The Golden Key (Book 3) (20 page)

14

The Viper’s Eye felt hard in Giorge’s hand, and it took only
a moment for him to make the decision. He brought it up against his eye and
looked into the sarcophagus again. The tunnel had changed. It was radiant,
wavering, as the magic around it fluctuated. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but
it didn’t matter: the witch only had one more step left before she reached his
mother, and he wouldn’t—
couldn’t
—lose her again.

He sheathed his sword and grabbed the torch from his mother.
He threw it at the witch, who staggered from the impact and waved off the flame
as if it was a soft breeze. It only delayed the hag a moment, but it was
enough. He had his mother’s arm in a firm grip and pushed her into the
sarcophagus ahead of him as the torch sputtered out in the water. She squealed
as he shoved her into the wall but quickly fell silent as she passed through it
without resistance. It was pitch black, as if they were encased in stone, and
he reached out for the side of the tunnel as he urged his mother forward. She
adjusted to the situation and stepped rapidly forward a few paces. “This way,”
she said, reaching back for his hand. “There’s a side tunnel.”

Instead of following her, he gripped her hand more tightly
and pulled her back. “No,” he said. “That isn’t the way out.”

“But—”

“No!” he hissed, holding the Eye up so he could look through
it. The magic was writhing now, like a willow branch caught in a strong wind, and
his instincts told him it was bad. “This way,” he said as he clung to her hand
and moved past her. “Quickly!” he hissed as he broke into a jog. The whirling
was disorienting, as if the magic didn’t know which way to go and was trying to
go everywhere at once.
The more powerful the strand, the quicker it breaks
free from the knots.
Angus had said that about his Lamplight spell, but
what about this one?

The curse is lifted; the curse is done;

Your life is yours to live again;

But here forever you shall be,

until in death, you join me.

“The spell’s breaking free!” he shouted. “Run!” He half-dragged
her with him as she tried to keep up. “We have to get out of here!”

They ran.

15

Embril stirred when she heard the sound of horses’ hooves
clattering on the stone of the road, and before she was fully awake, she tried
to whinny to find out why they were running so fast. It sounded like they were
terrified of something and urgently wanted to escape from it. She frowned and
stood up, the whinny gathering into a loose knot in her throat and staying
there. Then she shook her head, relishing in how her mane slid along the back
of her robe. The rich intensity of the sensation bothered her for only a moment
before she dismissed it.

The horses were closer. They were coming from the east, and
she stepped out of the cave far enough to see them. It was Lieutenant Jarhad,
Darby, Tobar, and two other men. They were riding hard—too hard, from the look
of the foamy lather on the horses’ necks.
He’s afraid,
she thought,
calming her mind and detaching it from the onrush of fear the horses were
projecting. Or was it anger? Why are they running so fast? Was something
chasing them?

She felt a sudden urge to run toward them, to join them in
their flight, and before she realized what was happening, she had skipped five
feet forward. She stopped abruptly, her robe fluffing forward and settling in
around her again.
What’s wrong with me?
she wondered. She didn’t have
time to explore the strange, stimulating rush of fear or her instinctive
reaction to it because Lieutenant Jarhad and his men were reining in their
horses. The look on his face….

Lieutenant Jarhad leapt from his horse before it had fully stopped,
and before his sweaty blonde tangles could settle, he was barking orders to his
men. “Darby, Tobar, see to the horses.” He barely turned to the other two as he
gestured and said, “Secure the cave. Watch out for that creature.”

“It’s—” Embril began.

Lieutenant Jarhad, his jaw set firm, stomped up to her, grabbed
her arm, and twisted her around to face the cave. His grip was fierce, painful,
and it caught Embril by surprise. She allowed him to pull her along with him until
they were inside the cave, but when he didn’t let her go, she brought the magic
into focus and reached out for a strand of flame. She tweaked the strand,
wrapped it around her finger and thumb, and snapped them together.

“Ach!” Lieutenant Jarhad cried, dropping his hand from her
arm and leaping backward to draw his sword. The blade was shaking, perhaps because
of his singed fingertips, and his deep-set eyes widened and filled with
surprised rage.

Embril retreated until her back was against the bumpy
surface of the cave wall. She desperately wanted to run, but there was nowhere
to go. The soldiers were deeper in the cave and it went nowhere anyway. Her
breathing was coming in little puffy snorts. Her eyes were wide, and the magic
was in sharper focus than she could ever remember it being, especially the
green, blue, and yellow strands. She couldn’t flee from the cave because
Lieutenant Jarhad was standing there, sword in hand, looking as if he wanted to
use it on her. But she
had to
get out….

“You foolish, stupid, insubordinate witch!” Lieutenant
Jarhad growled through clenched teeth.

Embril blinked rapidly, her eyes shifting rapidly around the
cave, looking for a way out. Her fingertips quivered in front of her as if she
were wringing them together, uncertain about what to do, where to run. Her stare
fixed itself on Lieutenant Jarhad’s vicious glare as she quickly strung
together two spells. The first was an immobilizing spell that compressed the air
into a strong headwind that would force Lieutenant Jarhad back and make it
difficult for him to approach her. The second was a simple variation of the
flying spell.
Run!
she thought fiercely, trying desperately not to lose
focus on the spell, on Lieutenant Jarhad.

Lieutenant Jarhad stepped forward, the flat of the blade
held out in a threatening position. “I’ll have your hide—” he began. He was
close enough for her to feel the spittle spraying from his mouth before she
reluctantly, anxiously,
compulsively
cast the spell.

Run!
she thought as the spell whipped out from her.

When the burst of air struck him, Lieutenant Jarhad staggered
back and fought against it. His eyes widened as the magic held him firmly in
place despite his efforts, and then the strands of the second spell wrapped
around him, picked him up, and sent him sailing backward. He would have struck
the cave’s wall, but Embril redirected his momentum and sent him out of the
cave entrance. There he hung, suspended in the air, as she fought against the
urge to drop him and run.

Lieutenant Jarhad snarled at her, sending frightful shivers
down her spine. She pawed at the ground with her left foot and licked her lips.
Run!
she thought, trying to still her almost frantic breathing. Her
fingers squeezed together, almost tightening into a fist before she forced them
to relax.

Lieutenant Jarhad paled, his eyes bulged, and his sword shook
in front of him as the magic squeezed in around him. His sword slipped from his
grip and clattered down to the road as he convulsed against the strength of the
spell’s constrictive force.

Embril eased her grip and stepped forward. He took a deep,
raspy breath, and the first inkling of fear crept into his eyes, subduing—but
not replacing—the rage that was still there. She smiled, not from pleasure or
satisfaction, but to drive down the fear threatening to overrun her. As she stepped
forward, she pushed him back until he was hovering over the canyon several feet
from the ledge. Then Darby and Tobar were at the mouth of the cave.

“Back off!” Embril snarled, her voice frantic. “I’ll drop
him!” She was shaking, and her bladder was almost impossible to control.

“Do it!” Lieutenant Jarhad gasped, his breath coming in
small spurts as she flexed her sore fingers.

Darby and Tobar backed off as one of the horses whinnied its
concern. It was a friendly sound, a comforting one, and quite suddenly all her
fear fled from her.

Embril frowned. Why had she reacted so violently? It wasn’t
like her to do that. She clicked her tongue and the horse took a step toward
her, but Darby used his bulk to block its path. But it was enough. The horse
was calm, and that calmed her. She turned back to Lieutenant Jarhad and glared
at him for a long moment before turning back to Darby. His eyes were dilated,
but he wasn’t doing anything with his hands yet.

“Darby,” she said. “I suggest you stop whatever it is you
are planning to do.” The dilation of his eyes didn’t change as he held himself
ready. She sighed and reluctantly snatched a bit of flame magic and sent it his
way. The whip-like tendril didn’t strike him, but it was close enough for him
to realize how close it had been—and to startle the horse. “You may be an adequate
healer,” she told him, her voice firm, “but you are no match for me.” Despite
the horse’s obvious discomfort, she toyed with the flame strand, flicking its
tip near his feet until his eyes returned to normal.

“Now, Lieutenant,” she began as she turned back to him, “I
joined this mission because I have an important task to do, and Commander
Garret ordered you to take me with you. I agreed to wear that insufferable
soldier’s uniform and that ugly hat because my task is too important for me to
quibble over such things. I have also put up with your rudeness, your disdain,
and your disrespect for the same reason.” She gritted her teeth and squeezed
her hand to apply a little well-deserved pressure. “I even allowed you to laden
me with my gear while I was a horse, and it almost killed me. That was, indeed,
foolish and stupid of me. I never should have let you do that. Now you threaten
to strike me with your sword?”

“When we get back to Hellsbreath,” Lieutenant Jarhad
growled, “I will have your head. Orders or no, what you have done is punishable
by death.”

“And what of you?” she asked, her voice almost playful.
“What punishment do you deserve?” She wiggled him in the air to stress her
point, and then smiled as he paled. “Yes, Lieutenant. You are in no position to
make threats, and I have nothing at all to fear upon our return to
Hellsbreath.”

“Open displays of magic—”

“—are only to be done when absolutely necessary,” she mockingly
finished. “It was necessary. You are simply too blind to realize it.” She paused
and said, without turning, “The hermitog is dead, by the way.”

“The what?” Lieutenant Jarhad asked.

“The creature in the cave,” she clarified. “We need the cave
for my plan to succeed. It wouldn’t do to have it hanging around eating your
men, now would it?”

“It’s dead?” he asked. It was almost as if he were looking
through
her as he said it.

Embril nodded. “What was it you said about me, Lieutenant?”
she asked. “I’m foolish? Yes, I suppose I am foolish for tolerating
your
behavior. I am not one of your men, Lieutenant, and you have no authority over
me
at all
, so how can I be insubordinate? Indeed, I am due the same
respect that you would deign to give to a Master Wizard, but you have shown me
nothing
but contempt and hostility.” She had to fight off the urge to squeeze the spell
tighter as she said it, but a moment later, she continued in a much calmer
tone. “Even when I have tried to make your task easier to accomplish, you have
been insulting and condescending.” She paused and tightened her grip on the
spell until he gasped for the breath the wind was ripping away from him. Her
eyes were hard and her tone was like ice as she finished, “I
am
not
stupid.” She let the pressure stay for a long second, and then eased it up and
let him catch his breath.

When he recovered, there was still frustration and anger in
his eyes; but the spark of fear had grown and was accompanied by a budding,
begrudging hint of respect. “Very well,” he said, “
Master
Wizard.” The
way he said it made the title seem empty and foul, and there was no sincerity
in his eyes as he added, “I apologize for my behavior toward you.”

“An empty apology is no more effective than a silent
scream,” she said, smiling. It was one of her favorite sayings, and this was
the first time she had ever been able to use it. “But it is of no consequence,
Lieutenant. I need no apology from you; I need only your attention. I have a
plan that will take us across the plateau in three days without leaving any
discernible trail. If we are discovered by the fishmen—if there are any here,
which I doubt—and they attack, I am confident you can deal with them.”

“And if there are hundreds of them?” he sneered.

She shrugged, “Then I will help you.”

He blinked and stared at her for a long time. Then he
glanced down at the canyon beneath him and quickly looked back up. The anger
was
almost
gone from his eyes now, and that hint of respect was growing
as the implication of her words struck him. “One wizard?” he scoffed.

She smiled, “If it is the right wizard with the right spells.”

“And you have the right spells?”

“I believe so,” she said. “Are you ready to listen, then?”

He hesitated a few seconds before saying, “Yes.”

“Your word?” she demanded. She waited until he had given it
and then turned her body until Lieutenant Jarhad was hovering over the road.
Then she gently lowered him down and released the spells. “Good,” she said.
“Shall we talk in the cavern?” As she turned toward the cave, she hesitated
only a moment to smile at the two men standing behind her with their swords
drawn and held unsteadily out in front of them. Then she made a casual gesture
with her arm, and they rapidly stepped aside to let her pass.
Good,
she
thought, smiling as she entered the cave and walked confidently toward the
large cavern she had found.