The Lost Queen Book 1 - Alden

21. Interesting

The wall absorbs my orb. For a few seconds I stand there watching. It doesn't seem like anything will happen.

But it feels different here. The air feels different, like tension is building, and it seems to be getting warmer.

I glance back. The 3 of them are outside the room, watching through the door.

I can't hear her, but Jenny yells, "LOOK!" and points at the wall.

I rip my head back around. The wall is starting to glow brighter.

A lot of pressure is coming from it, almost like it's physically pushing me back.

"Should I hit it again?" I don't know why I bother asking, they can't hear me.

All of a sudden, the stones on the magic wall start to shake.

It seems like it's going to vibrate itself apart. This is not terribly bad. I think it will just fall apart.

Then I see a crack forming in the middle of the wall. The second the crack hits the ceiling, the entire thing explodes.

It doesn't just explode in 1 direction. It explodes in every direction.

I duck and cover as stone and dirt bounce.

The wall has a huge hole in it. I step into the hidden area. I'm expecting to find gold or valuables.

As the dust settles, I can see this is basically an empty room. Except for a heap of something dark in the corner.

I move towards the heap and see 2 chains coming out of it. They are bolted to the wall.

The closer I look, I realize there are scratch marks on the wall and dark spots. I don't know what could have left these kinds of marks. Then I see something stuck in the wall. I pull it out. It's a fingernail. The dark spots must be blood.

I glance towards the door, and they are staring at the heap from what's left of the wall I knocked down. Victor can't speak. Clark picks something up off the ground and shows them. "It's a stuffed doll... weird."

Jenny seems to be in shock. "The sound barrier spell worked. We never heard anything." She's speaking slow and quiet and not taking her eyes off the dark heap in the corner.

I reach and try to figure out what this heap is. I pull a big hunk of the wall off it. It's fabric of some kind. "It's filthy and old. It's falling apart in spots."

I move the fabric around more carefully.

Then I uncover a head. "This is without a doubt a person's remains."

The hair is long strings. The head looks like a skeleton with loose gray leathery skin surrounding it. I mess with the fabric. This used to be a dress. Maybe brown. Or it could have been white for all I know. Everything is so dirty here.

The 3 of them are still standing there with their mouths open. No one says anything.

"Unlock these cuffs" is all I can say.

Jenny flicks her wrist and the cuffs fall away.

I pick up the woman and hear a loud crack. 6 royal guards come flying into the room. None of them say anything, it's an all-out war.

I'm still holding this woman and trying to throw orbs of magic at anyone who gets close to me. Jenny gets a shield spell off that shields us all. But it doesn't seem like it's going to hold very long. Every time it gets hit by anything, it fades more and more.

I'm pretty sure we're about to die. I put the woman down in the same spot.

None of us have any weapons. Only what magic Jenny was able to teach us. Which wasn't much.

One of the guards super speeds behind Clark and grabs him. Out of reaction, I make an orb at record speed and send it to the guard. It hits him in the head and his head explodes.

Then one of the guards stabs a sword at Victor. He dives out of the way and lands at King Fane's feet.

Victor looks up at him, "s**t, WHEN THE HELL DID HE GET HERE?"

Jenny and I stop what we're doing and put a shield on Victor. I'm not good at shields, but I'm hoping for the best at this point. The shields got on just in time because the king throws a fireball at Victor.

The fireball bounces off the shield and hits another one of the guards. He bursts into flames, he is nothing but a black spot on the ground and some ashes.

Jenny gets punched in the face and slammed into the wall by a guard. "I'm going to have fun with you before you die." The guard has a nasty ass smirk on his face.

There is 1 guard on Clark. The guard has his hands around Clark's throat. He's trying to pop Clark's head off.

Victor has 2 guards on him. He is on the ground and the guards are trying to pull him apart.

I realize this is it. He is too strong for us. But I have to try.

The king super speeds straight towards me. I throw an orb at him. It hits him.

"You're so weak. You don't stand a chance. You will die here and now."

Suddenly, Emberlynna runs in the room screaming, "THAT'S THE QUEEN YOU IDIOTS."

I thought she was talking to us, but as soon as she says it, the guards turn on Fane.

They are attacking him with everything they have. They swing swords and use a fighting style I've never seen before. But they can't touch him. He's too fast and strong. They're not doing any damage. But they are trying.

"They are trying to protect her." Jenny smiles.

I glance at the leather skeleton very confused. Why would they try to protect a skeleton? I don't say anything. I'm happy they aren't trying to kill us anymore.

Fane starts backing up towards the only exit and throwing balls of fire at the same time, yelling, "YOU WILL ALL DIE!"

One of the guards jumps in front of a fireball, so I don't get hit. He does. He bursts into flames and burns at my feet. I pick up his sword.

The merlin-looking guy from the school appears beside me out of nowhere. He throws lightening bolts at the Fane. Forcing him closer and closer to the exit.

While Fane is distracted, I throw the sword at him. I aim right for his heart. I'm not sure if it'll work. But it might.

A second later, it hits him. In the shoulder. It goes through. It shocks him.

The merlin look alike and Jenny take advantage of him being distracted. The Merlin guy throws another bolt and Jenny hits him with an orb. Victor kicks him in the back of the knee, and he falls to the ground.

Fane jumps up and one of the guards swings a sword at him. He grabs Victor and uses him as a shield.

The sword goes through Victor's lower arm and into his side. Victor hits the ground holding his side with the only hand he has left. "Fuck."

I make another orb.

Jenny sees what I'm doing and starts to make 1 too.

Emberlynna and Clark grab Victor by the leg and pull him out of the way.

The merlin man lets a bolt go at the same time Jenny and I release the orbs.

Everything hits the king, and he is thrown back out of the room. He hits the wall on the other side of the hallway and slides down to his ass. He glares at me with red eyes, "You will pay for this. YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!" He jumps up and superspeeds down the hallway. The royal guards that are left chase after him.

Clark looks at Victor, "You're good man, just a flesh wound."

Victor is really white. "Why isn't it healing?"

Emberlynna fixes her dress and smiles. "The swords have poison on them. We have the antidote on the bus. We had to be prepared for someone to piss off a guard."

I take a deep breath. I was sure we were going to die 5 minutes ago. But somehow we're alive. I kneel beside the woman. I don't think that she's the queen. But we needed all the help we could get, so I wasn't going to argue about it.

I stare at her. I wish I could have got here sooner. She needs to be laid to rest somewhere pretty. Somewhere with flowers.

I touch her cheek. She's cold. Her skin is rough. But oddly soft at the same time. I pick her up.

I stare at my friends, Emberlynna, and Merlin look alike.

Emberlynna wipes the tears off my cheeks. "It's all going to be ok."

I didn't even know I was crying.

The Merlin man nods. "Interesting."

"What the f**k is so interesting?"

"Even with her in this state, you are still feeling some of the effects of the mate bond. Very interesting."

I look at her again. Lying dead in my arms. That old man is crazy. I don't feel the soulmate bond. This is a woman who, by the looks of it, has been locked up and dead for a very long time. "We can't leave her here. She needs to be laid to rest."

A woman in an old dirty brown dress with a dirty apron runs in the doorway and throws herself at my feet sobbing, "NO, Give her to me! I will take care of her!.. PLEASE! PLEASE! I will take her! PLEASE SIR! LET ME PLEASE!"

"Who are you?" is all I can think.

The Merlin man says, "Oh, but you seem to be mistaken."

Emberlynna is trying to get my attention by saying my name over and over. "ALDEN!... ALDEN!"

"I am a servant of the queen. I have hidden here for 500 years. PLEASE I WILL FIX HER!"

Jenny is sobbing.

"I'm sorry but she's gone."

"ALDEN!"

"NO! PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT!"

The guards run into the room. The lead one walks up to me and drops to his knees. "We were unable to catch him. I offer myself as sacrifice for this disappointment. Please do not blame the others."

"What?" I can't even rap my head around what is happening. Everyone is yelling and crying, "EVERYONE STOP NOW!" I yelled so loud I swear the walls vibrate. But they all stop.

I stare at the woman for a few moments. "1 at a time please." I wave the the lead guard away. "And no one will die here tonight."

The other 2 guards drop to their knees. "We are at your service, sir."

I rub my eyes and motion Emberlynna. "Please make sense of this."

"Alden, you are holding the queen. She is not dead. Well, she is dead, but not dead dead. She is the highest royalty, enough blood and time she will recover." She then looks at the servant. "Do you have a medical area for her to recover?"

The servant jumps up, "Yes, follow me. We can take the servant halls. Must stay away from those upstairs."

Emberlynna takes off in another direction. "I will get the medical kit off of the bus. I will catch up. Jenny text me where you end up."

I have the guards get Victor. Then we follow the servant out of the dungeon. As soon as we get to the 1st floor, she goes into an office and into a hidden tunnel behind a bookshelf. After another 2 flights of stairs, we are in a room that is a cross between a hospital room and a bedroom. The room is set up for 2 people. There is a fully made full-sized bed on each side with a curtain in the middle. Each side also has a night stand, rolling table, a small couch and a cabinet.

"Hold on, I will change the sheets for her." She looks at the guards struggling to keep Victor up and points to the other bed. "Put him in that one."

The guards drag Victor to the other side of the room and dump him in bed while she changes the sheets on the queen's bed. It only takes her like 20 seconds. The speed at which everyone works here is crazy fast. Jenny and Clark sit by Victor. I place the woman on the bed and make sure her head is on a pillow. I can't help but stare at her.

Victor breaks my concentration. "My arm... again" he mutters while he tries to lift his arm. He doesn't look good and he's very weak.

"Emberlynna has the medicine, and she's on her way back now. I told her where we are."

Clark nods. "The guard must have known how much you liked the regeneration class."

"Is there a doctor here?" I look back and forth at the patients.

"No" The servant shakes her head. "Only me sir."

I stare at her for a second. "Clark, go get Aver. And can someone find out what happened to the old wizard that was with us 10 minutes ago?"

Clark and one of the guards run out the door before Emberlynna runs in the door.

She's carrying a big box. "I'm here Victor, give me 2 minutes." She slams the box down on the rolling table, opens it, and starts rummaging through it. After a minute, she has a large syringe full of some liquid. She rushes over to Victor and injects it near his wounds.

"OUCH f**k!"

"Yes, this does not feel good, but it will be over soon."

He tries to flinch away from the needle pokes.

"Stop! You are going to make me poke myself."

He flinches and she motions for the guards. "Hold him down."

After a few more minutes of Victor cursing at the top of his lungs, she says, "Your body is healing now. These wounds will be slow to heal due to the poison, but you will be good as new by morning."

"ugghhhh" He passes out.

Emberlynna smiles. "One emergency done."