Chapter 25
Amelia
Shouts went up outside the tent. Casyl shoved the tent flap to the side to see what the commotion was.
A scout had returned to the camp.
They scrambled up and hurried to Elthar’s tent, where the scout was giving his report. Ruven was there, and when they arrived, he gave them a knowing look.
“I wish someone had tended to my wounds,” he whispered to Amelia with a grin.
The scout reported that he had seen a cloud of dust in the distance and stayed long enough to identify an immense human army marching towards them, larger than both fae armies combined.
“We need to move fast,” Elthar said, giving the order for them to pack up quickly and leave.
“What will you do if they catch up to us?” Amelia asked.
She knew that if they engaged in battle, it would be futile for the humans, regardless of their numbers. Because the fae were immortal in this world, they would either have to withstand the human attack or annihilate the army—unless Amelia could convince both sides to stand down.
“I don’t want to find out,” he said. “Let’s just get to the rift before that happens.”
They left in a rush, leaving many of their tents behind.
It wouldn’t take long to get there; they were only a few hours’ ride away from Mount Ryjul. She could see it looming on the horizon, climbing into the sky where it vanished into the clouds above.
They were as ready as they could be as they headed towards the mountain. None of them mentioned the flaws in their plan or the fact that they had no alternative.
They were hoping for the best.
“Eleandor, maybe you and Amelia should take an escort and go ahead of us and search for the runes. You could get there faster than travelling with the army,” Elthar suggested.
“I’ll join them,” Casyl said.
“Of course.”
They galloped ahead of the army with Danae, Ruven, and an escort in tow.
The sun was at the highest point when they reached the base of the mountain range. They had a good head start before the army joined them.
The rift shimmered high on the side of the mountain, surrounded by snow and ice. The greenery of the ancient forest was barely visible from their height.
“The runes are in a cave near the rift. I hope you’re all ready for a hike,” she said.
Amelia had wrapped a cloak around herself against the cold bite of the wind. The higher they climbed, the colder it became.
Her legs ached from the climb and from riding, but she continued as fast as she could, leading them to the caves.
Casyl and Ruven barely exerted themselves, but Eleandor struggled.
This was the only time he’d shown his age.
The fae were youthful in appearance even when considered old.
It was hard to judge exactly how old they were.
She had learned that Eleandor was among the oldest of the fae, alongside Elthar and the late Tiryn.
They reached the cave, and Amelia peered in. “This is the one,” she said, her breath hastened with the exertion of the climb.
Eleandor climbed through the narrow cave opening. It was small, only allowing space for a few of them. Part of it had collapsed during the earthquake. The crevice she’d fallen into was no longer visible under the debris.
The runes had been carved on the wall but had faded with age. Squinting, he tried to make sense of them.
“Well?” Casyl asked impatiently.
“I’m deciphering them,” Eleandor snapped. “They are ancient and badly eroded. I’ve not read runes like these for centuries. Give me a moment.”
Amelia moved closer to the wall. “The runes in the mine were carved later than these, but they were still ancient. Their edges were sharper and the cuts were deeper,” she said.
Eleandor glanced at her. “How much later?”
“Centuries perhaps. I don’t know exactly, but the same symbols were used again by a different hand.”
“Instructions, perhaps, or a warning,” Casyl said.
“Or a record,” Amelia replied. “Proof that the veil weakened more than once.”
They waited. Amelia studied the runes again, though she already knew every mark.
“These are not instructions,” Eleandor said. “They are markers, carved where the veil was naturally weak. But something is now anchoring this fracture, preventing it from mending.”
“They don’t tell you how to close the rift?” she asked.
He paused and pressed his palm against the faded runes. His gaze went distant, fixed on something far beyond their sight. Then his attention settled on her. “Your father found these runes years ago. The mountain remembers him.”
“No.”
She retreated a step.
“My father disappeared during an expedition years ago.”
Eleandor remained silent.
And suddenly she knew. Her father hadn’t been lost. She remembered the vague mine report. He’d found what he’d been looking for. He’d found it before she had.
She remembered the body she’d found in this cave, exposed by the shifting rocks of the earthquake. She looked around for it now. The mountain had swallowed it during the quake.
She recalled the gleam of silver it had held in its hand, the dent across its lid. She had dropped her father’s compass as a child. His initials had been etched inside.
He’d died here, alone.
Her knees threatened to give way. All these years she had imagined him lost somewhere beyond the maps, still searching. He’d never been found. But he had been here. She had stood within arm’s reach of him and not recognised her own father.
She felt Casyl’s warm hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
She sank to the ground, pressing both hands against the cave floor. Somewhere beneath the stone, his body lay.
“The rift—” Eleandor began.
“Give her a moment,” Casyl said.
“We don’t have—”
“A moment,” Casyl snarled.
Amelia stared at the stone, cold beneath her palms. All these years, she had nursed her anger at his abandonment while resenting the way his name followed every achievement of her own.
“I spent my whole life trying to step out of his shadow,” she whispered. “And all this time I’ve been following him to his grave.”
She stood, wiping the tears from her face, and fixed her gaze on Eleandor. They didn’t have much time. She nodded at him to continue.
Eleandor continued. “The rift is a wound in the veil between our worlds. The fracture exposed the magic beneath it, which is why you could sense it. Tiryn later used your ability to suppress that magic and force the wound wider.”
“Did Tiryn suspect this?” Casyl asked.
“I suspect he did. He talked about how humans destroying their world had weakened ours. He must have known that for a human to breach our lands, there must have been a crack in the veil.”
“That doesn’t explain how I entered your world,” Amelia said.
“The fracture was only wide enough for one person. Your connection to both worlds allowed you to pass through it.”
“What connection?”
A tremor passed through the mountain as the army drew closer.
“Can you close the rift?” she asked. It was the only question that mattered.
He inclined his head. “I know what must be done.”
As they came out of the cave, the surrounding landscape was visible for miles. The fae army had almost reached the base of the mountain, while further in the distance the approaching human army spread across the land like a dark wave.
They scrambled across the mountainside to join Elthar.
“Did you find the runes?” Elthar asked.
“Yes, I know what the veil requires,” Eleandor said.
“Good, let’s get going. The human army isn’t far behind us.”
They made their way up to the rift. Elthar was leading his army towards it when the image in the rift changed. Where there should have been trees, a wave of creatures approached from the forest.
“They must have sensed us,” Elthar said. “Get ready to fight them as soon as we walk through,” he ordered his men.
Amelia stood to the side of the rift with Casyl and Danae. Ruven would lead Casyl’s men through while Tharos remained near the back, ready to delay the human army if necessary.
The men dismounted and led their horses through, swords at the ready.
“Danae, can you hold them off?” Casyl asked.
“I’m on it.” Before leaving, Danae turned towards Amelia.
“Amelia, if I don’t see you again… thank you.
It was refreshing to have another woman around.
Makes a change from these idiots.” She laughed and stormed past the men straight towards the Leshies.
A wall of fire roared up before her, the flames licking up to the height of the creatures, making the rift look like the mouth of hell.
The Leshies shrieked as they tried to fight the flames, but the fire held them back as Elthar’s army filtered through the rift into the woods, under the cover of Danae’s flames.
“Run!” Casyl ordered. The warriors dashed through the trees towards the safety of their open lands. The creatures had never followed them out of the forest before, and they hoped they wouldn’t start now.
Casyl ordered his men through next, with Ruven leading them away through the woods while Danae maintained the wall of fire. It was wavering, and the creatures were coming closer to the rift.
“I can’t hold it much longer!” Danae roared.
Eleandor waited beside the rift, watching the armies pass through. On the horizon, the human army drew closer.
Casyl rushed through the rift to defend Danae as her flames suddenly died.
“Close it now!” Danae screamed.
She and Casyl met the nearest Leshies with their swords while the remaining warriors struggled to hold the others back.
Back in the Wildlands, they were mortal once more, and any damage inflicted by the creatures could kill them.
If the Wildlands made the fae mortal, perhaps the creatures could die there too.
Part of Casyl’s army remained on the human side, struggling to reach the rift. In the forest, the Leshies forced those who had already crossed back towards it. With the human army advancing behind them, they would soon be trapped between the two.
Eleandor had to close the rift now.
She’d been staring at Casyl, savouring every last moment of him, even if that was spent worrying about him. Closing the rift would mean losing him.
Eleandor turned to her. “You’re holding the rift open,” he said. “When Tiryn forced your void into the fracture, it became bound to you. You have been suppressing the magic of the veil ever since without knowing it.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“The runes…” she said.
“Only marked where the veil was weak. The void is bound to your life. As long as you live, it will remain within the fracture. I said nothing in front of Casyl. He would never allow you to do what must be done. It cannot close if you remain connected to it…”
As long as she lived, the veil would remain open. There was only one way to sever the connection.
Had her father stood in this same place?
She’d spent her life excavating what other people buried. This discovery might have begun with him, but its ending belonged to her. She hadn’t been able to stop it, to save her city or her friends. But she could stop this now, and she could save Casyl.
“Your father was looking for a way back,” Eleandor said, “to your mother.”
Amelia stared at him. “My mother is dead.”
He shook his head.
All that time he’d been searching for her mother—not only for an ancient civilisation. She understood now why he’d omitted details from the mine report, and why his research had consumed him.
“How do you know all of this?” she demanded.
“Memory. Everything has memory.”
Danae’s shriek cut through. The creatures were moving closer.
“Go,” she told Eleandor, knowing what she had to do. There was no more time. Her mother was alive. The truth she had never allowed herself to hope for had come when she had no life left to pursue it.
She looked back through the rift at Casyl as he fought. Her hands shook. The discovery she’d dreamt of her entire life had cost her everything.
Casyl turned to her as if he knew something was wrong. She caught his gaze and smiled through her tears.
“Goodbye,” she whispered.
Standing before the rift, she raised her dagger. His eyes went wide as he watched her plunge the dagger into her chest.
The rift convulsed as pain tore through her. The magic of the veil seized its fractured edges and began knitting them together. The ancient forest narrowed from view, its creatures disappearing with it.
Her last sight was of Casyl’s horrified face as he dropped his sword and ran towards her, screaming her name.
Darkness swallowed him before he could reach her.