28. Emi
Robin stepped through the gap into the forest and fluttered free from her clothes to soar up through the Mist. For a heartbeat, I sympathized with Wolf, because she did indeed have a rather impressive red breast.
“That”s my cue,” said Hawk, following suit and emerging with golden wings and a stunning red tail. His severe nose as a man translated to a deadly curved beak, and his wingspan surpassed that of any bird I’d ever seen. With a shiver, I recalled the shadow that had ghosted over me the day I first ran to the cottage and crashed into Wolf. So much had changed since then.
The rest of us ground-dwellers made do on legs, and soon Amber and I were being escorted by a wolf, two lynxes (because Bob had refused to let Lynx go alone), and a rather enormous brown bear. We spread all but one of my emeralds around the enclave walls, and with Amber’s guidance, their locations became a tingling presence my magic reached for. With a bit of experimenting, I started to get a feel for how channeling magic might work for me.
“I think you’re ready,” Amber encouraged.
The birds circled high above us and Robin sang a sweet trill that settled my nerves and left me more determined than ever.
When we reached the spot Amber decided would work best, I drew in a deep breath and tried to remember everything I’d learned so far about my magic. This time, I had someone with me to coach me and ground me.
“Do you feel it?” Amber asked.
I closed my eyes and let myself feel the thrum of magic all around us. Like I’d noticed the first time, the enclave was a bright well of it, but I looked past that and found the bleak pull of dark magic below that. It was everywhere, seeping into every crevice and crack in the dry dirt, casting the forest into shadow. The more I noticed it, the more it pulled at me, hunting down any joy I held and filling those holes with dread.
“I feel it,” I said with a shudder.
“Good, now don’t let go.” Amber reached out her hand for me.
Our magic connected with a jolt. Between our palms, we clasped two stones, one amber and one emerald. That bubbling energy from deep inside me swelled to meet her calmer force, and my confidence swelled with it.
She planted her other hand firmly against a massive tree that wove into the thorny enclave wall. As soon as she made contact with the plants, magic surged through us. It took my breath away.
I could feel all of it. The whole forest was connected, and Amber was my bridge to every root and bright thread of mycelium woven underground, to every straining leaf seeking light far above us. Our ambers and emeralds around the enclave were blinding portals funnelling our magic together in ribbons of green and gold, threading through the vast woven walls into the fabric of the forest.
The underground mycorrhizal network and all the plants reaching above it were one brilliantly complex map of lines and sparks, swirling and stretching far beyond where we stood. It crawled to the mountains at the very top of Anterra and dragged far down to the sea at the other end. I felt all of it, along with the misty pall that clung to it.
My mind pulled in every direction. Amber’s magic was a writhing, living thing. It reached tender shoots to wrap around stems and branches and dragged my vivid pulsing magic up tree trunks along strangling vines.
She was far better at controlling the channel of magic through her gemstones, and I tried to follow the sensations as she coaxed it this way and that, pushing our combined forces out through the community of flora. Amber could grow new plants and fresh shoots, but could I help the already dying parts of the forest recover from the curse? The plants closest to us trembled and grew, unfurling new greens in front of my eyes. I focused on the drooping fern beyond which prowled my tawny wolf.
Seeing Wolf there watching me with eyes of gleaming silver brought a hot lick of power to my palm. I remembered how it felt to heal those awful wounds on Wolf’s body. Just like watching his flesh repair itself and knit back together, I watched the fern shake off the forest’s neglect, new fronds replacing the shrivelled brown. Was that me? Had I healed that one plant?
My bright surge of success faded fast. One plant was nothing. Even if I healed every tree, branch by branch, that wasn’t a solution. Sure, I could help trees to reach above the hovering shroud, but breaking the curse was much more than that. We had to heal the essence of the forest, chasing out the shadows of dark magic that still lurked under everything.
I would have to use the full extent of my power to help the forest to heal itself—help everything within it to shake off the curse the way the fern had done. If my experiments so far had shown me anything, it was that I couldn’t simply banish the Mist. But with the might of an entire forest fighting with me thanks to Amber, maybe we could do it together.
Of course, that simple wish would have been too easy. A crash of branches had my eyes flying open to see a bulky shape hurdling toward us. Wolf growled a warning that raised the hairs on the back of my neck, but Bear had it covered. His huge form barrelled into the hairy monster before it could reach us, and they tumbled away into towering Mist.
Now that my eyes were open, I realized how much the Mist was churning and thickening, swirling around us with furious intensity. I lost sight of Wolf and Bear in Mist so dense it engulfed everything, obscuring my own hand in front of me. My heart pounded so hard I feared it would burst free.
“Keep going!” Amber’s voice encouraged through the haze.
The warmth of her hand in mine reassured me that I wasn’t alone. As I reached deep to extend my power, the darkness of the curse pushed back.
It was like the curse recognized me as a threat and it began to pull everything it had into fighting against me as hard as I fought against it. Roaring, crashing, pounding…the forest came alive with Mist and shadow.
Monsters came crashing in from everywhere, racing toward us. The beasts long ago claimed by Aglonbriar closed in on us as Ruby’s curse drew them to its protection. It knew it was under attack and it had teeth and claws to fight back.
Well, I wouldn’t let it win.
Somehow, Amber and I remained untouched, though for how long was anyone’s guess. Sounds of battle rose all around us.
“We have to hurry,” I shouted to her, redoubling my efforts with a surge of power.
Panic was already rising in my throat at the thought of what was happening beyond the veil of white. Beasts roared and howled in fury or pain, it was hard to tell which.
I couldn’t sort friend from foe, but it was clear the enclave shifters were at war to protect us. My heart clenched at the thought of them getting hurt—or worse. Was I worth their protection? What was the cost?
Branches crashed as monsters swarmed us. I couldn’t see much, but our allies fought hard. A dark form darted past, chased by impressive antlers atop a towering moose. I’d met the man named Moose, I realized with a start. More of the shifters from inside the walls must have joined the fight.
Where was Wolf? I couldn’t see!
Something enormous rushed at us, and I almost lost my grip. A scream lodged in my throat at the sight of long hairy legs clambering through the Mist. Too many legs. I suddenly regretted the spiders I’d saved because this one…Oh, clouded skies. It was coming straight for me, all scuttling and clicking and horrifying.
I couldn”t stand against that! A sharp ache that had no place in this moment twisted my gut at the thought of never seeing my father again, never knowing if he’d missed me. This really wasn’t the time to lose focus! If I died now, it was all for nothing.
I tugged Amber’s hand. Maybe we could shelter behind a tree. Maybe we could…no. It was almost on us. I could put her behind me. Keep her safe as long as I could…
Hairy limbs flew at me. But at the last heartbeat, my wolf was there. Sharp teeth bared, he leaped from the Mist at the giant spider. Wolf’s fierce snarl should have frozen me with fear, but it warmed my soul.
My protector.
They tumbled away, and magic surged with my relief. But it was short-lived because a brand new fear quickly filled the space. Between swirls of thick white, I saw Wolf get slammed into the ground with a yelp.
“Wolf!”
Amber tightened her grip to jerk me back. “Hold on!”
“No. I have to—”
“I see it!”
Ivy ripped from the closest tree trunk and lashed toward the pair. Wolf was back on four feet, but he was limping as he lunged at one of the spider’s legs. Amber’s ivy looped around two more legs and the monster went crashing to the forest floor as she squeezed the lasso closed. Tawny fur blurred through the air after it.
Then Mist tore the scene from my view and the temperature plummeted. A tearing wind ripped through the forest, the likes of which I’d never felt. I’d only read of wind like this in books from back when Anterra had weather that wasn’t constant Mist. It felt like the whole world had been summoned to the fight.
My lungs seized as if the gust had sucked all the air away, and I gasped while hair tore free from my braid to whip across my face. My cloak was a force of its own, jailing my legs and snapping in the wind. Trees lashed back and forth above us, sending seasons worth of dead leaves and needles raining down on us. Mist swirled, trying desperately to hang on while Amber and I sent everything we had out through our linked magic, urging the forest to shake off the clutches of the curse. It burned like fire in my veins.
Fear clenched my heart, knowing Wolf was out there, battling monsters in a fierce tempest, protecting us as we worked. I had to help him.
The howl could have been the wind, but I knew at the core of myself that it was him, letting me know he was still there. Letting me know he believed in me. If he could trust in me, then I had to trust in myself.
Help them, I pushed at my magic.
In this swirling chaos, I couldn”t be certain if I could see anything at all, or if my vision had been engulfed entirely and the images I saw were no more than the dying shadows of the curse. Shapes blurred past me. The sounds of the forest faded into distant echoes as fatigue threatened to pull me under. I knew, then, what I had to do.
I am Emerald Brightbane. The blood of the witch courses in my veins.
I was Ruby’s granddaughter, I shared her blood, and I was the one who would end her curse.
Drawing my dagger with my left hand, I dug the tip into my right elbow above the hand that still clutched Amber’s. Blood dripped through the white tendrils wound around me. As the crimson touched it, the Mist began to disperse like tendrils of smoke.
The forest quaked, the roars of the beasts deafening again in their fury. But within the tempest of chaos, a flicker of change stirred. The curse trembled under the onslaught.
All around me, as red drops fell, the clouds cleared. Mist peeled away with the wind.
Soon, Amber and I stood in a rapidly expanding clearing. The menacing figures and feral growls receded with the Mist. Beasts and monsters too far gone to live outside the curse fled with it. Hot blood dripped down my arm to the forest floor, where it vanished into parched dirt. My body trembled, until I realized it was the ground trembling, not me. I’d held on to the feeling of the dark magic, just like Amber said, and now I pried its last fingers loose from around my throat and cast it away.
The scream that tore out of me was primal, and I made no effort to silence it. I bellowed against my timidness and anxiety in the past, released every old effort at propriety and every envious need to be wanted. I screamed my own fervent want to the skies.
It became a battle between light and darkness, hope and despair.
The wind abated. The forest stilled.
Warm sunshine hit my face as if I’d stepped through a gate to Zocere again and found myself in an afternoon sunbeam. My lungs drew oxygen like a greedy flame.
Above me, Robin and Hawk circled and dove for the safety of the ground, and then…they changed. Feathers and wings became skin and arms. The forest beyond their bleary forms was transformed, bathed in light that shone through the canopy. Around us, it was reawakened, vibrant and renewed. We weren’t done, though. We had to finish it; break the curse once and for all.
Magic cascaded from my blood to the veins of the forest. Amber amplified my efforts, spreading it through the plants, ensuring it coursed from root to root and branch to branch, to the farthest corners of Aglonbriar, prying every last grasp of darkness from the land. Tendrils of healing power replaced the embrace of the Mist around ancient trees, reviving their strength, coaxing life into their weary forms.
Every ounce of energy within me channeled into the task, flowing with my blood into the forest’s fabric. I found untapped reservoirs of power to spread to every reach of the forest. Mist coiled and writhed far from us, resisting our efforts with its dying gasp. It lashed out, attempting to snuff out my flickering hope. I refused to yield.
My heart raced, hopeful for the end, terrified to learn the cost…
This time, I was desperate to be enough. Together, all of us…It had to be enough.
Then the world began to darken again, my vision clouding over, and I feared the worst. Had we come this close only to fail at the last? I tried to keep going, but I couldn’t feel my body anymore. My magic ached with a hollow pain, then faded away entirely. “No.” It came out as a whispered plea.
I had to be enough.
“Emerald, stop now.” The woman’s voice was gentle and familiar, but distant.
Another voice joined it, rough and deep and urgent. “Em! Stop, Emi, please. You did it. You can stop now, sweetheart. Please, Emi, stay with me.”
Arms caught me as I fell. Darkness stole the remaining light.
At first, I couldn”t make sense of the vague shapes haloed against the shattering brightness beyond my slivered eyelids. Also, that insufferable pounding needed to stop, except it seemed to be coming from inside my head.
Parts of my body hurt that I didn’t think could hurt. I couldn’t remember how to tell my arms or legs to move, or my head to turn toward the noise that filtered through the heavy thudding in my skull.
It took several more heartbeats before sounds sorted themselves into voices and words I could process.
“She depleted her magic, but she”ll recover. You need to stand down, Wolf. None of us want to hurt her.” The voice was feminine and reassuring.
There was a growled response that didn’t sound like agreement.
Events trickled back to me. Amber. Was that her voice? We’d been trying to break the curse. Did I fail? Is that why I was like this?
“We might want to throw her a parade,” said another amused voice I recognized as Robin, “but not hurt her.”
Then an earnest, young tone I thought was Fox said, “You did it, Wolf. The prophecy said you’d gain the means to end the curse. Whatever our lives are after this, we owe them to you and her.”
Then, finally, I heard the voice that made my heart sing. “I didn”t do anything. It was all her, and if it kills her…”
”Wolf,” I whispered.
“Emi?”
”I”m ... not dead ... don”t worry.”
His laugh sounded like he might collapse. “You scared me.”
“Why … so bright?”
This time I could hear his smile. “Open your eyes, witchling. There”s blue sky.”
But as my eyelids lifted, the impossible cerulean canvas didn’t steal my breath so much as the quicksilver gaze looking down on me with relief and joy and something so precious I couldn’t name it.