Chapter Seventeen
Leila
“What?” I wildly turned in a circle, but we weren’t anywhere near the ward that marked off the border.
“The fae realm is shrinking—all the Courts are trying to deal with it. But most monarchs can subsidize the ward’s power and lessen the shrinking effect. Since we haven’t had a ruler in months, the Night Court has been rapidly shrinking.”
I started to swear, but cut myself off—there wasn’t time for that. “What can I do?”
Indigo shook her head. “You can try to add your power to the ward, but—wait—you haven’t been trained for it!”
I ignored the warning and wriggled my way onto Eclipse’s back. “I have to try. Eclipse, let’s go!”
At my urging, the mare swiveled in a tight turn, then lunged into a canter.
I was riding bareback—which was fun, but not in the night and while racing through a dangerous fae realm—and bridle-less—which I had never done before.
Go me, getting all of these “fun” new experiences.
Eclipse streaked through the realm. Everything was a dark blur, and my eyes teared up.
I clung to her back, terrified that if I fell off I’d seriously hurt myself. We were movingthatfast.
I could hear the calls of the other night mares—they must have followed us. Based on the occasional awful scream, it seemed the glooms, and probably the shades, were coming along as well.
But above all of that—even above the wind streaming past my ears—was the terrible rumbling of the failing ward.
Eclipse had worked up a sweat by the time we reached the ward—even though it was a lot cooler here in the Night Realm. I wasn’t sure how long we’d run, but my fingers ached from gripping her mane, and my legs were starting to cramp from squeezing her sides when she slowed to a trot and then a walk.
I impatiently rubbed my eyes, trying to clear them.
We stood in a meadow, which was divided in half. The half I stood on was clear and glittered with moonlight, although the grass was mostly weeds and looked pretty shriveled.
The sliced off half was a hazy black. The grass had died there, and the only remaining evidence that trees had ever been on that side were a few dead stumps. The air moved weirdly, too—it danced like heat above pavement on a hot day.
A pale yellow barrier of magic divided the areas. Fae symbols and letters forged of glowing magic were burned into the ward, and they flared as the toxic magic on the other side of the barrier pushed against it.
Blue Moon trumpeted at the wall, and Nebula pawed the ground with a hoof and tossed her head. It seemed like for now it was just me and the night mares. The shades and glooms hadn’t caught up yet.
I shook my wrist, the familiar bangles of my charm bracelet providing minimal reassurance as I gazed at the wall. “Flore!”
My charm bracelet glowed, and I pulled magic through it. “Let’s hope I’m doing this right!”
When I was a kid and attended classes to learn how to use magic, I’d learned a bit about combining spells with other fae.
I wasbettingthis was a similar idea—I could add my power to the structure of the spell. The trick was adding it correctly so I didn’tbreakanything.
I thrust my arm out in front of me—my palm flat—and willed the spun magic to join in the ward by filtering it in through a few specific symbols.
My magic—the same purplish color as my eyes—glowed as it entered the ward, adding a purplish patch to the ward.
I couldfeelthe ward. It was ancient, and immense. As I threw more magic at it, I could see the complex spell work behind the barrier. And I felt it sputter, and weaken.
Eclipse abruptly made a sharp turn, and cantered off.
I yelped and would have slipped over her side, but she crow hopped, throwing me back into place.
“Wait—I can do more!” I shouted. The rumbling noise was so loud, I couldn’t even hear myself. It was like being stuck in a giant clock.
