Henri and Byron looked at each other. It was rather surprising to see them working together.
"Fine" Henri put his hands up. Byron turned to him with a glare. "What do you suggest we do, Guardian"
I snapped my teeth in his direction. He knew I had no plan.
"Right now the grounds are being searched thoroughly" Byron replied.
"What about the tunnels?" I remembered Ronald telling Ezra and Thomas about them. "All of the Guardians would have known about them"
"What tunnels?" Byron and Henri asked at the same time. Instead of going to the boys dormitories, they followed me outside.
"There are tunnels that link the boys and girls dormitories together" I told them as we hurried around the castle. "The party was in the Dragon's tower so it would have to be near the boys dormitories so they would have to come out-" We heard some movement. Byron grabbed my shoulders and pulled me backwards.
"I have notified Dr. Nan" Byron whispered in my ear. He snaked his arm around my waist, we slowly stepped backwards. In his other hand was a blade.
"We need to stop them from leaving the grounds" Henri was behind Byron. I felt something being put in my hand. I met Henri's eyes.
"Merry Christmas" he mouthed to me. I didn't have time to respond because we were suddenly thrown backwards.
I held onto the hilt in my hand. I landed on top of Byron who was quickly on his feet. We turned to the wall that had a gaping hole.
"Should have known" Charles appeared wiping his arms down from the dust. "Of course you would know. Henri a pleasure as always" he nodded at him.
"You should let go of the students" Byron stepped in front of me. Behind him bodies were appearing. There were various masked people holding onto students. There were knives pointed at their necks. The students they were holding had coverings over their heads.
"Lets play a game" Charles answered. "Which two are you looking for?" he grinned at us. "Which two are you going to try to save" he laughed loudly walking towards us. Every time he stepped forward, the masked men moved forward. "Well Iris, take a pick. Its like the lottery" his eyes turned into slits. "Come on let's play a game"
"I'm not playing a single game with you. Release them" I lifted the small knife in my hand. It was Henri's gift. It was a medium-sized knife with crystals on the hilt.
"Too bad" he lifted his hand. One of the student's throat was sliced open. "Was it one of yours?" he slowly walked towards us. We were backing away from them.
"Oh god"
I tried to move towards the student who was on the ground gagging.
"Stay right there" he pointed at me.
They were each holding on to a student. I couldn't make out Ezra and Thomas. Their hands were tied behind them.
"Charles" Ronald lifted his sword. I lifted the knife Henri had given me. It fit perfectly in my hand. "Hand over the students"
"If you come after us, we will leave you a trail of dead students for you to find" Charles laughed at Ronald. They all started to step backwards. They were headed for the No Travel Zone. Somebody had to be waiting for them there.
"Iris, a pleasure" Charles tilted his head at me. "You are a vision in white, are you going to protect your friends"
"I am going to kill you this time, Charles. I swear if you hurt them. I will KILL YOU" I snarled at him. I lifted my knife. He merely rolled his eyes.
"You have had your chance to kill me but you were to weak to do it. You are just like your father, Iris. Always trying to be a savior and full of empty threats. He didn't know how to be a Guardian and from the looks of it neither are you" he waved his hand and they backed away. Ronald tried to take a step towards them but another student was killed in front of us.
The man holding him removed the head covering. He sliced his throat open. The student fell forwards gagging with his own blood.
"How many do you think you could save?" Charles taunted us. "How many will I have to kill?"
"Charles you are not worthy of being a Guardian. The title"
"At this point do you thinking being a Guardian means anything to me. I and a handful of others including the Duke killed your beloved King and Queen. We made sure to almost wipe out the entire Guard so we would no longer have to live beneath the Wizards and Witches. So we could take what is rightfully ours." He angrily yelled at Ronald. "You have always kissed your King's toes but now"
"Do you think the Warlocks are going to let you rise in their Ranks" Ronald was slowly inching his way towards them. "Do you not think that they won't kill any of you once they accomplish what they want?" Ronald barked at them. "You were always jealous of Aaron because he was more powerful than you even when he was King. Your jealousy changed everything you ever stood for. You and the Duke were always the weaker ones, always preferring to strong-arm to get what you want" Ronald lifted his sword. Charles was glaring at him with hatred. Ronald was telling him things that were sore-spots for him. "And Brielle, she never"
"Shut up" Charles attacked him.
"She never responded to you. She married Aaron and became a powerful Queen. She is much more powerful than your Queen now. You are going to let a Warlock try to steal the throne from your future King" Ronald was moving fast. They were fast and light on their tones. Their swords barely meeting each others skin.
"Get the students" Byron took advantage of the situation. We moved towards the captors.
I lifted my knife and threw it. It hit him right in his chest. I blinked in surprise as the sword reappeared in my hand.
"Goblin made" Henri laughed. He pulled out his own knives. He threw them effortlessly at the captors. We had to be careful to not hurt any of the students. Dr. Nan and Dr. Langston were also fighting. I noticed that the Headmistress had a sword of her own. The school was surrounded by what looked like the statutes that stood inside along with the knights.
There were various other professors standing next to the school. They were trying to keep the fight from going inside.
"Release my students, Charles" the Headmistress was making her way towards Charles. He was still fighting Ronald. She was terrifying to watch. Nobody was able to get near her as she marched towards Charles. "Now"
"Headmistress" Charles brushed Ronald away who fell backwards. He was back on his feet within a blink of an eye "I don't want your students" he brushed his hand. A few students were released. The Headmistress waved her hands and they disappeared. "I only came for two" Charles looked at me. "and one dead"
"Hand them all over, Charles. I am warning you" The Headmistress raised her hands.
"Don't bother" Charles rolled his eyes. The ground suddenly started to shake. The necklace around my neck started to burn. We all turned to find Ronald with a blade in his back.
"No!" the Headmistress roared. They released all the students but two they started to back away.
"Go" Byron roared at the Headmistress. "Don't let them get away." The Headmistress took off for the castle. I sprinted after Charles.
"Give them back" I yelled at Charles. He merely looked back at me with a smile. "Take me, give them back" I threw myself at him but he disappeared. "Give them back" he reappeared a few feet from me. I clutched my knife in my hand tightly. They all slowly started to disappear.
"Ezra" I screeched. I fell on the ground, watching as they disappeared. "Thomas"
I had failed them.
Charles turned to me with a smile.
"One Guardian down, two more to go"
"Three more to go" I lifted my knife. "Take me with you. Don't you want all three of us" I took off the necklace around my neck. It had been burning around my neck. I flung it at him.
"Don't you want me" I threw my knife at him.
"Iris" Byron barked behind me. "Don't you dare"
"Hold your hands out" Charles ordered. I did as I was told. Ropes appeared around my wrists. A black covering was placed over my head. Everything turned dark and I fell forward.
I woke up in a cell. My hands and ankles were shackled to the ground. There was a bit of light streaming into the cell. I could make out the bars in front of me. In my hand was my knife. I tucked it into my waist under my dress.
The cell couldn't be very big. There was a load screaming coming from the outside.
"No" I screamed. "Don't you touch them....Leave them alone" It was high pitched yelling that was terrifying to hear.
The door opened, the Duke stood at the door with Charles.
"You are awake" he smiled at me. "Good, did you hear that?" he turned slightly. "Charles was having some fun" Charles was cleaning his hands on a towel. They were red.
My stomach squirmed in disgust.
"He is a tough cookie to crack. Let's see if the other one will talk"
"No" I lunged at him but I was restrained by the shackles. "Don't...don't hurt them." tears were blurring my vision. "Please don't"
"Please, that's cute" the Duke rolled his eyes. He lifted his hand, and I was pushed against the wall. "You are going to hear them sing like birds as they admit who they are."
"They won't say a word" I snarled at him. He stepped close to me. "You are going to waste your time."
Charles turned to go.
"Maybe you should ask Charles about the deal he has with the Warlocks" I blurted. I was trying to keep them away from Ezra and Thomas.
The Duke sneered at me.
"Ask him?" I taunted. Charles lifted his eyes and glared at me. "You don't believe me. Do you?"
I remembered I had Rima's gift from my first year that I had never used.
"You think I'm stupid and foolish" I glared up at the Duke. The Duke's narrowed slightly. "Don't you? I know what he is thinking and I can read your mind. He told you that he killed Ronald but he didn't" I shouted at him. I had caught the brief thought in Charles mind. "He didn't kill Ronald someone else did. He was busy trying to fight off the Headmistress"
The Duke's head snapped in Charles direction. I pushed Rima's ability away. I only had a little bit of it left. It was going to be useful.
"Tell him Charles" I lunged at him. "Tell him about how jealous you were of Aaron and how much you wanted Brielle"
"Shut up" Charles lunged for me. "Bitch! Shut up" he back handed me. I fell backwards from him.
"Do you think I'm lying now?" I managed to split out the blood in my mouth. My face was stinging. "You might want to know who you have working for you, your Grace" I sneered at him. The blade was sliding down so I had to stay in the spot I was in. I was leaning awkwardly against the wall.
The Duke turned to Charles with a glare. He lifted his hand like if to hit me again so I recoiled backwards from him. Charles's head snapped in the Duke's direction. He lowered his hand and they both walked out.
I had such a terrible headache. I leaned against the wall for support. I blinked a few times trying to clear my head. My right side was stinging badly. I had managed to pick the shackles around my ankles but the ones around my wrists were tough.
There were no other sounds for the rest of the day. It was lucky that I had the window because I would have lost the track of time easily.
No food or water were brought into the cell. There was someone standing outside but I couldn't see their face.
I kept trying to pick open the shackles with the knife. I was going to have to thank Henri for the rest of my life for giving me the knife. It was amazing, it didn't seem to be scratched or dirty.
There were voices outside my cell, I put the knife back into my waist. I tied tightly with a string from my dress around my thigh.
I managed to put on the shackles back around my wrists.
The Duke appeared with a different man.
"How did you know Charles had been lying to me?" the Duke stepped towards me.
"Why?"
I didn't have to recoil from him. He looked like the type that didn't want to get his hands dirty. He had others to do the dirty work for him.
"You weren't lying when you were speaking to me. If you recall I can detect liars" the Duke crossed his arms.
"I read his mind and yours" I answered briefly. He didn't need to be pissed up quickly so I had to be direct.
He lifted his eyebrows, impressed.
"That's quite a gift. Let me offer you something"
"You can offer me anything you want but you will know if I am lying to you" I interrupted him. There was no way that I would ally myself with him. He would know and kill me off without hesitation.
"Yes, true" he lifted a finger to his lips. "Even though we are on different ends of this fight. I like you" he took a step towards me. He put his fingers to my chin. I met his eyes, searching for his gift. "Direct and frank that's what I need." His eyes ran swiftly down my body. "You are lovely, Iris. A beautiful girl with mind-reading abilities. I could use that, let me offer you a gift you can't refuse."
"No" I barely moved my mouth. I was trying to concentrate on him. He kneeled in front of me.
"Wealth and power, Iris." He leaned forward slightly. He was grasping my chin tightly "We could win this war, Iris. You could have it all by my side. Jewels around your pretty neck, money to buy whatever you want and more power than you could ever dream about" He wasn't lying to me. He was actually serious. "I like beautiful things, Iris and you are no exception."
"What will you get out of it? Once you take the throne what do you and the Queen want?" I didn't answer his question. He needed to answer mine first. He released my face.
"The Immortals of course" he rolled his eyes at me like if it were obvious. "We want the throne from the Immortals, with their Guard- the power they possess could help us"
"You want to start an open war against the Warlocks who are much bigger than we are, we are going to get killed." I shook my head at him.
"The war against the warlocks is a distraction" the Duke waved his hand. "The Warlocks are of no use to us once we take over the throne." Something dawned on me.
"You are a Mage" I stared horrified at him. He only smiled back at me. "You and the Queen are Mages"
"Our father was a Mage, he taught us certain magic that my other half siblings refused to learn. We knew what it could do for us" the Duke lifted his hand. A blue fire appeared around his hand. "So what do you say, Iris? Join me?"
"If I told you yes, you would know I was lying" I answered. He closed his fist.
"I was too hopeful, I suppose" he shrugged. He had known all along that I would refuse to join him. "Ronald is dead so that means just the other three Guardians allied to the Crown have to be murdered." He grinned at me. "Charles should be getting back to work shortly."
"You still trust him?" I asked surprised by him.
"He is useful to me regardless of the mistakes he has made" His mouth did thin though and there was a certain malice in his tone. He was angry that Charles had upset him. It was only a matter of time before he killed Charles himself. It had probably been in the plan all along.
He soon left, I gulped hoping that Charles wouldn't start again. There was a twinkling sound outside.
"Ares" I whispered. He materialized in front of me.
"How'd you find me?" I whispered frantically. I pulled the knife out from my dress. I started to pick open the shackles around my wrists. He stared curiously at the knife. I quickly told him that Henri had given to me. He seemed impressed by it which was new.
He was telling me that Byron had sent him to come look for me. He was supposed to report back immediately.
"Yes, I'm fine but Ezra and Thomas aren't" I whispered. "They are" my throat closed up. I shook my head trying to regain my thoughts. It would be okay, we had to get out of here before things got any worse. "I have a plan" I told him. He could easily carry one person. He had done it plenty of times when I was younger. It was only a matter of getting to Ezra and Thomas.
He slithered out of the window, he was going to tell Byron the plan. He was supposed to come right back so we could set the plan into motion.