ANWEN WALKED SLOWLY, NOT SURE what lay in before her but trusting the voice calling out encouragingly. “Tyler? I can't see. Where are you?”
“This way.”
Something in the walkway caused Anwen to stumble and she went to her knees. “Ouch!” she hissed, trying to be quiet.
“You're almost there. Keep coming.”
Anwen got back to her feet, struggling for balance. It was getting harder to breathe, almost as if the flow of oxygen had been cut in half.
A strange smell permeated the air, one she couldn't identify. Despite that, she continued forward, trusting in the voice ahead of her. She managed to kick a loose stone on the ground, sending it scuttling forward. The resulting sound echoed as if from a large vault.
“That's close enough,” the voice said as it changed from Tyler's soothing tones to a harsher, more feminine one.
Light flared up all around, revealing a rough-hewn cavern. The stone walls were a dull red color and appeared to be made from sandstone.
Anwen had to shield her eyes. When she could look up again, she gasped. “You're not Tyler,” she accused, taking in the black-clad feminine form in front of her. As the spots began to fade from her vision, she drew in a disbelieving breath. “Daphne?”
“I wasn't sure if you'd remember my name,” Daphne confessed. “After all, we only did meet the one time. That's not to say I haven't kept an eye on you though, because I have.”
With a sinking heart, Anwen realized Tyler wasn't there. Chances were good he wouldn't be showing up either. She turned her gaze back to Daphne's triumphant face. “What do you want?”
Daphne sauntered closer, holding something in one hand, something Anwen couldn't identify. “For starters, I just wanted to prove what a complete idiot that Courtney is. And I did,” she smirked.
It was hard to understand what Daphne was saying, especially while her head was buzzing and her breath felt way too short. “What's that got to do with anything?” Anwen asked, determined to keep upright. Sweat beaded on her forehead as the fever raged.
Daphne shrugged, her high-heeled boots clacking against the stone floor. “She went after my little pet, didn't she? Not to mention she thought she was "all that", using her abilities to catch every boy in the village. Well, except for Tyler,” she allowed. "No one has caught his eye. Until now."
Blinking, Anwen finally realized what Daphne was carrying. It was a knife; similar to the one Tyler had given Courtney. “Wait. Are you saying you're a dragon mage?”
Daphne stopped right in front of her, using her bone blade to lift Anwen's chin. “That's exactly what I’m saying. Courtney always thought she was hot stuff, and I let her. It was so easy to pretend to be the good girl, to fool everyone. But I have a secret. And I knew from the start that you, like Tyler, weren't who you said you were. Am I right, Anna? Or should I say Anwen?”
Anwen's breath caught in her throat. She'd only told two people her real name since arriving. But how had Daphne known? And why had she just popped out of the stonework, almost literally, to confront her about it? “How do you know my real name?”
Daphne moved her blade towards Anwen's throat. She let it glide close enough for the auburn haired girl to feel the cold blade against her skin before moving it away.
“Oh puhleeze,” she droned. “As if it was all that hard to find out. After all, when you have the Fallen at your beck and call, you can learn anything. I must say you all put up quite the fight. Well, except for you. You were pretty pathetic out there.
“I've never known anyone who could be poisoned with so little trouble. And then you drowned and fell off the mountainside. I’ll concede that you did have a bit of help with each instance. But as far as defending yourself, you're pretty much useless, aren't you?”
Anwen clenched her fists. It was true she wasn't exactly useful in a defensive position, but she'd never considered herself useless. “You're wrong.”
Daphne rolled her eyes. “Don't make me laugh. Tyler and Courtney have covered for you this entire time. I doubt you could even kill a fly, even if your life depended on it.
“And now, here you stand before me, trying so hard to not fall over. It's just pathetic.” She swung a leg out, knocking Anwen to the ground.
Anwen went down with a thud, the air knocked from her lungs. She panted, trying to get her breath back. “Why? Why are you doing this?” she gasped.
Circling her prey once more, Daphne's heels clicked against the floor. “Why? Why not? You hang out with one of my sworn enemies, and wonder why? How stupid are you?” She kicked Anwen in the ribs.
Anwen winced. Spots began to form behind her eyes as she tried to suck in oxygen. “Why... is... it so hard... to breathe?”
Daphne shrugged as she stopped, looking down at the pathetic girl in front of her. “Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because I’m constricting the air around you. It's such an easy thing to do. I wonder why Courtney never mastered it. Of course, she never did go in for that part of the mage's art. More's the pity. She could have used it against my Cora. But, now, she'll just die. Cora's tail does carry a rather nasty sting.” She grinned with malice. “Serves her right.”
Anwen looked back towards the corridor she'd used to get to the cavern. It was completely dark. “What about your boyfriend?” she managed to croak as she mentally wracking her brain for any way out of this situation.
Snorting, Daphne waved an errant hand. “Josef? He all but swoons over me. Such an idiot! But he's been great for keeping my cover.”
She leaned towards Anwen and lifted a handful of her auburn hair, letting it slide through her fingers, cutting off a lock of it with her knife. “And he'll continue to do so until I’m ready to be done with him.”
“You're insane,” Anwen spat, forcing her lungs to work. More sweat beaded up on her skin. She felt as though the fire burning inside her body kept getting hotter with each passing moment. What she wouldn't give for a dip in the Lake right now.
Daphne straightened, the lock of Anwen's hair in her hand. She sniffed at it as though it were a delicate flower. “Such pretty hair, Anwen. Too bad you had to get in my way. But, I’m also glad you came. I never could have opened the Mountain on my own. The Ancients were too smart for that. Too bad you won't ever find out just how much they had invested in you.”
Standing tall now, she flashed her blade across the air as if to cut it. “And as for your name, Anwen Kaida," she spat, "there is only one Kaida. And that would be me. I am Daphne Kaida Millard, rightful heir of the Kaida line, descendent of the first Dragon Mage!”
The blade elongated into a shortened a spear, similar to the one Courtney had summoned back in the Ruined City.
Anwen cried out as Daphne thrust the point through her upper thigh, down to the bone. It felt like lightning had pierced through her and she wreathed in agony. Another thrust punctured through her left arm like a red-hot poker. She screamed again. Two more thrusts followed, one each to her other arm and leg.
Finished using Anwen as a pincushion, Daphne held her spear high, smirking. “And now, as the one who holds the true title of Kaida, I’m going to show you exactly what kind of power you will never have!”
She swung the weapon as if to cut long reeds with a scythe. Only, instead of cutting vegetation, she cut the air, throwing the Keeper against the rough wall with the motion.
Anwen's head hit the stone, cracking with the rest of her body as she rolled towards the floor, unable to move from the fierce pain. All she could do was pant, her heart pounding like it wanted to escape her chest. Blood ran down her face and limbs.
“I like that look on you,” Daphne smirked. “It's better than that awful ensemble you wore at the Dragon Moon Festival. It's disgusting how you all but draped yourself over that dragon boy. Of course, I wasn't certain he was one until he swooped down to save you.”
Anwen tried to think back to that incident, only hours ago. She'd thought she'd seen something like a dragon come streaming down at her after falling
from the path. But wasn't that just a dream? The moment its claws had closed around her, she'd passed out so she couldn't be sure.
“Tyler's a dragon?”
Daphne spun her spear like a baton as she moved over to lean against the cavern's wall. “You didn't know? Just how stupid are you?”
Anwen finally managed to make her muscles work once more, but it cost her. Every move sent a jolt of agony through her body, but she had to try and get away.
Weakly, she opened her eyes and saw the tunnel-like hallway only a dozen or so yards away. If she could reach that, maybe she could call out for help. She began to crawl like a snake, wiggling her body forward one inch at a time.
Daphne didn't even bother trying to stop her. Blood colored the floor and she threw Anwen's stolen hair into it. “It's too bad. I was so hoping you'd be a worthy opponent, but it looks like I'd have done better picking a fight with Courtney. She at least knows how to defend herself, even if she is no match for me.” She began to examine her fingernails.
Anwen didn't pay her any heed as she concentrated on her goal. I am not weak, she kept telling herself. Her vision began to swim again and she had to stop, closing her eyes as she gathered her energy once more.
Voices swarmed into her mind. They sounded like the ones she'd heard back in the Consecrated Hall.
Finished examining her nails, Daphne pushed away from the wall and sauntered towards her victim. Anwen so reminded her of a slug, leaving behind a sticky trail of bodily fluid. And like a slug, she had every intention of squishing her out of existence.
“It's a pity, really,” Daphne continued, as if no time had passed since her last comment. “If you'd had more time, maybe you could have stood a fighting chance, even in the condition you are in now.”
Anwen had managed to halve the distance to her goal. Blood and sweat blinded her, making her eyes sting. She felt like someone had put an anvil on top of her.
"Anwen, I need you to do something important for me."
She paused, hearing the voice of her father, just as he'd sounded that rainy night so many years ago. Behind her eyelids, she saw Mathias Porter raise a blue and white crystal sword high over his head.
"Keep it safe."
Anwen suddenly understood. The key was still in her pocket. Turning as best she could, she reached down with one hand. The fabric was stubborn, or her fingers fumbling, but she finally managed to grab the chain.
The mage started to pace around the room. Taking a pouch out of her pocket, she pulled out a pinch of dust, which she threw to the ground.
She continued to pull out more dust, casting it around the room at carefully measured intervals. The powder stank like sulfur. She began to mutter something under her breath as she walked.
Anwen finally managed to pull the key into her left hand. Rolling back to the other side, she grasped it like a miniature dagger and rolled to her knees, refusing to scream again.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember if Tyler and Courtney had done anything special to make their blades extend. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember.
The Keeper almost gave up but concentrated more forcefully on the image of the elongated sword. The crystal had grown before. It would again. “Grow. Grow!” she pleaded.
Daphne finished her circle around the cavern. As she did, she threw the last handful of foul smelling dust towards Anwen. It rained down across the auburn-haired girl, sticking like flour on wet cement. Or ashes.
Smiling to herself, Daphne raised both arms high into the air. She spread her arms apart so they made a V shape, chanting in some language Anwen didn't know.
“Grow!” Anwen all but shrieked, willing the blade to extend with every molecule of her being.
A flash of light filled the room with such brilliance that it blinded Daphne as she began her final incantation.
The blade of Anwen's key thrust outward, growing exponentially in size as energy coursed through her body. With shaking limbs, she got to her feet, wiping the sweat and blood from her eyes as she peered through her lashes.
Daphne blinked back the pain from the sudden intense light. She saw Anwen get to her feet as her vision cleared. “No!” She lunged towards the other girl, trying to knock the blade from her hand.
Hearing her enemy's cry, Anwen lifted the sword higher. It felt like she was cutting through time itself as she moved. Behind the brilliance of the blade, she realized Daphne was running towards her, a manic look in her eyes.
Letting out a cry of outrage, Anwen made the sword change course, straining under the unaccustomed weight of the blade.
The giant crystal came crashing down as Daphne reached to knock the sword from Anwen's hands. Both girl and blade collided in mid-air. Something like a sonic boom followed the contact, along with an even more blinding blast of light as Daphne screamed.
The Mountain shook and parts of the cavern's ceiling began to fall. Great chunks of rock cascaded around them as Anwen turned towards the exit.
Still holding the blade, she ran as best she could as the debris continued to rain down around, rubble hitting her until she fell to her knees.
Daphne was crushed underneath a slab of cracked stone that tore free from the ceiling.
Struggling past the debris, Anwen continued to move ahead on hands and knees. The crystal blade cut through anything it touched but did not keep the sky from falling around her.
Anwen felt her limbs stumble and she went down as a mound of ground rock cascaded down over her.
twenty-THREE