Chapter Thirty
After the Basty were healed, they were evacuated to a town further west. The blight had been heading east, likely for Castle Seelie, so we hoped they'd be safe in the west. While some of our soldiers saw to the evacuation, Tiernan and I went with his guards back to the cave.
Standing beside me, before the entrance to the Garden of Regret, Tiernan stared into the darkness as if he could hold back the blight with his will alone. “I don't think this will work, Seren.”
“Yes, I heard you the last two times.” I held out my hand and summoned the Light.
It took only a few seconds to lay a barrier of Light over the entrance.
I breathed easier once its glow blocked the way, lighting the dark forest around us.
But there were a few issues, all of which Tiernan had brought up on our way to the forest. I had never left a Light ward in place indefinitely, so I didn't know how long it would last. I had yet to see the garden, so I didn't know exactly where it was or how big it was.
Without knowing the Garden's dimensions, it was nearly impossible to encapsulate it in a ward.
Plus, the blight had already shown that it could move through the soil, so a ward sealing the cave probably wouldn't be successful.
“It's better than nothing.” I sent the Light forth, forming a sheet of it to block the cave.
As I released the Light, inspiration hit, and I lifted my left hand.
Darkness filled my palm. Without hesitation, I poured it into the sheet of Light.
I had barely used Darkness. The acidic magic clung to its targets and ate through them—a much slower and far more vicious attack than Light.
Better for torture than battle. But after my conversation with Tiernan, I was wondering if I'd been using the magic incorrectly.
Maybe they weren't meant to be used one at a time. At least not always.
Darkness slithered over the bright surface Light had formed.
Fairies gasped behind me, probably noting what I did—the similarities to the blight.
I kept pushing, watching with the cool indifference of a scientist. This was the perfect opportunity to test my magic.
I had a theory, and I wanted to know if it was correct.
Darkness merged with Light, seeping into the sheet to become a glowing shadow that spread into the earth and over the mountainside that housed the cave.
When I released the Dark and lowered my hand, the ward solidified into a softly glowing barrier.
With it being night, the glow lit the mountain and the nearest trees, casting long shadows.
Our fey orbs bobbed above us as if they wanted to remind us they were our light source.
Eyes wide, Tiernan took my hand and pulled me away from the cave. With a flick of his free hand, he sent the fey orbs bobbing ahead to light our way. “All right, it's set. It may even work. But I still want you as far from here as possible. Let's go home.”
“Go home? I can't leave, Tiernan.”
“It's going to take some time for you to recover, Seren.”
“Yes, but I'm the only one who can drive the blight back.”
“You can laruk here in seconds if it escapes.”
“Without you. Will you be all right with that? Because I'm not leaving you here alone.”
Tiernan cursed under his breath, but kept leading me out of the forest. Only when we stood within the Basty village did he let go and face me. “Very well. We'll stay here.” He glanced at the forest. “Can you set a ward around the village?”
“Yes. That's a good idea. And I think I can drive it through the ground to enclose us fully.”
Tiernan let out a breath. “Good.”
He wasn't the only one relieved. All of our guards looked as if they would rest easier knowing the Light guarded us.
“Should we wait until the soldiers return from evacuating the Basty?” I asked.
“No, I told them to stay the night there. They won't be back until morning.”
“All right then.” I looked around the creepy village.
It should have been creepier now, at night and empty.
But reason told me they were just buildings painted in dark colors, and the trees were bare because of the season.
The true source of the ominous ambiance had been the Basty and their nightmare magic.
And the Basty were gone. There was nothing to fear inside the village. My ward would keep it that way.
“Is everyone here?” Tiernan called to the soldiers who had remained with us.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” one of the soldiers said.
“All right. The Queen is going to set a ward to guard us while we sleep. Do not try to cross the ward.” He turned to me. “Uh, maybe just the Light, Seren. We don't know what that combined ward will do. Or if it will even stop the blight.”
“Yes, you're right,” I said, though I was sure the Light and Dark ward was ten times stronger than Light alone. I was sure, but it hadn't been proven yet. So, I would go with the proven ward. “It was all right to test it on the cave, but I don't want to risk our safety.”
After the soldiers and Tiernan stepped back, I lifted my hands and called an image of the village to mind.
Light flowed out of my center and up, through my hands.
Twin streams of white light surged up and then collided to burst apart.
Light spread over us in a dome. I sensed more than saw its progress, following it to the ground and then sending it further.
Connecting it under us was trickier, weaving the energy through the soil without hurting anything.
But it finally came together to seal us inside a glowing orb.
I opened my eyes and squinted, adjusting to the sudden brightness. It was like day in the village. The Seelie soldiers stared up and around themselves in awe, but Tiernan only nodded. He knew what I was capable of.
“It's like living in a snow globe,” I said.
“Without the snow.” Tiernan took my hand and drew me back into the village as he spoke to our soldiers. “Those of you on first watch, get to your posts. The rest of you get some sleep.”
Soldiers hurried off to keep watch or find a bed for the night.
The Basty had graciously offered us their homes to use while we battled the blight, and there were more than enough beds for us to choose from.
Tiernan motioned me toward the house we were borrowing, and we headed inside.
Oddly enough, it was cheery in the two-story cottage, with hand-woven rugs, velvet cushions, and cotton curtains.
Wood beams crossed the ceiling, and there were potted plants everywhere.
“I'm going to scry Sever.” I let go of Tiernan to take out my phone and sit on the velvet couch.
“I'll make us some tea.” Tiernan headed into the little kitchen with its open shelves and hanging pots of herbs.
“Thank you.” I opened my scry phone and called out, “Prince Severriel of Twilight.”
As I waited, I watched Tiernan search a shelf, opening clay jars and sniffing them until he found something he liked. Then he filled the kettle with water, lit some logs in the fireplace with a flick of his finger, and set the kettle onto an iron hanger over the flames.
I looked back at the misty phone. It still felt strange, even after all this time, to call the ex-King of Heaven by his new title.
To go from Angel King to Fey Prince was technically a step down, but Sever had found joy in being a prince and a father, while being a king had brought him only anxiety and loneliness.
Despite the mist taking a while to condense, I didn't get anxious about it. I wondered if that had something to do with the blight or if I was just too tired to worry. But then Sever's face appeared. Wherever he was on Earth, it was daytime.
“Seren.” Sever's lavender eyes, ringed in purple, looked weary. “I'm glad you scried.”
“How are you and Miri?”
He glanced to the left and nodded. “Good. We're good. And you?”
“We found the source of the blight.”
“Great. Did you destroy it?”
“Not yet. It attacked me.”
“What?!”
“I'm fine. It just took some of the heavier emotions I've been weighed down with lately.”
“Heavier emotions?”
“Yes, like guilt over Star.”
“I see.”
“There's more. The Basty fairies who live here are nightmare givers. They feed on fear.”
“And?”
“A couple of them sensed the dream energy on me.”
“They sensed it?”
“Yes. I don't know how their magic works, but they knew I'd been having bad dreams. One of them said he sensed a presence with me, and that presence is the source of the dreams.”
Sever went still. Then he asked, “So the dreams are an attack?”
“Not an attack, no. And they don't come from me or Astaroth.”
“Is it an Angel?”
“No, Sever. It's the Light of Hell.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
I was about to talk about the prophecy when I realized that I had told Sever about the Underground Demons and their caverns.
I had betrayed my oath to those Demons. But then I remembered the words of my vow.
I had promised not to reveal them to the Demons on the surface.
It was all right to speak to Sever about them.
“Seren?”
“Sorry. I was just remembering what I vowed to the Demons of the Caverns of Life.”
“Hell's Light,” he murmured. “You're saying the source of Hell's magic has been sending you nightmares?”
“Technically, they're not nightmares. Hell's Light isn't a person. It can't read all the intricacies of what I feel, and so it wouldn't be able to conclude that I don't want to be with Astaroth. All it knows is that I have feelings for him, a connection to him, and he is the King of Hell.”
“All right.” He held up a hand. “You're confusing me. Why would Hell's Light want you with Astaroth?”
“It doesn't. What it wants is for me to fulfill my prophecy and heal Hell. I think I'm supposed to help the Underground Demons reunite with the Surface Demons.”
“Then why the dreams?”
“Because it thinks that's the best way to get me back to Hell. It doesn't know it's doing the opposite.”
Sever sat back, his expression turning pensive. I waited while he processed.