The Obsidian Crown, page 17
Hailey was flat on the ground. I shuffled over to her.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked.
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Hailey answered. It was just then that I realized I still had the crown. I stuck my hand through the hole so that it circled my wrist like a bracelet.
I looked in the tunnel. The Brotherhood was getting closer and closer. This time I saw the glowing purple orbs hanging from their golden belts.
I turned my head to look behind us, but the Sorceress and her guards were still there.
We have nowhere to go. Both groups are after the crown. It will only be a matter of minutes before one of them kills us or takes the crown; more likely do both.
It reeked of burnt metal, and the air was thick with the grayish-white residue of the blue-white explosives. I saw the Sorceress and her guards throwing fireballs at the Brotherhood. But the Brotherhood was just as powerful, skilled, and just as determined. I looked back to see that all three of the Sorceress’ guards were felled, one at a time. Finally, leaving the Sorceress fighting alone.
As the Brotherhood got closer to us, the Sorceress launched another salvo of attacks, this time more frenzied than before. The cave lit up like the Fourth of July as the two groups fought with ferocious intent. “Keep your heads down!” I yelled at my friends, every sinew of my body taut from the sustained adrenalin rush. All of a sudden, I noticed that the Sorceress was the only one attacking anymore. The Brotherhood had an invisible shield in front of them. They were still coming fast, but the attacks from the Sorceress were dissipating into the shield. The Sorceress must have sensed the change in tactic as well because when I looked behind me, she had let her cane fall to the ground. She raised her right hand in my direction, and I felt a sharp tug on my body. I slipped a few inches before I realized I was getting dragged towards her.
“Hold on! Don’t let go!” Hailey screamed as she caught both my hands. My feet kept losing hold of the ground. I craned my back to keep hold of Hailey’s hands but the crown was digging against my arm. My grip slipped and the crown began to slide. I couldn’t lose the crown. I snatched it before it could fly away from me.
But the Brotherhood was upon us. I caught Taylor’s eyes, then Hailey’s, then Blaise’s. There’s only one thing I can do. “Hailey, let go!” I yelled.
“No! Hang on!” she protested in an agonized cry.
“I’m sorry! Don’t try to save me. Save yourselves.” I yelled as I let go of Hailey’s hand. My body lurched backward against my will. I turned on my stomach and dug my nails on the rough floor, trying to find a hold. I found a boulder protruding from the dirt and latched onto it. I saw the Sorceress straining to keep the attacks on the other group while using her power to pull me back to her. I decided there was only one thing I could do. I let the crown fall to my hand and threw it as far as I could into the tunnel. Immediately, the Sorceress released her hold on me, howling in anger. That must have ruined her concentration since she also stopped the attack on the Brotherhood. I relaxed my hold on the boulder and laid down on the ground, panting.
Then I felt the warm, magnetic charge from the invisible shield pass through me. I closed my eyes, hoping this was just a dream, but it wasn’t. They are here. I got up on my knees and raised my hands in surrender. Taylor, Blaise, and Hailey started to do the same.
To my absolute astonishment, the Brotherhood walked past us as if we weren’t even there. We all stared at them as they moved into the cavern. In the flickering light of the fire, I noticed the emblem of a black flower on their robes. It was a Black Rose. They surrounded the Doctor, who was flat on the ground with Kieran.
“Hand over the Obsidian Crown,” demanded a tall hooded figure.
“Oh no. They think she has the crown! They’re going to torture her again!” Hailey whispered to me.
I looked at the crown on the ground. It’s my only leverage, my only way of finding out what happened to my parents and prove my innocence. But if I don’t give it up, those men would surely kill the Doctor just like they killed Kieran before.
My friends were all looking at me. They knew what this meant for my parents and me.
“Wait!” the Doctor yelled. “I don’t—”
The Sorceress lifted her hand and dragged the Doctor’s body from the Brotherhood, sending her soaring far above the cave floor.
The Brotherhood turned around, ready to fight, but before they could attack, her shrill voice flooded the cave, “Stand down! Don’t even think of throwing that fireball at me or I swear I will drop her into that pit and her death will be on your heads!” The Brotherhood kept their fighting stances but did not attack.
The Sorceress’s right hand raised, holding the Doctor suspended in the air. Doctor McGrath was holding her neck, trying to pry an invisible hand choking her. She kicked in the air while making gurgling sounds, still trying to undo some invisible noose. She arched her back, gasping for air.
“You knights have never been a match for me. Do you know how terribly tedious it is to deal with you?” the Sorceress spat.
She walked a little closer to where Kieran was groveling on the ground, still controlling the Doctor with her hand like a rag doll.
“Now, Abigail. Give me the crown or she dies,” the Sorceress said in a way that left no room for doubt that she had no problems killing the Doctor, or anyone for that matter.
“No! You are evil and you will continue to do evil things if you get the crown! You will use it to kill countless more!”
“So you are willing to kill the Doctor for the crown? Who is the evil one now? Would you still make the same choice if I were to kill your mother and father? Will you sacrifice countless more to get the chance to have your beloved parents back? As you can see, we are all the same; the only thing that changes is the object of our desires.”
“They are dead. You killed them!” I shouted at her. “And no, we are nothing alike,” I added in an icy tone.
“We shall see.” The Sorceress’s voice chilled the room. She yanked the invisible cord that was keeping the Doctor suspended in the air. She propelled her body towards the middle of the cave, hanging over our heads like a grotesque chandelier.
“Tell her!” she shouted with fire and hate in her voice. When nothing happened, once more, the Sorceress gave a quick tug that pulled the doctor’s body forward, making her head snap back to show her severely injured face. The flickering firelight illuminated the mix of matted and wet blood over bruises of blue and purple. Red liquid droplets flew from her wounds and were caught in the levitating magic surrounding her body. I choked as I watched the dance-macabre in all the shades of crimson.
Doctor McGrath gagged and struggled from above. She was still trying to get lose from the invisible rope around her neck.
Then, the Sorceress must have loosened the noose because the Doctor started to talk in a raspy, halting voice.
“They are still alive. They are in—” She began gasping uncontrollably as the Sorceress closed her hand again. Then she raised her arm, and the body of the Doctor rose higher into the air. The Sorceress laughed as if it was a game.
Then she directed her focus on me again. “Oh don’t you worry, Abigail. I can provide proof of life!” The darkness within the cowl couldn’t hide her elation that further contorted the writhing black ooze that should have been her face. As if concerned that I saw her appearance, she pulled her hood even lower.
She raised her head again and watched the Doctor flailing up above. “If she doesn’t break her neck first from struggling, I’m sure a fall at this height would.” The Sorceress raised her arm higher.
“No! Don’t kill her!” I shouted.
“The crown. Now!” bellowed the Sorceress.
I couldn’t believe it. All that we sacrificed to get this crown, lost.
Hailey stood slowly and faced me. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help you right now.”
I looked around me and saw Taylor standing by the tunnel, Blaise slowly rising to his feet. Both were looking at me with apologetic eyes.
“Please don’t feel bad. You didn’t fail me.” I said, reading the looks on their faces.
“We really wish we could have helped more,” Taylor said.
I don’t know if it was the tone of her voice or the fact that I now knew I could trust all of them, but an idea came to me—one last play. “Please listen to me carefully, I’m going to let go of the crown. When I do, I only ask that you do what you’ve been training for, what you love doing, and what you do best.” I gazed at their faces and knew they understood what I meant.
I picked up the crown and threw it high up in the air. Everyone’s eyes followed the crown in shock and horror as the most powerful crown in all the realms sailed past our heads towards the crack of the dome. The sharp edges of the obsidian stone sparkled against the moonlit sky. The Sorceress let out a blood-curdling laugh and, with flair, pulled her hand away from the Doctor, releasing her hold. The Doctor’s eyes started to bulge when she realized she was falling straight to the ground. All at once, everybody moved as if we rehearsed it all. Blaise zigzagged around Hailey and Kieran and got to the spot in time to break the Doctor’s fall. The two toppled to the ground, with Blaise wincing from his injury and the Doctor still recovering from the shock and the sudden influx of air.
At the same time, the Sorceress raised her left hand to take the crown, but Hailey was already in action. With a running start, she jumped to grab the crown as if it was a basketball. As her fingers were about to reach it, a single fireball passed in between. “What the—” Hailey said as she recoiled from the heat and landed on the ground empty-handed. The crown tumbled to the ground.
We turned around, fully expecting an attack from the Sorceress. But from where he was still huddled like a frightened kitten, Kieran still had his hand pointing where the fireball was shot.
“Kieran! Why?” I asked, my voice cracking for the hurt of the betrayal.
There was no answer from Kieran, who decided it best to cower back down behind the Sorceress.
“Watch out! “The crown is falling into the crater!” Taylor yelled, pointing at the crown that was still rolling away towards the deep chasm of the cave floor.
I ran for it, but another blast from Kieran prevented me from moving forward. Anticipating further attacks, Taylor did what came naturally to a gymnast. She needed to cover a lot of ground to get to the crown without getting hit by a fireball. She took a running start, dodged a fireball as she leapt into the air, dodge another as she performed her round off, and yet another as she landed on her feet about a yard away from the rolling crown. She reached out, and her hand grasped the edge of the crown as it was falling off the cliff. She pulled it back from the dark crevice. She was trying to get balanced and at the same time secure the crown on her hand. Another fireball blast from Kieran sent it flying again. But this time, the Sorceress had plenty of time to prepare. It floated straight into her hands.
Her shriek shook the cave, mirthless, demented laughter followed by, “Well played but you lost! Don’t even think this is over. You have forty-eight hours to tell me how to make the crown work or you might as well get used to prison. The authorities already think you killed your parents. It would be so easy to kill them and make it look like you did it. Forty-eight hours, Abigail!”
“Grab her, quickly!” one of the Brotherhood members ordered, and they rushed towards the Sorceress.
But she was faster. The Sorceress became like an ethereal blur. And rematerialized next to Kieran. The Brotherhood ran after her, but she grabbed Kieran by his clothes, closed her right hand in front of her as if squeezing something in the air, and vanished.
“Follow her!” was the last thing we heard as, one by one, the Brotherhood dematerialized.
CHAPTER 22
Dark Storm Rising
I took a moment to catch my breath before I started to look for the Brotherhood. I wanted to ask them some questions. But they never came back. Taylor, Hailey, and I took the doctor and Blaise to the hospital.
Taylor stayed with Blaise. Hailey and I went with the doctor in her room. We wanted to make sure that she is safe from the Sorceress, this time.
“You must learn how to open the Sanctuary. The incantation is written in my journal. It’s in my office. It’s a green leather-bound journal on top of the bookcase by the window. You can use the Sanctuary however you like,” Doctor McGrath said, shifting to a sitting position. Hailey placed a couple of pillows behind her to prop her up.
I nodded to show understanding, but what I was really feeling was an embarrassment. Shame rushed through my body like a cold shower. I couldn’t believe all those times I suspected her of doing something terrible, yet here she was still trying to help me. I wondered if I didn’t distrust her so much, if only I believed in what she was saying about the box; maybe none of these would have happened. I stepped closer to her bed and took her hand in mine. “Thank you, Doctor McGrath,” I said quietly. “I’m really, really sorry this happened to you. I wish I could have saved you from all this.”
“I know you tried, Abigail, but you must dig deep into your past. You must find a way to remember. Your parents wouldn’t have left you with that box without telling you how to use it. And the Sorceress will not rest until you found a way to make the crown work,” she said weakly.
“I will think back. I promise. In the meantime, you need to rest and heal. We will be back as soon as we have something.” I released the Doctor’s hand.
“Rest well, Doctor,” Hailey said from the other side of her bed.
I motioned for Hailey to follow me out of the Doctor’s room. As we were stepping into the open hallway, we heard loud sobbing. Then we saw a couple emerge from the room next door. Despite the man’s expensive garments, the disheveled clothes and the dark circles around his eyes told me a story of one long sleepless night, steeped with unbearable apprehension. He placed his arm around a woman. “Please don’t worry. We have the best doctor’s here. He will come back to us,” he consoled her. She buried her face in his shoulder as hysteria took over her. He half-dragged, half-carried her out of the room. I turned as they walked past us. Her wails and cries peeled away whatever self-confidence I had left. They must be Blaise’s parents. We waited a few minutes until they entered the elevator before we approached Blaise’s room. From outside, we could hear Taylor’s strained crying.
My throat tightened when I saw Blaise. His body seemed so fragile and vulnerable lying in the hospital bed. Half of his body was covered in bandages. His face was gaunt and pale behind the oxygen tent. The life support system whirred, and beeped mechanically, unfeeling, uncaring. Taylor was sitting next to him, holding his hand.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“No, no I’m not okay. Those were Blaise’s parents. The hospital doctor just informed them that he suffered third-degree burns on his shoulder and back. They don’t know what caused the burn just that it is not responding to treatment. They asked me and I had to lie. I told them I thought it was just a prank with a barbecue that went wrong. I can’t even help him now and he put his life on the line for me, for us! And for what? Just so he can prove to us that he is innocent of what you were accusing him of!” She paused to gulp more air, and then she tried to continue but I interrupted her.
“Taylor, I am so sorry,” I said. “We went without really thinking it through. We should never have—”
“That’s right; we should never have gone there. His body is in shock so they had to put him in a coma. I don’t know why or how we got involved in this but I know it’s my fault. He didn’t know where to go. I took him there because I just wanted to show you he is really a good guy. Now you know. We risked everything and that Kieran betrayed us. We should never have gone there.” She stomped her right foot in frustration. Then started to cry uncontrollably.
My heart shattered like a flimsy glass each time she sobbed. I was at a loss. Hailey got some water from the water fountain and handed it to her. She drank with some difficulty, but her crying subsided somewhat.
“Taylor, we didn’t know you and Blaise were going there. We were not even going to go inside. We were going to call you after we’d cased the place. How did you even know where to find us?” Hailey asked.
“I was in the dream,” Taylor started. “I was the one following you in the dream. I saw the Broken Heart Mansion. But I didn’t want any of you guys to know because I just don’t want to be involved. I really want this to be over so I can go back to my normal life. But you were accusing Blaise of being one of the hooded men. I couldn’t let that go. So I took him there and now I don’t even know when or if he is ever going to wake up!”
“Taylor, I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn’t mean for Blaise to get hurt.”
Taylor stopped sobbing. She raised her head and looked directly at me. There was something about the coldness in her eyes and the stiffness of her demeanor that felt like she punched me in the gut. When she spoke, it took everything I had not to fall apart. “That’s always the case though, isn’t it? You never meant any of it. But it doesn’t excuse the fact that people do get hurt. Your parents, Doctor McGrath, Blaise, and even that weasel Kieran. I mean, I get it, if I was Kieran and I died because you wouldn’t listen and open a stupid box, I might actually think of switching sides too. I know you don’t mean it, but people around you just get hurt and I don’t want to hurt anymore. I don’t want you to hurt people I love anymore. I just want my old life back. I just want Blaise back.” She got up from the chair, walked mechanically to the window, and stared out into the night.
“I know, Taylor, and we are sorry. We can’t do this without you. If you were in the dream, then you must be one of the Knights of the Crown—” Hailey said.
