Five minutes later, the four of us entered the Library. It was technically closed, but that was okay, because we kinda had to be alone for awhile.
"Doesn't seem like it's been three months - moons, sorry," Jared said.
"No," I agreed. "And who knows what time it is on Earth? Might be the next millennium for all we know."
Mary tapped her fingers impatiently on a stack of books someone had left on the table. "The demons are gone now. Camryn won't have any trouble defeating Asjanel. Why can't we get her to send us back right now?"
Allison shook her head. "No way can we leave now. The Oracles told us that only together can we save this world. There's no guarantee that Asjanel won't kill Camryn, and if he does, we're right back where we started - only we'd be on Earth with no way of getting back."
"And I want to kill him," Jared whined.
There was a slight creaking noise from the door. My head snapped up, and the four of us quickly ducked behind a bookshelf. For a moment, there was no sound, and then Dakota slipped in. Jared opened his mouth, but I clapped my hand over it, shaking my head slightly. We all drew back and hid behind a cart filled with books. I peered out.
The wolf trotted past us with obvious purpose. I slipped out of my hiding place and ran to the end of the row, just in time to see Dakota walk right through the door that led to the forbidden part of the Library. I blinked, but the fact remained - the door was closed and Dakota was gone.
"He went through the door," I whispered.
"Why?" Jared asked. "He's a wolf. What possible reason could he have for going through there?"
Allison paled. "He's from Niyuu. I bet he feels that he has to protect Elu - and I bet that's where Elu is. Beyond the Door."
I turned my head to stare at her. "What Door?"
"Um, the Door we opened while you were at lessons. I mean, Asjanel unlocked it, but Jared opened it."
"Wait, Asjanel?" Mary asked. "What do you mean? He's out building bridges."
"No, he's here, he's in the Tower and - and maybe he's got Elu. He said to me once that he would endure great torture if he came to Naeco or something. That must be what he meant." She shivered. "Go down there and save him - and whoever else Asjanel's got locked up."
I stared at her. "Aren't you coming?"
"I can't. I just can't. You can't make me!" Her voice rose to a terrified shriek. I shushed her.
"Allison, don't panic. You've got to come. You can read other languages, we might need you beyond the Door."
"I can't, I can't!"
I glanced at Mary. "We can't make her," I murmured.
"Yes, I can," Mary snapped, pressing her lips together angrily. "Ally, you listen to me. You're my personal advisor. You've got to come and advise me, or else people might die and we'll never get home. Never."
She shuddered. "But on the Door - it says 'chylaj keminori.' It's a curse. It means endless torment and so much worse. I can't go through the Door, Mary, I can't..."
The Library door opened again and we dove behind the cart. A barbarian walked past us, leading a black-robed mage who stumbled over the floor. The mage half-collapsed and her hood fell off, revealing Kitana. "Dammit," I whispered. The barbarian pulled Kitana to her feet and pulled her to the door, which he opened and didn't bother to close again.
"Now you've got to join us," Jared said. "I mean, the four of us and a blind prophet against Asjanel and the barbarians - maybe a lot of barbarians - the odds aren't good. But they're worse if we walk into a trap because we can't read the magic language."
Allison nodded slowly. "I'll go. But - but only because you're totally lost without me."
She was frightened out of her wits, I could tell, but she bravely came with us to get what we would need. Jared changed into assassin clothes - fairly tight-fitting black pants and a long-sleeved, loose shirt. He slipped two knives into his belt, one into each boot, and tied to his arm a leather brace that held another knife. A three-pronged gold implement slid into his belt, but only after he dipped the points in poison. I thought that was relatively barbaric.
I, on the other hand, wore my most comfortable clothes, fully expecting to shapeshift often. Mary found her sword under the bed and buckled it on. Allison didn't make any preparations at all.
"Hey, Allison?"
"What?"
I looked straight into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell us earlier that Asjanel was here?"
She blushed and looked down. "I don't know. I didn't think it was important. Besides, I told Mary."
"I was half-asleep, you dimwit! I didn't remember a thing you said to me!"
"Well, you looked awake!"
"It's a gift! I can carry on an intelligent conversation and register none of it!"
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Allison? You're insane. You definitely should have told Kitana, I mean, since she's the one who's been kidnapped. Or Jared, who's going to kill him. Or even me. But not Mary."
"And what's wrong with telling Mary?" Mary asked, obviously offended.
"You have no magic and no outstanding weapons," I said, as gently as I could. "You're a general in title only."
"Hmph!"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Allison objected.
We spoke no more as we went into the Library. We also didn't tell anyone where we were going, which was my mistake, as I'm the one who practically shoved the others through the door. We entered the dusty armory and went to the Door.
Jared shoved it, tugged on it, and concluded, "I think it's locked."
"No, I thought it was open!" I gasped. "Unlock it."
"I don't have the key!"
"So what do you expect us to do?"
"Well, the Head Librarian must have a copy for the book," Jared said. As he went off to steal the key from the librarian, I blinked.
"What book?"
They never got a chance to tell me, because at that point, I happened to lean on the Door. I pushed a hidden button, and the door swung open, sending me falling into blackness.
*Meg*
I stood next to Elu, who stared straight ahead, his blind eyes fixed on the opposite wall. Asjanel sharpened his knife, then glanced at me. "What was your name again?"
"Meg, sir." I promised myself that I would bite my tongue when I regained control of my teeth.
"Meg. Odd name, that." He held up the knife, which flashed in the torchlight. "Do you think that's sharp enough?"
"Sure."
He smiled at me, his eyes glinting. "My dear Meg, there's one thing I've been wondering about you. If, for whatever reason, I am unable to complete the sacrifice, are you capable of killing Kitana in my stead?"
"Yes, sir."
Shannon struggled against the stars that pinned her to the wall. "Meg, what are you doing?" she wailed. "How can you betray us like this?"
"I...don't know." Thinking was harder than ever, since half of me was locked away by Kit, half by Asjanel, and my body wasn't really connected to either half.
Suddenly, Kit's hold on me broke, and momentarily I got a vision of a silver key tumbling into eternity. I was free of her, but not free of Asjanel. Ghidoli's power still ran in his veins, and she had been much stronger than Kit.
Hedaris and Amidan didn't even attempt to escape. I couldn't figure out why, until I happened to see a reflection of the fire. They were trapped behind a wall of glass. I beat on the door that kept my mind from my body, but nothing I did got through.
Ryac came in then, walking in from the corridor. He carried the unconscious Kitana almost gently as he laid her on the sacrificial table. Asjanel laughed, plunged his knife into the wall beside Shannon's head. Her fingers twitched toward her knife, so I left my position beside Elu to remove all weapons from her person. As I crouched to pull the knives from her boots, something sharp dug into my hip. The key! I remembered something I had said, then tried my best to keep the thought from my body.
"I bet you could stab someone with it..."
My hand dipped into my pocket, touched the sharp edges of the key. I tossed Shannon's knives into a corner. Asjanel smirked at me as he caught the thought and approved of it.
How disgusting. How terrible. He was insane, and through him, I was also completely mad...
Kit groaned and stirred on the table. Asjanel walked closer and trailed the knife point down her cheek, leaving a little river of blood. Kit woke with a shriek, her hand going to her face. She seemed rather gray to me, her hair damp from sweat, her eyes glazed with fever. She saw Asjanel and cried out again, jumping down and trying to run away. Ryac caught her and pushed her back toward the table.
"No!" she screamed. "I won't let you!"
"Selfish little harlot," Asjanel said. "Tie her down, Ryac. I won't have any escapes - not today."
"Why today, sir?" I asked. The struggle to say something of my own free will left my throat dry.
"It is the dark moon," he said. "Only on the dark moon can the lord of hell be raised, and only with fresh blood..."
Kit continued to weakly struggle as Ryac conjured up some rope and tied her hands and feet together, then wrapped the rope tightly around a protruding nail. I coughed, lifted my hands to my mouth, my entire body trembling with the effort.
If he wanted me to kill her, how could I resist?
I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and turned. Elu! His dark eyes met mine, and he whispered, "It begins." He dropped his eyes again, and a single, shining tear rolled down his cheek. I had never seen the little boy cry before, though God knows he had reason. He lost his family, his village, his eyesight -
He had looked right at me.
Blind people can't look straight at you. I knelt down and stared at him. "Can you see?" I whispered. It wasn't as hard to whisper as it was to speak.
He nodded. "The Sight has passed from me in this place. I am an ordinary mortal again, and...I am afraid."
Well, of course he was afraid. He was only nine years old. I felt Asjanel's hold on me weaken slightly as I realized that I had to defend this child, if not everyone else. I glanced at Shannon. Her eyes were closed in defeat. It must have been hard for her to deal with the fact that her close friend would be sacrificed and she could do nothing about it.
I heard muffled voices out in the hall, saw torchlight. My friends! Ryac poked me, handed me a birdcage made of a silvery-blue metal. "If I know the shapeshifter, she'll try to become a hawk or a phoenix," he murmured. "Capture her."
I nodded, helpless. "And the others?"
"They are of no consequence. I will deal with the assassin. The other two do not matter."
Even spellbound, I was offended on behalf of Mary and Allison.
"The hour approaches," Asjanel said. "Are you ready to die, Kitana?"
She wasn't fighting anymore, just lying there, her hands bound above her head, feet also tied. She managed to murmur, "No," before her eyes closed in exhaustion.
I held the birdcage in one hand, felt for the key with the other. I cut myself, hissed in pain.
Someone cursed, out in the hall somewhere. I moved to stand in the shadows near the entrance. I flipped the catch on the birdcage and let it swing open, just big enough for a medium-sized bird to enter in. Then I thought of something.
"What if she turns into a bug and crawls out?"
"She needs to be human in the interim," Ryac explained.
"Ah, I see."
We stood in silence for two minutes. Apparently, my friends had some difficulty navigating the maze of passageways. Blood from where I had cut myself dripped on the floor.
Elu sniffled. Asjanel turned away from Kit to poke him with the knife, drawing blood. Elu's sniffles turned into sobs as he clutched at his bleeding shoulder.
"Shut up, boy," Asjanel snapped. "Otherwise I will be forced to kill you, as well."
Elu whimpered and shrank away, his eyes wide with terror. "He's just a boy!" I cried. It came out a soft rasp as I coughed. So hard to say what I wanted to say...
Kit's eyes fluttered open again. She rolled over onto her side, tugging on the ropes that held her down. Shannon's head snapped up as Kit whistled, a whistle that turned into a cough halfway through. Asjanel whirled and pressed his knife against Kit's throat.
"Almost time, Kitana," he drawled. "It might work just as well if I killed you now..."
"Burn in hell," she gasped, coughing. I saw blood on her lips, looked away, checked on the birdcage again.
"What if she tries to become, like, a grizzly bear?"
"Then we shall improvise," Ryac told me calmly.
At that point, my friends rounded the corner and entered the room, at which point all hell broke loose. But not literally - not then...
Not until Kit was dead.
Dead, perhaps, by my hand.
*Jared*
I entered the sacrificial chamber first, knives in both hands, the rest of my weapons ready.
The chamber was relatively large, maybe the size of our high school gym. There was a black and silver door at the other end. In a niche by the door stood Hedaris, Amidan, and Elu. The latter had chains on his feet. Shannon hung on one wall, still alive, not hurt but not free either. I saw a glint of steel - she was held in place by her own throwing stars. I had forgotten mine.
In the exact center of the chamber was a black table. Kit was tied to it, and Asjanel stood over her, his knife to her throat. I leapt forward, ready to hurl a knife at him, and was whacked on the head. I fell down. One of my knives skittered across the room. Elu kicked it absently.
I twisted my body, rolled to avoid a boot that shot down at my head. I sprang to my feet, yanking a knife from my own boot, holding them both in guard position.
Ryac sneered at me. He looked different, more ordinary, but I could tell it was him from his intelligent green eyes - the eyes no barbarian could have. They were all brown-eyed.
"Young assassin," he acknowledged, inclining his head.
"Apprentice magician," I replied, emphasis on the apprentice.
I saw Meg, hovering in the shadows nearby. The others hadn't seen her. Allison and Mary ran into the niche and knelt beside Elu. Ashton ran over to Shannon, borrowed a throwing star, and hurried toward Asjanel.
"He's mine!" I called. Ryac took that moment to cast a spell that sent me flying backwards. His aim totally sucked, as I crashed into Asjanel. We tumbled head over heels until he threw me off. He was surprisingly strong for an old guy. I landed wrong, whacked my head on the floor, saw stars. I staggered to my feet.
Ashton shifted into phoenix form and flew at Asjanel. Meg leapt out of the shadows, jumped over the table without any effort at all, and brought the cage down, locking Ashton inside. The phoenix screamed, beat at the cage with her cramped wings, but she was caught.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I screeched.
She stared at me, then hung the birdcage on a hook above Elu's head. He glanced up, then stretched to reach the cage. He failed and sighed heavily, declining to move. Allison and Mary just stared in horror, but made no move to help, probably too scared.
Ryac dashed around the table, a ball of flame in his hand. I ducked out of the way, executed a perfect flip, and cut the ropes tying Kitana to the table. She sat up, her hands still tied together, and half-fell off the table.
Ryac hit me with his fist instead of a spell. I tumbled right over the table, into Kitana, knocking us both over. My head hit the edge of the table and I gasped as my vision darkened, then came back. Kitana squirmed away from me and tried to crawl out of the way.
Mary drew her sword and went after Ryac, dodging his hastily thrown spells as I prepared my knives. Kill Asjanel, get out, I reminded myself, then amended it to, Kill Asjanel, save others, get out.
A spell hit Mary's sword, which sizzled, the metal charred. She ducked under the table. I passed her a knife, drew the one from my other boot as she pushed the knife into her scabbard for backup.
"Can I have your lockpicks?" Allison yelled. I set the knives down, dug into my pockets. Dammit, how had I forgotten my lockpicks?
I crawled under the table, not hiding, just regrouping without a group. Yeah. I peered out.
Mary? Fighting Ryac, sword against sorcery. Asjanel chased Kitana, who ran surprisingly fast in her mage robes and in her gray-skinned condition. Hedaris, Amidan, Elu, and Allison stood in a tight group in that corner, the birdcage swinging with Ashton inside. Meg stood impassively near them.
When Asjanel passed near I stuck out my leg, tripped him. I grabbed my knives and plunged them toward his back, but they didn't hit him, because right then a spell hit me in the back, knocking me over. I smacked my head on the table, crawled out, dizzy. I left my knives - not a good thing. I had one left. I flicked my wrist, felt the knife drop into my hand, and whipped it around, throwing it at Ryac as Asjanel staggered to his feet.
It hit his leg and he yelled, falling to his knees as blood blossomed. I laughed weakly, couldn't see straight...
Kitana tripped, was down. Asjanel got to her before Mary could, dragged her to her feet and over to the table, keeping her between him and Mary. Mary seemed frustrated, but kept her sword up as Asjanel shoved Kitana down on the table and drew his long, wicked knife.
"The time is almost upon us!" he proclaimed.
"Shut up," Allison snapped. "Stupid phrases aren't going to stop us from killing you. Right, Jared?"
I got up, leaned back against the wall, aware of my terrible shaking. I touched my aching head, felt blood, ew, definitely had to take a shower tonight. Mary stared at me, expecting me to do something. I was out of knives, no...
Kitana twisted with what remained of her strength, got off the table, and managed to pry the ropes off her hands. Mary stepped over her, sword held up, pointed at Asjanel. She looked at me again. I sank down against the wall, shivering with a sudden chill.
"Jared!" Shannon cried.
"No," I whimpered.
"Jared, you're the greatest thief and assassin in the world!" I looked at Elu, eyes shining, confident in my abilities. "You have to do something! You have to!"
"Can you see?" I asked, blinking. Hallucinating?
"Yes!" he said. "Yes, I can...just please, do something..."
I got back to my feet, tried to get my balance. Asjanel ignored me as Ryac wrapped a makeshift bandage around his leg. He didn't try to come after me, knew I wasn't a threat anymore.
Asjanel's long knife hit Mary's sword in a shower of sparks. He leapt onto the table, and slashed his blade down. Mary raised her sword above her head, cowering as she parried that strike and backed away, tripped over Kitana, went down in a heap. Asjanel laughed, insane, completely insane.
I gasped, vision dimming again, fell to my knees. I heard the others, urging me to get up. Ashton warbled in her phoenix voice, begging me, but there was no way my legs could support my weight.
"Think of the consequences!" Allison commanded me. "If you don't get up, I'll die, Shannon will die, Elu will die, we'll all die, and Satan will take over the world!"
"I can't," I croaked. I wasn't dying, that much I knew, but I was very close to unconsciousness, which could be a disaster.
I forced myself to remember Earth. My family, my friends who hadn't come here. My locker. My classes. My house. E-mail. Instant messenger.
I felt strength flowing into me and I managed to get up again. Cars. Computers. Grass that was actually green.
It was working. I took a shaky step, then another, my eyes on Asjanel, on Ryac, on Meg. The enemy. Video games. Skateboarding. Soccer. Cross country.
But I wasn't an assassin/thief there. I was just Jared. The funny one.
Dammit, I had lost it.
I pitched forward, crumpled into a heap. I felt my consciousness fading, clung to it desperately. I felt something against my side, and my hand crept toward the golden three-pronged instrument. The poisoned weapon.
I gathered up my strength and waited for the right moment to throw my final weapon.
*Allison*
"Jared!" I cried as he collapsed. "No, get up!" But he didn't move, just laid there, face-down on the ground. "Jared," I whimpered, my back against the glass wall that kept me from Hedaris and Amidan.
Mary struggled to her feet, was grabbed from behind by Ryac. She kicked at him, dropped her sword. Kitana's eyes met Asjanel's and I watched in shock.
Elu took a step forward, his chains clanking on the dusty ground. "Save her," he commanded me in a shaky voice. "Otherwise everyone is doomed!"
I turned to the birdcage, reached up to unlatch it, and Meg grabbed my arm in a death grip. "I don't think so," she snarled.
"What are you doing?" I cried. "Let me go!"
She laughed coldly and pushed me, her unnatural strength sending me head over heels. I crashed into Ryac's legs and he fell over me, releasing Mary. I twisted so that I could kick Ryac as Mary grabbed her sword and brought it down toward Asjanel's hand, intending to chop it off so that he couldn't wield his sword. He drew back, lashed out with the knife. Mary couldn't defend herself in time; the knife bit deep into her arm just above the elbow. She screamed, dropped the sword.
I scrambled away from Ryac, grabbed the sword, got to my feet. It was awfully heavy. I lifted it, swung wildly, missed, decided to do this the old fashioned way.
I kneed Asjanel where it hurts, which he wasn't expecting. "That's for hurting my friends!" I cried. I slapped him. "That's for trying to kill Kitana!"
I hefted the sword, holding it all wrong, swung it toward him. He brought up the knife again. The sword jarred in my hands and I dropped it, jumped away so it wouldn't take my foot off.
Mary got up, ran over to Shannon, used her good hand to pull out the stars. I felt guilty - I had been spectating when I could have been helping her - but in moments she got down, gathered up the stars.
Kitana staggered to her feet, brushed damp hair out of her eyes. Shannon ran toward us, wielding her stars, ready to throw them.
Jared got there first.
In one lightning movement, his hand came up, and he threw a golden three-pronged weapon at Asjanel. It sank into his arm and he screamed, falling to his knees. I backed away, mouth wide open.
"It's poisoned," Jared said, his voice weak.
"No!" Asjanel howled. He wrenched the weapon from his arm, stared at the blood, pointed at Kitana. "Kill her!"
Ryac got up, but didn't make a move to kill Kitana. Instead, he waved his hand, sending Asjanel flying back into the wall. "That, Master, was for Calsa," he said firmly. "I was against that whole thing from the start."
"Are you on our side?" I asked.
"You might say that."
Asjanel groaned, lifted his head. "I'll kill you all," he swore.
Shannon laughed. "What I'm thinking is, not since Jared killed you first."
We were all silent for a little while. I had totally forgotten that Meg wasn't on our side - the mistake I regret most, even now.
Suddenly, the black and silver door I'd barely noticed swung open and Dakota poked his head out. Elu looked at him, smiled. "Kota!" he cried.
Dakota padded over to the little boy and licked his cheek, then moved on. He ignored most of us, stopping at Jared. He howled in sorrow, poked his nose at the boy's cheek. He feebly swatted at him, barely conscious.
Kitana suddenly screamed. I whipped my head around to stare at her as she put the table between herself and Dakota. I backed quickly away, dragging the sword with me. Shannon still held her stars, but now neither of us knew what was going on.
Kitana pointed a shaking finger at Dakota. "You - you - " she gasped out. "I - how did I - what do you want?"
Dakota swung his head up, his gold eyes gleaming in the torchlight. Kitana rested her hands on the table, paler than I had ever seen her.
"What's going on?" Mary asked, her hand pressed against the cut on her arm. "Cam? What's going on?"
Kitana ignored her, refused to take her eyes from Dakota. "I've been blind," she whispered. "Blind to your treachery!"
"Camryn?" I asked tentatively. "That's Dakota. He's a wolf, remember? You like wolves. Are you hallucinating?"
She shook her head, eyes fixed on the wolf. "That's no wolf," she hissed.
"You're right," Dakota said. "I'm not."
I blinked. "Did he just say something?"
In his deep, rumbling voice, Dakota said, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. What's the matter, girlie? Scared? You should be."
I swallowed hard, backed up until I hit the wall right beside the black and silver door. It was still slightly open. I closed it.
"You're just a human mortal," Dakota sneered. "You will pay for your magic with blood - especially you, sorceress."
"No!" Kitana screamed. She broke off, her body wracked with coughs. "He's an unbound creature," she finally managed to get out.
"Indeed," Dakota said. "Indeed."
And he changed.
Our old friend Dakota reared up on hind legs and stayed that way, his body subtly shifting so that he could stand comfortably on two legs. His forelegs bent back on themselves, glittered, turned into shining steel - scythes, sharp scythes. He snarled, teeth growing longer, more pointed. Black wings unfurled from his back, the leathery wings of a dragon. I bit back a scream, turned my head, saw runes on the door. I started to read them.
Chylaj keminori be upon ye who opens this door and fails to bind the creatures held within.
Okay, that didn't sound too terribly good...
"Kitana!" I called. "I think you're supposed to bind him."
"I can't!" she yelled back, ducking under the table as Dakota leapt over it. She crawled out and threw herself backwards as his arm shot into the space where she had been. "My magic is gone."
"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"
Dakota jumped onto the table, claws clicking on the polished stone. "You lie!" he hissed, snarling. He turned to stare at me, standing beside the door, and jumped back down. He advanced on me, raising one scythelike arm. I shrank back, ready to run, as he said, "Human beings were never meant to have magic! It is my duty to destroy any human fool who has the power..."
"Oh, you mean me?"
Shannon threw a star at him, hitting him between the shoulder blades. He snarled, but didn't turn away from me.
Oh, God, I was going to die...