Rise (30 page)

“There’s an empty cell at the end,” one of the Krigers said, pointing down the hallway.

The twelfth cell—my cell. I ran to it and pointed my bo staff at the iron, allowing my power to connect with and flow from it. Blue light shot between the bars, striking the wall, sending rocks flying through the cell.

“Try again,” Anders insisted, his voice strained. Skog Heks was now on top of him.

Moving closer to the cell, my legs shook as I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. I took a deep breath and pointed at a single iron bar, this time only a few inches away. Concentrating on hitting only a small section, I released my power. A blue light flew from my weapon, striking the iron and causing all the bars to disappear.

“Yes!” I yelled. In the next cell, the Kriger moved to the right corner in case I missed.

Pointing the bo staff at an iron bar on the left, I released my power. It effortlessly flowed out and struck the bar. Again, they all disintegrated.

The Kriger rushed to me and kissed my head. “Thank the moons!” he cried.

Relieved, I went to the next cell, doing the same thing.

“Hurry,” Anders said. He had Skog Heks in a headlock. Unsheathing a dagger from his waistband, he placed the tip against her throat.

Our eyes met for a moment.

Would there be any repercussions for killing her? Would it throw the balance of power off since she didn’t have any magic?

Skog Heks reached up to push the dagger away. There was something shiny in her hand. She looked at me and smiled as she readjusted the knife so she could plunge it into Anders’s side.

“No!” I screamed, aiming at her and releasing all my power. Her body flew against the wall and she slid to the ground with a dull thud, the knife still clutched in her hand. Dark blue blood trickled from her mouth. The Krigers cheered.

The evil witch was dead. What if I wasn’t supposed to kill her? What if this changed everything?

Anders looked at me with wide eyes. “You saved my life.”

“Now we’re even.” A wave of nausea rolled through me from using so much power. I held onto my bo staff; the feeling gradually passed.

The two freed Krigers rushed to Anders, patting him on his back in greeting like old friends.

“Kaia, free the remaining Krigers while we make sure no one else is coming.”

I easily destroyed the remaining wards. Once the last Kriger limped out of his cell, we all stood there for a moment, staring at one another. This was the first time all twelve Krigers had ever been together. Even though I didn’t know any of these men, there was a sense of familiarity to them.

“We need to leave,” Anders said, standing near the door. “Follow me.” He led us through several dark corridors to another section of the dungeon, stopping before a large iron door without a handle.

“There’s a ward on it,” he explained. “Can you disable it?”

“I’ll try.” Taking a deep breath, I aimed at the door, releasing a sliver of power so it wouldn’t ricochet off the iron and harm someone. Nothing happened. I tried again, this time releasing more power. The door glowed soft blue for three seconds, and then turned black again.

Anders pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Maybe there’s a handle hidden somewhere,” he mumbled, feeling around the edges of the door.

“Stand back.” Once again, I aimed for the door. I let my power freely flow to the bo staff. Light shot out of the end, hitting the door. It glowed bright blue, and then the entire door disappeared. The Krigers rushed inside.

My head became heavy, and my vision blurred. Fear crept through me—this could only mean one thing. “Morlet is trying to find me,” I croaked.

“Hurry,” he called to the Krigers. “The king knows she’s here.”

The eleven Krigers came out carrying their weapons. There was a longsword, crossbow, dagger, javelin, misericorde, pike, spear, ax, broadsword, seax, and a short bow. Each beautiful, gleaming, and polished—a stark contrast to the men holding them.

Anders led the way. I hoped we made it out of the dungeon before being attacked again. I wasn’t sure any of us had the strength to fight right now. We traveled through several hallways before we reached a stairwell. The
soldats
we had previously incapacitated were still on the ground, unmoving.

“I’ll go first,” Anders aid. “Kaia, bring up the rear. Make sure no one falls behind.”

Several of the men had difficulty climbing the steep stairs. One man stumbled, so I wrapped an arm around him, helping him up the steps. Anders stood at the top, waving everyone forward.

“Thank you,” the Kriger said when we reached Anders. “I can walk on my own from here.” He smiled kindly at me.

“Vidar is here,” Anders said. “Let’s go.” We hurried down the hall, passing the Krigers, to where Vidar stood.

“You did it!” He hugged me. “And all of my friends are here, safe and sound.” His smile lit up his face.

“Not yet,” I said. “We still need to get everyone out of the castle. Many of the Krigers are weak or injured.”

“We’ve cleared a tunnel,” Vidar said. “I have a dozen men ready to help us get everyone to safety.” He pointed to the open door Anders had said led to the mines and instructed the Krigers to enter. A staircase led downward into darkness.

“Is it secure?” I dreaded returning to the underground labyrinth and running into the King’s Army.

“For the time being.” Vidar instructed everyone to remain silent and at the bottom of the stairs, to enter the tunnel on the left. About half the Krigers had started to descend when pounding boots and voices neared from the adjacent hallway.

“Hurry!” Anders herded the remaining Krigers forward.

Men rushed in the hallway from behind us with their swords drawn. One sliced his sword down, nicking a Kriger who didn’t move out of the way fast enough.

Vidar unsheathed his sword and charged toward the
soldats
, Anders next to him. Three Krigers hesitated, one reaching for the injured Kriger.

“Leave him!” I ordered. “Get yourselves out of here. I’ll protect him.” When a
soldat
neared me, I jabbed my bo staff at his stomach. He lifted his sword in order to hit my side, but I spun around and brought my elbow up, smashing his face. Another man jumped on me from behind. I fell forward onto my stomach. A second later, Anders yanked him off me. We couldn’t let any of the
soldats
run for help, alert Morlet of the Krigers’ escape, or follow the Krigers. If these two dozen men weren’t neutralized soon, there was a high likelihood the three of us would die.

I raised my weapon and released a chunk of my power, hitting the remaining men at the same time. They were all blasted backward, crashing to the ground. I had no idea if they were alive or not. My arms started to shake.

“Why didn’t you do that in the first place?” Vidar asked, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Because she doesn’t want to kill anyone unless she has to,” Anders answered for me. Our eyes met for a moment.

“Well,” Vidar responded, “if we encounter anyone else, please just do that so we don’t have to fight. I’d rather not get a broken nose if I don’t need to.”

The Kriger who had been nicked slid to the ground, passing out. I gently pulled his shirt away from his side, revealing a deep wound and blood covering his torso.

“He’s not going to make it,” I said, glancing up at Anders and Vidar. Vidar grabbed his hair, about to scream. If the Kriger died, we’d have to wait eighteen years for another one to come into his power. I had no intention of waiting that long to kill Morlet. “I can heal him.”

“It’s too risky,” Anders said, shaking his head.

“Do you even know how to heal someone else?” Vidar asked, kneeling next to me.

Morlet had healed me, so I had a vague notion of what to do.

A rebel came in through the door leading to the mines. “We have ten Krigers,” he said, gasping for breath. “Where are the last two?”

Vidar went over to his man, speaking softly to him.

There wasn’t much time. I closed my eyes and pulled on my own inner power. It immediately responded, begging to be released. I sent it to my fingertips and willed the power to enter the injured Kriger. Something warm slithered out of my body, leaving me cold. I envisioned the Kriger’s skin closing and his wound healing. Darkness surrounded me, and I violently shook. How did I get my power to return to me? My head exploded with pain, and I lost consciousness.

I opened my eyes. Anders was staring down at me, his hands gently holding either side of my face, my head resting on his lap.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice weak, vision blurry.

“You healed him,” he said, his eyes glowing with pride.

“How long have I been like this?”

“Only about ten minutes.”

“All the Krigers are safely in the tunnel,” Vidar said from somewhere close by. “I sealed it up behind them.”

“We’re not going with them?” I asked.

Vidar came into my line of sight. “No. We’re going to lure the
soldats
away from them. Too many of the Krigers are weak and injured to survive an encounter with the King’s Army.”

My arms and legs were numb. There was no way I’d be able to stand, let alone walk. How would I help lead everyone away from the Krigers?

Anders stood with me cradled in his arms. A tingling sensation radiated through the core of my body. “Morlet is searching for me.”

Vidar took a step closer, and I reached out, touching the medallion. Calm poured over me like warm water.

“Here, you carry her.” Anders handed me to Vidar and my fingers curled around the medallion. Anders picked up my bo staff, and we made our way down the hallway.

“As soon as you’re feeling better,” Vidar whispered, “we’ll announce our presence and lead the
soldats
on a merry chase through the capital.”

I was still weak and lethargic, but the dizziness and cold sensation were gradually improving. “How will we make our presence known?”

He chuckled. “We’ll blow something up and allow Morlet to connect with you for a moment.”

We reached the great hall and Vidar came to an abrupt halt. One lone figure strode across the room. When he saw us, he froze.

Morlet.

Dressed in his usual black cape, he looked from me to Vidar, and then back again. He slowly glided forward until we stood a mere ten feet apart. “I take it this is who has been helping you,” he curtly said.

Vidar gently set me on my feet, and Anders slid my weapon to my hands. I clutched onto it for support.

“Kaia,” Anders murmured, “I want you to run. We’ll take care of him.”

I shook my head, wanting to yell at them to run so I could deal with Morlet on my own, but they’d never listen. There was no way possible for Vidar and Anders to fight Morlet and survive. I couldn’t let them sacrifice their lives for mine. I was the one with the power and the one who had to face the king.

“Kaia,” Anders said. “Go.”

“No,” I replied. “We stay together.”

“Such hatred in your eyes,” Morlet purred, taking a step closer.

“You tortured me.” I took a step toward him. Both Anders and Vidar tensed. My bo staff hummed with intense power, begging to be unleashed on Morlet. The book about Krigers that Vidar had given me warned against such foolishness. I couldn’t kill him on my own. His magic was far greater than mine. Yet, I had to find a way to get Anders and Vidar safely out of here.

Morlet reached his black gloved hands up, removing his hood. “Kaia,” he whispered, his beautiful face twisted in agony. “What have you done?”

I prayed the Krigers were deep in the forest by now and the
soldats
wouldn’t be able to catch up with them. “I had to set them free.”

He shook his head, his blue eyes penetrating into mine. Our bodies linked together—his power flowing into me. Gut-wrenching emotions of complete loss and utter devastation bombarded me. I fell to my knees, willing the assault to stop.

“Kaia!” Anders screamed. “Don’t look into his eyes!”

Morlet waved his hand and a blue glass-like dome went up around the two of us. Anders banged on the dome, unable to reach me.

“You killed Skog Heks,” Morlet whispered, kneeling next to me and taking my free hand in his. “I can’t return my power to her.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m stuck with dark magic forever.” His pleading eyes sought mine. “What am I to do? Now there’s no chance of salvation. No hope.”

“I’m sorry.” His feelings of depression and self-loathing filled me, and I hunched over. His cold hand touched my cheek, and warmth filled my body as he gave me some of his magic.

Two strong hands yanked me away from him. Vidar lifted me and my bo staff, walking right out of the dome.

“Impossible,” Morlet said. “How did you do that?”

Vidar set me on my feet next to Anders. “I’m only going to do this once,” he said, “so pay attention.” He removed the medallion and handed it to me.

Morlet’s eyes widened, and his face drained of all color.

Vidar grabbed the medallion and put it back on. “This has been protecting me the entire time.”

“I thought you died,
brother
.”

“I escaped.”

They were brothers? That didn’t make any sense. Morlet had told me he was the prince and his parents—the king and queen—had been killed by someone Skog Heks hired. But … he had also told me that he had an older brother set to inherit everything. A brother who had been murdered, too. Was Vidar that brother? And if so, then Vidar was the rightful heir to the throne. How could he have kept this from me?

“You made a deal with Skog Heks for what? Power? Lust? You killed our parents! How could you do that?” Vidar’s arms trembled with rage.

Morlet shook his head. “I saw your room!” he cried. “There was blood everywhere.”

“Not mine. The assassin you hired couldn’t kill me. After he murdered our parents, Grei Heks put a protection spell on me and instead, I escaped.”

Morlet turned to Anders as if seeing him for the first time. “You killed them.”

“I haven’t aged either,” Vidar continued, bringing Morlet’s attention back to him. “I, too, am stuck until the evil you unleashed is gone.”