Chapter 37 Declan #2
And so the afternoon and evening went, each idea more audacious than the last, and each being added to a very large and growing scroll of unpopular suggestions. When night’s darkness fell and the stars’ light guided our vision, we were nowhere closer to an actionable plan than before.
Kelsa stood and downed the last of the wine in her glass. “We should get some sleep and start fresh in the morning. My mind cannot take any more tonight.”
The next day, we sat eating a hearty breakfast and chatting about recent events on the continent.
Kelsa soaked in every bit of news about Keelan and the goings-on in her homeland.
As Atikus reached across to fill his plate for the third time, a voice, clear and commanding, boomed throughout the mountain.
It sounded—no, felt—like the mountain itself was speaking.
órla’s voice was an eruption of urgency. “KELSa! Someone has made it past the hut, past the wards. Hatred and anger burn in her wake. She is almost at the Well!”
“What in the void—” I started but cut off as my tunic flared to life, the Phoenix practically leaping from my chest.
Kelsa shot to her feet. “Declan, come with me. If someone is powerful enough to pass the wards, I may need your strength to protect the Well.”
I shot to my feet as well. Atikus moved to follow, but Kelsa stilled him with a glare. “Atikus, stay here. If we get into trouble, you are the only one left who can go for help.”
I charged after my mother through the winding corridors of the mountain. The crystals embedded in the walls, normally glowing with gentle light, now pulsed brightly, as if angered by the intruder.
As I skidded to a stop in the entrance to the Well’s chamber, I was shocked to see its crystalline walls and ceiling pulsing even more brightly than the hallways had.
The lazy river beneath its glassy surface roiled and raged, white caps pluming atop cerulean waves.
It felt as though the currents begged for escape, for the opportunity to join the fight to come.
Kelsa ran toward the platform containing the Well’s opening and panted as she stood a few paces from the billowing mist that gushed forth.
I stood beside her a few heartbeats later.
The hairs on my arms and neck snapped to attention, and my skin pimpled at magic’s touch.
My tunic’s glow became insistent, almost painful to look upon.
Then the intruder entered the chamber.
“Larinda?” Kelsa asked, dumbfounded. “How did you get in here?”
The old woman strode forward without a hint of the ailing joints I knew plagued her. She held her chin high and stared through bright, keen eyes.
But it was her smile I noticed above all else.
“It’s not Larinda,” I whispered.
Larinda waved a hand in the air while continuing her trek forward. “Listen to the boy, Kelsa; he is brighter than he appears.” She cackled at her own jest.
Kelsa called to her Light, and the mist surrounding the Well poured into her mouth and nose. Her skin began to glow, and her eyes blazed with the light of the sun. With a wave of one hand, she erected a shell of swirling air around the Well.
I gaped, having never seen the strength of my mother’s magic.
Larinda cackled again, more amused than concerned by the Keeper’s display of power. She raised a finger and shattered Kelsa’s shield without so much as a grimace. Sparks of spent magical energy exploded throughout the room, forcing Kelsa and me to throw up shields of air to protect from the blast.
When we lowered our arms, the woman who was no longer Larinda stood only a few paces away, raging fire blazing in each palm.
“Boy, I was using magic long before you were born. Do not waste my time. I have waited many lifetimes to deal with your mother.”
Without further warning, Larinda flung both palms forward, and fire flew forth, one blaze aimed at each of us. I threw out my arms and pulled moisture from the air. Discs of water the size of my head appeared before my outstretched hands, flew forward, and doused the balls of flame.
Kelsa threw her head back and cried out, “Eveth erna fertu!”
A dozen glowing crystals broke free from the wall and hurtled toward Larinda.
The ancient woman ducked and threw up a bony hand. A shock wave of air and energy pulsed from her raised fist, blasting Kelsa’s missiles away to shatter against the walls of the cavern.
Again, Kelsa didn’t hesitate.
With Larinda distracted by deflecting the crystals, she drew more mist into her chest and formed balls of pure azure magic in each palm, similar to the fire Larinda had thrown before.
She hurled one ball, arcing it high in the air toward Larinda, while sending the second in a blazing streak toward the woman’s chest.
Larinda managed a quick shield, absorbing the missile headed for her torso, but the second attack struck a half pace from where she stood.
The soundless eruption lit the cavern with a kaleidoscope of brilliance, forcing me to shield my eyes with my arm.
Sparks of shimmering magic flew in every direction.
Larinda screamed as the force battered her body and mind.
The attack bore no heat, but its strength assaulted Larinda’s magical core.
Sensing an opening, I reformed my shield, this time drawing both air and water. I stepped forward, shield wall extended two paces before me.
Another step, then another.
Larinda’s eyes widened, and she took a step backward.
Quicker than she could react, I threw my arms forward, hurling my shield into her.
The impact of hardened water and air slammed into the aged, frail body she now inhabited, sending Larinda’s form flying backward and into the crystalline wall.
Blood streamed from a gash on her forehead, and more flowed from another wound on the back of her skull.
The inhabiting spirit didn’t feel disorientation as Larinda would have felt from such a blow, but the body of her servant was slow to rise.
With moisture and heat nearly exhausted within the cavern, the temperature plummeted, and thick clouds billowed each time we breathed.
Kelsa shivered as she screamed a warning.
I fell back on my Ranger training instead of using more magic, lunging forward, driving a fist into Larinda’s sternum and doubling the old woman over.
I gripped her by her hair and pulled her head upward, readying another blow, but Larinda was faster. Her bony fingers bent, and hardened knuckles thrust upward into my neck.
I gagged and gripped my throat, straining for air as I staggered backward.
“Irina?” Realization dawned on Kelsa as her teeth began to chatter.
“Took you long enough, witch. How dull you have grown over the years.” The woman’s head snapped unnaturally toward her, then cocked to one side. It has only been a millennium since you stripped me of my power and cast me aside—you and your family of Mages.”
“Irina, I was not even there when the last battle occurred—or when your parents—”
“Enough!” Irina screamed. “I will reclaim my power and send you straight where you belong: into the void.”
A wave of Compulsion blasted into Kelsa, knocking her backward. My tunic resisted the spell, but Kelsa’s eyes glazed, and her body relaxed.
“Cast him into the Well,” Irina commanded.
Without hesitation, Kelsa stepped forward and gripped me by both shoulders.
Startled, I turned, but she pulled with all her strength.
My feet had been well set at shoulder width apart in anticipation of Irina’s next attack, but I hadn’t expected an assault to come from behind—from my mother.
I staggered into her embrace.
“Mother!”
Her eyes were wild orbs of glass that stared, yet saw nothing.
She yanked backward and dragged me toward the Well’s opening.
I threw an arm behind me but couldn’t dislodge her grip.
Irina, seizing the moment, flew onto the platform and punched my chest with her Enhanced Strength. My tunic raged at her touch, and her hands came away scorched.
She screamed in agony and staggered back.
But her shove had been enough.
Kelsa tripped over her own feet and, still gripping my shoulders, tumbled backward.
I cried out but was helpless to stop our momentum.
The cavern spun above.
Larinda’s bloodied face grinned down with maniacal hatred.
Kelsa’s grip vanished as she reached the current.
I threw my arms out, reaching for the edge of the Well, but its glassy surface slipped from my fingers. A thunderous clap rang through the chamber as the Keeper and Heir vanished beneath the raging river of magic.