The Song of Eloh Saga

by Megg Jensen

  I reached, but a burning sensation reminded me that a rope bound my wrists together. My arms dropped, defeated.

  “Let’s tie the baby on her again,” Chase said. “Unless you want to carry it?”

  Leaves crunched as the man hurried toward me. Even though I couldn’t hold Trevin in my arms, I was relieved he’d be next to me again. If only I could hear something out of Bryden, I’d feel totally reassured that I’d made the right decision to give up so easily. Too often, I dove into my own path, without consulting Bryden. So far he’d never questioned me. One of these days I was afraid he’d decide my impetuous nature was too much for him.

  Our whole relationship had revolved around chaos. I laughed inside. Relationship? Bryden and I had declared our love for each other while trying to save Mags, Trevin, and ourselves from death.

  Everything between us had happened too quickly. I didn’t regret a moment of it though.

  The carrier rubbed against my back and I felt Trevin settling against my chest. Someone tied it on my shoulder and I stood up straighter. I couldn’t put my arms around Trevin to be sure he wouldn’t fall out of the carrier. I had to do something to make sure he was propped up.

  Trevin began to squiggle in the carrier and I gasped. “Take off these bindings now or he’s going to fall. Please.” As my fear grew, so did the burning embers of my magic. I couldn’t control it yet and if they didn’t let me take care of Trevin, I might do something we would all regret.

  A loud sigh was followed by a warm breeze on my neck. “Fine,” Chase said. Fingers fumbled at my wrists. The rope fell away, leaving nothing but a burning sensation behind. I lifted my arms and cradled Trevin. I felt his head snuggle into the crook of my arm. I bent down to kiss him, but since I couldn’t see due to the blindfold, I missed and kissed his nose instead of his forehead.

  “Any chance the blindfold can come off?” I asked.

  “No. If you utter another word, you’ll get a gag too.”

  “Why? Afraid someone’s going to rescue us?”

  Chase snorted. “Rescue you? You’re running from your own people. I don’t think anyone’s out to rescue you. Capture you? Yes. But I don’t think that’s what you want. You’ll shut your mouth. You’ll follow when I tug.”

  “Tug on what? You just untied me.”

  His arms wrapped around me again. I tried to ignore his biceps straining against my back as he tied the rope around my waist. I thought of Bryden and my heart dropped. All I wanted was some time with him. After we find Mags, I repeated to myself. Once I knew Trevin was reunited with his mom, Bryden and I could finally explore this relationship we’d started.

  I didn’t want to just fall into something with him. I wanted to give it time to grow. Kellan, my last boyfriend, had only shown interest in me because he thought he could use me to further his political ambitions. In fact, he really hadn’t liked me at all, but I’d been head over heels in love with him. Blind love had nearly gotten me killed. Any relationship now would be approached with my eyes fully opened.

  “You take him back to the castle,” Chase said.

  “What? No!” If it weren’t for Trevin, I would have ripped the blindfold off. I didn’t want to anger the men anymore than necessary. “Bryden has to stay with me.”

  “No, he doesn’t. He needs to go back to the castle.” Chase released his grip on me. He crunched through the leaves, the sound getting quieter as he moved farther from me.

  I tried to access the fire inside me. If I could use my magic to disrupt them, maybe they’d let Bryden stay with me. I imagined the fire inside growing, but instead of roaring to life, a sensation of cascading water smothered the magic, as if a bucket of ice had been poured on my soul. Panicked, I tried again. Nothing.

  Low voices, angry and argumentative, whispered at the edge of my hearing. I couldn’t make out anything they were saying. The rustle of paper, so out of place in the middle of a fight in the forest, was the loudest sound. A loud gasp, from Bryden, forced adrenaline through my body. My heart pounded, my blood boiled.

  Then a resigned silence. Boots crunching further away from me.

  “Bryden?” I called out.

  “I will come for you, Lianne,” he answered, his voice farther away than it had been the last time I’d heard him speak.

  “Not if I come for you first.” I imagined the smile on his face and a sharp knife at his throat. There was nothing else I could conceive of that would make him walk away from Trevin and me without a fight.

  A sharp tug on my waist jerked me out of my reverie. I stumbled forward, following the now gentle pull of the rope. I shuffled my feet, toes digging in before I took a solid step. There had been too many logs littering the path we’d taken. I didn’t want to trip because I’d probably land on Trevin. I swore I’d bring him back to Mags in one piece.

  I jogged along the path, trying not to stagger as the rope pulled me from side to side. I cursed under my breath, hoping Chase was doing that to help me avoid logs and not to make me angry. Not that it mattered.

  The fire I fought so hard against in the past betrayed me now by its silence. I wanted to scream, but feared he would follow through with his threat to gag me. I held it inside, determined to cooperate the best I could to get Trevin back to Mags. Then I could escape and find my way back to Bryden.

  The tugging on the rope stopped, but my feet propelled my body forward. Hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to a stop. His fingers fumbled in my hair. I fought the urge to jerk away. Every time he touched me, my skin crawled. Not the same way it tingled when Bryden touched me.

  The blindfold fell away, fluttering to the ground as if it was nothing more than a leaf falling from a tree. I looked around and saw only the forest, filled with intermingling tree branches.

  “How do you like your new home?” Chase asked, sweeping his arm out to the side.

  My eyes narrowed into slits. What was he talking about? This was where he lived? On the ground? I didn’t even see remnants of a campsite.

  “I don’t get it,” I answered.

  “Ready?” Chase asked.

  “For what?”

  Something hit me on the head and I batted it away. I glanced up. A wooden bench, secured by two ropes dangled above my head.

  “You might want to move over so it can come all the way down. I doubt you want to try climbing up on it from that height.”

  I backed up, careful not to stumble on anything behind me. My eyes followed up the length of the rope, but I couldn’t see anything beyond the canopy. It lowered until the seat was level with my knees.

  Chase gestured toward the bench.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Sit down,” he said. “What else do you think?”

  “Where’s it taking us?” I asked, holding tight to Trevin.

  Chase pointed his index finger up toward the canopy. I tried not to shudder. I still couldn’t see anything but the rope and the swing. How high was this thing going to lift me?

  “That’s where I’m living,” Chase said. “You’ll like it. I promise.”

  I doubted he was right. “Is Mags up there?”

  Chase nodded, the smile falling from his face. It was quickly replaced by a look I couldn’t place. Irritation? Regret?

  “Then I guess we’re going up,” I said. I reached back and tightened the knot that held Trevin’s carrier. I needed to hang on to the rope with both hands, leaving his safety to the bindings.

  I swallowed a deep breath. My bottom rested on the wooden bench. I gripped the rope so tight my hands immediately started sweating. Chase stared at me, a concerned look on his face.

  “Are you going to be okay? It’s not as high as it seems.”

  I nodded. I had a desperate, unwarranted fear of water. Turned out I had a fear of heights too. I’d always considered myself the toughest girl around. I could take down any man in two or three moves - as long as my feet were planted firmly on the ground.

  “We’ll be fine. How do they know when to lift me u
p?” The seat jerked. I grasped the rope tighter, feeling it burn into my palms like my skin was being burned. The seat slowly lifted. My toes no longer touched the safety of ground as Trevin and I floated upward.

  I risked a glance up, but still couldn’t see anything above the canopy. The ropes simply disappeared between the leaves.

  “Hold on tight,” Chase called up to me. I looked down at him. His face became smaller and smaller as the ropes tugged us upward. I wanted desperately to wrap my arms around Trevin, but I was too afraid to take my hands off the ropes. My feet dangled in the air while my stomach turned circles. I needed the dance to stop or I feared I would be sick.

  My eyelids smashed shut. I sat up as straight as I could, arching my back slightly. Trevin rolled in closer to my chest. I refused to look until I was standing on solid ground - or whatever it was they had up there for me to stand on.

  My stomach twisted and gurgled, begging me to stop this madness. I couldn’t. If I was going to get to Mags, I had to keep going. Besides, I wasn’t sure if there was any way to stop at this point. I had to be about halfway up. I was too high to jump. If I fell...I couldn’t even think about that.

  My heart pounded in my chest. Then I felt it. The fire swept through me, engulfing my chest. It burned a hole straight through my heart until I finally felt like I was alive again. My magic had returned. My eyes snapped open. The leaves on the trees reflected the tiny rays of sunlight that burst through the canopy. Birds skittered from branch to branch, making their way as easily as I would have danced across the practice mats in a sparring match.

  A smile grew across my face. The forest spread out before me in an orchestra of pure beauty. New sounds and sights combined into the most beautiful scene I’d ever witnessed. I just wished Bryden had been here to see it with me.

  A third rope dangled in the air, moving back and forth. I glanced down. Chase was pulling himself up, hand-over-hand. He gained quickly on me.

  “I could have done that,” I said. I hated sitting on the bench like a helpless woman.

  “Really?” He pulled up next to me, looped his foot in the rope, and hung out for a moment. “And just how would you have done that with the baby?” He nodded his head at Trevin.

  I’d forgotten for a moment that he was there. He’d fallen asleep in the carrier. His precious eyelids fluttered in what I hoped was a pleasant dream. Chase palmed up a couple more times, coming eye-to-eye with me.

  “I could have figured out a way,” I said, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

  Chase’s laugh rang out in the forest. “You are just as difficult as Mags said.”

  I frowned. “Sometimes you talk about Mags like she’s an enemy. Other times you act like she’s a friend. What’s going on up here?”

  “It’s complicated,” Chase said.

  “It isn’t if you explain it to me.” I needed to be prepared for anything I would find.

  “Maybe another time,” he said. “Enjoying having your gift back?”

  I looked down at him. He’d stopped again, while my bench continued to ascend. “My gift? What’s that?”

  “Gift, magic, power, whatever you want to call it,” he said. He climbed the rope like a monkey and zipped up past me. “Enjoy it while you’ve got it. I’m going to shield you again as soon as we get up top. I thought giving it back might help you with your fear of heights. It appears I was right.”

  He shimmied up the rope faster and pulled himself through the canopy. I huffed, waiting impatiently while the seat slowly inched upward. So not only did he know I had magic, but he could block it. Even though I’d only recently gotten it, having it ripped away from me was unforgivable. I liked him less every second I spent with him.

  The leaves tickled the top of my head. I let go of one rope and wrapped my arm around Trevin, waiting for the branches to scratch at us as they pulled us up. But the leaves parted and we emerged above the canopy. I gasped. A city of wood spread out before me. Dozens of people milled around the platform I’d emerged on. Many more watched from above, from platforms reaching high into the treetops.

  But only one face stood out to me. There she was, perched only one platform above us, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders and that smile so familiar, so like finding home, that I almost felt my heart burst with joy.

  “Mags!” I cried out.

  Chapter Three

  As soon as my feet hit the wooden platform, I leapt off the bench, my arms wrapped securely around Trevin.

  “Lianne! Watch out,” Chase yelled. He grabbed me, pulling me into his arms.

  I struggled against him, jabbing my elbow in his gut. Unfortunately, because I was holding Trevin, it didn’t have quite the impact it needed to free me. “Let me go!”

  “Stop it,” he screamed in my ear. “You’re going to kill yourself and Trevin if you’re not careful.”

  I ceased my struggle and looked down. I’d completely forgotten that I’d just emerged from a hole in the platform. Before they’d had a chance to secure the hatch, I’d tried to step into it. If Chase hadn’t caught me, Trevin and I would have plunged to our deaths.

  Still, I didn’t like being trapped in his arms.

  “Sorry,” I whispered under my breath, “and thank you.”

  “What was that?” he said. “A little louder. I can’t quite hear you.”

  “Too bad because I won’t say it again.” I whipped my head around, slapping him on the face with my auburn curls. It would sting. I knew firsthand. While fighting, I always put my hair in a ponytail. I’d been slapped in the face with it more than once. A few times I had left red marks on my own face. I could only hope I’d left a few on his.

  “Trevin!” Mags ran toward us. She jumped over the hole as if she’d lived there her whole life. Just a couple weeks ago she’d been confined to her bed most of the time, living a life of luxury as the queen while she cared for Trevin.

  She’d changed so much.

  Her dark curls bounced around her shoulders. Her eyes sparkled with a vigor I’d never seen in all the years I’d known her. She seemed healthy, happy even. Mags’ dark eyes had always held the weight of the world in them. She’d been forced to marry the king, a man she deeply despised. The only romantic love she’d found in her life died because of me.

  “You brought Trevin to me!” She reached over and swiped him from my grasp. She dropped kisses all over Trevin’s little head. He giggled, reaching a hand up toward her face. She rested her cheek on his tiny palm. “Where are my other boys? Daniel and Michael? Are they here too?”

  I shook my head. “No, they are still being held at the castle, under constant guard.” If I had known a way to free them, I would have. Mags would know that. She was my best friend.

  She looked up at me, a curtain of anger falling across her face.

  “And how are you, Lianne? Is Bryden still alive or did you get him killed with your reckless plans too?”

  Her words stung me all over, like I’d just disturbed a swarm of angry bees. Aric, the man she’d loved, had died because of our plans to free her. They’d found out that Aric was Trevin’s father, not the king. He’d lost his head for it.

  “I didn’t mean for him to die. I swear. He wanted to help us. Particularly you and Trevin. He still loved you, Mags.”

  “And look where it got him. My world collapsed that day. I lost both Aric and all three of my sons in one swoop.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry.” I reached out to her. Mags took a step back. She pulled Trevin even closer to her chest, as if she was trying to shield him from me. I’d cared for him day and night since I’d rescued him from Kellan’s trap. I took him with the intention to reunite him with his mother. It was the only way I could begin to make up for ruining everything.

  “Don’t touch me. Or Trevin. Not ever again. Do you understand me?”

  Mags’ eyes turned to stone, all the love she’d once given me was now blocked away. For years, she’d been my friend in a land where everyone hated me because of my bi
rthright. I was nothing to them, little more than a servant to do their bidding. Mags had been just as trapped as I was. Knowing that she blamed me ripped my soul to shreds. Without her, and now without Bryden beside me, I had no one left.

  I turned my back on Mags, refusing to beg anymore. “I’ve done what I set out to do in the forest. How do I get back down?”

  Chase looked over my head, refusing to meet my gaze.

  “I want to leave.” I grabbed his chin with my fingertips and forced him to look down at me. “Can you please tell me how to get back down?”

  The others who had used the winches to pull Trevin and me up slowly dispersed. Not one of them looked at me. Within moments, Chase and I were totally alone on the platform. In the distance I heard people talking, but it was clear to me no one was interested in interfering in our conversation.

  “You can’t leave, Lianne.”

  My fingers dropped from his chin, like I’d been stuck by lightning. “What do you mean? Of course I can.”

  “How? Are you going to jump? Fly? Just how are you going to get down to the ground?”

  “Well how did you and that other brute get down? Where do your people get food? You can’t expect me to believe no one can leave. I’m not that stupid.”

  Chase sighed. “I never suggested you were stupid, but the simple fact is that I cannot allow you to leave. I need you here.”

  “You need me? Wrong! Bryden is the one who needs me. Obviously Mags doesn’t want me around either. Why not let me go?”

  “I can’t tell you yet.”

  I fumed. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn smoke was steaming out my ears. My magic, which I had harnessed on the ride up to the canopy, had apparently left me again. But this time, I noticed it. The fire doused, leaving me feeling completely and totally empty.

  “Why are you doing that? How are you doing it?” I wanted to rip his head off. Chase may have taken my magic, but I’d lived without it most of my life and still took good care of myself.

  I punched with my right arm and clocked him, hard, on the chin. My body fell into a fighting stance, preparing to take on a new opponent.