Haven: Revenge of the Viper (21 page)

But Sam was only half paying attention. It frustrated him that everyone in the room knew his mother and her life better than he did. The more the night progressed, the more Sam felt like his mother’s memory was fading away, morphing into some stranger he had never met before.

“Tantalizing eyes they had,” Sonia uttered, still standing in the same spot, her eyes blank and dreamy.

“Oh, snap out of it!” croaked Tosya as she nudged Sonia in the arm. “Will someone please tell me what is going on?” she continued, placing a hand to her chest and trying to catch her breath. “How is this possible? Where is Alisa? Is she here too?”

“She’s dead,” Sam said abruptly. Tosya’s rambling came to a halt. Her narrowed eyes softened as they met Sam’s piercing blue gaze. “My mother’s dead,” he continued. “She died tonight trying to save my sister and me.” His monotone voice seemed distant and disconnected. “She’s lying right behind you.”

The words made Tosya and Sonia flinch. They looked at one another as if to summon the courage they would need to face the truth. As they turned, their eyes fell to the covered bodies lying on the floor behind them. Tosya placed a hand to her mouth and Sonia squeezed Tosya's arm. For the first time the two witches saw the strands of long brown hair exposed near the edge of the blanket.

Tosya opened her mouth to speak but then closed it as Sam continued. “That’s why it’s so important that you answer Holly’s question. Is there another way to cure my sister?” He took a step closer, his imploring gaze meeting Tosya’s heartfelt eyes. “She is the only family I have left and I need your help to save her.” Tosya’s eyes began to fill with tears. “Please, I can’t lose her too. Please, Tosya.”

Tosya’s stare wavered under Sam’s persistent stare, and her bottom lip quivered as she spoke. “I … I can—”

“Please,” Sam insisted, not giving her a chance to reply, “help me.”

He knew he seemed relentless in his pursuit for an answer, but this was his sister he was talking about and if there was a way to save Sarah he was going to find it.

“You don’t understand, Samuel,” Sonia whispered. Her voice sounded frightened and feeble.

“What?” he asked. “What don’t I understand? Tell me.”

“The quest is far too dangerous,” she said, looking to Sarah. “To venture down this road would be madness. The journey alone could kill you.”

“Tosya, please. You’ve said enough,” Sonia said softly. “Think of Alisa … what Alisa would have wanted.”

“My mom would want me to save my sister,” Sam said sharply. He was looking at Sonia when he spoke but she would not meet his gaze. Frustrated, he turned back to Tosya, determined to make his point. “Please, Tosya, tell me what you know. Tell me how I can help her, how I can save Sarah.”

A single tear traveled the length of Tosya’s withered cheek as she looked up at Sam. “The Elixir of Life,” she finally confessed. Sam could not help but notice the tone of despair in her trembling voice. Her will to fight had suddenly vanished the moment she’d seen his mother’s body.

“Tosya, no,” Sonia groaned.

Demetrius and Holly exchanged worried looks, but it was Lyra who spoke first.

“But that’s just a myth, an old wives’ tale,” she said suspiciously as a small frown line appeared on her forehead.

“No,” Tosya said softly, “the truth becomes a myth when death robs it of its proof.”

Travis raised an eyebrow and looked over at Sam. “Um, that sounds … bad.”

“The journey would be very treacherous. You could not do it alone.”

“He would not be alone,” Holly added quickly as she moved closer to Sam. Her face was burning with a defiant glare.

Sam felt warmed by Holly’s gesture. He would need her help but he was fully prepared to do it alone if that’s what it took. He gave Holly a tight smile but she didn’t see him. Her eyes had not moved from Tosya.

Suddenly there was a flash and Vallen reappeared behind them in a haze of blue mist. “So, where exactly is this Elixir of Life?” he asked smugly.

Everyone turned to look at Vallen. Lyra glared and shook her head, annoyed at his flamboyant entrance. It was obvious that he had been listening upstairs the entire time. But by the look on his arrogant face, he didn’t care what anyone thought about his intrusion.

“It’s not
where,
” Sonia said coldly. “The Elixir is not something to be had, it’s something to be created.”

Demetrius and Holly exchanged bewildered looks. Lyra and Jacob said nothing but stared blankly at Sonia. Travis squinted and scratched his head; Vallen just looked aggravated now. Sam glanced around the room and felt relieved. For the first time everyone seemed to be just as confused as he was.

“What do you mean, Sonia?” Demetrius asked, his amber eyes bright with intrigue.

Sonia did not speak right away. Her lips were pursed and her posture became rigid as she contemplated her answer.

“The Elixir of Life has many ingredients, but only one rare component. Extremely rare.” Her cold stare did not falter when she looked into his eyes.

He returned her gaze and asked calmly, “And what is that?”

“Abyon,” Tosya said flatly as she fidgeted with her wand, spinning it between her thumb and forefinger.

Sonia sighed. “Well, now you’ve gone and done it,” she said. All her attempts at being stubborn and intimidating had vanished. “You’re going to get them all killed!”

As if she had been awakened from a trance, Tosya turned and glared at Sonia. Her white wolf stood at attention.

“He has a right to know and I will not take that from him!” she said, almost yelling now. “And the boy is right. Alisa would have wanted him to save his sister, to do whatever it takes, because she was a fighter and so is the boy. He’s a Dalcome for God’s sake!”

Tosya stood and abruptly stowed her wand in her pocket. Then she straightened her robes, indicating nothing more was to be said on that matter.

Sam felt a wave a vindication sweep through him and he almost smiled. But he couldn’t help but wonder who his mother and father were in this world they called Haven. He wasn’t stupid. He had pieced it together. His mother knew magic, she knew Holly—the letter in her Quarrem had proven that. Demetrius and possibly Vallen were her friends as well, all from another life that she was trying so desperately to protect him from. A life she had shared with his father before he and his sister were born. But why leave? What had happened that made them run from the only place they called home? Sam didn’t know all the answers, but it was starting to come together and soon he would have them all.

“Isn’t Abyon a tree?” Lyra asked. She looked puzzled as she stepped closer to Tosya.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind tree, from what I’ve heard,” Vallen said.

“Yes, that is correct,” Tosya said sharply, still a little agitated. “There were not many to begin with, but now they are virtually extinct. Only one Abyon tree exists today.”

“Where?” Demetrius asked, his interest peeked now. It sounded like he wanted to know as much as Sam did, which made Sam feel a little better about him. If Demetrius was a friend of his mother’s, then he would know saving Sarah is what she would have wanted.

Tosya’s eyes became heavy and her jaw drooped, as if she was recalling something very unpleasant. “In the valley of Shadowfay,” she said in a vacant tone.

There were shared looks of concern upon hearing this. Sam was feeling more uncomfortable by the moment. This was obviously not good news. Wherever this Shadow place was, no one seemed too eager to get there.

“The Valley of Bones,” Lyra muttered under her breath, her green eyes dark and distant.

Travis leaned over to Sam and whispered in his ear, “And that sounds real bad.”

“Yeah,” Sam moaned, looking disappointed.

“In the Valley of Shadowfay is a mountain. Inside that mountain grows the Abyon,” Tosya continued. Her eyes moved to Demetrius. “It is the seed of the Abyon that you must procure for the Elixir of Life.”

“That’s it? A seed?” Vallen scoffed. “We’re looking for a seed?”

“Vallen, let her finish,” Demetrius objected.

Vallen threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

Tosya looked to Demetrius, who gestured for her to continue. “There is a reason why the Abyon is so rare. A single seed of the ancient tree drops once every thirty years and dies within a year if it does not take root,” she said.

Sonia looked to Sam. She placed her stubby hand on her round chin and began shaking her head, which made Sam feel even worse. The room filled with heavy sighs and Demetrius put a hand to his forehead.

“The odds of you finding a seed are infinitesimal, Samuel, much less finding it alive. Not to mention you would have to survive the journey through Shadowfay and into the mountain where the Fay live. No one has ever done that before.”

Sam’s heart sank. Just like that, their only hope had been snuffed out. He looked away to the floating flames that danced against the back wall of the house and then down to his mother’s covered body.
What would you do, Mom?
he wondered.

But he knew the answer to that question. She would go. She would take the journey and never look back. She would do anything for her children. Sam took in a deep breath, straightened himself up and looked straight into Sonia’s eyes.

“When do we leave?”

Chapter 19

S
onia looked like she had been slapped in the face. Her round fluffy cheeks had turned red and her giant yellow eyes were so big that she reminded Sam of a toad.

“Wha … what?” Sonia stammered. “But … but you can’t!”

“I’m with the kid,” bellowed Vallen from behind the group. He tilted his staff in Sam’s direction and a pompous smirk spread across his face.

Sonia looked beside herself. Her head twitched back and forth between Sam and Vallen, and small curls of red hair began to fall from beneath her hood into her eyes. She looked to Demetrius in desperation.

“Demetrius, talk some sense into the child. This is too dangerous. He won’t survive.”

“You mean
we,
don’t you?” Holly interjected.

Another curl fell into Sonia’s face. “Demetrius, please!”

All eyes were on Demetrius; even the two white wolves were staring at the Master Keeper. Demetrius looked to be in serious thought, his amber eyes shifting between Sam and Travis, as if he was contemplating the risk of bringing them, or perhaps of taking the journey at all.

Without a word, Demetrius tapped Hollister’s pommel and the emerald gemstone ignited into a dazzling green flame. A piece of faded parchment appeared within the fire.

“Bellisoria, circumstances have changed,” he said as a smaller dark flame of yellow and purple burst onto the parchment and began to scribe his words. “I will not be returning to the Majesty. I will be taking the Dalcome boy to Ashaway Cottage. I will send you a scroll once I’ve arrived. There is much to discuss.”

There was a pause as the flaming parchment rolled itself into a tight scroll and disappeared into the emerald flame. Demetrius held Hollister by its shaft and waved his free hand dismissively through the flame. The flame vanished.

“Amazing!” Jacob gasped. All heads turned; everyone seemed to have forgotten Jacob, who had been standing behind Lyra quietly observing.

“Demetrius, no!” Sonia pleaded, “You can’t do this.”

“Enough!” Tosya said, glowering at Sonia. “We are here to give aid to the wounded and prepare the deceased for transport.” Her tone was absolute. “I suggest we get back on task, Miss Yazov, if you don’t mind!”

Calling Sonia by her last name seemed to jolt her into action. Her frustrated scowl slackened and with a heavy sigh she turned and walked toward Xavier’s covered body.

But Tosya wasn’t done yet. Her glare cut to Demetrius. “I know I’m just a healer, Demetrius, and my opinion counts for little, but the path you have chosen is extremely dangerous.” Demetrius opened his mouth to speak but Tosya held up her hand, to silence him. “Let an old witch have her say, will you?” Demetrius closed his mouth in a flat expression. “We just got the boy back after all these years. Don’t go getting him killed. Some chapters may have come to an end tonight,” her gaze fell to Alisa’s body and she let out a small moan, “but the boy is a new beginning.” She looked back up at Demetrius. “Keep him safe,” she said softly, her golden eyes bright with emotion. Then she turned without giving Demetrius a chance to respond and joined Sonia by Xavier’s body.

Demetrius said nothing. He stared at the spot where Tosya had stood. Holly, Lyra, and Jacob also seemed to be lost in thought.

Sam felt he should say something, something inspiring and uplifting—after all, he was the one that pressed the issue about Shadowfay. But who was he kidding? He couldn’t even argue with his sister without sounding like a complete moron, much less try to lift spirits. With his luck he would probably make someone cry; he was good at that.

Sam looked over at Travis, who was rubbing his wrists, captivated by the two witches preparing the bodies for their journey home. Tosya and Sonia moved next to Xavier and Alisa and pulled back the blankets, exposing their pale expressionless faces. The two Keepers looked at peace with their eyes closed. Maybe they were at peace, Sam thought. Tosya and Sonia lifted their wands and made a single sweeping motion over each body followed by three subtle swishes, first at the head, then the chest, and finally at the feet. Black ash materialized and fell like snow, gathering just inches above the bodies, as if it were falling on a flat, invisible surface.