“Get out of my way,” I snarled. Fire sprang to my fingertips, and this time I embraced it. Satisfaction surged in me as Dune took a fearful step back, and I let the flames build into twin fire balls, urging them to grow brighter, hotter—
“NO!”
My mother flung out a free hand in my direction, power rippling from her in waves of sparkling green light. The earth rumbled beneath our feet, then opened directly under me like a sprung trap. Our eyes met for a split second as I fell into the darkness below, and in her gaze I saw myriad emotions—guilt, regret, anger, determination.
But most importantly, love.
Then the ground swallowed me whole, and I saw no more.
6
Adara
“No!” I screamed as the earth closed over my head. I clawed at the dirt, trying to dig my way back, but before I could get more than a handful, a hidden force propelled me forward with the strength of a tidal wave.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!” I wailed, but the earth kept moving. It was carrying me away from the house at impossible speeds, rattling my brain, shoving my heart into my throat and turning my bones liquid. Panic screeched through my nerves, and it took everything I had in me not to pass out as the earth rumbled around me.
Just when I thought I was going to be stuck underground forever, the earth spat me out. I landed hard on the ground, choking and sputtering, wiping dirt from my eyes and coughing it from my lungs. My entire body trembled with shock, and I closed my eyes against my surroundings, which were spinning so fast I wanted to throw up. Sucking in a deep breath, I stayed where I was, and forced myself to think calming thoughts.
Eventually my heart stopped pounding, and the roaring in my ears died down, replaced by the sound of wildlife rustling in the bushes nearby. I cracked my eyes open, and sighed in relief when instead of a spinning world, I was met by a canopy of mercifully still tree branches. They were almost completely bare, stripped of their leaves by the north winds heralding the coming winter.
Groaning, I pushed myself to my feet. I felt battered, as if I’d been kicked and punched repeatedly all over my body. Which, in a way, I had. Scowling, I turned around, inspecting my surroundings, trying to figure out where I was. The earth surrounding my feet looked completely undisturbed, as though a hole hadn’t opened up and ejected me into the middle of a forest. And it did look like I was smack dab in the middle—I couldn’t see anything beyond the trees except, well, more trees. Oh, and fog. Swirls of it, clinging to the trunks, turning the air murky.
“Great,” I muttered. How was I supposed to get back to my mother? I shuddered to think of what General Slaugh might be doing to her. I had no doubt it had been her who’d sent me away—but how? My whole life I thought she’d been a healer, her talent lying in her ability to draw out the concentrated essence of any plant and use it to make potent remedies. The fact that Mother been able to manipulate the earth, with enough power to send me miles away from home, meant that she was a Greater Fae.
More secrets she’s been keeping from me.
Bitterness tried to take root in my heart, but I pushed it out. There was no time for that. Right now, my mother was in grave danger, and I needed to find my way back before something horrible happened to her. I had no idea where to go, so I just started walking forward, following the narrow deer trail before me. If I kept moving, I would eventually reach the end of the forest, or at leastsomekind of landmark that would tell me where to go next.
The surrounding forest quieted at the sound of my footfalls, and nerves prickled at the back of my neck, aware of the creatures watching my progress silently. Lifting my hand, I tugged on the hidden power that had awoken in me, and concentrated. A flame sparked to life in my palm, hovering just above my skin. There was still plenty of daylight, but fire was useful for keeping predators away, so I kept the flame burning in my hand as I walked. I would just have to be careful not to lose control of it, the way I had during the tryouts.
I wish I had more travel experience,I thought glumly as I walked through the dense forest. I’d only traveled beyond Fenwood a handful of times, usually on trips with my mother to neighboring villages, and once to Talamh, to find rare herbs or texts she needed. I’d always thought it odd that such an educated fae chose to live in a small town like Fenwood, away from the halls of learning she’d obviously grown up around. But after tonight, I wondered if she’d chosen Fenwood for a specific reason. To keep me safe, away from prying eyes.
But why had I needed to be hidden? My powers were definitely unusual—I still couldn’t fathom how I had the ability to wield fire—but I didn’t understand why the king was so desperate to capture me. General Slaugh had mentioned a prophecy—what was that about? And why had my mother stopped me from using my fire magic on him and Dune? The two obviously had no love lost between each other. If Mother really was a Greater Fae, she and Slaugh would be from the same house. So how had they become enemies?
These thoughts continued to chase themselves around in my head, digging up more and more questions as I walked. Hour after hour I moved through the trees, until my temples pounded and my feet ached and I wanted nothing more than to lie down. Between the tryouts and the traumatic experience of being swallowed and crushed by the earth, every inch of my body was crying out in pain.
But I couldn’t stop. Not when my mother was in danger.
“Lost, are you, little one?”
I whipped my head around at the baritone voice. An earth fae perched on a rock, smoking a pipe. His long, pointed ears stuck out from beneath a wild mane of curling white hair. His dark skin was wrinkled with age, and his faded, threadbare tunic had clearly seen better days, but his eyes, a startling green with gold-rimmed pupils, were bright and sharp.
Those eyes.I’d seen them before, on someone else. But where? I wracked my brain as I tried to remember, but I was so tired I could barely think straight.
“Who are you?” I finally asked, looking around to see if there were any other signs of civilization. Perhaps a house nearby, where this man lived? “And where am I?”
“Ahhh, so you are lost.” He puffed out three concentric circles of blue-grey smoke. I knew that color well—it was the exact shade of my hair. “We’re in the Barrowood Forest, girl.”
I swallowed, hard. If memory served, Barrowood Forest was a good twenty miles east of Fenwood, halfway to Talamh. It would take me hours to get home, provided I was even going in the right direction! Plus, the forest was said to be haunted, home to spirits both fell and friendly. No wonder I was getting chills all over my body.
“Can you help me get out of here?” I asked him. “I need to get home to my mother. She’s in grave danger.”
The elderly fae smiled, and nodded his head to the left. “Those who need help should follow the lights. They’ll take you where you need to go.”
I turned in the direction he was pointing, and stared. A fork split off from the path I’d been walking. Tiny, glowing blue orbs of light hovered along the new path at intervals, and I blinked several times, trying to decide if what I was seeing was real. I was pretty sure neither the path nor the lights had been there before—surely I would have noticed.
“How—” I turned back to address him, but the fae had vanished. The plume of smoke hovering in the air was the only indication he’d been there at all.
