My Black Heart

Chapter Thirteen

Zack's Point of View

After the strange spinning sensation subsided, I opened my eyes which had been squeezed tightly shut for the journey. We were in a little village, and to my surprise, from the look of the fading sky, it was almost dusk. Tiny hands till gripped on to one of mine, and in my other hand were larger fingers. The truth dawned on me taking me by surprise; I had lost two people in the space of a day. I would never see my brother's pompous know it all face again, and although it annoyed me, I would miss him. But the death that had struck me worse was the man that I had only known a short while. It would be unbearable to never hear his wise words again, and I was sure that he had so much more to teach me about my magic.

Realising that I was stood in the centre of a village, I pulled my hand from the two elves and motioned with my arm for them to lead the way to the person who could help us. They looked rather excited, so I tried to copy their enjoyment of visiting this person. No matter how hard I tried, I could not banish the grief I was feeling. Clenching on to the sword that I had been given, I felt the usual electricity run through my arm which gave me some comfort and added confidence to me. I was the owner of this sword now. It was the sword of time, whatever that meant. Hopefully, I would soon find out.

Lifting a limp Edmund on to my back carefully, I followed the elves to a small wooden house made of logs. It was pretty in its own way, I quite liked it. I much preferred it to the grand castle that I had lived in all of my life.

            "Is this the place?" I whispered to Bex, not wanting to speak any louder in case it came out wrong as I was nervous.

            "Yes, Zacky, come this way," Bex whispered back, trying to beam, but failing to do so at such an unhappy time. Jam walked ahead, with Bex and I following. She quietly pushed open the door and told me to wait outside while Bex and she found their friend.

It seemed like such a long time waiting for them to return even though I knew that they had only been gone for a few short minutes. My palms were sweaty with anxiety, and I was quite ashamed to say that I was terrified. Finally, Bex and Jam returned, and then told me to come inside of the little wooden house and to bring Edmund. Inside was just as unimpressive as the exterior. The floors were cold tiles and the walls had a plain wooden texture, but even with this boring interior, I found that the house had a wonderful atmosphere to it. I followed the elves down a narrow hallway with a few paintings of ships on the walls, until we eventually reached a room. Jam knocked on the door (loudly for someone with such a small hand) and then I turned the handle because she could not reach.

Inside of this room lay two beds. They were not beds, but piles of hay. It made me feel increasingly guilty that I had lived so luxuriously all of my life and these people did not even have beds. I lay Edmund on one of the hay piles as he was getting heavy. After waiting impatiently in the middle of the room for a few minutes, two unusual people entered. One was a young girl, with wavy black hair. She was pretty, but to me, she did not compare to the one I did not want to think about. I felt that I recognised her from somewhere, but could not put my finger on it. The second person I did recognise. He looked exactly like the one I did not wish to think about and that was scary. His hair was of a dark red colour. His eyes were the same green of the Black Witch. They must be related.

            "It is good to see you Bex and Jam," the young girl exclaimed happily. She ran towards them and scooped them into her arms, but my eyes never left the green ones. That was until I heard the most terrifying heart wrenching screech I had ever heard. Tearing my eyes away from the green, I swept around quickly to see the girl kneeling at the side of Edmund, stroking his hair and face with her hands.

            "Grandfather!" she screeched between sobs. The boy with red hair ran towards her and rested an arm around her shoulder, comforting her. Then it hit me - this was Edmund's Granddaughter? I watched her as tears cascaded down her face and sobs escaped her lips. Suddenly, she started chanting in another extraordinary language, her arms poised in front of her and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. I watched in awe has her voice went from emotionally shaky to having the command of a Queen. It was fascinating. She stared down at her Grandfather for a few minutes, and then, I fainted as I saw the old wise eyes flicker open to reveal their knowledge once more.

I awoke on a pile of hay, and wondered where I was. Then I saw the many eyes staring down at me, and sat up quickly.

            "Will somebody please explain to me what happened just then?" I stammered as I saw Edmund sat on the other hay bed sitting up as if he had never been dead. He looked older than before and extremely tired. The Granddaughter rose from near to him and bowed her head to me.

            "Prince Zack, I assume?" she said, her voice had recovered from the anger and pain she had used when casting the spell.

            "I am," I replied, and she nodded.

            "Then I am Lucy," she told me. "I am the Princess of Spirit."

            "You are a what?" I questioned not at all thoughtfully. She looked at me, and sighed, obviously a little fed up of explaining this.

            "It means that I have incredible healing powers, the most powerful my kind has heard of," she explained. It was my turn to frown, and then my eyes widened.

            "You can raise the dead?" I whispered, uncertain of my words. She nodded solemnly. "You raised Edmund back alive?" I asked impatiently, looking at her to give me answers I desperately needed. It was not Lucy who answered, however.

            "Yes, indeed she can," Edmund said, he voice sounding frail.

            "So you're really alive?" I asked, confused. He nodded and I gasped. "And you too knew about it?" I shot angrily at Bex and Jam.

            "The Princess Lucy is our mistress, Zacky," Bex said unhappily.

            "She made us promise not to say anything," Jam added. I believed them, so let the matter drop, even though I was incredibly angry at not being the only one left in the deepest kind of darkness. Then I remembered a question that was burning to escape.

            "But Edmund, before you died, you mentioned your sword, what have I got to do with it?" I asked him anxiously.

            "I was wondering when you would bring this matter up," he began. "I think I'll let Lucy tell you the story." He then added. I could see that in his eyes he was feeling deathly, as he looked so tired and unhappy. I looked towards the Princess.

            "Firstly, Zack, it is your sword now, you are its owner, you feel the shocks when you touch it," she explained, and I nodded in agreement. "You have to use the sword of time to ensure that there is magical peace across the lands, and outside the lands."

            "How do I do that? I can't even do magic well. I only have three elements and I can't use them well enough to protect myself never mind the lands, and plus, I'm a Prince, and now my brother's dead they'll expect me to become King when father dies, as it's impossible for Henry to rule..." I continued stressing about what this entailed, when Lucy interrupted.

            "Do not worry, Zack, it will work out, Edmund and I will train you to become somebody great, and you will be recognised as the saviour of the lands," she comforted. I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself. This had been an awful lot to take in.

Hey! So I updated today, quick as I promised. Please let me know what you like and dislike about my story. Which is your favourite character so far? Who would you like to see more of?

Please point out any of my errors too, I know I make them, I just can't spot them myself :D I won't be offended.

Thank you for reading!

Comment/Vote/Fan if it is good enough! <3

Bex x