The Silvia Saga: Boxset

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Dara

We stay like this for a good few minutes, silently pledging our allegiance to one another. That we will be in this together. One by one, my warriors pull away and sit back down in our circle. Jolie reaches behind her, collecting some crystals. She places an amazonite crystal in front of me followed by an agate and tiger’s eye in a line connecting straight between Blair and me. She does the same in the opposite direction. Once she’s finished, there’s a cross down the centre of our circle, connecting us all. She picks up the smudge stick that’s full of lavender and sage. After lighting it, she moves around the circle, letting the scent fill the air. My eyes close, I take in the aroma, and my body instantly relaxes.

Jolie brushes past me as she sits back down next to me, taking my left hand while Oliver takes my right. Opening my eyes, I look around to see everyone’s hands are now connected. The crystals and smudge stick are in the centre of the circle.

“Everyone, close your eyes.” Jolie’s voice fills the room. My eyes close at her command. I feel Oliver’s hand relax into mine.

“Breathe in deeply. One, two, and out, three, four, five … and again.” The scent fills my senses. My body relaxes into the united rhythm of our breath. My magic buzzes easily.It’s like coming home to a best friend—a part of me that’s finally reuniting.

“Repeat after me, in your head,” Jolie instructs us.“Help us in guiding Dara to her Ruby stone. Help her see where Ruby is. Show her the way. Take our power and give it to her. We are one. We are her warriors. Help us help her. Show her Ruby.” Jolie’s words finish, and silence greets me.

Several seconds go by, then my body starts buzzing and a light tingle begins in my toes, moving ever so slowly up my legs, travelling into my hips, and then my belly explodes with butterflies. My spine, where my tattoo is, starts tingling. It’s slow at first, then the sensation picks up. It’s getting hotter and hotter until I think that I can’t bear it anymore. My head snaps back, and I let out a piercing scream.

“Keep repeating what I said,” Jolie screams out over the top of me.

Stars explode in my vision, then I feel my magic bursting to the surface; it’s raging to explode out of me.

My eyes open, but I’m not in the living room anymore, I’m somewhere else entirely. I’m floating above a room but it’s blurry and dark. I try to glance around, panicked. But then I feel it; I feel her. My Ruby is here.

My vision starts to fade back into the living room. I try to stay in this other space to find something that I can remember but everything’s fading away. A bright red light blinds my vision with sparkles.

Come get me, Dara. I want to be with my family, a voice sings to me, but then everything goes grey, getting darker and darker. I try to open my mouth to talk but I can’t.I’m paralysed. This place feels familiar, but I can’t see anything.

Everything vanishes and I’m back in the living room, surrounded by my warriors. I gasp, pulling my hands away from Jolie and Oliver. I jump up into a standing position. My body feels alight. My tattoo is tingling, and I need to move. I feel Ruby. She’s close.

“Quick, get everything ready, Harlan and Declan. We need to go with Dara now. She’s connected to Ruby. It’s guiding her,” Jolie yells to the room, but I don’t stop. I follow the pull that leads me straight out our front door.

She’s pulling me closer. I can feel her. My body moves without me doing anything.

I feel Jolie next to me and Declan on my other side as we walk through the forest.

I look over my shoulder to see Albert running up behind us. “I’ll raise a foot army to follow behind. Protect Dara and let’s take back Silvia.” His voice fades away into the background.

We make it to the border of our village just as the others catch up. Everyone’s here, including Alaric and Kayla. Harlan places himself next to me as I lead everyone. I can’t look at their faces; I need to keep my focus on Ruby and feel her pulsing, connecting with my other stones. A flash of black invades my vision, Oliver transforms into his panther and charges ahead.

Taking a deep breath, I remove him from my thoughts and focus back on Ruby. We continue walking through the sparse forest. Our feet crunch the dried leaves on the ground. I can feel everyone’s on edge, not knowing where we’ll be led to. We make turns left and right then keep straight. Time seems to evaporate and doesn’t exist anymore.

The surroundings start to become familiar. The trees become dense then the castle comes into view. My body suddenly stops. Blair smashes into my back, almost causing me to fall, but he wraps his arm around my stomach, holding me up.

We’re at the back of the castle, and it’s then I know she’s in there—my Ruby. Of course, she has to be in the worst possible place. James has the castle on lockdown, and it won’t be long before the slayers come out in numbers, fighting us away. They are probably watching us now, waiting for our next move.

“Ruby’s here, inside the castle,” I say, turning to my warriors.

Oliver is still in his panther form; he moves ahead slightly, sniffing the ground. Suddenly, he stops and lets out a piercing roar that has me covering my ears. We all step back, his warning setting off alarm bells. He must sense something. Alaric moves closer to Oliver, stepping in front of Kayla as we slowly continue to move backward. What the hell is he doing?

Run, now, Oliver screams through our bond but it’s too late.

Half of the castle explodes.

Fire burns my skin. I’m thrown back, landing hard against the ground. My ears ring loudly as I look around, panicked. I can’t see a thing; smoke fills the air.

Where is everyone? It takes some effort, but eventually, I’m able to push myself up into a sitting position. Everything’s hazy. Smoke fills the air and my lungs, but I have to find my warriors. They have to be okay.

I inhale a breath of smoke, causing me to cough; it burns deeper, and I keep coughing. Covering my mouth and nose with the sleeve of my top, I look left and right, trying to find everyone.

Someone screams in the distance. I can only faintly hear it, but it sounds like Kayla—like she’s calling Alaric’s name. I walk toward the sound all while trying to see through the haze. My foot connects with something then I hear Harlan swearing. Thank fuck. I move forward to find him, Declan, and Blair standing next to each other. They are looking around through the smoke, moving any debris away. Harlan’s features soften as he sees me. Blair joins me, taking my hand in his and pulling me toward Kayla’s screams for help.

“What the fuck was that?” Declan asks.

“I have no idea, but we need to keep moving,” Harlan says, moving into single file with Harlan leading us with me in the middle and Blair behind me. He doesn’t let go of my hand. Declan walks next to me, constantly looking around us; he’s got black ash down the side of his face, and it makes him look lethal. Harlan stops and the smoke clears. My heart stops and I run past Harlan and fall to the ground next to Kayla. She’s leaning over a body, sobbing loudly. I wrap my arms around her, and she falls into me. She moves back and I can see Alaric lying on the ground, unmoving.