“—gods,” Rune finished, slowly approaching the Elder Tree, his voice low and unreadable. “Only the divine can portal so effortlessly. But you made anatural door. A pathway shaped from living magic. There is no spell for this in existence…” He ran his fingertips along one of the glowing glyphs, expression caught between admiration and unease. “Until now.”
She made a spell? And in a language, she didn’t understand.
“This is not something learned,” Zinnia said, her eyes widening. Her aunt had seen Alora’s schooling, and she had intently avoided anything regarding magic.
Rune’s gaze lifted to hers. “That is something inherited.”
He didn’t say, but they both thought the same thing. It came from whatever, orwhoever,had made her.
Alora shivered.
Zinnia stepped forward, staring at the remnants of the portal with open awe. “Who knows where the portal could take you or how far. I suspect its reach will mirror the strength of the traveler. But those with great magic could call it forth now that a spell has been created.”
Alora swallowed and stepped forward again.
The Elder Tree responded instantly, the glyphs blazing back to life, the center filling with swirling white light like a star being born.
A thrill rippled through her.
A little fear.
A little wonder.
A growing sense that the world had shifted beneath her feet.
Rune stood beside her, branches casting shadows over him. His expression was conflicted but steady. Prepared to face whatever awaited them.
Nexus leaped up onto her shoulders with a short purr. Those golden eyes looked at her with encouragement and her worries settled.
Alora lifted her hand to Rune, palm open. “Shall we?”
Rune smirked softly and took her hand. “Whenever you are ready, shadow darling.”
Then they stepped through the portal together.
CHAPTER 43
Alora
The world snapped back into existence with a rush of a cold tempest. Instead of the smooth passage of her last portal journey, Alora struck an invisible force and her boots stumbled over uneven earth before Rune caught her arm. Nexus leaped lightly from her shoulder as the portal winked shut behind them in a burst of fading white.
She held still, breathing in the crisp air while the world steadied. Tall pines loomed around them, their needles gleaming in the early light. The air smelled of moss and frost.
But the ruins were nowhere in sight.
Only endless forest.
She turned slowly, frowning with confusion and disappointment. “We are nowhere near Khar Avalen.”
They stood in a clearing several miles from where she had hoped to arrive. A hiccup in her magic. A reminder she was still a novice with the strange power she bore.
Rune turned east, the dawn brushing over his face. His expression shifted in a way she could not quite place, something like wariness sharpened by memory.
“No,” he murmured. “You would not have been able to portal us into the ruins even if you wished. Khar Avalen is its own domain. It has been steeped in dark magic, and it repels all other intrusions—or destroys them.”
A shiver ran up her spine. “You didn’t think to warn me?”
He chuckled. “You stole my power, Alora. I doubted the ruins would give you too much trouble. Other than an arduous journey.”
