Ten
When she stepped into the cloud, time froze. As did her heart. She couldn't breathe, the pressure on her chest was too much. She tried to walk, but she was trapped, suspended in the air, the weird cloud pressing against her from all sides.
Despite the pain, she concentrated once again, focussing on the Mahoun and his dark castle. She closed her eyes so the swirling blue all around her wouldn't distract her. it was already hard to think with all the sound of sizzling electricity. This cloud wasn't like anything she'd ever seen. Not that it was a cloud, she was fairly certain about that.
Focus.
The Mahoun. His Voice. Amber. The men dragging her out into the courtyard. Flying away on the beithir. Realising it was all just a game the Mahoun was playing with their minds. Their actual escape.
The pressure around her chest lessened the more she thought of who she wanted to find.
The dungeon. The cold. The dark. The fear. The loneliness. Thoughts of never again being with her men.
Suddenly, the cloud flared so bright she could see it through her closed eyelids, then it spit Macey out. She stumbled onto hard stone ground, just about managing to stay upright.
Remembering the daimon's words, she kept her mind fixed on her memories, hoping they'd be enough to get everyone else through.
Cam was the first to step through the cloud, followed by Amber and Izban. Little lightning bolts were swirling all around the mage's body, probably a side effect of the electricity within the portal.
When the other Wardens arrived, Macey's concentration began to waver. It was getting more and more difficult to remember the things she'd tried so hard to forget. The ache in her chest when her magic had been blocked. The fear for her men, not knowing where they were. The fear of dying. The disappointment and frustration when all her visions of freedom turned out to be false.
"You can do this," Amber said, suddenly in front of Macey, gently touching her shoulders. "Think of how long I was there. Think of what I must have felt."
Macey really didn't want to do that, but she knew she had to. Her own memories weren't enough.
She sighed and put herself in Amber's shoes. Weeks of being imprisoned. Missing Izban. Realising she was in love with him and being ripped away from him that very moment. All the hallucinations showing a kelpie attacking her. The hunger pains ripping through her stomach.
She shuddered as her imagination took on a life of its own. Amber had told her a few of the things that had happened to her, but not all. Some of the things she was now picturing in her mind had likely never happened, but they helped keep up the portal.
"Almost there, hold on!" Flint shouted, helping a kelpie who'd fallen to the ground after stepping from the cloud.
It took another few minutes before everyone was through. Luc was the final one to step through the portal.
"You can let go now," he said gently and with a sigh of relief, Macey pushed away all the dark thoughts and memories, taking in her surroundings for the first time.
They were in a bland, barren landscape filled with nothing but dirt and muddy ground. Right now, they were standing on a stone plateau that was looking over the wastes all around them. There was no castle in sight.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Amber asked hesitantly. "This doesn't look like someone lives here."
Luc clucked his tongue in disapproval. "Ask the incubus, he knows."
They all turned to Jared, whose eyes had taken on a dreamy sheen.
"Illusion," he said between clenched teeth as if it was hard to speak. "Give me a moment and I'll try and remove it."
Macey put a hand on his arm, sending him a burst of energy. She had no idea how she was doing it, but now that she'd activated all the marks on her back, she felt a strange affinity with his magic. Not just his, all of theirs. She doubted she'd ever be as good at Earth magic as Jared was, but she was convinced she could at least control it in a basic way.
She looked towards the direction Jared was staring at. The air above the arid ground was quivering slightly, as if there was great heat just below it. Slowly, very slowly, she began to see what he was seeing. There was a castle indeed, a large, massive structure built right in front of them. It maybe a mile away, no more, but yet it had been hidden from view until now. They could have probably walked up right to its gates without ever knowing it was there. Luckily, they had Jared with them, an incubus versed in all sorts of illusions.
"Is that where you were held?" Izban asked his girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a protective gesture.
Amber nodded. "Yes. I never thought I'd come back here, at least not voluntarily. Let's hope he's not expecting us." She shuddered and Macey felt the same shiver running over her body. It all felt real now. They were going to have to fight the Mahoun and it wasn't sure if any of them would survive.
Was it worth it? She thought of the Kludde, plagued by their own magic; the Kabouters, threatened by earthquakes; the sidhe, twisted in some way or another. And of course the Staran, still not safe from being manipulated by the Mahoun or one of his siblings.
Yes, it was worth it. The world needed to be rid of his evil.
Some of the people around her were rubbing their eyes, only now realising that the illusion had been lifted.