The Rise of Isaac, Books 1-3, page 60
"Go on ahead, check that the hunter isn't wedged down there," he said.
Nex scurried forward and slid into the hole with ease. Xen watched the soles of Nex's shoes as he disappeared into the darkness. The boy reappeared a moment later with a look of anticipation.
"Well?" Xen asked.
"There's something down here. You have to see." He turned once more and scampered back out of sight.
Xen bent over and crawled into the tunnel, extinguishing the magical light that was making him want to retch.
Firelight flickered on the walls up ahead and he quickened his pace. Dropping onto the floor beyond the tunnel, he gazed around at the cavern in silent awe. Thousands upon thousands of gemstones were being transported along conveyor belts around the room.
A loud crash made Xen tense. He took the sword from his hip and held it aloft, slowly heading toward the source of the noise.
A gap in the machines gave him a clear view to the other side of the room where the hunter was lifting something onto a track. Several piles of gemstones were discarded on the floor as if they had been thrown from the conveyor belts.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the hunter manoeuvre a large, wooden container on top of the rails. He realised what the man was doing as he climbed inside. Xen hurried out of his hiding place.
"Stop!" he shouted, blasting a ball of fire toward the man.
The hunter met his eyes, ducking the magic just in time. Another wooden container sped along the track behind him and collided with the box he was hiding in. With a thunk, the hunter whizzed out of sight down a shoot in the wall.
Xen cursed and sped across the room toward the track. He paused beside it and watched as another crate full of gemstones shot down it out of sight. He cast a forceful gust of air at the next box and watched as it collided with the floor, spilling its colourful contents across the floor.
Using magic, he lifted the empty container back onto the track and held it steady.
"Get in," he instructed Nex.
The boy clambered up onto the track and tucked himself into the front of the box. Xen jumped up and swung his legs over the edge, dropping inside. He lay back, looking up at the grey cavern ceiling far above him. Raising an arm, he blasted a pulse of energy from his hand that sent them careering down the track.
43
A Friendly Face
Ely felt a heavy weight on his chest. It was warm and comforting. It reminded him of the way his cat usually lay on him at home. Something tickled his chin and his eyes flickered open.
"Humphrey?" Ely whispered in surprise, unable to believe that the cat had really found its way to him.
Humphrey stood up, his paws jabbing into him as he stretched and yawned, baring his sharp teeth. Ely pushed himself up into a sitting position and petted him. The cat mewed at him and nibbled his fingers.
"Good boy," Ely said, stroking his soft fur.
Humphrey purred loudly.
"Did you deliver my message?" Ely asked in a baby voice.
Humphrey meowed in response.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"What's going on? How did that animal get in here?" Doctor Fade said from the doorway.
"This animal is Humphrey. He's come to rescue me," Ely said triumphantly.
Doctor Fade put her hands on her hips. "Oh, has he now?" She rolled up her sleeves and approached the bed.
Humphrey's fur bristled and his tail bushed out into a brush. Doctor Fade lunged a hand at the cat and Humphrey swatted it with razor-sharp claws.
"You little beast," she hissed, going for him again.
Humphrey grabbed her hand in his front paws and dug his claws in. He pulled it towards his mouth and bit down.
She screamed out and yanked her hand away from his grip, his claws tearing her skin further.
Ely laughed a light chuckle. "I wouldn't take him on, Doctor. He can be very disagreeable when he wants to be."
Doctor Fade's hand was bloody and swollen. She stormed from the room and returned a moment later with a broom. She pushed Humphrey with it, jabbing the broom handle into his side. Humphrey dug his claws into the quilt, unmoving.
Doctor Fade raised the broom up and smacked it down but Humphrey dodged it, his tail swatting angrily as he glared at her.
Ely took the blow to his stomach and cried out in pain. "Stop it," he wheezed.
She threw the broom to the floor and walked over to the cabinet where she kept her syringes. She opened it and retrieved a vial. "This is the last one, Ely. I'll have to make up another batch if you don't die this time. I'm surprised you've got so much fight in you for such an old man."
Ely coughed as his chest constricted tightly. Humphrey walked around the bed as the doctor approached, following her movements.
She drew up the liquid into a syringe and moved closer to the bed. "Right." She lunged out an arm and grabbed Humphrey by the scruff. His body went limp as she lifted him into the air, his legs curling up underneath him.
"Don't you hurt him," Ely warned. He heard a commotion in the hallway and the sound of a woman shouting. The doctor loomed over him with the needle pointing down at his arm.
Two soldiers burst into the room with a man in a suit and a woman with long, blonde hair cascading around her. "Dad," she breathed in shock.
"Laura," he gasped.
Laura marched forward, yanked the syringe out of Doctor Fade's hand and slapped her across the face with a loud smack.
Humphrey dropped to the floor, landed on all fours and hissed angrily.
44
Reunited
Oliver sighed as he dressed in the soft clothes, having never appreciated being clean as much as he did then. Whilst the others were still resting, he exited the room and knocked on the girls' door. Anna answered, her hair washed and dry, hanging around her shoulders in soft curls. She was dressed in comfortable-looking, clean clothes.
He desperately wanted to kiss her but still wasn't sure how things stood between them. His blood heated up as he recalled kissing her back in the caves and wondered why all courage was now abandoning him.
He cleared his throat. "Hey."
"Hi," she said, fiddling with a strand of hair.
He leant on the doorway, narrowing the gap between them. "Is May around?"
"Yeah, she's not feeling too good though." She walked away and he followed her inside.
The room was similar to his. Quinn was snoozing softly in her bed and May was lying on a single bed beneath a window where the afternoon light was seeping in. She sat up as he entered.
"Can we go and find Ely now?" She winced in pain. "It feels like there's a block of ice in my chest that's decided to start growing icicles."
Oliver gripped her shoulder, not smiling at her joking tone. "Yeah. Come on."
Oliver, Anna and May exited and descended the stairs. A guard met them halfway down to the main hallway and bowed. "The Queen sent me to take you to your grandfather," he said.
"We know where he is," May said.
"Allow me to escort you anyway," the guard said with another low bow.
They followed him further down the stairs and he led them off down the long corridor with glass flooring. His footsteps slowed as he walked beside them.
"There has been a slight, incident," he said hesitantly.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, frowning.
"Is Ely okay?" May asked worriedly.
The guard cleared his throat before he spoke. "It seems that he was accidentally given the wrong medicine by our resident doctor. Unfortunately, she misdiagnosed his illness which has caused...problems."
"Has something happened to him?" Oliver asked, anger bubbling beneath his skin.
"He is on the mend. The doctor in question has been removed for the time being and a doctor from Aleva is now tending to him."
Oliver nodded but his gut twisted with guilt. He had barely spared a thought for Ely since they had gone to save the prince, believing him to be in safe hands. The thought of him suffering set him on edge.
They arrived outside his room which was now guarded by a soldier. He stepped aside as they approached and the guard knocked on the door.
"Enter," a man's voice called from inside.
The guard held the door open for them and Oliver filed in behind the girls. Ely was sitting up in bed, his face was pale but colour touched his lips and his eyes lit up with excitement as he spotted them.
A man in a suit smiled warmly at them from one side of the room, his arms folded across his thin chest. A woman sitting on the bed made Oliver's heart skip a beat.
"Laura," he gasped and ran to her.
She stood and pulled him then May into a tight hug. She smiled warmly at Anna in greeting.
A meow drew Oliver's eyes to the bed where he spotted a black cat with spherical, orange eyes looking up at him. "That's not-?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"It is," Ely said with a chuckle.
"Humphrey!" May exclaimed, scooping the enormous cat up into her arms where he nuzzled her happily.
"What in Vale's been going on here?" Anna asked, looking confused.
"I think I'll give you a moment," the doctor said from the other side of the room.
"Thank you, Rufus," Ely said as the man exited then smiled around at them. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you all."
"Ely, what happened?" May pressed.
Ely filled them in and anger rose inside Oliver as the story progressed.
Laura finished it from her perspective. "Humphrey turned up at my window whilst I was making breakfast. I couldn't believe it. The message Dad had given him played out into the air saying he was in the palace of Galice being poisoned and I needed to bring his friend Rufus Hood to him. I would hardly have believed it if it wasn't for how faint your voice sounded.
"I was so worried I left straight away. I thought Humphrey might go back home but he practically led the way to Rufus then straight on to the Gateway. It took us a few days to get there but when we arrived this morning they still weren't letting anyone through. It was only a few hours ago that they suddenly reopened it."
"What happened then? How did you get rid of Doctor Fade?" May asked, enthralled.
Ely shared a grin with Laura.
"Laura gave her a well-deserved slap," Ely said with a chuckle.
Oliver raised his eyebrows at her. "Ha. Good."
"I took the syringe off of the doctor and Rufus identified it as poison. It was mixed with some sort of medicine to slow the process so that no one noticed that she was murdering Dad." Tears sprang to her eyes and Ely gripped her hand.
"The guard said Doctor Fade gave the wrong medicine by accident," Anna said.
"Yes, well they would spin it that way," Ely said with a grimace.
"The Queen ordered it," Oliver stated.
"What do you mean?" Laura asked.
"She sent Dead Xen after us with a load of soldiers. He said the Queen had ordered him to kill us," May said, her lip curling backwards with hatred.
"But why is she after you at all?" Laura whispered, looking around at them with concern.
Ely shrugged, looking stumped.
"Xen killed nearly all of the hunters we went with," May said sadly, proceeding to tell the story from start to finish.
Ely shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that."
"Don't be sorry. None of this is your fault," Oliver said.
"But I'm your grandfather I should be looking out for you both. You've been in more dangerous situations since you met me than you have in your entire lives."
"Ely, you saved my life," May said, her eyes alight with emotion. "All of this danger is because of this curse. Because of me."
"Don't you go blaming yourself," Ely said sternly, reaching out a hand to her.
She took it but avoided his gaze.
Oliver gently gripped her arm. "It's whoever put that curse on you who's to blame." His throat became dry.
She nodded but he could see she was still taking the guilt upon herself. He hated seeing her that way.
"The Queen's reopening the challenge," Anna announced.
Oliver had almost forgotten and half-smiled at Ely as he reacted.
"That's wonderful!" Ely said, beaming around at them all. His face fell a moment later. "After everything the Queen has ordered against us we best be wary. I won't be happy until we step through the Gateway and leave Glacio far behind us."
Oliver spotted May cringing in pain and nudged her.
She looked at Ely as she spoke. "There's something else. The curse, it's been giving me trouble."
"Oh? In what way?" Ely asked, sitting up straight.
"It started when we were up the mountains. I got breathless a lot and light-headed-"
"I knew you weren't okay," Oliver said, drawing his eyebrows together.
"I know. I'm sorry I just didn't want everyone fussing around me. We were up a mountain so there was nothing anyone could have done anyway," May said guiltily.
Oliver rolled his eyes at her in exasperation.
"Anyway, these pains started in my chest. Just small, pin-prick like sensations at first but now it's like knives," May said, clutching at her chest.
"It's the bind. It's wearing off," Ely said, sharing a fearful look with Laura.
May gasped and Oliver's pulse accelerated. "How long before it stops working?" he asked.
"I have no idea," Ely admitted. "But we had better get to Wallace Ganderfield as quickly as possible."
"We're going to the Gateway tomorrow before dawn. Hector's organising us some transport," Anna said.
"Good. We best get out of here soon and I'd rather do it before she realises we're gone." Ely beamed.
Oliver turned to Laura. "Are you coming with us?"
She shook her head. "Sadly not. I can't get the time off work."
"The Queen's holding a feast tonight, will you come to that?" Oliver asked.
Laura looked to Ely. "Are you feeling up to it?"
"I think I should have one more night in bed so I'm feeling my best for tomorrow."
"I'll stay with you then," Laura said then produced an envelope from her pocket. "Here." She passed it to her father.
Ely took it curiously. "What's this?"
"Open it," Laura said, tugging a strand of her hair.
Ely did so and unfolded the piece of paper inside. His eyes roamed back and forth, reading the words on the page. He looked up when he had finished and nodded at Laura. "It's from Eugene," he breathed.
"He sent it to me last week. He wants Dad to visit him," Laura explained.
Oliver nodded, looking to Ely. "Are you gonna go?"
Ely folded the letter up and returned it to the envelope. "I thought about him when I was ill. I would very much like to see him." He smiled through his short beard, his eyes expressing an ancient pain.
Laura smiled with relief and pulled her dad into a hug. "I thought you'd never go."
Ely chuckled softly. "Something about being at death's door reminds you what's important in life."
Oliver glanced at Anna and made a decision. The thought made his chest tighten but Ely was right, there was no point leaving things unsaid considering their current situation.
"What's the challenge, Ely?" May asked. "You said it would be easy."
Ely smiled. "I don't know what you'll face, but I know you'll pass just fine."
May folded her arms. "That's not an answer."
Laura laughed. "It's different for everyone, like Earth's challenge."
She nodded and Oliver suddenly felt uneasy. Earth's challenge had been horrible for him.
"It won't be like that," Ely said, apparently spotting Oliver's demeanour.
He nodded but couldn't shift the anxious feeling.
"Get a good night's sleep tonight and you'll feel ready for anything," Laura said.
"When are you gonna leave?" May asked.
"I'll stay a little while longer." She beamed.
Oliver dropped onto the bed and stroked Humphrey's soft fur so he purred contentedly.
45
A Payment of Blood
They returned to their rooms to change for the feast. When he was ready, Oliver ducked out and crossed the hall, hoping to get a moment alone with Anna before the feast.
He tried to think through what he was going to say but the words sounded stupid in his head. Instead, he planned to say whatever came to mind when he saw her.
He lifted a hand to knock on the girls' door then hesitated. The image of her rejecting him filled his mind. Larkin had kissed her. He wondered whether she really was into him.
"Olly?" May's voice startled him and he dropped his hand, turning to face her.
Anna was with her, the two of them climbing the stairs wrapped up in warm clothes.
"What are you doing?" May asked.
"Nothing, where have you been?" Oliver asked, trying to act casual.
"We went for a walk. It's freezing outside," Anna said, her cheeks rosy from the cold. She shed her damp coat and folded it over her arm.
"Haven't you had enough of this weather?" Oliver grinned.
"Well I certainly have. I'm gonna go shower before the feast," May said, hurrying into her room. Oliver was sure she shot him a look before disappearing through the door.
He felt suddenly awkward as Anna stepped toward the girls' room. He knew it was now or never.
"Can I talk to you a sec?" His throat felt half its normal size.
"Sure." She turned to him, raising her eyebrows expectantly.
"Um." Oliver reached for her hand and pulled her closer.
Anna dropped her coat and wrapped her hands around his neck, her cold fingers sending shivers down his spine. Oliver steeled himself then leant down and kissed her, feeling her heart beating fast as she pressed against him.
Oliver pulled away and looked into her eyes. Nerves were eating at him but he had to ask her. "Do you want to be, official? Like, me and you?"
A smile turned up the corners of her mouth and she nodded. "Yes." She kissed him again and everything seemed to click together. Despite only knowing her for a couple of months he could no longer imagine life without her.
