“That’s Eilith,” Willow whispered to Bray as she followed the woman out of the prison cell.
“Walk!” Eilith poked at Willow from behind, urging her forward. “Get up!” Eilith turned around and saw Bray lying on the floor. “Now, or lie there and rot.”
“Get up,” Willow hissed.
His eyes fluttered open, but he didn't move. Willow groaned when Eilith zapped her in the back with a spark of electricity. Willow's face flinched with anger.
Eilith’s terrifying voice sent a shiver down his spine. Bray relented, knowing his fate would be worse if he didn't do as instructed. He pushed himself up off the floor and through the door. It slammed shut behind him, hitting his back and pushing him forward.
The inside of the castle was circular where they had been held. Locked cells lined the walls. The center was a giant staircase that spun upwards. He grunted in protest but followed Willow up the stairwell. He heard a slight gasp from her as she moved on ahead. He wanted to ask her what she'd seen, but he thought better of it, as Eilith was just inches behind him.
“Where are we going?” Willow asked.
Bray continued cautiously up the stairs, now past four flights. He wasn't out of breath yet, but he was getting tired.
“The sixth floor,” Eilith said. It appeared as though she were floating just above the staircase. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it. “I’ve always wanted a pet.” Her fingers touched the top of Bray’s head. He shuddered, trying to duck and move away from her grasp, without tumbling down the stairs. “You will do as I ask, abide by my rules, and I will let you live as servants. For now.” She clapped her hands together.
“Why not just kill us?” Willow asked. “It’s what you do best.”
Eilith grinned. “It is, isn’t it? The thing is, I need something from you. Might as well make the most of the extra set of hands.”
Bray swallowed the lump forming in his throat and walked faster up the stairwell. He wanted to be as far from Eilith as possible.
They reached the sixth floor, and Willow stepped out from the stairwell first.
“This way!” Eilith brushed past Bray, pushing him.
He staggered. Bray could see each floor down below. If he fell, game over. He caught up with Willow.
“You will both go to my apothecary and grind bone into dust,” Eilith said.
“That’s disgusting,” Bray muttered under his breath.
“It’s what I need for a potion I’m creating. You will do as told, or I’ll use your fresh bones and meat. Do you understand?”
Bray knew better than to answer.
Eilith pushed them into the small, dark room. A wooden table sat in the center and locked cabinets were fastened to the walls. “Keep your grubby paws off my vials if you want to live to see another sunrise. And, if you so much as disobey anyone inside my home, I will execute you both. I expect to have no trouble from either one of you.” Her tone held more than a hint of warning as she flashed a second set of razor sharp teeth. She definitely wasn’t human.
Bray took a step back toward the cobblestone wall, stumbling over bones, and his hands pressed tightly against the cold material. He struggled to breathe. Why couldn't he wake up? This had to be a bad dream. Nothing seemed real.
“Did you hear me, boy?” Eilith asked, pushing closer, trapping him. She reached her hand out and slapped his face to the side, pinning it to the wall. She examined his eyes; the hint of fear in his face no longer masked as her nails pierced his jaw and cheek, drawing blood.
Bray attempted to nod. Eilith’s grip was tight. He’d never felt his heart pound so swiftly in his chest before. She released her grip.
Eilith shut the door and locked them in the room.
“Bones?” Bray’s voice trembled as he stared down at the remains littering the floor. “They’re animal, right?”
“Keep telling yourself that, if it makes it easier.”
Bray reached up to touch the scratches on his cheek and felt warm red blood on his palm.
“At least she didn’t leave a scar,” Willow said, matter-of-factly. “The scratches are gone.” She gestured toward his cheek. “I guess she didn’t mean to actually hurt you.”
“What is she?” Bray turned toward the small mirror attached to the wall. Willow was right; there wasn’t a mark on his face. “How?” Bray asked, examining the blood on his hands. He wiped the crimson onto his pants. “People don’t heal that quickly.”
“Ordinarily, you’re right. However, Eilith is a sorceress.”
“Sorceress?”
“Demon is probably a more appropriate word for what she’s become. Takes some getting used to.” Willow sat down at the table.
He’d never been in a stone castle before and couldn’t recall any near Cosima, Missouri. “Where am I?” He walked toward the window, understanding now why Eilith chose the sixth floor for them. There was no chance of an escape.
“Orenda, my world, and the land where I live. Which is unlike anything you're accustomed to,” Willow said.
“You're really not Lil?” he asked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He definitely wasn't waking up.
Willow sighed. “What do you remember?”
Bray explained to her what little he understood of how he’d gotten here—everything from Lil’s disappearance to hearing her voice in the forest.
“It wasn't me in the forest, and I doubt it was your Lil. That must have been a trick of Eilith's to capture you. Eilith is always one step ahead in the manipulation game. If she wanted you here, she has her reasons. Lil went missing?” Willow looked surprised. “I tried to send Rawlie over when I was abducted. It must have worked. Although I had hoped he'd bring Jamie with him and stay far from Eilith.”
“What would Eilith want with us?” He didn't want Lil, the girl he grew up with, to risk her own life to save his.
“I can cross to your world and my friend Rawlie has the ability to bring us back. Perhaps Eilith believes you harbor the same ability. She’s devastated much of Orenda. I’m guessing she’s planning on attacking your world next.”
Bray was still having a difficult time believing what he was hearing. “A few nights ago, Lil mentioned a dream.” He wondered if it could have been real.
Willow stood and lifted a long bone, dropping it onto the table. Bray watched, but didn't move or offer to help. “That's right. I sent her back. I’d send you back if I could.” She glanced at him sadly. “I don’t have any powers within Eilith's walls. We’d have to get miles beyond her borders, where the forest is rich and lush with life.”
“So it was all true, the dream, the other reality.” He still couldn't believe it. Eilith had trapped him in Orenda, and there was little he could do to stop her from taking over
his
world. “We need a plan.”
Lil jumped at the sound of a soft rap on the door. She stared out the window, wanting to find Bray and return home. Already she was on edge, and being cooped up wasn't helping. “Come in,” she said, not that it mattered. She was at their mercy.
“Hi.” A girl with long chestnut hair and warm brown eyes poked her head into the room. “I'm Arianna. You must be Lil?” she asked, not waiting for a response as she perched at the edge of the mattress. “You're from the other world.”
“That’s right,” Lil said, wondering why Arianna was here.
“Rawlie mentioned you might be a little flustered.”
“Flustered?” Lil asked. That wasn't the word she would have used to describe what she was feeling. “What I am is frustrated! My best friend was kidnapped., I'm stuck in a world I didn't even know existed a week ago, and I have to fight off a demon sorceress to save him.”
“You won’t have to do it alone.”
“If you don't mind.” Lil pushed herself off the bed. “The only help I need is for someone to show me the door. I'm leaving.”
Arianna's eyes widened. “No, you shouldn't. You can't. I mean, you can if you really want—no one is forcing you to stay—but it isn't safe. Eilith will seek you out as well. She's taken Willow, probably to gain access to your world. Willow will keep your friend safe. Eilith seeks mortals. She lives off our flesh and blood.”
“I don't believe you.” Lil walked out the bedroom door and down the hallway. “Jamie!” She wasn't about to leave the young boy at the sanctuary. “Get your bags. We're leaving.” Lil walked over to Jamie’s door, opening it.
“We can't.” Jamie's eyes filled with fear and trepidation. “We'll be killed the minute we leave. Even if we stole Rawlie's car, we wouldn't get far. He's the protector, Lil. He's the only reason we're both not already dead.”
“Protector?” Lil scoffed at the notion. “Right. Show me the way out, Arianna. We’re not going to be hostages in your home.”
“Eilith isn't far from here. She'll sense when you've stepped onto her territory,” Arianna said as they descended the stairs. “We can't protect you outside the sanctuary, Lil.”
Lil was determined. “I’ll be fine.” She was going to rescue Bray and then find a way back to her world. Hopefully upon rescuing Willow, she’d send them home.
Arianna led her down to the main floor. “Without Rawlie or Hudson, I can only let you leave through the back gardens. I don't have a key to go through the main entrance.”
“So, you're a hostage too?” Lil asked, surprised.
“No! Of course not,” Arianna said. “I choose to live here, in peace and safety. Hudson and his family brought me in after the Scourge. They saved me when Eilith destroyed our world. They gave me a home. It's not their fault I don't have the same blood and can't open the entranceway. The guards protect us from letting in Eilith, or her destroyers who pose as us.”
This was the most Lil had learned without fishing for information. “Tell me more,” Lil said.
“I'll tell you everything, Lil,” Arianna said, her voice calm and steady. “We need your help. If you leave on your own, you won’t make it far.”
Lil stood just before the French doors to the garden. She pushed them open and stepped outside into the warm air. It was the view she'd seen from the bedroom. Pink flowering magnolia trees stretched as far as the eye could see. A white iron table sat under two trees, along with matching chairs. They looked old. Lil took a seat, resting her hands on the table. “Let it be my decision.” She didn’t want these people to tell her what she had to do.
“Eilith has been in power for the past eight years,” Arianna said. “She's wreaked havoc on our world, destroyed homes and families. A few survived and now live in places like our sanctuary, where she can't enter without burning.” A dark blue ribbon threaded with a square blue tile nestled against Arianna’s chest. The necklace dangled above her heart, shimmering like diamonds in the pink sun. Lil’s eyes were transfixed momentarily by the pendant, before she blinked twice and looked away.
“Did Rawlie tell you the story of Pandora’s box?”
Lil nodded.
Arianna glanced back at the house before continuing the story. “In our world, we believe the Mystics recovered Pandora's box and stored the contents safely back inside where they belong, buried in concrete and stored in an unnamed tomb. Eilith found and opened the box, yet again. She unleashed a fate far worse the second time. What your world saw as disease and famine, our world had already seen once. The Scourge came with Eilith and it spread through Orenda fast. She was already a powerful sorceress. Perhaps that was how she discovered its location. After she unleashed evil, it infected our world like a disease. It tore apart flesh and sucked the souls right out of the living. It was horrifying to watch. Eilith sought older souls first. Rawlie thinks it's because the older the soul, the more experience and knowledge she gains from it.”
“And Willow? Jamie?” Lil asked.
“Willow's job when the Scourge happened was to protect your world—to keep Eilith and the evil she unleashed from seeking entrance through the gate. Willow's destiny was to stop Eilith. That's why Eilith’s gone after her and will go after you,” Arianna said. “I don't think it's random.”
“What does she want with Willow?”
“If she's still alive,” Arianna said. “I can't say. She doesn't take hostages—she kills.”
“But she took Willow, and I saw that she took Bray.”
Arianna watched as the door swung open and Rawlie stepped outside, approaching the two girls at the table. “It doesn't make sense unless she's planning something,” Arianna said.
“Which is what?” Lil asked.
“Arianna,” Rawlie interrupted their discussion. “Get inside. It’s time to get Lil suited up and prepared for tomorrow.”
Lil raised an eyebrow and glanced at Arianna. “Prepared how?” If she was going up against a demon sorceress, she was screwed.
Rawlie leaned down, his face just inches from Lil's. “Yes. We're going to get you prepared to fight Eilith and save your boyfriend. We’re running out of daylight.”
Rawlie pushed away from the table and headed inside the sanctuary.
“Come on,” Arianna sighed. “He's right. We need to prepare, and the only way to do that is to give you the sword and get you in gear.”
“Sword?” Lil repeated, standing up from the iron table. She followed Arianna inside the mansion.
“Of course, you didn't think we'd throw you at the mercy of an insanely powerful sorceress without a weapon?” Arianna asked, shocked. “What do you take us for, monsters? We're not like Eilith. We don't enjoy watching slayings, human or otherwise.”
Lil stood in the training arena, staring up at the tall ceiling with horizontal wooden beams holding the building in place. Her gaze moved back down to the gray-cushioned floor. It was strange to walk on, like memory foam from back home.
Lil dressed in protective gear that looked like ordinary clothing. She zipped the dark brown jacket tight to her chest. It looked of leather but felt heftier. She wouldn't get used to wearing it overnight. The black pants were less skin-tight than the jacket, but still rather close-fitted. Closer than most of the jeans Lil wore. She slipped on matching brown sneakers coated in the same material as the jacket.
“Why am I wearing this?” Lil asked, watching as Arianna and Rawlie came out of a closet, carrying a sword like none she'd ever seen. It took the two of them to carry it to Lil. The sword was thick and delicately carved, and the handle was braided, the design originating just beyond the base of the sword. A series of intricate holes and designs separated the handle from the steel of the blade; the holes were just big enough for Lil's small hands to grasp the sword horizontally for close combat.