Page 28 of Staff of Nightfall

“Free him.”

“I can’t!” She clutched her hands to the side of her pounding head. “Please!”

“Yes, you can,” the fairy said in a sing-song voice. “Take power from the tree.”

Adelaide shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You mean you won’t.” The fairy crossed her delicate arms. “I suppose we’ll take him with us. He should make a good slave.”

“No!” She held her hands out and stepped toward the fairy, her heart pounding.

The fairy flitted backward. “Lay your hand on the trunk. Pull its magic out into yourself. It has plenty to share, you won’t kill it. You can’t hold all the power it holds. Just take a little. Save your love.”

She looked at Regulus, desperation making her heart pound. Blood ran down his arm from her knife. He struggled against his bindings, but to no effect. Even with her magic depleted, she could sense the magic holding the vines in place. She would need a great deal of magic to free him.

“I’m not a sorcerer,” she whispered. Tears stung her eyes. “I won’t hurt others to help myself.”

“But you’ve already hurt your dear Regulus,” the fairy reminded her. “And you could lose him forever.”

No. No, no, no.She turned toward the tree and reached toward the trunk.Etiros, forgive...Her hand shook. This was wrong. Something deep inside whispered it shouldn’t be like this. Stolen power would only leave her hungry to take more. Somehow, she knew. If she did this, she would become as power hungry as Kirven.

“I’m getting bored,” the fairy said. “I think perhaps we should take our new slave and go.”

“No!” Adelaide turned back to the fairy. “Please! I’m begging you!”

“Don’t beg me, fight me!” The fairy thrust her tiny hands toward Adelaide.

White light slammed into her chest, pushing her backward. She had no strength to even raise a shield. The magic of the neumenet tree thrummed next to her, but she ignored it.Etiros, I don’t know what to do.

Adelaide fell to her knees and hung her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please. Don’t take him.” She wouldn’t lose him now. Not after everything. “I won’t steal power like a sorcerer. But I can’t lose him.” She looked at Regulus through her tears. He gave her a nod, and she knew he was agreeing with her decision not to steal magic, but it made the tears flow faster. She would watch him until he was gone. Unless...

“Take me, too,” she choked out.

Regulus shook his head, eyes bulging. He tried to say something through the gag, but it was unintelligible. Adelaide looked at the fairy hovering above her.

“If you must take him, take me too. I won’t leave him.”

The fairy flashed a sharp-toothed smile. She flew down until she was right in front of Adelaide’s face. “Give me your hand.”

Regulus made more muffled grunting sounds as she held her hand out, palm up, toward the fairy. The fairy landed on her palm. She was so light; Adelaide hardly felt her. Her wings stopped beating, and Adelaide marveled at the two pairs of translucent, shimmery green wings. The fairy clapped her hands, the sound bizarrely quiet.

“Adelaide Diya Belanger, you’ve passed the test.”

Adelaide gasped as power flowed from the neumenet tree into her. A rush of energy and life, a swelling in her very soul. If Kirven stealing her magic had felt like dying, this felt like the first breath of air after drowning. The colors around her flared with vibrancy. The smell of the grass, the pine trees in the distance, even the freshness of the dirt hit her with unexpected clarity as every nerve ending tingled with life.

The fairy fluttered back up, hovering a short distance away. Adelaide dropped onto her hands as her head spun, dizzy from the rush of magic coursing through her veins. Strong hands gripped her shoulders, and she looked up at Regulus’ concerned expression. She grinned.

“My magic is back.”

His features relaxed and he smiled. She pulled her knife from his shoulder and healed the hole it left behind. Then she healed his ribs. As soon as she stopped, he pulled her into an embrace.

She hugged him, then looked up at the fairy. The fairies who had been holding Regulus now hovered behind the first fairy. There were men and women wearing various earthy colors, all with the same delicate, beautiful features, but with skin tones from ebony to as white as the first fairy and everywhere in between.

“That was a cruel test,” Adelaide said.

The fairy waved a hand. “But it was a good test. We are the guardians of the tree. It’s up to us how we do that.”

Regulus stood and helped her up. “But you didn’t stop me from taking a root.”

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