The Forbidden Lands (Wattys 2015 Winner)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five
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When I gained consciousness, I was looking up at the sky. It was so blue, with puffy white clouds. And it was . . . moving.

I sat up and looked around. I was on a little sailboat. The sky wasn't moving, it was the boat. I stood up and looked around. Liam was tending to the ropes, and a merrow was steering the ship.

Liam turned and looked and me. Why were his eyes filled with grief? Why was the merrow looking at me with such sorrow?

I heard crying, so I turned around to see Lucia sobbing in a corner of the ship. Why was she . . .

I nearly fainted again. Girec, I remembered, a pain hitting me in the chest.

Liam was staring at me intently, trying to see if I was unwell. I remembered my quest. I needed to stay strong, for everyone.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I opened them again. "Stop staring at me like that," I scowled at Liam.

A little breath of relief escaped his lips, and he turned back to his ropes. I walked over to Lucia. A deep feeling of despair hit me. Girec . . . would not be able to be with Lucia.

"Lucia?" I said.

She looked up at me with puffy, red eyes.

"May I talk to you?"

She nodded slowly. I looked around at Liam and the merrow, who were obviously eavesdropping.

"Let's go below decks."

She nodded and trailed after me lifelessly.

I passed the troll Enchanter on my way down. He was sitting in front of a controlled fire, wrapped in blankets. I took Lucia to a room. We sat together on the berth, and I took her hands in mine. They were cold.

"Lucia," I said. "I miss him so much, too." My voice cracked a little, and I cleared my throat. "But we need to stay strong. There is something we to focus on. There is a darkness we need to defeat. That same force killed Girec, correct?"

She nodded.

"We need to avenge him."

"I know," she said in a quivering voice. "I know all about the Enchanters, and everything. Liam filled me in on everything I didn't already know."

"How did you already know anything about it?"

She faced my gaze, eyes wild with despair and knowing. "I am the human Enchanter, Evelin," she said.

I recalled my dream. I had seen a duke and duchess at my birth. And . . . if I thought hard enough . . . their daughter. Lucia. She had chosen me that day. She had made me the Enchanta.

"You're the . . . the Enchanter?" I breathed.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Have you always known?"

"Since I was fourteen. That is when I became King Davi's ward." She collapsed into sobs again.

"Lucia," I soothed. "All is well. We will . . . we will avenge Girec."

"That--is not--the only--reason for my tears," she said between sobs. "I have--done awful things."

"You have not."

She stopped her sobs with a breath. "I have, Evelin. I met Girec when I was fourteen. King Davi knew from the beginning that I loved him. Girec did not love me, not yet. I tried everything to get Girec's attention, so of course Davi found out. As I was trying to get Girec's attention, a burst of magic left my palm. I figured out I was the Enchanter. And so did Davi. He said I had to work for him, do what he said." She took another quivering breath.

"I didn't want to, naturally, but the king threatened to kill Girec if I didn't. So I did as he asked. It is my fault that they were able to capture the other two Enchanters. They used my enchanting. Only Artair was a comfort to me. Recently, I said I told the king I would not do it. I would not help him. He threatened to kill Girec. I didn't believe he would. But he did. Girec is dead because of me. And . . . all the awful things in the land have happened because of me. And I couldn't even manage to save Girec, amongst all that awfulness."

I stared at her for a long while. I did not blame her. Of course I didn't. She loved Girec. With her, Girec had been more happy than ever. No. I blame King Davi, I thought. "How did Davi kill Girec with the darkness?" I asked.

"It has control over him, I believe," she said. "Or perhaps he has control over it. But in reality, it is not merely darkness. It is a race of dark creatures of no name, often called demons."

I gasped.

She nodded. "It arrived before I was even born. Legend says that when sorcerers still lived, a powerful one created the race as a form of tangible power. There is no true name for the darkness, but they can take personage forms--like a race of dark beings.

"Each time they come, they try to take what they believe is their power--sovereignty. Last time, the humans trapped the other races in Havene to get rid of the demons. This time, we must free them, and the Enchanta must defeat the demons by harnessing the Enchanters power. King Davi was trying to gather all of the Enchanters and use them to harness the demons' power. But I believe he has found another way."

I remembered the stiriae and elf that the human had captured. "What happened to the stiriae and elf?"

"When King Davi found out they weren't Enchanters, he killed them."

"How were you able to get them out of Havene?"

She swallowed. "With the demons' power."

"Did you feel the fear of it?"

She nodded. "The fifth time Davi wanted me to do it, I refused, and he killed Girec."

That was understandable. That fear was too much for someone to handle.

"So now we are going to the Forbidden Lands to gather the Enchanters and break the Enchantment."

I nodded. "That's what I thought."

"After that, though," she said. "It is up to the Enchanta to defeat the demons."

"Me," I whispered glumly.

"Pardon?" she said.

"Me. I am the Enchanta."

She gasped. "Oh, Evelin, I do not want you to be the one to do it."

"But you chose me," I said. "When I was born."

Lucia started to sob again. "But . . . you are Girec's sister. And I already killed your brother. And you are my friend. I'm so--sorry--Evelin."

I hugged her. "I don't blame you. Now, let's go above deck. We need to find those Enchanters and break the Enchantment. We must avenge Girec."

She nodded. "You are correct. I will stay with the ship, the merrow Enchanter will gather the merrow, the troll will gather the trolls, and Liam will find the elves, faeries, and stiriae."

"But Liam has never even set foot in the Forbidden Lands!" I exclaimed.

"He offered to go," she said softly. "He didn't think you would be able to handle it after the death of--of your brother."

I scoffed incredulously. "Me? Why, Girec was almost as close to Liam as I was. I will go in his stead. I can handle it."

Lucia began crying again. "I have killed Liam's friend, your brother, a son, a lieutenant, my love."

"It is not your fault," I said furiously. "It is King Davi and the demons. And they will pay."

I would make sure of it. To my final breath. One thing people needed to learn was to not mess with Evelin, the wild Fendway girl.

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Short chapter, sorry, but I felt like that was a good place to end it.

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