Page 26 of Blood Lord

"It's called a wildspont," he tells me, helping continue down the sloping forest floor. "It's a place of extreme magic, a pocket created by our god of the magic we are made of. There are portals on Protheka, ones that are almost invisible if you don't know how to feel for them, but once you step through, you find a parallel world of wherever you just were but the magic flows more freely."

"That's why you brought me here? Because there's more magic?"

Raziel nods. "It's how my people have lived underground, too. It's hard for others to find and it makes us stronger. It can also be hard for some creatures to tolerate the amount of magic that flows through here. As a human, you won't be able to feel it the same way that I, or other magical creatures, can, but there are still a lot of interesting things to see."

I lift my hand, swiping it through the air to see if I can detect any magic. When Raziel tries to stifle his laugh, I blush, dropping my hand. "I just wanted to see if it did feel different," I mutter.

But quickly, I forget my embarrassment. I see a small rodent ahead, but he's different. I dart forward to look at the little creature, but here, it has horns curling up from its head. It sees me, and it scurries up the tree trunk. To my surprise, it doesn't climb up on top of the branch, it runs up the underside.

I blink as I tilt my head back to stare at it, and it stops, standing up on its legs and crossing its arms across its chest as it takes me in. It's like gravity doesn't affect the little thing, and I reach up to touch it. The tree limb bends, bringing the creature down to me, and then I'm snatched back.

"What are you doing?" Raziel hisses in my ear.

I look back at him, and I can see the panic in his eyes. "I-I just wanted to…"

He shakes his head, turning me to face him. Crouching down so that we're eye to eye, he grips my shoulders. "Selene, I told you to stay close."

"I know." I gulp, and he sighs.

"I just want to keep you safe." He brushes my hair back. "Wildsponts are dangerous. The animals here have magic, too, so you have to be extra careful, okay? People, human and dark elves alike, have just vanished in here. I won't let anything happen to you, but don't tempt fate."

"I won't," I whisper.

Raziel kisses my forehead. "Good. Now, come. There's other stuff I want to show you this way."

I take his hand, but as soon as we break through the trees, I drop it and forget everything he told me.

We've come up to a cascading waterfall that empties into a deep pool. The water is this gorgeous shade of blue-green, with yellow and purple currents dancing through it. It turns a deep violet where the waterfall meets the pool, like every impact is being highlighted in color.

The foam is a light lavender, washing up on aquamarine sand that sparkles wherever I touch it. I take off running, turning back to see how the sand lights up my footprints bright white before reabsorbing them.

"This is amazing!" I shout, and though Raziel is eyeing me wearily, he smiles back.

Little creatures zip along the surface of the water, leaving trails of light behind them, and I stare after them. Crouching down, I touch the water, feeling the slight sizzle of magic as it brushes over my skin.

"If I drink this, will I have magic, too?"

Raziel chuckles softly as he pulls me up to standing and guides me back from the water, planting a soft kiss on my neck. "Let's not find out. And maybe stay away from the water, hmm? It can be easy for something lurking beneath to come up without me seeing."

"Oh, okay. " I try to keep the disappointment out of my voice, but then something catches my eye behind him and I'm off again. "Look at this!"

There's a rockwall just at the edge of the water, creating a curving lip that rises up to a steep cliff. It's pulsing, just like the quartz in our cave, and I run up to it. Orange light flashes in front of me as I skid to a stop, and I giggle. "Woah."

I wave my hand toward it, watching how the colors shift as the air slams into the rock. It reacts to every little shift of my body, and when I reach out to touch it, it turns solid black and ice cold.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Raziel's arms wind around my waist.

"Gods, this is amazing!" I squeal, tilting my head back to look at him. "I can't believe you live in a place like this!"

"Well, I don't live in a forest. I think I'd like that more so I could fly. I live in caverns."

His voice goes sad at the end, but I'm too caught up on an idea. I eye his wings, and his eyes crinkle as he grins, knowing what I'm thinking.

"Do you want-"

And then he stiffens. Raziel's head snaps to the left, and his arms go from comforting to iron bars around my waist. I can feel the predatory way he listens to something I can't hear, the intensity of it rolling off of him in waves.

Without explanation, he lifts me in his arms, rushing toward the forest's edge. There's a hollowed out tree trunk facing away from the beach there, and he tucks me into it. Cupping my face, he whispers hurriedly, "Stay here. Don't make a sound. No matter what."

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