“I think I can guess,” Natalie said, tossing the shard of silver to the captain. “Are we safe, Wallace?”
“I think so,” he replied, looking at the spot where the earth had opened up. “I think we’re all safe now.” He frowned, something suddenly occurring to him. “But how are you going to get home without the key?”
“I can answer that,” a woman’s voice said. From the drawbridge a figure emerged.
Wallace squinted. “Deirdre, is that you?”
“You did it,” Deirdre replied, coming over and slapping him on the shoulder. “I knew you would.” She turned to Natalie. “And as for you. Quite the surprise warrior, you are. Now I’m guessing you want to get home and the door is ready for you.”
Wallace thought about asking her how she could be so sure but chose not to. Some things were better off unknown. He followed Natalie into the castle, the captain and Deirdre bringing up the rear. The place seemed strange with no one inside.
“A ghost castle,” he said out loud, smiling sadly as he thought of how long he’d spent as the ghost in the castle.
They went into the keep and then down the stairs to the dungeon. The door to the cell was open. “All you have to do is walk in and walk out again,” Deirdre said.
“That simple?” Natalie asked, taking a step forward into the cell. Wallace followed close behind.
He’d barely set foot in there before the chains slid around his limbs like snakes on the attack. He fought them but they locked in place a second later, leaving him bound to the wall.
”Help him!” Natalie cried, grabbing the chains and tugging at them.
The witch shook her head. “I can do nothing against this magic.”
“Do not fear,” Wallace said with a sad smile. “Go home. Forget about me. You are safe. That’s all that matters.”
“I will not leave you to rot in here.” She began to cry, still trying to pull the manacle from his wrist.
“Stop,” he said, reaching up and cupping her face. “It will do no good.”
She blinked, tears rolling down her cheeks. “How can you just accept it? I can’t leave you like this.”
“Go home. Forget about me. Live your life.”
“I don’t want to live my life without you, Wallace.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No,” she said, glaring at him. “I don’t.”
He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. “I will never forget you,” he said, his heart racing as he embraced her again. “Go.”
“Is there nothing you can do?” Natalie asked, turning to Deirdre.
“This is a magic more powerful than mine,” she replied. “I am sorry.”
The captain coughed from the doorway. “Could I perhaps make a suggestion before this all gets a bit too pitiful?”
“What?” Natalie asked, looking hopefully up at him.
“You have a dagger that breaks unbreakable keys, do you not?”
Natalie frowned and then smiled as she realized.
“Perhaps it is not just keys it can break.” She turned to look at Wallace. “Do not move.”
“I dinnae intend to.”
She pulled out the dagger, raising it above herhead and bringing it down like a sword on the chains. They broke at once, crumbling to dust, leaving no sign that they ever existed. The knife fell apart a second later, shattering and falling like snow to the cell floor.
