1
Rachel clutched her doll tighter to her chest and stared at the dark thing watching her from the bushes. At least she thought it was watching her. It was hard to tell because the eyes were as dark as the rest of it, except when the light caught them just right, then they gleamed a golden color.
She had seen animals in the woods before, rabbits and raccoons and squirrels and such, but this was bigger. It was as big as her, maybe bigger. Bears were dark. She wondered if it could be a bear.
But this wasn't exactly the woods, since it was indoors. She had never been in an indoor woods before. She wondered if indoor woods had animals like the outdoor woods did.
She might have been afraid if Chase wasn't there with her. She knew she was safe with him. Chase was the bravest man she ever saw. Still, she was a little afraid. Chase had told her she was the bravest little girl he knew. She didn't want him to think she was afraid of some big rabbit.
Maybe that's all it was, some big rabbit, sitting on a rock or something. But rabbits had long ears. Maybe it really was a bear. She put her doll's foot in her mouth.
She turned and looked down the path, across the pretty flowers and short walls covered with vines, and across the grass to where Chase was talking to Zedd, the wizard. They were standing by a stone table, looking at the boxes, and talking about what to do with them. Rachel was glad that that mean Darken Rahl didn't get them and that he wasn't ever going to be able to hurt anyone again.
Rachel turned back to make sure the dark thing wasn't coming any closer to her. It was gone. She looked around, but didn't see it anywhere.
"Sara, where do you think it could have gone?" she whispered.
Her doll didn't have an answer. Rachel bit down on Sara's foot and started walking to Chase. Her feet wanted to run, but she didn't want Chase to think she wasn't brave. He had said she was brave, and that made her feel good. She looked over her shoulder as she walked, checking, but she didn't see the dark thing anywhere. Maybe it lived in a hole, and it had gone there. Her feet still wanted to run, but she didn't let them.
When she reached Chase, she pushed up against him and hugged his leg. He and Zedd were talking, and she knew it was impolite to interrupt, so she sucked on Sara's foot while she waited.
"So what could happen if you just shut the lid?" Chase was asking the wizard.
"Anything!" Zedd stuck his skinny arms up in the air. His wavy white hair was smoothed down but it still stuck out in places. "How should I know? Just because I know what the boxes of Orden are doesn't mean I know what to do with them now that Darken Rahl has opened one. The magic of Orden killed him for opening it. It could have destroyed the world. It could kill me for closing it. Or worse."
Chase sighed. "Well we can't just leave them sitting around, can we? Don't we have to do something?"
The wizard frowned and looked at the boxes while he was thinking. When it was quiet for a minute, Rachel tugged on Chase's sleeve. He looked down at her.
"Chase..."
"Chase? I told you the rules." He put his hands on his hips and twisted his face up trying to make it look mean, until she giggled and hugged his leg tighter. "You've only been my daughter for a few weeks, and already you're breaking the rules. I told you before, you are to call me 'Father'. None of my children are allowed to call me Chase. Understand?"
Rachel grinned and nodded. "Yes Ch... Father."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then he mussed her hair. "What is it?"
"There's some big animal in the trees. I think it might be a bear, or worse. I think you might need to take out your sword and go have a look."
He laughed. "A bear! In here?" He laughed again. "This is an indoor garden, Rachel. There aren't any bears in an indoor garden. Maybe it was a shadow. The light does odd things in here."
She shook her head. "I don't think so, Ch... Father. It was watching me."
He smiled and mussed her hair again and put his big hand on the side of her face and hugged her head to his leg. "Then you just stay by me and it won't bother you."
She sucked Sara's foot and nodded as he held her head to his leg. She didn't feel so afraid now that he had his hand on her, and so looked over to the trees again.
The dark thing, mostly hidden by one of the vine covered walls, darted closer. Rachel bit down harder on Sara's foot and let out a little whimper as she looked up at Chase. He was pointing at the boxes.
"And just what is that thing, that stone, or jewel or whatever it is? Did it come out of the box?"
Zedd nodded. "It did. But I don't want to say what I think it is until I'm sure. At least not out loud."
"Father," Rachel whined, "it's coming closer."
He looked down. "Good. You just keep your eye on it for me." He looked back to the wizard. "What do you mean you don't want to say? Do you think it has something to do with what you said about the veil to the underworld possibly being torn?"
Zedd frowned while he rubbed his smooth chin with his skinny fingers and looked down at the black jewel setting in front of the open box. "That's what I'm afraid of."
Rachel looked over to the wall to watch where the dark thing was. She gave a start when she saw the hands reach over the edge of the wall. It was a lot closer.
But they weren't hands. They were claws. Long curved claws.
She looked up at Chase, at all his weapons, just to be sure he had enough. He had knives, a lot of knives, around his waist, a sword strapped over the back of his shoulder, a big axe hooked to his belt, a few other things that looked like clubs, with sharp spikes sticking out of them, hanging from his belt, too, and a crossbow on his back. She hoped it was enough.
All the weapons scared other men, but it didn't seem to be scaring the dark thing that was coming closer. And the wizard didn't even have a knife. He just wore that plain, tan robe. And he was so skinny. Not big like Chase. But wizards had magic. Maybe his magic could scare the dark thing away.
Magic! Rachel remembered the magic fire stick wizard Giller had given her. She reached into her pocket and gripped her fingers around it. Maybe Chase would need her help. She wouldn't let that thing hurt her new father. She would be brave.
"Is it dangerous?"
Zedd looked up at Chase from under his eyebrows. "If it's what I think it is, and it were to fall into the wrong hands, dangerous wouldn't even begin to describe it."
"Then maybe we should drop it down a deep hole, or destroy it."
"Can't. We may need it."
"What if we hide it?"
"That's what I'm thinking. The problem is where. There are things to take into consideration. I need to take Adie to Aydindril and study the prophecies with her before I know for sure what to do with the stone, and what to do about the boxes."
"And until then? Until you know for sure?"
Rachel looked over to the dark thing. It was closer, as close as the wall came to them. With its claws over the top of the wall, it lifted its head up and looked right into her eyes.
The thing grinned at her, showing long, sharp teeth. Her breath caught in her throat. Its shoulders jiggled. It was laughing. Rachel's eyes were as big as they would go. She could hear her heartbeats making a whooshing sound in her ears.
"Father..." she whined in a small voice.
He didn't look down. He just shushed her. The thing put its leg over the wall and dropped down in front, still looking at her, still laughing. Its shinny ey
es looked at Chase and Zedd. It hissed and then laughed as it hunched down.
Rachel tugged Chase's pant leg and strained to make her voice work. "Father... it's coming."
"All right Rachel. Zedd, I still don't know..."
With a howl the dark thing sprang into the open. It ran like a streak, just a blur of black. Rachel screamed. Chase spun just as it hit him. Claws flashed through the air. Chase fell to the ground as the thing leapt on Zedd.
The wizard's arms flailed about. Flashes of light shot from Zedd's fingers, bouncing off the dark thing and tearing up dirt or stone where they hit. The thing knocked Zedd to the ground.
It laughed in a loud howl as it jumped back on Chase as he was pulling his axe from his belt. Rachel screamed again as the claws tore at Chase. The thing was faster than any animal she had ever seen. Its claws were just a blur.
Rachel was terrified Chase was being hurt. It flung the axe out of Chase's hand, laughing in that awful laugh. It was hurting Chase. Rachel had the fire stick in her hand.
She jumped forward and put the fire stick on its back. She screamed the magic words to make the fire stick work. "Light for me!"
The dark thing burst into flames. It made a horrible scream as it spun to her. Its mouth opened wide, teeth snapping as flames burned all over it. It laughed again, but not like people laughed when they thought things were funny. Its laugh made her skin prickle. It hunched over and started walking toward her, still on fire, as Rachel backed up.
Chase let out a grunt as he threw one of the clubs with the sharp spikes sticking out of it. The club hit the thing's back, sticking in its shoulder. It looked around at Chase and laughed as it reached behind and pulled the club out of its back. It started for Chase again.
Zedd was up. Fire flew from his fingers, covering the thing with even more flames. It laughed at Zedd. All the fire went out. Smoke rose from it. Its body looked the same now as before it got burned. In fact, it looked like it was dark from being burned even before Rachel had set it on fire. It looked the same now.
Chase was on his feet, and there was blood on him. Rachel got tears at seeing that. Chase snatched the crossbow off his back and in a blink he shot an arrow. It stuck in the thing's chest. With that terrible laugh it snapped the arrow off.
Chase threw aside the crossbow and yanked out the sword from over his shoulder, then ran for the thing, jumping over it as he stabbed the sword. The thing moved so fast Chase missed. Zedd did something that sent the thing tumbling across the grass. Chase put himself in front of her, pushing her back with one hand while he held the sword out in the other.
The thing sprang to its feet again, looking at each of them.
"Walk!" Zedd yelled at them. "Don't run! Don't stand still!"
Chase grabbed Rachel's wrist and started walking backwards. Zedd started walking backwards too. The dark thing stopped laughing and looked to each of them, blinking. Chase was breathing hard. His chain mail shirt and the tan leather tunic under it had big rips from the claws. Rachel got more tears at all the blood on him. Blood was running down his arm onto her hand. She didn't want him to be hurt. She loved him something fierce. She clutched Sara and the fire stick tighter.
Zedd stopped. "Keep walking," he told Chase.
The dark thing looked at Zedd standing there, and a big grin with sharp teeth came to its face again. It laughed that awful laugh and tore at the ground as it started in a rush toward the Wizard.
Zedd threw his hands up. Dirt and grass flew up in the air around the thing. It was lifted into the air. Bolts of blue lightning struck it from all around before it hit the ground. It howled in laughter as it thudded to the ground, smoking.
Something else happened, Rachel couldn't tell what, and the thing stopped with its arms stretched out, like it was trying to run, but its feet were stuck. It howled and twisted, but couldn't move. Zedd swirled his arms around in circles and threw them out once more. The ground shook as if from thunder and there were flashes of light hitting the thing. It laughed and there was a breaking sound, like wood snapping, and the thing started toward Zedd.
Zedd began walking again. The thing stopped and frowned. Then the wizard stopped and threw his arms out again. A terrible ball of fire went through the air toward the thing as it ran for Zedd. The ball of fire made a loud scream and grew bigger as it flew toward the dark thing.
The fire hit so hard it made the ground shake. The blue and yellow light was so bright Rachel had to squint as she was walking backwards. The ball of fire stayed in that one place as it burned and made a loud roar.
Smoking, the dark thing stepped out of the fire, its shoulders shaking as it laughed. The flames went out in little sparks that flew around in the air.
"Bags," the wizard said as he started walking backwards.
Rachel didn't know what "bags" meant, but Chase had told Zedd not to say it in front of little ears. She didn't know what that meant either. The wizard's wavy, white hair was all messed up and sticking out in clumps.
Rachel and Chase were on the path through the trees, almost to the door. Zedd was walking backwards toward them as the dark thing watched. Zedd stopped and the thing started coming again.
Walls of flame shot up in front of it. The air smelled like smoke and roared with noise. The thing stepped through the wall of fire. Zedd made another, and it stepped through that too.
When the wizard started walking again it stopped by a short, vine covered wall, watching. Fat vines ripped off the wall by themselves and grew suddenly longer. They whipped around the dark thing as it stood there, tangling all around it. Zedd was almost up with them.
"Where are we going?" Chase asked him.
Zedd turned. He looked tired. "Let's see if we can shut it in here."
The thing tore at the vines as they pulled it to the ground, and was slicing through them with its sharp claws as the three of them went through the big doorway. Chase and Zedd each took one of the golden metal doors and pushed them shut.
From the other side came a howl. And then a loud crash. A big dent popped out in the door, knocking Zedd to the ground. Chase put a hand on each door and put all his weight against them as the thing pounded from the other side.
Horrible screeches came through the metal as the thing clawed at the door. Chase was covered with sweat and blood. Zedd jumped to his feet and helped Chase hold the doors closed.
A claw stuck through the crack between the two doors and slid down, then another came out from underneath. Rachel could hear the thing laughing through the door. Chase grunted as he pushed. The doors creaked.
The wizard stood back and held his arms out, with his fingers up, like he was pushing against the air. The creaking stopped. The thing howled louder.
Zedd grabbed Chase's sleeve. "Get out of here."
Chase backed away from the doors. "Is that going to hold it?"
"I don't think so. If it comes for you, walk. Running or standing still attracts its attention. Tell anyone else you see."
"Zedd, what is that thing?"
There was another loud crash and another big dent popped out in the door. The tips of claws broke through the metal and made rips in the door. The noise it made hurt Rachel's ears.
"Go! Now!"
Chase snatched her up with an arm around her waist and started running down the hall.
2
Zedd idly fingered the stone through the coarse cloth of his robe, where it was nestled in an inner pocket, as he watched the claws pull back through the rips in the steel. He turned and watched the boundary warden carrying Rachel down the hall. They hadn't gone more than a few dozen strides when one of the doors flew off its hinges with a horrific boom. The steel hinges shattered like they were made of clay.
Zedd dove out of the way, the gold clad steel door just missing him as it flew across the hall and crashed against the polished granite wall, sending shards of metal flying and stone dust boiling down the hall. Zedd rolled to his feet and ran.
The screeling bounded out of the garden of l
ife and into the hall. Its body was hardly more than a squat skeleton covered in a veneer of dry, crispy, blackened skin. Like a corpse that had dried in the sun for years. White bone stuck out in places where the skin, hanging in flaps here and there, had been torn in the fight, but it didn't seem to bother the creature; it was a thing of the underworld, and not hindered by all the frailties of life. There was no blood.
If it could be torn up enough, or hacked apart, maybe it could be stopped, but it was awfully quick. And magic certainly wasn't doing it much harm. It was a creature of Subtractive Magic; Additive Magic was just being absorbed into it like a sponge.
Maybe it could be harmed with Subtractive Magic, but Zedd had nothing of that half of the gift. No wizard in the last few thousand years did. Some may have had the calling for the Subtractive, Darken Rahl was proof of that, but none had had the gift for it.
No, his magic wasn't going to stop this thing. At least, the wizard thought, not directly. But maybe indirectly?
Zedd walked backwards as the screeling watched with blinking, bewildered eyes. Now, he thought, while it's standing still.
Concentrating, Zedd gathered the air, making it dense, dense enough to lift the heavy door. He was tired; it took an effort. He pushed the air with a mental grunt, crashing the door onto the back of the screeling. Dust rolled up and across the hall as the door slammed the creature to the ground. It howled. Zedd wondered if it was howling in pain, or anger.
The door lifted, stone chips sliding off. The screeling held the heavy steel door up with one clawed hand as it laughed, a woody tendril of the vine he had tried to strangle it with still coiled around its neck.
"Bags," Zedd muttered. "Nothing is ever easy."
Zedd kept walking backwards. The door crashed to the floor as the screeling stepped out from underneath it and followed after. It was starting to learn that the people who walked were the same ones who ran or stood still. This was an unfamiliar world to it. Zedd had to think of something before it learned any more. If only he wasn't so tired.