Chapter 13 #2
Portia opened her mouth and joined the song. She didn’t know the melody but her voice became part of it, and the threads responded, their song resurging through the air. She reached out with every magical sense inside her and the light ignited.
Threads of magical power rose beneath her like living vines, weaving together, parting and then plunging into the rocks again.
The power wrapped itself around her whole body now, pulled her closer, weaving itself through her.
She gasped in alarm, and then in shock as the magic in the air filled her as well.
It wasn’t frightening. Perhaps it should be.
There was so much of it. Endless and without limit. It was a wonder.
‘Portia!’ Noah called out again as if from far away. And this time he sounded really concerned.
Something was wrong. Her heart raced and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
This wasn’t right. There was too much. The song was all around her and in her, and it was deafening, numbing.
Her own magical abilities floundered, swamped in this natural vortex of power, as if it was drinking her down, taking everything from her, and leaving her just a shell of nothing. And then devouring that as well.
Noah’s arms enfolded her again, ripping her away from the prime threads, pulling her back into the darkness of the cave. The outer cave, she realised. The one ringed with moonflowers. He dragged her out in an instant, far too quickly, and she knew… she just knew… that couldn’t be right.
Noah said her name again, his frown so deep, his eyes so concerned. And she wanted to tell him what had happened, what she had seen. But she couldn’t find her voice. Everything went black.
* * *
Portia’s head pounded as if someone inside was banging it like a drum. But she was lying somewhere warm and dry and there was a cool cloth on her forehead and…
She tried to sit up, and everything hurt, everywhere. She let out a soft groan.
‘Don’t move,’ said Iris curtly. ‘What were you thinking? You foolish child. You had us all worried sick.’
Portia opened her eyes cautiously but the room was only dimly lit. Her bedroom, she realised. She was back in her own bedroom.
‘What happened?’ she asked, her voice grating on her throat painfully.
‘Poor Noah carried you back up here. As if we didn’t have enough to deal with at the moment. We could have lost – lost—’
Suddenly her great-aunt’s voice broke and Portia was gathered up in her arms. And if it hurt, that didn’t matter, because Iris was holding her, and Iris was trembling.
A bang heralded the door to her room being flung open by a blast of magic so strong it could only have come from Seb.
Her siblings rushed into the room, all three of them.
Jade took flight, looping through the air to land on Portia’s side, burrowing in between her and Iris, keening softly until Iris was forced to release Portia for fear they might crush her, because the little teacup dragon was not going to be stopped.
All the same her great-aunt stayed close, sitting on the edge of the bed as the others joined her.
She held one of Portia’s hands, cradled between both of hers.
‘It’s all right,’ Portia tried to reassure them all. It didn’t help that her voice came out hoarse and croaky. ‘I’m all right.’
‘Jade woke me,’ August told her, taking her hand from Iris’s and squeezing tight. ‘Frantic, trying to claw her way through the door. That’s when we realised you weren’t here. And then Noah brought you back and—’
‘Oh, Wenn below,’ she tried to argue. ‘This is ridiculous. I just – I needed—’
‘He told us,’ Ophelia snapped. ‘Really, Portia, flowers?’
‘They’re the cure,’ Portia protested. ‘For the dragons. Art has a recipe. A universal remedy?’
‘That old thing?’ Iris shook her head. ‘My love, he never got that to work. I would have told you if you asked.’
‘But it will work. I know how to do it. He was almost there. It’s closer to my work than I could have imagined.
But it’s not just the flowers and the elixir.
There was a map. I found it in the book.
Our father drew it. Under the castle, in the caves, there’s a cavern and there’s a well of primal threads of magic.
They were damaged and I – I sang and I—’ That was when they were all looking at her like she was completely deranged and she paused. ‘What? What happened?’
It was August who answered, his voice all quiet authority. ‘Noah found you unconscious in the back of the cave. There are no caverns or anything down there. You know that. We used to play there. It’s barely bigger than your bathroom.’
No, that wasn’t right. The cavern beyond the outer cave was huge. ‘But there was.’
A wave of exhaustion swept over her, and she winced as the pain in her head turned itself up a notch. This wasn’t fair. Why wouldn’t they believe her?
‘You hit your head, love,’ Iris told her.
‘Knocked yourself out. Maybe… maybe you had a dream. Nothing more than that. I know every inch of this island and August is right. There are only a few shallow caves down there. Now, I’m going to get you something to eat and a calming tea.
And you’re going to rest. You’ve been working yourself too hard. ’
‘No, I’m fine. I have work to do.’ She ran her hand along the length of Jade’s body and the dragon wriggled closer to her, purring ferociously, as if trying to heal her with her song.
Portia hesitated. There was a tune buried in the noises Jade was making.
She was sure of it. One that was far too familiar.
‘I have to make the elixir. The moonflowers…’
Where were they? She had gathered them, hadn’t she?
‘These?’ asked Seb. He had picked up her coat and pulled the sample case from the pocket.
Portia took it from him gratefully. At least it hadn’t all been in vain. She didn’t know what she would have done if Noah had left them behind.
‘Where’s the map?’ she said. ‘I had it in my inside pocket. Show them, Seb.’
He searched the other pockets. ‘There’s nothing else here.’
‘It has to be. Unless… where’s Noah?’
Noah had seen the map. Even if he was lying about seeing anything else.
‘With the dragons in the snuggery,’ said Ophelia. ‘I think he was worried he’d been away too long. I told him they were fine. Just resting. He’s keeping watch on them while we’re here.’
Was he? He’d better be. Why didn’t they believe her? Did they think she’d run into a wall and knocked herself out? She knew what had happened. Suddenly she wondered what Noah had told them.
Portia got up in spite of her family’s protests and stormed up the steps to the snuggery.
Her head was still pounding but she didn’t care.
Anger was a driving force that had always worked for her.
How dare he lie about what had happened down there?
How dare he take the map? What did he even want it for?
‘Noah!’ she shouted as she opened the doorway. ‘I want a word with you! What do you think—?’
Noah knelt in the middle of the snuggery, just as she had seen him do so many times when interacting with the teacup dragons, when they would fly around him in delight.
But this time the snuggery was silent and still.
He was soaked to the skin and shivering, still in his wet clothes.
In each of the snugs, she realised, the teacup dragons lay limp and unresponsive.
He turned his distraught face to her, his eyes burning. He was holding Ripple in his hands.
‘Portia, they’re dying. We have to do something. Now.’