Black Moon Draw(93)

The castle begins to shake, from the stone foundation beneath us to the wooden rafters to the walls.

The Red Knight steadies me and we both look up and around. “It’s collapsing,” he assesses.

“Because he’s dead,” I whisper. “Because he was the only one who could face the curse.”

“’Tis the magic of the Heart that must face the curse,” the squire says, careening in our direction.

“’Tis gone,” the Red Knight snaps.

“Nay, sire. I read it in the scrolls. The magic remains. I can see it.”

I lift my eyes.

The squire is looking right at me.

The Red Knight glances from him to me and then back, staring. “Naia, you’re glowing.”

“What?”

The rafters begin to moan under the strain of holding up the stone roofing during an earthquake.

“What do you know of what was supposed to happen after he defeated the realm?” The Red Knight snatches my arms. “Quickly!”

“I . . . he was supposed to face the curse. It’s somewhere in this castle.”

He drags me to my feet. “Take me there.”

My gaze goes to the Shadow Knight.

“Naia, if you have the key to saving us, you have the key to saving him. Take us there!”

A protest dies in my throat. Since entering the castle, I’ve been guided by magic that didn’t belong to the Shadow Knight, magic that helped me the way the Heart did.

My hands and arms are radiating purple light, the way my medallion did.

The ground pitches and I smack into the squire. The impact snaps me out of the daze I’m in long enough for me to realize we’re all about to die, if we don’t take a chance and find the room the Shadow Knight spoke of.

I can save him. I must save him. We’re all doomed anyway. I can die wallowing in misery the way I have my entire life or find the courage to fight, like he did.

I have every reason in the world to fight. With a final look at the Shadow Knight, I gather my wits and turn towards the exit.

The squire takes my hand and pulls me into the hallway. We share a sad smile, battle buddies until the very last moment.

“Go!” the Red Knight shouts, pushing us towards the hallway.

We bolt together.

“Show me the way!” I yell to the castle that’s imploding around us.

Torches light up to my left the moment I reach the corridor.

“Do not stop until you reach it!” the Red Knight orders, joining us in the hallway. Westley is at his heels.

Turning, I begin running once more. This time, there’s more on the line than my aching body and burning lungs. I can’t stop – no matter what. Adrenaline, despair, the need to see his eyes open one more time . . . I’m driven by nothing but near-madness, unable to feel my body and barely registering the destruction and quaking around us.

We race through the collapsing fortress, leaping over gaps in the floor and scampering over fallen stones, following the torches. The hallway turns brighter when we pass by a set of windows.

A cry comes from behind us and the squire and I turn halfway down the well-lit corridor, catching our balance against the wall between windows. The floors shudder dangerously beneath us.

Westley has fallen, his legs trapped by a massive stone. There’s no way he can walk again, even if we manage to get it off him.

The Red Knight bends over him.

“Gods.” The squire tugs me to the window and we look out.

If I were any less horrified, I’d be in tears.

The city is collapsing in on itself, buildings toppling into gaping holes in the ground.. Beyond it, the mountain peaks tumble into the ocean while green hills explode.

“Why are you doing this?” I scream into the air, hating LF. “Make it stop!”

“Go!” the Red Knight belts at us. “Now!”

I turn and see him starting towards us. “But he’s -”

“You must,” Westley calls. There’s resolve on his face.

My heart breaks again. The squire pulls me forward and we begin running once more through the maze of hallways. I choke back tears. I’m about to lose it in the worst way possible.

Just when I feel like I’m going to explode, we reach a corridor boiling over with purple smoke almost too thick for the light of torches to reach us. The floor pitches and throws all of us to the stones. I lose my squire’s hand and bat away the fog.

Pain ricochets through me as I land hard on uneven blocks of stone. It clears the sensations of my building meltdown and I focus on the pain for a moment to bring my mind back to the task at hand rather than the despair swallowing me.

“Are . . . you there?” I gasp out, panting after the killer pace.

“Here,” the Red Knight grunts from nearby.

“Squire?”

No answer.

I push up and swat the fog from the spot where my squire would’ve fallen.

There’s a black gap where the floor should be.

I can barely breathe. “We aren’t gonna make it,” I say, stricken.

“We will.” The Red Knight hauls me up by my waist. “No matter what happens, you must stop this curse.”

The world is dying and all its people with it. Choking on tears and smoke, I say nothing. He takes my hand and we start forward more cautiously.