Deliverance (27 page)

Gavril then attempted to pull Crystal to her
feet as the wedding guests flew out of the room in a panic. Blaze
came to her aid as well.

“Crystal, can you stand on your own?” Gavril
asked, but before she could answer him, Blaze placed one arm under
her knee and the other under her back and lifted her up.

“I’ve got her,” Blaze said.

“Now, let’s get out of here before Bogdan
comes searching for us,” Gavril said.

The three of them managed to sneak away from
the ceremony room before the guards came running to investigate the
noise of the blast. Once they discovered Valamar knocked out and
badly bruised on the floor, Bogdan was alerted at the castle gates
and he announced an immediate manhunt for Blaze.

Still in their guard uniforms, the rebels
lured away real guards so that Gavril, Blaze, and Crystal could
sneak by.

Blaze continued to carry Crystal the whole
way. His arms barely wrapped around the billowing dress, but he was
too determined to carry her to safety to care.

“What happened to you two after we were
captured?” Crystal hazily asked.

Not wanting to tell her about the fight
between himself and Gavril, Blaze said, “We managed to get away and
we were separated, but we ran into each other here in the
castle.”

“Crystal, I hate to ask this, but did
Valamar . . .” Gavril muttered, trailing off at the end.

Even though he didn’t finish his sentence,
Crystal understood what he was asking. “No, Gavril. He kissed me
once before the wedding but he didn’t do anything else. He said he
wanted to leave that for tonight.”

“Good. I was sick with worry about that the
whole way here. I’m glad to know you weren’t harmed and I won’t
have to chop off Valamar’s member and feed it to a pack of dogs,”
Gavril said with a relieved sigh.

“Judging by the size of his mansion, those
poor dogs would probably go hungry,” Blaze muttered scornfully.

Gavril couldn’t help but laugh at Blaze’s
remark while Crystal merely rolled her eyes in amusement.

By the time they arrived on the ground
floor, thankfully, Crystal regained enough strength to walk again,
and they safely arrived at the storage room where the secret door
lay. The three of them snuck inside while two other disguised
rebels pretended to be canvasing the corridor outside.

“How ironic to be escaping through here
again,” Crystal muttered.

“Isn’t it funny how fate works out
sometimes?” Gavril replied, “By the way, Crystal, I have your
belongings here.” Gavril then handed Crystal a bag. She peeked
inside and saw her robe and the rest of her clothes as well as her
blade and her necklace.

“Thank you, but why are you giving me this
now?” Crystal said.

“Because this is where I let you two go,”
replied Gavril.

“What?” Crystal exclaimed.

“You aren’t coming with us?” Blaze
asked.

“I’m afraid not. There is something I need
to take care of,” Gavril replied ruefully.

“But, Gavril . . .” Crystal whispered.

“Listen,” Gavril said, placing his hands on
her shoulders, “I’ve done all I can to protect you: I’ve trained
you well, I’ve defended you in battle, and you have become someone
to be proud of. I cannot teach you anymore; you must finish this
journey on your own.”

Crystal bowed her head and embraced Gavril.
The former general embraced her in return and muttered, “You have
to be strong. You’re a big girl now.”

Crystal pulled away and asked, “What are you
going to do?”

“I will make sure that our friends are not
harmed. I also have the men I led in here to lead out of the castle
safely. Their lives are in my hands, so I cannot let them down,”
Gavril assured. He then turned to Blaze and said, “I know I do not
have to ask you to protect her with your life.”

“No.” Blaze replied, “I swear that I will
keep her safe.”

“Good. By the way, where are your clothes?”
Gavril asked.

Blaze responded by turning around, reaching
into a large pot, and pulled out a bag with his sword sticking out
and replied, “I put them in here after leaving the dungeon.”

“Good,” Gavril replied. He then looked at
Crystal’s worried face and assured, “It will be all right, Crystal.
Go become a holy mage so you can end this once and for all.”

After Crystal nodded and hugged him again,
Gavril smiled at her and left the room, but wondering what he
planned to do next worried her, because his smile said “I will see
you again,” but his eyes seemed tell them, “Goodbye.”

CHAPTER 18

As soon as Crystal stepped off of the ladder
that led into the escape tunnel, she immediately threw her arms
around Blaze and cried, “I am so sorry I didn’t believe you!”

Blaze lightly kissed her forehead and
whispered, “Listen, we can talk later. Let’s get out of here before
the guards catch us!”

“Okay,” Crystal replied while Blaze led her
forward into the tunnel. They ran through the dark for what felt
like an eternity, holding each other’s hands the entire time.
Blaze’s guard armor clanked together with each movement and Crystal
desperately tried to hold the bottom of her large dress high enough
so that she wouldn’t trip. She felt her hair coming loose from its
style and by the time she saw the ladder, her tresses had fallen
around her shoulders in long, curly strands.

Once they reached the other end of the
tunnel, Blaze turned to Crystal and said quietly, “I’ll go up first
and make sure it’s clear.” After Crystal nodded, he turned to the
ladder and climbed it. At the top, he waited a few seconds,
listening for any voices outside. When he concluded that no one was
waiting outside, he creaked the door open and looked out. He then
lifted the door all the way and emerged from the tunnel.

Crystal climbed up the ladder and grabbed
Blaze’s outstretched hands when she got to the top. When she
emerged from the dark tunnel, the late afternoon sunlight nearly
blinded her, but the warmth reminded her that she was free from
Valamar, and so she welcomed it.

“This way,” Blaze said after Crystal’s eyes
adjusted to the light. He then led her about a mile southeast of
Cartigo, where a horse and bag of supplies awaited next to a small
pond.

As soon as they stopped, Crystal threw her
arms around Blaze again and kissed him. He immediately responded by
wrapping his arms around her tightly and kissing her back with
everything he had, and before he could maintain his balance, Blaze
fell onto his back and Crystal fell on top of him.

Crystal then laughed and muttered, “I told
you I would remember.”

Blaze let out a little laugh and replied,
“Glad I gave you the heads up, then.”

There was then a brief silence followed by
Crystal asking, “Did you mean what you said at the castle?”

“Every word of it,” Blaze replied with no
hesitation.

Crystal kissed him again, and then replied,
“Tell it to me again.”

Blaze looked into her eyes and said, “I love
you.”

Crystal smiled and responded, “I love you
too.”

Without warning, Blaze rolled Crystal onto
her back, landed on top of her, and gave her the most intense kiss
that she ever thought she would feel. Her face flushed as Blaze’s
hand began lightly grazing from her hip and up the side of her
body. He then gently ran his fingers along the side of her face as
he removed his lips from hers and kissed her neck. She felt heart
racing and goose bumps forming on her skin and she tried not to let
her breath quicken out of control as she felt Blaze’s unmentionable
press against her leg through their clothing.

“I promised myself that I would protect you,
so even though I don’t want to stop, we need to start moving so we
can get out of harm’s way,” Blaze whispered onto her neck. He then
stood up and helped her do the same.

“But where are we supposed to go? Gavril
mentioned something about learning holy magic, but he left before I
could ask him what to do,” Crystal replied.

“Thaddeus said that his brother appeared to
him in a dream and told him that you needed to go to some place
called the Lost Realm to learn it,” Blaze said.

“The Lost Realm?” Crystal asked in
surprise.

“Yes; Thaddeus said his brother was there
and that he also took the last shard to the realm with him when he
died,” Blaze replied.

Crystal’s face hardened. She turned around
and looked at her feet, and said, “It’s . . . real,”

Blaze picked up the bag with Crystal’s
belongings, held it out to her, and said, “Here, you can explain it
to me while you get changed.” When Crystal turned around and gave
him a dirty look, he added while rolling his eyes, “I won’t watch,
of course.”

Crystal grabbed the bag and turned her hand
in the air, gesturing for Blaze to turn around. He obeyed,
mumbling, and Crystal began to slip out of the wedding dress. She
felt nervous with the open air hitting her body, since the only
article of clothing she wore at the moment was her bottom
undergarments. She never took her eyes off of Blaze for a second as
she stood half naked behind him.

“The Lost Realm is only spoken of in
legends.” Crystal explained as she began to slip her black
underdress over her head, “Most people know of three realms in
existence: the gaia realm, which is where we live, the holy realm,
where Caris and her children reside, and the dark realm, where evil
souls and demons reside. When people die, their souls leave the
gaia realm and in normal circumstances go to the holy realm if they
were good and virtuous in life, but they go to the dark realm if
they were wicked.”

“Normal circumstances?” Blaze asked,
slightly turning his head.

“Don’t look!” Crystal scolded.

“I wasn’t!” Blaze replied after jerking his
head back quickly.

“Well, by normal circumstances, I’m
referring to someone who died without a burden on their soul. When
a person dies with a burden on their souls, it means that they
either died before their purpose in life was fulfilled, they died
with regrets or for some other reason weren’t at peace, or they
took an important secret to the grave. There are other examples,
but one sure thing is that if we have to go there, it means that
someone is there that we have to free,” Crystal explained.

“The souls trapped in the Lost Realm can be
freed?” asked Blaze.

“Yes, but it can’t be just anyone. It has to
be someone affected by the burden the dead soul carries,” Crystal
replied, who was now snapping her robe together.

“What does that mean?” Blaze asked, still
facing the other way.

“I am not sure; we’ll have to go there and
find out, but I don’t know the way. You can turn around now, by the
way,” Crystal said. She was mostly covered now and had just pulled
up her gray tights when Blaze turned around.

“Thaddeus said we should ask the elders. He
also said that they could get rid of this,” Blaze said. He then
pointed to the tracking mark and added, “Which, by the way, is how
Bogdan knew about the rebels,” He then went on to explain about the
spell Saitar made and finished up just as Crystal tied her belt. He
then added, “Thaddeus put himself in a magic coma or something, so
Saitar won’t see us from now on.”

“Again, I am so sorry . . .” she
muttered.

“It’s only natural to assume I did it,”
Blaze replied sullenly.

“No, it was wrong of us to assume you hadn’t
changed just because of what you’ve done in the past. You aren’t
that man anymore.” replied Crystal, “To be honest, even when I
didn’t believe you, part of me prayed I would be able to see you
again. I guess deep down, I knew you didn’t do it.”

“Actually, I have to admit that part of it
is still my fault,” Blaze ruefully uttered.

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“If I had kept my mouth shut in some of
those situations where Saitar saw me, they wouldn’t have known who
you are. If I hadn’t been reckless either, Saitar wouldn’t have
been able to put the spell on me in the first place,” Blaze said,
bowing his head.

“It’s all right, Blaze. Let’s just get ready
to go before they discover we aren’t in the castle,” Crystal
replied. She had finally managed to fix the chain on her necklace
and attach it around her neck.

“You’re right. Just let me get changed out
of this armor,” Blaze said, bending down and grabbing the bag with
his belongings. He then imitated the way Crystal gestured for him
to turn around with his hand, and said with a smirk, “If I don’t
get to watch, you don’t get to watch.”

Crystal turned around and walked over to the
pond and while Blaze changed, she scooped up water with her hands
and washed her makeup off and wet her hair a little to get it back
to its natural wavy texture. When she was done, without turning
around, she asked, “Are you done?”

“Almost. You can turn around now, though,”
Blaze called from behind her.

When Crystal turned, she could see Blaze
sitting on a rock and pulling his boots on. He wore his trousers
and his shirt, but not his jacket. As soon as he finished with his
boots, he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, and then put his
belt with his sword and sheath on and buckled it.

“Well, let’s head over to the City of Magi.
They should let us talk to the elders right away since they are
allies of Cierith,” Crystal said.

Blaze laughed a little and said, “So you
still aren’t giving up on the rebellion?”

“No. I owe it to my friends who gave up
their freedom for me to keep moving forward,” Crystal replied.

Blaze then walked over to her and kissed her
forehead. Crystal faintly leaned her entire body against him as the
growling of her stomach made her realize that she hadn’t eaten in
several days.

“Are you all right?” Blaze asked her.

“I’m . . . hungry,” she muttered.

Blaze laughed and replied, “Don’t worry;
I’ve got food in the bag over there.” He then pointed to a large
bag next to the horse. After leading Crystal to the horse and
helping her mount onto him, Blaze then tied the bag to the saddle
and grabbed a piece of bread out for her. She gratefully accepted
the bread as well as the canteen of water Blaze handed her.