Here's the second-last chapter! :D I hope you like it! :D Please vote and comment for it! :D I really hope you guys like it! :D Enjoy! :D Picture of Jenna on the side. :D
Chapter 45
Dahlia, Tamarak and Hunter fairly flew down the hall away from the magical duel that was sure to commence between Benjamin and Ellie. Despite the revelations of the past fifteen minutes, none of them faltered. Although he was still unsteady on his feet after being thrown about like a ragdoll, Tamarak managed to summon enough energy to make the three of them invisible. The only thing that worried them was that they might be heard, rather than seen. Hopefully, Hunter would detect any enemy magicians before they ran into them and warn them to be softer. And if that failed, then it was up to Dahlia to convince Varmer's magicians that they weren't actually there or to ignore them or something. It was a simple plan, but it worked.
None of them knew their way around Varmer's castle. Dahlia had only been there once before and had not been able to properly explore while neither Tamarak nor Hunter had set foot in the place in their lives. Although Hunter was good at figuring out where people where, he was not so good at figuring out a way through a maze.
Because that was what Varmer's castle was: a maze.
The corridors were identical and it was practically impossible to tell the difference between one corridor and another. When they reached a fork in the path, they stopped and looked at one another. Or rather, they tried to, for all of them were invisible and only Tamarak could see both Dahlia and Hunter.
"Which way?" Hunter muttered in a low voice.
"Don't ask me," Tamarak whispered back. "I've never been here before. Dahlia?"
Dahlia squirmed at the pressure, staring at the two different corridors, hoping to see at least a significant difference or a clue that might lead her to Varmer's throne room. Both corridors were identical in every aspect. Both of them were paved with smooth wooden floorboards and had dark brown walls. Ordinarily, she might try to look at the number of doors or rooms, but both corridors were unnaturally dark and none of them could see anything past the first few feet.
"We could split up," Hunter suggested when Dahlia remained silent. "Maybe one of us could find the portal."
"The reason we're here is because we need all of our talents," Dahlia argued. "Benjamin said that the portal would most likely be in Varmer's throne room which suggests that Varmer would be there, especially since Benjamin said that we would need Tamarak's invisibility powers. Hunter, can you track down Varmer? If we find him, we can find the portal!"
It was hard to argue with Dahlia's logic, but the idea of trying to find Varmer was horrifying to Hunter, even though he had never seen him before in his life.
"Do you really want to find the Fire Immortal?" Hunter demanded. "The one magician who definitely wants to kill us? Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Tamarak bit his lip. "It's our best shot," he said, trying to be as objective as possible although Dahlia could tell that the thought of facing Varmer terrified him even more than it frightened her.
Hunter closed his eyes, or at least Tamarak saw him do so. Neither Dahlia nor Tamarak did anything to interrupt his concentration; they waited nervously in the hopes that no enemy magician would come along or they might set off some timer alarm.
After what seemed like eternity, Hunter opened his eyes. Without speaking, he took the left hand tunnel. Tamarak followed him, still holding his and Dahlia's hands, and Dahlia took up the rear. The darkness seemed to swallow them, embracing them in its arms.
Hunter led them back and forth through a winding mass of corridors and tunnels. Both afraid of setting off any traps that he did not, Tamarak and Dahlia literally walked in his footsteps to avoid tripping any traps. When they had walked for almost ten minutes without setting off any alarms, Dahlia opened her mouth to questions whether or not it was the right route. Tamarak kicked her in the ankle to make her shut up. There was no point tempting fate with a sound alert.
Hunter beckoned them forward with his free hand; the others followed, trusting that Hunter had not gotten them lost. At the end of the long corridor, they found an entry to a large room with a throne in the centre; Dahlia almost gasped out loud when she saw the occupant of the throne.
Varmer sat on the throne, his eyes closed. He was sweating and shaking from the effort it was taking for him to control something. But that image looked all wrong! Varmer was supposed to be all powerful. What was happening that was causing his magic to falter?
Dahlia's eyes widened when she saw him and fear at being caught welled within her. Tamarak squeezed her hand comfortingly, but his palms were damp with sweat. Dahlia resisted the urge to wipe it off on her dress; if she let go of Tamarak's hand, she would become visible. Hunter readied his spear in his free hand and Dahlia tightened her hold on her dagger. Tamarak was the only one currently with his weapons sheathed; he need both hands to use his bow and arrows, but could not, due to the need to keep both of them invisible.
A pillar on the left hand side of Varmer's throne was glowing golden. Without speaking, all three of them knew instinctively that that was the portal, the one that would lead them to the prison cells. Sweating profusely, Hunter took his first step into the room, gingerly put down his foot on the wooden floorboards.
Then it happened.
A dart shot out of the wall and imbedded itself in Hunter's skin. Unable to control himself, he yelped in pain and shock, crumpling to the floor. Tamarak tried to hold him up, but he wasn't strong enough to bear Hunter's dead weight. The Magician of Earth landed heavily on the ground, turning visible as Tamarak lost his grip on him.
Cold, crushing fear filled Dahlia's heart, but she forced herself to remain still and quiet, still gripping Tamarak's hand tightly. The worst thing they could do now was panic, although in Hunter was dead, it was a pretty good time to panic.
Varmer stood up, eyes flashing with flames. He flung out a hand in their vague direction. With no clue as to what magic Varmer was attempting, only knowing that whatever it was, it couldn't be good, Dahlia and Tamarak scrambled out of the way, ducking just into the throne room, praying that they didn't set off any more traps that Varmer might have laid.
"I know you're here, Tamarak," Varmer warned. "Expose yourself and your accomplices and I'll spare Hunter's life Only I have the antidote for this poison; even Sapphire cannot fix him even if you miraculous get back in time. You have five seconds to decide before the poison kills him. Five... four..."
Tamarak's grip loosened slightly. Dahlia felt sick to her stomach with fear. Tamarak could not and would not let Hunter die. Or would he? The two magicians were best friends, but she knew that Tamarak had been willing to sacrifice his life for hers. Would the same apply in this situation? If Tam gave himself up, he would also be giving her up, for she could not remain invisible without his help. But would he sacrifice the life of his best friend to save them both? Would he be willing to make that decision for Hunter?
Even as she worried about Tamarak's decision, confusion pricked at the corners of her mind. Varmer shouldn't have to negotiate with them. If he was as powerful as he said he was, all he would have to do was snap his fingers and they would appear. Or drop down dead. Or something.
Maybe he wasn't as powerful as all of them had thought.
Tamarak released Dahlia's hand when Varmer reached the count of one. He held up both hands in surrender as he became visible once more.
"You got me," he said, holding his hands above his head. "Now fix Hunter!"
Varmer sighed dramatically, toying with a syringe in his hands. "He's very tiresome, isn't he?" he mused. "Maybe I'll just let him die."
"You promised!" Tamarak shouted, eyes wide with fear.
Varmer rolled his eyes. "Fine."
He bent down next to Hunter's limp body and shoved the hypodermic needle through Hunter's shirt, just above his heart. Viciously, he pushed down the plunger. Both Tamarak and Dahlia watched in relief as the antidote entered Hunter's bloodstream.
"There. Done," he said as he removed the needle. "Now I'm not an idiot, Tamarak. You couldn't have gotten here without Troy Flarehill and to fulfil that ridiculous prophecy, you need a Magician of Water as well. It stands to reason that Dahlia McLean is somewhere here as well; those two are like lovesick Siamese twins. Where are they? Making out somewhere while you do the grunt work?"
Dahlia's mouth fell open when he spoke. How did he not know that she was there? She didn't have the power to turn invisible, much as she currently wished she did. Was Varmer blind? She was practically staring at him in the face.Then she glanced down at her body, realizing, all of a sudden, what was going on.
She couldn't see her own body!
After so many years, Tamarak had finally learned how to keep something invisible when he wasn't touching it. She almost let out a gasp of shock, but managed to hold it in at the last second. Even though Varmer couldn't see her, he would definitely have heard her. Letting out a slow, measured breath that wouldn't be heard, Dahlia stayed frozen in place, waiting to see what would play out.
"I don't see how that's your business," Tamarak said coolly, reaching down to check on Hunter's condition; he pressed his fingers to his friend's neck to check his pulse.
Varmer snorted in disgust. "Please, Tamarak, do you honestly think that you can hide anything from me? I know everything there is to know about you; you're mother's disappearance, you father's death, your love for Sapphire and your hatred for Romulus. By the way, Sapphire's cheating on you."
He snapped his fingers and an illusion formed in his head. From her experience with Kathryn's illusions, Dahlia knew enough to grab his arm so that she could see whatever he was experiencing too and stop it.
Sapphire and Romulus were kissing in the library at the Elemental Academy.
There was no time stamp on the images, but Dahlia could feel Tamarak trembling with fury, either fake or real, she couldn't tell. But she could also sense his control; Sapphire and Tamarak had already broken up and she was free to do whatever she liked. But judging from the conditions that they had left the Elemental Academy in, neither Sapphire nor Romulus would be free at the moment, meaning that Sapphire had been cheating on him.
But the most important thing was that Varmer didn't know that they had broken up. Either the spy hadn't had a chance to betray that piece of information yet, or the spy didn't know it. Dahlia wasn't sure which one it was, but she had pretty good feeling that with enough time to think, she could deduce who the spy was. Unfortunately, time was not currently on their side.
Suddenly, Varmer's head cocked to one side like he was thinking and his gaze swung around to seemingly land on Dahlia's invisible body. He made a shoving motion with his hand and Dahlia dove out of the way, her heels clicking to reveal herself as she moved.
A pulsing force smashed the wall where she had previously been standing. She dodged out of the way as he sent another shockwave at her. But she was invisible! Wasn't she?
Noise.
Of course, Dahlia thought. He can't see me, but he can still hear me. Just great. Now what?
Tamarak grabbed his bow off his shoulder and shot two arrows in quick precision at Varmer, aiming to wound, not to kill. With a growl, Varmer twisted out of the way and aimed his next shockwave at Tamarak.
"Run!" Tamarak shouted, lunging in a swinging a roundhouse kick at Varmer; in close combat, it would be harder for the Fire Immortal to use magic. "I've got this! Use the portal!"
Tamarak's form flicked on and off as he struggled to maintain his concentration to turn invisible and Varmer struggled to stop him. Tamarak was brilliant at combat, but Dahlia didn't see many ways for him to win; even though Varmer was weak, he still had more than enough powers that he could use, especially since Tamarak was running out of the element of surprise.
Dahlia's eyes lit up on the dagger in her hand. She couldn't kill Varmer; that was the one thing that everyone knew. But maybe she could just incapacitate him...
She was moving before she had even made a conscious decision to do so. Practically blind with fury, she launched herself at him, shoving her dagger straight into his right arm, imbedding it up to its hilt and piercing the skin on the opposite side of Varmer's arm.
The Fire Immortal roared in anger and twisted around to grab her. His fingers curled around her throat and he flung her aside, causing her to scream as she went tumbling through the air. Tamarak moved like, well, like the wind and caught her before she could hit the floor, which was an incredible feat, considering that she was still invisible.
Varmer loomed over them, drawing his sword, more than ready to slice Tamarak into confetti. Tamarka had no weapons well suited for melee combat; all Magicians of Air used bows and arrows.
With a last great effort, Tamarak turned and threw Dahlia straight at the glowing golden portal.
"Save all of them!" he yelled as she vanished through the seal.
Just as she disappeared, Varmer's pulsing force hit the pillar, causing the portal to explode behind her.
It looked like there was no other way out.
Dahlia landed heavily on her butt with a groan. She was back in the prison cell block, seven months after her previously capture there. She knew from experience that there was no other way out of there but through a teleporter, a shadow morpher, a potion created by Jared or a portal created by Leo, none of which she currently had. With immediate observation, she realized that whatever Tamarak had done to make her invisible had stopped, probably because he was distracted fighting Varmer. She didn't allow herself to consider the alternative.
Glancing around, she immediately realized that some things about the prison cells had changed. The heavy metal doors that sealed the prisoners in the cells were the same, but the metal padlocks on the doors were gone. The doors were just shut.
Swearing under her breath, Dahlia approached on the doors. Knowing Varmer, he had probably upped his security after their escape. The locks could be anything from retinal scans to thumbprint scans to magical barriers. She had been hoping that she could pick the metal locks using the skills her father had taught her, but it appeared that things would not be that simple.
Figures.
Leaning down next to the nearest door, Dahlia listened for a tell-tale hum of the door that might tell her that the door was charged by electricity. Unfortunately, the door was completely silent. At least she didn't have to find the power to turn off the electricity.
As she stood up again, she noticed the cell number: 1064. It was the old cell, the one that she had been imprisoned in when she had been kept captive at Varmer's castle. A wave of nostalgia swept over her; Helen had approached her with a message from Kayla. Now if she got a message from a ghost, the ghost would probably be Kayla while the sender of the message would probably be Helen.
"If the doors don't have locks and aren't controlled by electricity, what powers them?" Dahlia muttered under her breath.
"Is someone there?" a voice squawked from the other side.
Dahlia jumped back with a gasp, wobbling over her high heels. Then the voice registered; it was a young female voice that sounded very familiar. It sounded like Kayla's.
"Jenna?" Dahlia called, rushing back to the door in shock.
"Who's that?" Jenna demanded suspiciously.
"Dahlia," Dahlia replied, deliberately emitting her surname because for all she knew, Jenna might know that her father had been on Varmer's side in the war.
"Dahlia McLean?" Jenna asked , her tone wary.
"Yeah," Dahlia said somewhat nervously. "How do you know me?"
"Benjamin mentioned you," Jenna said eagerly; Dahlia heard the bed squeak as she leapt to her feet. "He saved your life! Can you get me out of here?"
Dahlia bit her lip. "I'll try to, Jenna. But I can't seem to find a way into your cell. Do you know how the door works? How did Benjamin get in? Or did he speak to you from the outside?"
"Benjamin's a telekinetic," Jenna grumbled. "I think he moves the inner locks with his mind. That way, only Benjamin and Varmer can actually free the prisoners."
"That's right," a familiar voice said from Jenna's neighbouring cell. "Only those two can free us. Unless one of them suddenly has a change of heart and releases us, we're trapped here. Varmer updated all his security after the five of you escaped. You can't get us out, Dahlia. Get Troy and get out of here!"
"Olive?" Dahlia exclaimed, rushing to his door. "Where are the rest? Ella and Verne and August!"
"I don't know," Olive said. "But you have to leave. You can't get in to us. I know you wouldn't have come here without Troy, so get him and get out!"
"Troy's not here!" Dahlia protested. "If he were, I'd have gotten both of you out already! Jenna, you're a shield, right? Can you split the door open?"
"I can't!" Jenna cried, banging her fists against the door. "They gave me a magical drug that temporarily takes away my powers. I'm useless!"
Dahlia swore under her breath, but realized almost immediately that Jenna was on the verge of panicking. Immediately, she forced herself to act more calmly and soothe Jenna's ragged nerves.
"Jenna, relax," she ordered. "Take a deep breath and let it out."
The Magician of Earth obeyed; Dahlia's charm was contagious through the door, much to her surprise. With a little luck, other magic would also be able to penetrate whatever barriers Varmer had erected on the prison cells.
"Okay, Jenna," Dahlia said firmly, her voice steady and calm. "When did they give you the drug? How long ago?"
"I don't know." Her voice was shaky, but stable, like she was doing her best to imitate Dahlia's calm demeanour.
"Okay," Dahlia repeated. "Can you just try to break down the door with your shield? If you can't, it's fine, but I just want to know if you can. If not, I'll try another way to get both you and Olive out of here."
She deliberately let more charm enter her voice; she knew that Jenna had probably inherited all of Kayla's stubbornness and grace under pressure, but she was still six years old. Her words apparently did the trick because Jenna took a nervous breath and said, "Okay. Back away from the door, both of you."
"Sure," Dahlia said, stepping away from the door and backing up to the opposite wall, being careful not to quite touch the wall so that she wouldn't trigger any other traps.
"Done," Olive called from his cell; he had moved away from the wall of his cell that he shared with Jenna.
As Dahlia crouched down to avoid being hit, she felt a queasy feeling inside as she remembered something that Remus, Romulus's twin brother, had told her about. Remus had said that Ella and Olive were working for Varmer in exchange for saving the life of Edith, the water Immortal.
The next second, the wall exploded outwards. Dahlia ducked out of the way of the chunks of rubble. She winced as a smaller stone connected with her arm, but the majority of the stones landed around her or missed her by inches. Once the dust had settled, she peeked out from under her fingers. Jenna's work was perfect. Her shield had split the wall and doors, sending chunks of rock everywhere.
"Dahlia!" Olive exclaimed, heading to the hole in the wall.
Dahlia stood up, wincing as the stones scraped her bare legs and tore her skin. Pressing a hand to her leg, she brought her hand away to reveal red blood all over her fingers. Gritting her teeth, she scrambled over the rocks, tearing her dress and scraping her hands in the process.
Once she was clear of the stones, she hurried to what remained of the wall and glanced in. Jenna had collapsed; she lay on the floor, sweating profusely. Quickly, Dahlia climbed over the rocks and picked up her limp body. She wasn't nearly as strong as Troy, but she easily managed to lift Jenna up; the Magician of Earth was very thin and weak from her days of captivity and the effort that it had taken to shatter the wall.
Jenna looked a lot like both of her parents. She had brown hair that was a shade somewhat in between Benjamin's and Kayla's. She couldn't have been more than six years old. A wave of protectiveness washed over her. Even though Kayla was going to die, she would do whatever it took to protect Kayla's daughter.