25. The source #2
Isolde was quiet. It didn’t matter if Mia was right or not. She knew what she had to do. What Felix wanted to do was up to him. She fought the urge to turn around, to catch his gaze and see him smile or wink at her. She fought it all day, even though it hurt.
***
“There is a ley line ahead,” Luella said to the group at large, frowning. “But crossing it is going to be a problem.”
It soon became clear why. The ley line was the same shimmering blue ribbon in the ground as the last one, except this time it was as if it had dug itself into the earth, creating a jagged crevice that tore across the landscape like an ancient scar.
Steep cliffs – two, three times the height of a man – rose on both sides of it.
Luella leaned forward, frowning. “The horses can’t cross this.”
“No shit,” Felix grumbled. “Is there no crossing anywhere east or west?”
Luella shook her head. “I have tried to see as far as I can in both directions, and it’s like this everywhere.”
Isolde lowered her hand to Shadow’s neck. “We can’t just abandon them! What will happen to them?”
“They’ll manage,” Garren said. “Horses have instincts. They’ll wander back to Leif’s village eventually.”
“Unless they get eaten by wolves, or starve!” Isolde said, clutching the reins. “They have carried us all this way!”
Leif dismounted and crouched by the edge of the chasm, his head tilting as he gauged the distance. “We could build a ramp or something?”
Felix fixed him with a withering glare. “What are you going to build this ramp out of? Rocks? ”
“Maybe they could jump?” Mia offered half-heartedly, glancing at the ley line down below.
“It is a bit far for that,” Garren said dryly, as if speaking to a child.
For a brief moment, Isolde had the wild idea of using her magic to levitate the horses across, but she dismissed it as quickly.
They would panic; there was no telling what would happen.
An awful image of Shadow at the bottom of the chasm with broken legs appeared unbidden in her mind.
That was more than enough for her to decide it wasn’t worth the risk.
She dismounted quietly and stroked Shadow’s nose.
Losing her favourite horse was just what the day needed to truly hit her where it hurt all over again, but she almost didn’t feel it anymore.
Maybe she’d reached her limit of feeling things.
“Right,” Luella said, looking critically at the piles of tack and gear they’d removed from the horses. “We take the provisions, weapons of course, bedrolls. Only the essentials. Leave everything else behind. We still have a long way to go.”
Isolde did not miss the worried flash across Luella’s face. The weather was only going to get colder, and sleeping was a lot rougher without tents. But carrying them around was even more problematic, so they had little choice.
She lingered by Shadow, telling the horse to stay with the others, to be good and to go back to the village. From the corner of her eye, she saw Felix approach.
“I’m sorry, Isa. They’ll be alright,” he said.
Isolde nodded mutely.
The climb down was manageable with the aid of a rope, and soon they all stood in the cool, still air at the bottom of the chasm. The glinting blue ley line was just in front of them, waiting. Calling. She was almost glad it had crossed their path that day.
The others watched in tense silence as Isolde stepped forward without hesitation. The moment her boots touched the shimmering surface, a blinding light exploded outward, searing and radiant, and the magic enveloped and embraced her like an old friend.
The wave of magic and power threatened to overwhelm her as before, to draw her out of herself entirely. But unlike last time, she stood her ground. She allowed the presence to surround her, to hold on to her, but not to overtake her. I am my own person, she repeated over and over in her mind.
Then, to her shock, there was an answer.
It wasn’t a voice; it just was. An acknowledgement.
It startled her, even in this state of subconsciousness.
The surprise nearly caused her resolve to crumble, the threads to unravel.
But she recovered, steeling her mind, sustained by her sheer determination to get answers. Who are you?
The answer was an image, a vision. Isolde saw a great circular room.
It looked like a temple, with an impossibly high, vaulted ceiling and an imposing podium in the centre.
Above it, suspended in mid-air, was magic.
There was no doubt about it. It was both light and dark, calm and chaos.
A thin, silvery thread linked it to a stone slab beside the dais.
Before Isolde could react, both the vision and the presence were gone. She plunged into the rapids, trying to reach out for it.
I need to know more!
But the current slowed, pushing her out, retreating into its space at the back of her mind.
She found herself sitting down on the ley line, legs folded underneath her, her palms flat on the surface.
When she was sure she was entirely herself, she leapt up and looked around frantically for the others.
She spotted Garren first and rushed over.
“It is magic! Magic is at the Nexus! The… the thing that needs my help is magic itself!” She was babbling and waving her hands wildly, and somewhere inside she distantly realised she must appear completely unhinged, but she didn’t care.
“My lady,” Garren said in his best soothing voice, “slow down. What are you talking about?”
She took a breath, but the words continued spilling out of her. “The Nexus is not the centre of the ley lines; it is the source! The source of all magic is at the Nexus, and it is a… a living thing! And it needs me to… to do something.”
Felix stared at her with a mixture of amazement and worry. Mia was gaping. “The source of… all magic is some kind of… creature?” she asked, her eyes huge.
“Yes! No!” Isolde said. “It’s not a creature; it’s… something else. Something… vast. I can’t explain it.” She frowned. What was it? A spirit? Why did she not know? She turned abruptly, starting back towards the ley line. “I need more.”
Before she reached it, Garren stepped in front of her and caught her arm. His expression was stony; his grip firm. “My lady, that is enough.”
“No! Let me go!” she snapped, tugging at his hold.
Felix was there instantly, Leif a step behind him, both of them closing the distance at the same time. “Let her go,” Felix said, the undercurrent of a threat unmistakable in his voice.
Leif crossed his arms beside Felix and glowered. Garren hesitated, his eyes flicking between the two of them. With a frustrated grunt, he released Isolde’s arm and turned sharply, stalking off without a word.
Isolde wasted no time in reaching back down to the ley line, ignoring everything else.
I need to know more. Tell me more.
But there was nothing. Only the silent current, a limitless source of power that told her nothing at all.
She slowly stood up. “It’s quiet,” she said, unable to mask her disappointment. “It’s gone.”