"What's this vortex? Where are you taking me?
Torin grinned.
"You never could control your women, Cillian. Let me show you how it's done."
Cillian angrily pushed him aside. Torin laughed but he didn't try to come near me again.
"Shh," he whispered in my ear. "Don't try to fight it. I promise you'll be safe if you trust me. When I tell you to close your eyes and jump, close them, jump, and don't open them again until I say so."
Safe?Jumping Into that?Was he insane?
“Shit, shit—no!” I screamed, terrified, as Cillian dragged me toward the widening vortex that spiralled down into the water.
“I’m not jumping! Let me go!
"It's nearly time," Fionn said, pointing the dagger downward with his left hand.
Torin stepped beside his brother, gripped his shoulder and closed his eyes while Fionn reached out to grip Cillian's shoulder. Their hair whipped wildly and haloed around them.
"Listen to me, Tilly," Fionn shouted without turning toward me. "Do exactly as we say or face the consequences."
The light faded as the vortex descended and channelled into the dagger, the eye illuminated with spectral fire. A maelstrom of violent wind erupted and bent the shuddering trees behind the bridge until they cracked and groaned. I clung to Cillian, not out of trust—but to avoid being swept into the churning water.
Lightning raked the sky and exploded in dazzling shards around us. Fionn and Torin remained motionless as the vortex engulfed the dagger and fragmented into countless radiating beams that vanished into the rippling, swirling water.
The wind eased, but my panic surged. I screamed and fought to pull away from Cillian’s grip. From a distance, the blare of an approaching train silenced my screams. The track vibrated ominously, and I realised that I had nowhere to run.
I could jump when Cillian told me to, or I could stay here and be killed by a train. I didn't know which was the worst option, but at least if I was alive, I still had a tiny hope of escape.
Torin turned from the water and grinned
“Try to keep up,” he said, then leapt backwards off the bridge, somersaulting twice before diving toward the vortex.
Cillian clasped me tightly to his chest, and although I wanted to push away, but survival won. I wanted to live more than I wanted to escape, and right now, Cillian felt like my only lifeline.
"Don't be afraid. There's nothing to worry about I swear," Cillian said.
I wasn't convinced that was true. I looked down in shock, feeling sick as Torin dropped from a height that he'd surely not survive. He descended toward an eruption of light as it exploded into a spectrum of gauzy, gyrating colours. Resembling the aurora borealis. In the flicker of an eye, he vanished before he touched the water. My mind rebelled. This couldn’t be real. How could he just vanish like that? I could only glimpse the dizzying spectacle for a moment before I had to shut my eyes again.
"Jump now," Fionn ordered, leaping as he spoke.
Cillian gripped me tighter until I could barely breathe.
“No, you’re flipping crazy. I’m not doing this!” I shouted. Then quieter, “Please,” I whispered, my voice lost in the roar of the train and the hum of the vortex.
“I don’t want to die.”
“I won’t let you go," Cillian said, urgency threading his voice. "But you must hold onto me. No matter what, don’t let go.
Before I could respond, he jumped. Terrified, I closed my eyes and clung to him and felt us fall, my screams echoing through the now-still air as we plummeted toward the water. My stomach lurched, and I flailed against Cillian. Approaching the water, the brilliant spectrum of light fanned out in all directions. The moment we connected with the water, we slipped into a roaringtunnel of pulsing light so bright I had to shut my eyes against its brilliance.
“Don’t let go!” Cillian’s voice echoed. “Otherwise, it will throw us!”
Energy seized us and every nerve within me danced. I felt pulled in a thousand directions, yet somehow whole.
It didn’t hurt. It felt like flying, like I was free.
Then the feeling vanished. I screamed again as I was hurled to the ground. Strong hands reached for me.
