“Jasce is a good person,” I say after a while. “He talked his father into letting us go.”
Everly lifts a brow and speaks in an embittered voice—one I rarely hear from her. “He’s probably more like his father than you think.”
“Maybe…”
Or maybe not. Maybe there are things about Jasce neither of us understands. At least…not yet.
Everly draws in a breath when I reach into my bag and remove one of the red marbles.
Her cheeks redden as she takes the bloodstone and squeezes it between her fingers.
“I don’t want to mess up again,” she says, her words low, hoarse.
“You won’t.” I grab her arm, tightening my fingers around her. Maybe if she can feel and hear my confidence, it will chase away her doubt. “Maybe the problem is you have never been to Kyanite land before, so you don’t know what to think about or what to picture as you cast your spell.” I remove my kyanite necklace and place it around her neck. “My ancestors made this necklace with kyanite they dug from deep within the earth. Surely, it will bring us to where we need to go.”
She traces her fingers over the necklace. “I hope so.”
I cannot blame her for her doubt. After all, things have not gone how we had planned.
After I tie a strip of cloth around our waist, she straightens her shoulders, then leans over and picks up the wild turkey she found earlier. As it struggles in her arms, she chants softly under her breath, her eyes fixed on the bird.
The air around us shimmers and dances with bright, pulsing light, and the ground quakes.
My heart quickens as Everly chants louder and louder, and the turkey morphs into two serpents. They squirm and hiss as a portal bursts from their bodies, its swirling vortex spinning faster and faster.
A wave of dizziness hits me as the vortex pulls me toward it, drawing me inside its luminous depths. As we pass through the portal, everything around me blurs until I emerge on the other side.
As my vision clears, my heart soars with joy at the familiar landscape. It’s different from the places we left behind. The trees here are taller, thicker, their trunks gnarled and ancient. Even the air smells different. Instead of being heavy and sulfuric, it’s laced with pine needles and dry earth.
Everly looks around, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly parted. “It’s breathtaking.”
Joy seeps into my body as I take in the gnarled trees, the ancient monuments dotting the landscape, the puffy white clouds.
It’s all so beautiful, so alive, as if the high gods bless this land.
“You did it,” I say with a grin as I remove the belt around our waists, and she hands me back my necklace.
She laughs as she twirls in a circle, her long surcoat billowing around her legs. “Finally.”
I slip the necklace around my neck and laugh with her as she spins and spins. Maybe she needs this moment, this relief, this hope.
I join her, spinning until my hair breaks free, and laughter bubbles up and out of me. After weeks of struggles, it feels good to be carefree. It feels good to be alive.
Over and over again, we spin, our laughter ringing in the air. Our joy soaring with the birds flying overhead. So high. So free.
Then, it hits me, a sharp pain in my chest, a needle diving deep into my soul. I come to an abrupt halt and raise my hand to that ache, feeling it,seeingit.
Hector!
It is his pain, his agony.
I close my eyes, imagining him before me, imagining his strong features. He’s lonely. Sad. Desperate.
I stumble back a step and drop my hand as Everly stops spinning and frowns.
“What’s wrong, Sol?”
“It’s Hector,” I whisper.
