I scan our surroundings for any movement, while also taking in the barrier. We stop about ten feet away, and all anyone can do is just stare.
“Everyone feeling—” Valen voices.
The resounding yesescut him off before he can even finish the question.
“Anyone else just want to touch it?” Becket asks, and the confusion and fascination in his tone makes me want to laugh.
“I’ve never been so attracted to a magical phenomenon...well, aside from Vinna, that is,” Siah utters with awe, and I simultaneously swoon and agree with his assessment of the barrier.
I too feel like Dory when she finds a squishy and declares that it’s hers. I just want to rub myself all over this shimmering barrier, call it my shiny, and announce that it’s now mine for forever.
“I wonder what it is about it that has that pull?” Ryker queries, and we all grow silent again as we stare at the myriad of colors that are shimmering in front of us.
“It almost feels like it’s...I don’t know...missing something maybe,” Bastien observes.
“What do you mean?” Valen asks.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels like it’s reaching out for something, and it desperately wants whatever that something is. Like it’s crying out for it.”
“Like it’s the lock in search of a key,” I whisper.
Bastien’s words take a moment to soak in, but as they do, I can pick out exactly what he means. The barrier isn’t calling out in this cheerful “let’s all frolic together in happiness and bliss.” It feels more like something that’s wounded and is begging for relief.
“It’s giving me the fucking heebie jeebies the more I stare at it. So whatever we’re going to do to get through this thing, let’s do it already,” Enoch declares.
I blink a couple times and then pull my focus from the call of the barrier. I don’t see anyone on the other side of it or sense any kind of threat.
“So, anyone feeling like we should stray from the plan?” I ask.
No one answers right away as they study the barrier, each other, and then me.
“You’re the strongest individual source of magic, so that still makes the most sense to me,” Sabin offers, finally breaking the silence.
“I still think it’s risky,” Knox starts. “But we’ll all be ready to lend a hand if you need it,” he adds, and the trusting smile he gives me warms me to the core.
I take a deep breath and turn to the barrier again. I can’t lie, there’s a part of me that worries this thing might act like a giant bug zapper and just fry my ass on contact. But I argued that I was the best option for figuring out how to get through it, and now I have to Sentinel the fuck up and hope it doesn’t cook me until I’m golden brown and crispy.
I slowly release the air I just pulled into my lungs and give myself a solid pep talk ofhere goes fucking nothing.I reach out and do my best to keep my poker face intact, which exudes an air ofI got thisand thoroughly hides the face people make when they’re about to touch something super icky. I walk the ten feet that separate the group from the barrier and then just stare at it.
I suddenly feel so unprepared, which makes no sense.
We’ve been hiking for weeks, knowing this was the destination. We’ve gone over plans upon plans for what to do when we get here. We’re finally here, and yet this all feels surreal, like a dream I’m going to wake up from at any moment. I pull in a deep breath and shake the uncertainty from my limbs. I lift my hand and pause.
What the fuck is my problem?
I roll my shoulders twice and banish any hesitation from my body. I touch the barrier with a tip of my finger and then quickly pull my hand away with a squeak of terror and excitement. I wait for my body to spontaneously combust, but when it doesn’t, I turn to the others and give them a wide smile.
“Yay for not dying!” I shout out, unable to help myself.
Bastien and Torrez both shake their heads at me, but I don’t miss the smile in their eyes. I wasn’t just incinerated, which means I’m walking on cloud nine. I blamethatfor why I don’t stick with thetest the barrier with magicplan that we all agreed to, but instead step into the shimmering rainbow coated magic instead.
Shouted protests bounce off my back as I’m suddenly enveloped by the Defensive magic of the barrier. I know that my Chosen are going to rip me a new one, but I’ll have to deal with that on the other side. I continue to walk through the barrier, and it feels like I’m surrounded by jello. I’m engulfed by a cool dense sensation, and I move like I’m making my way underwater. I look over my shoulder to see that the guys are all arguing, but the sound is lost to me.
I see Knox mouth the wordsfuck itbefore he also steps into the barrier. I watch him cringe, like he wasn’t sure what to expect when he touched the magic, but just like with me, there’s no issue. The other guys all enter the magic forcefield one by one, and we all start making our way through to the inside of what the barrier is protecting.
We’ve all had different theories about the barrier and how to navigate it. The original plan was to make contact and then go from there. We figured contact would help determine if the barrier was hostile and defensive. Was it simple protection or something else entirely? Looks like Sorik’s theory won. He thought that maybe the barrier could recognize Sentinel magic and would respond accordingly. He figured that would be the only way other Sentinels could go in and out. I wondered if theydidcome and go though, since supposedly everyone thought they died off.
Maybe my mom ran away?
