Page 86 of Light and Shadow
“You should leave me.” She keeps running hard, her arms pumping.
With a pop, another portal appears beside me with Harper only a toe’s length in front. She teeters on the edge and screams. She’s falls back toward the empty space.
Digging deep for my magic, I shoot energy toward her and leap across the chasm. I wrap my arms around her waist and we tumble forward, away from the portal.
She jumps to her feet and continues to race toward the north.
Fancor hollers, “We’ll be at the ferry.”
“Go without us. Get them to safety.” I keep my focus on Harper and listen for pops of whatever magic this is. Behind us, elves are screaming and calling names. I have to fulfill my mission. As much as I want to help those heading west, my first duty must be to Harper. In my peripheral, the tall form of Avon is there one moment and gone the next.
Jax calls his name.
Still, we can’t go back or even look back. I’ve never seen portals formed in the ground. I don’t know where they go or how such magic was achieved. The only thing I’m certain of is that I can never let Venora capture Harper again. I failed her once; I will not do so again.
Breathing heavy, Harper begins to slow.
I run beside her. “We can’t stop yet.”
Her cheeks are scratched and bleeding from the tall grass whipping her as she runs. Tears run with the blood and sweat. “I can’t run much longer.” She grips her left side. “I still feel that magic.”
We splash through wet ground. Calling to the bright sun, I draw in more magic and let that filter through me to her, releasing her stitch.
She dashes forward. At the far northern edge of the grass, the land grows dryer, and here Harper stops. She cocks her head as if listening for something. “It’s gone. I don’t feel that magic anymore.”
I take her hand and pull her farther north, away from the wetlands and our friends.
After a few hundred yards, she bends over and grabs her knees. “Now what?”
Catching my breath, I say, “We head for the bridge. Whatever that magic was, it ended at dryer higher ground. Maybe she can’t cast it here, but we can’t go back and risk her feeling your presence anywhere near the others. They will cross at the ferry.”
“It didn’t feel like Venora’s magic.” She pauses and winces as if remembering the pain from her capture and torture. Gaze distant, she searches behind us and tears roll down her cheeks. “So, we just abandon them to whatever fate?”
I hate the pain in her voice. “No. We let them defend themselves. Fancor, Jax, and the others will protect them with their lives. If you go back, you’re putting them in more danger.”
“Why? How?” She dashes away her tears and faces me like a warrior.
“Whoever sent those portals knew where you were. The first one appeared just where you were standing a moment before. The second was just under you before I snatched you back. Even with you running, they almost pulled you in. They must have been able to feel you in that soft wet earth, Harper. We can’t go back.” With every fiber of my being, I want to tell her that everything is going to be alright. I want her to feel safe and at peace. But that’s not the truth. “We need to get across the river and then to the spring. It’s at least two days. The others willlikely be rested and fed by the time we reach Tús Nua.” At least, I hope that’s true.
Eyes clear, she nods. “I thought Venora couldn’t use her magic here. You said the oracle protected this continent.”
“Clearly she’s finding other ways through and if that wasn’t her magic, then perhaps she has an ally we didn’t count on.” There are so many possibilities, and my head is full of theories. Hand in hand, we walk north, and her mind settles into acceptance.
Moving away from my touch, she keeps walking toward the Dagda Bridge. “Do you think your mother will like me?”
The question seems so random, I chuckle.
Harper gives me a sharp look.
“I think at the very least, she is grateful you have come.”
If her frown is to be believed, that was not the response she was looking for.
“Does it matter if my mother likes you or not? She will show you kindness and deference regardless.” The river appears at our left, and I walk to the edge. I send my magic to check for dark or shadow bewitchment. Finding none, I kneel and drink.
Harper sits at the edge and takes her shoes off. She drinks several handfuls, and then puts her feet in the cool water. Sighing, she leans back on her elbows. “It matters.”
Sitting cross-legged next to her with my arm touching her shoulder, I let her energy mix with mine. I could gather the information I want from our link, but I don’t, and she doesn’t offer it up. “I cannot imagine my mother or father disliking you, but I’m quite biased, as I love you more than I ever dreamed possible.”
