Morgan
Morgan rode on the back of the enormous eagan for the final travel day to Orofine. She still couldn’t believe that she was riding on the back of an eagle—an eagle the size of a minivan. Susan and Avery joined her, while Rue and Kyla rode with one of the Nepheli warriors. Rylo was flying beside them, insisting he see them to Orofine himself. The trip wasn’t exactly comfortable, especially riding all day. The wind stung her eyes and it was a chore to hang onto her seat, a contraption that was a mix of a saddle and a chair.
Then there was the issue of where she was going. Morgan had told Avery why she wanted to stay in Nephel, but she couldn’tget her sister to see her side of things. Avery’s plea was enough to convince her to join her in Orofine, even if her instincts were shouting at her to turn around, to flee from this unknown threat to her life.
Plus she was beginning to enjoy her quiet mornings studying in Rylo’s library and afternoons practicing magic and self defense with Avery’s friends. Susan had begun to join her during the mornings at the library instead of hiking through the mountains with Avery, Rue, and Kyla. She and Susan had already practiced a few spells in one of the old spell books, including one that allowed Morgan to control her shadows enough tolevitateabove the ground. It was incredible—this feeling that anything could be possible through her magic. The potential for what she could accomplish was enough to keep her up late into the night, pouring over old spells and practicing to see what she could achieve.
Now Morgan was soaring through the sky, and she could see a city down below. It was a bustling community, bigger than the population of the Towers. As they banked in lower, she saw the entire city was made of wooden structures built into tree trunks with branches void of needles or leaves.
“Oh!” Avery gasped. “The whole city is made of treehouses! How did Savine not share that with me?”
Morgan smirked as she turned to look at the excitement on her sister’s face. She bit back the urge to ask how a soulmate could leave out those kinds of details when he described his family home.
“It’s beautiful,” Morgan said instead.
The eagans glided down to the ground, landing at the base of a huge outdoor staircase leading up to what must be Savine’s treehouse palace. The building was a series of interconnected rooms linked by outdoor bridges and exterior stairs. It was amazing, like no architectural feature she’d ever seen. But itdid look like it would be cold in the winter. The structure was flanked by steep, heavily forested mountains. The air was fresh and crisp with the scent of wet trees. It even smelled like the woods she explored in Montana. It was all so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time.
Around them was a growing crowd of fae. Some had that strange bark essence, like Savine and Kyla, while others looked nearly plant-like with a greenish tinge to their brown skin. Still others had the striking marks of fur under their skin. The shifters.
Morgan watched as Avery made eye contact with Savine. Her sister unstrapped from the saddle and jumped off the eagan’s back in a flash. She heard her squeal with delight as she ran to Savine’s arms. Soon, Kyla was doing the same to her mate and Rue was welcomed with hugs from other Latians.
Morgan stepped down from the eagan, but that’s as far as she could go. She felt a growing sense of overwhelm and her shadows encircled her arms protectively. Susan put a gentle hand on Morgan’s shoulder.
“Are you okay, Morgan?” Susan asked.
“I don’t know if I can face all these people,” she muttered, her shadows circling her and Susan.
Susan squeezed her shoulder. “Just take your time. It will be okay, and I’m here with you.”
The crowd grew around the eagans. Most seemed peaceful, but there was a growing murmur as fae began pointing at Morgan by the eagan. Morgan’s heartbeat was skittering so fast, she wanted to escape as soon as possible. A fae with a furred essence made eye contact with Morgan and showed his teeth, snarling at her.
Morgan shook her head. “This was a mistake. I’m better off in Nephel.”
Susan looked at the sneering man as a few others approached, walking swiftly toward the eagan. The great bird shrieked as one of the men shifted into a huge grizzly bear.
Morgan’s heart was pounding in her chest. She felt like she was going to die of fear as the bear bounded toward her. The crowd screamed as the flustered eagan reached down irritatedly and grabbed a woman in its enormous beak.
Something inside Morgan snapped as she lost her hold on her own panicking nerves. Before she knew what she was doing, she unleashed her writhing shadows at the bear and strode toward him. She felt herself becoming weightless, just as she had practiced. The shadows wrapped and entangled the monster, seeking to kill the threat to her. She let his strangled body fall to the ground. Yet still, she floated just overhead.
Avery was shouting something and other fae monsters were approaching, but Morgan didn’t let them near her. Her shadows wove through the crowd and she whispered the words of a spell she’d read. With an explosion like a grenade, the whole area was shrouded in a cloak of darkness, dotted with falling starlight.
Suddenly, a brilliant light and a gusting wind filled the darkness and Rylo walked toward her like a glowing star. “What are you doing? Get over to your sister,” he barked.
“I’m calling in an oath now. You will swear to remove me from Orofine and give me safe passage back to Nephel. I can’t stay here.”
Rylo looked at her through glowing eyes. “I can’t do that. It’s an oath that is in direct contrast to an already agreed upon bargain. It would…”
“DO IT! Now, damn it!” Morgan screamed.
Rylo looked over his shoulder to the chaos behind them. The darkness was still settled all around the crowd and the people screamed in terror. Morgan could hear Avery shouting her name, but she couldn’t stay here. It was impossible. Thesemonsters wanted her dead, and she’d known it before they’d even left Nephel.
“I will suffer the consequences,” Rylo said in a cutting tone.
“Will you die?” she asked, mounting the eagan that Susan had already climbed on in stunned silence.
“No, but…”
“Then take the oath,” she said, pulling her shadows back toward herself. The bird would need to be able to see to get out of here.
