The Emerald Staff (25 page)

“Aarrgh. When is someone going to give me a
break?” she yelled as she let go of the lock in disgust. She put
her hands around the bars, rested her forehead on the cool metal
and peered down into the belly of the castle. A chain hung down the
middle, she assumed it was attached to the bucket that collected
the coins. She could only see a few feet of it before it
disappeared into the darkness of the well.

“It’s down there, I just know it is,” Faedra
whispered to herself.

Faen crossed over to her and placed his hand
on her shoulder. She felt his warmth through her clothing, from
there it snaked its way straight to her heart. She turned and
looked into the eyes of her Guardian. No words were necessary; she
could see the compassion flowing from those deep pools of blue.
After a moment, she dropped her head and rested her forehead on his
chest, trying to clear her mind and think of another way to get
down the well. He felt a crackle of static as her skin touched his
chest. He raised his hand and stroked her hair, knowing that was
one of the best ways to calm her energy.

“I know where the key is,” Molly said.

Faedra turned towards the friendly ghost, not
moving away from Faen. “You do?”

“Yes, it is in the control room. All the keys
for the castle hang on a board above the security guard’s desk.
They’re all labeled so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“What is it, Faedra? Is the ghost talking to
you again?” Faen asked.

“Yes, she says the key is in the security
guard’s office,” Faedra replied, hope blooming once more. “Now we
just have to think of a way to get the key without alerting the
guard.”

“Oh, that’s easy, luv. He may not be able to
see me, but I’ve had me fair share of fun with him, nonetheless.”
Molly snickered.

Faedra narrowed her eyes, “Like what?”

“Oh, you just wait and see. I’ll get him out
of the way for you long enough so you can get the key.”

Intrigued, Faedra took hold of Faen’s hand
before following Molly back up the steps to the keep and then down
the corridor to where the control room was.

“Now, you two hide somewhere, while I go an’
work my magic with the fuse box.” Molly instructed, a devious grin
developing with her words.

“Faen, can you glamour us?” Faedra asked. In
an instant they disappeared from view.

“Oh, that’s clever,” Molly said. “I thought I
was the only one who could do that around here. I’ll just be a few
minutes; you’ll know when to move in.” She snickered again as she
floated off down the corridor and around a corner.

They didn’t have to wait long. A few moments
later the whole place went black as all the lights went out and
they were standing in a pitch-dark corridor.

Faedra heard an expletive from behind the
door they were standing beside. A second later, the door flew open
and a beam from a flashlight made staggered patterns in the
dark.

“Bloody fuse box!” The guard griped as he
stomped off down the corridor in the same direction that Molly had
gone a few moments earlier. “That’s the third time this week. If I
miss seeing a bloody goal, I’m not gonna be happy.”

Faedra grinned as she watched the beam from
the flashlight disappear around the corner. No sooner had he
disappeared out of view, she had an energy orb lit and bobbing in
the palm of her hand. They snuck into the office and found the
board of keys above the desk. Molly was right, they were all
labeled, but there were a lot of them. Faedra held the orb high and
started at the top working her way from left to right. A few rows
down, she saw it. ‘Well Gate’ was on the label below a sturdy
looking key.

“Gotcha,” she whispered while reaching up to
grab the key from its hook. “Come on, Faen, let’s go.”

Her excitement made her blood pound through
her chest as she took the several sets of steps two at a time until
she got back to her destination.

The lights were still on down below the keep
and she silently thanked Molly for leaving those alone. Relief
filled her heart when the padlock ‘snicked’ and sprung open. She
climbed up onto the rock wall and crouched to get through the small
hole the open gate had created. A hand grabbed her arm. She turned
to look at her Guardian, a confused expression forming across her
face.

“You are not going down there,” he stated,
his face all business now.

“What do you mean? Of course, I am. I have to
get that egg.” Faedra argued.

“I will go, it is too dangerous.”

“You can’t, Faen, your wings won’t fit in
that little hole.”

Faedra could see Faen’s face go dark with
anger. He knew she was right and she could see a battle waging war
on his face. There hadn’t been a situation before now where his
wings would be a limiting factor. He was now faced with having to
let his charge go down a well, who knew how many hundreds of feet
deep.

She put a reassuring hand over his, “I’ll be
fine, Faen.” She eased his hand off her arm and took hold of the
chain that hung down the middle of the well. Before she had a
chance to ease her body into the stone tube, Faen grabbed her
again.

“Wait.”

“Faen, I’ll be fine,” she said, trying to
bite back a spike of irritability.

“Look.”

She followed his gaze to something above her.
A winch.

“They must use that to bring the bucket up.
If we bring the bucket up, you can stand on it and I will winch you
down. It will be much safer.”

“Good idea,” she admitted, relieved that she
wouldn’t have to shimmy down a chain. She’d never shimmied down
anything before and wasn’t a hundred percent happy about the
idea.

She let go of the chain and eased herself
back to the floor. Faen pressed the button on the electric winch
and the chain started to move. A few minutes later the bucket
appeared, full of pennies and other coins. They pulled it through
the opening in the grill and emptied it on the ground to lighten
the load.

After taking a deep breath, Faedra eased
herself back into the stone tube of the well, hooking one leg over
one side of the bucket handle and the other leg over the other side
until she was sitting astride the handle. She sat still for a
moment, testing the strength of the chain. Faen lowered her a few
feet, making sure he could still reach her and tested the winch to
see if it was strong enough to pull her up again. To his relief, it
did so without too much grumbling.

“Okay, it looks like it will work. In the
name of Kernunnos, be careful,” Faen pleaded as he leaned in and
planted a delicate kiss to her lips.

Faedra closed her eyes at his touch. He broke
the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

“I will, I promise.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Faedra hardly dared breathe as the bucket
descended down the well. She had an orb in one hand and white
knuckled the chain with the other, clinging on for dear life. She
had no idea how deep the well was but was sure it must be a good
hundred feet or more. Counting her blessings that she couldn’t
actually see the bottom she tried a deep breath to calm her nerves.
It didn’t work. The lower she got, the staler the air became. A
green fuzz now covered the wall and her lungs were starting to
revolt against the air that was cloying and dank.

She coughed.

“Are you all right?” Faen called from
above.

Faedra looked up to see the beautiful face of
her Guardian looking down at her, a halo of light from above him
making his blonde hair shimmer like gold.

She did her best to clear her throat. “I’m
fine,” she croaked.

So far, she hadn’t seen any stones that
looked like they’d been dislodged and she was hoping it wouldn’t be
all the way to the bottom before she found what she was looking
for. She looked up again to get a sense of how far down she was.
Faen’s face was becoming a blur as the distance grew between them.
A shudder ripped through her body. The light above was becoming
smaller and smaller. She felt as though she was being wrapped in a
damp dark blanket and she didn’t like that feeling at all. The
color of her orb made the closeness of the stone tube even more
oppressive, casting eerie shadows on the wall.

Every few feet she pushed herself around in a
circle using her feet on the wall, allowing her to scan all the
stones with the light from her orb, then she would go back the
other way so the chain didn’t get twisted. After what seemed like
forever, she was doing the usual routine, moving herself around the
wall when a stone moved beneath her foot.

Her heart leapt to her throat when she heard
the loose stone scraping against its neighbor as she wiggled it
underfoot.

“Stop the chain!” She shouted up to Faen.

The chain stopped.

With shaky hands, she leaned forward, locking
the chain under her arm for safety; she still had to keep one hand
free for her orb. She drew the light closer to the wall and could
see the missing mortar around the loose stone. Grabbing hold of the
stone, she wiggled it again. Loose dirt and dust fell from its
resting place, undisturbed for hundreds of years. A few more
wiggles and she eased the stone free. Faedra lifted it away from
the wall and went to place it in the bucket so she could replace
the stone after she’d retrieved whatever was hiding behind it.

She let out a little shriek as the damp slimy
stone slipped from her grip and plummeted down the well. One one
thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, just how deep was
this well? Her stomach knotted when she finally heard a soft splash
as the stone hit the water below her and realized that the flimsy
metal bucket was the only thing between her and what would probably
be a lethal fall. If she made the same mistake with the egg, she
wouldn’t get a second chance.

Faedra took a couple of deep calming breaths
before she leaned in and felt around the inside of the hole with
her free hand. After a few seconds of touching around, her heart
missed a beat as fingers made contact with a smooth shell. They
continued feeling around the egg trying to ascertain how big it
was. Not too big, but would need two hands to hold safely.

“I found it!” She shouted up to Faen.

With fingertips clamped securely around the
egg, she eased it towards her. This time she wasn’t going to make
the same mistake she had with the stone. Although it terrified her
to do so, she prepared herself for the sickening sensation that
would ensue, and snuffed out her orb. Fighting her fear in the
pitch black, she placed her other hand around the egg, caging it
between her fingers and palms.

After wiggling it out of its hiding place,
she put the egg in the bucket with extreme care. She wasn’t about
to risk it slipping from her grasp.

“You can bring me up now, Faen.”

The winch whirred into life again and relief
washed over her. She looked up and watched Faen’s face get closer
and closer. She was nearly home free, or so they both thought. A
sharp jolt shot through the chain, her stomach lurched as she came
to a sudden stop.

“What happened? Why did it stop?” Faedra
asked, anxious.

“I do not know. I think the motor may have
burned out.”

Faen tried pushing buttons but nothing
happened. A creak from the chain sparked concern.

“Faedra, it is not working. You will have to
climb up the chain. I do not think it will hold you much longer.”
Was that a hint of panic in his voice? Faedra’s throat went
dry.

“I can’t climb up the chain. I’ve got nowhere
to put the egg.”

It was far too big for any of her pockets.
Why hadn’t she brought her backpack? How stupid was that? What did
she think she was going to carry the egg in once she found it?
Truth was, she hadn’t been thinking. All she had was tunnel vision
to get to the castle with no preparation for what she may encounter
once there. She could kick herself for being so stupid.

Another creak.

“Throw the egg to me,” Faen called down.

“What? No! Are you crazy?” Desperation was
audible in her voice now.

“Faedra, it is the only way. I will catch it,
I promise.”

She looked up, gauging the distance. She was
only about ten feet below her Guardian. Tears of fear and anger
welled in her eyes. Her heart was pounding. How could she be so
stupid to have come this far and not have something to put the egg
into to keep it safe?

Faedra closed her eyes for a second before
reaching into the bucket and picking up the egg. Now her stupidity
could cost her the egg if her Guardian dropped it. Did she have
that much faith in him? She was literally holding her father’s life
in her hands and was about to toss it away. What if she didn’t
throw it properly and it hit the wall and smashed; it was so narrow
in the well.

Another creak.

“Faedra, you have to throw me the egg, the
chain is getting weaker.” The urgency in Faen’s voice was not lost
on her.

“Please don’t drop it, please don’t drop it,”
she repeated in a whisper as she held the egg and tried to figure
out the best way to throw it straight up without having much
elbowroom to maneuver.

“Okay, I’m going to throw it on the count of
three.”

“I am ready.”

“One.”

Her heart pounded.

“Two.”

Waves of nausea took hold.

“Three.”

She threw the egg as accurately as she could
and closed her eyes not daring to look.

“Got it!”

Her body relaxed and she felt her muscles
uncoil.

Another creak, louder this time.

“Faedra, climb up the chain, now!” Faen
yelled. Faen never yelled.

Faedra eased herself up until she was
standing on the top edge of the bucket, straddling either side of
the handle. She had never shimmied up anything before and wasn’t
quite sure the best way to do it. There was only about ten feet to
go, less now that she was standing, but those ten feet felt like
she was climbing a mountain.