Page 7

K ian

I bring the hammer down with all of my might.

Just as I suspected, it breaks through the chain easily. As the amulet falls away, there is a flash of light. The witch was right – all of them were right – I am not quick enough to dodge it, and pain hits me hard in the center of my chest.

So much for being quick and strong. It feels like I have been speared right through the chest.

I gasp as the air is pulled from my lungs. My eyes go wide from the shock of it. I feel my heart stop in the next instant.

For a moment or two, I expect it to start back up again, but it doesn’t. I look down at the newly freed witch, and she looks up at me.

Her eyes are quite beautiful. There seems to be more green swirling in their depths than before. Is it a play of the light, or is it because she is free?

Silly thoughts to have at a time like this, considering I can’t breathe. Everything inside me has seized. I fall to my knees, willing my mouth to work. I have to ask for help. To beg for it as I feel myself fading. My limbs grow weak.

I beseech McColl with my eyes because nothing else on me will work. I can’t move so much as a finger.

“Alaric!” she yells as she shoots up into a sitting position, her face a mask of concern.

I fall, hitting the ground hard because, at this point, I am a dead weight.

Dead.

No!

Help me!

“Alaric, stay with me,” McColl pleads. There is a desperate edge to her voice. I think she touches me, but I can’t be sure because I am…growing colder by the second. Something buzzes inside like an awakening, but it quickly fades.

No!

My limbs feel like my blood was replaced with lead. My heart feels like a lump of coal.

“Come back, Alaric!” McColl begs.

I think she is using her magic on me because I feel warmth. It feels wonderful. It soon recedes.

No!

Please!

She must redouble her effort because it returns… Warming…warming…warming…fading.

Gone!

I’m sinking into darkness. I’m dying.

“No,” she whispers. “No…please.” She sounds distraught. “I’m so sorry.” She must touch me again because I feel a buzzing inside, same as before. I start to come back. It’s working. But as soon as she severs contact, I am sinking again.

McColl!

I try to scream her name, but my lips won’t form words.

She gets up and leaves. I don’t need eyes; I can sense it.

No!

Please!

Stay!

Don’t go!

McColl!

It’s not that she doesn’t listen. She can’t hear me. She thinks I’m dead but…I’m not. I’m still here.

My heart beats once, and then nothing. It beats again…harder this time.

That’s when the pain hits. Perhaps I am dying. Is this what death feels like? Pain like I have never felt before takes hold of me as my heart starts to beat…faster than ever before. It races, trying to keep up with the wind.

If I am dying, why is my heart beating again?

I draw air into my lungs, but it feels like a thousand daggers have lodged themselves there.

I think I scream as my back bows. I swear that my spine will sever in two. My chest is on fire. My blood, too. I’m burning up from the inside out.

Just when I think that I will surely die from the agony…it stops. Just like that, it is gone as if it never existed.

The skin on my chest feels warm, and my bones feel…they feel different. It is the strangest thing.

I groan as I sit up, putting a hand to my forehead, which is sweaty. My chest rises and falls quickly as I attempt to catch my breath.

I think I died. I’m sure McColl brought me back, even though she doesn’t know it.

McColl.

I look at the tree line. I’m sure that’s where she went. It’s where I told her to go. To the horses. To freedom. I need to get to her before she leaves. I might already be too late.

I feel different. I feel… Something niggles in the back of my mind, but I push it away. There is no time to think on it. I need to hurry. I leap to my feet and start sprinting.

My heart pounds in my chest as I run toward the tree line, adrenaline pumping through my veins. The shadows are longer than normal for this time of day because of the sun still being partly obscured. The ground blurs beneath me, my breath coming in quick gasps as I push myself to go faster.

I reach the edge of the trees and dash between the two tallest of them. Then I rush down the path, retracing my earlier steps.

I hear a horse nicker. Hope and relief surge through me as I break through the honeysuckle bushes, spotting McColl up ahead.

She must hear me crashing through the undergrowth because she turns, her eyes wide.

“Alaric?” Relief bleeds into her expression before she staggers back, her mouth falling open. “No! How?” She’s gripping one of the horse’s reins. The other is tied to a tree. “Stay away!” she yells. “Leave me alone.” She sounds scared…of me. Why is she afraid?

I look behind me, expecting to see fae guards, but there are none. Is she afraid of me? Surely not.

“McColl,” I call out, my voice hoarse. “It’s me, Alaric,” I say stupidly because she doesn’t seem to recognize me.

Alaric… That doesn’t feel right.

Why?

She turns away, facing her spooked horse. “I said to stay away.” She tries to mount up, but the animal dances around her in circles, making it impossible.

“It’s okay,” I say in a soothing voice as I slowly approach. “It’s me.”

“You…you…” She shakes her head. “It can’t be. It can’t. No! No. No. No.” She tries to mount up again and fails.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Alaric. Have you seen yourself?” A tear streaks down her cheek. “You’re a fae. You’re one of them.” She looks at the side of my face, at my ears.

What?

What is she talking about?

I put a hand to my head and sure enough, my ears are pointy. It all comes flooding back. All of it and all at once, leaving me stunned. My mouth falls open.

McColl finally manages to pull herself onto the horse’s back, and the beast starts to run. She almost topples off the animal, somehow managing to stay in place by holding onto the saddle horn. The shaggy pony is surprisingly fast. She almost comes off again as it snakes through the trees.

I have no time to ponder on all that has happened. I touch my ears again. This can’t be happening.

It is!

I am a fae. Not just any fae but…

No time!

I run to the tethered horse, taking precious seconds to untie him, and am on in one leap, kicking the animal into a gallop as soon as my butt hits the leather.

I lean forward, giving the animal his head.

The horse follows his stablemate, weaving through the trees and then jumping over a fallen log.

I move with the animal. It comes naturally to me, like breathing. It feels good to be back in the saddle.

It doesn’t take long to clear the forest, and when I do, I instantly see McColl ahead, her hair streaming out behind her as she rides. I push my horse to go faster, trying to catch up to her.

“McColl!” I shout, my voice carrying through the forest. She glances back, her eyes widening at the sight of me. She turns back, kicking her horse, trying to get away from me.

I can’t blame her.

“Stop! Please!” I shout. She looks back over her shoulder again before riding on. She’s terrified…of me.

I draw closer, trying to keep up with her horse as he gallops through the meadow beyond the trees.

The sound of hooves thunders, and the dome barrier grows ever closer.

McColl’s horse is swift and sure-footed.

McColl is much lighter than I am, which means that I’m struggling to catch her. I can’t close the gap.

Up ahead of us, the barrier looms. Lush green grass on this side and mud and a wasteland on the other.

“McColl. Stop!” I yell, but either she doesn’t hear me or refuses to listen. I’m going with the latter. Then again, she is pulling away from me and could be too far to hear me scream.

She needs to slow down. She needs to use her magic to get through the barrier. Otherwise, it will block her. She will be hurt…or worse.

With a sinking feeling in my chest, I watch as McColl’s horse charges toward the barrier at full speed.

At this point, she is pulling on the reins, doing everything in her power to stop or at least slow, but it isn’t working; her horse is too badly spooked.

He won’t listen. He’s taken the bit and is picking up speed.

When it becomes clear that she isn’t going to be able to slow, let alone stop, she drops the reins and lifts her hands, facing them toward the barrier.

They shimmer, illuminating in the partial light. Her hands grow brighter, her body painted in the glow.

Maybe it will work. It has to.

The only sign that the barrier is there is the change in landscape. That is it! It’s magical all the same and designed to keep all non-fae inside…or out. Completely see-through; it may as well be a solid brick wall for a non-fae, for McColl.

Oh gods!

I hold my breath, praying that her magic works. That she is stronger than she gives herself credit for. I am alive. I’m sure she had something to do with that.

Her horse speeds up as they approach the barrier. The beast is wholly unperturbed, since the magic will have no effect on the creature.

Time seems to stand still as the horse starts to go through. I cry out when McColl is flung backward from the saddle, hitting the ground hard. Her horse keeps running, clods of mud flying from his hooves as he eats up the ground.

McColl doesn’t so much as move. She lies prone on the ground, flat on her back.

I spur my horse on, frantic to get to her. Once I do, I leap from the beast while he is still in motion. The animal follows behind the one up front, running hell-for-leather. My attention is on McColl.

Her right arm is clearly broken. Her face is bloody and wrecked. Her leg is at a strange angle.

“No!” I shout as I drop down beside her. “McColl!”

I pull her into my arms, cradling her broken body against me.

The fear of watching her die grips me in a viselike hold that has my blood running cold.

Blood trickles from a cut on her forehead, staining her hair a dark crimson.

More runs from the corner of her mouth and from both nostrils.

Her skin is pale. Her eyes are closed. I press a hand against her cheek.

Panic surges through me as I realize the extent of her injuries.

I put a finger beneath her nostrils, feeling the softest touch of her breath. Her chest doesn’t look like it’s moving. She’s barely alive.

Magic buzzes through my veins, but I can’t use it. I’m useless. An emptyfae. I have no well and, therefore, no way to access my powers.

It’s infuriating.

I’m not a magicless being, but I may as well be.

I pull her against me and will her to heal, anyway. It’s stupid because it won’t work. It can’t.

Only it does.

There is a buzzing inside me that pulsates through my veins, surging toward my fingertips.

I gasp. This can’t be happening.

Warmth spreads from where McColl’s body touches mine. Light radiates all around us. Her broken arm starts to straighten out, bones knitting together before my eyes. The gash on her forehead closes up, leaving behind nothing but smooth skin.

Am I doing this?

Or is she?

How?

I don’t understand. Even the grass beneath our feet grows another inch or two, and a flower opens its petals. Slowly, color returns to her cheeks as she stirs in my arms.

Seconds later, McColl opens her eyes, looking into mine. They are, indeed, swirling with green and flecks of pure gold around her irises.

She’s beautiful.

McColl starts screaming.