Chapter 14
Lost Opportunity
Sheila awoke to the sound of crying.
Not normal, human crying, but a plaintive, grating whine that when straight through her head leaving discordant echoes in its wake.
But when she opened her eyes, there was nothing unusual anywhere. The others were still asleep as well, as if they couldn’t hear it. But the noise continued, making her head hurt. She sat with her head in her hands, rocking slowly back and forth. Part of her wanted to scream, another part wanted to be sick. That noise was so full of pain and longing and cold, paralysing fear that she would have done almost anything to stop it.
But she didn’t there was something familiar about it. The changing pitch, the tone beyond the fear. What was it? She had to know. She did know!
Her breath caught in her throat. It was Uni!She almost shouted out, but then came the sudden fear that she as wrong. She couldn’t put her brother through that, not after everything they been through. What was she going to do?
For a moment, she looked round at the three others as they slept. Once there had been six others. But now, Diana was gone. Eric was gone. And Uni too. She had a chance to find one of them, somehow she had to take it.
As quietly as she could, she pushed herself up, ignoring the wave of tiredness and hunger. Maybe she was dreaming it. It was just a figment of her imagination, as she’d pushed herself almost as far as her physical and emotional strength could take her. They had to turn back today. They had no choice, they were out of food with next to no chance of getting any. Presto’s Hat…
The thought of the Magician mad her shudder. He was the worst of all of them. How he even managed to stand up in the morning was beyond her comprehension. She had to do something to help.
She could. She could find Uni.
With one more glance at the others, she turned away. Help me, Uni, she thought. Help me find you. Please.
= = =
For the most part of his journey, Eric had slept. It surprised him that, being so close to the bitch Seer, and so close to her Mirror as well, he could find any sort of peace. But he was more tired than he’d expected to be, and the constant swaying of the carriage lulled him into a dreamless stupor, so much so that he could only remember fragments of the journey.
For the most part, the Seer had ignored him, much to the annoyance of his pride. When she did speak to him, it was often to say some small, offhand comment.
From what he could remember, she had been excited, with the sense of anticipation growing every passing moment.
Throughout the journey, he’d had burned with the desire to escape, but he couldn’t. Before they’d left the Fortress she’d looked at him, and ordered him to stay with her as they travelled and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t disobey. He was furious at himself for his weakness. He’d never done what he was told before with such willingness; even his own Father had to use bribery to get him to cooperate!
There had been times when he had expected overmastering fear to overwhelm him as it had done so many time before but instead there was just the same emptiness he had grown so used to: Until the last few miles of their journey when he had realised exactly where they were going, that is.
He’d thought is couldn’t get any worse, not knowing how wrong could he be!
A means to and end, that was all he was, he knew. This woman, this Seer, was going to use him as a bargaining chip. He had no idea what she wanted but that didn’t particularly matter.
The Castle came closer, and Eric started to feel sick. A means to an end.
As the carriage stopped, and the door opened, he found he could barely stand up. A means to an end…
They were outside Venger’s Castle. This is what she had planned all along.
The terrible, forsaken feeling he’d felt back at the Seer’s Fortress returned full force. The others had been so close to helping, but they’d left him. They left him to Venger!
The image of the Arch-Mage as he’d seen him through the Mirror, came back to the Cavalier. And his sick feeling suddenly got worse.
Something was wrong.
He glanced to his side, at the woman who walked beside him, her head held high. She was insane for just walking in to his Castle like this, no defences, nothing but a prisoner, a Mirror and a couple of henchmen. Venger wasn’t gonna stand for this, not in a billion years!
But they just walked straight in, through the main gate, and were shown immediately to Venger’s Hall, as if they had been expected.
As they entered, the Arch-Mage stood, and bowed to the Seer. Eric swallowed the rising sickness in the back of his throat. This was not going to go well.
‘I have come for my reward, Venger,’ she said proudly.
Venger nodded, but instead of looking at her, he was looking past her to the covered Mirror just behind.
Eric knew all about danger, he had always had an excellent sense of self-preservation, but he couldn’t move. He felt to overwhelming urge to run, but he didn’t. Now he was here, he was going to have to stay until the bitterest end.
The Seer gestured to the Cavalier.
‘I have found your missing child, and the missing weapon.’
To his right, a man brought the Shield, his Shield, forward and placed in on the floor in front of Venger.
‘And what is it that you wish in return, Seer?’ Venger sounded resigned to his fate.
‘I wish for power.’
Venger’s expression didn’t change. We’re all dead! thought Eric.
There was a long, heavy silence in the Hall as they waited. Eric could sense the Seer’s growing impatience.
Finally Venger rose. There was no glee or emotions as he raised his right hand, burning fire at his fingertips.
‘No.’
He would have moved, but Eric was frozen in place with shock. Venger was staring at the Seer, pitiless and full of incredible power. She suddenly seemed to realise her mistake, but it was far too late.
Against his will, Eric started to tremble. Oh, God, someone help…
= = =
Venger looked at the woman, so proud and sure; her head held high and an arrogant smirk on her lips.
Under other circumstances, he might have lingered, he would have taken great pleasure in devising a fitting end to such insolence. But the time for finesse was over. His long wait was over.
And so, he had to be sure.
He flicked his hand and a fireball erupted from his fingertips. She was gone in an instant, leaving only an echoing scream and a charred pile of bones in her wake.
Only after the Seer was destroyed did he acknowledge his new prisoner.
= = =
She opened her eyes. It was dark.
Voices: I think there’s still something here; the noise hasn’t stopped; better be quick.
It was dark when she reopened her eyes, but with pinpoints of light, like dancing stars.
But this time there were noises she didn’t recognise. Or maybe she did. Loud, crunching noises, metal on metal and metal on stone.
She tried to call out, but there was something stopping her, a crushing weight on her chest, and pain all over her body.
‘Watch yourself, the joist’s gone!’
‘Can you still see it?’
‘Where’s that godamn crane!’
‘Were running out of time, this whole place is gonna go!’
‘Where’s the paramedic? We’ve got one!’
It was a dream. Surely it was a dream. Suddenly the pressure lifted off her chest, and there was a blinding light all around. Far behind, inside the light, someone cheered. For a few seconds she blinked at the light, the fuzzy shapes slowly forming some sort of focal point.
Then Diana saw.
And Diana screamed.
= = =
= = =