Low, animal-like grunts and the noise of a physical struggle drifted toward me as I came to. I wanted to open my eyes, but the vertigo that washed over me made me decide otherwise. Lying on a bed of barren grass, the blades as sharp as knives against my fingertips, my memories flooded back to me: the maze, Rowan strangling me, a blow on the head ...
A branch snapped somewhere nearby, the sound followed by the rhythmic thuds of approaching footsteps. A warm hand brushed my forehead while the deep rumble of a male voice resonated within my ears, "By the Light, at this rate, we'll all be dead before we reach the city, poem or not."
"Why are you always so pessimistic?" An affectionate smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, although the continuous pounding in my head still forced me to keep my eyes closed.
Rowan scoffed. "I'm not pessimistic, only realistic."
"Say all pessimists."
"By the Light," he sighed, again. I imagined him rolling his eyes at me. "You're so damn annoying."
Slowly, I cracked one eye open, flashing a grin. "No more than usual." He helped me sit up, supporting me by the elbows as I wavered. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, my hand crept toward the duffel bag to check the egg and I was glad to find that it was still intact. Thank the Light. "Was I knocked out?"
Rowan nodded. "The culprit is sitting over there." I followed his gaze and saw Ellie and Larry, propped up against the fountain's base, unconscious. Two large bruises covered both of Ellie's temples.
"Oh, she's going to love that tough appearance when she wakes up," I chuckled. "Knowing Ellie, she'll probably scold us for not breaking her nose too."
He laughed. "Considering you grew up among the White Sisters, of all people, one would expect you to have at least some tact."
"Sorry to disappoint you, then." Groaning, I got to my feet. The back of my head throbbed in protest. I glanced at my two Dwarf friends and sighed. "All right, I'd better get to work. If these two wake up while the Dark magic is still messing with their heads ..." I shivered. "Let's just say that one blow to the head is enough for today."
Kneeling down in front of the Dwarfs, I concentrated on my Dark magic until my blood sang with barely contained energy. I focused on Larry first. It was even easier to detect the Dark magic in his system than it had been with Rowan. However, since Larry had drunk much more of the red liquid, his entire brain was infected with its dark power. Light magic alone wouldn't be enough this time and fighting Darkness with Darkness would most certainly prove to be useless in this case. I only had one other option, although I didn't know whether it would work and if it did, what effects it would exert on Larry's brain.
Nevertheless, I placed my hands on the Dwarf's head, focused on the core of my magic hidden deep within myself and poured both my Light and my Darkness into his mind simultaneously. To my surprise, there was no clash between both forms of magic nor did my mind short-circuit as Light and Dark flowed through Larry's brain like two rivers emerging from the same source. The Dark magic in Larry's mind shied away from this strange combination of magic at first, yet it couldn't resist the attraction of the Light luring it into my own mind. Bit by bit, the Darkness was transferred into me and I used my own Dark magic to absorb it, dismantled.
My head spun from the effort and I tried my best not to fall over, waiting for the nausea to disappear. After a few seconds of regaining my strength, I repeated the same procedure with Ellie.
Not long after I had finished, both Dwarfs groaned as they regained consciousness. Blinking, they stared at me while their minds processed the events that had led to this moment. For once, Larry turned white instead of red, but when he opened his mouth to say something—most likely an apology—I held up a hand to stop him.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Exhaustion had reduced my voice to a hushed whisper, though. Two lead pillars had taken the place of my trembling legs, their weight sinking me further into the ground.
Ellie rubbed her face, her expression alternating between regret and embarrassment. She flinched when her fingers brushed her bruised temples. "I'd never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually glad you're a Dark Sorceress, missy. This is already the second time you've saved our lives ... and your own."
"I'm amazing, I know." The playful grin on my lips soon faltered."I suggest you stay close to me from now on, and don't touch, sniff, taste or even look at anything unless I tell you to. For some reason, I'm immune to the effects of the maze."
"Perhaps it's because you're a Dark Sorceress yourself?" Rowan scratched the back of his neck. "You detect Dark magic, or even magic in general, far more easily than any of us."
"I wonder if the egg has something to do with it," Ellie said, pointing at the duffel bag slung over my shoulder. "That Siren told you that it would protect you."
Indeed, Salena had mentioned something like that. Now that I paid attention to it, I could sense a strange, ancient kind of magic surrounding the egg and pouring into my own magical core. Maybe Ellie was right and the egg was trying to keep me safe. There was nothing logical about it, but then again, we did live in a magical world after all ...
Rowan's impatient voice broke the tense silence and interrupted my train of thought. "Where to next, Kenna?"
Oh, right. The poem.
"Beauty is but a deception, a mask for the rot underneath," I read. Biting my lip, I glanced around the clearing. The red roses decorating each passageway all seemed equally inviting, encouraging us to explore what lay beyond. I could no longer determine which way we had come from in the first place; everything just looked so much alike.
"All of this may be an illusion," Rowan mumbled. "But how can we see through it?" Both he and the Dwarfs turned their expectant gazes to me.
"Huh. Don't look at me like that. I already inspected this place and found nothing out of the ordinary."
"What do we miss?" Ellie asked no one in particular. She got up and started pacing in front of the fountain. The sunlight's reflection in the liquid cast red shadows on her face.
I frowned. Beauty is but a deception, a mask for the rot underneath. All of these passages looked identical and my gut feeling told me that none of them would lead us to our destination. At first sight, this clearing appeared to be a dead end. However, all of the poem's verses had a certain underlying meaning to them. In this case, if beauty wasn't what we were looking for, we had to follow the rot.
My eyes returned to the fountain and lingered on the hideous red liquid inside the basin. Once again, I felt that strange pull. First, I had thought that it was an attempt at coaxing me into drinking, but there was something else too ... With determined steps, I strode to the fountain, rolled up my sleeve and lowered my hand into the syrupy substance. The basin turned out to be deeper than I had expected and I had to stick my arm inside all the way to my elbow before my nails finally scraped across the bottom.
"Kenna, what are you doing?" Rowan and the others joined me, watching as I poked around in the fountain.
I didn't answer while I searched the bottom for ... I didn't know what I was looking for. Something. Larry jumped out of my way when I started circling the fountain, not leaving an inch untouched. There had to be a way out and somehow, our exit was connected to this fountain.
After completing two full loops around the fountain, my patience was rewarded. My fingers grazed an irregularity in the stone, close to the tube in the middle. A button. I pressed it and stumbled backward, straight into Rowan's arms, when the fountain began to vibrate. Larry, as the sweet gentleman he was, lent me his handkerchief so that I could more or less wipe the sticky red liquid off my arm. Together, the four of us watched whilst the substance in the fountain transformed into writhing shadows, spilling over the edge of the basin onto the ground. There, the shadows merged to form a magical portal, the outline glowing with a purple, almost electrical glow.
"I'll give it to you: you're smarter than you let on," Rowan whispered in my ear, sounding genuinely impressed.
"Wow, thanks."
He chuckled. "Seriously, where did you learn to solve riddles so fast?"
"Does it matter?" I countered. "Let's go already. I've had quite enough of this creepy place, so much that it will almost be a relief to reach the Dark Capital itself."
We stepped through the portal, which transported us to a cemetery—speaking of creepy places. Most tombstones were overgrown with weeds and vines; some were even so old that they were nearly falling apart. Debris lay scattered across the paths running between the graves, so we had to be careful not to trip and break an ankle. Taking in our new environment, I spotted only one exit at the far end of the cemetery, partially hidden by the broad trunk of a large oak tree.
"At least, this time we know where to go without having to consult that stupid poem," Ellie said, trudging over the graves and debris toward the exit.
Passing by the weathered tombstones, I glimpsed at the names written on them. A chill scratched its way down my spine as I read Ellie's name on one of them, then Larry's on another. A particularly large grave showed both Rowan's name and mine, followed by a message in an unfamiliar tongue. I didn't need to speak the words to understand their meaning; visions swarmed my mind, depicting war, blood and a dark, endless void that swallowed all.
Dread and a strong feeling of foreboding slipped into my heart, blackening it with dark thoughts. The blood in my veins froze as I wondered if the visions showed me my future. A bad omen, warning of what was to come if I made the wrong choice.
A warm hand slid into mine and I bit my lip to stifle a startled scream. "Don't look at it, Kenna. It doesn't mean anything." Rowan cupped my cheek with his hand and turned my head toward him so that I looked him in the eye. "This place is just messing with us."
"I know," I answered quietly, yet the doubt kept nagging me. The visions had already been engraved into my memory, another ominous riddle to fret about.
He leaned forward until his cool forehead touched mine. My hand moved up of its own accord to play with the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer until our lips met.
He smiled against my mouth. "Feeling better now?"
"Much." I grinned at him. It wasn't a lie.
We continued to walk, my hand clasped firmly in his as a reminder to stay focused on what was ahead. As we passed under the oak tree, the air around us darkened again, as if a shadow had moved in front of the sun. Soon, the path ended in another T-junction. Out of habit, I plucked the poem out of my pocket and recited the next lines, "When in doubt, left is your right, because Death's revenge is sweet. Well, that's clear, isn't it? We have to go left."
"Death's revenge," Larry mused, glancing in the direction of the passage to our right. "I wonder what that means."
"Let's not find out," Ellie grumbled, grabbing Larry's sleeve and dragging him along.
We passed three more T-junctions and chose the path to the left each time. At last, we reached another clearing. A spark of enthusiasm made the corners of my mouth curl up when I noticed the Gate of the Forsaken in the distance, but my newly found happiness evaporated as soon as I saw the vast abyss stretching out between the gate and ourselves. Peering over the edge of the cliff, my eyes met nothing but an infinite blackness.
Crap.
"Awesome," Rowan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How are we supposed to cross this chasm?"
I looked down at the note in my hand. The last four lines of the poem danced across the parchment as I read them:
Do not listen to the voice of Reason,
for She will lead you astray.
Sometimes you need to take a leap,
to find the right way.
Take a leap ... That couldn't possibly mean what I thought it meant.
Staring at the poem over my shoulder, Ellie gasped. "Do they really want us to jump?"
"What?" Rowan snatched the piece of parchment out of my hands and gaped at it, as if the words would change through sheer willpower. "Are they out of their minds?"
"Well, they clearly state not to think logically," I said, hesitant. This place was enchanted with very powerful magic, a kind of magic that could change the laws of nature. I had no idea what would happen if we jumped, but my gut told me that we would somehow end up on the other side of the chasm.
Crushing the note in his fist, Rowan squinted and looked in the direction of the gate, then glanced around. "Is there really no other way?"
"Not one that won't end in a painful death." I put a hand on his arm to calm him down. "It's okay. I'll go first."
"Over my dead body," he hissed. "I'm your protector; I should be the one to jump first."
"Oh, Rowan, don't start," I snapped. "What did I say about being a damsel—"
My rant was cut short when a brute force pushed both Rowan and me over the edge of the cliff. A high-pitched scream erupted from my throat and I clung to my "protector" as we fell, squeezing his tall body with both my arms and my legs. He had closed his eyes, clenching his jaw as if he was doing his utmost not to scream himself.
The fall seemed to last for hours, the darkness around us deepening the longer it lasted. However, at the same time, it felt like it had been merely seconds before the bright sunlight reappeared. My lips had only just formed a startled "Watch out!" when the both of us tumbled onto a solid surface. Rowan landed on top of me, his heavy weight pinning my thin body to the ground, and I groaned when the air was pushed out of my lungs.
The string of curses that left Rowan's mouth was so out of character that my eyebrows crept up all the way to my hairline. He grumbled something unintelligible while he pulled me to my feet. "I swear I'm going to kill those bloody Dark Sorcerers!"
A giggle bubbled up in my throat and I clapped my hand over my mouth to smother it upon seeing his heated glare. "Sorry. It's just ... Never mind." I turned away from him so that he wouldn't see the wide grin on my face.
Two more loud cries pierced our ears a few moments before Ellie and Larry crashed onto the ground next to us. Ellie cursed as she propped herself up on her elbows, scanning our surroundings. "Let's never do that again."
"You pushed us," Rowan growled, rage flickering in his dark eyes.
Ellie wasn't impressed. "You needed some help, lad," she replied, shrugging. "Otherwise, you both still would have stood there arguing with each other." Rowan looked as if he wanted to throttle her, but he merely clenched his fists, fuming.
Larry quickly intervened to keep the peace. "Is that the gate to Vallinstra?" he asked, pointing at something behind my back.
We all grew silent for a moment whilst we gazed upon the massive black gate, towering above our heads. Now that we were standing so close to it, I could see the elaborate carvings on the doors, portraying battles from the past. I even spotted a dragon in the top left corner of the door on the right and my hands automatically reached for the duffel bag, my fingers tracing the contours of the egg.
Following my magical instinct, I took a few steps until I was standing right in front of the gate. The cold feel of the metal made my hands tingle. Under my touch, the Gate of the Forsaken seemed almost alive, like a presence in my mind that I could communicate with. The images on the doors became real, moving, and my ears picked up the faint sounds of a battle, the cries of fallen soldiers. I closed my eyes and concentrated.
Open.
Letters that had been invisible before now appeared on the enormous black doors, glowing as if they had just been etched into the thick metal. They spelled a message in Old Speech, and I translated the words: Only the Darkest of hearts have the power to rule all. I shivered. The letters disappeared again and the old hinges, rusty due to the lack of usage, squeaked as the doors to the Dark Capital opened.