Deliverance (38 page)

“Release my wife, you bastard!” Valamar
screeched.

Bogdan finally had enough of Valamar, and so
with his free arm, he punched the aristocrat in the gut, sending
him flying into the wall. After he fell to the floor, Bogdan then
summoned an enormous ball of dark fire and blasted Valamar with it.
Valamar screamed as the fire covered his entire body and in less
than five seconds, he was completely reduced to a pile of
ashes.

Blaze finally recovered from the previous
blow he took and his eyes fell upon a horrifying sight: Crystal’s
body became limp in Bogdan’s clutches. Blaze could swear that his
heart had stopped as he watched his love’s eyes close and her arms
fall limply to her sides. He suddenly felt an empty feeling in his
body, and all sound surrounding him was gone. He ran towards her
again and even though he knew he screamed her name, he could only
hear the sound of his heart pounding. He saw Bogdan smirk smugly at
him and he finally released his grip on Crystal’s neck. Her still
body then fell to the ground, and Blaze reached her just in time to
catch her.

Crystal lay limp in Blaze’s arms, and
nothing else in the world could take his mind away from her. Tears
poured from his eyes as he begged her not to die. He paid no
attention to his surroundings whatsoever, not even when Bogdan
bellowed with maniacal laughter again as he sprouted enormous,
spiny wings and flew out of the open doors and into the sky to
wreak havoc and chaos on the world.

CHAPTER 24

Crystal couldn’t move or feel a thing in her
body. She heard distant, muffled voices, but couldn’t tell who they
belonged to. She couldn’t see anything and she could not open her
eyes. She tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn’t move. No sound
escaped her throat. She couldn’t breathe, but oddly enough, her
lungs weren’t burning for air. The last thing she remembered was
Bogdan’s fist clenching her neck, and she began to fear that she
was dead.

She suddenly saw light through her eyelids,
but still couldn’t open them. She tried to speak again, but failed.
She realized that there was some kind of silhouette blocking the
light in front of her, and soon, there was a second.

“She’s grown so much!” a woman’s voice said.
It didn’t take Crystal long to recognize it.

Mother! She tried to say, but she still
couldn’t speak. She could still picture in her mind her mother’s
light blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. She imagined her
mother’s smile and even though she had a feeling that her mother
was smiling now, she still wished she could see it. Then another
voice spoke, and once again, Crystal knew who it belonged to as
well.

“Yes she has! I cannot believe my little
girl is already an adult!” she heard her father say. She also
remembered well what he looked like: his brown hair and hazel eyes
were burned into her mind forever, and she remembered the confident
grin he always wore and how despite his amazing strength and skills
in battle, he was always held her gently and sweetly in his strong,
enormous arms.

She tried to call out to her parents and
tried to open her eyes to see them, but it was no use. She wanted
to tell them how much she missed them and loved them, but her heart
sank when she continued to remain still and silent. August and
Elaine were both in their daughter’s presence for the first time in
ten years, but she was frantic at the realization that she couldn’t
acknowledge them.

“I hate to send her away, but it seems that
it isn’t her time yet,” Elaine said.

Wait! Don’t leave me! Crystal cried in her
mind.

“Yes. She has fought well and trained hard,
so we can’t let her fail now.” August said, “I’m sorry Amelia, but
our reunion will have to wait.”

“Yes, Sweetheart, you still have a long life
to live, and there is someone in the living realm who needs you.
You’ve shown him the light and delivered him from the darkest
corners of his heart, and I am so proud of you for that,” Elaine
said gently.

Do you mean . . . Blaze? Crystal tried to
ask, but again with no luck.

“That’s right. I’ve had my eye on him for a
few days, but after a while, I began to see just how much you mean
to him. Besides, he made a promise to us, and I plan to hold him to
it,” August said.

Promise? What promise? Crystal wondered.

“It’s time to send you back now, Amelia,”
Elaine told her.

“We love you, Amelia,” August said. Crystal
then felt a large hand resting on her forehead and she felt a tear
streak down from her closed eye.

I love you too! She cried from her
heart.

Just as she felt the light fading, Crystal
then heard her father’s echoing voice say, “Oh, and I need you to
deliver a message for me . . .”

Even though August’s voice faded away as he
continued to speak, Crystal still understood the rest of his
request and silently promised him that she would do it.

Crystal suddenly felt a tingling sensation
in part of her body and more and more voices grew louder. She was
finally able to breathe, and as soon as she gasped for air, she
could hear Gavril’s muffled voice cry out, “Oh thank Caris!”

Crystal coughed and gasped for more air. She
felt a hand brush the side of her face and heard Blaze’s anguished
voice whisper, “Come on, Crystal. Wake up!”

Crystal finally managed to open her eyes and
even though her vision was blurry, she could make out Blaze’s face
just a few inches from hers.

“That’s it! Come back to us, Crystal!”
Gavril said to her. She looked around and saw his form beside her.
She blinked her eyes several times before they finally adjusted,
and she finally saw that Blaze was holding her in his arms and that
Gavril was kneeling on one knee beside her. Her heart melted when
she saw Blaze’s tear-soaked face.

“She’s alive . . . She’s alive!” Blaze
cried. He then rested his forehead on her collarbone and wept tears
of joy. Crystal heard a few nervous laughs escape from Blaze in
between sobs, and she regained enough energy to rest her hand on
his face. Gavril let a few tears escape his face as well and he
patted Blaze’s shoulder.

“I’m . . . alive . . .” Crystal muttered
hoarsely.

“Try not to speak.” Blaze whispered after
lifting his head, “Bogdan wounded your neck pretty badly.”

Crystal then realized that the skin on her
neck hurt and wondered just how bad the bruise must be. Then she
heard distant booming noises outside and cried in a hoarse voice,
“Bogdan . . . we have to stop him!”

“You are too weak right now,” Gavril
said.

“But only I can do it!” Crystal cried.

“Please, Princess, don’t push yourself,”
someone suddenly said.

Crystal then looked up to see a crowd
kneeling around her. Among her friends and dozens of other rebels,
who were also overcome with relief and joy, were several servants
and to her shock, even Daldussan soldiers kneeling before her. It
was one of those soldiers who had spoken to her, and then he
another soldier beside him stepped forward hesitantly. They both
knelt beside her and removed their helmets. The soldier that spoke
first knelt on the left and was slightly older and had dark hair
than the other soldier. The younger soldier had paler hair and was
thinner; he was the next to speak.

“We want to beg you for forgiveness,
Princess.” the pale-haired soldier said, “We were actually once
soldiers for King August, but when Bogdan invaded, we
faint-heartedly began to serve Daldussa.”

“We both have families,” the dark-haired
soldier explained, “and we feared what would happen to them if we
resisted. Every day I live with the regret of my decision to betray
your family, and all I ask now is that you find it in your heart to
forgive us.”

Crystal stared at both of the men, who bowed
their heads in shame. The crowd remained silent. Finally, Crystal
found the energy to speak, and she replied, “Did you have
children?”

“Yes, Princess. In fact, my youngest was
only a baby at the time,” the dark-haired soldier answered
softly.

“No child should live through the horrors of
watching their father die.” Crystal said, “I have lived that
nightmare, and so I understand why you did what you did. That being
the case, I forgive you both.”

Both of the soldiers bowed their heads again
and wept.

“Bless you, Your Majesty,” the pale-haired
soldier cried.

“Same to both of you,” Crystal
whispered.

All of a sudden, Crystal then felt a warm,
pulsing sensation throughout her body. She saw everyone in the room
begin staring at her. Blaze looked upon her with a stunned
expression and suddenly stammered out, “Crystal, you’re
glowing!”

Sure enough, Crystal looked at her hand and
a white aura surrounded it and was pulsing with light.

“Self-regeneration!” someone from behind the
crowd cried.

Everyone turned around to see none other
than the Elders of the City of Magi standing by the doorway to the
throne room. The crowd stood and moved out of the way for the
elders to approach Crystal. Bredewig had been the one who spoke,
and as soon as he stopped before Crystal, he continued, “Only a
holy mage can achieve self-regeneration!”

Crystal remembered the book she read about
it in, and at the same time, felt her body’s strength slowly
returning. She not only realized that she had learned holy magic,
but she also finally realized what was stopping her in the first
place.

“I understand now.” she muttered, “Malcolm
told me my negative emotions were stopping me from using holy
magic, and I now know why. I couldn’t find a way to forgive Bogdan
for what he did and because of that, my hatred for him overcame me.
In order to defeat him now, I have to find a way to forgive him for
his terrible deeds.”

“How will you do that?” Halmez asked, but
Crystal had a feeling that he was giving her a push in the right
direction rather than trying to get an answer.

Crystal closed her eyes and thought about
the very first moment she saw Bogdan. He took everything she loved
away, destroyed her kingdom, and nearly killed her and her friends
on several occasions. She thought of the terrible things that
happened resulting from his wrongdoings, but then her mind did
something she didn’t expect.

She suddenly thought of the wonderful
experiences she had over the past ten years. She grew to love her
people more after she had to abandon her old life to protect them.
She trained day in and day out with Gavril and Thaddeus and became
a respected fighter. She not only made friends that she would die
for, but she also met and fell in love with Blaze.

Crystal realized that all of these memories
would never have existed if Bogdan hadn’t done the things he did,
nor would she be the strong person she was today. In a way, she
felt thankful that she had those hardships, for she didn’t want to
be anyone else than who she was now.

“Bogdan has done terrible things, but in the
end, he made all of us stronger by doing so. I would never have
been able to stand up for what’s right so easily before, and so, in
a weird way, Bogdan made me who I am today,” Crystal said.

“And who are you?” Halmez asked rhetorically
again.

“I am Amelia, and as of this moment, I
forgive King Bogdan,” Crystal replied.

Suddenly, Crystal’s entire body glowed even
brighter and she felt all of her energy return to her. Blaze held
her in his arms and watched in awe as the bruises on her neck faded
away. She finally gained enough energy to be able to sit up on her
own, but Blaze still cautiously held his hand on her back. Once the
glow finally began to steadily fade from her body, Crystal felt
more alive than ever.

The crowd began to let out cheers and
applause after Crystal rose to her feet on her own and stood
confidently before them. Blaze and Gavril stood on each a side of
her and she put a hand on each of their shoulders.

“All right, now let’s go stop Bogdan,” she
said to them.

“We will both protect you with our lives,”
Gavril assured her. He then placed his hand on her shoulder.

“That we will,” Blaze agreed and also put
his hand on Crystal’s other shoulder.

“We have come to aid you in the battle as
well. We have also already heard about what happened with Saitar
and we will not allow Thaddeus’s sacrifice to be in vain,” Halmez
said.

Even though Crystal was still saddened, she
pressed on, “Thank you, High Elder. How did you know to come
anyway?”

“We brought them.”

Crystal looked in the direction of the voice
and saw several rebels that had gathered at the entrance to the
throne room. Breuvial had stepped forward and Crystal then realized
that she was the one who had spoken. Kerali turned around and ran
towards her.

“Breuvial! You’re alive!” he cried. The two
elves met and embraced and for several minutes, Kerali wouldn’t let
her go even when Maryn and Taryn started snickering.

“Breuvial is my younger sister.” Elder Ydon
stated, “She led the women and children that survived the attack on
the rebel hideout to the City of Magi. She actually showed up not
long after the two of you left and asked to speak with me
personally. I then persuaded the other elders to allow the refugees
to stay in the city, so they are all waiting there.

“However, a few days ago, Elder Bredewig
made a startling discovery, and so we got a team together to come
to Cartigo immediately to wait for you, but by the time we got
here, we realized that Bogdan had already used the Eye of Gaull
when we saw him flying above Cartigo.”

“What discovery?” Crystal asked Bredewig.
The plump elder no longer had a shy or withdrawn demeanor, but
rather, he straightened up at the sound of his name with sureness
and confidence.

“Well, I was doing more research about the
Eye of Gaull when I realized something: why would Saitar offer to
give the Eye to Bogdan rather than use it himself? On a hunch, I
looked through Saitar’s belongings that he left behind and found
something startling,” Bredewig explained. He then pulled an old bag
out from under his arm and pulled a book out of it. It was a small
leather diary.