They flew. The men, the horses, and everything grey lifted like it had been sucked away from the earth. The darkness rolled, lightened, and began to drift, shifting from a single tornado to yet another cold front, moving away from us just as quickly as it had come.
And my knees gave out.
I hit the ground with my ears ringing. Cold mud sank into my palms. Not the slimy kind, thankfully, but healthy, normal spring dirt. I pushed my fingers into it, panting for breath, but I couldn't hear anything over the deafening tone that clawed at my mind.
"Rain, Rain, Rain..." Keir begged, sliding down before me, catching my face in both hands and pulling me against his chest. "C'mon, princess. Don't pass out."
"She needs magic!" Torian snapped. "We're out!"
So Keir wrapped his arms around my back, one cradling my head. His cheek pressed against the top of my hair. Slowly, something began to change. Like a sunrise, the world around me began to lighten. The weight in my head relaxed. Colors returned, making me aware of how dull they had been a moment before.
"C'mon, Rain," Keir begged. "She needs more!" he yelled.
So Hawke dropped down beside us and took my hand. "Hold on, Rain," he whispered.
Then electricity shot through my body. My head snapped back, I sucked in a breath, and for a little too long I couldn't even close my eyes. Yet the moment he let go, I felt fine. Normal even.
"Hawke?" I turned to look at him.
"Don't even ask," he warned. "I won't be able to say."
I just nodded. "Ok, but I have the thing. Jack got it out of the tree. It's..." I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out what reminded me of a Christmas ornament, but crudely carved. "This."
Torian snatched it out of my hand. "It's not enchanted."
"Because," Bracken said as he hurried over to pull me from Keir's arms, "she's the Morrigan. She broke it the moment she touched it." Then he turned my face so I was looking at him. "Rain? Are you ok? What is on you?"
I just nodded. "I'm good. Tired, but good - and I think I'm wearing shadows. Oh, and so you know, steel's kinda heavy."
"So is fear," he agreed, hugging me hard. "I don't know how you did it, but you did. We're supposed to hit them from the side, kid. Not head on."
"They had Nevaeh."
"No..." he breathed.
"She's inside," Aspen hurried to tell him. "Rain saved her and the other courtiers. They came as a group, though. That's what Nevaeh was saying anyway. The Hunt came together, surrounded her and the guys, and came fast."
"Because I activated the Hunt sign," Wilder said, sounding like it weighed on him.
"You found it?" Ms. Rhodes asked, jogging over to join us. "The trigger? It's been located?"
Torian passed the carving to her. "Jack did."
"Court!" Jack said, landing on the other side of Bracken. "Rain?"
"I'm ok, Jack." And I reached for him, needing to touch him. "Did you get hurt in the storm?"
He shook his head, then hopped over to nibble at my fingers. "Rain-Jack?"
"Rain-Jack," I agreed. "But maybe you can ride on someone else on the way to my room?"
He fluttered up to perch on Aspen's shoulder. "Court!" he ordered, looking right at Keir.
"Yep, done this before," Keir said as he slipped an arm under my legs. The other went around my back, pulling me away from Bracken. "Arm around my neck, Rain." And then he lifted.
"I'll get nectar," Bracken said.
"And I want the entire court in her room," Ms. Rhodes said. "I need to clean things up out here, but when I'm done, I expect all of you to be there."
