Chosen Sister (18 page)

The Gold Wizard stood up. “Yes, let us off to one side before you attack, and we’ll try to sneak in and kill the wizard. Let’s go, children.”

The man led the way out, yelling to the men of the village. People gathered in the center of town. Women held the bridles of horses as men checked their weapons and climbed onto them. The man who had helped them led them over to a couple of horses to one side of the group. He mounted a horse, and the Gold Wizard boosted Reina up in front of the man.

“You’re coming too, little girl?” he asked. She could hear his surprise.

“I’m not letting Austyn go alone,” she said. “I have the Unicorn Sword—it will protect me.” She patted the scabbard.

“Ah, little warrior, you must be the Chosen Sister.”

She heard the smile in his voice and laughed. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

He squeezed the sides of his horse, and it leapt forward into a gallop.

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Traveling at night had meant that the horizon was dark and didn’t offer much of a view of what was ahead. Reina was surprised to see, now that it was day, the silhouette of a large castle directly ahead of them. While no one had ever described the Red Wizard’s castle to her, she had always pictured a squat sort of fortress, with perhaps thick spiked walls covered in guards or something. Nothing had prepared her for the castle that now lay ahead of them.

The rising sun sparkled off its many towers, with little pointy roofs on each one. Black flags flew from them, but they still looked daintier than she would have expected. The towers weren’t on each corner of a thick wall, but instead rose up inside of it, around large windows and balconies. A wall surrounded it all, but in lieu of spikes, it had decorative arches. The castle looked majestic, beautiful, and huge. She hadn’t thought someone so evil could live somewhere so pretty.

The horses pounded towards the castle, and when they had almost reached the front gate, the three also carrying Reina, Austyn, and the Gold Wizard pulled to the side. Reina slipped off the horse with a quick thank you to the man. He winked at her. “Good luck, Chosen Sister.”

“You too!” she called after him as he rode away.

Austyn gasped, and Reina looked up at the castle. Harpies poured out of the towers of the castle and swarmed at the riders. The man who had carried her drew his sword and charged forward, slashing at them, but another man behind him wasn’t quick enough. The harpies grabbed him by his shirt and tried to lift him out of his saddle. Reina took a step towards them, wanting to help.

“We’d better hurry,” the Gold Wizard said, reminding her of their mission. “They can’t distract the Red Wizard for long, and they’re counting on us to destroy his heart as quickly as possible.”

Reina tore her eyes away from the fight and focused on the gate of the castle. “Let’s get going, then.”

They hurried towards the gate. It rose high above them and appeared to be locked.

“I’ll get it with a spell,” the Gold Wizard said. “Just stand aside.”

Reina turned to step away from it when she heard a low hiss.

“Oh no!” she yelled. “Wait!”

Snakewolves rose up out of the grass, surrounding them in a semi-circle, trapping them with the gate at their backs. The gates ground open with a low groan, and Reina glanced behind her. Four manticores, grinning their sharp teeth from ear to ear, stood in the doorway.

“It
was
a trap,” she hissed to the Gold Wizard.

“I can see that!” he snapped back. “Austyn, use your magic on the manticores, I’ll take the—”

A dark, formless cloud rose from the ground behind the snakewolves, and they parted to let it through. The shadowsoul then started swirling around into different shapes: a bear, a wolf, a bat, a cloaked figure. The Gold Wizard’s face turned green, but he gritted his teeth and shoved Austyn behind him and into Reina, who didn’t wish to step backwards into the manticore’s waiting jaws. Reina’s jaw dropped as the Gold Wizard stepped forward to meet the shadowsoul and struck his staff down in the dirt directly before it.

“None shall pass!” he roared, sounding impressive for once. Gold light shone around him, blazing in the early morning light.

The shadowsoul, in the shape of a cloaked man, hesitated for a moment, looming above him, before it passed through him like the insubstantial mist it was and advanced on Reina and Austyn. The Gold Wizard’s face went gray, and he slumped forward and threw up on the ground, dropping his staff.

Reina shook the Unicorn Sword in her hand. “Go on, change, change!” But the sword remained just a sword. Austyn screamed and clutched at Reina. The sword wouldn’t save them this time; despair rushed through her. This was it—the shadowsoul was going to get them, and somehow she didn’t think it would pass right over them, or at least not Austyn. It wanted to kill him.

Rage mixed with her fear, just like that very first day with the harpy that had revealed Austyn’s power. She wouldn’t let it get him. They shouldn’t have to be so terrified and trapped. With a cry of anger, she jumped forward and swung the Unicorn Sword into the shadowsoul.

An enormous BANG rang through the air, and the shadowsoul disappeared. A wind burst out of the place where it had stood, knocking over the gasping Gold Wizard and all the snakewolves. Then the wind moved out farther, dashing harpies to the ground and flattening horses and warriors alike. Squinting her eyes against it, Reina leaned forward and managed not to fall over. Austyn, still clutching her side, was swept off his feet but regained them by holding tight to her.

Utter silence followed. No one moved. Reina slowly turned around to see the manticores also lying flat on the ground.

“Is he dead?” sobbed Austyn.

Reina stepped forward to the prone figure of the Gold Wizard. She held her left hand above his nose, relieved to feel a little puff of air. “I think he’s just unconscious.” She shook him for a moment, but he didn’t wake up. She glanced at all the snakewolves sprawled on the ground behind him. “I think they’re all unconscious.”

A thought struck her. “What if the Red Wizard is also unconscious?” Now was their chance to find his heart and kill him before anyone else awoke, and thus save the lives of not only the Gold Wizard, but all the brave men from the town who were willing to fight to the death. She grabbed Austyn’s hand and pulled him towards the castle. “We have to find that heart!”

In the courtyard, they walked around more unconscious manticores. Just looking at them all made Reina swallow hard. Even without the shadowsoul, they’d be doomed if all of these creatures awoke. Not even the Unicorn Sword could fend them all off if they attacked her, and Austyn wasn’t good enough with a sword to protect himself on his own. The doors of the castle rose up in front of them, open just a crack. Reina pried the door open a little wider, and they entered the castle itself.

At one time, Reina thought, this castle might have been beautiful inside as well. Hangings, ripped or falling, were tacked on the walls. In some place stood smashed or neglected pieces of furniture or worn rugs. It gave her the distinct feeling that someone who cared more about their living space than the Red Wizard had once occupied this castle. Each corridor seemed the same as the one before, and soon she lost all sense of direction. They didn’t have much time, so she ripped door after door open, frantically searching for wherever the Red Wizard might hide his heart.
That stupid Gold Wizard should have been specific.

As her anxiety increased, so did her confusion. Why didn’t the unicorn come and show them the way? Her panic grew with each dead end or bedchamber or closet or other useless find. She rounded the next corridor; it opened up into a great hall with an enormous staircase. There seemed hundreds of choices as to where they might go. Reina took a deep breath and paused for a moment.

The sword knows the way, but it won’t show me; why?
The sword had destroyed the shadowsoul, but only when she had attacked, not when it defended them on its own.
It wants me to do this myself
. Reina drew the sword again and held it in front of her. She shut her eyes, trying not to think about Austyn or time or the Gold Wizard’s advice.

“Where do we need to go?” she whispered, trying to sense the sword and its magic like the Gold Wizard kept explaining to Austyn.

To her surprise, she felt something stirring within her, like heat waves, spreading through her body. The sword grew warm, and she opened her eyes to see it glowing with white light and almost dropped it.
I’m using magic! Eleia was right.

She looked up the stairs and knew that was the way she should go. “Come on!” She dashed forward, only barely noticing Austyn’s wide-eyed look. The stairs led up to a room with large windows and a balcony. It was light and airy, with a skylight in the middle, letting the sunlight spill down into the room in a long golden beam. It lit up a single chest that stood on a small table in the center of the room.

“This has gotta be it,” Reina said.

Austyn nodded.

However, the emptiness and silence made Reina nervous. “I’ll stand guard. Hurry, open it.”

Austyn shook his head. “But Reina—”

“There isn’t time!” she snapped. “Go open it.”

Austyn frowned but walked over to the chest. He fiddled with it for a moment. “It won’t open.”

Reina examined it. It had no physical lock, yet it wouldn’t budge. “You probably need to use magic. Quick!”

“But I’ve gotta tell you something first—”

A low chuckle sounded in the room, and Reina whirled around, Unicorn Sword in her hand. In the doorway stood someone who could only be the Red Wizard. He was tall, with a long black beard, and wore a long red robe and pointed red hat. He looked very much like what Reina thought a wizard should look like, although she couldn’t tell from just looking if the beard was real. Only his eyes were flat and unsympathetic, his expression stony, and she found herself missing the Gold Wizard’s rather endearing homeliness.

He looked them over and laughed again. “I’ve spent so much effort trying to find the Child Warrior, and lo and behold, he walks right into my own home.” His eyes narrowed. “Where’s that fool Dwayne?”

“Unconscious,” Reina said loudly to try and distract the Red Wizard from Austyn, who stood there shaking, holding his sword. He’d drawn it but seemed unable to raise it—the point hovered only a few inches from the ground.

“Pathetic,” the Red Wizard said, shaking his head. “Truly pathetic.” He took a step towards Austyn, his hand outstretched.

“Hey!” yelled Reina. “I knocked the rest of them unconscious too! All your more pathetic monsters are just as knocked out.”

“Ah, well,” the Red Wizard said, completely ignoring her, his eyes fixed on Austyn, whose face had turned extremely pale, his breathing shallow.

“Austyn!” The cry was ripped from Reina’s mouth, and her chest burned. “Fight him. The magic, Austyn, the magic! Fight him.” She rushed to his side, trying to block him from the Red Wizard, and clutched his shoulders. “Fight him!” Tears streamed down her face.

Austyn struggled for his breath, and Reina remembered all the Gold Wizard had said about the death magic. “You can’t die, Austyn!” she shouted in his face. “I need you to live. You have to live. Use the magic to fight him.”

Austyn gasped, his body jerked, and he fell backwards to the floor. His chest didn’t move; his body had gone completely limp. Reina shook him, shouting his name, but she knew anyway what she didn’t want to know. Austyn was dead.

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It can’t be; he can’t be.
Reina’s thoughts repeated over and over in her head, yet she knew it was true. Austyn was dead. A sob escaped her—she shook him again, still calling his name.

“Your pathetic Child Warrior is dead,” sneered the Red Wizard. “I’ve won.”

Looking at Austyn’s still face, Reina’s grief turned to anger, and finally to deep, burning hatred. Her hand reached out and grabbed the Unicorn Sword. She looked up at the Red Wizard.

He laughed. “Now it’s your turn, little girl.”

His eyes were liquid black, gazing at her with a deep intensity. They seemed to reach into the depths of her soul and whisper to her to give up, beg her to lie down and join Austyn in death.
What is the point of living if he doesn’t?
they asked. From a great distance, she heard them and sensed their power. If she believed them, she would die. But the anger, the rage and grief at not being able to save Austyn, surged like an ocean between her and the Red Wizard’s words.

She glanced to one side, meeting Austyn’s dead gaze, and his empty eyes asked something different of her—asked her to avenge him.
Destroy the Red Wizard for what he has done and what he will keep doing.

Slowly, she stood, her hand clutching the sword. The competing whispers increased in a torrent of sound rushing in her ears. One of them needed to die—there wasn’t room in the world for them both—and it was up to her who that one would be.

The Red Wizard’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened in surprise. “Wha—”

“You killed him!” Reina embraced the anger and the words it whispered to her.
He
would be the one to die, not her. Rage and grief propelled her forward, and she thrust the Unicorn Sword into his chest, right where his heart would be, if he had one.

The Red Wizard screamed. Light poured out of his body around the sword as it slid into him. He exploded in a wave of silent white light that washed over Reina, leaving her momentarily blinded. He was gone—she had destroyed him.

She felt no victory, only another wave of intense grief. Austyn was still dead. The Unicorn Sword dropped from her hand, and she spun around to gather Austyn’s body into her arms. Sobbing, she clutched his limp body to her chest.

“Why couldn’t you have stopped him?” she cried and dissolved into wordless wailing. He wasn’t supposed to be dead; he was supposed to be the one who killed the Red Wizard.

“Because he was not the Child Warrior,” a strange, musical voice interrupted her.