
little children skipped their way in front of them. They were
carried through the city until they arrived at the courtyard in
front of the castle, where they were lowered carefully to the
ground. The people who had been carrying them bowed and stepped
back.

“Thank you,” they said.

“You’re welcome,” Faedra responded. She
didn’t think it sounded quite appropriate under the circumstances,
but it was an automatic response that was commonplace in
conversation in her world, and was more habit than thought.