Page 14 of The Dark Rising
“Good.” She looks up to the moon and then back to me. “It’s time.”
She gets up and moves out of the circle. I can only be in here when she and Anna do the spell. I wait until their quiet chanting starts, and I look at the moon one last time before I take the knife and slice my palm open. Blood instantly rushes to the surface, and I hiss, but quickly swap the knife to my other hand so I can slice the other palm.
I bring a bloody palm to each wrist and squeeze, making sure my blood drips on the metal, ignoring the burn before I bring my hands up and follow the lines Belldame made, covering them over with my own blood. Once I’m done, I put my palms flat on the ground, letting the earth have some of my life force as I feel its response in the slight warming of my palms. I lean back and sit up straight, bloody hands facing up to the moon as I close my eyes and listen as Belldame and Anna chant in another language.
Help me, Zahariss,I silently pray to her.Help me be free of the metal binding that’s damaging me and restricting these powers you gave to me. I have many tasks to do, many things to learn and discover and get back. I need these to be off to be the Heir you intended for me to be.
Coldness suddenly spreads through me, in the exact same place as my markings. It spreads down my face from my forehead to below my neck, then to my shoulders, arms, fingers. I look down, gasping for breath as it hits the center of my chest, and I squeeze my hands into fists. Blue, lightning-like marks spread along the cuffs, the lines pulsing. I grunt, feeling tightness at my wrists, squeezing me so hard I feel like they will snap bones. The ground beneath me gently quakes, the flowers beginning to sway wildly around me. Belldame and Anna’s chanting gets louder, and my head spins as I sway where I’m seated. I lean forward on my palms, hunching over as I watch the circle of liquid Anna poured around me illuminate to a pale yellow, then it begins to get smaller and smaller, rushing toward me before it stills tightly around me. I cry out as pain hits my wrists, the lines on the cuffs pulsing rapidly until a defined crack shows on the metal.
Sweat coats my skin and I shiver, my hair sticking to my body. I look up toward the moon as I pant, basking in its glow. I close my eyes, breathing in the very magic-fueled air around me as I hear another crack.
Then another.
And another.
I don’t dare look down. I don’t dare hope as the tightness of my wrists slowly eases and they begin to feel lighter. Pain comes from my back, and I bite back a scream as I grit my teeth, my back arching with the sensation of being burned. I claw at the ground, my nails digging in the dirt, pulling at grass and flowers as the burning sharply spreads across the whole of my back.
Fuck, that hurts.
The coolness fades from me, leaving me panting heavily as I lean forward and rest my forehead onto the ground, the smell of magic and wildflowers filling me. When Belldame and Anna’s chanting stops, I stay still, not daring to move as the pain slowly fades. Unclenching my fingers from the earth, I push myself back and slowly open my eyes.
Looking down at my wrists, a jagged laugh leaves me. The metal around my wrists are now in pieces on the ground, charred and cracked. I run my hands over my wrists, over the red marking there from the cuffs and smile, breathing out a relieved sigh. Looking to the moon, I give my silent thanks and then stand on shaky legs.
Power fills me slowly as I stare at my freed wrists, ecstasy rushing through my limbs as I feel my markings appear. I feel tingles in my back, feel the healing already starting. I turn sharply, facing the others and see matching grins before they rush me.
Josh reaches me first, picking me up by the waist and spinning me around as I laugh, even through the pain in my back. “Thank the Gods,” he breathes, touching his cheek to mine.
“Fuck yes!” Seb cheers, giving me a kiss on the cheek as Taylor grins. Colten bounces on his feet and Hudson squeezes my shoulder. All full of smiles.
When Josh puts me down, I look toward Belldame and rush to her, still fully naked but not caring. “Thank you, thank you both,” I say as I squeeze her tightly and look toward Anna.
Belldame hands me my robe and I put it on, tying the knot, thankful my body is covered again. “How is your back?”
“Slowly healing, but it’s finally healing.” I sigh, happy that it will only take a few days for my back to return to normal, but the pain is more of just a dull ache now.
Belldame smiles. “Come, let’s go back, I’m sure you would like to clean up.” She gestures to the blood and the potion all over my body and I nod.
Josh walks beside me, his happiness contagious as he throws an arm around my shoulder as we walk back to Belldame’s home.
I lean into him, keeping this little feeling of happiness for as long as possible, because now that the cuffs are off, I need to tell him about Sarah.
I know it won’t go well, especially with me keeping it from him. We need time to prepare though, we need a plan and I need to be able to have some control over my powers if we have any chances of getting Sarah.
He will understand when he’s calmed down, I know he will. I just hate the thought of having kept this from him and how hurt he will be over it. It would have been suicide if I had told him sooner, and he would have rushed off to get her.
For now, I smile through the lightness of not being shackled and my body being able to do what it should.
I look for the power within me and feel a flicker of it, gently stretching out within me as Runa stands and shakes her fur out, feeling lighter as well.
I won’t ever be shackled again, I refuse.
Seven
Darius
Two Months Later
The whip slices through the air, the impact of it against her feeling like it’s attacking my own. Her flesh tears, blood dripping down the sides painting her tanned skin red. I swallow the bile rising in my stomach and hold Drax back from coming out.
