Connor sighed and pressed his forehead against hers.“We never had a chance, did we?”
“Just because our time was borrowed doesn’t make it any less meaningful,” she repeated his words back.“I still believe that.Do you?”
“Of course.This changes nothing.”
Connor kissed her deeply, sending joy and agony crashing through her soul.His embrace spoke the truth between them.It changes everything.Desperate passion rose, and she held on to him as she met his intensity, emotions melding into a storm of fire inside her.
The warrior looked back at her when he broke the kiss.“Alright, guardian.Let’s go purge your mountain of darkness.”
Ridgecrest Forest, Border of Eldridge and Zamyra
Daya’sinitialcontributiontothe wary team of travelers was a shortened route through the wilderness to their destination.Ridgecrest was most easily accessed by a path directly from the town of Mountainview, the border town to the east that had sprung up under the watchful gaze of the fortress nearly a century ago.
Tension ran high as they did a thorough reconnaissance of the inhabited fortress.There were just as many men present as a few days prior, possibly more.The hunter Rodric was practically vibrating with ferocity as he argued with Connor and their designated leader, Cass.As luck would have it, the extra men were departing the fortress, which would give them their best opportunity for success during the coming night.
Shifting her attention, Daya focused on Connor.She’d never have guessed when she found him that they’d spend their last moments together in battle.Still as the stone he lay upon, his gaze was glued to the open courtyard bordering this edge of the fortress.He hadn’t so much as flinched in the past two hours.
The two of them had stayed to observe the activity and gather more intel while the others visited the nearby town of Mountainview for supplies to help speed their departure after the rescue.There was no reason to believe they’d be pursued, but she agreed with Cass’s decision.Better to be prepared for that possibility.Adding several children to the procession was a lot more than they’d been expecting.
The sun was still a ways from cresting the sky at its midday peak, so they had a while before the others returned.
New movement drew her eye to a soldier chaining a young girl in the training yard.After securing her, the man disappeared back into the keep, leaving the girl alone.
Slow and lethargic, the girl crawled her way as far as her tethered ankle would allow to a patch of green in the dirt covered area and dropped her head to the ground, hand grasping the soil.The sick child who needed a connection to nature to survive.
Beside her, Connor’s hand flexed over his weapon.The tiny emotional action confirmed what she’d suspected.The girl down in the yard was Veda, one of the two girls he was desperate to recover.
Magic.Ereven hovered in the breeze, resting on the currents above the courtyard.
He showed her the girl through his eyes.Flickers of mottled green and gold began to spark where her hand touched the soil.As Daya watched, the colors began to churn, making her chest shimmer with flecks of magic.Her soul was reaching, seeking connection and struggling to make contact in her weakened state.
A spark of worry flared to life within Daya as the ground beneath her began to flex and roil, rife with power and turmoil to her enhanced senses.
No!Wait!Daya shouted, but it was too late.
She felt Hannelore channel magic through her, burning her as it forcefully used her as a conduit.The energy moved straight through the mountainside and down the embankment, under the stonework and up through the dirt inside the walled fortress.
Veda cried out sharply as her body jerked, arching as if hit by lightning.Ereven’s sight showed the girl’s entire being light up as Hannelore reached for her.
Stop!The others!Hannelore ignored Daya’s plea, continuing to pulse waves through her that made her tremble, intent on making a connection with the girl.You’re risking all the others.The darkness will worsen if we fail.
Magic continued to pour through her despite her attempt to wrestle control over it from Hannelore.It powered the connection, joining them all together.Magic infused the girl so thoroughly that her image blurred for an instant with the earthen tones of guardian magic.
It is done.Hannelore’s satisfaction was thorough.The next guardian rises.
Daya’s heart stopped in deafening silence as the revelation hit her.Ember and Ereven’s shrieks of recognition drowned out all else in her mind.Her breath staggered as she resumed breathing, and her body absorbed the emotional blow.
I’m not ready.She pulled back, fighting the connection for a second before her mind took control of her overwhelmed spirit and deepened the bond that was forming among the three of them, their new charge, and the mountain that had called them all.It didn’t matter whether she was ready or not.The moment couldn’t be undone.
She is needed.As are you.The mountain didn’t clarify its reasoning for calling the girl and awakening her magic.
Daya had been older, a mature adult when she’d been called by the mountain.The guardian before her had trained her and worked with her until she was ready to pass on.It was the way.Time orchestrating to give each guardian three to four hundred years, with a few decades overlapping between guardians to pass on the rites and knowledge.But she hadn’t spent more than a hundred years alone.
Movement drew her eyes back to the keep to see a pair of soldiers hustle outside.They surveyed the otherwise quiet grounds for threats.One separating to do a perimeter check.
Oh no.This was exactly what she’d been afraid of when Hannelore blew up their well-laid plans for stealth.Go back inside.
The remaining solider walked over to Veda and nudged her with his foot.After checking that she was still securely chained, he leaned down to say something to her.Veda shook her head as she continued to cry softly.
