Page 44 of Shadows and Flames (Twin Blades #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

TANA

I was nearly jumping out of my skin, bobbing on my toes while we neared the designated coordinates of the fault line, the crack between realms.

I took note of everything I could, the craggy bark of the trees, the forest life grown hushed as we slowed to a stop. Blackwood had minimal knowledge, just how to get to the meeting point, but even that was heaps more than we’d ever dreamed .

“It’s a bloody forest,” Tomás remarked, as begrudging as anyone could be. His demeanor soured the further we trekked, and if I’d known a jaunt through the woods would shut up his usual teases and taunts, I would’ve suggested it long ago.

Fenix walked beside me, and he gave a grunt of agreement to Tomás’s whingeing.

It was such a curious thing, his insistence to come with us.

After Blackwood agreed to work with us, we’d gone back to Vharas to retrieve our things, store them at Blackwood’s house outside of the city, and pack all we might need for…

however long we were gone. We could have paid extra to keep our rooms at the inn, but it was already a surprise our packs hadn’t been rifled through when we got back.

They surely would have been gone if we’d left them unattended for more than twelve hours.

And when we took again to the road leading out of Vharas, a few hours’ sleep achieved and a hunt complete to tide us over, Fenix had appeared. Covered from head to toe in tunic, trousers, and a hood. His darkened glasses shielded his eyes, and I was only able to identify him by scent alone.

My cousin had given him a stern word about staying out of our way, but that was that.

It was two hours or so we’d been walking in these woods, slower than our typical gait to accommodate Walter’s slower pace. Horses, he’d said, would not be able to come.

Meline hummed, looking again at her compass then the sky above. It was a pleasant enough day, late-afternoon sun descending and the sky a mix of blue and warm colors. Fat, fluffy clouds trailed by as the canopy leaves remained still.

“A forest to a different world ,” I whispered, unsure if these Folk could already hear us. Our guide grunted. Just ahead, a section of flattened earth was encircled by longer, wilder vegetation. The edges were too organic to be purposeful cuts. “Look,” I pointed, “that’s a good sign, right?”

“Yes, it’s here.” The other three Lylithans eyed the man skeptically, but I gladly followed him into the circle, approaching the tree in its middle.

An ancient oak with deep, thick roots and enough branches and leaves above to block the sun almost entirely.

The width of the trunk alone spanned at least three people wide. “You’ve still got it?” he asked.

Meline rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Of course.” Elián gestured to the pack slung on his back, just under the swords sheathed at his spine.

“All right.” Walter nodded, straightening and looking at the trunk of the tree. “We’re here to make a deal.”

The words held a weight, and the forest somehow grew more still. No wind nor sound while the air… pulsed.

Connected more than most to the aether, I felt the moment it changed.

Rippling like the surface of water disturbed.

Meline, Elián, Fenix, and Tomás, the most skeptical of us all, joined Walter and me at attention, and we all watched, marveled , as the surface of the tree itself shifted.

It was a subtle change, but where the oak went almost… pliable, a figure emerged.

Their movements were professional… as if they were unsurprised or unimpressed to be called forth, and then there was another. And another.

The figures stepped out of the tree, and I couldn’t hold back a delighted laugh as I witnessed a form of magic I’d never seen before. Even the swords at their hips did nothing to deter my excitement.

By all appearances, these Folk looked fairly similar to the elven peoples who were fairly common in our realm. Long limbs, pointed ears. And they dressed similarly to us in simple leathers, though the breastplates of which were covered in interesting etched details, scrolling swirls and symbols.

“And what bargain do you have to offer?” The first one asked quietly, though it boomed between us.

At once, it was a regular voice, and at the same time, there was a deep, almost musical note to it.

My ears were entranced, curious. But the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and my lips twitched with the instinct to chant.

Walter ignored the question, maintaining a confident posture. But I could hear his heart racing. “Paschal Von Herron is dead. I would like to offer my services as a broker for your goods in his stead.”

The leader narrowed his eyes, unimpressed but still interested. Judging by the fact they’d not left or tried to kill us yet. “Who?”

“The man from our world with whom you’ve settled a trade agreement with.”

His black hair was shorn close to his scalp, skin a similar color to Elián’s.

On his face, however, were thin, pale marks, symmetrically drawn on his brow, cheeks, and chin.

The two others behind them showed similar markings on their skin, though their hair and coloring varied.

The tunics beneath their armor shone like pearls.

“We know this. We felt our deal with him break.”

“Who can I speak to in regard to another deal?” Blackwood puffed up his chest, arms crossed, though he was at least a head shorter than the smallest of these Folk.

The male was no longer paying attention to Blackwood, but looking at the rest of us. We formed a semicircle behind our employer, indeed guarding his back. He narrowed his hooded eyes. “Why do you have Raouga with you? Are you their pet?”

I’d never heard the word before, sounding round and full from his lips, but the assumption Blackwood was ours in that sense elicited a sudden snort from my throat. I tried to cover the chuckle by coughing, but I felt Fenix’s gaze. Saw the tips of Blackwood’s ears go red.

“No ,” he said, trying to stand even taller. “They work for me and are traveling with me.”

The one in front, who had been speaking, pursed his lips, considering us, but one of the others took a step forward. Her hair was white and fell long down her back. “What do you have to offer for passage?”

Ah, this had also been something Blackwood informed us about! Apparently, he’d been present during the first meeting between Paschal and these Folk, when they’d first been denied entry and come back with gifts.

He swung the leather bag on his shoulder around and unbuckled the flap that fastened it. “Three bottles of mead and five jars of honey from the best beekeepers in the realm.” He held the bag out, daring not to step forward uninvited.

The guards of the portal, though, they grew animated, ears twitching and shoulders leaning forward. Their expressions were otherwise impassive, but their interest was evident. Blackwood placed the bag on the ground, on the plush grass, and stepped back, deferring to them.

The one with the white hair crouched and reached inside, inspecting the gifts. When she pulled one of the bottles from the bag, it was an amber yellow. The honey, slightly darker, moved thickly as she tilted it from side to side.

When she stood and stepped back toward the tree, she took the bag with her.

Without needing to consult with the others, the first Folk nodded, and they retreated into the tree.

The five of us turned to each other, unsure of what to say, but Blackwood wasted no time. He walked up to the tree, hesitated, then planted his boot inside the trunk. The bark gave, revealing the portal still open, and then he disappeared like the rest.

My cousin was next to go, and her Shadow quickly followed. I watched, nearly bouncing on my toes, as they disappeared one by one.

“Fuck.” I heard Tomás curse as I approached the tree with a finger extended.

Like the others, it went into the wood. Something was there.

Not resistance, nor a pull. It was similar to the barriers I erected whenever I had a room to lay my head down for the night, or when Meline and I had more permanent homes.

That sort of magic was simple, then a bit more complicated the stronger or more selective you wanted the protection to be.

This was…

My skin prickled, and it was as if every hair on my body stood at attention. There was no darkness, no long tunnel or fracture of time. It was a doorway that, once my eyes had crossed and were able to see, revealed another forest.

This one was similar to the one we’d just left. The trees, the deepening sunlight as we grew closer to evening.

However.

Now, we stood on a path dug into the ground with trees reaching toward each other on either side of us. The type of growth provided a sort of enclosure, one that was almost suffocating, save for the gaps between branches allowing glimpses of the rays in the same shades of the mead and honey.

The Folk were already disappearing around a bend, with Blackwood not far behind. Meline and Elián were much closer to us, warily eyeing the vegetation around us, probably noticing what I had—that sensation of being watched. The pressure of an unseen presence.

A far more urgent concern, immediately drying my throat and sending a flash of panic through my chest, was the unmistakable severing once Fenix stepped through into this new world—realm.

Once he was on this side, the bark hardened, and when I reached out a shaking hand, I felt the first true coolness of fear.

Because the portal was closed, we’d no way of going back without the help of these people we could not trust.

And my connection to the aether was gone.