Chapter 26
THE ARTIST
Another mighty howl roared through the castle, setting my teeth on edge, my muscles taut.
Elden turned to me with his eyes wide and his face drained of color.
But he nursed his chest as he held his sword at the ready.
How was he to fight in this weakened state?
I was no good in a brawl, but sweet Christmas if I wasn’t going to arm myself.
I pulled the heavy saucepan from my leather satchel and brandished it before me like a mighty sword.
“Get behind me.” Elden pushed me back.
We stood back-to-back, turning in the midst of the giant room, illuminated pillars our only source of grounding.
My breaths sputtered wildly, and the gemlight passed over the pillars as we spun.
The stone seemed to jump out at us with horrible teeth and gaping maws with every flick of the light. The light was nothing more than a lure.
I grabbed the glowing citrine gemstone from Elden and stuck it down the bodice of my tunic plunging us into darkness.
Because of our potion, we were invisible to the beast, were we not?
Elden’s heavy breaths against my back was the only thing grounding me in the inky blackness of the throne room.
It was as if we were a stone dropped in the center of some great black lake.
The complete blackness swallowed me whole.
Silent minutes passed like entire days as we turned, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, but nothing came. Thanks to Jel’s potion, not even the sound of our own shuffling footsteps reached my ears.
Just as I relaxed my tense shoulders and closed my eyes in relief, a harsh rasping of claws on stone sounded.
From the left, no, the right. We spun together trusting that we were still invisible to the mighty beast as it stomped around us.
Its claws clicked behind pillars, growing closer with every step.
An unearthly growl resonated through the chamber traveling up my feet and through my own tight lungs. Every breath pushed through my lips with effort. Sweat beaded on my forehead and my knuckles whitened over the grip of my measly saucepan as my eyes saw only blackness.
Another low growl sent shivers down my spine. The hairs on my back raised in true alarm.
“It’s close.” I whispered to Elden.
“Give me the gemstone,” Elden commanded. “As soon as I throw it, I need you to run.”
I swallowed back the bile that threatened to spill out of me and nodded. “Understood.”
“Do you see that pillar of light just ahead?” Elden asked even as the clicking of the claws grew closer, louder, reverberating through the empty chamber. Stalking. Huffing great gusts of hot breath.
Elves’ eyes were far keener than human eyes, but as I squinted and peered into the darkness. I could almost make out a glowing column of yellow light in the distance beyond the pillars.
“That is the heart of Winterthorn, just beyond this throne room,” Elden explained as I readied myself. “Wait until I toss the gemstone before you run. I am going to give you time.”
“Time? How?”
We were both running, were we not?
“It is imperative that you get to the center of the mountain, Noelle,” Elden said through heavy breaths. “And I will do all I can to keep you safe. Now hand me the gemstone.”
I couldn’t think to argue. We needed to get to the heart, and if the trembling of my hands on my tiny saucepan were an indication, I was no good in a fight. “And you’ll meet me there?”
“Yes,” Elden breathed as the claws grew closer.
Dread traveled down my back in a terrible lurch as the numb, warm feeling of Jel’s potion slowly trickled from the top of my head and tips of my fingers, down to my toes.
“Jel’s potion—” I squealed. “It’s wearing off!”
With a lurch of my stomach, I realized we were no longer invisible to the beast.
“The gemstone! Now!”
I grabbed the gemstone from where I’d hidden it in my bodice and placed it in Elden’s hand.
The yellow light burned my eyes and I blinked at the vivid brilliance even as a massive pair of black eyes blinked out from just beyond where we stood.
My mouth popped open in horror as the light revealed the shade monster in the shape of a hulking man.
Its arms were the size of tree trunks that swung low to the ground.
It was covered in hair wreathed in shadow.
Its gorilla-like teeth were the size of black daggers.
Like the Yeti of legend.
Cold fear struck me as Elden threw the gemlight in the opposite direction of the pillar of light. “Run, Noelle!”
I didn’t hesitate. Heart in my throat, I took off toward the spindle of light in the distance, my only beacon in the utter blackness.
The shadow beast erupted, knuckles digging into the floors, then sprinted toward the gemstone, cracking the stone beneath its feet into gravel.
Stone flew out from the beast as it chased the gemstone like a great bumbling lion trying to catch a mouse.
The distraction didn’t last long. A moment later, my heart almost stopped as a loud guttural growl bellowed throughout the throne room, sending pillars crumbling to the ground all around me.
“Run, Noelle!” Elden cried from behind.
I didn’t stop, even as great stone pillars toppled all around me, shattering to the ground. The column of light grew as I ran, my only goal. My heart pumped, my breaths coming in heaving gasps as I rounded another pillar. Then the great black beast stood before me, fuming hot breaths into the air.
The hairs on my arms stood at attention as chills spiraled wildly down my back.
Never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine such a large and terrible beast. It was only a few breaths from me.
Its black eyes watching. I lifted my frying pan and swung out with it as the Yeti roared toward me.
The iron pan connected with its jaw and it reared back in pain, and perhaps, surprise.
It blinked at me then, its eyes softening, or perhaps it had just been my imagination. It was hard to see in the ancient throne room of shadow and gemlight. But I could have sworn I saw, for a moment, a touch of the ancient king’s golden eyes reemerging from the blackness.
The monster pulled back from me just as a flash of white lightning lit up the throne room and Elden’s white-haired twin beast emerged from beside the yeti. Elden’s winter white beast clamped down on the yeti’s neck with a mighty roar.
“Run!” He seemed to say.
I jumped over the shade monster’s prone form and made for the flickering light ahead.
The two beasts met in a fury of claws and razor-sharp teeth with the sword forgotten at their feet.
The shadow beast raked a claw down Elden’s golden white back as Elden roared, then lunged for the shade monster’s neck.
They grappled in the gemlight, then in the shadows as I took off in a burst of speed. They crashed into pillars, cracking off great chunks of stone as they fought and bellowed.
I ran in a dead sprint, as that shaft of light grew closer and closer still.
Elden and the beast were evenly matched as they clawed and scratched, bellowed and bit.
I ran past several ethereal statues of elves, then past a large throne carved from white moonstone.
It shone differently than the various pillars and statues, as if letting off a faint glow of its own.
Light filtered down straight ahead, and I made for the column of light, not knowing what I would find.
Large curved ceilings and archways led the way to a giant chamber carved into the side of the mountain where a column of fire billowed in the midst of a great hall, emitting an almost blinding light.
Had this magic fire continued to blaze for centuries?
I fell back onto a giant red sofa, hand over my heart as my breaths came in sporadic gasps.
I took in the warm chamber as I focused on getting my heart and breaths under control.
Beautiful curving murals covered the walls of the circular room that seemed to be carved straight out of the heart of the mountain.
In the center of the mural stood a giant green tree, covered in various candles and baubles.
Presents sat beneath the tree and a group of both human and elf gathered below in various attitudes of celebrating… Christmas?
Holly berries and green wreaths decorated the edges of the large masterpiece in intricate detail. The king and queen sat upon their thrones drinking a hot brown beverage in mugs.
Coffee? Tea? Hot apple cider? It was almost black.
Above the mural, almost too high to see, were the words, “Peace, Hope, and Love”.
Peace, Hope, and Love. All three feelings I felt at Christmastime.
But nothing that I felt right now as I heard the bellowing and biting of the two beasts.
What was I looking for? Large couches and high-backed chairs littered the space, perfect, beautiful and untouched for centuries, as if awaiting their king and queen to claim their places on the deep red couch.
But off to the side of the room, tall bookshelves were cracked and scratched beyond repair.
Papers, scrolls, and books littered the floor, strewn with cracked glass bottles and long-dried liquids.
I ran to the wrecked section of the room and rifled through the papers and books. I searched desperately for anything to catch my eye. Anything about the curse. But it was all written in elvish. I was useless.
A loud scraping sound echoed through the chamber behind me, and I jumped, grabbing my saucepan for another go. A battered and bleeding form slumped onto the floor with a groan.
“Elden!” I cried as I ran to him.
He was no longer in beast form. His golden white hair hung from his scalp in braids, bloody in several patches. He coughed and reached out a hand to me. I grasped him and helped him over to the large red couch before the roaring fire.