Page 74 of Bound Paths
She’d let someone down either way.
Even if Andie believed it wouldn’t ruin the land beyond the veil, using magic from the lake—even the excess—would require sacrificing spirits. This still didn’t sit well with Andie. She couldn’t imagine spirits going without a choice. But did the humans on the continent have any choice in what was happening to them? They were victims of whatever the gods had or hadn’t done. They didn’t deserve the level of devastation they received.
They deserved to live.
Before Andie could see where the thought took her, Cee was moving.
“They need it,”Cee said as she flung herself into the lake.
A chorus of growls echoed. Celeste, still in veil cat form, joined the spirits. Andie’s stomach plummeted. She heard herself growling along with the pack. Celeste must have cut her paw while walking because Andie felt the blood magic spring to life within the Lake of Spirits.
“What are you doing, Cee?”Andie screamed through the connection in their minds.
“I’m going to feed our people! What do you think?”
“You’re doing to these people the same thing the gods did to us!”
Andie knew it was too late, but she tried reasoning with her sister anyway. The water in the lake of the spirits swirled and rose. It seemed to know it was readying to move. Andie had no idea how this worked, but her moments of indecision slipped through her fingers like beads of sand.
She didn’t stop her sister.
Whether a conscious decision or not, Andie allowed Cee to do this—to take this magic. She’d analyze the hesitation endlessly for the rest of her time beyond the veil.
The lake water rose higher, spilling over the shore, the spirits with it. Cee’s intention must’ve been clear because the hole between worlds opened above the lake’s surface. The water tunneled through it in the blink of an eye.
Andie was running before she realized what she was doing. She leaped through the hole and followed the spiraling tunnel of water and spirits as it traveled back to the continent. Andie wasn’t sure Cee could navigate the space on her own. Something in the lake’s magic must have powered her as the swirling water rolled through the void and dropped onto the continent.
The water and spirits flowed through the darkness between realms, the path between them remaining open. Cee landed in her human form. Andie could see a large gash on her hand, still fresh with blood. Her sister pressed on it as she called forth more magic. They landed in the woods outside the village. The water continued to swirl, a storm of its own, and Celeste was its center. Her goal was simple—Andie could feel her intention—save the village. She no longer just wanted magic to fuel food growth. Now that she knew the extent of the corruption on the continent, she wanted a way to save her people from it.
Andie’s paws barely hit the ground when a net was thrown over her. A growl tore through her as she thrashed against the trapping. She recognized Garth and a few villagers who helped Cee regularly, trying to hold it down. They shouldn’t be here. How much had Cee told them before they followed the second spirit? Andie snarled again, but they all froze in place as the magic shifted—with Cee’s growing intention, there was a larger need for power.
Something beyond the veil pulled at Andie. It felt like her spirit was ripped from her body.
This had been her fear—her hesitation—before Cee took the choice from her. The way Celeste pulled now, it was more thanexcess. Every spirit at rest in the lake cried out to Andie as whatever Celeste had planned emptied the lake.
The lake shifted to a stream as it came through the space between worlds and swirled around the village borders. A soft glow wrapped around the circling water, building higher and higher. Screams followed the flow. Andie could no longer tell if they were from the spirits or the villagers. No one knew what was happening. It was unlikely Cee knew what she was doing. Andie only knew that the land beyond the veil was crying out to her, the scream more devastating than anything she’d ever heard from the continent. The water crested, and the earth shook as the spirits spiraled toward the crop fields. The plants grew before her eyes, and magic from the spirits continued to flow. Andie didn’t think it would ever end. She was going to be sick.
The magic appeared able to cycle itself. It wasn’t a single crop growth being produced but an unending cycle of growth and renewal. This was more than feeding the village. It was a wall of protection from whatever the gods subjected them to.
The water rushed around the village border, protecting it. It rose like a dome to surround the borders. Cee separated the village from the continent. The wind swirled through the water as an icy blast, almost freezing. Finally, fire followed the wind and water, creating a sizzling barrier of steam rising around the city.
Andie had no doubt this would work.
The elements continued to swirl and rise. The magic sustaining the interaction started to wane. The combination of elements covered the village. Andie knew: It would keep the inhabitants safe.
Andie thrashed beneath the net, still captured by Garth and the others. She didn’t think too hard about it as it tore beneath her claws. Freeing herself to save her realm was as natural as her next breath. She had only seconds to get back—to do whatneeded to be done. The weight of her realm’s pending collapse was heavy on her shoulders. She landed in the realm beyond the veil in human form, a jagged rock in her hand as she cut long and deep on her arm, offering everything she had to the realm.
She hadn’t stopped her sister.
Celeste had taken everything.
The lake bed was nearly empty, so few spirits remained. It was Andie’s fault this was happening. It was her fault the realm was at risk. Her intention was clear. She’d do anything—give anything—to fix it.
Cassandra,Lady of the Veil, landed in a crouch outside of the human village of Marcil.
The governor and some villagers waited closer to the new, magically erected wall.
There was no sign of Celeste.
