The Key to the Warriors (completed)

Chapter 15

15Zyirah

I glared at Jackal where he stood across the room from me, holding a small purple crystal to dangle from a chain in front of him, muttering curses under his breath. Some piece of elven technology I'd heard him say, and obviously, he was too stupid to figure out how to use it. He held it higher, then lower, then blew on it before tossing it to land with a clatter against the stone floor to break into several pieces.

"Elvish garbage." Grumbling, he turned to smile at me. "How we feeling, Zyi?"

"I'll be better when Charlie puts you in your place."

Frowning, he came to crouch in front of me, and I recoiled as he stroked my cheek, narrowly missing the swelling of my right eye where he'd struck me. My wrists and neck had been shackled to the stone wall behind me, my ankles crossed and chained where I sat on the floor. Jackal leaned close to me, his head casting a shadow against the blinding light that turned around the room. The light of imagination. Charlie's imagination...

"In case you haven't realized, princess, our Creator... he whom we hath devoted our lives..." he mocked, "is a pathetic little child." He chuckled. "Do you really think he can stand up to me?"

I snorted. "He did a good enough job of knocking you on your ass last time." Huffing, I met his eyes. "And he was wounded then. How much more do you think he's capable of while he's well?"

For a long moment, he glared at me, then offered a swift backhand to my left cheek, splitting my lip in the process. I closed my eyes and licked at the wound, then raised my eyes with hatred on him as he stared down at me.

"He is nothing but an untrained teenager, with no business holding the authority he does." He spat. "If the Creator has the balls to face me, then I relish whatever it is he thinks he can do. But that's if, and only if, he's even strong enough to feel us from beyond the wall. Because if he can't... you and I will get to spend a lot of time together waiting for his return, and I can't guarantee you'll still be in one piece as my patience wears thin."

I rolled my eyes even though unwarranted fear coursed through me. A crack of lightning shredded the sky behind me, and I startled at the thunder that followed. Jackal grinned as he stood at my side with folded arms, watching through the window as another roll of thunder and flash of lightning vibrated through the room.

"He's here." He said and turned a wild-eyed smirk on me.

Frowning, I looked away. It never stormed in Warrior Hold. Ever. If there was a storm, there was a reason. I stared through the windows, praying with all I had that Charlie really had come; that he was the Creator of legend I'd been raised to believe in.

It'd been a shot in the dark to cry out to him. There was no telling if he'd even be able to hear me beyond the wall. But I felt like he could. If he was the Creator I was beginning to believe he was, then I knew he could. All I had to do was wait for him to come.

*****

Charlie

Lightning ripped through the sky as Abigail reached the rocks, and I glared up at the darkening clouds as I slid off her back. I was soaked from head to toe in frigid sea water, my clothes heavy and gritty with salt and sand as I stood on shaky legs. Abigail stayed close by me as I maneuvered my way through the boulders, using her large body as support when I slipped and slid. Being so close to the water had me trembling, and with the surf kicking up to throw barrels of waves crashing against the rocks, I was barely keeping myself upright.

She came up behind me again as I slid on the wet stones and used her head to push me back up until I could grip the rocks and hold myself steady. Thunder vibrated beneath my feet; my surroundings lit by periodic flashes of lightning as I found the skinny path of sand that coasted through the rocks up to the front door of the lighthouse.