Calliope [Book 2]
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Queen Ryenna stood amongst the gardens behind her castle, taking in the warm breeze and the pleasant smells when something caught her attention. A feeling of a new presence inside her castle. A witch, perhaps. Could it be Calliope? Had they made it out of The Land of Shadows? She looked up as a golden glow lit one of the dark rooms. She raced inside the castle, calling to her guards and trusted advisors. They followed her quickly up the steps and into the room where she saw the glow. There, lying lifeless on the rug, was Calliope.

Queen Ryenna threw an arm in the air, stopping her followers in their tracks as she hurried to the witch’s side and dropped to her knees. She looked the witch over quickly and let her hands hover above the body. She murmured an incantation and the room began to glow once more. When the light subsided, Calliope’s eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air.

Calliope’s eyes darted around the dim room before resting on Queen Ryenna.

“Mido,” she whispered. “Mido. Where is he?”

“You’re alone, sweet girl.”

Calliope jolted upright, her head spinning.

Queen Ryenna put her hands on her shoulder and pushed her back down. “Take it easy,” she said.

“Mido,” Calliope continued, her heart racing. “He’s still there. Help him, please.”

The witch queen stood and turned to her men. “Bring the nurses here, quickly. Keep an eye on her; make sure she is well and comfortable.”

The guards turned in obedience, hurrying through the castle to gather the nurses.

“Bring him back,” Calliope mumbled, begging. She felt herself drift in and out of the world.

The queen got to her knees once more and let her hand rest against Calliope’s cheek. “I will bring him back as soon as I can. We need to get you taken care of, first.”

“I’m fine,” Calliope muttered. “Don’t leave him there.”

“I will do everything in power to bring him here, but you cannot be here when that happens. I will not chance you getting stuck in that world once more. The Land of the Shadows is no place for a girl like you.”

Calliope shook her head slowly against the floor. “I’m just a witch,” she whispered.

Queen Ryenna smiled. The nurses entered quickly and worked together to bring Calliope to her feet. She leaned on them as they guided her out of the room and through the castle. Queen Ryenna stood alone in the middle of the room and sucked in a breath. She had suspected it would be like this, and she had spent the last month preparing herself for this moment. She had grown worried as the days passed and was relieved to see Calliope in her castle. All she needed to do now was to get King Mido back into his own world.

She stretched her arms and held them out before her into the empty space. She narrowed her eyes as she concentrated and began to mutter. A magical breeze spun around her as she chanted louder. She opened her arms in an attempt to open the barrier between the two worlds. She called for Mido, but he did not answer. She increased the power of her magic, the wind growing stronger. The barrier widened and she chanted louder still. She pushed her magic further, opening the barrier wider and called for Mido again.

But something didn’t feel right. Something fought back against her magic; a force she was unfamiliar with. She felt her body strain against the weight of her magic and the unknown magic. She pushed her body forward, holding her ground. The force grew stronger and nearer. She looked into the barrier, and that’s when she saw it; the witches were near, and they had seen the open barrier.

Queen Ryenna panicked, knowing she needed to close it right away, but Mido was nowhere to be seen, and closing the barrier would leave him to die at the hand’s of the witches. She shouted to Mido one last time, her voice feeling lost in the chaos of the magic around her. Just as she was about to give up, Mido came into sight, dodging the spells the witches threw at him. They pursued him quickly, anxious to reach the barrier before him. Queen Ryenna encouraged him onward, begging him to move quickly, but the witches caught up quickly.

When Mido neared the opening, he leapt forward and through the hole, tumbling onto the floor on the other side. Queen Ryenna let her magic ago as soon as he made it through, but it wasn’t enough. She fell backwards as witches flew into the room just before the barrier snapped shut. The witches shrieked as they entered the barrier, disappearing into dark smoke and darting out of the castle and into the kingdom.

Mido watched in horror and turned to Queen Ryenna; her face was stuck in shock, her eyes staring at the place where the witches left the castle. She finally met Mido’s gaze and pinched her lips together.

“What happened?” she growled.

Mido shook his head. “I don’t know,” he panted. “They must have followed us.”

They stood, still alone in the dark room.

“This is bad. Very bad. Those witches are now free in this world, their blood full of black magic. Did you see how many there were?”

“I don’t know. There were at least five of them chasing me.”

“I thought I counted three escape the barrier,” Queen Ryenna said, counting the shadowy figures in her head.

“What does this mean?”

Queen Ryenna hesitated. “It means that Asmar will wonder how they could ever fear a witch like Calliope. They don’t know magic, but they will now. Those witches will do everything in their power to get revenge. Their powers are strong; much stronger than Calliope’s. This world has only had a small taste of the power of witches, and they will not go down easily, if at all.”

Mido felt sick to his stomach. This wasn’t part of the plan. He and Calliope were supposed to live happily together in Asmar. He rubbed his hands over his face.

“How did this happen,” he muttered. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Queen Ryenna turned away. “My men will bring you to Calliope. Go to her; she needs you.” She left Mido alone in the dark room. Mido felt the sudden urge to just collapse, but at that moment, Queen Ryenna’s soldiers entered, ready to bring him to Calliope.

Mido felt in a fog as he followed the guards through the castle and into another room where Calliope greeted him, running into his arms.

“Can you believe it worked?” she explained, looking him over. Her smile disappeared when she met his horrified gaze.

“Mido, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Mido took her hands in his. “It’s not over,” he whispered.

Calliope’s heart thudded against her chest. “What do you mean?”

“The witches. Three of them escaped.”

“What do you mean they escaped?”

“Queen Ryenna opened a barrier for me, but as I waited, some witches found me. They must have been following us. They must have known our plan somehow. When the barrier opened, I just barely got through, but so did three witches before the barrier closed. They darted through the room and disappeared into the kingdom.”

Calliope’s heart sank as Mido spoke. She wanted to much for it all to be over, but luck was not on their side. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered, shaking her head. “No. This can’t happen.” She raised her voice angrily. “Those witches cannot be here in this world. They will destroy every last bit of it.”

“Queen Ryenna will think of something.”

“You don’t understand, Mido,” Calliope barked. “You have no idea of the power they are capable of. We will die. Damn it. We should have just stayed in that wasteland.”

“Calliope, there’s no way we could have seen this happen.”

Calliope shook her head. “This is my fault.”

“Stop saying that. You can’t blame yourself for everything.”

“You should have taken that dagger to me, Mido. Damn it.” She pressed her hand against her head in frustration.

“Stop it,” Mido hissed. “There has to be a way. Those witches were bound to that world because of their black magic. If they use their magic, they will be dragged right back in there.”

“Where is Queen Ryenna?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s worried. If she’s worried, we should be worried. There’s something wrong. There must not be a way back in once they escape.”

“There has to be.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“No, Calli, I don’t want you involved in this.”

“I’m a witch, Mido. I’ve been involved in everything since the beginning. I’m even more involved than ever, now. I won’t kill a human, but I will gladly kill a witch.”

Mido shook his head. “You will die, Calli. They’re stronger than you.”

Calliope hesitated. “I need to speak to Queen Ryenna,” she repeated. Calliope pushed passed Mido and into the castle’s hallway, Mido hot on her heels.

Calliope spoke with the guard outside and he nodded. He led the way through the castle to Queen Ryenna. She stood amongst her counsel and advisors, hunched over an elegant table where the world map was displayed before them. The queen looked up when they entered but made no effort to greet them.

“Your Majesty,” Calliope said as she approached. She bowed to the queen.

Queen Ryenna straightened and forced a smile to the witch. “Please, Calliope, I should be bowing to you. You are worthy of a home in this world. I know very well of your story.” She looked the witch up and down. “I’m glad to see you alive and well. I can’t remember the last time I needed to heal a half dead witch. But I had no doubt my magic would serve you well.”

“Thank you, my queen,” Calliope said softly.

“Yes, I know that’s not why you are here. Come, child, let’s discuss these matters together.”

Calliope approached the queen’s side in awe of her power and beauty.

“I’m sure you are aware of the danger this world is in?”

Calliope nodded. “Mido told me what happened.”

Queen Ryenna turned to her maps, somber. “We don’t have any time to waste,” she said.

“I want to help.”

Mido watched their exchange, still standing at the edge of the room. He pinched his lips together nervously.

“I’m glad,” Queen Ryenna said. “Because I cannot do this on my own, no matter how strong my magic is.”

“Calli doesn’t stand a chance against those demon witches,” Mido said angrily. “I will not let you use her like you used me.”

Queen Ryenna looked up and met Mido’s gaze. “I don’t think you realize Calliope’s power,” she said. “She’s stronger than even she realizes.”

Calliope hesitated and avoided Mido’s gaze. “What can I do?” she asked, turning back to the witch queen.

“Unfortunately, when they went through my barrier, their bond to The Land of the Shadows was broken. I’m afraid black magic will not return them to that land without my help. I need to be able to send them their using the same magic that my ancestors had used.”

“What’s the catch?” Calliope asked.

Queen Ryenna smiled. “Nothing gets passed you.” She paused. “The spell needs to be used on each of them. It is not a simple spell. At the time of my ancestors, they were able to work together, their magic being much stronger. One had used her power to freeze the magic in each witch, while the other was able to use the spell to banish the witch once and for all. Without your help, Calliope, I will not be able to return them to The Land of the Shadows. I will need you to help me hold them down while the spell is administered to each one.”

Calliope nodded.

“This task will not be easy, though,” the queen continued. “There are three of them out there, and they are completely aware of what needs to be done. They remember the process well, and it is unlikely that they will allow that to happen to them again. They will stick together to defend one another, which means we need to be able to freeze all three of them at once. This will put a great strain on you, Calliope.”

“I can do it,” she said.

“There is much we need to do to prepare you for this task,” Queen Ryenna said. “You are stronger than you realize, but you do have one vital weakness of Scarletta’s doing, as you know.”

Calliope nodded once more.

“If your magic drains too quickly, it could mean the end of this war. If I stop to help you, the witches have us right where they want us and could easily destroy us. Healing you is no easy matter and will require everything I have to bring you back. However, if I continue to battle the witches, I am still without your power. The witches will no longer be frozen, and that leaves me open for their attacks. If we cannot do this successfully, we lose the war.”

“I don’t like this,” Mido said.

The two witches ignored his remark.

“You’re the queen of witches,” Calliope said. “Is there nothing you can do to fix me?”

“Scarletta’s use of black magic greatly hinders what I can do for you. You have the advantage of being stronger against those attacks, and though your blood may be clean of that magic, it is still a part of your essence and prevents me from being able to do anything that would alter Scarletta’s purpose for you. You were created to die. I am able to heal you over and over, but should there come a time when you are the only witch remaining, once your magic runs dry, you will die, and there will be no one to bring you back.”

Calliope shook her head as she processed this information. “That can’t be. There has to be something. Samus, Scarletta’s wizard, was able to bring me back, and when he did, something was different. I know something is different.”

“You may not have realized it, but there was black magic in your blood then. When Samus healed you, the black magic was gone. That’s what you felt.”

“No, that can’t be. Samus’s studied Scarletta. He found her notes – a spell that would grant her ultimate power. He used that on me. I shouldn’t be able to run out.”

“But you have, haven’t you That’s how you got out of The Land of the Shadows. The spell was a combination of a healing spell and one that Scarletta created in order to grant herself full use of her magic. It was supposed to make her a full-blooded witch. It was made for her and her alone. What Samus did not realize was that the spell only healed you. The rest would not work on you.”

“And there’s nothing you can do?” Calliope said softly. “I’m doomed to live like this?”

Queen Ryenna hesitated. “There’s a possibility for one other option.”

“What is it?”

“I may be able to give you full use of your magic, but it would come at a price.”

“I don’t like this,” Mido muttered.

“It can only be done by making you mortal. If I can take away your immortality, you will become like Scarletta – not quite a true witch. It will trade your mortality for your power.”

Calliope nodded her head once in response. “Let’s do it.”

“I don’t think so,” Mido butted in.

“I can’t afford to let my magic drain,” she hissed in his direction.

“So you’ll let yourself die instead? That makes you just as useless in this ridiculous plan.”

“I have a better chance of surviving this way,” Calliope said.

“And you also have a chance of being stabbed in the chest by Barric and ending your life before you can snap your fingers.”

“Stop being irrational.”

Mido shook his head. “Uh-uh. I’m being completely rational.”

“Both of you,” Queen Ryenna growled. “Stop it.”

Calliope turned to the queen and bit the corner of her lower lip. “What do you suggest?” she asked.

“It’s up to you. I will do whatever you wish.”

Calliope turned to Mido as if seeking his approval.

“You know where I stand here,” he said.

“Let’s talk about this,” Calliope begged him.

“There’s no time,” Queen Ryenna said. “We need to move, now.”

Calliope’s mind raced with the weight of the decision on her shoulders. She weighed the advantages and the disadvantages as she stared blankly at the maps on the table. As a mortal, she would be an easier target for witches and humans. But she would have full use of her magic, which would allow her to stay alive while they banished the witches once more into The Land of the Shadows. However, even as a mortal, it seemed unlikely that she would be at risk of being murdered should she survive the war.

If she remained immortal, though, the fate of their world seemed far less promising. Too much could go wrong; her power could drain, leaving Queen Ryenna alone against the witches. Whether the witch queen could save her or not, the end result of either option was not in their favor.

No; the choice was clear. Their only chance of surviving this was to ensure her use of all the magic she needed. She had made up her mind.

“Okay,” Calliope said slowly as her heart raced in her chest. She tried to ignore Mido’s hard stare behind her. She held her head high and met Queen Ryenna’s gaze. “Make me mortal.”