The Warriors, page 18
part #3 of Wicked Series
‘Not long ago this body was dying, my soul with it. And you healed me,’ he said quietly, taking small, slow steps towards her, the red hot poker still smoking as it neared. ‘Since then I’ve wondered what it would take for you to use that power. Can it be turned on whenever you want, or do you need to be under high emotional stress?’
Laura felt her legs turn to jelly and she began to shake as her stomach flipped. He was going to try and kill her. He was going to make her heal herself. Oh gosh, why had she been late? Why hadn’t she run? He’d been on edge and she’d pushed him over. He was going to toy with her power so he could see the extent it could be pushed to.
‘Don’t-’ Laura whispered through chattering teeth, the fear taking over her mind and blocking out all thoughts of how she could get out of the mess she’d found herself in.
‘D-D-D-Don’t,’ Erebus stuttered mockingly.
Laura swallowed as Erebus came to stand before her. ‘Don’t you want to wait to test these things for yourself? It’ll be no fun watching me and you’ll only cause damage to your future body,’ she said quietly, finally having found her voice to force the words through her lips.
Erebus eyed her for a moment, before gesturing with the poker at her arm. Before she could do anything, the Wicked on her right shoved her sleeve up and pulled her bare wrist towards Erebus.
Laura squeezed her eyes shut, the last image in her mind of the slowly dimming poker as Erebus slammed it against her skin.
She screamed out in agony and fought with everything inside herself not to lash out with her power. She wanted to let go of it so badly; the small tendril of power within her wanted so badly to be released too, but if she attacked them her chances of survival were slim; not only her survival, but all the Enchanted.
Gritting her teeth to silence her screams, she forced herself to endure the agony. The smell of her burning flesh sickened her and the sharp, stinging throbs of pain constantly shooting up her arm were almost unbearable, but she held on, not opening her eyes for even a moment. She didn’t want to see the injury. She didn’t want to see Erebus or his face as he removed the poker and she slowly reached inside herself, searching not for the power that wanted to harm, but for the energy within that aspired to heal.
It didn’t take her long to find the power; she’d grown use to the feeling of it as she pulled it from her core and forced enough of it into her arm to dull the pain to a throb and, hopefully, close the wound.
After a few seconds the pain had subsided and she cautiously opened her eyes to peer at her arm. All that remained was an angry red scar, but even that was slowly fading to white as she continued to let the power flow.
Once her skin had returned to its normal shade she cut off the power within herself, pushing it back down into the deepest parts of her soul.
She didn’t dare look up into Erebus’ face. She didn’t want to know if he intended to hurt her again. She just kept her gaze focused on her arm as the Wicked let it go and she dropped it to her side.
She felt the air shift around her and before she knew it Erebus was back in his seat.
‘I believe you have a lot of work to get to. You will remain behind an hour after dusk to ensure you get it all done.’
Chapter Twenty
The Wind Changes
Drew paced from one end of his and Laura’s room to the other, frustration and fear coursing through him as he checked the window every few moments for any sign of Laura. When she hadn’t met them for dinner at dusk like usual they had all known something was wrong.
Drew had told everyone to go on down to the meeting and he would wait for her. If she didn’t return in an hour he’d come and get them and they’d decide what to do then. Of course, he’d truly thought she would show up. He’d hoped against all hope that she was just running a bit late. But an hour had passed and there was no sign of her.
Drew decided to give her another ten minutes before he would go get the others. What could any of them do? Like hell he would stay in his room while she was out there, but it angered him to know he couldn’t just go out and find her. Wicked were crawling the streets after the execution, more so than before, which made their chances of sneaking about searching for her slim.
While Drew had no real way of telling the time, he gaged when ten minutes had passed and checked through the window one last time. Still no sign of her. Fear shot through him as he turned for the panel on the wall, readying to press the concealed button that would release the door. Just at that moment the door behind him opened.
Drew spun around to see a Wicked shoving Laura into the room before slamming the door shut behind her. She stumbled a little but righted herself before she fell to the floor. Drew ran to her, a sense of relief flooding his insides but also a million questions bouncing around in his mind.
When he saw Laura’s face however, he knew whatever had happened hadn’t been good. Drew wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him, and the moment she buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him back he felt an anger so dangerous take over his body that he nearly let go of her then and took off out the door, intent on making Erebus pay for whatever he had done.
But Laura needed him and he wouldn’t leave her. After a while, she pulled back to look up at him and he saw the shadows of darkness in her eyes.
‘What did he do?’ Drew asked, forcing his voice to remain calm.
Laura looked down and he saw then that she had been deeply affected by whatever had happened.
‘He wasn’t happy about me turning up to work late. He… he punished me and made me heal myself so he could see my power at work.’
Drew tensed at her words and hundreds of different images flew through his mind of Erebus hurting Laura. Clenching his jaw, he forced the anger rising within down enough to ask, ‘what did he do?’
‘He burned me. With a poker from the fire,’ she said quietly.
Drew felt numb with fury. He would kill Erebus. Burn him alive if he could. The man had taken everything from them and it still wasn’t enough.
‘I’m okay Drew. I healed it completely,’ Laura said, looking back up at him.
Drew saw the strength in her beautiful face and he felt pride well up within him, despite all the other emotions that continued to control his mind. She’d been through so much and yet she wouldn’t give up. Drew didn’t know where she found the courage within herself to remain so strong, but it wasn’t just herself she was holding together; it was him too. Without her, he would have gotten himself killed long ago, and he knew it.
‘Are you up to going to the meeting?’ He asked her.
She nodded, ‘we have to get out of here. I don’t know how much time I have left, or the rest of the Enchanted for that matter.’
~
Laura was relieved to see Drew’s face. After working in complete fear all day, finally making her way back to their room and seeing him there gave her the strength not to break down. She’d come close to it, but she held it in. She didn’t want to let Erebus win. She didn’t want him to know he had scarred her mentally and had frightened her to her bones. If he knew it, he would know he had more control over her than he thought and he’d use it to his advantage.
He hadn’t come to see her throughout the day, thank the Gods, but she’d caught a glimpse of him as she was leaving, and he’d given her a little wave as she shut the door behind her. She’d wanted to take off running there and then, but she kept a normal pace, endeavouring to hold her head high.
Of course, by the time she had made it back to her room she was on the brink of losing it. But then there was Drew; her rock. Without him, she would have lost it, and she doubted she would have left the room again after that, only causing herself more trouble.
By the time the two of them made it down to the underground cavern the planning was well underway. The moment everyone caught sight of them though silence settled in throughout the room. Then, Grace, Gemma, Logan, Stella, Leo, Caspian and even Mitch were running for them. Grace and Stella pulled her into long hugs, and she was grateful for that – it only gave her more strength.
‘What happened?’ Leo asked immediately.
‘Are you okay?’ Caspian added, pulling her into a strong hug.
Laura nodded into Caspian’s shoulder, then pulled back to explain to them what had happened. She didn’t go into too much detail, but the look in her friend’s faces was enough to tell her that they were as angered and horrified as Drew had been.
‘Anyway, how’s the planning coming along?’ Laura asked after a while, wanting to steer the conversation away from her.
The rest of the rebels had gone back to work while they talked and they quickly re-joined the group. It seemed a number of the holes in the plan had been smoothed out, and somehow someone had smuggled weapons into a hiding spot near one of the underground exit tunnels that Sully and Martin had gone up to retrieve.
Oscar had made contact with a number of other rebel group members and had passed the beginnings of the plan around to them. Many said they would see what ideas they could come up with and organise a runner to come find them in the night to report and bring back the rest of the plans too.
Slowly, it seemed their escape plan was falling into place. The only trouble was ensuring all the Enchanted knew about it and were ready. If they weren’t, confusion would break out and their plan relied on precise timing and no one lagging behind.
They finished up earlier that night. Many were tired and after they had heard about Laura’s punishment for being late they didn’t want to risk her or anyone else getting hurt again. The runners came through just before they started to leave, and Archer and Tarim decided to stay behind to pass on the necessary information and wait for Martin and Sully’s return.
It was nearing dawn when Laura and Drew reached their room, but they managed to snatch up an hours sleep before they were forced to rise and head out for yet another day of work.
Laura dreaded every step she took towards Erebus’ house, though she didn’t dare be late for fear of a repeat of the event that took place the day before. The Wicked escorting her kept her moving forward as much as her own feet did, and when she arrived at the front door it was opened immediately by a Witch on guard.
Laura’s heart was hammering in her chest and she could hear the blood pounding in her head as she stepped inside, eyes scanning the room for Erebus.
The Wicked behind her nudged her forward and before she knew it she had passed the study and was being escorted upstairs.
‘Start with the bathrooms,’ the Wicked said, his gruff voice dry and unfeeling.
Despite hating the work, Laura almost rejoiced as she set to cleaning out the first bathroom. She was safe… for the time being anyway.
~
It was mid-afternoon by the time Laura found herself alone for a moment. The Wicked on watch had sent her off to collect another bucket of water for the veggie patch and for some reason couldn’t be bothered to get up and follow her inside.
Laura made her way down to the kitchen to fill up the bucket and just as she was lifting it out of the sink she heard the sound of voices down the hall. Leaving the bucket for a moment, she crept to the doorway and peered down the corridor.
The door to Erebus’ study was open and their voices were drifting down to greet her crystal clear.
‘We’ve begun attacking their first defence, but they’re holding strong. Their army is larger than we were expecting,’ a Witch was telling Erebus.
There was quiet for a moment, and Laura wondered it Erebus was angry, but his reply came soon after.
‘Lastrala is the best place to centre our operation from. We need the land.’
‘We know, and we’re fighting as hard as we can, but we can’t risk bringing more Wicked in from other locations. If we do, those islands will be lost. This is the biggest continent we’ve attempted to invade. We were lucky with Alast; they weren’t ready for us, but Lastrala are, and so far they’re holding us back.’
Laura felt the ice return to her veins as she took in what they were saying. They had invaded Lastrala and were fighting to secure the land. It seemed the Enchanted were winning so far, but for how long? And what about the Humans? Would they be able to see what was going on around them? Not only that, but were they being protected?
Laura heard the voices start up again and while every part of her wanted to stay and listen she knew she had to return to the garden. She collected the water bucket and made her way as quietly as she could outside.
She would have to tell the rebels what she’d heard. Lastrala needed their help, which meant they would need to escape. And soon.
~
The rebels were in chaos when Laura and Drew emerged into the underground cavern. They’d been able to hear their voices from half way up the tunnel, which was frightening in itself.
‘Everyone, quieten down!’ Laura said urgently, ‘we could hear you nearly at the entry to the tunnel!’
A number of the rebels turned to her and she saw the concern on their faces. It took her a moment, but she soon realised it wasn’t to do with how loud they were being.
‘What happened?’ Drew asked.
‘Five Enchanted were taken from the Building Sector this morning,’ Tilly said quietly.
‘What?’ Laura asked in disbelief.
She knew exactly what that meant. It couldn’t have started happening so soon. They needed more time!
‘They returned as Wicked,’ Stella finished, and Laura heard the defeat in her voice.
Damn it! She’d hoped that they would have had more time. Before she knew what she was doing, she was telling everyone about what she’d heard in Erebus’ study that afternoon. Faces around her drained of colour and many turned to Archer.
‘Were they rebels?’ Someone asked.
Tilly shook her head.
‘Thank the Gods,’ someone else responded, and Laura couldn’t help but agree, despite how bad it made her feel to do so. If they had been rebels, the whole underground operation would have been blown.
‘What do we do?’ A Witch asked.
Archer caught Laura’s eye and she knew what he was going to say without having to ask. She’d come to recognise the look in his eye; the look that meant he had a big announcement to make.
‘We can’t risk more people being taken. We’ll spread the word tomorrow to the Enchanted. Tomorrow night, we escape.’
Chapter Twenty-One
Freedom Comes At A Price
Erebus walked the length of the corridor, somewhat of a spring in his step. He’d received word from The Sargent that there had been a breakthrough in the healing of Kane and that he should come quickly to see.
Erebus had been waiting, watching Laura day in and day out, alive and well, and yet he could do nothing. He was so close, but so far. So, after an anxious wait, he hoped the breakthrough would allow him the chance to take what he desired – the girl’s power.
He’d known she was powerful – that much was clear after the many outbursts of her ability. But he’d never known to what extent, not until she healed him as his soul joined with his new body. Since then, he’d been curious, as anyone would be. He’d been waiting to test her power, to see what limit it would take for her to use it.
And then, she’d been late for work, and he’d begun to worry. He’d grown angrier each minute and when she at last walked through the door he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He felt guilty for harming the girl – not for her sake of course, but for his future bodies. He didn’t want to have a weak body and so he chose not to whip her publicly as he’d intended to do later that day. He would suffer in the long run, he was sure of it.
Erebus slowed his pace as he approached the Sorcerer’s room. He didn’t hesitate as he twisted the doorhandle and stepped inside. There stood The Sargent, watching as the healer worked on the Wizard.
The machines were gone, which was a good sign, and the Sorcerer looked to have gained more colour in his skin.
‘What’s the situation?’ Erebus asked immediately.
‘He attempted to kill himself,’ the Sargent confirmed.
Erebus’ eyes flickered to Kane’s closed ones and a surge of anger rose within him. He’d guessed as much about the tooth full of poison. For a moment, he considered killing the Wizard himself, but he clenched his fists and calmed himself. It wouldn’t do him any good. He needed the Sorcerer for the swap with Laura. But, after that, well, then he would kill Kane, and he would rejoice in it.
‘He’s stable now, though it took a lot of work to keep his heart going so he’ll need people watching him constantly. But if all goes well, he’ll be up in a week,’ the healer told him, standing to collect his things.
A week. One week. He’d waited years, what was one more week? Then, he would have his power. Then, he would rule Elixir.
~
Archer Sterling had always considered himself somewhat of a rebel. He’d always been the one to stand up and fight back when he didn’t agree with a situation. Didn’t matter if it was against his parents or his teachers. If something didn’t appear to be right, he’d make sure to fix the problem. Of course, it landed him in more trouble than he could count. But it was a fair price to pay for doing the right thing.
It was much the same for him when it came to the rebels. The moment the invasion had occurred, he knew there was no way he was going to let the Wicked win. He knew they had no idea about the underground tunnel system. No one but the Enchanted knew about it and they’d all sworn an oath not to pass the information on to anyone of the secret tunnels.
So when his brother’s came to him, asking him what the plan was, he knew instantly what needed to be done. He would not let his family and his people bow down to the Wicked. He would not let them take his land. So he would fight back; he would once again do the right thing.
