Chapter 4

The Toll

"Excuse me, but only the high lord is permitted to-"

"The high lord can eat a cogsnip's foot for all I care," Master Therapass said, cutting off the guard mid sentence. "This has gone on long enough." Marcus lay motionless on the dirty pile of hay his cell had to offer as a bed. Sharp pains twisted his insides, and he had stopped trying to fight the constant need to vomit every couple of minutes. Master Therapass had tried to send him numerous amounts of his miracle cures and remedies, but the issue was that Marcus didn't want them.

"Marcus, this is ridiculous," came the gruff voice of the aging wizard as he stomped down the steps. "I will not have you refuse my medical aid anymore! I'm coming down there this instant!" Twenty six days later, Master Therapass' potion for keeping him extensively healthy in Farworld started wearing off, and the grievous effects of his body being stuck in the Shadow Realm was taking its toll on him. He didn't care.

Rounding the final corner to his humble cell, the wizard found Marcus lying in a heap, his complexion as pale as a dead man's.

Perhaps there's hope for that, he thought. Truth be told, Marcus knew that Kyja at this point wasn't coming back. He had lost her forever. And now, he figured, if he died like this, it could be considered murder on her part for not sending him to earth where he could recover. If that was the case, so be it. If he died like that, maybe he would be able to find Kyja, wherever she was, and help her find the elementals.

"Marcus!" Master Therapass cried, running to the cell door. He did a once over of his crippled body and overall look of death. "How long has he been like this," he yelled, turning to the guard. "I gave you strict instruction to notify me should his condition worsen!" The guard could only stammer out a line of excuses under the powerful gaze of the great magician. "You ignorant fool," he said, silencing the lower man. At the noise, Riph Raph, the annoying blue skyte, rolled over in his sleep, blowing a yawn in his direction, and continued to snore.

No one with magic can enter the doorway. Those final words reverberated throughout his skull. That was fine. He would give up his magic if it meant he could see her again.

"Marcus, I need you to drink this, please. For Kyja's sake." Something was being pushed through the iron bars towards him, but his didn't even lift his eyes to look at it. "You need to be strong when you see her again." It was false hope. He wouldn't see her again, so what was the point? Farworld was doomed either way. He was destined to die since she could no longer push him back to earth. He had no more strength left to fight.

"She's not coming back," was all he said to the figure in the long blue robe.

"How dare you say such a thing," Master Therapass replied. "After all you two have been through, you think she would just give up like that? How could you let yourself think such a preposterous thing such as that?"

"No mortals can enter into Fire Keep. If that's the case, I'm going to go find her and bring her back myself. Even if I have to give up my magic to do so."

"Don't be ridiculous." This whole thing was ridiculous to Marcus. If the time came for him to die, he would give up his magic to be sure he had a chance to help Kyja. All the sudden his stomach was racked with a terrible squeezing sensation, and for a moment he though he was going to barf again. Then he realized this pain was too specific to be any form of sickness. His eyes opened wide with shock. She was there, pulling him over! He barely had enough time to shed a tear of joy before he was dropped into an all new realm of darkness.

—«•»—

She could hardly believe it, but sure enough, it was there. Standing tall and powerful was the monstrous castle of Fire Keep. All she had to do now was open the door.

"Ok. I believe that the door will open," Kyja intoned. It had made the castle appear, surely the same concept was needed for the entering of it. But, as she stood there waiting for the drawbridge to lower, she realized something was wrong.

"I believe the door will open for me." Not even a squeak of a chain moving. "I believe the bridge will be lowered?" She believed it as much as she had believed the door would appear, so why wasn't it working now?

No one with magic can enter the doorway. Her own voice replayed her final words in her head. But that didn't make sense. She didn't have any mag- oh but wait, yes she did. Kyja looked down at her hand and willed a small flame to light upon the tip of her thumb. It was so easy for her. Even Marcus had to do an incantation, whereas all she had to do was wish for it to happen and it did. Was this the ability she was meant to possess? Was she supposed to have this knack for magic, even though she had never used it? Like the time she had accidentally sucked some away from Marcus while they were being chased by the Keepers, Kyja now had the thing she had always wanted literally in the palm of her hand. And now she had to give it up once more. Fate was cruel. Every time she had even a small dose of power she was forced to leave it by the wayside. Why couldn't she just be normal like the others?

How do I even give it up in the first place?

Do you truly wish for it to be taken from you, came the thought.

"Yes." It was a lie and she knew it. How could she give it up again after the second time it had been granted unto her?

You want to save your world, do you not? This is the toll. The voice was right. She did want Farworld to be safe once again. She couldn't bare to see it fall into ruin like she had seen in the Aerisian's vision. Re-humbled, Kyja knelt down as if bowing to a king.

"For the sake of Farworld, I do not want these powers anymore." A draining sensation overcame her, like a hole that had freshly been filled had been reopened. Feeling even more of shell of herself than before, she stood upright before the gate again.

"I believe I can enter in to the Keep, now."

That is not your decision to make.

"But I did all that you asked me to! I gave up my magic! I believed I would find you and I did! Why can't I enter?"

Don't think we don't know what you're hiding. Hiding? What was she hiding? Was there something else she forgot to do?

You gave up your magic, but there is still the matter of the boy. Marcus? What was wrong with him? He wasn't here right now, was he?

Do you think your ability to bring him to and from his world to yours is natural? Foolish girl. If you wish to enter into Fire Keep, you must comply with all the rules. No being with magic can enter the doorway.

But, without her ability, how would she get Marcus here? And even if she could face this trial by herself, there was no possible way for her to leave if she couldn't get Marcus to pull her over. Once more, she was faced with a brick wall. It was give up Marcus and never return to Farworld, or let Farworld be destroyed and return again only to see it burn.

Such tough choices. But be careful, once you choose you cannot go back. How could she make such a decision? It wasn't even fully hers to make. She needed help. She needed Marcus. But did she dare pull him over to this side so soon, and with no news except "I'm sorry we can never see each other again?" She didn't have a choice in this matter. They were a team, and Kyja wouldn't make another hasty move without consulting with someone.

Turning away from the burning structure, she reached out far beyond the darkness of the void and searched for her friend amongst the living. A golden rope appeared in her mind, and she yanked with all the might she could muster.

—«•»—

Marcus' body hit the ground with a thump. He strained to look at his new surroundings but found that there was nothing to see. It was just black. Everywhere, darkness clung to the atmosphere and nothingness weaved cobwebs out of void stuff. Turning his head around, the scene didn't change. Everywhere it was the same nothingness.

"Marcus?" He heard his name being called from what sounded like miles away, yet just behind his ear. The voice still held the color of friendship within its tone, and he let himself cry for the first time in weeks as he turned to face Kyja.

But it wasn't Kyja. It was...a shape. It was a silhouette, a shadow, a nothing. It walked towards him on feet of trepidation, and his mortal heart began to melt for the girl who had changed so much since the day he had watched her die.

"K-Kyja?" Tears welled up in his eyes. This couldn't be her. She was... She wasn't. He reached out towards her, and his fingers brushed against hands colder than the one that had squeezed his with reassurance only a couple of weeks before. "Kyja? You're... You're..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. She looked down at him with her deep black eyes. This wasn't right. They were supposed to be green. She wasn't supposed to be like this. She smiled at him.

"Dead," she said, finishing his statement. The single word froze his blood solid. How could she smile like that? How could she be so accepting of this fate she had caused to come upon herself? "It's ok, Marcus. I know." She seemed to read his thoughts. "I'm dead." He sank in his seat, still holding on to those shadowy hands, not able to bring himself to look at her face. It was too heartbreaking. How could she return from this?

"Marcus. I...I have to tell you something." Whatever it was, he didn't want to hear it. The tone she used could mean nothing but further sadness. "Marcus, you can't come with me to Fire Keep. Its impossible." There was something else she wasn't saying, though he was devastated all the same. "We..." She sniffed, though she couldn't cry even if she wanted to. "We can't be together anymore. I...I have to- in order to get into Fire Keep..."

No. Don't say it. Please, don't say it, he begged. He knew full well what this meant, why she had pulled him over now. "The link we share is magic. Once I get inside, I'll be able to send the elementals. But after that..." Even she couldn't bring the rest of the words to her mouth. This truly was the end, and they both knew it.

"Don't ever forget me, ok? Save Farworld and save Earth. For me." She knelt down and brought Marcus into a cold embrace, sobbing tears that refused to manifest. "I'm so sorry, Marcus. I love you."

He had seen her, and now they both were here. That was all that he needed. He had found her, and now he made a decision in his mind that he would never have to leave her again. "I love you, too," he said, before placing a sharpened point of shadow wood in her ethereal hands. Before Kyja could realize his intent, he clasped her hands together and dove straight towards it.

The wand disappeared into his chest, a gleaming, crimson rose of blood blooming out of the wound. It dripped slowly onto Kyja's hands. The weapon in her grasp, with the blood of her loved one painting them red, she had unintentionally killed him. Marcus watched the dark world fade impossibly darker.

—«•»—