The Dark

CHAPTER Seven



Isabel


Two hundred years! Arkarian was trained by the Immortal, an apprenticeship that took two hundred years! There’s so much to Arkarian I don’t know. So much I want to learn. Strange how the girl, Charlotte, felt drawn to him. Why? And finding out he was trained by Lorian is staggering to say the least.

And then there was that moment. That moment in his arms.

But he’s right about having to return to our time quickly. It’s dangerous to delay. Lathenia’s warning keeps ringing in my ears. And we still have to find out how to stop Laura from taking her own life.

We shift to the Citadel and neither of us takes the landing well. We end up rolling across the floor in a room that seems to be moving. Arkarian helps me up. ‘Something’s wrong.’

‘I feel it too. Look at this room.’

A doorway appears that has a warped look, as if it’s struggling to stay open. Arkarian’s eyes widen. ‘Let’s go!’

The doorway isn’t fully formed; we have to push through it to get out. Running down a corridor, Arkarian leads the way down several flights of disappearing stairways.

‘Where are we going?’ I call out.

‘To get my body back!’

A door opens to our right. It has the same warped look. We struggle through it. Once inside, Arkarian disappears. I spin around, beginning to panic, when I see him across the room. He’s getting off a chair, and his blue hair and violet eyes are a welcome sight.

‘We can’t stay here,’ he says. ‘We have to get you back now. I don’t know what’s taking Marcus so long. He’s controlling your transportation from my chambers, or I’d do it myself. But something must have gone wrong because you’re still here. I might have to go and help him.’ He sees the look on my face. ‘I’ll find a safe room for you first.’

‘I thought all the rooms in the Citadel were safe.’

‘Well they are, normally. But a “safe room” is lined with a special element. It can’t be penetrated by any form.’

We look for the doorway, but there’s no sign of it anywhere. ‘Come on,’ Arkarian mumbles at the wall, running his hands over where we first walked in. ‘Open!’

I blink a few times and rub my eyes as the light in the room suddenly changes. ‘Arkarian?’ He’s still searching for an opening and hasn’t noticed. I tap his shoulder and point to the centre of the room. It’s there the strangest thing is happening. All the light in the room is moving, spiralling towards this single point.

‘Isabel! Quickly!’ Arkarian’s voice sounds desperate. He grabs my hand, gripping it tightly. Within seconds the light completely disappears. ‘Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand.’

‘What’s going on? I can’t see a thing!’

‘The light’s been sucked out. Marcus! Get us out of here!’

But nothing happens. Then the room is rocked by an explosion. It fills with bright blue and purple light. For a second I see Arkarian, his gentle face filled with fear, his blue hair in wild disarray as if charged by electricity. I reach out to him, but the force of the explosion has us both soaring through the air in opposite directions. My back hits a wall and I crash to the floor, banging my head very hard.

When my eyes open again, my head feels like cement, my vision blurry. But not so blurry that I can’t see a giant of a man standing over me. He has hunched shoulders, so stooped, it looks as if he might drop to all fours at any moment. He’s wearing a wide crimson cloak, his face hidden inside the hood. His head tilts and he grunts at me. It’s an animal sound. Spittle sprays over me, and I jerk back against the wall. What the hell is going on!

The man turns from me, and with a rough voice, bellows orders across the room. My eyes follow and see an old man, stooped and very frail. But the orders are not for this strange man. Around him are four – creatures, unlike anything I’ve seen walk this earth before. At first they appear to be floating. It looks as if they have wings. One drops, and lands with a heavy thump on strangely human-looking feet.

‘Enough!’ the tall man screams at them. ‘Hand me the key and let’s be gone from this house of sickening righteousness.’

I get to my feet, looking about for Arkarian. One creature moves, and I see its wings now, awkwardly attached to its back. They flap, and hands appear from beneath them. Another shoves the first creature aside, snorting. It stumbles to the ground, and the sight of its small, round red eyes startle me.

The man in the billowing cloak grabs one of its wings with a gloved hand. ‘Get up!’

As it staggers to its feet with a squawk, I get a glimpse of something on the floor. It’s Arkarian! But something’s wrong. He’s lying in a heap and not moving. Then I see the chains at his feet and wrists secured with a lock. They’re taking him somewhere. My heart leaps into my throat, especially as the old man starts throwing some sort of ash over the top of him. I take a step towards the old man to stop him but a wave of dizziness has me stumbling blindly.

‘Fix the cage around him. And hurry!’ the man in the crimson cloak orders.

Finding some sort of balance I stagger across the room and yank on the huge man’s arm. ‘What do you think you’re doing? Leave him be!’

The man glares at me, and a single flash of red flares out from within his hood, as if his eyes are glowing fire. He does not answer.

I can’t believe this is happening! Outrage fills me, giving me the added impetus I need. I leap up with the intention of clawing this man’s eyes out, but he’s so tall I end up thumping my fists into his rock-like chest. He pushes me away and I hit the floor. I get up again and ram my shoulder into his stomach.

He throws me across the room. I start to get up, and he points his hand in my direction. His fingers light up in streaks. In that same instant I’m hit by a jolt of power, like an electric current thundering through my body. I try to get up, but can’t. My limbs are weak. ‘Where are you taking him?’

He remains silent. As he stares at me, I try hard to glimpse inside his hood. Finally he says, ‘To a place where it is midnight every day, and flowers bloom beneath a bleeding moon.’

His words have a familiar ring to them. ‘Where is this place?’

He ignores my question, distracted by the walls that have started to vibrate. Alarmed, he beats the creature nearest him with the back of his hand. It squawks and flaps its wings. ‘Hurry, you worthless beast.’ And he asks the old man if he is finished.

‘It is done,’ the old man replies, bursting into a coughing fit.

The vibrating increases. It’s as if the room is revolting against the happenings inside its walls. Rumbling thunder ruptures the air, while cracks appear in jagged streaks, and blinding light floods in from all directions. A deep crack opens under one of my feet. I have to leap to get over it. The man yells at his ‘beasts’ again. ‘The Citadel has found a way to break through Keziah’s enchantment. We have to leave – now!’

With these words a golden cage is wrapped around Arkarian’s body and locked into place.

‘Quickly!’

They’re going to disappear. I can’t believe this! I have to stop them. But the room is fading in and out of my vision. I force my eyes to stay open, and claw across the floor towards them. A bright flash of light blinds me momentarily. When it clears, and I can see again, every sign of the two men, the four strange helpers, and Arkarian, are gone.