“What is wrong? You won the golden arrow.”
In her hand she held a shiny gold arrow, her name inscribed along the shaft. When had they given it to her? It was then she remembered where she was. None of this was real. She held her prize out to Baun. “Take it. The win is not a fair one.”
“You won. I saw you.”
“This is all a dream.”
“Yes. And anything and everything is possible in a dream.”
“I want reality.” The word flew out on a catch, though she refused to cry in public.
Baun paused as if she were an oddity he’d never encountered. “Do you?”
“Yes.” She dropped the bow and golden arrow on the ground and faced him. “It is said you have more power than anyone. Is there any way you can help me wake up?”
Her question raced into the air, shaking the calm day. Gray clouds rushed overhead and thunder cracked in the distance. The light breeze steadily grew. Baun stood against the sudden influx of weather, impervious to its attack, his attention centered solely on Kera. “It won’t be easy. Nor pleasant once it’s done. Do you remember the last time you were awake?”
The vision of the multi-armed boy weaving a tight cocoon around her body made her shiver. She nodded and looked away. “Yes. I remember.”
People sped past, some knocking into Kera on their way to shelter. The wind rose, whipping her hair into her face. “I want to try. Will you help me?”
Thunder rolled closer and a crackle of light split the sky. Baun didn’t even flinch. “What do you plan to do once you wake?”
“Just…live.”
Her answer seemed to please him. “And so you shall.”
As the wind ripped through the open field, Baun faced Kera and held out his hands. She slipped her fingers in his and watched as he tapped into the remainder of his power. What she felt shocked her. What little he had was more than she ever dreamed of possessing. It rushed into her, sending her out of the dream and into consciousness.
The burrow walls wept, dripping and splashing into stagnant puddles along the edges. She was bound as far as her chest now, and she wasn’t alone. The boy’s back was to her, and she could hear him…chewing. His arms were in constant motion, turning whatever he held up to his mouth. She didn’t want to know what he was eating, afraid it would send her into a screaming fit.
She wiggled her fingers within the gooey interior of the cocoon, stretching it, sliding it inch by slow inch down her body. When it settled over her waist, she wriggled an arm free and started to do the same with the other. It was then she dared a peek at the boy. He sat frozen, his arms as still as a spider waiting for a fly.
He knew what she was doing. Without turning around, he began to sing. She tried not to listen, tried to fight the effects of his magic, but the lullaby slipped into her brain. A tear crawled down her cheek, and she called to Dylan, sending him her love one last time. Soon she stopped struggling and her eyes slowly closed as her breathing deepened.
Dreams fell all around her and she desperately grabbed for one and then another, but they slipped through her fingers time and time again. A new sort of nightmare began, one where she lived in a black void and could only watch as possibilities rushed by, tantalizingly close, but never attained.
Following
The low murmur of half a dozen soldiers as they search the maps drones in my ears. Reece and I have been “properly” dressed in button-down shirts—though without the detachable collars—lightweight jackets, finely pressed slacks, and dress shoes.
I’m sitting in a chair, my eyes closed, willing Leo back. The stress of not knowing where he’s gone or when he’s coming back is eating me alive. What if he’s gotten into trouble? That means I’m just sitting here, when I should be doing something. The thought burns my bones in an alarming way. I have to calm down. Hadrain wouldn’t be impressed if I suddenly combust and burn down his home.
I listen to the clock tick. I don’t bother looking when Wyatt and Halim raise their voices. Only when Halim smacks Wyatt on the forehead and calls him a useless piece of pond scum do I crack my eyes open and watch along with everyone else as Wyatt picks the boy up by the scruff of his neck and slams him in a chair facing the wall. “Time out. A human invention for bratty little kids. Stay put and no talking until I say you can move.”
Halim’s out of the chair and back to bugging Wyatt in less than five minutes.
Reece uncrosses his feet and shifts his weight restlessly in the chair opposite mine. He suddenly stands. “I’m going to find Signe.”
He’s across the room and out the door before I can blink.
Signe had left over thirty minutes ago to change and then check on Bodog, who’d opted to return outside. Hadrain’s glares even made me uncomfortable for the little guy. I still have a hard time believing he’d taken Kera when she was a child. Faldon said that Bodog had brought her straight to him, so she was never in any danger, but that he thought Hadrain wasn’t fit to father her made me nervous. The little man had never been wrong before.
I set my mind to developing all sorts of reasons why Hadrain was a bad father. The only thing I come up with is that Kera had once said her father was an intellectual, more interested in hypothetical scenarios than reality. Plus the fact that he tried to marry his daughter to a power-hungry warlord who tried to kill us both. Other than that brainless move, by all appearances Hadrain cares deeply for his daughter.
As I sit, I hear Kera’s faint call. My eyes pop open, and I’m startled to realize it’s been a while since I’ve heard her. I try to connect to her, but I can’t. How is it I have an overabundance of magic at my fingertips, yet I’m stuck waiting on a human. My irritation climbs even as I tell myself to calm down.
Another thirty minutes passes, and I’m not sure how Jason’s done it, but none of the maps show where he is. A quiet thread has begun, saying he’s dead. Jason would love that, get us to let down our guard only to pop back up twice as cocky and bent on killing me and everyone around me.
“He’s not dead,” I say and push myself from the overly cushioned chair and pace. “Don’t ask me how I know. I just do.”
“Fine.” Wyatt pushes the latest map off the table, and I watch it flutter to the floor. “Then he’s a little coward hiding in a hole while his army creeps up on us.”
We hear the sound of running and Reece punches the door open, getting all our attention. “She’s gone. Signe’s gone.”
“Are you sure?” Maybe she’s in the bathroom. Mom was known to camp out in our bathroom, forcing me to dash outside and find a discreetly located bush to pee on.
“She’s gone to the bridge.”
“Why?” Hadrain asks. “She cannot cross. None of us can.”
“We were talking to that ugly little guy earlier…”
“Bodog…” I offer.
“Right, and he said magic is set against magic. Like at Signe’s caves where only those without magic can find them.” He looks at me. “There is a bridge, but there is no bridge. It’s there, but who around here would be able to cross it? Get it?”
God, I hate Bodog’s hidden speech. “Now I do.”
“I’ll admit,” Reece says, “the idea is possible, but he’s crazy, right? Except Signe didn’t think so. She thinks the Unknown works the same way as the caves.”
“Why would anyone, with or without magic, want to go into the Unknown if it’s as bad as everyone says?” Wyatt asks.
“They wouldn’t. It was created to keep those they disliked in. Bodog said most of those sent there have some form of magic that keeps them there.”
“So she thinks she can just walk across that bridge and enter the Unknown?” Halim smacks his hands on his
