AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s like being in the middle of a kaleidoscope.” Ayda laughed giddily. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Is your magic back?”
Hùisdean closed his eyes and took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles and shaking his arms. “No,” he sighed, “I don’t think so. It’s still bound, somehow. I think your magic is just revealing it.” Ayda nodded. She grabbed Hùisdean’s hand again for comfort. They started walking slowly down the short hallway, descending into the earth until the foundational walls stood above them on all sides. It got narrower before opening into the vast, circular space, and Ayda tried to keep her breathing steady.
“It’ll be fine,” Hùisdean reminded her gently. “Whatever happens, everything will be fine.” Ayda only nodded. The magic in the air was only getting heavier, and she was beginning to feel like her head was underwater.
When they reached the circle’s center, the power was so thick that Ayda had to focus on her breathing to keep from passing out. It was as though all the magic in her body was trying to escape, to pour deep into the earth and back into the well from which it came. It buzzed under Ayda’s skin like an electrical wire.
A smooth, circular stone was set in the center of the ground. It looked the same way it had in Ayda’s mind’s eye. Hùisdean let go of her hand and took a few steps back. Ayda panicked and spun around, but he shook his head.
“You’re going to be okay,” Hùisdean promised. He looked relaxed, almost high. The runes danced across his skin. “This part is only for you. Go on,” he encouraged her, indicating for her to step forward. “Talk to Margaret.”
Ayda nodded. She took a deep breath, said a prayer under her breath, and stepped forward. The moment her foot hit the stone, the world imploded.
The faerie lights in the sky vanished with a sound like shattering glass. Power started pouring out from the center stone. It was so heady that it sent Hùisdean and Ayda down to their knees. The wind picked up as the atmosphere turned freezing. It started to rain; great torrents of pelting, freezing water unleashed upon them like they were suddenly under a faucet.
“Ayda!” Hùisdean screamed, crawling on his hands and knees towards her. The ground quickly turned to mud, covering them. Ayda was knocked down by the harsh winds and returned to her knees. Hùisdean reached her, and they desperately grabbed at each other’s bodies, trying to get closer.
“What’s happening?” Ayda screamed. Hùisdean mouthed something in response. He was only a few inches from Ayda’s face, and she still couldn’t hear him. Thunder rolled across the sky as lightning started striking the ground surrounding Stanydale.
Fear paralyzed Ayda. She’d messed something up—stepped in some sacred place where she shouldn’t have.
I wasn’t good enough. Ayda’s thoughts ran wild. I was called here. I was deemed unworthy. Something is wrong…
The winds were so strong, they kept Ayda and Hùisdean on their knees, unable to move as they shook in the freezing rain and mud. Somehow, above the cacophony of the storm, the telltale shrieking of the draugr began.
“Fuck!” Ayda cursed, squeezing her eyes shut as she clutched at Hùisdean’s shirt. She didn’t know how to stop them. They could hardly move. Her senses were overwhelmed by the hurricane; she couldn’t take a moment to center herself and attempt to summon her power. She needed a clear mind to visualize it.
Lightning struck inside Stanydale, only a few feet from where they huddled. Then Ayda saw it.
A host of draugr larger than she had ever seen before had descended upon them. They were standing around the borders of Stanydale temple but did not enter. It was as though they were held back by the original walls, even though they had long rotted away.
There must have been thousands of them, looking like an unholy chorus as they crowded against the foundations. They shrieked and cried, those wretched mouths gaping open. Skeletal faces with bony fingers, all reaching out and clawing at the empty air.
Time stopped. Hùisdean was trying to say something, but Ayda didn’t know what it was. The draugr’s dark magic started pulling at them, creeping through cracks in the foundation walls. It slowly began to curl around their legs, and the patterns across their skin faded.
She watched in horror as Hùisdean’s face started to age again. Ayda touched his cheek, running her hand over his features. She swallowed thickly when she saw how withered her fingers had become. He smiled and leaned into her touch, his expression full of surrender and tenderness. The power pressing against them on all sides was too much for either of them to withstand.
“Ayda,” Hùisdean yelled over the din. By some miracle, Ayda could barely hear him.
“I don’t—” Ayda shook her head and started to cry, the harsh wind whipping away her tears before they could fall. Hùisdean wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. They were on their knees, tightly embraced against the storm.
“Ayda,” Hùisdean repeated, “I love you! I don’t regret a moment of our time together. I regret nothing. Do you hear me?” Ayda started crying harder as they aged rapidly. “I love you. I think I have from the moment I met you.”
Ayda kissed him, tangling her hands in his hair.
“I love you, Hùisdean Aexisys!” Ayda sobbed. “No matter what it would’ve meant. I would’ve stood by you because I adore you.” Their bodies were soaked to the bone, covered in mud as their bones grew weaker and the storm raged around them.
“You’ve always been a queen, Ayda.” Hùisdean’s voice cracked. “It nearly sent me to my knees when I first saw you. I have no doubt you would’ve been an incredible one at Carenlume.”
Despite the chaos around them, Ayda laughed through her tears. “You’re fucking mad! But fine, I love you, and if you wanted to give me a crown, I’d accept—”
The moment the words left Ayda’s mouth, Stanydale exploded with power. A blinding light erupted from the stone at its center, sending waves of draugr flying. The rocks crumbled from the walls, and the earth’s foundations shook.
Ayda and Hùisdean were knocked to the ground, scrambling to attempt to cover their heads from the disaster. Tremors rocked through Stanydale as the storm finally started to ease up. Within minutes, the hurricane winds died down, and the rain was no more than a gentle spring mist. Ayda lost track of time, afraid to move from her cowering position.
“Arise, Ayda. Hùisdean.” A soft voice as sweet as spring echoed through the temple. Ayda slowly rolled over. Hùisdean helped her stand, and they quickly looked each other over for injuries. They were relieved to see their youth had been restored and all traces of the storm were gone. They turned towards the source of the voice.
The apparition of Margaret the Maid stood in the center of Stanydale. The stone in the ground had cracked in two. She looked almost human, with a flush to her cheeks and shining blonde hair. She was dressed in an elaborate purple dress with a velvet ermine-lined cape. It was like staring at a stained-glass portrait come to life.
