More than Magic Book 9: Magic Sacrificed

When I woke up it took me a moment to get my thoughts together. Where was I? Oh, right, the bus. I swallowed nervously as Kayla’s voice broke into my thoughts, announcing that we had arrived at the castle.

Of course, I would have known that without her telling us; my bond with Rak seemed muted and distant and when I tried to focus on it the sensation became fuzzy. My head started to hurt and I wasn’t sure if it was the bond or the aftermath of a sleeping potion, but I knew it would do no good to concentrate on Rak, not after months of watching TS try and fail to reach Thomas. I also didn’t want to do anything that would give away the fact that I had an active bond.

It was clear that calling this a castle was not an exaggeration. We came to a stop in front of a towering wall; I had to crane my neck to see the top. I spun around in a small circle, with stone rising up all around me. There was a portcullis and a massive set of wooden doors behind the bus, like something straight out of a medieval history book – it really was a castle. I swallowed nervously as I looked at the gated doors. There must have been a labyrinth entrance behind them. After we were asleep, the bus went into the shed in the campground, through the labyrinth, and then out here.

For a moment I wondered if I could just find my friends, rush back here, and get out. But even as it occurred to me, I looked around the open courtyard and huge walls… it was too exposed. There was no way we’d be able to get through the gate and the doors to the labyrinth doorway without being caught.

“This way,” Kayla said sharply.

With one last glance at the doorway, I followed her into the castle, through a small door and down a series of dark stone hallways. I considered pulling out my wand to use a night vision spell but since nobody else was I didn't want to be the first. I hoped that blood witches didn't have some sort of enhanced night vision or something. At last, we stopped in a small room with several witches and wizards, all wearing the same plain brown clothing.

In one corner was a woman, sitting silently in a chair, watching us. For one wild moment I thought it was Serana, then I realized I was looking at Alaria without her siren aura. I quickly turned away from her, hoping she hadn't noticed and forced myself to breathe.

I was actually standing in a room with her. This had all happened so fast. How many days had it been now since TS and Charlie had vanished? Just a few short weeks, not even a month…

“Welcome,” Alaria said suddenly. Silence fell. Her voice was just as chilling as I remembered.

Kayla gestured for us to line up, so we quickly did. She and the wizard who seemed to be already initiated joined the rest of them on the other side of the room.

“I’m pleased you decided to join us on the first steps of your journey to true power,” Alaria said, as we finished getting into position.

“Mistress,” Kayla said, she stepped back and gestured to us. “This is Sarah, Abigail, Jim, and Lucy.”

“Are you really an arcanist?” Sarah blurted.

An icy smile crossed Alaria’s face and she raised one hand. With a flick of her wrist she sent an honest-to-god lightning bolt across the room and into Sarah’s chest, throwing her to the ground. Everyone gasped and I felt like every single hair on my body was standing on end. A hot, burning electrical smell filled the air.

Alaria watched as Sarah began to struggle to her feet. “The first thing you will learn,” she said softly, “is that you do not question me. But to answer your question…” Her smile somehow grew even more chilling. “Yes, I am an arcanist.” As she spoke she rose several inches off the chair, to another round of gasps from the new people.

“Someday,” said Alaria, “this power will be yours as well. As long as you learn your place and prove your loyalty to me.” She straightened and slowly lowered her feet to the ground, then stood and took a few steps toward us. I desperately wanted to back away but held my ground as the others did.

“You will find this place is filled with foolish non-humans who believe themselves superior to us.” Alaria laughed at the thought of it and everyone else laughed along with her. I quickly smiled and cackled with them, as if I thought it was just as absurd.

Everyone glanced around nervously as she maliciously left the rest of the threat unsaid, leaving us to wonder if she would kill just the person responsible… or all of us.

My mouth went dry; I was still hoping that Serana was wrong, that I could somehow let the others know I was here, but after just a few minutes with Alaria – seeing what she was willing to do to someone just for asking a simple question – it was clear that I couldn't possibly risk it. I doubted I could let her catch me talking with them, even if they didn’t know who I was.

There were a few mumbles and some shuffling as people shifted their weight.

After a moment, Lucy cleared her throat. “How exactly will we serve these non-humans?” I could hear the scorn in her voice.

“You will bring them food and drink. You will clean their rooms. Above all else, you will make them utterly convinced that you want to become vampires. Is that clear?”

We all nodded.

Jim raised his hand like a student.

“Yes?” Alaria said impatiently.

“I'm… I’m not sure what the non-humans are all doing here?” he said softly.

“Ah, that. You see, this is our farm,” Alaria purred. “These non-humans will be used as our sacrifices. Both for the occasional use of blood magic and, when the time comes, to gain your first powers as arcanists.” She paused thoughtfully. “It may be distasteful to you to cater to their needs… but imagine that one day you will be able to slit their throats.”

Everyone laughed at the thought while my stomach twisted in disgust.

“One more thing; my name here is Adaira. If you refer to me as Alaria in front of anyone...” A ball of fire flared up in one of her hands and she clenched her fist around it, before fixing us with a sickly-sweet smile. “You two, will come with me and Malcolm.” She pointed to Sarah and Jim, then nodded to the wizard with Kayla. “As for you two, Kayla will show you to your rooms. Leave me.”

As Lucy and I followed Kayla, I realized that the two people Alaria wanted with her were the ones with familiars. I swallowed hard and walked with the others, forcing myself not to look back. I knew that I wouldn’t see the familiars again.

Undaunted, Kayla led us away through several more hallways and down more than a few stairways, until we reached a long, dark corridor. Kayla pulled out her wand and cast a night vision spell on herself, so Lucy and I did the same. Kayla kept walking swiftly, not seeming to care if we were keeping up.

She dropped us off in our rooms. They were sparse and empty, with small, uncomfortable looking beds. My bed had a pile of folded brown fabric on it and I knew even before picking it up that they were the dresses Alaria and the other witches had been wearing.

We were instructed to meet Kayla at the bottom of the staircase in fifteen minutes. I freshened up in my tiny bathroom, changed, and spent the rest of the time pacing and trying to psych myself up for what I was going to have to do. This was going to be my life until I could get close enough to Alaria. Seeing her cruelty again, up close and personal, reminded me just how important it was that I take my time. I couldn't get impatient and risk ruining everything.

All too soon, I met back with Kayla and Lucy. A few minutes later, Malcolm returned, just as I suspected, with the other two initiates and no familiars. They were both pale and sick looking. Malcolm took them down to their rooms; Lucy frowned curiously after them, but Kayla started off and we had to follow her.

She took the two of us on a tour of the castle. At times it felt more like some sort of weird resort or even a university. Kayla reminded us that we were not to be partaking of the “amenities”, which were for the non-humans.

“What are they doing here?” Lucy asked her as we walked through what looked like a sports bar. “If they don’t know about us…”

I listened grimly as Kayla explained the dreadful truth about the castle. That Victor thought he was in charge of everything and had aspirations of creating an army.

“What if they decide to leave?” Lucy asked.

“Victor does most of our dirty work for us,” laughed Kayla. “He wants his little plan to succeed and is happy to kill anyone who asks to leave.”

I couldn’t resist asking a question of my own. At least Kayla seemed more open than Alaria. Besides, with Lucy asking similar questions, mine hopefully wouldn’t seem suspicious. “What if they figure out something is going on and try to escape?”

Kayla laughed even harder. “As if any of them are clever enough to be suspicious,” she sneered. “Even if they are… the walls are all warded to prevent climbing. And if some non-humans are lucky enough to get to the other side, Mistress Alaria has used her incredible power to create a barrier of sorts.”

My heart sank; I knew what she was talking about.

“A barrier?” echoed Lucy.

Kayla glanced around, then whispered to us. “A barrier of blood magic.” She paused, like she was enjoying being dramatic. “Anyone who tries to leave, or come to, this island without…” She paused and I was sure she was trying to think of a way to avoid mentioning the labyrinth. “Mistress Alaria has a way of allowing people to pass through the barrier. Without her permission, anyone who crosses it dies a painful death.”

Lucy laughed incredulously, seemingly fascinated by Alaria’s power. I tried to match her smile, but inside I felt crushed. There was no escape for the others then. Even Dani was trapped here.

“Enough idle chatter,” Kayla said abruptly. “There's a fight tonight, which means we have much to do.”

“A fight?” asked Lucy.

“Yes,” said Kayla. “Once a week the non-humans host a fight. They believe it is to help them determine their ranks, should they ever have the opportunity to actually take steps to achieve Victor’s ridiculous vision.” She laughed darkly. “Of course, this actually allows Mistress Alaria – that is, Adaira – to figure out who the best sacrifices are.” She stopped in front of a small doorway. “You will not serve tonight, but you will watch.” She fixed us with a stern look. “Remember your places.”

She opened the door and we followed her up a long, narrow staircase. It opened into what I could only describe as an arena. There were people sitting all around it, eating and drinking. I spotted several blood casters, in the same brown outfits, serving food and drinks.

“Is this all of them?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Kayla. “Attendance is mandatory. There will be three randomly chosen fights.”

I swallowed nervously and scanned the crowd, trying to look like I was just checking things out and not searching for familiar faces. The arena was well-lit, but the seats were dark; my night vision spell with my new wand wasn’t strong enough for me to clearly see any faces.

Suddenly, the arena fell silent. I looked to see that a man had come to the railing on the other side and raised his arms for silence.

“Good evening,” he called.

“That is Victor,” Kayla said softly. “He and Lord Reave are the ones in charge here,” she added with a bemused smile. I knew she was saying it for the benefit of any nearby non-humans who might be listening.

Another man and a fire elemental woman joined him, I wondered if they were the same two from the parking lot at Cavaliers, they looked similar.

“For our first fight of the evening,” Victor announced. “Let's have… Igneous and…. Tierra!”

I watched as two people from different places in the audience stood and began to make their way down toward the railings. They jumped over them and walked into the middle; they looked like stone elementals.

“Begin,” called Victor.

My mouth went dry as I watched the two people obediently walk toward the large racks filled with weapons on either side of the arena. This was insane. Surely Thomas and the others weren't forced to do this!

I looked around the audience again, uncertain if I actually wanted to spot my missing friends or not.

I heard a bang from the arena and looked down to see that the two people were swinging huge clubs at each other. We all watched, wide eyed; it was a violent, brutal fight. With each passing minute I started to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake by coming here.

“Whoa,” breathed a voice.

Malcolm and the other two new initiates had joined us. They still looked a little rough after losing their familiars, but were both staring at the fight in a mix of fascination and alarm. I half-listened as Malcolm quietly explained the fights to them, at least the parts the non-humans could overhear.

The fight ended abruptly when one of the elementals successfully knocked the other down, clubbing her in the head with a sickening crunch that split through the roar of the crowd. The cheering became a chant and I realized they were chanting the name of the winner; Igneous looked quite pleased with himself.

A door on one side of the arena opened and several blood casters came out. They dragged the loser back through the doors, as Igneous casually followed.

“There's a recovery room,” said Kayla. “It has healing potions and other things that non-humans need after being injured in the fights. If you are assigned there, you will be expected to take care of them.”

“We have to take care of them?” asked Jim in dismay.

Kayla leveled a glare at him and he fell silent and swallowed nervously. “It is an honor to take care of our non-human friends,” she said tightly, glaring daggers at him. “After all, it is our wish to join them one day, is it not?”

“Yes,” he said, clearing his throat. “Of course.”

Victor called for the next fight. I couldn’t tell what the two fighters were; they didn’t look like elementals or weres. Once the fight began, however, they began to move so quickly I could hardly keep up: vampires.

The fight was a blur. The crowd clearly had favorites as they chanted the names and cheered and booed. There was a disturbing excitement in the air as they fought; it felt like it would be easy to get caught up in the thrill.

“Do they ever… kill each other?” asked Sarah.

“Sometimes,” said Malcolm with a dark smile. “Regardless, the fight continues until one can no longer fight.”

I shuddered. Even as he spoke, one of the vampires tackled the other and drove a stake into his chest! I gasped along with the others.

“Enough,” Victor called, sounding almost bored.

Once again, the fighters were helped from the arena to the recovery room.

I sighed and hunched miserably into my seat. This was awful. Were we expected to do this every week? I could see the blood casters still wandering around with food and drinks like this was some sort of sick sports game.

“For our final fight,” Victor announced, “Cane and… Delta!”

Even though I wanted to turn away, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the fight once it started. My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists, forcing myself to sit still and appear calm; act like I cared as little about the outcome of this fight as I had about the others.

Meanwhile, I watched as Dani barely kept up with the speed of the air elemental. I wasn’t surprised that he was managing to hold his own, but knew just how easily a fight could turn.

“Come,” Kayla said suddenly. “We have seen enough.”

“But—” I frantically bit my tongue before I even finished the word.

“There will be plenty of fights to see,” she promised, thankfully completely misunderstanding my reluctance.

I followed, casting one last glance over my shoulder at the arena. How could I possibly do this?

Kayla led us down a couple of narrow staircases and we found ourselves in a large, low-ceilinged room with several beds and hanging curtains. The room reeked of potions and blood. I spotted the vampires from the previous fight. One was sitting in a chair, sipping blood from a glass. The other was sprawled on one of the beds, feeding from the wrist of a wizard sitting next to him.

“They feed from us?!” Lucy cried.

“Of course they do,” Kayla snapped, shooting her a furious glare. “And it is an honor to give them our blood. Let us hope that one day they are generous enough to gift us with theirs and turn us,” she continued through clenched teeth.

“Yes,” Lucy said meekly. “Let us hope…”

“This is the recovery room,” Kayla continued, briskly moving on. She led us around a little, explaining how we would be expected to pitch in for some of the more severe injuries. If I didn’t know any better, I honestly would have believed that she had the best interests of the non-humans at heart.

As Kayla gave us the tour, both vampires got up and left. The wizard who had been fed from nodded to Kayla and left too. Malcolm took his place and began to tidy up the beds and remove the bloody sheets.

“Without magic,” muttered Jim.

“Silence,” Malcolm snapped. “This is our sacrifice for a greater power.” I knew he didn’t mean becoming vampires.

The door opened and a couple of people came in. The air elemental who had been fighting Dani was leaning heavily against two witches as they practically dragged him in. That meant… my heart stopped as Dani followed them into the room. For a moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I noticed, with a twist in my gut, that the air elemental had hurt him; there were several blood-stained rips in his clothes and I was pretty sure he was hiding a limp.

I hadn’t noticed there was a large tub until Dani swung a leg over and dropped in with a splash.

“Can I take your clothes?” asked a wizard.

“No worries, mate,” Dani said casually. “Don’t bother.” I nearly made a face at the unexpected accent.

The almost happy memory of him suggesting stupid accents for his character to annoy Thomas came back to me. I guess he had decided on using one after all and now – my stomach churned at the thought of it – he was stuck with it.

Dani stretched and dropped his head back against the edge of the tub and actually closed his eyes, as if this had become routine. Delta, I reminded myself, his name was Delta here.

“Wow,” Sarah said softly to me. “Get a look at him.”

I could have laughed at the absurdly normal observation. I was used to people being wowed by Dani, but not like this. I noticed that Kayla frowned at the comment.

“He’s a water elemental,” I said as scornfully as I could manage. I was rewarded by an upward twitch of Kayla’s lips. She turned back to the potions.

After a few moments I risked a quick glance in his direction. Once again, he was settled back with his eyes closed. I wondered what had caught his attention. Maybe he had just overheard my comment and been offended. As I silently apologized, I realized that there was a chance it wouldn’t be the last time I would be forced to insult my friends just to fit in.

“Come,” said Kayla.

This time, I knew I couldn’t look back. I had to be more careful. Holding in a sigh of despair, I forced myself to follow her away. This was going to be so much harder than I imagined…