The Dark (8 page)

As she stops I notice the orange glow of the fire to her right. I focus on it with everything I’ve been taught, drawing on the remains of her energy still pulsing in my hands. The fire erupts again, and a wave of flames sweep into the room, slowing the whirlwind. Furniture begins to drop as the winds recede, crashing to the ground and splintering into dangerous pieces. Isabel crouches with the girl buried within her skirts.

A pounding on the door can now be heard. The Duke and other voices demand to know what’s going on. They want the door opened. Isabel casts me a concerned look. But a deeper concern is Lathenia, and what she might do next. I jump down and focus all my power on the fire. If I have to burn the room down to get the Goddess out of this time period, then I will take that risk.

Lathenia sees what I have in mind. One of her long fingers points into the fireplace and instantly the fire
extinguishes. Then, looking satisfied, she raises her hand to me. I ignore her as best I can, and focus on the fireplace, believing that somewhere in those remains, a single spark still burns.

‘You are not that good …
Arkarian!
’

Trying hard not to be distracted, I concentrate on finding that spark. I hear her laugh, a mocking sound, a gleeful sound. But it is soon cut off, as the spark I have finally found, turns into a raging fire. A fire that cannot be contained in the small fireplace. It explodes, and waves of dancing orange flames leap into the room.

She screams this time from frustration. And as the flames unfold to fill almost the entire room, she lifts above it and stares at me with flashing silver eyes. ‘Don’t think you’ve won, Arkarian. We will meet again. We will meet very soon. And the place will be of my choosing.’ With these words she disappears.

I release the flames and they withdraw into the fireplace. The door bursts open and the Duke, Lady Eleanor and many servants pile into the room. At first they’re beaten back by the heat and the smell of scorched furniture. But then they see the destruction in the room and can only stare.

The sound of Charlotte whimpering breaks the spell.

‘What on earth is going on here?’ the Duke demands.

‘The lady took my dog,’ Charlotte cries, and breaks into sobs.

‘Um,’ Isabel tries to come up with a plausible explanation. ‘The dog. Well, he … he …’

‘Yes? Get on with it!’ the Duke commands.

‘He slept too close to the fire,’ I add, helping Isabel out.

She takes up the story. ‘Yes. He was so close a spark scorched him. He went crazy, my lord. And as he ran, the flames grew larger. He tore around the room with his coat burning, spreading the flames everywhere he touched, and knocking furniture down. We tried to catch him, but it only made things worse.’

Lady Eleanor looks horrified. ‘Why didn’t you open the door?’

Isabel glances at the door. Beside it, scorched and turned on its side, lies a solid piece of furniture. ‘The desk,’ she says. ‘It ended up against the back of the door. And we were so concerned with trying to contain the fire and stop the dog, that we had no time to move it out of the way.’

The Duke’s eyes fall on his daughter, still crying, but unharmed. ‘Well, it appears you have protected my daughter, and for that I am grateful. But what was Charlotte saying about a lady?’

‘When the fire broke out, she was asleep, my lord. The “lady” she speaks of must have been in her dreams.’

‘Where is the dog now?’

I glance at the open window and Isabel says, ‘It leaped, my lord. Out through that window. Gascon saw it disappear into the woods.’

The Duke, appearing satisfied with our story, orders his servants to clean up the room and to take out any furniture that has been burned beyond repair. Lady Eleanor orders another room be prepared for Charlotte. ‘And hurry, so that the child can quickly be put to sleep.’

Isabel finds it hard to ignore Lady Eleanor’s poor choice of words. I give her a warning look and she
squats down to comfort Charlotte, who is still upset over losing her beloved pet.

‘I told you, Adrian, that dog was no good,’ Lady Eleanor snaps at the Duke. ‘You should have destroyed it the minute it turned up on our estate. I warned you it was going to be trouble.’

Charlotte’s cries grow louder, and Isabel groans at Lady Eleanor’s callous, unthinking words. And while I feel for Charlotte too, there is nothing Isabel or I can do about the dog. It obviously doesn’t belong in this time period. Lathenia sent it for her own purposes, and now, of course, it can’t return. This time portal will close as soon as Isabel and I can find a quiet space to call Marcus. We only have to call his name – loudly and with passion – and he will hear and return us to the Citadel instantly.

I tug on her arm and whisper, ‘Our work is done here.’

She gives an almost imperceptible nod, then says to Lady Eleanor, ‘If Charlotte’s chamber is ready, I’ll settle her into her bed.’

The Duke comes over and lifts Charlotte into his arms, holding her tightly. ‘Thank you for your kindness towards my daughter, but I’ll put Charlotte to bed myself tonight.’

Lady Eleanor comes rushing over and tugs on the Duke’s elbow. ‘I’ll come with you. And when the child sleeps, I’ll organise some mead to soothe our nerves.’

With the Duke and Lady Eleanor gone, it’s not long before the servants finish removing the worst of the damaged furniture, and Isabel and I finally find ourselves alone.

‘How did you do that?’ she asks.

I close the door behind the last departing servant and turn around. ‘Hmm?’

She makes a movement with her hands, similar to what I did when reflecting Lathenia’s energy earlier. ‘The hand thing.’ She comes over, takes my hands in hers, then gives a little shriek. ‘They’re so hot! Do they hurt?’

I tug my hands out from hers. They’re still a little uncomfortable, but I’m sure the feeling will soon pass. ‘They’re fine. Don’t concern yourself.’

‘I thought they were going to burst into flames, like that small fire did when you made it explode.’

She wants me to explain. ‘It was just a skill I was taught to use when confronting an immortal. That’s all.’

She peers at me with narrowed eyes, her curiosity thoroughly aroused. ‘Really?’ Her mouth twitches at one end, then the other. And while she’s keeping her thoughts well screened, it’s clear she’s come to some fascinating conclusion about me. ‘All those years ago you must have been an Apprentice. Who was your Trainer?’

For some reason Isabel makes it sound as if the answer to this question will solve the mystery about my unusual display of powers tonight. I don’t want to give her information that might make her leap to any wrong conclusions. I don’t know who my parents were. I was raised in many houses, by both peasants and soldiers. In some of those houses I was a slave. It wasn’t until I turned eighteen, and became indentured into the Guard, that I found a form of peace. I have no last name. The only real family I have ever known is that provided by the Guard. ‘Look, Charlotte is safe.
We’ve done our job. We really have to leave now.’

She tries to grab one of my slightly glowing hands, but I turn away.

‘Not until you tell me who your Trainer was.’

‘What difference does it make?’

She lifts one shoulder. ‘Then why not tell me?’

‘Because you’ll only jump to conclusions. Crazy ones.’

‘Yeah, well, why don’t you let me be the judge of that?’

‘We have to go, Isabel. There’s so much to do when we get back.’

‘I understand, but I’m not leaving until you tell me who your Trainer was.’

I groan and shake my head at her persistence. Standing with her hands on her hips, staring at me, she’s not going to change her mind. That is apparent. ‘All right. I was Lorian’s Apprentice. Does that satisfy your curiosity?’

‘Aha! I thought so.’ Anyone would think this news is the most momentous she’s heard in all her life. And then another thought hits her. She gets excited, like a child with a brightly coloured parcel in front of her. ‘Tell me one more thing and I’ll never bother you again.’

Now this I doubt, but I relent all the same. There’s a feeling I can’t get rid of that we have to hurry back to our time. ‘This is the last question you get to ask about my past. We have to return to the Citadel now; time is passing too quickly.’

‘Tell me how long.’

‘I don’t follow.’

‘How long were you Lorian’s Apprentice?’

Her question is intriguing. I honestly don’t know why my apprenticeship took so long. Maybe I was just a slow student.

‘Well?’ she repeats.

‘I don’t know why you’re so interested, but for what it’s worth, I was Lorian’s Apprentice for two hundred years.’

Chapter Seven

Isabel

Two hundred years! Arkarian was trained by the Immortal, an apprenticeship that took two hundred years! There’s so much to Arkarian I don’t know. So much I want to learn. Strange how the girl, Charlotte, felt drawn to him. Why? And finding out he was trained by Lorian is staggering to say the least.

And then there was that moment. That moment in his arms.

But he’s right about having to return to our time quickly. It’s dangerous to delay. Lathenia’s warning keeps ringing in my ears. And we still have to find out how to stop Laura from taking her own life.

We shift to the Citadel and neither of us takes the landing well. We end up rolling across the floor in a room that seems to be moving. Arkarian helps me up. ‘Something’s wrong.’

‘I feel it too. Look at this room.’

A doorway appears that has a warped look, as if it’s struggling to stay open. Arkarian’s eyes widen. ‘Let’s go!’

The doorway isn’t fully formed; we have to push
through it to get out. Running down a corridor, Arkarian leads the way down several flights of disappearing stairways.

‘Where are we going?’ I call out.

‘To get my body back!’

A door opens to our right. It has the same warped look. We struggle through it. Once inside, Arkarian disappears. I spin around, beginning to panic, when I see him across the room. He’s getting off a chair, and his blue hair and violet eyes are a welcome sight.

‘We can’t stay here,’ he says. ‘We have to get
you
back now. I don’t know what’s taking Marcus so long. He’s controlling your transportation from my chambers, or I’d do it myself. But something must have gone wrong because you’re still here. I might have to go and help him.’ He sees the look on my face. ‘I’ll find a safe room for you first.’

‘I thought all the rooms in the Citadel were safe.’

‘Well they are, normally. But a “safe room” is lined with a special element. It can’t be penetrated by any form.’

We look for the doorway, but there’s no sign of it anywhere. ‘Come on,’ Arkarian mumbles at the wall, running his hands over where we first walked in. ‘Open!’

I blink a few times and rub my eyes as the light in the room suddenly changes. ‘Arkarian?’ He’s still searching for an opening and hasn’t noticed. I tap his shoulder and point to the centre of the room. It’s there the strangest thing is happening. All the light in the room is moving, spiralling towards this single point.

‘Isabel! Quickly!’ Arkarian’s voice sounds desperate. He grabs my hand, gripping it tightly. Within seconds
the light completely disappears. ‘Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand.’

‘What’s going on? I can’t see a thing!’

‘The light’s been sucked out. Marcus! Get us out of here!’

But nothing happens. Then the room is rocked by an explosion. It fills with bright blue and purple light. For a second I see Arkarian, his gentle face filled with fear, his blue hair in wild disarray as if charged by electricity. I reach out to him, but the force of the explosion has us both soaring through the air in opposite directions. My back hits a wall and I crash to the floor, banging my head very hard.

When my eyes open again, my head feels like cement, my vision blurry. But not so blurry that I can’t see a giant of a man standing over me. He has hunched shoulders, so stooped, it looks as if he might drop to all fours at any moment. He’s wearing a wide crimson cloak, his face hidden inside the hood. His head tilts and he grunts at me. It’s an animal sound. Spittle sprays over me, and I jerk back against the wall. What the hell is going on!

The man turns from me, and with a rough voice, bellows orders across the room. My eyes follow and see an old man, stooped and very frail. But the orders are not for this strange man. Around him are four –
creatures
, unlike anything I’ve seen walk this earth before. At first they appear to be floating. It looks as if they have wings. One drops, and lands with a heavy thump on strangely human-looking feet.

‘Enough!’ the tall man screams at them. ‘Hand me the key and let’s be gone from this house of sickening righteousness.’

I get to my feet, looking about for Arkarian. One creature moves, and I see its wings now, awkwardly attached to its back. They flap, and hands appear from beneath them. Another shoves the first creature aside, snorting. It stumbles to the ground, and the sight of its small, round red eyes startle me.

The man in the billowing cloak grabs one of its wings with a gloved hand. ‘Get up!’

As it staggers to its feet with a squawk, I get a glimpse of something on the floor. It’s Arkarian! But something’s wrong. He’s lying in a heap and not moving. Then I see the chains at his feet and wrists secured with a lock. They’re taking him somewhere. My heart leaps into my throat, especially as the old man starts throwing some sort of ash over the top of him. I take a step towards the old man to stop him but a wave of dizziness has me stumbling blindly.

‘Fix the cage around him. And hurry!’ the man in the crimson cloak orders.

Finding some sort of balance I stagger across the room and yank on the huge man’s arm. ‘What do you think you’re doing? Leave him be!’

The man glares at me, and a single flash of red flares out from within his hood, as if his eyes are glowing fire. He does not answer.

I can’t believe this is happening! Outrage fills me, giving me the added impetus I need. I leap up with the intention of clawing this man’s eyes out, but he’s so tall I end up thumping my fists into his rock-like chest. He pushes me away and I hit the floor. I get up again and ram my shoulder into his stomach.