Chapter 22

Kaolin

Chapter 22

So there we were. Maybelle and I had caerthin handcuffs on, I had almost no magyk, and Lymlock was an arm’s length away. I had no idea how we were going to get out of the situation. Hopefully Dossik would show up and save us all again, but I doubted that he had any idea where we were. Even I didn’t know where we were.

There was one good thing, but even that was tainted. I hadn’t thought Akeelay liked me at all. I was secretly in love with her, of course, but I didn’t know she felt the same way. That would’ve brightened my day if it wasn’t Lymlock’s truth spell that forced her to say it.

I was glad she returned my feelings (in fact I was beyond ecstatic), but I had never wanted to find out like that.

Of course, I had admitted to liking her back. Besides the fact that I wanted her to know, I had a feeling that Lymlock would know if I lied.

That wouldn’t end well.

So, again, there we were. Lymlock was laughing at us and we had no way to get him to shut up. We weren’t in control of the situation. So we waited, all three of us glaring at him.

He finally stopped laughing. “Well, that is the most entertaining thing I have heard in a long time. So thank you for that. Maher!” This last part wasn’t a spell, and wasn’t directed at us, but at the closed door. That name did sound familiar to me, and when a sorcerer entered, I remembered. Maher was Lymlock’s contact from Melzult. Which meant we were still in that kingdom. Good.

“Put them in a caerthin cell,” Lymlock ordered Maher.

“All three in the same one?” he replied, surprised.

“Why not? I think they have some things they need to discuss.” Lymlock smiled smugly at us as Maher pushed us out the door.

I noticed that Lymlock didn’t bother to remove the truth spell on Akeelay. It would wear off after about half a day, but he still could have removed it. For some reason, to me that seemed like one of the worst things he had done all day. It would have taken little effort and just been nice.

Of course, he’s never made an effort to be nice, so what else is new?

Maher stopped in front of a caerthin door and removed Maybelle’s and my handcuffs. At least he was slightly considerate. Or they just needed them for other prisoners. He shoved us into the caerthin-lined room and I heard a definite click as the door was locked.

“Well,” I said. “That was...” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Interesting?” Akeelay said, sounding frustrated and angry. “Strange? That was awful - for me, anyway.”

“That was probably the worst way to find out anything,” I agreed.

Maybelle wasn’t speaking. She probably knew how awkward it was for us.

“Can you do anything about the truth spell?” Akeelay asked. “It’s so frustrating.”

“I know how you feel. And I’m really, really sorry, but I can’t do anything. It takes a lot of magyk to remove another magykan’s spell, and even more around caerthin. I wouldn’t have enough until it ended anyway.”

“So I have to wait for it to end?” She sighed.

“Like I said, I know exactly how you feel.” I glanced at Maybelle, half-smiling. “But for the record, I think not bothering to remove the spell was probably the worst thing he did all day.”

“I disagree,” she said, scowling at the words.

I spoke in a quieter tone, to at least try to convince myself it would be more private. “So, I hate to ask you anything while you have that spell on you, but I have to know. When did you start, like, liking me?”

She raised an eyebrow at me, but smiled. I could tell she didn’t mind that question too much. “It was probably that first night. I thought you were cute when I saw you back at the castle, and strange for a sorcerer, but that first night was when I really realized that I liked you. From there it just increased. What about you?”

“Well, just like you, I thought you were cute when I saw you in the castle. And you looked so frightened of me. I didn’t forget about you. And you were the one who nearly killed Renjin?”

“Yeah, I was. That was so long ago. He saw me in the woods when he was making the potion and tied me to a tree for the unicorns to kill.”

“Wow,” I said. “How did you escape?”

“Maybelle,” she responded.

Maybelle glanced up when Akeelay said her name. “What are you guys talking about?”

“The unicorn thing, in the forest that first day,” Akeelay responded. “Now can everyone please stop asking me questions? I hate that.”

“Sure,” Maybelle and I said at the same time.

“How long does a truth spell last?” Maybelle asked me.

“I don’t know,” Akeelay said, then groaned. “Apparently I answer any question asked around me. I hate sorcerers.”

“It lasts about half a day. And I hate them too,” I responded. “Probably more than you do, considering I used to be one.”

We all sighed and looked around. The room was bare, the caerthin walls gleaming silver. There was nothing in the room. No windows or anything.

“I wonder if they’re watching us,” I said quietly. “If they aren’t, and if I get enough magyk, I can blow a hole in the wall. Assuming, of course, that the wall would open to the outside.”

“Even if they aren’t watching us, you still won’t get enough magyk,” Maybelle replied.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“That’s what caerthin does. It blocks off magyk from the outside. So if there’s no magyk in this room, and we’re using it up quickly, then you can’t refill.”

Magyk, as I believe was mentioned before, is like a rechargeable battery from your world. As long as there’s magyk in the air around a magykan, he or she can absorb it. On Mithden, everywhere except places surrounded by caerthin, there’s magyk that we can pick up and use. On Earth, however, there’s no magyk in the air.

“Well, that’s depressing,” I said. “But, hey, Akeelay, you didn’t answer my question from before.”

“I think that’s because it was purposely directed at Maybelle,” she responded thoughtfully. “Like, you mentioned her while speaking. So I wasn’t required to answer.”

“Well, what -” I remembered not to ask questions and stopped. “I don’t know what we should do now. I don’t see any way to escape, unless I do somehow get enough magyk to blow this place up.”

“I hope Dossik comes,” Maybelle said. “Although he probably doesn’t know where we are. I sure don’t.”

“So what happened after I got knocked out?” Akeelay asked. She always tried to make conversation when everything seemed at its worst.

“Not much, really,” I replied, trying to remember. “Just more spells going back and forth, and then I ran out of magyk and fell unconscious.”

“I didn’t run out of magyk, but a spell finally hit me right after Kaolin got knocked out.” She sighed heavily, hopelessly. “How much magyk do you have, Kaolin?”

I considered. “Enough to do a short held spell in a normal, non-caerthin situation. About 3%.”

I had no idea how we were going to escape.

“I hate to admit it...but this might be the end. As far as I can see, we’re stuck here, doing whatever Lymlock wants until he lets us go. Which isn’t going to happen,” I said, resigned.

“Or until you get enough magyk,” Maybelle pointed out. “They can’t keep us in here forever. If Lymlock wants to threaten us at all, he’ll have to take us out of this room.”

“That’s true!” Akeelay said excitedly. “They really can’t keep us here forever...can they?”

We all traded glances. Normally, our version of police would have at least tried to rescue us from this kidnapping (which is technically what it was), but guess who the police are? The castle wizards, who weren’t exactly up to the task at that point. We were on our own. We all realized this, and lapsed into silence.

Soon, a sorcerer came along and pushed open the door. We looked up at him as he pointed at Akeelay, then me.

“You, and you. Come with me.”

Akeelay and I glanced at each other, then warily got up and walked to the door.

He held up a pair of caerthin handcuffs, shining, even in the low light, in the same silver color as the walls. “For you, traitor,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and held up my wrists. He put on the handcuffs with, as the other sorcerer had the first time, with a little too much eagerness.

Shoving me down the hallway to the left, he said, “Don’t try anything.”

As if we didn’t know. No, I wouldn’t try anything. I knew what was at stake, and I didn’t want to risk it, no matter how much I resented the sorcerers. Which was a lot.

He pushed us into the same room with Lymlock as we had been in before and left the room. This was good. My magyk was returning, quickly now from being suppressed before.

“What is it now?” Akeelay demanded, talking to Lymlock.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said.

“That’s a first,” I said, without thinking about it (ironically), then realized what I had said.

He just laughed, one short burst. “You’ll regret that, traitor,” he said, without any evidence of anger. That could be a bad sign.

“Anyway,” he went on, “I’ve been thinking...” He stared at me, daring me to comment. I said nothing, and he continued. “About your convenient little gift, your immunity to caerthin. Those handcuffs might impede your magyk a little bit, but they’re pretty much just for decoration.”

I moved my hands just enough to rattle the cuffs, wondering what his solution would be.

“So, I thought, why not force you to use your magyk?”

“You can’t, it’s impossible,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. If Lymlock wanted me to use my magyk, I would have bet he could find a way.

“Oh, it might be technically impossible, but I can be extremely... persuasive.”

“What are you-”

He cut me off with a spell. “Twegga!” he shouted, pointing at Akeelay.

A deep gash appeared in her arm, thanks to the injury spell from Lymlock, and she gasped in pain, nearly falling to the ground.

“You-” I didn’t know what to say, couldn’t find the words to express how much I hated him in that moment.

“Heal her,” he said.