Page 136 of Reign of Light
Pushing all the thoughts aside, I focus on the reason we’re here, not Weston’s mood, not Dane changing the magic. We got a second chance, and all I need to think about is whether I will be worthy or not. As we weave down the familiar trodden path, I feel a pang of sadness. We don’t have to hurry, don’t have to look around or watch our movements. There’s no one we are going to run into, no Voyager hunting us down, no Dane to contend with. There’s only Dawnlin, and whatever obstacles we may run into the closer we get to the mountain.
It makes me miss everyone even more and feel guilty that, with all the developments in my kingdom, I’ve barely thought about anyone.
I won’t do that again, starting the moment we get home.
No one speaks as we traipse through the calm path, and I scan the surroundings in anticipation of the island changing beneath our feet. Despite having found the waters before, we still can’t be too comfortable, and it’s hard to let go of the heightened awareness that I’ve become so accustomed to here. We curve around the marsh, approaching the spot Weston and I met Mara and Roley barely over two weeks ago, and the sound of the rushing river below roars in the distance, just as the bridge comes into view.
Weston almost stumbles over me as my body jolts to a halt. My eyes widen and my jaw falls open as I take in every detail.
What the fuck?
“Lennox, what’s wrong?” Weston grumbles beside me, and I slowly raise my hand to point to what my mind can’t wrap around.
“The bridge. It’s perfect.” The words leave my lips in a rush, and Weston’s head snaps toward it in response. The moment he sees it, he takes a hesitant step forward, like he too can’t believe what is right before his eyes, how different it is from what he’s known to be here for twenty years.
Brushing past him, I run to the edge of the bridge, forcing myself to stop at the entrance and peer across. My hands wrap hesitantly around the thick rope, as if it is going to disappear if I touch it. The fibers are firm and solid beneath my fingertips, with no frays or wear from years of being exposed to the elements. The wooden boards—the ones I almost fell through to a premature death—aren’t the same at all. It’s as if no one has ever walked across them before. Thick and solid, evenly spaced and polished, even the gaping hole where my body dangled above the monsters is nowhere in sight.
The monsters.
I bolt to the side and clamber up the boulder next to the bridge, leaning over the edge of the rock as far as I can to peer into the river below. Weston’s hands grip my hips to keep me stable and stop me from leaning too far, but I don’t need to get any farther. The breath is suckedfrom my lungs, and my eyes take in the gently flowing water, clear and sparkling underneath the evening sunlight.
Whipping my head over my shoulder, my voice rises, matching the mixture of confusion and excitement at war inside of me. “They’re gone. The monsters are gone!”
“Where the hell would they go?” He leans over me to look into the canyon himself before muttering under his breath. “Shit.”
“I was right.” I spin around and slide down the side of the rock, dusting the dirt and stray gravel off my backside quickly. “The island was protecting the waters. All the dangers, all the changes, it was all because of Dane. Now that he’s not here to protect against, it’s like the island is restored.”
“So it all disappeared,” he murmurs, catching my gaze before we both look back toward Edmond.
“Is there something you’re looking for?” he asks, a look of confusion on his face.
“I’ll explain after, Pop.” Weston takes my hand again, lacing his fingers through mine and tugging me back toward the path. “We need to get to the mountain.”
We walk faster than before, and my legs burn with exertion as I try to keep up with Weston’s long strides. The twists and turns wind us alongside the forest and bring us to the same spot I stood when I figured out the clues, when I saw the symbol of Dawnlin from the opposite side of the lagoon.
But just as the island had shockingly changed back at the bridge, the sight before us holds no symbol, no sign that anything is hidden, because on the other side of the lagoon, the mountain isn’t the same one we left behind.
My jaw falls open, and I tug on Weston’s arm, pulling him to a stop.
“Look!”
The waterfall no longer conceals the entrance. The powerful wall of water that hid the doors now splits in two, the cascading veilsfollowing the curve of the stone door that sits between them. The stone bridge is exactly the same, arching over the river and second set of falls and caves that the waterfall creates, but this time, it’s not just a bridge. Another stone walkway connects to the side, extending right to the base of the platform, as if the island never wanted to hide the entrance from anyone.
Because it never had to.
A disbelieving laugh bubbles from my chest, and tears well in my eyes.
“You both know what to do,” Edmond says from beside us. “I will see you when you return.”
I can’t wait another second. Hope swells in my chest, and a grin splits my face as the feeling of triumph overwhelms me. This feels real and so much different from the last time I gazed out over the lagoon after my map led me to it. Squeezing Weston’s hand, I take off running. My knees kick up the length of my skirts, and I wish, if not for this moment alone, that I had worn pants. Weston matches my pace, reaching out to catch me when I stumble on some stray rocks as we get closer, then urging me on once more.
Not once did the island trap us.
Not once did our course change.
There was no flicker of a fin in the lagoon, no snap of a monster from the canyon.
The island brought us back to get the healing waters, and isn’t protecting them any longer.
