Chapter 10
We had been walking for a couple of days now. And within those times, Von showed me how to defend myself with the knife. Since using magic would be detected by others and hence giving our position away, to anyone who was looking for us, we had decided to wait until this was over or when we were back at their home or campground before he taught me how to use magic. While he was not instructing me on how to use the knife, we would talk about ourselves. I told him about my memories of my parents. I remembered the time when I had broken my leg and they invited all of my classmates over for a party to cheer me up. I told him about Amy, whom I met at one of the foster homes that I was in and how she was more of a sister to me than a friend. I told him about my life with Uncle Ned. How he had raised me when he found out about my parents' deaths. I told him about the time he tried to make a cake for my birthday. And, how the cake turned out a little bit burnt and lopsided.
He, in turn, told me about himself. Shuron and him were blood brothers though they hadn't always been that way. They were enemies at first, but ever since he had won the fight without using any of their magic, they became blood brothers. He and Mirra known each other for as long as he could remember. Her parents and his were good friends and they often encourage the two of them to play together when they were little. He believe both of their parent were hoping Mirra and him would come to love each other as they grow older. But, he never thought of her as anything else but a sister. Both of their parents died in the clan war. And since then, they had been looking after each other. The three of them went everywhere together and got into trouble many times when they were young. He remembered one incident when they were out in the forest, in this particular spot where we were staying for the night. He didn't know how or who started it, but they began to dare each other to swim across the river to the other side. It was forbidden for them to be here, let alone go into the river at that time. Winter had just passed and the weather was particularly warm that year. The ice and the snow had melted quickly and the river flowed fast and fierce. Shuron and he barely made it through. Mirra didn't. Shuron went in after her while he went to get help. Before he came back with the others, Shuron had managed to drag her out of the river. Everybody was relieved that they were safe.
Shuron's father, their lord, was very upset. And for a couple of months afterwards, his father took Shuron with him on his duties. For their punishment, the three of them had to do one chore for each of their people. It had taken the rest of that year for them to finish out their punishment. He told me how Loquis was like an uncle to him and Mirra after their parents died. Loquis was the one who had introduced him to spell casting. He remembered pouring over those books when he was young; trying to make up for the lack of magic that he had. That was when he found a way to bind a person's magic, which he used on Shuron so they could have a fair fight. Loquis was also the one who had suggested to their lord their punishment after the river fiasco. His theory was that the reason they were getting into constant trouble was because they had too much time on their hands and needed something to keep their minds and bodies occupied.
As I came to know him better, my feelings for him became conflicted. On one end, I loved that we were getting closer. Hearing him talk about his life and having him listen to mine, made me feel we were giving a part of ourselves to the other. It made us connected. It linked us forever because we had each other’s thoughts, history, and memories. Even though we had just met, our exchange of history brought us closer together than it normally would and I relished the time we had together and the stories of his life. But on the other hand, I wished we were strangers or mere acquaintances. As we got nearer to our destination, my thoughts of what Mirra had said about Von's role in this increased—my sacrificial lamb. And I thought to myself, I may have his past, I may have him in the present, but I would never have his future. I didn't know if I could handle this. To know so much about him and yet not being able to continue to learn more. To be locked into his life, that if he was gone, a piece of me would break and could never be repaired. He had asked me one time what Mirra and I had talked about that day—before I left on my own. I lied to him and said that I had confided in her my worries about everyone being or willing to be in harms way because of me. And how she had revealed, with a lot of convincing on my part, about the cave. In it, there was a way to break the crystal and let the magic be absorbed into me. I did not want him or anyone to blame Mirra about something that I also agreed was the best way to keep him and everybody safe. As our journey progressed, I couldn't help but feel that it was best for me to continue on my own. And so, I began to think, to plot a way to leave him behind.
The sun had not set yet when I started getting tired. We agreed to stop and camp for the night. I left to get some privacy. I didn't go far and wasn't gone long when I screamed. I could hear Von running and calling my name. As he got closer to where I was, his foot caught on something and he was lifted high off the ground into the trees where I was there waiting for him. I quickly took both of his wrist and tied them behind his back before he could realize what had just happened. He was hanging upside down, but I could still register the look of shock and hurt in his eyes. I looked away, not wanting to see it.
“What are you doing, Cass?” He asked and I could hear the anger and hurt in his voice.
“I'm sorry; I can't let you come with me. I will not let you die because of me.”
“Cut me loose now, Cassiea. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”
“I'll be okay. Once I have that magic within me, we wouldn't have to worry about Nara or anyone else coming after me.”
“Then let me come with you. We can do this together.”
“No. Until I get this thing done, you will always be in danger when you are with me.”
“Cassiea, look at me. Look at me, dammit!” he demanded as he struggled with his binds.
I didn't listen to him. I didn’t want to see the hurt and the anger that was so apparent in his voice.
“I'm sorry.”
“Cassiea,” he called out to me as I climbed down from the tree and walked off.
I didn't tell him the whole truth about myself. I had skipped over a few parts. The first year when I lived with my uncle he noticed how timid and unobtrusive I was. It didn’t help that I was shorter than most of the kids my age. To boost my confidence and my self-assurance, he had taught me a few things, in the only way he knew how. While he was backpacking around the world, he had learned a few skills while roaming the forest or living in small villages in the area. Everything that he knew, he passed down to me. And, he had taught me well. I knew how to survive in a forest if I needed to. On those camping trips we had gone on, he taught me how to hide my tracks and also how to track and hunt prey. He taught me what plants were edible and what plants to avoid. He taught me how to use his knives. Their world was a little different than what I was used to. The forest and the creatures that live in it, all have their own set of magic. During my time with Von, he had taught me what to avoid and what was safe. I knew I would be okay traveling alone. Having him around would be better, but I knew enough to get by. It would be stupid of me to think that Von wouldn’t be able to get out of his binds. But I hoped I would be long gone by then. I hoped that Mirra did not tell him where the cave was. If she did, this would be a very short parting.
It was two days after I had left him that I finally made it to the cave. Now that I was here, I stood outside the entrance uncertain if I should take the next step. I knew I had to do this. I had left everything behind to get here, but there was a small part of me that hesitated. To be honest, I didn't want to go in. It was not that I wanted everyone to suffer, but because if I went in, it meant the life that I had known would be over. As absurd as it sounded, I felt that when the magic was still in the crystal, I still had hope to live a normal life that I had before I met the Elvains. With the magic in the crystal, there was still a distance, a separation between it and me. And, my responsibilities were easier
to ignore—to be put away to the side. But once the magic was transferred into me, the life that I had known would end and a new life—one that I did not want—would begin. But then, the reality of it was, regardless of where that magic was, whither it is within me or contained in the crystal, it would always be a thorn in my side.
The interior of the cave was huge. I didn't expect it to be this big; it certainly didn't look big from the outside. The size of the cave took up about one city block. I was about ten feet inside when the ground ended and dropped down to about several feet below. It wasn't difficult for me to see, since there was a sufficient light source from an opening above, so I was able to climb down easily to the bottom. There was a lot of area to cover and it didn't help that I had no idea what I was looking for. Maybe something that was out of the ordinary or out of place. Or maybe, there was a secret compartment hidden somewhere that would reveal a relic with magical powers to break the crystal. Very unlikely to be the latter, but I was in a world of magic so anything was possible. I sighed heavily and cursed at myself for not thinking to ask Mirra what this thing looked like before I set out on this trip.
I turned in a full circle while I walked, trying to figure out what this thing was in this cave when I hit my head on an invisible solid wall. A murky tinted film spread around me. I felt around and realized I was trapped in an invisible cage. Great, I thought, what am I going to do now? I pounded on the wall, hoping it would break, even though I knew it was useless. The sound of laughter echoed around me and I turned to see a woman. She looked like one of the Elvains. She had white porcelain skin. Her hair was light blond and was tied up in an elaborate braid with little tendrils flowing down her shoulders and back. There were jewels of different shapes and sizes decorating in her hair. She was dressed all in white that shimmered as she moved. Behind her, were the creatures, moricks, that I remembered during my first day here and the day at the hospital. She must be Nara and they were her minions, I realized. My hand went instinctively to the crystal around my neck and I moved back as far away from her that the cage would allow. She laughed again when she saw my retreat and walked over to me, passed the shield, which disappeared the moment she passed through, and stopped within an inch of me.
“You people are so gullible. I have you just where I wanted,” she said and then held out her hand. “Give me the crystal,” she demanded.
“No,” I said.
“You will or I will kill you.”
“You will kill me regardless, so no.”
She advanced and I retreated. Her hand shot out and I went sailing through the air and hit the wall hard before crumbling onto the floor. She was above me in an instance. Her hand shot up again and I started to scream from the pain inside me. It felt like my whole body was on fire from within and slowly bursting out.
“Give me the crystal,” she yelled.
I wanted to give in. Anything to take the pain away, but I kept reminding myself that she would kill everyone if I did. So, I just kept screaming. Then it stopped. Hands grabbed at my arms, forcing me to stand. She was displeased and I didn't know why she didn't just take it from me. But, I wasn't going to point that out to her. Behind her, two of her minions dragged a battered, bruised, and half-unconscious Von to us. I called out his name and struggled to get free so I could get to him.
“Give me the crystal or he dies,” she said and emphasized her promise by twisting her hands and Von started to scream in agony.
“Okay! Okay! I'll give it to you! Just stop hurting him!” I shouted, looking from her to Von.
She held out her hand.
“I will give it to you if you let him go.”
She twisted her hand again and Von screamed once more. “You are in no position to bargain with me.”
“Then you'll just have to kill the both of us because there is no way I am going to give you this crystal unless you agree to the deal.”
“Fine,” she said as she lowered her arm. “Give me the crystal and I will let both of you go.”
“That's not the deal.”
“I'm letting both of you go free. Isn't that a better deal?”
“I don't trust you to hold your end of the bargain once you have the crystal. We will stick to my deal.”
“You are willing to stay and die for him? How noble of you. I have a better offer. Work with me and we can each take half of everything; even my sister's magic.”
“Not interested.”
She frowned and then smiled again. She gestured to her minions and they moved to help Von to his feet and the others moved to give him space to go. I wrenched my arms out of their grasp. This time they let go and I ran to him. He took me into his arms.
“Do not give the crystal to her. She will kill us if you do.”
I moved away and just held his hand and smiled. “Good-bye, Von.”
“Cassiea—”
“Enough already,” Nara said as one of her minions pulled me back to stand beside her. She turned to Von and said, “Go before I change my mind!”
He walked off and her minions moved again to close the space.
“Now the crystal.” And then said, “a deal is a deal,” when I hesitated.
I took it off around my neck and handed it to her. She gave me a knowing smile and started to laugh. She snapped her fingers and the creatures parted again to reveal two of them holding on to Von.
“Let him go—we had a deal,” I demanded.
“I did let him go, but I never promised I would not capture him again.”
You bitch, I thought, and moved to go after her. I was stopped by the invisible cage again. She started to laugh.
“You are too much. I have not had so much fun in years. Do you really think I am going to let any of you go?” she said to me and then shot out her arm. A white light came out of her hand and hit Von. He fell to the ground.
“No!” I cried as I banged on the invisible cage, desperate to get free, to get to Von. But, it was of no use. I twisted around to face her. “I'm going to kill you.”
She sighed and said, “Promises. Promises.”
With the wave of her arms, she let me go. I was running to Von when one of her minions caught me and held me in place. She walked over to me and said, “I think I will watch you suffer first before I kill you.”
She held the crystal at eye level and then frowned. She looked even closer and her frown turned to anger. She screamed, threw the crystal against the wall where it broke into a million pieces, and then backhanded me on my cheeks.
“Where is it!” she demanded. “Where is the crystal that holds my sister's magic!”
On the ground, I looked up at her and laughed. “You can't seriously believe that I am that stupid to think this wasn't a trap, do you?”
I laughed at her again. But to myself, I thanked God that I had had the foresight to hide it. When I was on my own in the forest, I hid the magic in case anyone found me and killed me for it. I knew I would be able to call to it and it would appear in my hands, as Loquis had demonstrated that first day when I met all of them for the first time.