Spell breaker, p.9
Spell Breaker, page 9
“That’s no way to greet company.” Dag'draath’s voice seemed to echo through me. “Come out and play,” he purred.
I pinched my skin. Hard. “Wake up,” I pleaded with myself. I had slipped into dreamwalking and back into that prison. The last place I wanted to be.
“Little dreamwalker,” his voice was closer, “where have you run to?”
I opened the cabinet door a little bit, enough to see the shadow of his feet under the closed door of the room.
He stood outside the door, not moving. Calling for me to come to him. I closed the cabinet door again.
I pinched myself again, desperate to wake up and not be here. There had to be a reason I kept dreamwalking here. Some sort of connection. I opened the cabinet again, and his shadow was gone. I jumped out as I knew I couldn’t stay in there for very long. I needed a spot where I could relax and lay down so I could dreamwalk my scrawny self out of here.
I remembered where I had found Beru, where he had hidden to be alone. I’d need to get to one of those locations. I crept to the door, slowly as to not make a sound. I pressed my ear to the door and listened for Dag'draath to speak again. After not hearing anything for a while, I guessed he had moved on to look for me.
I reached for the handle, turning it to the right. A single click seemed to reverberate off the walls, and I hesitated to turn it any more, in case he had heard. I stood silent, waiting for his voice to bellow through the hallway.
After a while, I deemed it safe to continue. I turned the knob and pulled the door toward me an inch. Light spilled into the room, and from my view the hallway was clear. It was a fifty-fifty chance he could be on the other side, waiting for me to come out.
I couldn’t stay there waiting forever. I’d have to deal with him being on the other side if he was there. I swung the door open before I could change my mind and darted out into the hallway. I turned in a full circle, prepared to meet him face to face.
It was empty.
I started toward the first hiding place I knew Beru had used, as it was closest. I flattened myself against the wall and moved as quietly as I could. I came to an open door. I stopped unsure if anyone was inside.
I listened for any noises.
Nothing.
Now or never. I passed by the door and looked inside. There were two men, but they faced the wall as they read a map that was on it. Mental note to come back to look at that map.
I kept going. I wasn’t far now. I had one turn and four doors to pass before I could sink into a safe hiding place. As I came to the corner, I now had an additional hallway to worry about. I listened for any noises. Again, nothing. I stuck my head out, just enough to get eyes on the new hallway.
It was clear.
I turned the corner, breathing more easily. Four more doors. I’d make it. I kept along the wall, and the first two doors were closed. Easy. The third door was open, and I heard voices coming from inside. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I heard laughter, so it wasn’t a tense situation.
I peeked inside and could see three men, one facing the door, and with the other two, I could perhaps slip by without them noticing. I looked behind me to make sure it was still clear.
More voices. Coming from down the hallway. I needed to move and now. I darted across the door in a flurry and reached my destination.
“Hey! A girl just ran by in the hallway,” I heard one of the men yell.
I reached for the doorknob of the safe room. It was locked. I panicked as I pulled hard. I looked back and expected all three men to be staring at me. I turned the knob in the other direction, and it opened. I pushed inside and closed the door, locking it.
I rolled my eyes at how dumb I could sometimes be. I heard the men as they looked for me outside of the door.
The doorknob rattled as someone tried to open the door. It became harder to breathe. I closed my eyes and remained as still as I could. They moved along the hallway and soon their voices sounded distant.
I walked over to the other side of the room, where a small dirty window in the corner allowed the slightest bit of light to come through. I was able to make out the cot Beru had taken refuge on many times.
As I lay down on the cot, I caught a whiff of his scent. I wiped it from my mind and tried to get comfortable. I needed out of this dream. I closed my eyes and laid my hands by my side.
The room filled with light, waking me. I sat up as light beamed under the door. The doorknob jiggled, and someone seemed to be trying to force the door open with their body. They pushed on it, and the door almost buckled in on itself.
“Aria, where are your manners?” Dag'draath called from outside the door.
I forced myself to lie down and closed my eyes and chanted to wake up in my own bed. The door banged and cracked, threatening to open.
“Wake up.” I heard a voice faintly. It was someone on the other side trying to wake me. I focused on nothing else but their voice.
The door finally gave way as it flew off its hinges across the room, narrowly missing me. I lost my breath.
There was no air.
I sat up frantic, and as my eyes opened, I was back in my bed with Beru who shook me violently.
“Are you all right?” He had both of my shoulders in his hands. “You were screaming.”
I sucked in as much air as possible into my lungs, a feeling I had become accustomed to.
“Yes, thank you.” I moved to the opposite side of the bed and stood up.
“You were in the prison?” Beru came around the bed and faced me.
I didn’t answer. Instead I walked past him with a hand on the wall to steady myself. I needed to check on Iri to see how he was doing.
Beru was much quicker and blocked the door. “Why did you risk everything to go back there?”
“I don’t get to decide where I dreamwalk. Do you think I want to go back there? Alone?” I was annoyed at his arrogance and partially because I wanted to distance myself from him. I was thankful he had woken me, but I didn’t want him to know that.
He reached his arm out in front of me as I tried to get past him, I somehow ended up in the nook of his armpit, and his body half surrounded me. “If I have to wake up fifteen times a night to keep you here, I will.”
I did the only thing that came to mind—I bit him. He jumped back, and I was free to leave.
“You just bit me,” he called after me as I made my way to the main room where Iri was.
If that didn’t push him away, I wasn’t certain what would. I turned my head sideways, and the hallway was empty. He didn’t come after me. My heart sank. Had I really expected him to?
I couldn’t deny our connection, and it was clear he also felt the same way. As time went on, we became closer. But I needed to keep the distance. We still didn’t know him or if we could trust his reason for being in the prison.
I found myself drifting back to moments when we were alone, how strongly we related. I was fairly sure I could talk to him if I needed to through our thoughts. I was scared to try and would wait till I absolutely had to. That was how strong our connection was. I couldn’t be connected to a bad person. That wouldn’t happen.
I leaned against the post as I pushed Beru from my mind. Iri sat up in bed and was eating breakfast as Sade fussed over him. They hadn’t noticed me standing there, and I caught sight of them possibly flirting.
Iri looked over to me just as Sade was hand-feeding him a strawberry. His face flushed as he pushed her hand away from his mouth. “Aria.”
Sade stood up and walked out the front door, ignoring me.
I walked over to Iri and sat down on the bed next to him. I reached over and put my hand on his. “It was touch and go last night.”
“You saved me. Sade told me. It was your paste that brought me back.” Iri smiled.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not ready to stand yet but getting there.” Iri continued to dig into his food.
“Did she talk to you about me?” I nodded to the front door, unsure if I should ask him.
“She loves you. Go talk to her.”
I glanced to the door and wondered if that would be a good idea. I was scared. Scared of Sade and her hating me. I tingled all over at the thought of speaking with her again. I could take anyone else hating me, but not her.
“Go,” Iri ordered.
I slowly got up, letting the time drag on. Not looking forward to this talk. I opened the door and saw Sade down by the water’s edge. I made my way over to her. As I walked, I wondered what I could say that would make her want to come on this journey, to risk her life for me. She risked her life most days, but it was for causes she believed in. Maybe she didn’t believe in me anymore.
I stepped in line next to her. She didn’t move or speak. “Iri seems to be in better spirits.”
“He’s alive.” Sade leaned over to pick up a rock, and then she skipped it across the top of the water.
“I don’t know where we went wrong, but you’re very important to me. I don’t want to go through life without you.” I blurted it out, said everything I could, to get her to understand how much she meant to me.
She turned her head toward me and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to beg. I’m coming with you.”
“What made you change your mind?” I asked quickly, then wished I hadn’t. I didn’t want her to think about it. I wanted everything to be fine, like it always had been.
Sade skipped another rock across, farther than the first one. “I don’t want to go back to being alone.” She shrugged.
The thought of Sade being alone again made me teary. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”
I leaned in, prepared to be rejected, for a hug. At first awkward, then her arms wrapped around me, and we held each other.
“Okay, I’m done.” Sade pulled away and shook her arms out, like I may have given her some disease.
I smiled at Sade. I spun back to the water to admire its beauty. In this moment, everything was perfect. I had my best friend back.
“When should we leave?” Sade threw another rock that skipped only once.
“Tomorrow. Iri should be strong enough to last hours in the back of the carriage.” I debated asking her about the moment I had interrupted between them but didn’t want to test my luck.
“Thank you. For saving him.” Sade evaded my look as she looked to the ground as if she was looking for the perfect rock.
“I’d have done it for any of you.”
“I’m sorry for what I said about Beru. I know the two of you have this thing. I was mad, and I shouldn’t have said those things.” She looked up and our eyes locked.
“Do you really think I’d pick him over you?”
“Someday you will, Aria. And that’s okay.” Sade half smiled and went back to skipping rocks.
“Aria and Sade,” Beru called us from the house and waved us back.
“We're having a girl moment,” Sade yelled back at him.
“It will have to wait. We have bigger problems,” Beru yelled back to us.
“So, she is just attacking anyone?” I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I walked back and forth between the fireplace and the front door.
“She wants us to come to her,” Sade said as she sat next to Iri on the bed.
“None of us are in a position to fight right now,” Iri said as he pulled himself back to sit up in bed.
“People are dying. She shows no mercy to anyone. Women and children are fair game to her,” Beru said as he took a sip from his cup.
I noticed a bruise forming from where I had bitten him. He paid no attention to me and only spoke to the others in the room. Could I blame him? What was wrong with me, to bite a grown man? I averted my eyes from him and tried to only focus on what we had to do.
“We have to give her what she wants.” I stopped in the middle of the room as a plan began to percolate. “But not how she expects it.”
“How do we do that?” Astor asked from the corner of the room. He had been so quiet I forgot he was there.
“I’m not sure of that part yet,” I confessed. I wasn’t back to myself a hundred percent. My thoughts formed slower, and I had moments of memory lapse. Dreamwalking last night hadn’t helped me regain control over my energy.
“We can’t play her game.” Beru stood up as he addressed everyone else.
I didn’t hide my annoyance very well. This wasn’t some me against him game. Anything I would say right now, he would want the opposite of it. I watched as Sade and Iri’s eyes bounced from him to me, aware of some conflict between us.
“I don’t think that’s what Aria meant.” Sade offered a buffer.
Beru glanced over at me, his lips forced together in a firm line. Without notice, he walked to the front door and left.
“What’s that all about?” Sade asked as she pointed to where he had just stood.
“He’s mad because I bit him.” I tried my best to blow it off.
“I’d think he’d be happy with that.” Sade smiled as she cocked her eyebrow.
I knew I'd be grilled when we were alone later. “It's not what you think. Let's get back to what’s important.”
“I’d like to discuss this.” Sade grinned while Iri shifted in the bed, uncomfortable with where the conversation was going
“I knew it,” Astor proclaimed as he walked over to the bed to join us. “There is something between you both.”
“Whoa! This conversation is not happening.” I held both of my hands up. I didn’t know how I felt about Beru, and I wasn’t about to discuss it with everyone.
“We will discuss Widow. Your personal life is yours.” Iri tried to gain control of our group, and I was thankful for it.
“I agree. The Widow is all I want to talk about.” I sat down on the chair Beru had just occupied.
“Astor, please get Beru to come back,” Iri asked.
Astor nodded and left the house.
“How are you feeling?” I leaned over and felt his forehead for any signs of fever.
“I’ll be fine.” He leaned closer to me. “I’m enjoying being babied.”
I smiled as he glanced at Sade, who was refilling his glass. They were the complete opposite, and this may be the slowest burn ever, but I hoped they could both let their guards down to the possibility.
“So, how do we beat Widow and her army of spiders?” Sade forced Iri to drink his water then took her seat on her chair, next to him.
Beru and Astor came in from the front door. Astor had a stupid grin on his face, and I wanted to know what Beru had told him. I held my anger in and decided to wait till there were fewer people around before I asked.
Beru took a seat in the corner of the room, he folded his arms, and stared at the ground like he was in the middle of a tantrum.
“We need to all get over any issues that we have with each other. We have to work as a team. To fight for one another without hesitation.” Iri looked between Beru and me.
I rolled my eyes, but I knew he was right. We had to work together. Beru had been there when we needed him. I had to give him credit for that.
“I’m ready to fight.” Beru stood up and joined the group. He locked eyes with me and didn’t look away. It was uncomfortable, yet I couldn’t look away from him.
“Glad we got that sorted.” Astor stood between us as he put his arm around my shoulder then Beru’s. “She’s killed in at least five small villages that we know of.”
“Has anyone been successful in fighting Widow?” I asked as I looked around to each of them.
“I’ve only heard of her terrorizing people.” Sade shrugged.
“We don’t know enough about her. We need to find out her weaknesses.” Iri looked like he would jump out of bed any moment and go off fighting.
“And why she wants you.” Astor squeezed my shoulder.
“Well, I have the answer to that one. Dag'draath sent her after me.” I sat down and awaited the barrage of questions that were about to hit me.
“How do you know this?” Iri tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow up.
“She told me.” I figured it best to come clean to the group. I told them everything, about every dreamwalk and how I could not control not going back there. Everyone sat in silence until I was done.
“Have you spoken to Runa? This seems like something she should know,” Astor said.
“No, not since our first meeting.”
“What does Dag'draath want with you?” Sade asked.
“I imagine, to find out how to get out. I freed Beru.” I glanced over at him. He sat in his chair, with his elbows on his knees and his head hung low, hiding his face.
A knock on the door startled all of us.
“She’s not going to knock on the door, guys.” Sade stood up as she shook her head and walked to the door. She opened it to find the healer had returned.
“How is Iri?” The healer walked past her quickly, to happily find a rested and on the mend Iri sitting up in bed.
“I am fine. Thank you for checking in with me.” Iri extended his hand for the healer to shake.
“As I hoped you would be.” The healer turned to me. “Aria, I need to know the components of your ointment. Many have died from Widow’s attacks. We must save those that we can.
“Yes.” I took the healer over to the herbs that he had left and began mixing up a larger batch. “The key components are all here.”
The healer took note and watched as I mixed.
“And these.” I took out some crisomths I had in my pocket. “People think they are just a nuisance weed, but they work for snake bites.”
“You have experience with it?”
“I remembered the elders using it when a local had been bitten by a snake. Seems it also works on spider bites.” I looked back at Iri, who leaned into Sade as she laughed. My cheeks reddened as I caught them in a private moment.
“Yes.” The healer smiled as he took what was left from my hand. “I’ll have one of my helpers scavenge the land for more.”
“How bad is it?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s been a constant attack since late yesterday. She has limited the local population severely.”
