Page 46 of Light and Shadow
“The one who fell.” He helps me to my feet.
I was in such a deep sleep that I almost forgot where I was and what happened. We walk together to the edge of the lake where they stacked wood and bramble high. Lare’s body, wrapped in cloth, is placed on top.
Jax steps to the edge of the burial pyre holding a torch. He speaks in a language I’ve only heard in muttered spells, but his voice is loud and clear.
Aaran whispers in my ear. “He says Lare was a good soldier and son of Pallera. He goes now, with honor, to be with his fatherand his father’s father. He goes with our blessing and thanks for the sacrifice he made to save others. It was his duty, and he is fulfilled.”
Jax lowers the flame to the bottom of the wood. The dry tinder catches immediately, and Jax backs away as the fire engulfs Lare.
We watch for a few minutes. Several elves kneel and pray.
Lowering to his knee with his back to me, Aaran says, “We have to get moving.”
I climb on piggyback style and lay my head on his shoulder. “I guess I didn’t think this through well before I agreed to come with you.”
His back stretches beneath me as he takes a deep breath. “Would you have chosen differently if you had known what the last few days have been?” Before I can answer, he says, “Of course you would have. I can’t blame you. I would send you home if I could,mo chroi. I would see you safe and in your mother’s embrace.”
“Aaran, we are in this together. I would have come even knowing what I know now, because along with what Venora did and seeing what I saw today, I have met your people. I have seen their suffering and their kindness. If it is within me to save your world, I have to try.” My throat is tight by the time I get it all out. I wish there weren’t so many people all around us so we could stop and I could see his face.
His hold on my calves tightens. “You are…” He shakes his head and jogs forward.
The entire party speeds up as we round the lake’s north side. Many are still being carried, but the defeat of the wolves and the loss of Lare seems to have renewed the strength of the elves and their desire to live.
The sun crosses the sky, and clouds roll in, bringing a drizzle as we trudge on.
Aaran slows and looks around the plains that spread out in all directions. Mountains rise to the northeast, and a forest lies far to the north. “We’ll have to stop for the night soon. I don’t like the lack of cover or place to hide you and the injured.”
“Do you think she would attack again so soon? I thought magic took a toll. She sent the blackbirds and the wolves. Doesn’t that require magical expenditure?” In the distance, if I squint, I can barely see the sea. The plains roll downward to the east.
He nods. “It would require magic to send the beasts.”
“Then we should be safe for now. It took her almost four days to recover from my touch. You recovered your strength with the help of the sun in my world. Is it the same for her? Will the sun heal her?”
His cheek pulls back as he smiles. “Very good, Harper. You would make an excellent student.”
It’s best if I keep my barely-getting-by grades to myself. He already knows I was lazy about my driver’s license, no need to tell him I was lazy in school as well.
“Venora’s magic is dark, though it wasn’t always. She has embraced evil and so her resources come from elsewhere. She can draw magic to heal herself from deep inside this world where fire burns and demons prevail.” He shivers. “It’s pure evil she feeds on, and there is much to gather.”
“Is it hell, like in the bible?” I’d never given the idea of heaven and hell much thought. At least not since I was a child.
“I don’t know that word, but Coire is another world within this one, and it is the place where dark magic gets its power.” He shivers again, as if speaking of the place gives him the willies.
Fancor carries a woman who looks young but must be over thirty. Skin and bones, she hugs his neck as if holding on for her life. He says, “My people call it Ifreann, but it references the same place.”
“I’ve heard that name too.” Aaran lifts me a bit higher.
The jerking motion sends a shock of pain through me that radiates from my center. I try not to wince, but a soft hiss escapes nonetheless. “Sorry.”
He steps to the side and lowers me to the ground. “You’re still in pain? Why didn’t you say something?”
“It seemed like there were other fish to fry. Also, it got worse after I screamed, or whatever that was.” I hold my upper abdomen. “It’s a duller version of the pain from the black lightning.”
The entire group stops and hovers around me.
Aaran kneels beside me and places his hand just under my breasts.
I’d like to be the kind of woman who doesn’t blush when being touched by a man in full view of a hundred people. However, my cheeks are on fire, and I lower my face, hoping it goes unnoticed.
