Chapter 22
“Try not to yank on the hair, little woman.”
Abbey obligingly adjusted her perch on my backpack as we moved along the sand.
I had sent another thrust spell through the sand in the hopes that it would keep the Tutzlwarms away.
So far, so good. Manus held Coyle with his right arm.
I had him under my left. The going was slow, but we were going.
The mountain pass we had seen on the way in was just ahead of us but the sun was creeping down the horizon and the shadows of the evening were stretching their long fingers toward us.
“We’re never going to make it, Keena,” Abbey said as she held on to my shoulder sheath.
Her weight wasn’t much on my back. We’d walked through the forest on WildLand like this many times.
I was one of the few people she, or any Imp, for that matter, would let carry them.
It felt wonderful just to have her there.
I had grown very aware of when the sun was coming and going during all the time spent with Tynan.
I had gotten used to his cycles, and I could feel the darkness creeping up around us.
Manus moved faster, and I did my best to keep up.
My father didn’t weigh much, but it was dead weight nonetheless.
He moaned a bit here and there, but mostly he was out.
We were at the end of the rocky pass through the mountain when the darkness overcame us. I heard the calling and flapping of the awakening Slaugh all around. They would locate us soon if we didn’t find somewhere to hide.
“Manus,” I said, stopping before we headed out of the pass. “We should find a cave or something in these rocks. The boat is too far away. Then we’d be stuck on the open ocean.” He agreed and went ahead of us to find some cover. I tucked Coyle and Abbey into a small gap in the rocks and stood guard.
It wasn’t long until the closest Slaughs sniffed us out. Fresh blood, so close to home, stirred them and brought them to our location quickly.
I stood in front of Abbey and Coyle and slashed at the creatures. The rotten smell of them churned my empty stomach. I had to stop and hunch over and try not to vomit. My weak stomach was going to be the death of me.
Straightening to swing between dry heaves, I managed to spear one and it disintegrated, showering us with dust and sand.
Abbey levitated a small rock and smashed it into a Slaugh as it attempted to take advantage of my bent position. It jerked back and hit the side of a hill.
“Your magic works?” I shouted. “Keep going!” I was slashing and jabbing and she was pounding them with rocks. The pass was narrow, and they got tangled in each other, sending one to the ground and the others off into the air in frustration.
Several went higher, over the rocks and cliffs of the passageway, and came at us from the opposite direction. Abbey was still helping me fend them off when Manus fought his way back to us. “Found one. I’ll get Coyle, you go in front. Abbey, stay in the back and keep at it.”
We made it out of the pass and the short distance to the cave Manus had found.
He placed Coyle on the ground and backed into a small opening, pulling my father behind him.
Abbey ran in without even ducking. One last Slaugh tried to follow us in and I stuck it in the face with the golden blade of my mother’s sword.
I backed in, warding the opening behind me.
Bran was dead, Nessum was AWOL, and our magic was working. The night might be survivable.
We made our way about twenty feet into the mountain and braced against the back wall of the cave.
I cast a second ward over the opening. Just in case it was needed.
The Slaugh were too big and bulky to get in, and they seemed uncoordinated, unable to work as a group or to continue attacking if they couldn’t see us. But it made me feel better.
It was freezing in the cave. “Manus, do you still have those amulets?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Our magic is working, maybe they do too.” He dug through his bag, pulled out three glowing amulets, and handed them to me.
I sat behind my father and put his head in my lap after hanging the amulets around his neck.
“Water?” Manus handed me the canteen. There wasn’t much left.
I poured some on my father’s lips. His tenseness eased a bit but he was starting to shiver.
Abbey found some stones and spelled them to heat up. We arranged them around his narrow sides. I rubbed his hands in mine. His bones were almost as fragile as the skeletons in the boneyard.
“Bran must have been blocking the magic.” Manus handed me another of the warm stones. “We’re dead if Nessum finds us in here. He’ll just make the mountain fall on us.”
“Either that or Nessum was blocking the magic and is gone. He really freaked when he realized I knew how to kill him.” I rubbed my father’s hands gently as we talked. The sounds of the attacking Slaugh lessened as they gave up their futile attempts to penetrate the wards.
“Nothing like mortality to scare the crap out of an immortal Dark Angel,” Abbey added as she hovered over a warm stone.
“You fought with heart today, Keena.” Manus touched my shoulder.
“Howard died,” I said, looking away. I remembered the image of his little body broken in Manus’s hands.
“He gave his life honorably, Keena,” Abbey said softly. “That’s a good way to die for any Kith creature.”
“We’re not out of this yet. We still have the ocean to cross tomorrow and I’m guessing the wicked half-sister knows we’re here by now.
” I told Abbey about the brush. She was sufficiently grossed out by the thought of Feldema with either Bran or Nessum.
The boat ride home was going to be difficult at best. I was so thrilled by the thought that my stomach turned in anticipation of the waves.
We sat quietly for a while and I thought of Tynan, knowing he must be worrying. I wouldn’t call to him until tomorrow, until I was safe. I didn’t want him to come for us tonight. I felt the familiar pangs of guilt mixed with love.
Coyle moved on my lap. He opened his eyes—my eyes—and looked up at me.
He tried to speak but only croaking noises came from his throat.
I brushed his cheek and he leaned his face against my hand and closed his eyes again.
“I’ve got you, Daddy, don’t worry. I’ll get you home.
You rest. I’ll get you home.” His shoulders relaxed and his breathing leveled.
I traced shaky fingers gently over a large scar that ran from his neck across his chest and ended just under his right arm.
It was thick and stiff to my touch. Most of his body was now wrapped in tattered fabric we’d taken from one of the shacks, but the exposed parts were all damaged.
They had left little of him unscathed. His light gray hair was thin, his face even thinner.
His hands looked to have once been large and strong, but now were ravaged from abuse.
We had wrapped the gaping wounds from the nails tightly in more fabric.
I cried inside as I touched every badge of courage etched into his flesh. He had endured almost decades of hell because of me. I couldn’t bear the guilt. I felt my body trembling.
He moved and struggled to look into my eyes again.
I felt a tiny bit of energy from him. His magic.
I felt it in my mark and opened myself to it.
Opened myself to magic that felt so close to my own.
I let it crawl into my heart and wrap around me.
He was holding me the only way he could.
The man lay dying and even in his pain he was trying to comfort me.
I leaned down and kissed his forehead, touched his cheek with mine.
We were linked by our magic in a way I knew would be there forever.
I felt him gain strength from the magic I wrapped around him.
It wasn’t healing him, but it was strengthening him.
Manus kept watch over the door for a while. “They went off to collect. I think we can get some sleep in shifts.”
“I’ve slept a bunch hanging around in that dungeon,” Abbey said. “You two sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“You sure?” Manus asked.
“I could use some coffee but I can manage it. Besides, I need to keep warming those stones or we’ll all freeze to death.”
Manus moved behind me to put himself between the rough wall and my back. He was warm and solid. “This is a change. You usually sleep on me.” I laughed and he gave me a small shake. I was asleep much faster than I thought I would be.
Abbey woke us as dawn was pushing its way through the darkness. We gave Coyle the last bit of fresh water and headed through the boneyard. The bones started pulling themselves together, but they were no match for us now that our magic had returned.
The boat was still where we left it. Manus tentatively set Coyle on the floor in the center, while Abbey and I crawled onto the makeshift seat.
As Manus shoved off, I held my breath. I could feel Feldema’s power rising from the splashing of the waves.
It lapped at me as the water hit the side of the tiny boat.
I felt the full surge of my powers as soon as we were away from the desolate island, which now just looked like a pile of rocks in the water.
Nothing more than an obstacle for ships and boats to avoid.
We sailed easily into the open waters. As the tiny boat carried us on the winds toward WildLand, we looked uneasily out over the rough waters, watching, waiting for Feldema’s fury.
“She’s toying with us,” Manus said, looking out over the bow.
Abbey heated another stone and placed it up against Coyle’s chest. He was starting to shiver again. I sent him a warm rush of my power. His magic responded to mine like a brush of a kiss on my cheek. I couldn’t believe the tenderness of the unseen caress, it warmed me in return from the inside out.
We sailed in silence for about an hour. Maybe more—it was hard to tell. I started to see the barest tinge of green on the horizon. I let out a deep breath at the sight of it.