Wielder: Apprentice: Book 1 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) (16 page)

Sheyna grinned. “Aye, it’s filthy. It’s dirt!”

“You will have to go in without me,” Marella whined.

“You do wash off, Marella. It really isn’t going to hurt you.”

“I can’t stand to be dirty. You may be used to it, but I’m not. I’m not going down there.”

Sheyna sighed. “All right, but at least look down the hole and see if it’s big enough for me to go through while I look for another way for you.”

Marella nodded and cautiously peered down the hole, which was about as wide as a tight doorway. When Marella got close enough, Sheyna grabbed her from behind and pushed her down the hole, following closely on her heels. Marella kicked and screamed, but she could do nothing but slide. Sheyna and Marella slid down the muddied hole into an old dungeon cell. Marella got to her feet and looked at her ruined dress, seething. “You tricked me!”

“Aye, but you are here now, so calm down.”

“I don’t want to calm down.”

Sheyna shrugged. “Have it your way, then. I just hope your screaming and fit throwing doesn’t attract the attention of any of those creatures Kyrie was talking about earlier.”

Marella looked around the dungeon cautiously. It was dimly lit by torches in sconces placed every couple of cells. “You don’t think he would let them run around free, do you?”

Sheyna studied her suroundings. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

Marella tried to clean herself off the best she could, and then she quietly followed Sheyna out into the hallway.

The dungeons were dark and dank with minimal light and stagnant, pungent-smelling air. The old cell doors were rusty and crusted over, and debris cluttered the passageways. The two girls made their way down into the corridors. Sheyna had begun to worry that Kyrie had led them into a trap until she spotted a passageway with more light ahead. As they neared the lighted area, Sheyna could see it was an immense and tidy chamber with tables and shelves lined with books and parchments. In the center, three wooden tables set in a U-shape were covered with books and beakers.

“It looks as if we found it,” Sheyna said excitedly. She quickened her pace, but before she could reach the cell, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She abruptly stopped.

“What is it?” Marella asked.

“I saw something.”

“Toborne?”

“I don’t know yet. It looked like a shadow,” Sheyna answered. As soon as she spoke, she saw it again, just a wisp of something out of view. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. “Marella, there is something in here.”

“What should we do?” Marella’s voice began to waver.

“Back away from this chamber very slowly,” Sheyna answered.

As both girls were backing away from the tidy chamber, they could hear a long, rumbling growl coming from an indeterminate direction. In a panic, they turned down the corridor to run and came face-to-face with a hideous black creature. It had red eyes and a maw of sharp teeth. Leathery wings extended out from its back, and its claws, which it held forward, were hooked, sharp, and deadly. The two girls screamed. Marella managed to think fast and used a tactic she learned in childhood to avoid her older brothers. She projected an image of her and Sheyna running into the chamber while she pulled Sheyna down beside the nearest wall as it gave pursuit of her ruse. The two girls took off down the corridor in the opposite direction and began running back into the dungeons. The drake-like creature soon followed, its claws clicking on the hard earthen floor. A sudden misguided turn in an adjacent hallway extending in opposite directions caused the two girls to become separated. The creature took the corridor after Marella. Sheyna turned back and followed behind, trying to remember her offensive attack training. Carefully she drew essence from around her. The essence felt strange; it had a slimy, foul feel to it. She realized she must be drawing essence from evil surroundings, complete with cruelty and death. She didn’t like the feeling at first, but then it began to permeate her as she followed the black creature chasing Marella. She gathered it in and kept gathering it in. She knew better than to draw too much, but she couldn’t help herself. Her pulse quickened, and she raced faster and faster down the corridor until she at last came up behind Marella’s pursuer. She belted out a shrill scream to get its attention, and the creature responded, facing her. It roared in triumph and charged headlong at her. Sheyna’s hands felt heavy; she looked down at them. They were glowing blue. She could feel another presence with her. At first, she thought it was Marella, but it wasn’t. It seemed even more familiar, like the bond between a mother and a child. She snarled as the creature charged her, and she held her hands up in front of her with a confidence she didn’t know she had. She willed herself to release the essence and was astonished to hear a voice in her head whisper for her to
let it all go in a burst!
Without question, she let the essence go, and the blue light snapped from her body in the form of a great bolt of lightning. The creature stumbled, fell, and convulsed in shock as currents of blue and white light surged through its leathery body. Marella stood on the other side of the dead creature in awe.

“How did you do that? Did Toborne already teach you how to manipulate lightning? Apprentices aren’t supposed to learn advanced skills like that!”

Sheyna was in shock. “I don’t know. It just felt right. I didn’t think about it.”

Marella took a deep breath. “As long as you are on my side, I don’t care how you did it. Now, let’s do what we came to do and get out of here.”

The two girls ran back to the chamber and searched for the statuette. Thankfully, the cells were all empty and easy to search. Both girls kept a vigilant eye out for more surprises lurking in the shadows.

“You search in the cells, and I will rummage around these tables. We are bound to find something in this mess even if it isn’t my statuette,” Sheyna said.

“Like what? I thought we were looking for your keepsake,” Marella asked.

“You heard Kyrie. Toborne is up to something. If I can find proof, so much the better.”

“What about that thing you killed? Wouldn’t that be proof?”

“Sure, if we could get it to them or get them down here to look at it. I’m not going to try to drag that thing out of here. I was hoping to find something easier we could convince them with. We will go back and hide it so we can show them the body after we get their attention.”

Marella nodded and began to look around the adjoining cells. “I think I found something,” Marella said. “Over here.” Sheyna joined Marella near a cell containing an old trunk. Inside the trunk was a carved wooden box much like Sheyna’s. Marella lifted the box out and took it to the table.

Sheyna unlatched it, opened the lid, and peered inside. Her body abruptly stiffened, and she fell immediately to the floor immobilized, her eyes still wide open.

“Stop fooling around, Shey,” Marella said. “Shey? Sheyna?” she said as she reached down to shake the girl.

“The box was trapped,” a voice from behind Marella said. Startled, Marella jumped to her feet. “Who’s there?”

Toborne stepped out of the shadows. “It is I, Toborne. You didn’t actually think I would leave such a prize behind in a box without an incantation to protect it, did you?”

“I don’t know what prize you’re talking about, Master Toborne. We were only looking for something that belongs to Sheyna,” Marella said.

“And how would something belonging to Sheyna get all the way down here?” he asked.

“It was stolen from her,” Marella replied.

Toborne leaned down to Sheyna and whispered a few words while he placed his hand on her forehead. Sheyna inhaled and then jolted up. “There, there, my apprentice, not all at once.”

“Toborne! I was just . . .” Sheyna stammered.

Toborne narrowed his eyes, and Sheyna knew better than to continue. He already knew what she was up to.

He flipped the lid down on the wooden box. “Have you two girls been using essence down here? I heard something . . . disturbing.”

“It was I, Master,” Sheyna admitted. She could not let him know that she was on to him. “I had to. A foul creature chased after us.”

“Indeed,” Toborne said. “Why have you come down here, Sheyna?” he asked. “Whatever are you searching for? Surely not your little jade statuette?” He opened the wooden box again, but instead of being empty, it now contained something. Sheyna could not help but to look inside. The box now contained her jade figurine next to a silver statue of a drake in flight. She began to reach inside the box and then stopped herself. She scanned Toborne’s face. He nodded that it was all right. She reached inside and removed her statuette. Toborne took out the Silver Drake. Marella let out an audible gasp at the sight of the silver sculpture. “Is that actually
the
Silver Drake?”

“Aye, it is,” Toborne said. “Created by Ianthill, Morgoran, and me at the request of Fawlsbane Vex, the father of all the gods himself.” Toborne turned the statue over in his hands. “Fawlsbane was very fond of drakes when we created this statue. He took it up to Mount Venifyre, and each one of the gods bestowed it with a gift of their power. Loracia gave it the greatest gift of all: life!”

“It doesn’t seem alive to me,” Sheyna said. “What’s wrong with it?” She already knew its secret, but Toborne didn’t have to know.

“Well now, that is why I needed your statuette. You have no idea what that little figure of an elf actually does, do you?” He smiled wickedly. “Your mother never told you?”

“No. I never got to know my mother, but you already know that, don’t you?”

“Indeed, I do, I suppose. Or perhaps we are talking of two different people. Anyhow, that statuette is a vessel of essence. Not the variety we wielders draw upon, but the essence souls are made of. Unlock the secret of the jade figure and learn your true destiny, Sheyna Namear.” Toborne caressed the Silver Drake. “What am I going to do with you now? I can’t let you go, but I admit I have grown fond of you, and I am aware of your unlimited potential.” He set the Silver Drake down and took Sheyna by the shoulders. “Join me, Sheyna, you have a natural talent that would serve me well. I will show you the secrets of the statuette, and together we could rule the known world side by side. I would love and revere you as a father loves his child.” He released her and took up the Silver Drake again. “This Silver Drake’s sole purpose is to choose the highlord of the land. What a terrible waste! It contains the power of the gods! If I control it, I will be a god!”

Sheyna was horrified. It might have been the taint of the essence she had drawn on earlier, but even as she was horrified by the notion of Toborne’s insanity, it strangely appealed to her as well. Normally, she would never entertain such a notion. She found her courage to resist. “Surely you realize I could never join you. It isn’t right to manipulate the natural order of things for your own ambitions.”
And
what about my mother?
The thought tugged at her, but she said nothing.

Toborne’s expression soured. “Silly, naïve girl.” He held out his hand, and the jade statuette tore from Sheyna’s grip. He looked at the figurine, now in his possession, with a sickening lust. “I have always thought that I must kill you one day, but now I find that task to be too difficult, so I will lock you in a cell to waste away instead. Perhaps someday you will see reason.”

“Isn’t locking me up the same as killing me?”

“Aye, but I don’t have to watch.” Without warning, he drew in essence and knocked Sheyna back into Marella. The two girls stumbled into a cell, and the heavy iron gate slammed shut.

Toborne held the Silver Drake high in the air and let it rain down hot flame on the gate, melting it closed forever. “You should have joined me, my apprentice; we could have been a glorious team.”

“I am not your apprentice any longer!” Sheyna cried.

“No. I suppose you are not. Goodbye, Sheyna Namear . . . for now,” he said, and then he disappeared into the darkness, his maniacal laughter echoing in the empty corridors.

Sheyna watched in horror as Marella collapsed from exhaustion. “Marella, what’s the matter?” She sat down and put Marella’s head on her lap.

Marella smiled weakly. “Toborne is not so disciplined after all.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My special talent. It took some doing, but I planted the thought into his mind to lock us in here instead of killing us. He is arrogant enough to believe the thought was his own.”

“What? That’s wonderful! I am glad I know you, Marella Arden!”

“Me too,” Marella said. “I said you are one interesting commoner.”

Sheyna smiled and then leaned down to kiss Marella on the cheek. “That made no sense,” she whispered as Marella closed her eyes to sleep.

After she was certain they had cooled off, Sheyna rattled the iron gates, searching for a weakness, but found they were fused solid.

“Well, now what?” Marella asked. The blonde girl still did not look herself yet.

“I am glad you are awake. How do you feel?” Sheyna asked.

“Fine, I guess.”

“Well, you don’t know any incantations to knock these gates down, do you?”