Page 26 of Wind and Water
There is no way I’m leaving her, even to sleep in the next room. I lie on the couch and pull her down beside me. “Try to close your eyes, Wren. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”
Resting her head on my shoulder, she sighs. “Why not try to contact your mother if you can restore the bowl’s magic?”
“Magic takes a toll, and it would take a lot of energy for the task. Scrying bowls are rare because they require a lot of magic to stay vital and useful. Serena probably left the bowl and the message, knowing her power would be needed for other things.” I’m surmising a lot, but without facts, all I can do is try to make sense of things. “I think we can assume one of my brothers came through the same portal. It’s possible she believed we might as well if it was safe.”
“But it wasn’t safe.” She yawns.
“No. Light magic failed and that’s not a good sign.” I comb my fingers over her hair and ease her way to sleep with a relaxation spell that my mother used on my brothers and me when we were small.
Her head gets heavy as her breathing evens out.
It’s difficult to stay awake. With another spell to alert me if anyone comes near the house, I let sleep take me.
Wren’s heartbeat is fast like a bird’s, but it doesn’t beat against my chest. No. It’s as if it’s beating all around me.
Opening my eyes, I’m standing in water to my knees, but I don’t feel the wet. As far as I can see is a flat still ocean. “Where are we?”
Wren’s voice is filled with terror. “This is the dream, Liam. This is where I see your witch on the butte.”
When I turn, she’s behind me, staring back with fear in her beautiful eyes. I reach out and touch her, but while I see my hand on her arm, I can’t feel her warm flesh. “I’m in your dream. How is that possible?”
Without looking at me, she walks past, still with her head tilted as if looking at something over my head.
An obsidian tower gleams in the sunlight and reflects in the water. It had not been there before, but maybe that’s because I can only see through Wren’s eyes. “Is that the butte?”
“In my last dream, it was golden brown, like those in New Mexico. It wasn’t as clear either. Do you know this place?”
For as far as I can see, there is nothing but this shallow water. I take a step on the sandy surface and search for some clue about where this place is in the conscious world. I know for certain that I have never seen a tower of black stone anywhere on land in Domhan. Yet we are not truly on land. “Could this be the lost lands?”
She heads for the tower, and I follow. “What are the lost lands?”
“Far to the west, there was a continent that fell from sight. This was before the memory of anyone living. A thousand sunsago, the entire continent was lost to the sea.” I’ve never set foot in that water. They say the spirits there will drag you under.
“Sounds like Atlantis.” She keeps a steady pace toward the black monolith.
Unease makes its way into my gut. “I don’t like the feel of this.”
“No. It’s evil.” She seems calm and determined to get closer.
I splash forward, jogging to catch up with her and take her hand. “What is Atlantis?”
“A story about a continent that sank into the Atlantic Ocean. In some of the tales, the Atlantans continue to live beneath the water. No one has ever found real evidence that Atlantis exists.” While she doesn’t pull away from my touch, there is no warmth or feel to her skin.
“The lost lands are real enough. I’ve never seen them, but I know that no one has ever reported a giant tower protruding from the water.” I try to squeeze her fingers. “I don’t like that I can’t feel you physically.”
“But you feel me, right? In my head, I know we’re still lying on the couch in the little house, but my heart feels you here with me in my dream.” Taking her gaze from the tower, she stares into my eyes. There’s worry and fear along with sorrow. I see nothing of the undercurrent of joy that is always within Wren.
“I feel you as if your heart beats inside mine. What will we find there?” I point.
“Momma, I think. Though she wasn’t there before. At least I didn’t have this driving feeling that I had to save her there the last time I had this dream.” She breaks into a run, lifting her knees high to get through the water without falling.
“I see you, human.” Venora’s voice cuts through the air. The sky darkens. At the very top of the tower, she stands with her hands raised. Black lightning shoots from her fingers acrossthe sky. She looks down at us and focuses her rage. “Give yourself to me, and I’ll spare the woman you seek.”
Lightning hits the water, making it erupt violently. It forms a wall blocking our way.
Letting go of my hand, Wren lifts her hands. Wind whips around, blowing her curly hair out from her head. The water whips away from our feet, revealing the skulls of those who perished when the land was lost. She screams and forces her magic up the tower.
Venora’s rage is evident as the lightning shoots toward us.
