King Leif, Raiden, Eldred, and seventy armed elves on horseback lined up in front of the Elder Tree. The bright moon shone down on them as the old Magi Master began to chant in Elvish.
“Gateways are tricky,”Eldred had explained to her earlier in private.“The one who opens the gate should direct its course. I will aim for the East Wall, but the brief seconds between us crossing could cause our groups to be separated. If that comes to pass, you will be near. Make your way to the West Wall at the borders of Red Highland. It lies across the Covenant Pass. You cannot miss it. Should you not arrive at the wall by dawn, you will need to find a way into the Blood Keep on your own.”
If luck was on their side, they wouldn’t be separated too far apart.
She glanced up at the rooftop of the castle where Dyna and the Valkyrie surely lurked, already cloaked from view. The moment Dyna had regained her magic, Lucenna had been training her to learninvisibilis—the invisibility spell. Clearly, she learned it well.
Lucenna smiled. The red king didn’t know what awaited him.
We’re coming, Rawn.
Eldred’s voice rose as he chanted, and his spell power charged the air like static. He placed glowing Moonstones into the grooves within the stone circle on the ground, and runes lit up across it. Energy hummed inthe air, sending currents against Lucenna’s Essence, and goosebumps sprouted on her arms. Light spiraled from the center of the Elder Tree, filling the opening with a brilliant white glow.
The gateway was open.
Raiden switched his reins from the left hand to the right.
“That’s the signal,” Lucenna whispered to the others. “Eldred will keep the gateway open for only fifteen seconds once they cross. Be ready.”
The Greenwood King and his delegation cantered into the spiraling light. Lucenna’s heart pounded, and she gripped her reins tight.
When the last elf passed through, she shouted, “Now!”
Hooves clopped on stone as they galloped across the courtyard toward the glowing light. The wind whipped against them with the sound of beating wings. They leaped in, and the gateway whisked them away.
Lucenna’s vision flashed white, and the air left her lungs as the universe hauled her through an unseen void.
For a split second, she feared getting lost in it, but the next thing she knew, her horse cantered onto hard earth. The temperature had shifted to warm and arid. It was dark with nothing but the moon and stars to light her way. Dropping her invisibility spell, Zev, Von, and Klyde appeared beside her on their mounts.
“That was a rush,” Klyde said with a nervous clearing of his throat. “But I’d rather not do that again.”
Zev stretched, shaking out his fur.
“Where are we?” Keena asked from Von’s coat pocket.
Lucenna studied the rocky terrain below them. There wasn’t much, but some sparse vegetation. A far cry from the fruitful knolls of Greenwood.
“I think we landed on the tail end of the Anduir Mountains,” Klyde said. “North of East Wall.”
“How do you know?” Lucenna asked.
“We’re on a ridge. Then there is that.” He pointed ahead. She wasn’t sure what he was pointing to at first until she noticed the peak of an obelisk catching the moonlight in the far distance.
“What is it?”
“That’s what the elves call the Covenant Pass. Thirty miles of barren desert between Red Highland and Greenwood. We will need to cross it tonight to reach the Western Wall by morning.”
“And the Maiden?” Von asked.
Lucenna searched the night sky but saw only stars amongst the wispy clouds. If they had landed with them, Dyna would have dropped her spell by now. “The gateway must have dropped her somewhere else when she crossed.”
Zev trotted behind a cluster of bushes and shifted on two feet. “Don’t worry,” he said, his voice caught in a growl of his wolf. His yellow eyes reflected in the dark as they fixed on the horizon. “We expected this to happen, so we will follow Dyna’s plan. Wherever she is, her task is to fly ahead to the Blood Keep.”
He had confidence in his cousin, and Lucenna did, too. Dyna could do anything she set her mind to.
“Shewillget the other half of the key,” Lucenna stated, internally wishing her luck. “We will take care of our part.”
Dyna had wanted to go after Rawn, but they all agreed she was the best one to sneak into the Blood Keep and steal the key while the red elves were distracted.
