Eudora leaned eagerly from her perch high on the
wall. Her deep purple eyes stared wildly at me. Her long hair billowed and
crawled like snakes along the wall outside of her egg shaped perch.
“Take them, just take my powers if that’s what you
want but you have to promise that you’ll let us go.” I shouted fiercely up at
her.
At that, she sprung from her perch, her wings
fanned behind her carrying her to the floor.
“As I said before and I’ll say again, dear Eliza,
I am not without scruples, nor one to disregard the ancient laws of conduct. I
shall not take a gift from you without formalizing a covenant between us. A
covenant that once made will bind us forever until reclaimed.” She said, her
voice a slippery serpent weaseling its way toward me.
I had to focus hard on Eudora’s words to absorb
their meaning. Confusion was chipping away at my defenses and threatening to
overthrow my good judgment. I shot a worried look toward mother. If I stayed
here, in time, I’d become as forlorn as her.
“How will I know I have your word?” I demanded,
working hard to conceal my struggle from Eudora.
She flitted back and forth before me like a cobra
ready to strike. A twisted smile danced on her calculating face. She extended
one of her pale, slender arms. With her eyes locked on mine, she flexed the
long fingers of her other hand and a set of needle sharp nails sprung from her
fingertips, like the claws of a cat. With lightning speed she plunged her index
fingernail into the wrist of her other arm. When she removed it, a spurt of
dark purple blood sprung from the wound and wept onto the floor between us
leaving gooey droplets.
“Give me your hand, Eliza.” Eudora said in a
steely whisper.
I recoiled in disgust imagining her nails
skewering my wrist.
Eudora smirked. “Do not fear, Eliza, you have no
blood to give. Besides, the price you owe is worth something much more
valuable. Now extend your hand to receive my promise.” She commanded.
My hand floated from my side as if by its own
volition and displayed itself, palm up. Eudora drifted closer, lifted her
dripping wrist high in the air above my hand and began to speak.
Blood of mine, a promise made
To collect upon a gift of late
In return, freedom gave
Forever bound with the saved
Her voice slithered down the column of purple
blood pooling in my palm. The pool in my hand grew heavy and hard and before my
eyes the blood transformed into a dark red stone that curved and shimmered into
the shape of a water lily, like the amulet I had brought with me to Merepen
Hallow. But unlike the amulet, this stone sparkled like a live flower. From the
look of this stone, I understood why Eudora considered the amulet stale.
“For you, a reminder of the covenant. Now, for the
exchange.” Eudora said expectantly.
Her eyes grew round and the purple irises receded
until nothing was left but pitch black holes. Her long hair whipped around her
face like a mane of vipers.
I shrank away from her, clutching the stone in my
palm.
The scylla snapped and flexed their wings in
anticipation and the murmurs of their thoughts bombarded my senses.
Join us join us join us join us join us join us
Only then did it occur to me that the scylla did
not intend for me to actually join them but for my power to be passed into
their hands, becoming part of them. It was not me that would join them, only
the part that made me special.
As I stumbled backwards away from Eudora, she flew
closer, closing the short distance between us. Her long fingers reached out for
me as if to grab me by both arms. Just as the tips of her fingers brushed my
shoulders, a burst of light filled the room.
For a moment, the only thing I could see was fire.
Bright orange, hungry flames leapt across the room in every direction
accompanied by insane shrieks and furious hissing from the nereids.
When I finally gained focus on the scenery around
me I found that Eudora had vanished and the eager audience of nereids and
scylla had transformed into a chaotic mob. The creatures swirled around the
forum like uncoordinated bats smashing into walls and colliding with each other
as they fled toward the many exit tunnels lining the room. In the midst of the
chaos, I dropped to the ground and scurried along the floor to the place where
my mother sat huddled against a wall staring wide-eyed at the confusion above.
Balls of fire seemed to erupt out of nowhere and
flew menacingly toward the frantic clusters of nereids flapping around the
room. Flames splashed onto the walls of the forum and raced toward the ceiling,
crashed to the ground and exploded into the air like fiery geysers. Smoke and
heat filled the room. I pressed myself into the wall and protectively wound my
arm around mother’s arm.
Through the haze I saw Eudora hovering high in the
air, nearly touching the ceiling. Her face was contorted in an expression of
fury as she stared toward one of the tunnels. I followed her gaze. There,
framed by the blackness of the tunnel’s depth, stood Ren. His arms were
extended at his sides and in his hands he balanced two enormous balls of fire.
He was searching the room, no doubt having lost track of me as soon as the mob
took flight. But as soon as I set eyes on him, his gaze quickly found me.
“Eliza!”
I heard his voice in my head as clearly as if he’d
uttered it into my ear.
“Oh no! What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be
here.” The words were just a thought but somehow, I knew he’d hear me.
“Eliza, what she told you about your mother isn’t
true. I’ve come to get you out of here!” He responded and with a determined
look, launched one of the balls of fire directly toward Eudora.
Eudora’s shriek could be distinctly heard above
the din.
Ren dashed across the room toward the place where
I stood against the wall.
“We won’t be able to leave without her permission.
She’s too strong.” I said fearfully as he crossed the space toward me.
“That’s just this place making you doubt yourself.
She lied to you. She sapped your mother dry of her given power and now she’s
trying to trick you into giving yours to her too. Cora foresaw the trap Eudora
set for you and helped me get here. Eudora’s magic is strong but not strong
enough to keep us here.” He said finally reaching me.
It appeared that the angry nereids were gathering
their wits. They began to swirl in a smooth school around Eudora and the
cacophony of their disgruntled thoughts was getting louder.
I reached out to touch Ren. “Thank you.” I
thought, my heart nearly breaking with gratitude.
A relieved grin spread across his face.
“We didn’t know if I’d be too late.” He said, this
time his voice flowed from his mouth and sounded like music to my ears.
I launched myself into his arms and fiercely
hugged him.
“Alright, let’s go!” He said pulling away from me
and grasping my hand.
“Wait!” I shouted as he tugged me away from the
wall.
“Mother!” I glanced back at her crouched form.
I ran back to the wall and pulled her to her feet.
“Come on. I’m taking you home.” I said as I pulled
her to the place where Ren waited for us.
We ran full speed toward the tunnel opening where
he’d entered. But within inches of slipping through the portal a dark figure
passed over our heads and dropped before us, blocking our escape.
“I don’t believe we’ve met. Eliza, won’t you
kindly introduce me to this intruder?” Eudora asked. Her wings spread wide
behind her completely blocking the large tunnel. Her lips tweaked in a menacing
smile.
“You must be quite the wizard to slip undetected past
my dear scylla.” She cooed at Ren.
“Your tricks aren’t going to work on me Eudora.
Step aside. We both know you have no authority to keep us here and there are
powerful witches on the other side expecting our safe return. That is, unless
you’re interested in instigating a war.” Ren threatened.
Eudora tapped her talons against each other
creating a sound like clinking glass. Her large eyes had transformed from black
to eerie purple and she shifted her gaze around the room.
“Why of course, you are free to leave, intruder.
But you see, Eliza and I have made a bargain and until she’s provided payment,
she’ll have to stay.” She hissed and leered at me.
“Oh really? I happen to know that Nia’s already
paid her debt and you’ve kept her here without cause for longer than the
ancient laws of conduct would condone. Let’s stop this rouse, Eudora. Eliza
owes you nothing.” Ren said evenly.
Anger flared in Eudora’s eyes and her lips drew
together suggesting she might spit nails. Then her expression smoothed to one
of cool calculation.
“Maybe you are unaware of the fact that Nia came
to Merepen Hallow of her own volition. She has always been free to leave but
hasn’t, you see. I believe she likes it here.” She said innocently gesturing
toward Nia with a malicious laugh. “Intruder, I believe there is something you
are not being honest about.” Eudora continued coyly.
Ren tried to maintain a confident face but I
sensed him tense up at Eudora’s challenge.
“It’s true. I may be testing the strength of the
ancient laws but, you see, I don’t believe laws are worth much if there is no
one to enforce them.” She said. “And if you three little witches never return
there isn’t a thing your kind can do about it, particularly after I claim
Eliza’s powers.” She sneered and lunged toward me.
I leapt out of the way and as Eudora flew after me
Ren sprang into action.
“Eliza! Drop! Now!” He thought.
I did as he suggested and felt the searing ball of
fire sail over my head and crash into Eudora’s back. She screeched and wailed flapping
and falling to the ground. While she was injured, Ren hurled another enormous
fireball at her and she smashed against the wall.
“Let’s go!” He shouted.
He pulled my mother to her feet and tugged her
toward the opening of the tunnel as I dashed to meet them. Instead of chasing
after us, the sentries whirled distressingly around Eudora.
“Quickly before they notice!” Ren said in a harsh
whisper.
“I hope you remember the way out.” I said as we
dashed down the long tunnel away from Eudora’s forum.
“Me too.” He said as he studied the roundabout of
tunnels we were rapidly approaching.
“This way.” He said quietly turning off into a
smaller, narrower tunnel.
My mother and I jogged after Ren in silence and
with each change in direction, my anxiety mounted. One wrong turn could result
in permanent imprisonment in Merepen Hallow. At last, I heard the sound of
dripping water in the distance and within moments we stepped out of the tunnels
into the cavern with the dark pool that would lead us toward home.
I suddenly remembered that while Ren and I had
come to Merepen Hallow as Shadows, my mother was fully human. Could she make
the journey through the water without the nereid’s help or would she drown? The
wings of panic returned and beat against my chest.
Out of the shadows of the cavern came a familiar
voice.
“She’ll never make it to your world.” The voice
said mockingly.
Mizell emerged from the shadows with a satisfied
smirk on her face. I shot a panicked glance at Ren who met my gaze with an
equally worried expression.
“That is the beauty of Nia’s condition. Fully
human and fully ours.” Mizell taunted.
“What can we do?” I thought.
“We’ll just have to… try.” Ren thought haltingly
but I sensed the doubt in his mind.
“Complete the covenant, Eliza. It is your only
choice.” Mizell said with exasperation as if she was bored by the conflict I’d
already caused. “Or Nia will die alone.” She snapped, glaring at me.
“Ren…” I said apologetically.
He glanced between me and the dark pool,
desperately struggling to come up with a solution. The sound of beating wings
began to pour through the tunnels surrounding the cavern. Once the swarm
arrived, our decision would be made for us.
“Ren you have to go or they’ll trap you here too!”
I thought frantically.
Then with a tender gaze. “It’s my fight? Remember?
Please go.” My heart broke.
We stood at the edge of the passage that would
lead to freedom, a freedom I hadn’t yet earned. The whir of the scylla’s wings
grew louder pounding through the tunnels.
I looked back at my mother and surprisingly she
was staring intently at me as if she’d been paying attention to our dilemma all
along. There was a new lucidity in her gaze and for the first time I saw her,
really saw my mother behind those eyes. And her eyes said, “Go!”
Before I realized what was happening, she lurched
forward and shoved me into the water. Shocked by the cold and disorienting
darkness I flailed about trying to reach the surface but the sucking current
that had brought me to Merepen Hallow apparently worked the same way when
exiting. Despite my frantic kicking in the direction I believed was up, a force
like a powerful undertow tugged me in the opposite direction.
“Eliza!” I heard Ren’s thoughts close to me.
“I’m here!” I thought, hoping he could hear me.
There was a blaze in the distance moving with the
same current that pulled me through the water and I tried my best to move
toward it.
“I see you.” I thought.
“I feel you.” He thought and the blaze moved
closer to my side.
Before I could see his face, I felt his hand fumble
in the darkness and find mine. The strange whirling fireball went out as soon
as we touched.
“Mother.” I thought, my heart plummeting in
despair.
“I’m so sorry, Eliza. We’ll find a way to get her
back. I promise.” He thought.
“She saved me.” I thought with misery and
amazement.