After the soldiers and Tiernan stepped back, I lifted my hands and called an image of the village to mind. Light flowed out of my center and up, through my hands. Twin streams of white light surged up and then collided to burst apart. Light spread over us in a dome. I sensed more than saw its progress, following it to the ground and then sending it further. Connecting it under us was trickier, weaving the energy through the soil without hurting anything. But it finally came together to seal us inside a glowing orb.
I opened my eyes and squinted, adjusting to the sudden brightness. It was like day in the village. The Seelie soldiers stared up and around themselves in awe, but Tiernan only nodded. He knew what I was capable of.
“It's like living in a snow globe,” I said.
“Without the snow.” Tiernan took my hand and drew me back into the village as he spoke to our soldiers. “Those of you on first watch, get to your posts. The rest of you get some sleep.”
Soldiers hurried off to keep watch or find a bed for the night. The Basty had graciously offered us their homes to use while we battled the blight, and there were more than enough beds for us to choose from. Tiernan motioned me toward the house we were borrowing, and we headed inside. Oddly enough, it was cheery in the two-story cottage, with hand-woven rugs, velvet cushions, and cotton curtains. Wood beams crossed the ceiling, and there were potted plants everywhere.
“I'm going to scry Sever.” I let go of Tiernan to take out my phone and sit on the velvet couch.
“I'll make us some tea.” Tiernan headed into the little kitchen with its open shelves and hanging pots of herbs.
“Thank you.” I opened my scry phone and called out, “Prince Severriel of Twilight.”
As I waited, I watched Tiernan search a shelf, opening clay jars and sniffing them until he found something he liked. Then he filled the kettle with water, lit some logs in the fireplace with a flick of his finger, and set the kettle onto an iron hanger over the flames.
I looked back at the misty phone. It still felt strange, even after all this time, to call the ex-King of Heaven by his new title. To go from Angel King to Fey Prince was technically a step down, but Sever had found joy in being a prince and a father, while being a king had brought him only anxiety and loneliness.
Despite the mist taking a while to condense, I didn't get anxious about it. I wondered if that had something to do withthe blight or if I was just too tired to worry. But then Sever's face appeared. Wherever he was on Earth, it was daytime.
“Seren.” Sever's lavender eyes, ringed in purple, looked weary. “I'm glad you scried.”
“How are you and Miri?”
He glanced to the left and nodded. “Good. We're good. And you?”
“We found the source of the blight.”
“Great. Did you destroy it?”
“Not yet. It attacked me.”
“What?!”
“I'm fine. It just took some of the heavier emotions I've been weighed down with lately.”
“Heavier emotions?”
“Yes, like guilt over Star.”
“I see.”
“There's more. The Basty fairies who live here are nightmare givers. They feed on fear.”
“And?”
“A couple of them sensed the dream energy on me.”
“They sensed it?”
“Yes. I don't know how their magic works, but they knew I'd been having bad dreams. One of them said he senseda presence with me, and that presence is the source of the dreams.”
Sever went still. Then he asked, “So the dreams are an attack?”
“Not an attack, no. And they don't come from me or Astaroth.”
“Is it an Angel?”
