Bishop_Betrayal Read online

Really, it was Mom who saved us. Once she took out of their chariots, they couldn’t get around very well. After a while, the ones that were still standing retreated.

  We all got back to the boat and took a breather. I asked my mom about her powers, and she said it had to do with bringing order to things. Dark knights have powers of chaos and disorder, and as a bishop, she’s able to use her powers to bring things back in order again. Fire and smoke are chaotic. So are rapids and those fell chariots.

  We made it the rest of the way to the cave, and this old guy named Jan met us. Yeah, you say that like “yawn” and not like it rhymes with “pan.” He looked like his ancestors might've been Vikings, with his big muscles and blonde hair. All he needed was a helmet. Didn't want to ask him about that, though, in case he thought I was making fun of him.

  He told me he was going to take me through a bunch of tests and that the first one started right there.

  He showed me this hole in the wall that had a strange shape cut out of it. I was supposed to use my imaginative powers to create a stone that would fit in that shape. So I looked at the stone, working hard to form the image in my head to make it just right. It was really hard for me to concentrate, though. I couldn’t stop thinking of my friends in danger.

  But I kept trying, and finally, I thought I had a pretty good picture in my mind, and applied my powers so the stone appeared in my hand. But when I tried to put it in the wall, it wouldn’t go in. I pushed pretty hard, but it was like trying to put a piece of a jigsaw puzzle in a place it doesn't fit. I got so frustrated, I dropped my concentration, and the stone vanished.

  My dad got mad at me about that. He even raised his voice and stormed off, telling me I just needed to focus better. I don’t blame him for being on edge. I mean, it had been a pretty long day. My mom went after him to another part of the cave, and I found my own corner where I could rest. I’m pretty sure it was a terrible idea to come here in the first place. Our enemies guessed right where we’d be, and I couldn’t even get past the first test. I’m tired of being tested. I just want someone to say, "Hey, Rich, you're doing great," and then let me go on a real quest.

  I'm going to clear my head and try again. I guess this is important if it's gonna help me make the key at the center of the Corridor. I only wish I could calm my mind.

  . . . . .

  Mallory suddenly appeared in Nadia's room, clutching a large bundle to her chest. Without explanation, she walked over and tossed it down, and it clattered together, sounding like a bunch of metal pieces. "Put this on," she commanded. "You're going to dinner."

  In this place, Nadia would have believed it if Mallory had said she was going as dinner. She rolled her eyes and picked up the bundle, realizing right away why it had clinked around so much. Most of it was pieces of armor, with a pair of gloves, a helmet—the whole bit, like a costume that somebody had spent way too much money making for a comic book convention. "They left out the instructions," Nadia said, holding up one of the gloves as if she were about to challenge Mallory to a duel. "I mean, where do you guys get this stuff? Is there like some sort of mall for dark knights or something?"

  Mallory crossed her arms over her chest. "Aren't you little old to ask someone to help you get dressed? Come on. It's not that hard."

  That did it. Nadia was not going to give this girl the satisfaction. How hard could it be? Most of the armor was shaped like the body parts it was supposed to be put it on.

  Strapping on a breastplate wasn’t exactly like putting on a T-shirt, and it took a few attempts to get the cape to hook where it was supposed to be. Nadia didn't want to know how they got everything exactly in her size, but when she put it on, it was as though the armor had been made just for her.

  Mallory walked over to a wall, touched it, and suddenly, a large rectangular mirror reappeared, letting Nadia catch a glimpse of herself. She thought she was going to look really dorky. She had always preferred elfin costumes because they had the graceful look going for them. There was something about this, though. She’d always wanted people to take her seriously, to know that she was tough. People might actually respect her if she was wearing something like this.

  Nadia heard a faint laugh behind her. "What do you think?" Mallory asked.

  Nadia struggled for words. She didn't want to tell Mallory just how cool she thought it looked, but she didn’t think she’d be able to lie about it convincingly, either. "It's all right, I guess. But it doesn't come in other colors? What about dark blue or dark gray? You could still be a dark knight with one of those, right?"

  Mallory sighed and pointed to a different section of the wall, which turned into a door. "Come on—we're already behind schedule. Follow me, and don't even think about trying to run off. I could take you down before you made your third step."

  Nadia followed her into the hallway, which was lit by strange gemstones glowing red and orange. Man, these people really did like black. All the stones in the walls and the ceiling were completely black, though some tapestries hanging on the wall showed a few more colors and made the place a little less boring. Mostly they were pictures of dark knights beating up white knights.

  She swore there was one that looked just like Rich frozen a couple of feet above a dragon’s open mouth, waving his arms comically. Then she realized what might have happened back at the fairgrounds. It didn't seem so funny anymore.

  Nadia stayed close to Mallory as they passed all sorts of other hallways going off to the sides on the diagonal, some containing the beginnings of staircases, and all of them guarded by knights in black armor. This place was like one big depressing maze.

  Finally, they came to a huge set of wooden doors, painted red, at least twice as tall as Nadia. Seeing them approach, a pair of knights flung the doors wide. On the other side lay a banquet hall with a single long table covered by a black tablecloth. Silver candelabras were set up all along it, and in between them sat plates of steaming food on matching platters. The smell that hit Nadia was one of the best she had ever experienced. It was like Thanksgiving dinner prepared by a gourmet chef with an unlimited budget. All the food they had given her so far had been bland. She barely dared hope that any of this was for her. "What are we doing here?" she asked, trying to keep her mouth from watering.

  "We’re going to eat, of course," Mallory said, leading Nadia to a high-backed chair made of black wood and red velvet.

  Mallory took the seat next to her, and Nadia eyed the food nervously. "And so I can just dig in?”

  To Nadia’s surprise, Mallory offered what looked like a genuine smile. "Just dig in!"

  Nadia didn’t need to be told twice. She worried for a few moments that the food might be poisoned, but then she looked around and saw the other dark knights eating the same things. She made a mountain with the mashed potatoes and piled her plate with slabs of meat, tender vegetables, rolls, and slices of pie. She surprised how normal most of it was, apart for some things that looked like black pumpkin pie. She didn't know what she’d expected dark knights to eat, but it certainly wasn't this.

  She dug in with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, barely able to believe just how hungry she was. She hadn’t had anything remotely appetizing to eat since the dance with Trent and Rich and Angela, and that that had been pretzels and punch. It had been only dark bread and water a few times a day since arriving here.

  Trying to look normal, she looked down the table see if Angela was there too.

  Mallory gave her a knowing smirk. "Looking for your friend? Not here. We had her tested too, and she's not from one of the two lines. This hall is reserved for dark knights. That's why we had to be properly dressed."

  Nadia stabbed her fork into her mashed potatoes, and it stayed upright. “But I'm not a dark knight," she said. "Yeah, I can play dress-up,
but it's what's inside the armor that counts, right?”

  Shaking her head, Mallory let out a long breath through her nose. “There is no use denying it, Nadia. It is in your blood. The scholars have been doing some digging about you. How much do you know about your grandfather?"

  Nadia could feel her appetite vanishing. Somehow, she knew Mallory meant her father's father. She couldn’t remember a single time her father had talked about the subject, and she had never seen any pictures either. “About as much as a kindergartener knows about algebra," Nadia said, scratching her head. "Are you telling me that you know?

  Mallory bobbed her head slightly, looking like a snake preparing to strike. "Oh, good old Fyodor Petrenko. One of the great Nemesis assassins. Your father was in training with him for a time, but then your grandfather passed him over for being too weak and instead took his younger brother as his apprentice. I'm surprised you didn't make the connection sooner. I suppose your grandfather did do most of his work in the former Soviet Union, so there is that."

  Nadia felt her cheeks flush. Mallory was lying. She had to be. Nadia’s father wasn't the son of some assassin. He worked at a computer company and really liked chess. "You think this is going to convince me to join you? Are you trying to make it sound like it's my family duty or something? Giving me all this food so I'll be fat and happy?" Nadia brought her hand down on the table, which was much louder than she’d expected because she wasn't used to wearing gauntlets. "Not going to work."

  Mallory held out a hand, extending one of their electronic tablets. “Oh, it's all true. Take a look." She pressed the tablet and images flashed across the screen one after another, showing a man who shared many facial features with Nadia’s father, the same strong eyebrows, the same hairline.

  Still pictures turned into moving ones, showing the man creeping around the streets of a darkened city, lurking in the shadows before striking his victims. After the first few, it became too terrible to look at, and Nadia turned away. Could her grandfather really be this monster? Rage bubbled up, and she snatched and threw the tablet into the nearest bowl of mashed potatoes.

  "You ungrateful little..."

  Nadia met Mallory’s eyes and realized for the first time what kind of person she was dealing with. She didn't just act like a bad, scary person. She was a bad, scary person. So it didn't surprise her too much when Mallory jumped forward with superhuman speed, snatched the tablet, and smashed Nadia over the back of the head with it, potatoes and all. She followed this up with another blow with the hilt of her sword. Her last thought before she hit the floor was feeling sorry that her armor had not included a better helmet.

  CHAPTER 4: A PERPLEXING PUZZLE

  From the Quest Log of Heinrich Wulfrich Witz

  This time, attempting the trial went a whole lot better. My father apologized for getting angry, and I told him I was sorry for being so distracted. I think he’s still mad at himself about the whole Jezreel thing. It’s weird to think of him having a Nemesis too, but actually, I think I understand him better than most other people would. Jezreel and Mallory sound like they’re from the same mold, like some sort of evil cookie cutter.

  I took a little nap and felt a little calmer after that, good enough to try again. Jan told me to slow down and observe the details before proceeding. The problem is, nobody can see what I’ve got in my head to correct me while I’m imagining something, only after I’ve already created it, and then I have to start all over again.

  I stared at that strange hole for a long time. It looked like some country I’d seen on the globe once, maybe something in Africa. After a while, I couldn’t take the staring anymore, so I tried again. The stone was small enough that it didn’t take so much energy at a time, so I didn’t mind if I had to try a few times to get it right.

  On my second shot, I thought it looked pretty good. I started sliding it in and thought it was going to go. Turns out, I made it the right shape, but I didn’t make it deep enough. When I tried again, I overcompensated, and it didn’t fit right. I slammed that one on the ground, which brought my mom running to see if everything was okay. For a second, I forgot about being frustrated because she looked so sad, but when I asked her what was wrong, she brushed me off. I noticed that Dad wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

  Well, it took me about another hour or so, but I finally got it. The stone snapped in place, and I couldn’t even see where the hole had been. A door opened up in the wall with a stairway going down. Jan led the way, and my parents followed. I’ll admit, I let myself think of my friends while we were going down, but not for long.

  The next room looked like the storage room of the bat cave, with a few actual bats. It smelled damp and musty and made me shiver a little bit because it was colder than the last room. I half expected Jan to give me another test with an even bigger rock, but instead, I found this huge clock face on the wall, even taller than my dad. Jan clamped his fingers onto the side of the clock and pulled it back like a swinging door. Inside there were all these gears, none of them moving, but I could see the places where a bunch of them of different sizes were missing.

  Sure, I could see where this was going, and it didn’t seem too bad at first. But then I realized there were far more than five gears missing. My powers only allow me to have five objects in existence at a time, and that was tough. If I was supposed to put all the gears back, I was going to need help.

  When I asked Jan about it, he shrugged his bulky shoulders and then folded his arms. “I’d like you to think about it for a while. You can use the powers you already have to figure it out.”

  I kind of wanted to scream, but that would have echoed a little too well in this cave. I’ve been working on it all night, and I haven’t really come up with anything. My head hurts, and for some reason, my parents don’t appear to be talking to each other.

  If I ever go back to public school, I’m probably not going to be able to use any of this for my “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” paper.

  . . . . .

  Nadia couldn’t close her eyes without having nightmares. Sure, she’d occasionally had bad dreams before, but they were more like her homework catching on fire or finding herself on a televised cooking show having forgotten to wear pants. The nightmares she was having now were full-on horror movies. Most of the time, she saw her town burning—her house, the community center, her school—all of it up in flames. She saw her parents and friends running for their lives, chased by creatures made up of fire and darkness.

  She tried to tell herself that they were all just dreams, but Mallory kept coming in to convince her that they were real. Nadia held out the hope that Mallory was lying to her, but she didn’t dare try to call her out on it. Getting smacked over the head with a potato-covered tablet once was enough.

  Instead, she read, starting with the history of the knights, learning about the conflict between the two founders, their three stones of power named after the sun, moon, and stars, and about the Corridor of Keys where the stones now hid. She had to remind herself constantly that these really were things, like reading them from a history book and not just from someone’s imagination.

  When she wasn’t reading the history, she turned to a map that showed the layout of the Stronghold. It wasn’t quite as confusing as it seemed from her walk around with Mallory. The whole building was shaped like a knight’s shield, with symmetrical rooms and hallways that gave it a predictable pattern. She stared at the map for a long time, trying to commit it to memory. If she ever got the chance to run, she would need to know how not to get herself stuck in a dead end.

  All her waking thoughts turned to escape, and she tried to stay awake a lot more than usual because sleeping was miserable, full of nightmares much worse than the showing-up-to-school-with-no-pants variety. They’d given her a new bed that was more comfortable t
han any she’d ever had, but she figured that was only to lure her back into having nightmares.

  The tablet had all the information she’d ever want about the Stronghold, and so the question kept popping up in her mind. Why would they let her see this? After a while, she came to the conclusion that it was either that they were so confident that nobody could get out that they really didn’t care if she knew, or they were tempting her to try so they could laugh and beat her up or something. She didn’t like either one of those.

  She decided that if she got the chance to escape, there was this place where they kept all their potions, and she’d even been able to see the list of what they had there and what the potions did. There was this interesting one that dark knights used to fake death that she might be able to use. If they thought she was dead, they would at least take her out of the room, and she could plot her escape from there. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the only one she could come up with.

  . . . . .

  A few days later, the door opened, and Nadia nearly fell off her bed. Rich stepped into the room, wearing the same suit he had worn the last time she had seen him at the Hawaiian dance.

  “Hi, Nadia,” he said, holding up one hand. “How do you like it here?”

  She took a step back, not trusting that this wasn’t some trick. Could it really be him? Sure, she wanted to see him, but what if he had joined up with Team Brooding Black Armor? Feeling a bit sick to her stomach, Nadia worked her mouth open and shut, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Something was wrong.

  Rich stepped a few paces closer. “It’s not so bad, really. A little too much black, but the powers you get for being a dark knight are so much cooler. I’m pretty glad I switched sides.”

  Nadia swung her feet around the other side of the bed, putting it between her and Rich. She gave a nervous laugh, putting some words together in her mind. “Hey, Richie. Uh, I’m not sure you hear yourself right now. You’re as good as a Boy Scout and a priest combined. There’s no way you’d ever have changed sides.”