Page 85 of Taloned Heart

Algor inclined his head, though there was a question in his eyes as he straightened. “Is it safe?”

“Safe?” The Baron choked, but then he ground his teeth so hard Lore could hear them.

At least he was still quiet.

“Yes,” Lore replied. “It’s quite safe, and I believe there will be enough for everyone.”

“Everyone?”

She grinned at the curiosity that burned in his eyes. He hadn’t seen much of her magic just yet, and Lore had enjoyed using it freely as of late. “Everyone. The dwarves. The humans. All the creatures that will surely come and join us because the guilt will gnaw at them and they will miss their neighbors. Even the mortals that we will save from Margaret’s camps. They will all come here until we are ready to fight.”

With a bushy, red brow lifted, Algor walked through the thin leather curtain that served as a front door and then... silence. Nothing.

Lore waited with her arms crossed over her chest, amused as the whispers started up among the dwarves. Where had he gone? What had the Fallen Star created? Surely it did not take such a long time to inspect a little hut?

Even the humans started to get a little nervous, their whispers floating through the air. Had she killed him? Did she think there wasn’t any more use for the dwarves? Was this a warning for them all to work harder, quicker, better?

And then Algor burst out of the door. His loud voice rose into laughter as he wheezed. Sweat streaked his brow and true joy filled his being near to bursting.

“My king?” A dwarf stepped forward and allowed Algor to lean against him. “Are you well?”

“Well?” Algor clapped his hands hard on the other dwarf’s shoulders and shook him. “Well? How could I not be? You must see what she has done! I’ve never seen the likes of it before, brother. This is... is... remarkable!”

The dwarves were quick to move then. They all darted toward the hut as one, their trust in her intertwining with a curiosity that always lived in their kind. And she saw Goliath in them. She saw her dearest friend who always leapt head first into adventure, no matter how dangerous it was.

As expected, the humans still eyed her with suspicion. Until she gestured for them to walk through as well, and that was enough.

Beauty’s father was the first to walk through the doors, then the Baron, who straightened his shoulders as though going to battle. More and more people until the clearing was no one but her, Beauty, Zephyr, and Lindon. Standing and staring at the hut.

Lore kept her arms crossed over her chest, a pleased expression on her face as her friends tried to figure out what she’d done.

“Is it...” Beauty cleared her throat. “A portal?”

“No.”

Zephyr leaned against her, his breathing rapid just from standing. “Is it larger on the inside? Like a magic tent?”

“No,” she said with a smile.

It was Lindon who hissed out an impressed breath. “You created a new world, didn’t you?”

“Hm.” She lifted a hand and pinched her fingers together. “Not quite a world. Just a bubble, if you will. It’s enough space for us all to hide while Margaret tries to figure out what happened to her humans and all the rest of the people who will come to fight with us.”

“What makes you so certain they will come?” Zephyr asked.

Lore wrapped an arm around him and tugged him even closer to her side. “Because the people of Umbra are good, at their very core. And they will know to come to us because it is what is right.”

She did not look back at Lindon, who trailed along behind them, fear radiating through his entire form. She knew what she had done was not usually accepted in magic. Creating a new world, even the smallest one, was a dangerous practice indeed. If she could create one, then she could create many hidden pockets all over the realm where she could hide forever.

Such dangerous games were bound to make anyone nervous. Anyone who knew what that power could do.

Keeping her eyes away from even the Matriarch, she walked through the door and into the sunlight.

Beyond the hut was a giant beach. With cliffs on the right side, hidden caverns there perfect for the dwarves. She’d built their homes into the sides of the cliff, making sure there were all the amenities and comforts she remembered from her time there. The humans had small cabins to the left that rose on emerald hills, stretching on for as long as the eye could see.

Some people had already started to explore, but Algor, Beauty’s father, and the Baron stood waiting for her. They all watched her with no small amount of awe as she released her hold on Zephyr’s shoulders and approached them.

“Well?” she asked. “Will this suffice?”

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