The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 70

Aaron

I stood up slowly, shaking off dust and small pieces of rubble from my clothes. When the protective dome broke and the ripple of magic hit, Indigo and I became separated. Looking around, I saw her picking herself up from the ground not far to my right. "Are you alright, Indigo?" I called out as I made my way toward her.

"I'm okay," she answered, brushing dust from her sleeves. "Where's Katherine?"

We both looked toward the remains of the orb. A swirl of red magic was hovering there and increasing in size. No matter, we would deal with it later. When the orb exploded, the magic hit Katherine first. I prayed that she was okay.

"Kath? Where are you?" I ran toward where we last saw her. I caught sight of a glinting rosestone behind a pillar. "Kath!"

Katherine lied on the ground, facing up. Her eyes were closed. I skidded to a stop beside her, fearing the worse. "Kath!"

With a groan, her eyes opened. Her gray eyes flitted around before focusing on me. I helped her into a sitting position. "Is the orb destroyed?" she asked. I nodded.

"You did it. You destroyed the orb." I couldn't help but smile. "Everything's over now."

"Um, not quite." Indigo's worried voice sounded exceptionally loud in the silent throne room. "You two might want to come see this."

Without another word, Katherine began to stand. I grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. She leaned against me, still a little unsteady. "Thanks, Aaron."

"Don't mention it. Let's go see what Indigo wants us to see." Together, we walked around the pillar and immediately saw why Indigo sounded so worried.

A dark red elliptical portal hovered two feet off the floor, right above where the orb had exploded. It was about fifty feet tall and six feet wide, and stretched high into the air. Its edges shimmered with magic. Unlike the portals that Lord Victor created earlier, where each portal showed a destination, this portal simply showed a kaleidoscope of swirling, churning, wispy magic three shades lighter than the edges. It hummed lightly.

Indigo stood a good thirty feet away, eyeing the portal warily. Katherine and I joined her. "What is this?" I asked.

"It's a portal, Aaron," Katherine said helpfully. I shot a look at her.

"That's not what I meant, Kath."

"It's a portal, yes, but to where? Why did it form when the orb was destroyed?" Indigo rested her chin on one hand thoughtfully. "Most importantly, what are we supposed to do now?"

"Lord Victor." Katherine suddenly jolted up straight. "Where is he? What happened to him?"

Indigo pointed toward the door, where Lord Victor laid on the floor with his back to us, impaled by the spear of light. The spear had long since stopped glowing. Lord Victor looked like a chunk of meat strung on a kebab skewer. Blood pooled around him. He was not moving.

Katherine gasped audibly. "Is he—is he—" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Is he dead? For real this time?"

Indigo frowned. "I don't know," she whispered back. "The spear stabbed him right around the time you destroyed the orb. Theoretically, since the orb holds his power and it's now destroyed, he should be dead, right?"

The three of us looked at each other, uncertain. We should go up to him and check, but none of us wanted to get near the evil lord, especially when there was a chance that he wasn't dead. Just as we were trying to figure out what to do, we heard the Evils, still huddling in the corners of the room, began to howl and whimper. Darn it, they didn't combust and die. Katherine and I brandished our swords immediately and looked around in alarm. Were they going to attack us?