After hearing shattering glass and crumbling rocks for so long, the silence came abruptly.
“Where’s the sword?” Kull asked, his voice reverberating.
“Jeven conjured it with a spell.” I tried to remember the words he’d used, but it wouldn’t be easy, and even if I could, I wasn’t sure his spell would work for me. This could be a problem.
Still, I didn’t take spells lightly. When Jeven had used it, I’d done my best to lock it in my memory.
Letting my magic flow freely, I reached out and opened my hand, palm up, as I focused on conjuring the sword.
“Doculus loci…” But what was the rest? We didn’t have time for me to botch the spell, but feeling rushed, coupled with fear of an army of demon Regaymor waiting for us once we escaped, made it hard to think.
“Olive,” Kull said quietly. “The mirror is shaking.”
I glanced at it, finding it rattling against an unseen wall. Trying to focus, I concentrated on the magic. Realistically, I knew that remembering Jeven’s spell word for word, after hearing it exactly once, wasn’t something easy to do, if it were even possible. But I had to at least try.
“Doculus loci,” I cleared my throat, “Doculus loci…” It was another d word, wasn’t it? “dormimue… resus…?”
Frustrated, I turned to Kull. “I can’t remember the spell. I only heard it once, and I tried memorizing it when he said it, but I didn’t get it all.”
“Can you use another spell?”
“Maybe. I have the word for conjure.”
“Try it,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”
I agreed. And if I didn’t get the sword soon, that mirror could possibly fall and shatter, trapping us in this place forever.
Once again, I called my magic, summoning the word for conjure.
“Miraculum,” I whispered. A magical mist formed in front of me, just like when I’d been here with Jeven. The colorful swirls began to take shape. A hilt formed, followed by a long, tarnished blade. I held out my hands the same way Jeven had done, and the sword moved to rest atop my palms.
Kull stepped forward and inspected the sword as the mist dissipated.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “Is this really it?”
I nodded. “Would you like to hold it?”
His eyes lit up. “You’ll let me?”
“Of course.” I moved to give him the sword when I felt its magic. Something felt out of place, although I wasn’t sure why, and I didn’t get a chance to probe it more as Kull took the sword from me. He held it carefully, weighing it in his hands, then stepped back and took a practice swing.
Behind us, the mirror shuddered. “We should go,” I said.
He nodded, and we crossed toward the mirror. As I faced the glass, I called on my reserves of magic, feeling it depleted after conjuring the sword. Still, I would use what I had left.
I let my magic flow into the glass. The mirror reacted and reached out for us, embracing us in its power until the room reappeared and we stood in a hallway.
Shards of glass lay in heaps around us. The floor shook violently beneath our feet, making dust fall from the ceiling. The mirror behind us crashed to the floor and shattered.
“We need to get out of here,” Kull shouted over the noise.
“I know! Let’s go before the castle collapses on us. Use the sword against the Regaymor. It’s the only thing that can kill them.”
Kull nodded. As we dashed down the hall, we avoided the piles of glass and made it back to the stairs and onto the main floor.
Chaos had broken out. A fire raged in one of the hallways. Shouts mingled with the crackling flames. Several guards rushed past us. They held long spears as they headed toward the hallway that led to the Regaymor’s cavern, though no one paid us any attention.
Kull lingered, holding the sword, as the screams pierced the air.
“We could help them,” he said.
He was right. They’d imprisoned me and they were cannibals, but they were still people. Kull wanted to help them because he was noble to a fault, because it was his duty to preserve life. Despite his faults, when it came to it, he would never fail to do the right thing. He would sacrifice his own comfort, his own desires, if it meant he could save everyone else.
But we would die if we didn’t escape with the sword, and our world would die with us.
“We can’t help them, Kull. We’ve got to go.”
He nodded, and I saw the regret in his eyes, but then we turned away from the hallway, from the sounds of screams that would haunt my nightmares forever, and headed for the doors.
We raced past rooms engulfed in flames. Embers flitted on waves of heated air as smoke billowed, and the roaring inferno consumed Jeven’s tower.
When we reached the tall castle doors leading to the outside world, we halted.
Jeven stood at the doors, arms crossed, his eyes narrowed at us. Fury burned in his pupils.
“You,” he hissed. “Both of you have betrayed me.”
My heart pounded as sweat slicked my palms. I should’ve known better than to think we could escape unscathed.
“Return the sword,” he demanded.
“We can’t do that,” Kull answered.
Magic ignited around the warlock’s fists. Its power punched my chest, making me stumble back.
“Return the sword!” Jeven repeated.
I knew his magic would rip us apart if we refused to return the sword, and my magic, already weakened from conjuring the weapon, wouldn’t be any match against a powerful warlock’s. We’d have to talk our way out, if that were even possible.
“We need the sword to save our world,” I said as calmly as I possibly could.
“You stole it from me! I cannot let such an act go unpunished.”
“You’re not listening to me! My world will be destroyed by Theht unless you allow us to have the sword!”
“And what of my people?” he shouted. “They are dying as we speak. You will doom us
