Indigo and the Orb

---Katherine---

Aaron and I stumbled up the stone stairs, leaving behind a trail of wet footprints and drops of blood. We leaning on each other for support, but at the top of the stairwell, Aaron's knees buckled and gave out. "I'm fine, don't worry," he waved my concerns away. "Just let me…catch my breath…"

"No, you're not fine," I said firmly. My knees felt weak too, so I sat down on the ground next to him. "Your entire shoulder is soaked with blood. Your back, too. Doesn't it hurt?"

"It didn't hurt back there," Aaron jutted a thumb in the direction of the booby-trap room. "but it sure hurts like hell now. The adrenaline must have worn off."

"Here, don't move." I stretched out a hand and blue tendrils of magic flickered to life around my hand. I laid the hand on the open wound on Aaron's shoulder. The magic danced along his shoulder and down his back.

"Kath, stop." Aaron grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand away from his shoulder. "Healing me will use up a lot of your energy. Heal yourself, and then save your energy for our battle with Lord Victor."

"If you don't let me heal you, you're going to collapse from blood loss before we even reach Lord Victor. You don't intend to make me fight him by myself, do you?" I argued. Eventually, Aaron agreed to let me heal him enough so that the wound would stop tearing when he used his sword. I had to promise to stop as soon as I started feeling weak.

As I healed Aaron, I felt my magic coursing along my body as well, closing cuts and mending torn flesh. In all honesty, I was in no better condition than Aaron, and the healing magic was depleting my energy quickly. As the blue sparks started to fade in and out, I pulled my hand away. Aaron and I sat next to each other quietly with our backs against the cold stone wall. I broke the silence.

"It's all my fault. It should've been me to stay behind, not Lionel." A lump formed in my throat. "I told Lionel to step on the tile that released the Evils. Because of my wrong choice, we all nearly died in there, and now Lionel—" I couldn't continue. The guilt was overwhelming.

"Kath, it's not your fault." Aaron comforted me, placing a soothing hand on my shoulder. "We had to try all the tiles anyway, and there was no way to know that that tile would release the Evils. Lionel is a great swordsman; he'll be fine. He said he would meet up with us later, didn't he?"

I met Aaron's gaze under the torch light, and I knew both of us were clinging onto those words and refusing to consider the alternative. "Aaron, what if we're wrong? What if we can't defeat Lord Victor?" The tears came swiftly, like a dam breaking. I tried to blink them back, but they kept falling. "We already lost so many people, and now it's just you and me. He still has Indigo in his grasp. Do you honestly believe we can win?"

I hated crying in front of people. I hated feeling weak and helpless. But all the tension and constant fear for my life had reached a breaking point. We don't know whether Lucian was alive or dead. We barely escaped numerous near-death situations. Lionel was wounded and surrounded by an entire pack of Evils. Aaron and I were in no shape to face a formidable foe like Lord Victor. All of this happened in merely a few short hours, and I really wasn't sure if we could keep going.

Aaron surprised me by enveloping me in a hug. "I don't know, Kath. I don't know if we can win or even if…if we'll make it out of here alive." He took in a wavering breath. "But we have to try, right? We're the chosen ones. We have to face Lord Victor. Like you said earlier, everything depends on us. We can't let the people who died die for nothing. It's a huge burden, but it's something that we have to take on. The prophecy did say we would defeat Lord Victor, so that's something."

I cracked a smile. "Yeah, I guess. But I'm not sure I believe in the prophecy entirely anymore. We don't even have the spear of light."

"We'll make do without it." Aaron patted my back. "At the very least, I'm grateful that I was able to undertake this quest with you. Thank you for everything, Kath."

"Me too, Aaron. Thanks for everything." I closed my eyes for a brief moment before pulling back from the embrace and wiping the residual tears from my face. "You're absolutely correct: we have to try. Let's go; Indigo is still waiting for us."

* * * * *

Aaron and I pushed the stone doors to the throne room open together. The rumbling echoed in the cavernous room. We stepped in cautiously. Although large, tall torches lined the walkway leading up to the throne and many candles flickered in iron chandeliers on the ceiling, the room still felt dim and oppressing. It was empty and silent except for the echo of our footsteps.

"Indigo!" Aaron shouted, sprinting towards the stone pillars to the left of the room. I followed, and what I saw made my heart stop. About two meters off the floor, Indigo was chained at her wrists and ankles in a spread-eagle fashion between the two pillars. Her head drooped, and her body was limp. Bloodstains and wounds of all sizes covered her entire body. There was a small puddle of blood on the ground.

"Indigo! Indigo! Can you hear me? It's Aaron." Aaron looked up at Indigo's unresponsive form with worry and panic. He turned to me. "Kath, I'll cut her top chains, Can you reach the bottom ones?"

"I think so." I unsheathed Retribution. As Aaron propelled himself upwards with a burst of wind and began sawing at the chains shackling Indigo's wrists, I stood on tiptoes and stretched my arm to saw through the chain on her ankles. I was glad that our swords were made from the best materials in the kingdom because it cut through the iron chains easily. As the last chain fell away, Aaron caught Indigo in his arms and descended with help from his wind powers.

I rushed over. Her eyes were closed, and she was exhaling more than she was inhaling. Her pulse was very, very faint, but it was there. I had Aaron carefully lay Indigo on the ground and summoned all of my healing magic to heal Indigo. Aaron watched anxiously, murmuring to her. "We're here, Indigo. We're going to bring you home. Hold on, you hear me? Kath and I are here; you're okay now. You're okay."

As the blue magic swirled around Indigo, I saw her lips move. Aaron and I both leaned in close. "…the orb…" she said faintly. "…the orb…"

"The orb?" I repeated Indigo's words. "What about the orb?"

As I leaned in again to see if I could catch more words, Aaron looked around the throne room more carefully. He stood up all of a sudden and pointed towards the throne.

"Kath, the orb!"

I looked up. Indeed, in front of the obsidian throne was a matching obsidian stand, and a magical orb the size of an apple was floating there, glowing a wispy green. Aaron's gaze locked on the orb.

"I'm going to destroy it. Once the orb is destroyed, Lord Victor loses all of his power, right?" He began taking cautious strides towards it.

I remembered the sorceress Madeline giving us warnings about the orb. Something she said nagged me in the back of my mind, but I couldn't place a finger on it. "Could it be a trap? Why is the orb just there, without any protection?"

"Trap or no trap, we have to try. I'll destroy this one first and see what happens." Aaron leapt over the last few steps leading up to the throne. He circled the stand and the orb warily, even prodding the orb with the tip of his sword. Nothing happened.

"…careful…" Indigo breathed another whispery word. I turned my attention back to her. "…orb…lies…Victor…"

My heart pounded in my ears. What was Indigo trying to warn us about, even when she was unconscious and on the brink of death? Was Aaron in danger? I looked back towards Aaron to warn him again, but the words died in my throat. I saw him holding the orb in one cupped hand and staring intensely into its depths. The orb glowed brighter, and some tendrils of magic began to wind themselves around Aaron's arm. Something was definitely wrong.

"Smash it, Aaron! Throw it on the floor!" I shouted, a strong sense of uneasiness washing over me. "Aaron! Snap out of it!"

Aaron didn't seem to hear me. I would have rushed over and knocked the orb out of his hand, but I had to keep my hand on Indigo to keep the healing magic flowing. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Aaron tore his gaze away from the orb and looked at me. The anger and hurt in his eyes shocked me. "Why, Kath? Why did you lie to me?"