Maddie was breathless when she arrived back at the Academy. She appeared out of a shadow in the greenhouse. The plants were shrouded in the dark, giving her almost too many choices of entrances. Instinctively she looked toward the alcove where she had spent so much time with her friends. It was empty, of course, as night had fallen hours ago.

She took a few deep breaths to calm down before thinking about her next option. Thinking of the room that Elouan had given her made her nauseous. It felt too much like a prison, even though she knew now that it wasn’t. With another deep breath she stepped into the mass of shadows and picked her destination.

She almost threw up when she appeared out of a shadow in her cage -- room -- but barely steadied herself. The cage -- room -- spun. She was half out of the shadow portal, which was still connected to the greenhouse in some way. She stumbled forward a step and the connection switched off, making her head feel just a tiny bit clearer.

There was no one there, just a burning candle and her furniture. She dropped to her knees and let go of the sword. It hit the ground with an almost room-shaking crash. Kneeling didn’t make her any less dizzy and she slowly lowered her head until she was laying on the ground. She felt much less like she was going to fall over as her cheek pressed against the wood planks.

Dimly, she heard the door open and one of the aides who had been helping her the last time she was imprisoned -- taken care of -- rushed inside. He knelt next to her and checked that she was breathing. Then he shouted for another aide to get someone. The voice shook Maddie’s head and she let out a moan. Another aide rushed through the door, took one look at the scene and ran back out again, shouting as he raced through the hall. The aide helping Maddie attempted to turn her over, but the dizziness returned full force as soon as she left her position. She groaned so loudly that he stopped moving her and gently lowered her to the floor.

Maddie relished the feeling of wood against her cheek. She focused on it and the dizziness faded into the background. She heard voices: Elouan, Corentin, and the woman who taught medicine.

“Madeleine, what happened?” Elouan said soothingly as he knelt near her. He was waved out of the way by the healer.

“Tereus. Key. Sword. My mother,” Maddie managed to mumble. The healer turned her on her back, ignoring her protests. Maddie caught her breath and managed complete sentences.

“Tereus has the key to the gates,” she made out slowly, “Ares is behind it all. My mother fought him with this sword.” She meant to indicate the sword next to her, but moving her head was not an option. She wound up limply wiggling her right hand instead.

Elouan moved over to examine the blade. It was taller than the girl who had carried it there. He tried to push it and it wouldn’t budge. When he looked underneath it he saw that the planks were cracked.

Corentin placed a hand on Maddie’s forehead. The girl protested as vehemently as she could in her condition. She tried to struggle but he exuded a calming presence that she knew was fake. His influence on her mind disgusted her, but she had no way to resist. She felt the tendrils of his mind brush up against hers.

“No. Stop.”

Corentin shushed her. “Just let me work and we'll have you feeling better.”

Maddie whimpered but stayed quiet.

The mental tendrils were very gentle as he assessed the state of her mind. There was no reading of thoughts, no deep probes. Just a general analysis with a slight focus on her immediate condition.

Maddie sighed when she felt the mental intrusion withdraw.

“She's panicked and overwhelmed. Her powers…I think she overextended herself.”

Internally, Maddie agreed, but she didn't want to agree with Corentin. He had betrayed her.

The greenhouse, she thought, I never should have gone there.

The healer helped her sit up. The dizziness was almost completely gone.

Elouan stood next to the sword, hands clasped behind his back and brow furrowed in thought. When he looked at Maddie his eyes softened.

“You said that this man Tereus has the key to the gate of Ys?” he asked. Maddie nodded.

“Please tell me again, who is this man?”

Maddie took a deep breath as the aide and the healer helped her off the floor and over to the bed.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“He’s the son of Ares. He told me…he lied to me about my magic. He told me that you would try to capture me or kill me. That you would hurt my friends.”

“Because you have shadow magic,” Corentin said quietly. Maddie pushed through the feeling of weakness to glare at him.

“Yes, because I have shadow magic. And shadow magic is evil because shadow mages can become Shadow Walkers.”

Elouan snorted and chuckled. Maddie shrank back slightly while still turning her glare on him.

“Child, Shadow Walkers and Shadow Mages are completely separate and distinct. Shadow Walkers are monsters who have been created over centuries. Shadow mages simply use shadows, just as fire mages use flame. There is nothing wrong with what you can do.”

Maddie relaxed. Elouan continued.

“What did you mean when you spoke of your mother and this.” He looked like he was going to tap the sword with his foot but thought better of it. “I was under the impression that your mother was dead. What does she have to do with the gods?”

“She’s not dead, I just never knew her. She’s the goddess Brigantia.”

Elouan looked skeptical but glanced at Corentin, who gave a solemn nod. Elouan started pacing back and forth in the small room.

“You’re the child of a god. Hmmm. That would explain why your magic seems to work…differently.”

“It would?” Maddie squeaked out. She sighed in relief. She blinked, trying to keep her eyes open. They refused. She settled comfortably into sleep.

***

Gaius and Cleo sat in the hallway, leaning against the stone walls. One of Maddie's aides came out of her room and said simply: “She’s awake.”

The two scrambled to their feet. Gaius looked at Cleo, who was straightening her robes and composing her face, eliminating the fear and worry. Gaius did his best to do the same. The aide held the door open for them and they walked in to see their friend.

Maddie was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the huge black sword practically embedded in the floorboards. When she heard Gaius and Cleo come in, her face morphed into the biggest smile as she looked up at them.

Cleo assessed her friend while she rushed to give Maddie a hug. She looked well-rested and calm, but Cleo still wanted to be careful. She wrapped her arms around her friend gingerly, but Maddie pulled her into a tight hug. The girl’s strength was almost overwhelming. Cleo let out a strangled breath and Maddie lessened the pressure. They stayed holding each other for a long time.

When they broke the hug, Maddie looked through her tears at her two crying friends. Gaius stepped up and held Maddie’s hand tightly.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she sobbed, “Tereus showed me horrible things happening to you. He showed me…”

Maddie closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath.

“He showed me you being tortured. He told me that the only way to save you was to get the key.”

Cleo’s eyes widened and her brain immediately shifted into gear. “The key? To the gates of Ys? Do you still have it?”

Maddie shook her head. “I gave it to Tereus.”

Cleo took a step backward, her mind racing. “If he has the key, then he could destroy us at any time.”

Gaius, meanwhile, had left the questioning to Cleo and was examining the sword. He tugged on the handle with one hand and when it didn’t budge he Grasped it firmly and tried to lift it with all his strength. With Cleo lost in thought, Maddie turned her attention to him.

“I don’t think you can lift it. Not unless you’re a god. Or a demigod.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, his face red as he still strained to move the sword. Maddie stepped over to it and pushed the handle until the blade was pointing straight down. The sword slid through the wood floor and into the stone underneath.until she let it go. Gaius attempted to jiggle the handle again and again the sword didn’t move. It was as if there was a statue sticking out of the floor. He leaned down to examine the opaque black blade, his hands clasped behind his back as he peered appraisingly at it.

“Don’t touch it!” Maddie shouted. Gaius gave her a look that asked if she thought he was stupid. She shrank back a little, chagrined. “Sorry,” she muttered softly.

Gaius decided to chalk it up to Maddie’s traumatic last few days. He continued to examine the sword and as he did, Maddie really looked at it for the first time.

The blade was so black that it reflected no light. The handle, guard, and pommel seemed to be made out of simple iron.

The thing was massive. The blade was at least as long as Maddie was tall, and the handle added another two feet. It was almost a foot from edge to edge. Gaius walked around it and Maddie followed him. One edge was dull; it was rounded and the width of a club. The blade narrowed from around two inches to razor sharp, giving it almost a teardrop shape.

“Can you pull it out?” Gaius asked. She lifted the sword out of the floor. He looked closely at the shape of the blade.

“That’s probably the most impractical shaped sword I’ve ever seen.”

Even knowing almost nothing about swords, Maddie had to agree.

The blade was straight from the hilt to about a foot from the tip, where it curved upward slightly, culminating in a pointed tip that looked designed to stab anyone who put themselves in its way. In order to do that they would have to stand next to the dull edge, which didn’t seem likely. One would say that the sword was definitely not made for stabbing. Except that the razor sharp edge continued on the front.

Maddie slid the sword back into the hole it had made in the floor and Gaius straightened up.

“If it wasn’t so sharp it would be practically useless,” he stated. Maddie nodded. They both turned and saw Cleo looking at the sword. She looked up at Maddie and said simply “I have too many questions. You’d better tell us the whole story from the beginning.”