by Stella Snow
The light grew stronger as she jogged. Nothing had jumped out of the forest to grab her yet, which gave her hope that she could at least survive tonight.
The rocky outcropping that hid the stone finally came into view. She sped up, racing through the keep-away magic that prickled along her skin. The dark forest made her more uncomfortable than that strange magic did.
Gritting her teeth, she edged her way into the narrow tunnel. The rock scraped against her arms as she tried to walk more quickly than the tight space would allow. The faelight bobbed in front of her, bouncing from wall to wall in the tunnel as if it wanted to escape just as badly as she did.
The tunnel finally opened into the moss-covered room and she dashed over to the back wall and ran her hands across the ledge searching for the moss that Salathia had covered the Stone with. The area looked undisturbed, which was a relief, but until she had the Stone in her hand, she couldn’t be sure it hadn’t been taken.
She dug at the moss until her fingers hit the bag the Stone was in. With a sharp exhale of relief, she lifted it and brushed off the dirt and moss that clung to it, then dumped the Stone out into her hand. A red glow filled the cave, deepening the shadows. The jagged edges were sharp against her hand and it pulsed oddly, as if it had a heartbeat. The faelight hovered by her shoulder, its soft illumination tinged red by the relic. It was heavier than it looked. She closed her eyes and hugged it to her chest for a moment, trying to slow her breathing.
The journey out of the tunnel seemed much shorter than the journey in and had the benefit of not feeling like she was being chased. The faelight reflected her newfound resolve as it darted before her with purpose. She stepped out of the cave and inspected the forest, but it was just as impenetrable now as it had been on her journey here.
She took one step forward and her feet were swept out from beneath her. Her face hit the ground and stars swam before her eyes. She couldn’t breathe. A hot wet breath tickled her ear and she found just enough air to scream. The press of claws against her back changed to hands, and the rumbling growl shifted to a menacing laugh.
“Caught you. Didn’t Gavriel tell you if I caught you once, I could always find you again?” he whispered as he crouched on top of her. She tried to crawl out from underneath him, but she couldn’t move at all. “Or did you just not realize I had caught you last night?”
He lifted her up and flipped her over before slamming her wrists into the dirt and placing his knee on her diaphragm. She tried to pull her wrists free, but he was too strong, and all her strength was spent. Every muscle ached from the fight in the woods before she’d been banished. He pressed down until she couldn’t breathe. Forcing back the panic, she held his gaze, refusing to look away first and show him how scared she truly was. He laughed and released her wrists to pick the Stone up from the dirt. She hadn’t even realized she’d dropped it.
He stood and she sucked in gulping breaths, curling into fetal position in the dirt. She knew that she needed to stand and run, but she was utterly paralyzed. He flicked his hand and a faelight illuminated the area. The two other mercenaries gathered around the man that had tackled her and looked at the Stone.
“Is that it, Kilgar?”
“Yes,” he said, his teeth flashing as he grinned. “Get her up.”
A burly, bald man yanked Melodie up from the ground and pulled her in close to his side, his hands like a vice on her arms. She yanked hard against his grip, but he only tightened his hands. Perhaps this had been inevitable, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel resigned to her fate. She didn’t want to die.
Kilgar stood facing away from the group and held out his hand. The magic that rolled out of him was dark. Dirty, like Melodie could choke on it. She cringed away.
The air trembled in front of his hand, whipping his braids around his face, and an oblong twisting, black thing began forming. The magic screeched against her ears and it felt like her bones were shaking from the impact.
A resigned horror took over as the tearing slowed, then stabilized into a tall oval that looked like a waterfall. It was a gate. The mercenary holding onto her started to walk forward. She tried to jerk away and stomped on his foot, but he kept dragging her forward without faltering. Kilgar watched her with that creepy, satisfied grin on his face.
The other mercenary went through the gate first, then they followed closely behind. She fought with every ounce of strength she had left, kicking back and clawing at the arms that were now wrapped around her waist, but it had no effect.
She screamed and magic surged within her, burning the mercenary where her hands dug into his arms. He howled in pain, but she couldn’t stop him from stepping into the gate. The dark magic that had created it was cold against her skin, so cold that it burned.
Chapter 27
Darkness enveloped her, and then she was on the ground. Her lungs were squeezed in her chest. The weight of the magic around them scraped along her skin, threatening to rip straight through it. She could hear herself screaming as her body strained to adapt to new levels of magic. There was too much of it, and her body seemed determined to take it all in like a sponge.
The blunt shock of a fist connecting with her face caused her vision to stutter. The overwhelming flow of magic stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. Blinking rapidly, she tried to force back the tears that blurred her vision. Everything was surreal, even the throbbing ache in her cheek seemed like it couldn’t be happening. A mercenary jerked her to her feet.
“This is for burning me.” He slammed his fist into her stomach then dropped her. She hit the ground hard, all the air forced from her lungs in a whoosh. Her fingers dug into the dirt as she tried to catch her breath.
Kilgar said something to one of his men and she was hauled up to her feet again.
“Don’t touch her you, filthy mutt!”
Melodie’s heart stuttered. Salathia was being held back by two of the mercenary’s men, her teeth bared. Blood had soaked through the leg of her pants. Melodie was so happy to see that Salathia was alive that, for a moment, she almost didn’t care that she had been captured. Kilgar turned to face Salathia and held up the Stone.
Salathia stopped struggling immediately, her eyes widening in fear.
“After all these years,” he said reverently. “It looks like Alleassa died pointlessly, though I can’t say I’m sorry she did.”
Salathia growled, her skin darkening even further. Movement from her left caught Melodie’s eye. A crow flew overhead, its beady eye locking with hers. Somehow, she knew it.
One of the guards approached Kilgar, watching the trees warily. “There’s an armed group headed this way. They’re blocking our route.”
“Arsadian?”
“No uniforms. Could be rebels. They outnumber us though.”
Kilgar’s lip curled in irritation. “Then we’ll go through the forest, around the lake. They won’t expect it. Send five men to draw their attention away and make them think we’re taking the shortest route.”
“Is that safe––”
Kilgar shot him a quelling look. “That was an order, not a question.”
The guard pressed his lips together in disapproval but nodded and hurried away.
Kilgar turned to his men and gave a hand signal. Everyone began packing up their things. As she looked around, her heart sank into her stomach. The group that had captured her had been small, but here in the Sidhe, there had to be at least fifty of them. Even if Gavriel miraculously came for her, there was no way he could rescue her now.
Five tall statues, carved out of white stone, stood in a circle around the group of mercenaries. Their severe faces stared down at them, as if angered by their presence. The gate was in the center, just as twisted and warped on this side of the Veil.
The ground was scorched all around the gate. Charred lumps were piled up on a stone slab that was set up like an altar. Perhaps it was an altar. She had no idea if people in the Sidhe worshipped someone like the Forgotten did. Ms. Nancy had mentio
ned Balor and said the gate had been cursed. The whole set up looked like a sacrifice. She didn’t want to know what they’d burned.
Her guard started walking, still holding tightly to her arm, and she stumbled after him. Another joined him, handing over a pair of iron cuffs attached to a chain. He clapped them on her wrists. The cold metal molded to her skin, then re-hardened. Something icy slithered over her skin. Her breath came short. This feeling was…familiar. Her magic was gone. Completely out of reach. She felt as empty as she had before the day her magic had been unleashed.
The guard chuckled. “Feels like you’ve died, doesn’t it?”
She met his cruel eyes. “Go to hell.”
He backhanded her so hard everything went black for a moment. When her vision cleared, she was on her knees, blood pooling in her mouth. Anger twisted sharp and ugly in her gut. But there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Provoking him any further would just bring more pain.
Salathia was shoved roughly to her knees next to Melodie. The same iron cuffs were clasped around her wrists. Their guards latched their chains around the base of a tree, then joined the rest in packing up the supplies they’d brought with them.
“You’re still bleeding,” Melodie whispered, eyeing the spreading patch of blood on Salathia’s pants.
“I know,” Salathia whispered, no hint of a smile on her face. No reassurance she would be fine. “I’m sorry.”
Melodie’s fingers curled into her palms. “Stop it. Don’t talk like there’s no hope.”
A tear slipped down her grandmother’s cheek. “I thought I could protect you, but I was wrong. I should have told you sooner. Prepared you.”
In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to go back to how things were before. She’d give it all up. The magic, her family, all of it, just to protect her grandmother. This wasn’t worth losing the one person who had always loved her.
“Maybe we can escape still.”
A sad smile tugged at Salathia’s lips. “I cannot run with these injuries. If you get a chance, you have to take it. You have to leave me behind.”
“No. I won’t.” Her lips trembled, but she pressed them tightly together, refusing to cry. There was no reason to. They would both be fine. They had to be.
Salathia pressed their foreheads together. “Let me keep one promise to your mother. It’s my job to protect you.”
Before she could reply, a rough hand jerked her to her feet. The guard unwound her chain from the tree and pushed her ahead of him, one hand firmly gripping the end of it. A sadistic smile sat on his face. He was enjoying this.
Someone else dragged Salathia away and her grandmother disappeared from sight behind them.
Melodie craned her neck to try to find her again as she was tugged along. “Where are they taking her? Why can’t we stay together?”
The guard shoved her. “Shut up and keep your eyes forward.”
The group moved surprisingly quietly considering the large number of people. There was no unnecessary conversation. Keeping her eyes forward as instructed, she carefully observed what she could see. Some of the people here wore what she suspected were uniforms. Their clothes were just a bit neater, the color of the fabric matching too well to be a coincidence.
As they passed under cover of the tree line, she began noticing how strange the trees were. Their trunks weren’t just big, they were massive, stretching wider than any Sequoia she’d ever seen. Her eyes strayed upward, and her jaw dropped.
Despite her circumstances, the view was still awe-inspiring. The willowy branches of the trees drooped down low. If she jumped, she could reach them. Lights fluttered among the branches. They didn’t move like faelights, and she didn’t think magic could spontaneously appear like that, but they certainly looked like they were made of pure magic. It hadn’t settled in yet how different the Sidhe was from the human world, but it was beginning to.
A dark shape passed overhead, blocking out the lights for a moment. The crow. It seemed to be following them. She frowned and forced her gaze downward. Her instincts told her not to draw attention to it, and she intended to listen to them.
Chapter 28
The hours blurred together. After walking the entire night, they’d stopped briefly to rest when the sun had risen, only to start again just a few hours later. It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but the shadows were lengthening beneath the giant trees once again. If the strange lights didn’t float among the branches, it would be almost pitch black in the strange forest She wondered absently if the days were just as long here as they in the human realm.
The ache in her feet had faded into a weird sort of numbness. Like her magic, the pain was just out of reach. A jerk on the chain around her wrists brought her attention back to the guard in front of her.
“Sit. Drink.” He shoved a canteen at her, and she took it greedily, not caring how desperate she appeared. She was desperate.
As she gulped down the cool water, her eyes wandered. The whole group had stopped, hopefully to rest once again. Her eyes were heavy with the need to sleep. Kilgar appeared to be arguing with one of the uniformed men. He jabbed his finger in the direction they’d been heading, but the other man shook his head emphatically.
“Passing so close to it is madness.”
Her attention snapped back to her guard and another man that had approached. Sweat beaded on his upper lip and his eyes kept darting in the direction Kilgar had pointed. He was scared.
“Don’t be a coward,” her guard snarled. “We’ll go wherever we’re ordered.”
“The magic there isn’t right. Kilgar is out of his mind.”
“Keep complaining and I’ll let him know how you feel.”
The man fell silent, fear giving way to anger in his beady eyes. He glanced back at her, then shuffled away.
After too short a rest, Melodie was forced to stand and march once again. The group went in the direction Kilgar had pointed; all objections apparently overruled.
As they crested a short hill, she saw it. In the center of a massive lake, stretching higher than she could see, stood a pillar. Though, that oversimplified what is was. Even through the cold weight of the shackles on her wrist, the magic the thing produced was obvious. It crawled over her skin.
Its dark blue surface was perfectly smooth, but something moved within it. Shadows twitched and pulsed inside as if trapped. Even when her guard yanked sharply on the chain to force her to walk again, she couldn’t drag her eyes away.
“What is that?” she asked, the question tumbling from her lips before she could think about the potential consequences of speaking to her spiteful guard.
“So ignorant. You may as well be human.” He spat out the word like a curse.
“That’s what happens when you spend your whole life on the human side of the Veil,” she replied evenly. Her body was too tired to drum up fear or panic at his angry expression.
He sneered at her. “A godstone. The Arsadians think they’re the source of magic. We know better. They’re cursed.”
She didn’t ask any clarifying questions, no matter how curious she was. It was lucky he hadn’t backhanded her for being sarcastic.
They headed down the hill straight toward the lake. As they reached its shores, their course finally turned, taking them the long way around. She watched the water warily. It was wrong. The water lay perfectly still. Its smooth, glassy surface didn’t reflect anything, not even the moon. The longer she stared at it, the less convinced she was that it even was water. As a shiver crept down her spine, she considered that her guard might be right. There was something wrong with this place.
A commotion nearer the front of the group brought everyone to a stop again. She spotted Salathia in the midst of them laying on the ground. The first glimpse she gotten of her grandmother since they’d started walking. They’d even been kept apart when they’d slept.
Kilgar approached her. “What’s the issue?”
“She can’t walk any further.”<
br />
He curled his lip in disgust. “Then kill her. We’ll get the same bounty for her head as we will if she’s brought in alive. It’s not worth the trouble if someone has to carry her.”
“No!” Melodie screamed, lunging toward Salathia. This couldn’t happen. The chain stopped her short and her arms were wrenched painfully to the side. “Get away from her!”
Salathia looked back at her, shaking her head. She was just laying there, not fighting back, not doing anything to stop her death.
Kilgar looked back at Melodie, his sneer morphing into a sick grin. “I’ll do it myself.”
A desperate fury rose in her chest, choking her. The shackles around her wrists warmed as her magic fought against their grasp. It pulsed inside her along with the anger. As she opened her mouth to scream at him to stop, a cry split the air.
Her eyes lifted to the sky as the crow circled the godstone, then flew straight at her.
Melodie blinked but all she could see was gray. A chirp sounded behind her––the only sound in this strange, empty place. Startled, she turned around, then looked down, surprised to find that she had a body. She shook her head at the disorienting thought. Of course she had a body.
Behind her was a tree; twisted, gnarled, and dead. When she looked closer, she could see there was a crow. The crow she’d seen in her dreams. She walked closer. Between one step and another, an old woman appeared.
The woman’s long, curly hair was steel gray. It hung loose around her face, cascading all the way down to her knees. Her figure was hidden by ragged, but voluminous, brown robes.
The crow flew down from the branch to sit on her shoulder.
“Melodie.”
She felt the name in her bones and had the strangest urge to cover her ears so that she didn’t have to hear the woman’s voice anymore.
