Page 13 of Enthralled

The size of him alone would block out all sunlight, but the darkness which surrounds him is more than ordinary shadow. It is a blackness of hellish pitch, permeating mind, spirit, soul, and heart. I crumple to my knees beneath it, my head thrown back, my jaw slack. The emotions flooding me are too great for screams, for flight. This is fear. Pure fear, lancing through every fiber of my being.

Those shadow-filled eyes turn, fixing solely on me. Down in their centers, a red fire burns, twin pinpoints of heat like windows into the deepest hell. That demented grin grows, revealing far too many teeth. One great clawed hand grips the topmost edge of the tower, while the other reaches in, straight for me. That long misshapen arm stretches out, and I cannot hide, cannot fight. I cannot even throw up my hands to shield my face. I can only kneel as darkness billows around me, lost to all hope.

A bolt of brilliant light sears through my head. I scream—a deep, guttural cry, dragged up from the very depths of my soul. Falling backwards, I scramble across the floor. Golden wings beat powerful gusts of air before me. It’s the stranger—the gray-haired stranger, the one called Castien. He darts between me and that reaching hand, and my vision seems to split. One part of my mind sees a hazy phantom image of him wielding a book and quill, writing a furious stream of words into the pages. The stronger, clearer part of my mind sees that same man brandishing a flaming sword. He hacks into the monster’s outstretched arm, the blade cutting into bone.

The Hollow Man roars. He withdraws his arm, dragging the Prince away with him. As he rears back, sunlight fills the tower once more.

“Out! Out! We’ve got to get out, now!” I turn my head, seeking the source of that voice. It’s the woman—my kidnapper. No longer tall and glorious, but blasted into a scrawny, faded creature with lank, colorless hair. If I’d not seen the transformation with my own eyes, I wouldn’t know it was the same being. Even as I watch her, however, a glimmering aura surrounds her limbs, pulling a faint image of youth and loveliness back into place.

The woman catches hold of the hideous man, the one they call Ivor. Grimacing with disgust, she hauls him to his feet. “Estrilde?” the man rasps, looking at her wildly with his single, bulging eye. “Estrilde, what has he done to me?” He clings to her, desperate, shuddering in pain.

“We’ll make him pay, my love,” the woman snarls. “But first we’ve got to get you away from here. Now, while Castien is distracted. Here, boy!” she barks, turning to Oscar. “Assist him.”

Oscar, recovered from his initial shock, doesn’t hesitate to tuck himself under Ivor’s arm. I realize with a jolt that he’s going to leave with them. He’s going to leave me. “Oscar!” I cry, pulling myself to my feet. “Oscar, wait!”

My brother turns. So does the man. His head whips around sharply, that hideous visage a horror of hatred and wrath. His awful, blackened teeth seem to sharpen.“You!”he snarls. “You did this!”

The next moment he snatches the long knife out of Oscar’s hand and lunges at me. I scream and stagger back even as Oscar throws himself at the man, gripping his arm with both hands. “Ivor, no!” he cries. He’s so thin and frail but overpowers the broken man with apparent ease. “We need her. Remember? Remember our plan!”

“He’s right,” the woman agrees, stepping to Ivor’s side and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Everything can still come out right.” Her voice is low and dangerous but strangely soothing. She reaches up and unclasps the necklace around her throat then loops it over Ivor’s head. The black stone rests against his oozing breast, glittering with its own strange light. “You’ll have your throne,” Estrilde says, “and I’ll have mine. But we must be wise. We cannot waste assets.”

The mad monster holds my gaze with his one eye, panting through gritted teeth. Then he shakes his head, and hanks of limp hair fall across his pustuled forehead. “Bring her,” he snarls.

Estrilde turns with viper quickness and latches hold of my upper arm. Her grip sends a shock through me. “No!” I cry, prying at her fingers. “No, I’m not going anywhere with you!”

With a wordless growl, Estrilde yanks me toward her. Her other hand closes around my face, fingers latching on tight. “Submit!” she says. Something coils out from inside her, through her fingertips, jutting into my mind, like poisonous leeches, sucking away my will. I try to fight, but resistance saps my energy. My knees buckle. With a quick dart, Estrilde catches me, lifts me up, and throws me over her shoulder. There I hang like a dead carcass, still fighting to keep her out of my mind. “Now,” Estrilde says, turning once more to Oscar and the stranger. “To the library.”

The world goes dark, obscure, punctured by flashes of golden light. I don’t understand what’s happening, can neither focus nor concentrate. Some vague part of me is aware of Oscar trailing behind Estrilde, supporting Ivor. That man keeps shooting murderous glances my way, but I cannot find the strength to fear him, not now, not while fighting this influence in my mind. We descend a long, winding stairway and step out into a passage of gold arches. I glimpse incredible sights, images of a glorious palace, like some dreamed-up heaven. Estrilde strides on quickly as though I weigh next to nothing. Oscar struggles more with his burden, and the woman is obliged to pause and let him catch up. We pass others now and then, beautiful people, their faces all strained with terror, many of them screaming. For the moment I can’t remember why they’re afraid.

Suddenly a shadow passes over the world, darkening the beams of light streaming through those window arches. It’s like stepping into another world entirely. Roiling darkness closes in around us, alive and crawling across the floor. Still slung across Estrilde’s shoulder, I lift my head, turn to look out the nearest window. He’s there—the Hollow Man. With his strange, void eyes, so tall that he seems huge even at a distance. Flashing figures of gold close in around him, angelic beings astride winged horses. They streak across the sky, beautiful and fierce. A jolt of hope bursts in my heart at the sight of them. They swarm the Hollow Man, brandishing swords. But the giant swings out an arm. His razor-edged nails swat the winged horses from the air like flies. Some he catches and stuffs into the hollow of his chest.

Then the giant turns its great head and seems to look straight through this window. Straight at me.

You cannot hide.

A multitudinous voice echoes inside my head. Shrieks, growls, curses, groans. But underneath it all, that thread of understanding, that simple truth, felt but not spoken.

You cannot hide.

I will find you.

I will always find you.

My spirit recoils. I am small, hopeless, and so foolish. I don’t deserve to be saved, I don’t deserve to be freed. Whatever comes, whatever darkness descends, I brought it on myself. It’s only right that I should bow my head, accept my fate. It’s only right that I should—

“Mage!” Estrilde’s shriek shatters my ears. “Bind it!” she cries. “Bind your monster! Before it slaughters us all!”

“I . . . I . . .” Oscar’s eyes roll, shifting from Estrilde to Ivor and even to me, as though I might help him. “I don’t know how.”

Estrilde bites out a curse. “What use are you then? Perhaps I should kill you here and now.” Her wrist snaps, and a knife appears in hand. She points it beneath Oscar’s chin, but Ivor catches hold of her forearm.

“No,” he says. “Don’t touch him.”

The floor and the walls vibrate with a suddenboom.I look up again, see the Hollow Man turned toward us, moving our way. Each footfall seems to shake the world.

“We’ve got to move!” Oscar cries.

Estrilde curses again, adjusting her grip on me. Then she turns about and flees down the passage, through an arch into another huge, golden hall. Shadows pursue us, like hounds on the hunt. She comes to a large, double door, shut fast. At a single uttered word, the door flies open, revealing a foyer and a big receiving desk made of living tree roots. Something about it strikes my memory.

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