Page 59 of Compass Points
“I’m curious about what my magic is starting to miss exactly. I haven’t stepped foot on the Norden property, but I feel the pull of the lake.”
He’d been so genuine in his thoughts she wanted to reciprocate, so she let the words flow with little thought. It wasn’t until the words were out that she realized they likely gave much more away than she intended. Her magic felt safe…with him. With the Suden Point.
There was no chance he missed the implication as a slow, satisfied smile crept over his face. He didn’t have the opportunity to respond as a black bird landed on her shoulder.
Arie’s voice dragged her from her thoughts.“Rose, move faster! The plague of mist is at Compass Lake. I can see the shadows forming to take the village!”
Almost without thought, she spurred her horse to a run, calling back to Luc, “The mist is attacking Compass Lake.” They would never make it in time. They were hours away from the village by way of the switchback trail. She couldn’t believe they were not there to defend Compass Lake from the mist. The one thing she could help with! As they started the descent at an unsteady pace, they could see a shadowed mass encroaching on the village entrance.
The mist would not ruin Compass Lake Village as it had Bury. Not on her watch. Her wind magic rose to meet her determination as they descended the single-file mountain trail. For the first time, she opened herself up to Compass Lake, and the seat that was rightfully hers. The Norden Point seat may traditionally be one of water, but the magic of this place would fuel any power within her, including her wind. She spread her arms as if in flight and called her wind. It was alive at her thought, responding freely to her need, sending chills along her spine as she asked for the impossible.
She started slowly because she wasn’t suicidal, despite her plan indicating the opposite. The first test of her idea came via her horse. As he trotted down the hill, she pushed the wind, lifting his feet from the ground, allowing him to skip steps while making forward progress. Doing this at speed would be like they were gliding down the mountainside. She wasn’t sure she could push them fast enough to make it before the Nebulus formed, but she knew she’d have to try.
“Do you trust me, Luc?” she yelled over her shoulder as they descended.
“It’s gotten me this far. Just do what you’re going to do, Rose,” he yelled back.
She took that as the consent she needed to lift both horses with the wind and move them from the switchback paths to a direct route straight down the mountain.
No longer on a trail, they flew down the mountain toward the village gate. The horses’ feet barely touched the ground as her wind swept them forward, not letting them fall. Her unbound hair streamed behind her as she felt the wind rushing past her with a swift motion. The stomach-dropping feeling of plunging to her death never came.
She felt safe and strong as she pushed her and Luc’s horses forward on the wind, directing them ever faster to their target—the mass of mist at the trail entrance to Compass Lake Village.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Rose realized she needed to get Luc one of her weapons just before landing. She pulled out the two magical swords she had strapped to her horse. They were hers, forged and infused with her magic, though not from the source. This would have to be another loan for now. Luc’s eyes met hers as she drew the swords, and he jerked his head in a motion that could only meantoss it now. As she threw one, she sent her wind to help guide it effortlessly into his hand.
Though he had plenty of magic, there was something like awe on his face as he caught the weapon. She admitted that this might not be the time to question his emotions, given that she had just turned their horses into flying beasts to careen down a mountain with magically forged blades to beat back the encroaching mist.
She smiled a slightly feral smile as they landed right between the creeping mist and the village entrance. Rose and Luc hopped off their horses in tandem and launched themselves at their faceless opponent.
The mist unfurled to reveal a horde of Nebulus. The first two, unprepared for Rose and Luc’s ability to fight back, were quickly overpowered, dissipating as Rose and Luc’s swords struck true.
Light on their feet, Rose and Luc moved with confidence in each other. They fought with a unity that spoke of years, not days, of partnership—pairing attacks to keep an eye on each other and take down the enemy.
It wasn’t until three more had fallen to their swords that the Nebulus horde realized there were only two of them, though they fought with the strength of many more. No one from the village or other Compass Points had come out to help them.
Realizing their advantage, the Nebulus leveraged their superior numbers to surround Rose and Luc.
Rose wiped the sweat from her brow as she tried to break their formation with her wind magic, but she was too spent after the flight down the mountain. Risking a glance at Luc, she saw him register the beasts working to surround them. She felt the moment he pulled on his earth magic, the ground around them falling away. The beasts plummeted into an open chasm that hadn’t existed moments before.
Evidently, Luc had learned from their previous battle. Instead of giving the Nebulus time to sprout wings and stay out of the chasm, he immediately poured dirt over them as they fell into the hole in the earth he’d created. This slowed them down but didn’t stop them as, just like before, wings shot from their backs, and they rose back up to fight.
Rose tried to help as she shot more wind magic against the Nebulus’s beating wings, trying to send them back and onto the mountain trail. They just had to keep the horde out of the village. They’d start taking down villagers, inflicting the living death plague if they made it in.
Luc, realizing that his earth magic again wouldn’t help, filled the chasm so they could press away from the village and toward the Nebulus, now regrouping at the bottom of the mountain.
Paired and ready, they leapt back into the horde as they tried to reassemble. Rose covered Luc as he swung for another Nebulus, his sword striking a killing blow, severing its head from its neck. Not stopping to see the monster dissipate, he turned and used his magic to push himself forward, lunging over Rose’s shoulder at a Nebulus trying to sneak up on her. Rose took the safety of him covering her back to stab another opponent in the chest.
Each swing of their swords and connection with another beast lifted the mist creeping toward the village a little more. A horde of a dozen enemies was now down to just two as Rose and Luc made eye contact, wordlessly planning a final charge. Swords held high, they ran forward to take care of the last two beasts, Luc taking the one on the right and Rose the one on the left.
She was tired, so tired. Using so much magic had drained her, and they had been fighting for what felt like hours but was probably minutes. She swung her sword to meet her beast’s, the clang of impact jolting down her spine.
Through it all, she kept an eye on Luc to her right. He was still easily attacking and defending, his military training showing through.
She focused her attention back on her battle as the Nebulus’s sword swung dangerously close to her shoulder. She rolled out of the way, readying herself for another defensive maneuver as she rose. She needed to end this quickly. Exhaustion was making her sloppy.
As she readied for her next move, a giant brown bear ran into the lingering mist.
