The Seer (27 page)

‘Oh come on, where’s your sense of fun?’ 

‘Back in The Cloak having a drink.’

‘You’ve changed brother.’  Mistral chided him mockingly and began
turning her sword in a figure of eight.  ‘There was a time when this was
fun for you.’

‘No Mistral that was always you.  We just went along to carry your
unconscious body back.’

‘For which I am eternally gratefully, now, are you ready?’  Mistral
halted at the mouth of the cave and began to issue whispered
instructions.  ‘I’ll go in first.  You follow in a few minutes in
case I need back up –’

‘Good plan.’  Phantasm snorted sarcastically and stepped into the dark
mouth of the cave before she could stop him.  He paused, giving his eyes
time to adjust to the dim light, sword leveled in preparation for whatever
might launch itself of the blackness.  Mistral was at his back, impatient
to move past him.  He ignored her and crept forward slowly.  Clusters
of stalactites hung from the low roof, forcing him to duck or scrape his head
against their pointed tips.  He shuffled in a little further and the cave
suddenly widened out, allowing them to move side by side.  The roof was
still low, making them to creep forward in an awkward hunched position. 
Mistral inched in front of him, her sword piercing the gloom ahead.  The
roof gradually rose, allowing them to stand upright but in the end the cave
proved to be quite small and they were soon at the furthest wall.  Mistral
turned in a circle, sniffing the air cautiously.  The air was stale with
the lingering aroma of troll, but it was old and faint, no more than a memory
of the previous occupant. 

Mistral lowered her sword, looking disappointed, ‘Looks like you were right
brother,’ she sighed and turned to face him.  ‘There was one here, but
it’s long –’

The rest of her sentence was lost in the deafening crash of falling rock,
Phantasm instinctively threw himself forwards, slamming Mistral to the ground
beneath him as the entire mouth of the cave gave way.  Winded and coughing
from the cloud of dust that filled the cave, Mistral immediately began to
struggle to free herself from beneath Phantasm.  ‘Get off!’  She
choked.  ‘You’re crushing me!’

‘Thank you would have sufficed,’ he stood up and offered her his hand.

Mistral snorted ungratefully but let him pull her upright.  She groped
around in the darkness for their dropped swords while Phantasm pulled his
tinder box from inside his jerkin and lit a taper.  ‘Here,’ she reached
out and touched his arm to gain his attention before passing his sword to
him. 

He took it from her wordlessly, sliding it back into his belt while he
continued to stare at the tumbled mass of rocks blocking the entrance, ‘We’re
trapped,’ he muttered.

Panic swept through Mistral like wildfire, ‘Oh no we’re not!’  she
immediately strode over to the collapsed cave entrance and dropped to her
knees, reaching out to grab at the rocks.  ‘Ow!  Damn it!  What
the hell was that!’  she shook her hands as though she’d just been
stung. 

‘What’ve you done?’  Phantasm frowned down at her while she examined
her hands in the flickering light of the taper.

‘I don’t know!  I just tried to grab a rock
but something stung me!’

Phantasm knelt beside her and tentatively pressed
his palm to a rock, quickly drawing it back with a sharp hiss of pain, ‘Damn!’

‘What going on?’  Mistral’s face creased into
a look of confusion.  ‘Why can’t we touch the rocks?’

‘I’m not sure yet.’  Holding the burning
taper up to cast as much light as possible, Phantasm walked slowly along the
base of the pile, looking carefully at the fallen rocks. 

‘There must be
another way out of here!’  Mistral hurried to the cave wall, running her
hands frantically over every crevice and flaw in the rock.  ‘Maybe I could
climb up and find a tunnel or something –’

‘Mistral, you
can touch the ceiling.’  Phantasm said quietly.  ‘There’s no tunnel
and no way out apart from through this rock fall.’

Mistral continued to pace the cave, balling her
fists tightly while she fought to control the black panic welling up
inside.  She glanced up at the dark roof of the cave, it seemed to be
pressing down on her, trapping her –

‘Can you smell
that?’  Phantasm asked suddenly.

Mistral spun
around to stare at him, her expression wild.  She forced in a lungful of
air; the dust had settled, leaving a distinct aroma of – ‘Ozone!’

Phantasm
pointed to the blocked entrance, ‘This was no rock fall.  One of those
wretched Mages has cast a spell to trap us in here!  I wonder how we break
it –’ he stared at the rocks thoughtfully while Mistral continued to pace
agitatedly around the small cave, struggling to keep her looming hysteria in
check.  ‘There’s something else,’ he said quickly. 

‘What?  A
door?’  Mistral asked in a strained voice.

‘No 
...  another scent.  Can’t you smell it?’

Mistral shook her
head impatiently, ‘I can only smell stale air and the stink of that damned
spell.’

‘Well I can
smell flowers.  Roses to be precise.’

‘Great, so I’m
going to die in a ready-made tomb that smells of flowers.  Perfect!’

‘No Mistral,
it means a love spell was used to seal this cave.’

She stood
still and stared at him, ‘A
what?
’

‘A love spell,
Mistral.  I think we’re dealing with two spells here.  One to create
the fall and a love spell to bind it.’  Phantom’s brows knitted
together.  ‘But ... why? 
Why
?’ 

Phantasm began
to pace, his head bent in thought.  Without the sound of his voice the
cave was frighteningly quiet, like a tomb.  Mistral closed her eyes and
forced in a slow even breath, then another, and another, counting them out in
an effort to control the claustrophobia threatening to engulf her.

Phantasm
suddenly clapped his hands together, ‘Oh, very clever!’ 

‘What?’ 
Mistral’s eyes jerked open, her heart pounding double-time again.

‘Those
conniving Mages have set us up!’  He turned to face her, his green eyes
glittering in the gloom.  ‘This is important Mistral!  I need you to
focus now.  Did you See anything odd in their thoughts today?’

She frowned,
‘There was something … but they were both being very careful not to think of
the specifics.  I couldn’t See clearly ... Mage Powers definitely had some
sort of plan, he kept laughing in his mind.  It wasn’t good laughter ...
it was  ... oh, I don’t know ...
evil
–’

‘Mistral?’ 
Phantasm was looking at her closely.  ‘Listen to me now.  Stay
focussed.  There’s more to this than Mage Powers trying to trap us. 
He’s got a reason for using a love spell to bind the rock fall, and we need to
know what it is.’  He paused, studying her carefully.  ‘I need you to
See into Mage Powers’ mind.  Can you do that?’

Mistral drew
in a shaky breath and nodded.  Closing her eyes she let go of her fear,
emptying her mind with the slow breath she exhaled.  Her heart steadied
and her shoulders dropped, she was utterly still save for the shallow rise and
fall of her chest.  Only when she was completely calm did she begin to
work, forcing her mind to paint a portrait in painstaking detail; capturing the
gleam in his beady eyes, the sallow tinged skin, the meanness of his downturned
mouth ... and suddenly she was face to face with Mage Powers.  She let his
face fill her vision, seeing him,
Seeing
him …

‘Powers,’ her
eyes slid out of focus as she breathed his name.  ‘He is filled with
savage joy.  He is laughing at Fabian … telling him he has cast a spell
that can only be broken by love.  He is
so
proud of himself! 
He has weaved a spell that will force the wife of Mage De Winter into the arms
of another man … love or die of starvation he says … he believes Fabian will be
overcome with jealousy and kill you –’

Phantasm
exhaled in a soft hiss, ‘Will he?’

‘I –’ Mistral
frowned, her eyes moved unseeingly across the cave.  ‘I can’t See! 
He won’t ... I can’t ... See Fabian –’

‘Mistral? 
Are you lying to me?’ 

‘No … it’s
Fabian.  His mind ... it’s completely empty … like, oh!  Like –’

‘Like when
he’s about to kill someone.’  Phantasm muttered grimly.  He suddenly
looked into Mistral’s oddly blank eyes, his voice dropping to an urgent
whisper.  ‘Mistral?  Can you hear me?  Mage Powers is the key to
this!  He can break this spell!  Tell me what he’s thinking
Mistral!  Can Mage De Winter force him to break the spell?’

Mistral closed
her eyes, breaking the connection with her Mage to seek out Powers again. 
Giving a long drawn out sigh she opened her eyes slowly and gazed unseeingly at
Phantasm.  ‘Mage Powers … he is filled with triumph!  He is content
to forfeit his own life knowing he has struck a valid blow for the cause …
ah!  There … the cause … I
See
the thoughts he has concealed from
me all day … he is a Rochforte … Etienne is his mother’s cousin … they have
conspired to rid the Council of Mage Grapple … he sees a future with the Isle
under Rochforte rule … and I … I am just an obstacle to be removed … no more
than an assassin’s …
No!
’  She abruptly stopped and stared, eyes
wide with fear but unfocussed, still inside Mage Powers’ mind.

‘What is
it?  Phantasm hissed urgently.  ‘What do you See?’

‘I – oh! 
He has such hatred!  He is telling Fabian that he has made his wife no
better than a – a –’

Phantasm
groaned quietly, ‘He hasn’t called you that word has he?’ 

‘Oh!’
 Mistral jerked violently and clutched a hand to her throat, her eyes wide
and staring.  She began to make choking noises, bubbles of moisture
breaking against her trembling lips.

‘Mistral!’ 
Phantasm snatched her hands away, staring in confusion at the unblemished skin.
 ‘What’s happening to you?’

She released a
long rattling breath then slumped lifelessly against him.

‘Mistral! 
Look at me!’  Phantasm grasped her shoulders, his panic-filled shout
reverberating off the walls.  ‘Come back to me!’

But Mistral
didn’t hear him.  Her eyes had rolled back into disturbing slithers of
white.  Phantasm swore and starting to shake her, shouting her name
frantically, over and over as though the sound alone could defeat death.

Her eyes
abruptly flew open, blazing with familiar life-bursting, anger, ‘What the hell
do you think you’re doing?’

‘You scared
me!’ He exclaimed and released her.  ‘I thought you were dead!’

Mistral
touched a hand tentatively to her throat, ‘Not me, Mage Powers.’

Phantasm
cursed angrily, ‘That’s unfortunate for Mage Powers, but also for us.  Now
our only hope of getting out of here is Mage Silver – unless of course, your
Mage would consider embracing the Craft in order to save your life?’

Mistral shook
her head distractedly, staring at the blocked entrance again, ‘He’d do anything
right now, but it wouldn’t work.  I know what spell was used now. 
Powers and Silver are cousins.  They share blood.  The spell they
cast together was a binding spell – a love spell.  It can only be broken
by the Mages who cast it ... or,’ she looked at Phantasm, ‘by us.’

‘But Powers is
dead!’

‘Which makes
Silver useless.  I know.’  Mistral shivered and looked up at the cave
roof.  ‘I need to get out of here!’

‘Stay with me
Mistral!’  Phantasm quickly cast around for something to distract
her.  ‘Tell me what Silver is doing!’

‘Silver –’ the
name fell from her lips in a sibilant whisper, her eyes becoming vague once
more.  ‘I See him … Grendel is holding him … your brother is questioning
him … he is furious … now Fabian is there … but Silver is refusing to release
us, he says he cannot … that the spell was jointly cast and can only be undone
by them both … Fabian is shouting at him … Silver is shouting back … he is
outraged at being held by Grendel, he is demanding to be released … making
threats … hah!’

‘What!’ 

Mistral
laughed, the pealing sound verging on hysteria, ‘He is trying to cast on
Grendel … it is making Grendel angry  ...  so
angry
–’

‘Not a good
move.’  Phantom muttered, watching her tensely. 

‘His spells
are having no effect … but Grendel … his face!  Such fury!  He scares
Silver … he is going to cast again!  Oh ...  No ... please ...
NO!
 
Brother!  Catch me!  I’m falling –’

‘Oh not
again!’  Phantasm leapt forward and took hold of her by the shoulders,
staring anxiously into her unfocused eyes.  ‘Mistral!  Come
back!  Let go of his mind!  See me Mistral!  See me!’

Mistral
shuddered and closed her eyes, her voice barely above a whisper, ‘It’s cold …
so cold –’

‘I’m
here.  It’s warm.  I’m here.’  Phantasm wrapped both arms
tightly around her slumped body.  ‘Don’t you dare die on me Mistral! 
Don’t leave me in this damned cave alone!  Come back!  Do you hear me
you stupid, stubborn woman?  Come back!’  Mistral drew in a ragged
breath and Phantasm could have kissed her.  ‘Where are you?’  He
whispered desperately.

‘Stuck in a
cave with you, where do you think I am?’  She muttered and struggled from
his arms.

He heaved a
sigh of relief, ‘You’re back.’

Mistral looked
away, gazing into nothingness with haunted eyes, ‘Well.  That was an
experience.’

‘To be inside
the mind of the dying twice in one day?  Terrifying I should imagine.’

Mistral
continued to gaze unseeingly into her memory, ‘Grendel lost his temper, he
threw Silver … I Saw through his eyes as he fell, the rocks, the sky … I heard
his last thoughts –’

‘Anything
profound?’  Phantasm enquired lightly.