Chapter Fifteen - The Heart of the Mountain
I WAS SUPRISED by how easily I got on with Elba when we weren’t at each other’s throats. She managed to figure out which bookcase led to Thistlewick by transitioning to wolf-form in the hallway one night, whilst Merl was drinking mead with Balthus in the Dragons Scales. It was strange to see her like this, I had witnessed Jestin and Idris in part transformation but I had only ever seen the surface of the beast on those occasions. The Worlen Elba, sniffing around the entrance hall in front of me, no longer resembled the human I had known her to be. She was still human but at the same time she was clearly wolf. Her short head of hair was now a dull grey shaggy main extending from the top her head to her lower back, her muscular hind legs supported her as she stalked upright towards each bookcase. She was careful not to scratch the wooden floor with the sharp claws that extended from her elongated fingers. Her eyes, although luminescent yellow, were her most recognisable features.
She approached one of the more crooked bookshelves that I guessed was the gateway to Thistlewick. She also pointed out the door that had led to Forge Gate after transitioning back to her more human form. I kept a note of this, reasoning that it may come in useful in the future. I was surprised that she managed to find the door to Thistlewick before the one to her own home but she illuminated that Banshees had a distinctive lilac smell the Worlen found highly desirable. It was easy for them to tell if a Banshee was around, something I was counting on to help us find the castle once we got onto the marshes.
When I really thought about it, my plan would have been virtually impossible to execute without Elba to sniff out Thistlewick Castle, which supposedly, can only be found by a Banshee. Elba explained that she had found it once before by herself when she had fallen in love with a young Banshee trader. He had travelled to Forge Gate selling linens and she fell so deeply in love that she followed him back to Thistlewick. King Alphus in disgrace had commanded her home. No Worlen would ever be permitted to marry a Banshee, they were enemies since before Falinn Galdur had even been discovered. It did make me wonder if that was the reason why Idris was always hanging around Dahlia? Maybe he saw her half-human status as a possible loophole in the strict courting rituals of the Worlen kind? I mentioned it to Elba who pointed out that humans are equally as taboo to the Worlens as Banshees. I felt for Elba, she was so strong on the surface, such a rebel, but she had suffered so many heartaches, been abandoned by the people who should have loved her the most. I had genuinely come to admire her deeply in the short time we spent together.
I was glad Jestin kept busy helping some of the more elderly Worlen to adjust to their new living arrangements. At least that way no one really saw us out together. The only time he would visit was when Ebla was out hunting or drinking with Merl and Balthus at the Dragons Scales. He had been constantly on edge in the last three weeks since he had abandoned the army and evacuated the most vulnerable Worlen from Forge Gate. There had been no word about the mass escape but I guessed it hadn’t made Jestin very popular with the king. Neither had we heard anything from Thistlewick about the plan of action to apprehend both Jestin and myself. I guess everyone was keeping tight mouthed in order that they didn’t give the game away. I could understand the silence, after all if King Alphus reacted to Jestin and Balthus’s departure with half of his people then the Banshees would know that the usual soldiers were now working to sustain industry in Forge Gate. Plus, it didn’t look very good that the General of the Army had left with the most vulnerable. It implied that he didn’t think the Worlen could win a war. The Banshees on the other hand had been tight-lipped because they were not one hundred percent sure, if I was in Forge Gate or Blossomdown. Rosamaylind had sent out another scroll to Merl, detailing that Evangelista was reluctant to attack Blossomdown and risk the wrath of Merl unless they were sure I was there to capture and bargain with. I would be both prisoner and leverage, we have your heir prisoner don’t attack or we will kill her, so to speak. On the other hand, if I were in Forge Gate, where it was believed Jestin would be, I would have an army defending me. I guess whoever the real traitor was, they were rubbing their hands together with pure elation. Their divide and conquer plan working so meticulously. With all the races on Falinn Galdur fighting with each other no-one was focusing on the real issue of Agrona’s awakening. Well, no one apart from Merl, who began compiling a list of spells that I would need.
It was one seemingly quiet night at the very end of summer when Elba and I decided to make our move. It had been a month since the great escape of the Worlen people and I hadn’t heard anything of Dahlia since Rosamaylind’s first scroll. What an awful friend she must think I was to abandon her in her time of need. I was awful, I knew it, but I was coming now and that had to count for something didn’t it?
Elba loaned me one of her black leather body suits for the expedition. Luckily, we were the same size. Unluckily I thought I looked completely absurd, not in the least like Elba who fitted into her figure hugging leather outfit like a glove. The bad girl image really suited her rebellious personality, I on the other hand felt both awkward and uncomfortable.
“What happened to him?” I asked. I didn’t know if Elba and I had reached the sharing emotional memories stage of our friendship yet but there was only one way to find out.
“To who?” She was perplexed.
“The trader who you followed to Thistlewick, what happened to him?” I continued.
“Oh, well we were punished” She said as she showed me three lash marks on the underneath of her arm, I winced, they were faded now but they had clearly been quite deep. “They might have been worse if Balthus hadn’t grappled the whip from the lash man and knocked him out with the blunt end. Anyway, he, his name was Redrick by the way, will be married by now. My Redrick belongs to somebody else.” her tone became sorrowful at the mention of his name, her expression glazed with the numbness of an eternity spent without her one true love. I wondered if someone else would witness the same expression on my face one day, that’s if I lived long enough to ever have the chance to miss Jestin. Would he choose someone new when he officially left the service of the Worlen army? It wasn’t a question really, I knew he wouldn’t. He was as bound as I was by the bond between us. I couldn’t help but feel for Elba, I didn’t even want to imagine that Jestin might move on.
“Married?” I asked.
“Yes, Banshee males are forced to marry by their five hundredth birthday if they hadn’t found a mate. He was four hundred and fifteen when I met him and that was hundreds of years ago.” She replied sorrowfully.
“They are forced to marry? Why?” I asked. I hated that I was so ignorant of the cultures and customs of the island. I didn’t belong where I came from anymore and I certainly didn’t fit in here, I was beginning to wonder what I would do when all of this was over, presuming I actually managed to survive which was unlikely. When my parent’s returned, no longer enchanted, to their normal lives, would I go and be with them? How could I possibly fit back into their world? I was a damaged piece of the jigsaw. I didn’t belong anywhere anymore. Elba broke my musing,
“I don’t know, some ridiculous idea about five hundred being the peak age for child rearing in the Banshee males.” She stated dismissively. “Come now, let’s go.”
We slipped down the creaky stairs quietly enough. Although Balthus was out on one of his usual philanthropic pursuits, distributing bread to the needy and Merl was fast asleep in his armchair, we decided that the greatest of precaution would be required. As Elba neared the bottom of the stairs I waved my hand over her and whispered,
“Cela” and she was hidden. I repeated the process for myself and we both slipped stealthily towards the doorway. I could feel her presence in front of me at the door that led to Thistlewick, the bookcase moving slowly and soundlessly away from the wall. My heart pounded with the anticipation of our unsanctioned expedition.
BOOM BOOM BOOM, the real doorway was being pounded ferociously as Fizzlesnap shouted his p
rotestations in the background. I panicked, we were going to be caught red handed, the heat rose within me filling me with bright red adrenaline, I decided to grab Elba‘s arm and lead her out of the hallway before we were caught. I felt for Elba but she had already disappeared out of reach. I had seen her duck out of the way of Balthus’s heavy fists when he trained with her, she had the stealth and agility of a cat; something that she had used to her advantage in this moment. I was frozen, I heard Merl’s grumbling as he rose from his chair to answer the relentless pounding upon the door but he walked out of the sitting room and towards the doorway without showing the slightest awareness of my presence. I was invisible, in my sudden fright I had forgotten about the spell I had performed not a minute before, neither Elba nor myself would be visible to anyone. Merl pulled the door open with a creak and a huge Worlen guard dressed in a thick dear hide stepped over the threshold.
“What is the ruddy meaning of this?” Merl did not attempt to hide his annoyance at the lateness of the intrusion; neither did a disgruntled Fizzelsnap, who was endeavouring to bite the visitor.
I apologise for the advanced hour of this visit Merrydian but I have been sent by King Alphus, he requests that Jestin come home to Forge Gate. It is a matter of great urgency.” The hairy, well-built guard had an unusually deep voice.
“So why would you come here to my home? Jestin isn’t here you nincompoop!” Merl was shouting.
“No but the girl is, I have been ordered to bring her also.” The guard replied calmly.
“Not on your nelly, she has no business in Forge Gate, she belongs here with me. She is my family.” Merl was purple with fury, rearing up in anger he brought his face in line with the hapless guard who, loosing confidence, stepped backwards into Fizzlesnap’s awaiting mouth.
“Please Merrydian, her presence has been requested by the Banshee Princess Dahlia. She arrived in Forge Gate a week ago with Prince Idris and as a consequence the Banshees are now advancing across the Loch Du and towards Forge Gate, they intend to wage war there and take home the princess.” He stated. My heart skipped a beat. Dahlia was in Forge Gate! What’s more, she was asking for me. I suddenly wished I wasn’t invisible, at least then I would be able to have my own opinion on the matter, for all it was worth. However as I was stood at the supposedly secret and slightly ajar bookcase which led to Thistlewick, I reasoned that now was not the best time to reveal myself. Silence was my only option.
“Jestin is staying at the Dragons Scales inn. Violet is staying put!” and with that Merl pulled the guard’s deer hide jacket from Fizzlesnap’s mouth and unceremoniously shoved him out of the doorway slamming the door behind him. He spun around on his heel tapping the empty space next to where the guard had stood and whispering “Nocht” Elba was restored to her former, visible, self. “Kindly inform Violet that she is not to perform the invisibility spell for any other means than for protection. Also I recommend that what you have overheard tonight is not repeated. Do I make myself clear young lady?” Merl demanded.
I waited around fifteen minutes before I had crept silently back upstairs, Elba was packing her things into the small cotton sack she had brought them in.
“What are you doing?” I asked. I expected her to leave, but not so suddenly.
“I’m going to help Violet. No matter how tough life may be there, Forge Gate is my home. I can’t just abandon it to a Banshee attack.” Her tone was surprisingly calm compared to the frantic nature of her packing.
“No of course not Elba but I don’t think you should go rushing back there without thinking about the possible consequences. I mean you were part of the group that helped to plan the evacuation, do you think King Alphus is going to just forgive and forget?” I was practically pleading with her.
“I’m not stupid Violet. I know the risk and I’m going to defend my home.” She replied.
“Then I’m coming with you.” I asserted. I knew it was a bad idea but with everyone else Elba knew safely in Blossomdown I was the only person who she might allow to accompany her. I knew she wouldn’t ask anybody else along to risk their lives. An impressed smile touched the edge of her mouth.
“We’re going tonight, now in fact. It’s non-negotiable.” She demanded.
“What are we waiting for then?” I smiled back.
I didn’t even have to change out of my clothes as I was already in full reconnaissance gear. Despite Merl’s earlier orders, I made sure we would not be seen as we once again crept down the stairs but this time we headed towards the door that led to Forge Gate. The wooden floor creaked as we made our way quietly down the corridor. As we reached our intended bookcase, I reached out towards it.
“Ar agor.” I demanded in the same manner I had seen Merl use. I could hear the rush of open space as the portal unlocked but as I made towards the door Elba slowed, holding her hand out she stopped me in my tracks. Something was wrong, her keen ears heard before mine, the footsteps approaching.
Everything happened all at once. Elba hastily grabbed the bookshelf, not caring how much noise she was making, as the footsteps approached the door. At the same time Merl rounded the corner of the living room, leaning on the wall I was steadying myself against he demanded “Nocht.” I was revealed! To make matters worse, in the very same moment Jestin pulled open the front door his eyes widened with surprise that must have mirrored my own. I felt a tug on my arm as Elba pulled me through the portal slamming the door so hard behind us that it split down the middle.
We moved cautiously as we crossed the moorland, the Banshees would be held up somewhere at the edge of the wood waiting for the daylight, when the Worlens keen night eyesight would not be such an advantage before they began an attack. Elba explained that we would probably have a few hours to try to reason with Dahlia, beg her if need be, to go back to Queen Evangelista and end the madness that had begun with Solomon’s death.
My invisibility spell wore off revealing Elba, as soon as she had passed through the door. Luckily, I was still invisible. This made getting through the gate easier than I had expected it to be. Elba had such high standing in the army, the guard simply let her through unaware I was following close behind.
As we made our way through the dark underground tunnels up towards the manor, I hoped Merl wouldn’t be too furious about my absconding from Blossomdown so underhandedly. The last thing I wanted was to disappoint either Merl or Jestin but I made a promise to myself that day on the beach that I was going to do my best to fight Agrona. If I hadn’t left with Elba I would have been letting myself and everyone else down.
I had started this, the minute I opened the gateway to escape the Gnarl. I was going to finish it no matter what. If I could only get to Dahlia and explain to her that she needed to go back to Queen Evangelista and tell her about the traitor, that this war has been manufactured, an intended distraction from what was actually happening, that Agrona was going to rise soon. Idris would be an obstacle. If he saw either Elba or I at the manor he would raise the alarm straight away, therefore we were going further into the mountain than I had been with Balthus.
Elba knew of a passage sealed many years ago, deemed too dangerous. It led to a large room that had once been the dungeons. It was used to hold the captured Gnarls but it hadn’t been properly guarded for centuries now. Elba thought it was our best chance to get into the manor unnoticed.
As soon as we approached, I could see why no one used the tunnel anymore. It consisted of a narrow passage, no longer as evenly surfaced as it had once been. Trickles of water that ran down the inside of the mountain had turned the formally smooth rock into a jagged death trap, it didn’t help that once Elba had squeezed into the hole in front of me we were plunged into pure darkness. As soon as I lowered myself into the opening, I received a nasty gash to the bottom of my left arm. Elba, who could smell the blood, growled at me to be careful. We continued along the twisting tunnel that was becoming suffocating in its tightness, the rigid points of the rock face threatening to pierce some soft and precious part
of my anatomy. I carefully and slowly navigated in what I guessed was an easterly direction until the small tunnel suddenly gave way to a wide-open crevice.
Elba ran her sharp claws down the hard rock creating a spark to ignite the huge wooden torches bolted into the stone. As she made her way around the edge of the room I went towards the middle, feeling a cool wetness at my feet I created a tulip shape with my hand and whispered “Eadrom.”
The chamber was strangely enchanting. Crystals sparkled from jagged crevices within the walls further illuminated by the ripples emanating from a pool of clear water that bounced off them, making them appear even more dazzling than they already were. Elba noticed before I did,
“Vi, this pool has a current of some kind!” She stated.
“What do you mean?” I asked perplexed.
“Well look at it, it’s heading in a specific direction.” Elba was right. We hadn’t disturbed the water and there seemed to be no outward source leading into it, so the pool should, in theory, have been still. But it wasn’t. It was travelling in a circular direction meeting with some form of resistance in the middle that was not visible to the naked eye. I leaned in closer for a better look, making sure not to let my feet penetrate the water’s edge. I grasped the body of one of the large wooden torches and lowered myself over the water, reaching out my glowing hand. I was careful not to flex and aggravate my injury, but I wanted to try and illuminate the mysterious object at the waters centre.
“There’s nothing here.” I called to Elba disappointedly as I took a chance in extending my wounded arm slightly further; maybe the mysterious object was just beyond my line of vision. Blood dripped from the tearing skin of my wound, reopened by the extra tension I had placed upon it. The warm wetness exploded upon my elbow and the sharp jolt of pain shot through me, I felt a trickle run down toward the direction of my wrist before leaving my body and falling silently into the water. As the red liquid blood met the clear water, the gentle flow of the water erupted into a fast-paced whirlpool.
Cat-like, Elba leapt from her spot as the water engulfed the chamber and landed on a small ledge, clinging to one of the large wooden torches. I on the other hand didn’t have the same swift reflexes, I felt the rush of the pool pull me from my already dubious position as plummeted into the water. I was powerless to resist the pull of the current as I careered around the chamber. I was in real danger. Attempting to break the surface of the water and fill my lungs with much needed oxygen was impossible when I was spinning so fast I couldn’t even tell which direction the surface was in. I felt sharp jolts of pains as my arms and legs bashed against the uneven surface of the chamber. I was rolling with the onward current like a small pebble caught up in the mighty ocean tide. I wasn’t fighting it anymore, I quickly realised that whenever I stuck out an arm or leg to try and catch hold of something to anchor myself, pain was always the consequence of movement. I was going to ride this whirlpool out and hope that it stopped before I drowned.
I closed my eyes for the briefest of seconds and was comforted as Jestin’s smiling face dreamily appeared before me. He wasn’t here in the cave to rescue me, this face was an old face, the face on the day when I had broken into the manor with Balthus and Jestin had pulled me on to the bed in the warmest of lovers’ embraces. I felt the elation of the moment as if it was happening all over again and then I remembered another feeling I had felt that day, the disappointment at not being able to help Merl with his quest for the traitor. I wanted so bad to help, to identify the traitor from the vision so that Merl could finally seek justice against the person who had murdered his eldest daughter. I tried to recall his face in my brain as I felt the water slow in pace, I couldn’t tell if the water was really slowing down or my body was giving up. Maybe being close to death myself would make the message left by Gweniveev transmit more clearly. I managed to pull the vision of the mysterious sniggering cloaked figure into the forefront of my mind. There was no face visible beneath the deep hood of his blood red cloak. He was around six feet tall standing in the distance not close enough to see properly. There was only one thing present on the figure that I hadn’t noticed previously during the dream. I caught sight of it only fleetingly as the moonlight touched the shimmering brook and reflected onto the figures cloak. It was a broach or a pin of some kind in the shape of a crescent moon with what looked like a fang piercing through it. A crescent moon and fang! Jestin had mentioned during our time in the woods that the shape represented the Worlen royal family and the only time I had ever seen a broach like this one was when I was staring at the victory portrait of the Worlen royals. King Alphus had worn that very same broach. King Alphus was the traitor!
I opened my eyes as the water subsided from around me. I was lying at the top of a black stone staircase that twinkled with the diamonds still submerged in the surface of the rock. As my lungs worked furiously to expel the water invading them, I leaned out over the edge of the staircase in the hope that gravity would speed the process along. As I spat the remains of the water from my mouth, I noticed that at the bottom of the staircase lay Elba, lifeless and surrounded by a group of snarling Gnarls.
It looked like she had taken a hard blow to the head. I wanted to scream, to cry like a child and run for cover but I couldn’t make a noise or they would see me here at the top of the staircase, weak and vulnerable. I backed away slowly, crawling rearward as quietly as possible until I reached a hard rock surface away from the ledge. I needed to think and quickly. The Gnarls would surely be ascending the staircase soon, coming to inspect why the water had suddenly engulfed the chamber. I guess they must have been hiding out in here since Alphus let them through the gate. As for the flooded chamber, that was something I wasn’t even sure of myself yet. I had to try and remember the defensive spells that Merl taught me and apply them to getting both myself and Elba out of this terrible situation but I couldn’t think clearly. There was a tapping noise invading my thoughts like a tribal drum beat, it broke my concentration. I didn’t remember hitting my head whilst being dragged by the current but the noise was so insistent, it was as if it had a physical source within the room itself.
Bub Bum Bub Bum it was like the relentless beating of an excited heart. My last thought brought about the horrifying recognition that the noise was not coming from my head. It was in the room. The source of the sound was directly above my head. I rose from my spot entranced by what I knew I was about to see. The hard surface that I had come to rest against was not the walls of the chamber, it was a rudimentary stone table, built with a small indentation to hold the disembodied yet still beating heart that sat in its centre. The heart was distorted and enlarged when I focused my disorientated eyes upon it properly, I could see that it wasn’t just one heart but around four or five hearts that had been grotesquely moulded into one. Each heart beating out of equilibrium with the others, it looked grotesque and unearthly. It was as black as the midnight sky and pounding furiously as if in excitement or anticipation. I felt ill at the sight of the heart. The evil and darkness of its presence saturated the very atmosphere around it. Whispers began to fill the chamber.
‘Help me child, Take me to her, help me.’ The whispers came from the heart itself, Agrona’s heart, pleading to be united with its deadly owner. I would never get a chance like this one again. I had to take it even if it meant that the Gnarls would have the time to reach me before I could even begin to think of a plan to save Elba and myself. I reached around my back and felt the smooth pliable wood of my trusty bow. Pulling it around in front of me and taking aim at the monstrous specimen before me, I was shooting to kill.