Chapter Twenty
Owen. I needed to see Owen. I needed to tell him everything.
Light and sound came to me slowly. My head was splitting, but whether it was from Aed striking me, the deep dive to retrieve the Waterstone, or passing out on the rocks, I wasn’t sure. Probably all three.
“Kira!” Owen’s panicked voice rose above the crash of waves, and I groaned. His worried gaze filled my vision a second later as he smoothed the hair from my face. A small part of my brain noted that I was once again wearing my glasses.
“Shae? Jace?” I managed to ask as I rolled over and coughed out water.
“They’re fine. What happened? You must have slipped on the rocks or something. Fuck, Kira, you could have been carried out by the waves and drowned!” He was shouting by the end of that sentence, and I smiled up at his glare. Opening my hand, I showed him the Waterstone.
“I got it,” I whispered, my voice still raspy. “I’m a dark Druid, but I proved to the Waterstone Guardian that I’ll banish my darkness and defeat Craos in the final battle. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to win. We’re going to save Charles.”
Owen’s eyes widened, then he cradled me to his chest and pressed a kiss to my head. “Seems you have quite the story to tell. Let’s get you somewhere safe and then you can tell me everything.”
With Owen’s help, I managed to sit up and then stand, leaning gratefully into his side as he took most of my weight.
Across the rocks I spotted Jace sitting up under a small overhang that offered shelter from the rain.
His eyes were closed and his head rested on the rocks behind him.
Shae was tucked protectively against his side, her head on his shoulder.
Both of their faces were pale as they gasped for breath, but they were alive, thank God.
I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been to swim to shore with dislocated shoulders during a raging storm.
Impossible, really.
I shuffled over to Shae with Owen’s help and took a seat beside her. We clasped hands, too exhausted to speak. Owen collapsed on my other side, and we all took a moment to rest.
“How is this possible?” I asked finally, peering at them. They were favouring their arms, but their shoulders no longer seem dislocated.
“No idea. By the time Owen got to us, our shoulders were set, and we were able to swim.”
Shae shuddered and Jace tightened his hold on her. “I couldn’t swim with the pain… I was drowning and Jace reached for me, but he was drowning, too… We weren’t going to make it…and then the pain vanished, and Owen arrived.”
Owen looked curiously at me. “Your cut. From Aed. It’s gone as well.”
I reached up and felt my head and face, but nothing hurt, and my teeth felt solid again. “Our healing must have been a gift from the Waterstone Guardian.”
Jace coughed, but it soon turned into a chuckle. He must have hit the water harder than I thought.
“Thank God I wore my cargo pants today. Secret inside pocket with a zipper. Otherwise, the Rootstone would be at the bottom of Lake Huron right now.” He weakly patted a pocket on his leg. I blanched. I hadn’t even thought of that.
“I got the other one. Might as well keep it with the Rootstone.” I handed the Waterstone to him, and he stared at it bleary-eyed.
“No Shadowbane this time?”
“We have an hour before two attack us.”
“Lovely.”
“What?” Shae asked, alarmed, but Jace reassured her. “Owen has a sword. He’ll take care of it.”
Owen groaned.
“Where?” Shae looked around.
“Just wait and see. And thanks, Kira, for saving our lives. Even if you did almost tear our arms from our bodies.” Jace rested his head against the rocks again.
“Almost didn’t get you in time. You were almost at the bottom of the lake, too.” I shuddered at what could have happened.
Then a thought occurred to me, and it was my turn to laugh.
The other three looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“It’s Friday night. Last Friday, Charles said I should be out having fun with friends and meeting up with a nice guy.
Not sure this is what he had in mind.” Damn, how had it only been a week since I was packing boxes with Charles and listening to his stories?
It felt like a year since the portal had opened in his living room.
“Well, you’re with friends,” Jace said. “Not sure you’re having fun.”
“And you’ve met a nice guy,” Owen said, giving me a tired smile. “What happened, Kira? With the Waterstone?”
I’d never seen Owen so exhausted. Laying my head against his shoulder, I told everyone how I had met with the Waterstone Guardian and imagined defeating Craos.
“It was a vision of what could be, and I passed the test,” I finished. “So, I guess I won’t have to live with this darkness forever.” Owen and I smiled at each other, and he placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
I turned to Shae. “How did you know it was Aed on the Root Path?”
“Some of the stories say that she preys on your greatest fears. The way you were talking, I put the pieces together. To be honest, I never thought she was real, and I never dreamed she would be on the Root Path.”
“Something tells me Sylvia knew,” Jace said. “When I get my hands on her…”
“Sylvia and Todd are in this for themselves,” Owen said. “I don’t know what game they’re playing, but we can’t work with them anymore.”
“Plus, there’s the fact that I’m pretty sure Sylvia does have magic, and she hasn’t been entirely honest with us,” I agreed with a sigh.
“Should have cut ties with them a long time ago,” Owen muttered.
“Shae, I’m so sorry for dragging you into all of this,” I said. “Feel free to leave before things get worse. I won’t blame you.”
“Are you kidding?” Shae said. “I got to walk on the Root Path! I’ve always wanted to learn more about my magic.
Besides, we’re close now. Only one more stone to find, then we can put the three stones together and reform the seal.
I’m with you.” Relief flooded through me, and I squeezed her hand in thanks.
“And then we can save Charles,” I added.
“Our more immediate concern is where we can make a stand against the two Shadowbane who will be here soon. Should we climb back up the cliff?” Jace asked, and we turned our heads to regard the towering rocks above us. Night was fast approaching, and we were all wet and cold.
Owen shook his head. “The climb will take a while, especially with the two of you injured, and I’m already exhausted. I need to save my strength. We make our stand here, with the cliff at our backs.”
The three of us nodded, recognizing that it was Owen’s call. He had the sword, and he would be the one fighting. We fell silent, clinging to each other, waiting for the coming attack.
As the last of daylight vanished, casting the towering cliff face into deep shadow, Owen picked up his sword. With a final glance at me, he stepped forward, and Jace motioned for Shae and me to stand between him and the rocks.
In the gloom, a blood-curdling scream pierced the night air.
Two shadows peeled from the darkened sky like smoke, their forms tattered and translucent, their faces hidden beneath hoods. Every crash of the waves against the rocks made the creatures recoil, and though the rain had stopped, they flinched whenever droplets of water hit them.
Owen held the sword steady before him, the symbols on its blade glowing brightly in the darkness. The wind picked up, howling like a banshee.
The first wraith dove, its clawed hand outstretched.
Shae screamed, clutching at me, and Jace pressed us back even closer to the rocks. Legs braced, sword raised, eyes fixed on his opponents, Owen didn’t move from his spot in front of Jace.
The Shadowbane recoiled momentarily as they seemed to recognize the weapon, then dove again. With a roar, Owen slashed upward, and the blade sang through the air, tearing through one wraith’s midsection. It shrieked as it dissolved into ash, which was carried away by the wind.
The second wraith came at Owen in a blur of black smoke and bone, almost too fast for the eye to follow.
He slashed at it, but the creature was faster and Owen missed.
His foot slipped on wet stone, and he landed hard on his side, grunting in pain and losing his grip on the sword.
The blade spun into the darkness, clattering a short distance away on the rocks.
My legs moved before I could think. I lunged for the sword. But as soon as my hand wrapped around the hilt, searing pain made me cry out and drop it.
“Kira!” Owen shouted. He dove for the sword, rolling and coming up in one smooth motion as the wraith hovered over me, raising its claws to strike. Owen jumped between us just as the wraith slashed, barely missing him.
I screamed. Owen drove the blade up into the creature’s centre. It stopped mid-motion, twitching violently before it vanished in a plume of ash.
For a moment, the only sound was the crash of waves and our heavy breathing. Then Owen knelt beside me, gently taking my hand in his own and turning it over. There were no marks, and the pain was already receding.
“Guess your sword doesn’t like dark Druids.” I tried for a light tone but failed miserably. I was so embarrassed that I’d put myself in danger for nothing and Owen had almost been possessed by a Shadowbane because of me.
Owen sheathed the sword, and it winked out of sight. “Let’s get out of here.”
Over the next few hours as we slowly climbed and carefully navigated our way in the dark, Aed’s jeering, caustic remarks ran through my mind over and over, making me question everything.
What if what she said was true? The Tree Spirits had made it clear I wasn’t one of them. Even the sword—an inanimate object—had rejected me.
What was I doing with someone as good as Owen? It was one thing to pass a test that was only a vision, but would I be able to banish my darkness in the final battle when the stakes were real? Was I even capable of saving Charles?
One fear overshadowed all the others.
If I was a dark Druid, was I a danger to my friends?