And now, I would pass the torch of salvation on to my brother. And he would actually know what to do with it.
I stood for a moment on the riverbank, deciding how to send my parents a clear message. I took off my backpack, throwing it on the soggy riverbank and scrawled a quick message on an old receipt from my wallet.
Find Jericho. He will have Avalon. I love you both.
I turned the rowboat around with magic, so that it faced downstream and stepped inside, using my electricity to stabilize it. I paused for a moment searching the wilderness for signs of my parents but found nothing. I was still early and they would wait for the exact moment we discussed.
I untied the small boat and let the current carry me inside the cave. The river moved quickly downstream, the frozen water from high in the mountains melting with the warmth of spring and sending the lower rivers rushing with life. I only had a moment to act.
Once inside, I turned towards the cave mouth and held the boat still with magic, in the middle of the rushing current. At the same time, I built the energy inside of me, setting my blood on fire in a hot boil of aggressive electricity.
I released the magic against the cave ceiling, careful to protect myself, and the boat that I needed to travel the remaining distance. Large boulders crashed into the riverbed, while the water fought to move through the heavy rocks and continue downstream. Not satisfied with the obstruction, I pulled from trees and nearby shrubbery building a wall that would be almost impenetrable without concerted effort. I pulled at the stone walls, crashing them to the earth and reinforcing the message that this passage was sealed. Not only did it keep my parents out, but I would soon be reminded that I could not exit this way either. I would be a true prisoner until the moment my fate was decided.
The water rushed forward from the force of the collapse, sending me forward with intensified vigor. The remainder of the current, propelled forward by the tidal wave of leftover river, rushed the little boat forward and to the cavernous docking space in minutes. I steadied the small vessel with my magic and reached for the rusted, iron ladder with the same energy I used to destroy the cave mouth.
What took hours to travel with Amory, only wasted minutes since going the opposite direction and with intensified current. I tied the boat to the ladder, but the river already started to drain now that the source was cut off.
I scrambled over the ledge and to the surface in complete darkness. Using magic to heighten my senses, most of all my vision, I found the second iron ladder that led to the bowels of the castle. I jumped, using magic for the extra effort and held tightly to the bottom rung of the shaky ladder.
I struggled to the top. There wasn't enough magic in the world to slow my racing heart and quell the fears that the ladder would snap in half at any moment. It rocked back and forth violently with my speedy effort to get to the top. The bolts that held it precariously in place against the rock ceiling creaked in protest at my urgency.
At the top, my hands pushed against the heavy ceiling, searching for the handles Amory used to close it months before. Moving it was impossible without magic and so I pushed upwards with super strength, fueled by my ever-increasing nervous energy.
I reached back down to the ladder, pulling it magically from its place and letting it crash loudly against the cave floor, the sound echoing noisily off the walls. Now anyone with magic could easily escape or enter with or without a ladder. But, for someone trying to sneak in or out undetected and without magic, the secret passageway would now be impossible.
I stood up and closed the floor with the camouflaged stone, sealing it with more magic and putting yet another obstacle in the way of someone trying to remain discreet. My breathing became uneven and the fear settled over me, as I remembered that these precautions were not just for my parents, but to keep me inside the walled Citadel.
In the darkened corridor, I felt along the walls, trying to repress the memories of Amory that came flooding back; our escape, his secret knowledge of the castle, and his fierce determination to get me as far from here as possible. Now, not even a year later, I willingly walked the same path with the purpose to never leave these walls again.
I let magic lead the way, guiding me through the darkness and underground maze of tunnels. I felt myself incline towards the surface. The air grew less musty and suffocating. I forced myself to breathe evenly, to remain strong and I used magic to stop my hands from trembling. I was almost there, they surely felt me coming and soon it would be over. These fears would only last a few minutes more.
Finally, I found the passage that opened to the inside of the castle. I leaned back against the cool stone for a moment, feeling violently ill and losing courage. I clasped my shaking hands that even magic was useless to stabilize and pressed them against my wildly beating heart.
I thought for a moment about the first time I came here and my determination to save Lilly and how I burst through the courtroom doors. To hell with the consequences. I needed that resolve now. I needed to get Avalon out of the Citadel before my parents made other plans and Jericho descended on the castle walls.
I decided to use the same tactics now; so when I emphatically pushed through the final door that led into the internal walls of the castle, I stumbled into a stone corridor already filled with Titan Guard.
I stared at them for a moment, reminding myself that I wasn't exactly restrained in my efforts to get inside and this was what I should have anticipated. But the glaring eyes and menacing faces of thirty thick, towering Titans confused me; panic took over immediately, whispering in my ear to run, igniting my blood with the thirst of battle.
I shut the door politely behind me and cleared my throat nervously, “Um, can I talk to Lucan?”
Every instinct inside me screamed to fight, to run away or to struggle, but I repressed the magic. I searched for submissiveness, wondering if I even possessed the skill.