Shadow Fire (32 page)

The glade is sheltered from the worst of the weather and though we can hear the wind howling, we don't feel it at all. Zane spreads out a cloth and prepares a small picnic while Taranis heads to the creek to refill our water flasks. We eat a quick dinner of bread, jerky and cheese. My stomach tries to reject the food, my nerves making it difficult to tolerate anything. Zane and Taranis cajole and beg until I give in, eating some bread and cheese. Though, I downright refuse to have any jerky. For some reason the idea of jerky is turning my stomach right now. After we finish eating, Taranis digs in his pack and pulls out a small bundle.

"Close your eyes and open your mouth, Ashlyn," Taranis orders through laughter. "I bought a surprise for you in Karina."

"I don't think so," I reply, eyeing the suspicious rogue.

"Where's your sense of adventure, my angelic beauty?" Taranis coos. "Come on, I promise you won't regret it."

Zane watches the exchange with an amused expression.

"He won't stop until you give in, Love," Zane says smirking.

"I can't believe you're taking his side!" I gasp at Zane. "Fine, you win, Taranis." Sighing, I close my eyes and open my mouth.

He places something on my tongue, and I have a moment of confusion before my taste buds explode in delight. It's chocolate; I adore chocolate, a rarity in Verdane. I savor the small piece of heaven until it has melted on my tongue.

"Thank you, studly rogue." I giggle in delight when he hands me another piece.

"You're very welcome, fiery temptress," Taranis replies, bowing his head.

"Dear Goddess, you're both making me ill," Zane groans, dropping his face into his hands. "It's time to sleep, so not another word out of either of you!"

Zane throws his cloak to the ground before picking me up in his arms and placing me on top of it. He lies down beside me. I curl up in his arms with Taranis close on my other side. The stone floor is hard and cold under my body leaving me to wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight. In the dim light I manage to find Zane's lips with mine, kissing him with the lightest of caresses.

"Good night, my beloved, enchanting prince," I whisper against his lips.

"Good night, my precious, captivating nymph," he whispers back before capturing my lips again in a slow, gentle kiss.

When his lips leave mine, I curl up against his chest, closing my eyes. Before long, exhaustion overtakes me and I drift off to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rosemary's Ghost

A strange sound awakens me while my heart tries to beat its way out of my chest. My eyes fly open, and I glance around without moving my body. Based on their even breathing, Zane and Taranis are still fast asleep. Closing my eyes again, I concentrate, trying to locate the source of the sound. It's emanating from within the ruins. A haunting, feminine voice is calling my name. My eyes open again. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Shadow and Freya also seem to be fast asleep. Would everyone sleep through the voice if it were real? It calls my name again.

"Ashlyn." A soft, plaintive cry echoes up from the ruins.

Though my stomach is tied in knots at the mere thought, I must investigate the source of the voice. When I have to wrench my body from Zane's embrace, I'm shocked he fails to wake. Taranis doesn't stir either, though I kicked him a few times while freeing myself from Zane's iron grip. Perhaps I should wake them and let them know where I'm going.

"Bring the pendant, Ashlyn," the voice cries in the darkness.

The pendant?
Crawling over to Zane's pack, I locate the pendant in a side pocket. With it concealed in the velvet pouch, I don't feel the urge to put it on.

"Come alone," the disembodied voice whispers through the darkness.

Well that won't happen; I'm not heading into those ruins alone, no way. As I'm shaking Taranis to waken him, his arms wrap around me, trapping me against his chest. He mumbles something incoherent in his sleep.

"Taranis," I whisper. He sighs and continues to sleep. "Taranis!" I say louder this time. When he still doesn't stir, I try to wiggle out of his tight embrace. "Taranis, wake up before you smother me!" His eyes fly open, shock apparent on his face.

"Why are you lying on my chest?" he asks, loosening his arms. I fall down onto the ground next to him, gasping for air.

"There's a voice calling out to me from within the ruins. I need to go investigate," I say when I manage to catch my breath. He stares at me for a moment before shaking his head.

"Wake up Zane, we aren't going alone."

"I don't want to wake him," I whisper. "I think it's the ghost of his mother calling out to me." Taranis's eyes are wide as he absorbs my words. He starts to get up then I see anger cloud his eyes.

"Why do you have the pendant?" he asks, trying to snatch the pouch from my hands. "Zane told me what it is."

"The voice said to bring it," I reply, trying to keep the pendant away from him.

He makes another grab for it. Lurching to my feet, I try to run away from him. He tackles me to the ground, and the pendant flies from my hand. It slides across the stone floor landing by Zane's sleeping form. I try to struggle, to escape, but Taranis lies down on top of me, preventing any further movement.

"Don't you find it the least bit odd that Zane is sleeping through the ruckus we're making?" he asks, his voice strained from controlling my struggling body. "Ashlyn, snap out of it. Use your head. Something is wrong," he sputters. "Don't. Make. Me. Hurt. You," he says, emphasizing each word. The haze surrounding me starts to clear like a dense fog lifting.

"Taranis?" I whisper. "It's okay. You can let me go now."

"Not likely," he retorts, "do I look stupid to you?"

I relax beneath him, trying to show I'm back to myself. His eyes are boring into mine, just daring me to try to escape.

"Zane!" he yells. "Wake up!"

Zane stirs and rolls over to face us. His eyes widen before turning to a dark glare as he takes in Taranis's body smothering mine.

"Taranis! What in blazes are you doing?" Zane demands, rushing over to us.

"Ashlyn went a bit crazy," the rogue says. "I'm trying to keep her from doing something stupid." When Zane just stares at him, Taranis adds, "She had the pendant out. I was afraid she'd put it on."

"Zane, get this lunatic off of me!" I shout, renewing my struggles. "He's hurting me!"

"Where's the pendant?" Zane asks.

"Behind you," Taranis answers. Zane walks over and picks up the pendant then places it back into his bag. There's a brilliant flash of red light, which disappears as quickly as it appeared.

"I put a strong sealing spell on my pack. It should keep her out of it for a while at least." He walks back over to where Taranis and I are lying in a tangle of limbs. "Try releasing her. Let's see what she does."

Taranis obeys and lifts his body from mine. I'm drained from the fight against the faceless, hypnotic power and my struggle with Taranis. Zane moves to my side, scooping me up in his arms. He carries me back over to his cloak, lowering himself to the ground with an easy grace. Taranis sits down next to us, his eyes pensive.

"I can hear the voice again," I whisper. "It's heading this way."

I collapse against Zane's chest and point toward the dark entrance to the ruins, desperate to close my eyes rather than see a ghost. A silver glow begins to materialize in the darkness, taking the shape of a woman. She's wearing a long flowing white shift, and hovering several inches above the ground. Her light brown hair billows out behind her, floating on a nonexistent breeze. She appears so lifelike, barring the fact that she's translucent.

"Mother?" Zane whispers, shock evident in his voice.

"Thank you, Taranis," the ghost says as she approaches us. "You saved my son and the woman he loves from Delistaire's insidious trap." Zane starts to reach out to her then stops.

"I can't believe it," Zane murmurs. "How can you be here?"

"My spirit is bound to the realm of the living by that dreadful pendant. Delistaire still has control over me even in death," she says, her eyes radiating such deep sadness. "I have quite a bit to tell you before he realizes his trap has failed."

"What trap?" I ask in a soft whisper.

"I was to convince you to put the pendant on so he'd be able to control you. Barring that I was to lead you and Zane to your death in an oubliette within the ruins." Zane cringes next to me, and I wrap my arms around his neck to comfort him. "Taranis saw through the trap and stopped you. I'm eternally grateful for his vigilance."

"Should I destroy the pendant to free you?" Zane asks.

"You can't. Not yet anyway," the ghost says. "You'll need it within the ruins to enter the room protecting the Goddess Statue."

"Why is the statue so important?" I ask the question I‘ve wondered about my entire life.

"It contains great magical power, the power of the Goddess Reiki herself. Her statue allowed the whole continent of Meliar to flourish. Delistaire coveted the power contained within for his own evil purposes. He kidnapped one of the Goddess Shrine Maidens and forced her to take the Goddess Statue. When the Shrine Maiden was unable to unlock the magical power within it, Delistaire brought them to me. I called to my brother, Hosea, telepathically. Back then he was an archsage rivaling Delistaire in power. He teleported to my side and ran off with the Shrine Maiden and the Goddess Statue. Then he brought it here, and I placed a powerful light barrier around the entire ruins to seal it within." She pauses for a moment. We remain silent, waiting for her to continue.

"Delistaire can't break through my light barrier. Even if he could, he wouldn't be able to touch the statue. Lore throughout the centuries has always made it clear that only those of pure body and soul are able to handle the statue. I wove a spell into my light barrier so only a pure soul, of their own free will, could remove the statue from these ruins. This way he could never force anyone to obtain the statue for him. When I heard Verdane had started sending a Chosen to retrieve the statue, I realized Delistaire must've figured out what I'd done and interfered. The pendant made it impossible for me to do anything to openly defy Delistaire. So in an attempt to thwart him I changed the sealing spell to only open in the presence of this pendant. I knew that were a Chosen to retrieve the statue, it would end up in Delistaire's possession immediately."

"You set up the Chosen to fail." My voice is trembling in both shock and anger.

"I had no choice," she insists. "Delistaire was already too powerful. I couldn't allow him to add the power of the Goddess to his arsenal." She turns to eye me. "You're a powerful light mage. My brother, Hosea, sealed your power when you were an infant in an attempt to hide you from Delistaire. Unfortunately your power started leaking through the seal over the last few years as it grew stronger. Delistaire discovered your existence when your light aura flared up for a brief moment four years ago, probably in a moment of extreme duress."

Zane kisses the top of my head, his strong arms tightening in a protective embrace. The images of that long ago attack flash through my mind, faded now, and easier to endure.

"When you became the Chosen, he saw his chance and made the fatal mistake of sending the pendant to you. He thought he could control your light magic and obtain the Goddess Statue. Fortunately it backfired on him. Zane recognized it and kept it away from you. The pendant also completely awakened your latent magical power. You're strong enough to destroy Delistaire. Retrieve the Goddess Statue. Delistaire will come to claim it. Don't hesitate. You must kill him immediately. Don't let him gain the power of the Goddess," she says as her image begins to fade.

"Mother!" Zane shouts. "Wait, don't go."

"Destroy the pendant once you have broken the light barrier within the ruins. Then I will finally be free. I love you, Zane. I'm so sorry…" Her voice trails off and she fades away.

Zane is shaking in my embrace. Upon closer inspection, I notice he is seething with rage. Leaning into him, I place soft kisses along his jaw trying to calm him. His shaking begins to subside.

"Well my friends, dawn is fast approaching," Taranis says. "Shall we finish this?" Zane nods and rises from the ground.

"Are you ready, Ashlyn?" Zane asks, eyeing me.

"Yes."

"Taranis?" Zane asks, walking over to the pirate.

"I'm ready," he says with a wide grin. Zane places his hand on Taranis's shoulder.

"Thank you for saving us from Delistaire's scheming," Zane says. "You saved my mother too. I hate to think of the pain she would've felt had the plan been successful."

"I'm glad I was here to help," Taranis says. "Now enough talking, I feel like kicking some butt." He grabs his pack and waits by the entrance to the ruins. "Coming?"

"You know it," I say, grabbing my pack and joining him at the entrance. Zane picks up his pack and walks over to us.

"Let's go," he says, taking a torch from the wall and lighting it.

I grab my own torch and follow suit. Just as we are about to enter the ruins, Shadow comes racing up.

"Stay here with Freya, Shadow," Zane commands. The wolf whines but obeys, curling up on our cloaks. I light a third torch and hand it to Taranis. Zane glances at me and I nod, then we cross the threshold into the ruins.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Breven Ruins

The tunnel is cramped, the air stale and musty. My heart races, my brain insisting there couldn't be enough air in this small space. Somehow I manage to resist the overwhelming urge to flee back outside. Forcing myself to take calm, even breaths, I follow behind Zane on shaky legs. The ceiling is low, forcing Zane and Taranis to crouch down to move forward. Slippery marble lines the walls and floor of the tunnel, descending gradually underground. I can't see around Zane to know how far the tunnel extends. My mind is screaming, terrified of being trapped in this small space between the two men.

When we emerge from the tight tunnel into a large square antechamber, I gulp down several large breaths of air. On the far wall stands a massive stone door flanked by two enormous statues of the Goddess. There are smaller wooden doors on the left and right walls. A large, open skylight in the ceiling allows the morning sunlight to filter through and fresh air to fill the room. Raising my face to the skylight, I take several more deep breaths, though these are much calmer than my earlier frenzied ones. Zane walks forward and lights the two torches held in the stone hands of the Goddess statues.