I clenched my jaw in anger, feeling it churn in the pit of my stomach, and jerked my chin out of Mattis’ grasp. I had not felt such strong hatred towards someone since the mountains, when Jakob had nearly died at the hands of one I had trusted. I wanted to strike this man down, cause him the pain he caused others, but I knew I would not get a chance. He was a trained soldier, and I was only a girl who possessed something he wanted, not nearly his equal in a battle. A plan slowly formed in my mind, and I lowered my head to hide the slight smile that sprung to my lips.
“You win,” I said softly.
Mattis laughed. “I hadn’t expected it would be so easy, Leila. What do you have up your sleeve?”
I forced my eyes to meet his, and hoped they conveyed the hopelessness I wanted Mattis to see. “You win. My friends are all dying at your hands. If I can save them, I will.”
A sly smile spread across the Huryl commander’s face, reminding me of a serpent about to strike. He regarded me for a moment longer, trusting me as much as I trusted him, and nodded.
“There are terms,” I said. “I need to know my friends are safe. An escort will take them to the fishing village on the coast, on the edge of the desert. When my friends reach the village safely, one of them will tell your men a password. When your man returns here and tells me the password, I’ll give you want you want.”
“Shrewd, my dear,” Mattis complimented. “Very well. I assume you’ll need to visit your friends to inform them of your little plan? I would hate for them to die after all the sacrifices you’ve made to save them.”
My heart was thumping in my chest so loudly I was certain Mattis could hear it, yet I managed to keep my voice steady and bluff my way into my plan. The Huryl commander snapped his fingers again, and Lady Ellena reappeared at the edge of my vision. She waited patiently as Mattis stared into my eyes, trying to decipher the truth behind my terms. I forced myself to be calm, meeting his gaze easily, until at last he turned to Ellena.
“Take her to her friends,” Mattis ordered. “Heal them, and explain Leila’s terms. If they return to this camp to rescue her, make sure they understand they will die.”
Ellena nodded and I rose to my feet awkwardly, encumbered by the iron chains around my wrists. I held them up for Mattis to remove, but he shook his head.
“Not yet, my dear. Wait until your friends are gone, and I am certain you are mine and mine alone.”
My blood chilled at his words, but I turned away from him and followed Ellena outside of the tent. I was surprise to see that it was still daylight, with the sun nearing the western horizon. I moved as quickly as I could to match her long stride, but she kept a few paces ahead of me as we neared a heavily guarded tent. She motioned for the guards to leave and held the flap open for me to duck inside, following close behind me.
This tent was far from the luxurious tent in which I had awoken. The ground was packed dirt, and the fabric was thin and pocketed with holes so a steady wind blew through it. Twin stakes had been driven deeply into the ground, with chains looped through iron rings on each one that descended to the two figures lying on the ground. I gasped as I recognized the forms of Clothis and Will in the dying light.
I hurried to Clothis’ side, turning her over so she lay on her back, and brushing the hair from her fevered face. There was a gaping, bloody wound through her chest, and her breathing was coming in ragged gasps as her heart slowly poured blood out of her body.
“Clothis!” I exclaimed in horror.
“Day is fading, night has come,” a weak voice sang behind me.
I lay Clothis down gently and turned to Will. He was also feverish, but awake, his arm purple and soaked with blood. He stared straight up, muttering to himself. I placed a hand on his forehead, trying my best not to hit him with the heavy chains that burdened me. Suddenly, his hand reached up and caught my arm, and his green eyes staring into mine.
“Leila,” he gasped, his voice full of uncharacteristic seriousness. “The acorn! He sent me to take it, that was my mission. I gave it to him, and he left me to die. The acorn, Leila!”
His eyes rolled into his head and his grip on my arm loosened as I stared in shock. I turned to Ellena, who was waiting patiently at the entrance to the tent.
“Can you save them?” I asked pleadingly.
She nodded, and drew something wrapped in a piece of silk from the pocket of her gown. She tossed it to me and a thick iron key fell out. I picked it up and stared at her dumbly.
“I cannot do magic while iron touches their skin,” she explained. “Unlock their chains, and I will heal them. But you must chain them again once the spell is complete.”
“Why?” I asked. “Ellena, can’t you help us all?”
She smiled sadly at me. “Hurry. Lord Mattis will not give us all night.”
I scrambled to do as she bid, removing the heavy iron while keeping myself chained. When they were free, I stepped back and allowed Ellena to take my place between them. She knelt on the dirty ground, ignoring the marks it was making on her beautiful pale green dress, and held her hand over Clothis’ wound. I could smell the sweet fragrance of lilacs permeate the air as the wind suddenly picked up and whipped her blonde hair around her face. As her hair moved, I thought I saw the faintest traces of pointed ears hidden beneath the golden locks. A bluish green mist materialized above Clothis and settled onto her chest, disappearing beneath the skin. As soon as the mist was gone, Ellena withdrew her hand from Clothis and placed it over Will, and the mist returned to envelope him as it had the Dyrel.
The wind died down as Ellena rose elegantly to her feet and turned to me. Walking somewhat more slowly than before, she paused beside me.
“Return them to their chains, and tell them your message. I will wait outside. Don’t forget to leave the key in its proper place.”
As Ellena vanished into the fading sunlight, I did as I had promised, hiding the key Ellena had given me in Clothis’ hand. The Dyrel was awake and watching me with dazed eyes, blinking rapidly to clear her head.
“Leila,” she said thickly. “What happened?”
“Lady Ellena healed you,” I told her, scarcely able to keep the relief from my voice. Quickly, I told her the rest of my plan. She frowned in disapproval, but agreed, clenching the key tightly in her hand. I smiled and left the tent, where Ellena stood waiting with a smile on her face. Without a word, she was off and I followed a step behind her.
“Jakob!” I gasped.
The former soldier was also chained to a post by his wrists, but he hung in the air and spun like a piñata. He had been stripped to the waist, and was unconscious and scarred from the beatings he had endured. Once again, Ellena took a wrapped key from her pocket and handed it to me, urging me to free my friend. As I unlocked the device that suspended him in the air, he fell to the ground and I winced as he struck. I hurried to his side, as did Ellena, and pillowed his head on my lap as the sorceress summoned her magic to heal him.
“I can’t chain him up again,” I protested as Ellena’s magic faded. “The guards will kill him before sunrise.”
“When he wakes, we’ll bring him with us,” Ellena decided. “We’ll leave him with Aefynnelldar.”
Jakob moaned and I looked down at his face as his blue eyes opened to meet mine. He smiled at me, and I smiled back, tears sliding down my cheeks.
“I must have died,” he whispered. “This is how I imagined waking in the World of the Dead.”
I blushed and helped him sit up. Although his wounds were healed, he protested the movement as his muscles were stiff and sore. He spotted Lady Ellena and stared at her angrily as I quietly whispered my plan to him.
“Leila, are you sure?” he asked me.
“It’s the only way,” I replied. “Please, forgive me.”
“Come,” Ellena beckoned. “The daylight fades.”
We stumbled after her, our manacled hands clutching one another as best they could as the sorceress led us to the final tent. This one was the most heavily guarded, each soldier holding a quiver iron tipped arrows, or an iron sword. Ellena shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold as she pushed passed the guards to enter the tent. Jakob and I followed.
“Fynn!” I exclaimed.
In the centre of the room, not tied to anything but draped with heavy iron chains, was Fynn. He raised his head weakly at my cry and tried to smile, but I could see that even holding his head was an effort. I tried to run to him, but Ellena held up her hand to stop me.
“I cannot remove the iron from this tent,” she explained, “so his healing will be more difficult and not at all complete. He must be returned to his world to become whole again, but I will do what I can.”
I nodded and Jakob held me close as the sorceress walked up to Fynn and knelt before him. He raised his head to meet her gaze, a flicker of surprise and recognition passing over his features. She spoke to him in a musical language, and he replied in turn. I realized that it was the same language he had spoken earlier that day, when we had been ambushed by the Huryl guards.
Softly at first, but growing steadily louder, Ellena began to sing. The a silver light seemed to spring from her throat and surround Fynn, who closed his eyes and lifted his head to the music. The weight of the chains seemed to vanish from him as the music infused him with strength, and I felt tears spring to my eyes at the beauty of the song. It did not last long, and when Ellena was done, Fynn said a single word to her and she turned away in shame. She rose to her feet and walked towards us, her eyes downcast.
“It is done,” she said softly. “Leave your friend here, Leila, and we will return to Lord Mattis. I trust your plan is in place?”
I nodded. “Come with us, Ellena.”
“I cannot. My place, for now, is here. Come.”
I squeezed Jakob’s hand and threw a longing look at Fynn before following the sorceress from the tent. The sun had vanished below the horizon, with only a few lingering trails of orange and red left in the sky to mark its passage. I smiled to myself as Ellena brought me back to Mattis’ tent. It was the power of the spirits that he desired, and so it was the power of the spirits that he would have.