Sahara Ashdell: Rebirth of Patreek (Book 3)
Chapter 13: Happy 18th

“It is the only way.” Slagwart says holding out a small bag toward Sahara.

She stares at the bag and shakes her head in disagreement. “I can’t do that.”

“I can.” Brystol says snatching the bag from Slagwart and sliding it into his pocket. “Shall we be off then?”

Sahara is growing tired of feeling annoyed by Brystol. “It is best to wait until daylight.” Slagwart says peaking out of the window that displays the battle on the field that is still roaring. “Isn’t tomorrow your birthday?” Slagwart asks turning toward Brystol.

“It is.” Brystol says saddened by the battle outside. Sahara had forgotten all about it being his 18th birthday in a few hours. What a horrible birthday for anyone she thought.

“It will be a birthday to remember.” Slagwart says moving toward a couch and lying down.

“You may have the bed Sahara.” Slagwart points toward his small cot-like bed in the corner. “Sleep would do you well too Cundu. But I know how untrusting you are. So I assume you would like the first watch?”

Brystol just nods toward Slagwart in agreement and Sahara lies down on the bed as she yawns. She was tired and knew that some sleep would possibly help restore some of her magic.

“Sahara,” She feels a gentle shake on her arm as Brystol speaks. “It is time to go.” She opens her eyes to see a tired Brystol. He looks as though he had no sleep and aged ten years over night.

“Happy Birthday.” Sahara says remembering it was his birthday.

“Yeah.” He replied, sounding unhappy. “Here.” He handed the blue sword to her that he had kept safe all night. She knew he didn’t trust Slagwart with it at all.

“Thank you.” She says sliding it into her belt. “Any word from your father?” She asked, noticing him looking out toward the battle.

“No.” Brystol says turning back toward her looking worried.

“Where is Slagwart?” Sahara asks just realizing he isn’t in the room with them.

“He went to replace some breakfast for you.” Brystol says lying down on the bed she just stood up from. “Wake me up after you eat.”

“Alright.” She says looking out toward the battlefield. She sees death lying everywhere outside. In the distance she sees some large beasts being beaten with whips. She can’t look as she realizes it looks as though their army has been captured. There were still regiments that had not arrived at the village yet and she wonders where they are. She turns to ask Brystol but hears him snoring.

The door to the room opens and Slagwart enters with a large tray of food. “You are awake!” He says excitedly but she places her finger over her mouth to shush him before pointing toward Brystol. “Ah.” Slagwart whispers, “Perhaps it will help with his mood.” Sahara can’t help but snicker at Slagwart. She had noticed Brystol was on edge around Slagwart.

She replaces the food to look unappetizing, but she knows she is hungry. So she grabs a few round grape-looking pieces and pops them into her mouth. They taste like nothing and she shrugs her shoulders. “Thank you for the food.”

“Sorry we have nothing better. The Underworld is not known for its food.” Slagwart says apologetically.

“This is perfect.” She says politely. “While you were out did you happen to hear anything about the battle?”

Slagwart looks concerned toward Brystol as he whispers to her, “I believe they have captured Aran Rayterbay and his troop.”

Sahara looks startled hoping the Aran would still be alive. “Is the Aran alright though?”

“I believe he is in the dungeon. At least for a short while longer.”

“What do you mean?” Sahara asks.

“Well, Aran Satavan intends to make the death of Aran Rayterbay a public one.” Slagwart says still whispering so that Brystol can’t hear. “Now that it is daylight, he may not live much longer.”

Sahara feels alarmed by what he is saying. She wonders if they could perhaps save the Aran. She knows her magic is weakened and that she should save it for fighting the Grey Elf later, but she wonders if it is more important to save Aran Rayterbay now.

“What are you plotting?” Slagwart asks knowing she is up to something and it makes her smile for a moment.

“I am sure you can guess.” She says running her fingers through her tangled hair.

“I can.” He says pulling out a piece of paper and laying it flat on the table. “And I am a step ahead of you.” Sahara moves over to look at the paper and sees it is a map of the castle. “There is the dungeon where he is most likely kept. I was thinking we could sneak in through here and get him out undetected.” Sahara hugs Slagwart catching him off guard. “Alright. Alright.” Slagwart says pushing her away from him. “We don’t have time for sentiments. The question is do we do it with him?” He points toward Brystol. “Or without him?”

“He would never forgive himself if we do not succeed. So without.” Sahara says tightening her belt. Slagwart nods his head with no words and opens the door to the room so they can exit. They successfully sneak out of the inn and into the castle just as Slagwart had planned. Sahara was surprised that it was so easy to get down to the dungeon. “There.” She says pointing to a cell that she sees the Aran lying down in. She notices all the cells are full of elves and centars. There are small cages with Pixies in them. She begins to quickly unlock the Aran’s cell with magic. The elves lunge toward Slagwart. “No!” She stops them from hurting him. “He is with us. Do not harm him!”

“What are you doing here?” The Aran asks annoyed.

“Just saving you.” She says knowing he doesn’t like her choice.

“And what of the Grey Elf?”

“Now that you are free, we are going to replace her.” Sahara smiled at him.

“Foolish. But thank you.” The Aran says reluctantly.

“Follow me.” Slagwart says motioning for the hundreds to follow him toward the exit. “I know where your weapons are.”

They make their way down the darkened hallway to another room. There are tons of weapons in the room and the elves, centars, and pixies all replace a weapon before following Slagwart toward the exit of the castle.

“Where is Brystol?” The Aran asks in concern.

“We left him sleeping safely in a room at the inn.”

The Aran nods in thought as they continue down the hallway of the castle. “This is where we depart, Aranel.” The Aran says with a grateful nod as they arrive at the exit of the castle. “Carry out your mission and we shall carry out ours.” She nods respectfully to the Aran before leaving the army so that she and Slagwart can return to Brystol.

As they arrive back into the room with Brystol, Sahara jumps in alarm as Brystol slams Slagwart up against the wall with a sword to his throat. “Brystol!” She gasps in shock. “Stop it!”

“Where were you?” He asks not moving the sword from Slagwart’s throat.

“We went to save your father.” Her words cause Brsytol to look over toward her. “We saved your father.” She says pulling his hands down from Slagwart. Brystol says nothing as he slides his sword back into his belt. The trio seem on edge for a few moments before Sahara speaks again. “I know you don’t trust Slagwart, but I do and if this is how you are going to be then we don’t need you to help us.”

Brystol rubs his eyes for a moment before he quickly blurts out an apology. “Sorry, Slagwart. I just am protective and on edge from everything going on. You are helping us and it is appreciated.” He holds out his hand toward Slagwart, who nods his head and accepts Brystol’s handshake.

“I understand.” Slagwart replies and Sahara feels the tension in the room lighten. The trio make their way out to the barrier of the kingdom quietly and as quickly as they can. Sahara knows they are behind schedule since she and Slagwart had added the adventure of saving Aran Rayterbay. It takes them about an hour to make it to the barrier wall. “I see you no longer wear your necklace.” Slagwart points to Sahara’s neck.

“It would be pointless anyway, since my powers are shotty and getting weaker by the minute.” She says realizing she can no longer feel the holes that were once around her nor sense the electricity or water in the air, like she once could.

“You can do this.” Slagwart says gently, trying to comfort her.

She isn’t sure she can teleport them all across the barrier and have enough power to replace the Grey Elf, so their plan was for Sahara to teleport the Grey Elf to them, trapping her inside the barrier. Slagwart stands next to her and Brystol hides behind a nearby tree with Sahara’s blue sword and his own. “Are we ready?” Sahara asks looking at Brystol for approval. They would have to act quickly because none of their powers were a match for the Grey Elf. Brystol nods toward her with a loving smile and Sahara closes her eyes trying to concentrate on what the Grey Elf looked like. Then she remembers how the first time she came, everyone looked different from reality. “Wait. Will she look different too? Because if she does I can’t replace her.” She feared what they would do if the Grey Elf looked different than before.

“I do not know how you viewed her before. I couldn’t see elves and things as you did. I see them as you see me now. Except for you and Aunt Acrista, the two of you looked normal, so perhaps,” He looks thoughtful Sahara thinks as she watches him. “She looks the same to you now.”

“Let’s just assume she does, since she is not dead.” Sahara says nodding her head decisively.

“Are you stalling because you are nervous?” Slagwart asks in a teasing tone.

“Maybe.” She says closing her eyes trying to decrease her anxiety. She was about to kill, well attempt to kill, one of the most powerful elves alive and it would either end with the Grey Elf dead or herself dead. It was quite possibly the most nerve-racking thing she had ever done.

“You will not fail.” Slagwart says placing his hand on her shoulder.

“If you are right,” Sahara turns to face him and tries to picture him as his old self. “Thank you!” She wraps her arms tightly around his cold body and feels him hug her back. She breaks their hug after a moment and closes her eyes trying to locate the Grey Elf. She struggles to replace the Grey Elf for some time and after about twenty minutes feels the urge to give up. “I can’t do it.” She says kicking a rock on the ground next to her angrily. “I can’t feel her.”

“Plan B?” Slagwart asked looking over toward Brystol.

Brystol seems reluctant to do plan B as he looks at Sahara and then back at Slagwart. “Is that what you need Sahara?” He finally asks.

“I don’t know. What if I am too weak?” She says feeling discouraged.

“It is worth a try.” Slagwart says waving for Brystol to join them.

Brystol seems uncomfortable as he glances over toward Slagwart and walks out from behind the tree. Sahara is feeling too angry to be able to feel anything else. She thinks as she glances over at Brystol. She feels herself cringe at what she is about to let happen in order to tap into her powers. “Plan B, then.” Sahara says rolling her eyes in annoyance at Brystol. She thinks she would be more attracted to Slagwart in his zombie-like state than she is to Brystol. She closes her eyes before Brystol arrives in front of her. She waits for a minute for him to touch her but when he doesn’t, she opens an eye in curiosity and notices he is nervously standing there glancing over toward Slagwart.

“Can you like go somewhere else or at least turn around? I can’t do this with you watching me.” Brystol asks Slagwart, who throws his hands up in the air and turns around with an apology.

Sahara closes her eyes again trying to focus and replace the magic around her, but she opens her eyes again when she still doesn’t feel Brystol touching her yet. “What is wrong now?” She asks noticing he is just standing there frozen in front of her staring blankly.

“I…” He glances over at Slagwart and whispers to Sahara. “It is weird with you closing your eyes and looking so tense and obviously uncomfortable with me touching you.”

Sahara shakes her body trying to make herself look more comfortable. “I am sorry. I can’t be the elf you want me to be right now. I am trying.” She says trying not to look annoyed by his closeness. “Just pretend I am my old self because if we can make this happen, you will have the old me back in just a few minutes.”

Brystol nods in agreement glancing again at Slagwart, who is looking at them again. “Turn around.” Brystol says annoyed.

“Sorry.” Slagwart says turning is back to them again and it causes Sahara to snicker a bit.

Her laugh seems to relax her and Brystol for a moment as Brystol grows a small smile before his gaze softens to Sahara. She loses her smile as she feels Brystol’s hand touch hers and trace up her arm. She closes her eyes as he places his forehead against hers. “Please come back to me.” He whispers the words as he begins to run his fingers up under her shirt. She focuses on how he is making her feel and the emotion of desire springs alive in her. She can see all the diamond shaped holes around them and she feels the magic begin to grow inside her.

After a few moments, she sees the second round hole and begins to pull it close to her. She can feel the Grey Elf inside, but she feels a dilemma as she tries to pull the Grey Elf mentally out of the hole. She isn’t strong enough to get the Grey Elf out. She suddenly realizes the Grey Elf can sense her presence, meaning the element of surprise is lost. Sahara feels desire grow more inside her than she has ever felt before and feels more powerful. She manages to mentally pull the Grey Elf from the rounded hole as she pushes Brystol away from her. As she opens her eyes, she sees the unalarmed Grey Elf standing before her and Brystol sitting on the ground behind her grasping for his sword.

“You are stronger than I expected by now.” The Grey Elf says teasingly. “Have you come to beg for your powers back?”

She glances back at Brystol but doing so causes the Grey Elf to quickly turn behind her and she pushes her hand out toward Brystol causing him to fall again. “Is this an ambush?” She asks sounding delighted.

Slagwart has disappeared Sahara realizes and she screams in anger realizing he must have chickened out on their plan. Sahara tries to throw a spell at the Grey Elf but nothing happens and she decides to throw the stick that is lying on the ground next to her in hopes it might help Brystol for a moment. The stick only makes the Grey Elf laugh at Sahara and doesn’t distract her as she hoped. Brystol stands holding the two swords out toward the Grey Elf in defense. Sahara knows that without Slagwart they will not be able to defeat the Grey Elf. Sahara runs toward the Grey Elf in an attempt to tackle her but the Grey Elf effortlessly causes Sahara to fly backwards into a tree. The tree knocks the breath out of Sahara and hurts her back. “Now!” Brystol yells and it causes Sahara to notice Slagwart had not abandoned them but was in the tree above them. Slagwart has jumped down from the branch he was on and is falling towards the Grey Elf who has not noticed him yet. Sahara runs toward Brystol quickly holding out her hand to catch the blue sword when he throws it when Slagwart falls on the Grey Elf knocking her down. Sahara catches the sword and Brystol uses the small bag he had gotten from Slagwart the night before to sprinkle powder onto Slagwart and the Grey Elf. The powder causes Slagwart and the Grey Elf to begin to turn to stone and Sahara jumps forcing the sword down on top of the pair causing the stone to crumble to dust. She lay on the ground for a moment trying to catch her breath as the reality of what she and Brystol had just done sinks in. They had done it. They had defeated the Grey Elf. And Slagwart. “Sahara?” Brystol appears over Sahara and she smiles realizing he is alright. She jumps up wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hey?” Brystol says pulling his body back from hers slightly so he can look at her. “Are you…” He looks unsure of her, “back to normal?”

She looks at him for a moment in thought before smiling at him with her reply, “If you are asking if I love you again, then yes I do.” He lets out a big sigh of relief as he pulls her close to him again.

“Never do that again.” Brystol says before kissing her forehead. “You hating me was unbearable.” She kisses his lips before looking back down at the ashes of Slagwart and feeling saddened that he had to sacrifice himself for them to succeed. “We did him a favor Sahara.” Brystol says pulling her tighter against him. “He is in the World Beyond now, and not stuck here in the disheveled state he was in.” She nods knowing he is right, but it didn’t mend her pain very much. Brystol kisses her again before letting her go. “Do you have your powers back now?”

Sahara smiles feeling all the power around her, but it feels different this time. It feels controlled and not overwhelming as it did before when she took off the necklace. She can feel war and pain back towards the village. She feels her sword on the ground and summons it up to her hand without an issue. “So yes.” Brystol says looking surprised.

“You need your sword.” She says trying to focus on the best place to teleport them to in the battle. As soon as Brystol grabs his sword and braces himself for fighting, Sahara nods to him and teleports them to the battlefield.