Elwyn
It’s been two years on this Mother-forsaken mountain. Two years of ice and wind and snow. Two years of knowing we’ll never truly be safe again. Two years of avoiding the inevitable.
I run my hands along Nevek Peak; the frosted stone burns my fingertips. The Awakening Stones rest inside, their shimmering light shining through the growing darkness.
Corbin caws above me. He’s been visiting far too often, but I’d be lying if I said his presence wasn’t a welcome one.
Especially tonight.
Because tonight is Elora’s birthday. The night she’s been waiting for her entire life. The night of her Awakening Ceremony. There were only so many excuses I could use to postpone, and being that she’s as strong willed as I am, it was a useless argument.
Corbin lands on Nevek Peak, his black feathers rustling. He caws several times before I run my fingers over his back.
“How can I convince her it’s not safe?”
His head cocks to the side, his eyes watching mine intently. You know your destiny, .
My stomach sinks.
Of course, I know my role in this life. In any mother’s life, really. To keep her child safe.
But tonight is different, and though my visions have been less and less fruitful lately, something wrong lies within the wind. Flakes fall from the sky, littering Corbin’s onyx feathers with dusts of white. He moves to my shoulder and nudges my cheek. I kiss his beak before he darts upward.
We’ll be waiting for you.
With the bird gone and the snow growing thicker, there’s no other choice but to head back to the hut and meet Elora.
The warmth of the small fire inside melts the snow from my lashes and cheeks. Elora and Cade are already here. She hardly looks at me when I walk in, still angry that I’ve not agreed to her Ceremony.
Yet.
I glance at her bare arms and feet. “You’re going to want to dress warmer than that for the Ceremony tonight.”
She nearly spills her tea as she turns to me abruptly. Her eyes narrow, as if she doesn’t believe me. “You’re doing it?”
I suppose it’d be difficult to believe me after our argument today. She was so insistent it had to be on her birthday.
Had to be tonight.
My stomach churns as I take a seat at our small table.
“Here you go, Lady .” Cade passes me a cup of tea. “Something to warm you up.”
“Thank you.” I take a long sip, savoring the notes of cinnamon and something spicy I can’t quite place. “Finish up your tea and get dressed, a storm is coming and if we’re to do this, we’re to do it quickly.”
Elora hops to her feet and sprints to our small room but as she passes by, she kisses the top of my head. “Thanks, Mum,” she whispers. Then, she’s off.
The snow squalls make it difficult to see up the mountain. Even more worrisome, an odd feeling has settled over my body. My hands, typically tingling with magick, have calmed. My head and vision cloudy. I rub my temples and attempt to whisper to Corbin through our bond, but there’s no answer.
Elora and Cade chatter while the other Enchantresses set up for the Ceremony. There are only a handful of us left, but we make every body count up here. Everyone has a job. A purpose.
“Are you ready, susi ?” I ask Elora, and her smile widens. “Let’s begin.”
The Ceremony lasts only a few moments. It’s a risk, using this magick, and one I don’t take lightly. Rumors of hunters trained to seek Enchantresses have been filtering around, but with Elora’s determination and the weak ward I’ve placed, all I can hope is that it’s enough. Elora holds the Stones in her hands, her brows pinched together. When the Ceremony is complete she glances at me, then back to the Stones.
She frowns deeper. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Sometimes it takes a while,” I lie. Knowing very well that until her spirit guides find her, she won’t understand her Dyrsjel magick.
And it hits me.
Right then.
That I have made a grave mistake.
All these years I have guarded her from knowing her lineage. From anyone else knowing her lineage for fear they’d use her to get to the Awakening Stones. Use her to take what was never meant to be theirs but now I see my error.
All these years instead of shutting her out to keep her safe, I should have been teaching her.
Training her.
Panic rises in my chest, my lungs burn against the strain I’ve put on them. “Elora there’s something?—”
Shouting sounds from just outside the wards.
Cade steps forward. “Hunters?” He looks nervous, his hand trembling as it wraps around the hilt of his blade.
“What can you See, Mum?” Elora asks, standing to join Cade and I.
I close my eyes, calling on my magick, hoping it will somehow respond and show me what I need to See.
But it’s not there.
Just as I open my eyes, it hits me. A swatch of navy blue against the pure white snow.
My stomach drops and my fists clench, because what I’m seeing now, I am certain I’ve seen before.
White and blue and crimson.
The same vision I had the day Elora was born.
This is it.
Save the girl! Corbin’s voice is muffled in my mind. I trace the skies, but through the thickness of the snow, I can’t find him.
“Go, susi !” I yell, pushing Elora forward. “We have this handled!”
Her eyes look curious for a moment before more men in Valebridge uniforms swarm out of the trees just below Nevek Peak.
They’ll be here any minute.
“I won’t leave you! I can fight!” She reaches for me, but Cade steps before me and pulls her into his chest. He mumbles something I can’t hear, but it seems to relax her because when he moves out of the way, her golden eyes are lined with tears but her face has softened. She kisses him quickly, giving me a nod before she’s running.
The men have crested the hill and the Enchantresses around me ready themselves. Elaine is next to me, a Stormwielder. She raises her hands and a thick layer of static bounds through the air. I glance at Elora, meeting her eyes. She screams and I dare to glance behind me to see Cade on his knees. Elaine flicks her wrists up and a bolt of lightning splits the earth, but the men are quick.
Their iron shackles and poison arrows hit the women around me like sitting ducks.
And there are so many of them. So, so many. I snap my gaze to Elora again and just as she begins to step forward, I know what I have to do. I know what the Fates were trying to show me all along.
Protect the Stones.
Protect the girl.
I can’t let them capture me.
If they take me, they’ll have control over the Stones. They’ll use me just as they’ll use her.
The men move closer, their presence pushing down on my decisions, forcing me to do what I’ve Seen.
Every moment of her life was leading to this. Every moment of my life was leading to this. Keeping her safe, guarded, making sure she was here, on the mountain, and not in Valebridge after all.
You’ll find a way, susi.
You’ll find him.
You’ll make this right.
I mouth the words “I love you,” but I fear she can’t see me through the thick flurries of snow so I smile at her just to be sure.
My daughter.
My heart.
My soul.
My little wolf.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Screams erupt around me. I don’t have much time.
The blade isn’t as heavy as I remember, but I don’t think twice as I bring it to my throat and fulfill my part of the prophecy.