by Linsey Hall
Crap, there was no way we could convince them.
I shared a look with Iain, whose brow was creased. Damn it, this was it.
I jerked my head, indicating that we should go around. He nodded slightly.
We moved as one, sprinting around the Menhirs and entering the avenue. The two rows of stones rose tall on either side of us, casting shadows as the sun sank toward the horizon in the west.
Magic sparked on the air, and thunder rolled. I glanced behind me to see the Menhirs return to their positions at the ends of their rows. Somehow, the fact that they didn’t attack scared me even more.
“Something is coming,” Iain said.
I could feel it, too, a prickle of sharp magic on the air.
I ran faster, determined to get as far up the avenue as I could before the threat arrived. The rough grass crunched underfoot, and I kept my eyes on the ground to avoid stepping into an uneven spot. Open moorland was terrible for speed. A broken ankle could be the end of me out here.
I was paying so much attention to my feet that I nearly missed the attack when it came from the sky. Just a hint of premonition made me look up.
A dozen Fire Fae hurtled toward us on wings of flame, descending from the darkening sky. It was the first time I’d seen my people in years, and my heart clutched.
Would I recognize any of them? Would they recognize me?
“Iain! Above!” I called upon my shield and a flame, getting ready for the attack. “Don’t kill them!”
He growled low in his throat, but finally bit out, “Fine.”
The Fire Fae were only forty yards away when they launched their first attack. They hurled enormous blasts of fire right at us. The fireballs were easily five times the size of the ones I could create.
I launched one of my own fireballs at the nearest one. It was far smaller, but it smashed into an oncoming blast and managed to divert it, sending it careening off track and crashing into the moor. Four others shot toward me, and I held up my shield and ducked behind it. The flames slammed into my shield so hard I skidded backward in the dirt. The handle became hot, but I ignored it.
Next to me, Iain threw massive blasts of water at the fireballs. It formed ice as it flew through the air, colliding with the fireballs in an explosion of steam that sent them shooting to the side, away from us.
Two of the fireballs escaped his defense and continued hurtling toward him. He ducked behind his own shield, and they smashed against it.
“Not killing them is really slowing us down,” he growled.
I caught his eye and hissed, “We need to knock them out!”
“I can throw balls of ice that won’t be fatal, but the ice has to slip past their flame.”
“I can distract them.”
He scowled, clearly not liking the idea. I ignored him and leapt out from behind my shield, starting the plan before he could object.
The Fire Fae needed a few seconds to power up their magic again, and I sprinted up the avenue. Iain fired off two massive ice balls and managed to hit two of them right in the stomach. They hurtled to the ground, crashing to the grass right next to me. Both lay still, unconscious from the hard fall. Their wings flickered and faded. They’d have broken bones but hopefully be okay.
I sprinted left and right, shouting to draw their attention and their fire. I swore I recognized a couple, and they might even recognize me right back. It was probably why they turned their flame toward me. I blocked with my shield and shot off my own fireballs.
Iain attacked from behind, hitting them with ice and dropping them from the sky. Several were still conscious when they landed, and I fumbled for the remaining sleeping potion that was still in my pants pocket. I made sure not to grab the rest of the love potion.
I ran past their forms, trying not to look in their eyes as I splashed a few droplets of sleeping potion on their lips.
Guilt tore at me as we fought our way up the avenue. I was fighting my own kind. The ones I was supposed to protect. All so I could steal the sacred SoulStone.
But my reasons were good.
I had to.
Please forgive me.
My shoulder ached from taking the brunt of the attack every time a fireball slammed against my shield. Flame could kill me—if enough of it hit me. But as a Fire Fae, I had a heightened tolerance for it. The metal of my shield had heated to the point that it was starting to burn my hand, but I forced myself to keep my grip on it.
After an eternity, we made it nearly to the end of the avenue. Almost all of the Fire Fae were on the ground behind us. There were only two more left in the sky when one shouted my name.
“Caera!”
I jerked as if I’d been shot.
Holy fates.
They did recognize me.
I looked up just in time to see two massive ice balls fly through the sky and hit each of them in their midsections. They collapsed in on themselves, holding their stomachs as they hurtled to the ground. They landed hard. My heart tore as I moved to run toward them to make sure they were unconscious.
I so did not want to see them up close.
Almost as if he read my mind, Iain’s wings flared behind his back and he flew toward them, beating me by a good length. Quickly, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a little vial of something. He uncorked it and dripped it onto their foreheads.
I didn’t approach. It was all I could do to stop shaking.
I’d known this could be an issue.
But facing it was worse.
Iain ran toward me, his brow set.
“What did you do to them?” I asked.
“Memory potion. Though I can’t guarantee it will work well. I didn’t have enough for two, so I split it between them.”
My thundering heart slowed. “Thanks.”
The sky was clear of attackers for now, and we were nearly to the end. A river rushed by, huge and fast. We’d have to cross it.
“Let’s go.” I sprinted toward it.
Iain kept up easily, but he didn’t fly. I appreciated it. The lack of my wings had never burned so badly before.
I was different than the other Fire Fae. I always had been.
I shook away the thought as I sprinted toward the river. It was wide and fast, with a rocky bottom and cold, clear water that gleamed darkly.
A massive clapper bridge crossed part of it, formed of huge slabs of stone that had been laid down thousands of years ago.
Iain moved toward the bridge, but I reached out a hand. “Don’t!”
He stopped, shooting me a confused look. “We need to cross, don’t we?”
There was a massive pile of stones on the other side of the river that had been arranged to form a small square room—like a box with one slab for each side. A Portal Dolmen. We needed to reach it, but something warned me away from the bridge.
I stood at the edge of the river, staring down into the rushing water. “This is the River Feare.”
Iain joined me, staring down into the depths. “You don’t think we should take the bridge.”
I shook my head. “It’s too easy. And I’ve heard stories about crossing the river. How only the strongest and bravest can face the waters.” I pointed toward the Portal Dolmen. Each of the four sides was formed by a huge thin slab of rock, with one laid across the top to create the roof. It looked like a stone box made by a giant. “It’s closed, you see?”
“We should be able to enter it?”
“Yes. It will take us to the Fae realm where the SoulStone is kept. But it needs to open to us first.”
“You think we need to go through the water to prove we are worthy.”
“I think so.” Memories flickered in my mind, stories from when I’d still been young enough that my fate hadn’t been told yet. When I’d still lived with the Fire Fae and been able to hear our legends. “Come on.”
I stepped onto one of the rocks that was partially submerged at the edge of the river. Icy water rushed past my foot, and I shivered.
Iain
joined me, and we stepped down into the cold water. It was waist deep near the edge, the water so chilly that it made my teeth chatter.
I looked at Iain, who appeared fine.
He spared me a look. “I’m used to the cold.”
He might be used to it, but from the look on his face, he didn’t like that fact.
I drew in a shuddery breath and began to walk. The stones underneath my feet were slippery and the water powerful. The cold weakened me, and as the river grew deeper, my insides began to grow cold as well.
The chill stole over me, sweeping into my mind, drawing out the fears that lurked there. They crowded to the front of my thoughts, things that I had pushed away long ago.
Memories of being the weakest one as a child. The Fire Fae with the smallest flame. The Fire Fae who was afraid of the fire itself.
I’d always been like that, though I didn’t know why. I’d long ago repressed it, in fact. My distant past was full of strange, tiny incidents like that. They’d compounded themselves, though, making me doubt myself. My parents hadn’t known what to do with me.
When it’d come time to leave Dartmoor, I’d been devastated.
But also relieved, in a deep secret part of me that I’d never explored. I hadn’t even thought of it in years.
But I wasn’t like the others there, for some reason.
So part of me had wanted to go and find my own way in the world. To master my magic.
And I had… Partially.
I’d found my way.
But I hadn’t mastered my magic. There wasn’t that much to master. It was one of the reasons I’d become so good with my weapons. But my fire had faltered as a result.
The thought chilled me even more than the water did. I was partially responsible for the fact that I didn’t have my full flame. Of course I was.
I hadn’t wanted to think of it that way before, but it was the truth.
I was afraid.
So afraid that I had been running from my past as much as hiding from Iain.
The thought nearly drove me to my knees. It weakened my limbs and my spirit, enough that the water was able to pull at me. It dragged at my limbs, making them buckle. My head nearly dipped beneath the water. I was so trapped inside my own thoughts, inside my own misery, that I was barely processing the real world that was trying to kill me.
Iain’s strong hand gripped my arm. At first, it felt like nothing. More of an annoyance than anything else.
But then his warmth started to seep into me.
How was it that he felt warm to me, when he was ice and I was fire?
But he did.
So hot it burned.
So hot it brought my mind back to reality and my soul back to the present. I gasped, sputtering on water that was all the way up to my chin and mouth. I clawed at the water that pulled at me, getting enough traction on the stones below that I could keep going, that I could keep my head above water.
Tears pricked my eyes, but I ignored them, blinking them back.
Next to me, Iain surged forward, his steps determined and his face set. We were still over halfway from the other side. The river was so wide, the current so strong and cold.
I pushed forward, vowing that I would stop running from my fears. I’d face them—I just had to figure out how.
We were halfway across when Iain’s steps began to flag. He moved slower, his face creased in lines of misery.
It was all I could do to fight back my own fears that still threatened to climb out of the water and drown me, but suddenly, I could feel his as well. They flowed from him into me, right at the point where he gripped my arm.
Such darkness inside him.
So much cold.
And fear.
Fear that he would lose me. Fear that he would lose his people. Fear that he would be faced with the ultimate choice—me or them—and that he had no idea what he would do.
They’d depended on him all his life. Since he was far too young. I couldn’t read the specifics from his emotions, but I got the impression his parents died young. That he’d been bearing this burden as long as he could remember. That he’d been raised on it, as a way to harden him. To toughen him up for what he must do.
And it had worked.
Almost.
But still, inside of him was the man—the Fae—who couldn’t face the thought of what he must do. That there might be no way out of this for everyone.
And that he couldn't even sacrifice himself to save the others.
That frustrated him more than anything. That I was the one who would have to be at risk. He didn’t love me—but he could. He hated that I could suffer for this. That I likely would. And he didn’t want to lose me. Didn’t want to let me go.
Before, I’d understood how difficult this was for him. Now, I felt it.
And it felt like he might drown. Like the River Feare might rise up and take him into the depths.
Just how it had almost taken me. Until he’d reached toward me and dragged me forward.
So I reached for him, gripping his arm and pulling on him. My touch seemed to snap him back to himself.
Determination flashed in his eyes, and he surged forward. Together, we fought our way through the rest of the river, finally reaching the other end. Panting and freezing, we climbed out onto the grass on the other side.
Iain pulled me into his arms, wrapping me in warmth. His strength enveloped me, and I let it. It was so strange how he felt warm to me now, but I’d take it.
I called upon my flame, creating a massive, faintly burning ball that dried our clothes. Shivering, I pulled back. “We need to keep moving.”
He nodded and stood, then pulled me to my feet. I turned to the Portal Dolmen, letting the ball of flame dry my back. Iain did the same, and we inspected the massive rock structure.
One of the stone slabs had disappeared, opening up one full wall so we could see inside.
The space was long, low, and dark. I drew in an unsteady breath, fear icing my veins.
This was the part I remembered. In all the stories I’d ever been told, this was the bit that had stuck with me.
I gripped Iain’s hand for strength. Later, if we survived this, I was sure that we’d return to normal. Adversaries.
Right now, though…
“Are those bones inside?” Iain asked.
I nodded, my gaze riveted to the three skulls. The rest of the bones lay scattered, but they were definitely Fae.
“Why?” he asked.
“We go in there to die.”
14
Iain turned to me, his brows raised. “We go in there to die?”
I nodded my head. “It’s a Portal Dolmen. It’s six thousand years old and has been here as long as we have. The only way to pass to the other side and retrieve the SoulStone is to pass through the Dolmen. The only way to do that is to die.”
Unease entered his eyes. “And the skeletons?”
“Fae who attempted to pass through and didn’t survive on the other side. They never returned to claim their bodies.”
“So they just stayed here.”
“As a warning to other Fae, yes.”
“No wonder you didn’t want to bring more people.”
“This was the main reason. I couldn’t tell your council that—this place is sacred and secret. But if we’d brought a lot of people, they’d all have to die to pass through. And it would have been that much harder to get them back out alive.”
“Damn it.”
“I can go alone. I don’t mind.”
A scowl slashed across his face. “Of course not.
The tiniest smile tugged at my lips and I nodded. “I had a feeling you would say that.”
“Do we need to do anything specific?”
I looked toward the setting sun, which was nearly to the horizon. “Wait until sunset, which isn’t far off.”
He nodded.
“Let’s wait inside.” I stepped toward it.
“Really?” He eyed the bones.
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“They’re the bones of my people.” It felt a bit morbid, but for some reason, it felt right.
He said nothing and followed me into the Dolmen. The space was only about five feet by ten feet, and we sat against one wall, our backs to the stone with the skeletons in front of us.
I looked at them as I leaned my head back against the stone. “I wonder what they came here for?”
“Death was chasing them,” Iain said.
“You think?”
“I know.” He met my gaze, his blue eyes serious. “It’s chasing us. It’s the only thing that would make someone walk into the River Feare and then toward death itself. They knew they might not come back. It was the riskiest journey they could take. Almost.”
“Riskier would be not trying at all.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
I drew in a deep breath, closing my eyes and trying to pretend I was back home in Magic’s Bend, where things were normal.
Things weren’t normal.
It didn’t work.
“What’s involved in this solstice ceremony?” I asked.
He hesitated briefly, then spoke. “There is a sacred circle on the sea. The stones surround an altar in the center that is made of water. There, we are hand fasted and our souls entwine.”
Hand fasting was an ancient term for marriage. The Fae had started it, and somehow it had passed to human use in the middle ages. “And then you sacrifice me.”
“That’s what I thought. That’s what our seer said. But now that we have more information…”
“It changes. Somehow, we use the SoulStone to break the curse.” And I wouldn’t lose my life this way. Hopefully. But I would lose some part of me. And from the way the Wise One had presented it, I was probably going to wish I were dead.
I shuddered.
A low growl sounded in Iain’s throat. It was an agonized sound. Finally, words broke free. “I’m sorry.”
Surprise shot through me, and I looked at him. “What?”
“I’m sorry for this. For what I’ve dragged you into.”
I shook my head, clear in my mind for the first time about this whole thing. “Don’t be. I’ve run my whole life from the things that frighten me. Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m so frightened. I’m brave in many aspects of my life, but my past scares me.”
