Into the Dark (The Conjurors) (37 page)

“Okay, you can jump now, Val,” Kanti whispered loudly after several heart-pounding minutes of feeling for footholds. Valerie looked down and saw, to her relief, that the ground was only a few feet below her. “Put your hood on. We don’t want any of the birds twittering our whereabouts to anyone.”

Valerie obeyed, pulling the hood of Kanti’s coat up, and then hurried after her down the cobblestone streets. For almost an hour, she and Kanti half ran, half speed-walked to avoid being noticed. Wherever possible, they took side streets and alleys. Adrenaline coursed through Valerie’s entire body, and she felt alert, noticing every detail of the people on the streets, from the bright feathers in the ladies’ elaborate hairdos to the stiff nods people greeted each other with as she kept a sharp lookout for anyone suspicious.

Finally, they reached the edge of town and entered a clearing next to the snow-covered forest. “Here you are,” Kanti said, panting slightly.

Valerie looked around, puzzled. “It looks like an empty field of snow. Where’s the tunnel?”

Kanti pointed up, and Valerie looked. A tornado of swirling air hovered above the clearing. Valerie’s eyes widened with nervous surprise when she saw her latest mode of transportation.

“Walk beneath it and jump; the wind will sweep you up. After awhile you’ll land in Dunsinane somewhere, from what I hear. Oh, and hang on to your hair.”

Valerie’s heart beat hard in her chest, but she didn’t want Kanti to know how terrified she was – not only of the journey to Dunsinane, but also what she’d have to do once she got there. “Thank you, Kanti, for everything.”

Kanti gripped her in a sudden, tight hug. “Azra and I will stop Zunya, and then we’re coming straight to you.”

“I know. It’s going to be okay.”

“It has to be,” Kanti said fiercely. Then she turned and ran in the opposite direction.

When Kanti had disappeared, Valerie called for Pathos from the callbox and strapped it to her side. Gripping the hilt in her hand lent her strength and eased some of the tension in her muscles. Then Valerie forced herself to walk purposefully to the middle of the clearing, beneath the wind tunnel. She squeezed her eyes shut, jumped and – nothing happened. She looked up, and the spinning air was still there. A few leaves blew around in circles inside of it.

She jumped up and down over and over again, but she stayed firmly planted on the ground. What was she going to do? Had she come this far only to mess it all up now? Then the air around Valerie changed, stirring the hair on the back of her neck. The breeze, gentle at first, blew harder and harder. Valerie remembered Kanti’s advice about holding her hair, but too late – the air was already swirling around her.

She felt her feet lift off the ground, and suddenly she was in the middle of the whirlwind. She was spun around in circles, and, for a few nauseous moments, felt as if she was going to vomit everything she had ever eaten. But then the spinning suddenly slowed as she was swept into the eye of the tornado, which was comparatively calm and still. For a moment, she hovered a few yards above the ground. Then, like she had been shot from a cannon, she was hurtling straight through the air. Beneath her, the ground was a blur of colors.

At first, Valerie found the trip frightening. There was nothing to hold on too except for her sword, nothing to support her except the swirling wind that she was in the center of. But as she got used to the feeling, she spread her arms wide. It was like flying. She realized that she could even steer herself a little, like a bird, and she made sure that she stayed in the center of the wind tunnel. No way did she want to be whipped around in the edges again. She felt free. The crisp wind and the exhilarating speed energized her. Maybe she would be able to defeat Sanguina after all, and in a few hours she, Henry and Cyrus would all be safe, she hoped.

The jagged purple peaks of the mountains of Dunsinane appeared in the distance. The wind whisked her up higher and higher, dashing her past piles of dusty rocks in the foothills of the mountains. Gradually, she felt herself moving slower and slower until she finally hovered above a huge, flat rock about the size of a football field. The whirling wind eased, and she was deposited gently onto the ground.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings. Her hair was a tangled mess. The landscape looked strange. Instead of the browns, greens and grays that she was used to seeing in nature, here the land was different shades of muted purple, and the few tufts of green weeds growing between the rocks stood out in sharp contrast. Purple was usually one of her favorite colors, but here it seemed eerie and foreboding.

Valerie felt a prickle of fear raise goose bumps on her arms. She felt so alone here, separated from everyone who cared for her. She scanned the skyline for the castle on the highest peak, and immediately knew where she was meant to go. Towering above everything was a tall, pitch black castle shrouded in heavy mist that looked as if it had grown straight out of the mountains themselves. It had dozens of pointed, narrow turrets, but not a single window. She began to sweat as she imagined how dark it must be inside, and how hard it must be for Cyrus, as a lightweaver, to be so completely deprived of light.

As she stared, the castle seemed to flicker. Then, right before her eyes, several new spires appeared on the fortress. She stared in amazement and a few seconds later, the castle changed shape again. This time a large turret on the side vanished. It was as if the castle was constantly morphing, unable to maintain one shape.

For a long moment, she stared, trying not to let the thought of what she was about to face intimidate her. Then she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and begin her climb up to the castle. But before she could take three steps, a loud laugh echoed off the rocky mountainside. She froze, her muscles instantly tense and ready to attack.

Suddenly the shadowy landscape came to life as Shade and his gang scurried out from behind the rocks like rats.  Before she could ready a clever retort about her last encounter with him, an instinctive prickle of foreboding made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.

To her horror, Zunya stepped out from behind a large rock. A crushing sense of defeat filled her. Her fight was over before it had even begun. She never had a chance; she had been doomed the moment she left the relative safety of Elsinore. The laurel circle was a ring of ice around her thumb.

As he walked slowly toward her, Valerie felt her power ebb, but her tactical instincts were as sharp as ever.  With a sudden revelation, she whispered, “Pathos!” and her weapon immediately disappeared back to the callbox. At least if she needed it later, she could call for it. She knew that she could never defeat them all, even with her power. Her best hope was to make them think that she would go peacefully, but keep a sharp eye out for an escape. She wanted to face Sanguina on her own terms, not as Zunya’s prisoner.

“You know what I love about humans?” Zunya said, his yellow eyes resting on Valerie. “How gullible and stupid they are.”

“But…but I heard you on the phone, at Cyrus’ house,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t sound so small and shaky.

“You really don’t grasp what magic is, do you? With a little help from Ani to rig the phone, I made sure your call was routed straight to me. The rest was a magical imitation of that pathetic lightweaver’s father. You know, I never guessed that you were so brainless when I watched you back on Earth.”

“And I never guessed what a scum-sucking lowlife you are,” Valerie snapped back, surprised that she was still able to think straight through her fear.

“You’ll address me with respect!” Zunya’s eyes flashed, and she saw a glint of madness in them.

“I would rather eat dung,” Valerie spat.

Without another word, Zunya grabbed her arm. It was pain like she had never experienced before.  Her scream pierced the heavy mist, reverberating off of the rocks. The pain shot through her mind and body, tearing her apart from the inside out. It was as if her magic was knit with her soul, and he was ripping it away.

“Uh, boss, didn’t Sanguina want to, you know, see her first?” Valerie heard Shade say dimly through her agony.

Zunya let go of her arm, and the absence of pain was so sweet that she felt as if she would faint from relief. Zunya looked at Shade in disgust. “You’re pathetic, no better than the rest of your little gang. I thought you wanted this one to suffer.”

“I do! I mean, do whatever you want, I was just saying…” Shade trailed off. He seemed so different from when Valerie had met him in the woods. He was stripped of his arrogant confidence. Shade and his gang were clearly ready to crawl through hot coals if Zunya asked. He was a kid, like her, she realized – a kid who was almost as out of his league as she was.

“Take her to the dungeon. Don’t speak a word to her – I’ll be watching every step of the way.”

Shade half led, half supported Valerie down a winding path through the rocks. She still felt so weak from Zunya’s touch that she could barely keep herself standing upright. Any hope that she had of defeating Sanguina evaporated. All she could do now was negotiate to keep Cyrus alive. Zunya trailed a short distance behind them, far enough that he didn’t suck away any more of her strength so that she was able to walk, but close enough to make sure that she didn’t try to escape.

Valerie felt the familiar ache of guilt and despair weigh on her soul, threatening to rob her last shred of strength. But she fought it. She wasn’t dead yet, and Zunya had to be keeping her alive for a reason. Even if it was only so Sanguina could finish her off, she still had one last chance. She hadn’t come all this way to give up now.

Finally, they reached the moat in front of the castle, which was bone dry. Up close, the castle still flickered, changing shape every few seconds. But certain parts of the castle never moved, she noticed as the giant iron door to the castle opened wide enough for them to walk through in single file. Inside, it was so dark that she could barely make out the high walls made of a strange, black stone that sparkled slightly in the light coming through the cracked door. The glittering stone walls disappeared as the door boomed shut behind them.

“When you’re done, report to me,” Zunya said to Shade, and then disappeared around a corner.

As Valerie’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, she saw that a few flickering lights hovered on the ceiling. They were balls of faint light that had been created by magic, and they provided so little light that she wondered how anyone could find their way around the castle without becoming hopelessly lost. Shade led her down a long passage. For several minutes, she heard nothing but the sound of her own breathing.

Then he surprised her by breaking the silence with an urgent whisper. “Look,” he said. “We got a score to settle, you and I. And I plan to collect – but this ain’t the time for that.”

Hearing the tone of his voice, Valerie felt hope. “Will you help me? I have to stop Zunya and Sanguina! They’re trying to hurt – or maybe even kill – my brother and my best friend!”

“Shut up! They got amazing hearing.”
    “Please?” she begged quietly.

Shade looked uncomfortable. “Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn’t. They’re too strong.”

“You could try! Tell them that I escaped,” Valerie said. Shade’s gang edged closer, not about to let her go anywhere.

“You escape and we answer for it,” he said. “Now shut up and listen. I can’t let you go, but I can give you some info that might help you. First off, don’t let Zunya touch you – ever. You’ll lose your power for good after a few minutes of contact. It’s way worse than my power-eater. You gotta avoid it at all cost, or you’re done for.”

“Gee, thanks, that’s really helpful,” she said, not quite managing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“You want to hear what I gotta say, or you want me to throw you in a dungeon cell that’s infested with snakes?” he said, towering over her threateningly.

She was still weak, but she was tempted to take him on anyway. Then Cyrus and Henry’s faces flashed through her mind, and she thought better of it. If Shade had information that could help her, she owed it to them to listen. “Sorry, go on.”

Shade nodded, satisfied with her apology, and continued. “Zunya’s not the worst thing in this castle. There’s this crazy lady who’s the boss of him, and you got to stay on her good side. If you don’t, you’ll either wind up in a cell until the end of time or you’ll disappear forever. Even Zunya obeys her.”