The world would not end today.
Chapter 23
“You’ve discovered something?” Maveryck asked. He, Kull, and Heidel all sat on a log across from me, with the fire burning and crackling between us.
“Yes, I think so. It came to me when I was looking at the fire. Lucretian said I needed three things to manipulate time—a portal, pure magic, and an anchor.” I exhaled, feeling the excitement and nervousness making my heart race. “I think I’ve found all three, and I’ve had them all along.”
“You have?” Heidel asked.
I nodded, then removed both my ring and my necklace. “Here.”
“Your jewelry?” Maveryck asked.
“Yes, but not ordinary jewelry. We recently learned that the ring is powered with pure magic. And this…” I held up the bone fragment dangling from the necklace. “It’s my anchor.”
“Do you believe you can use them to create a portal?” Maveryck asked.
My stomach twisted. This may have very well been the stupidest thing I’d ever attempted, but if it worked, it meant I saved the world. “I’ll try, but it won’t be easy. In fact, I’m not sure I can open a portal of the magnitude I’ll need to complete the spell. We could all die.”
“We’re going to die regardless,” Kull said.
Beyond Kull, the asteroid appeared in the sky. It looked like a star burning bright enough to appear during the day. I swallowed my panic, knowing we didn’t have much time. The asteroid grew brighter as I stood.
“I need all your help,” I said, my heart racing faster as I faced them. “Gather around me. Maveryck, you’ll have to aid me with your magic. Kull, Heidel, once we arrive on the other side, we may need your weapons. I’m not entirely sure what we’ll find once we cross.”
The three people gathered around me, and I felt their strength as I cupped both the ring and the dragon’s claw. Glancing up at the asteroid, I knew what I had to do.
“Are you ready?” I asked them.
“Yes,” they answered as one.
Inhaling a deep breath, I prepared my magic, then I called upon the pure magic. It didn’t respond at first. The ring simply sat in my cupped hands.
We didn’t have time for the magic to be fickle now.
“Maveryck, focus your magic on the ring. Try to draw out the pure magic.”
He nodded. Together, we poured our magic into the ring. The blue of Maveryck’s magic, tinged with a hint of purple, flowed from his fingertips and into the ring’s stones.
I called upon mine and fed it into the glowing stones. The blue magic of Faythander warmed the silver band and made the jewels glow ever so faintly. Then, I added the power of Earth magic. Amber light swirled around the gemstones, combining with the blue, like flames. Uncontrolled, the magic whipped back and forth, an unsteady intensity that was difficult to manipulate. Gasping, I stumbled back as the power attempted to overwhelm me. It was too much, too fast.
Overhead, the sky grew brighter. Blinding light turned the world an unnatural shade of orange, as if we were drowning in an ocean of fire. The air turned suffocating hot. A maelstrom of wind beat against us, almost knocking us backward.
Panicked, I turned back to the stones in my hand. Feeling the black magic within me, I released it, letting it combine with the blue and amber. When it became balanced, I focused on the anchor, the dragon’s claw.
I’d never done this before. I wasn’t exactly sure how it would work, but with the magic fueling the stones, I touched my finger to the claw.
A portal formed around us. Blue and white beams burst from the open gateway, and then encircled us in a dome of light. Warmth surrounded me as the portal engulfed Maveryck and me, and then spread toward the two Wults.
As my body was dragged from one reality to another, I grasped at the remaining magic inside me, focusing on the asteroid. The blinding light made it impossible to see anything, but I’d manipulated the space rock so many times now I had only to reach out to feel it. Sensing how dangerously close it was, I tugged it through the portal with us.
Ultraviolet light entered through my closed eyelids as my body was ripped from one reality to another. Gravity pulled at my limbs, and I felt as if the portal would tear me apart. Just as I thought I would die a horrible death of being ripped limb from limb, I landed face down in the mud.
The pervading scent of ozone filled the humid air. As I sat up, I wiped the mud from my face, then found my ring and necklace near me. I pulled them free and did my best to wipe them clean.
The others also lay around me, and they sat up to study our new world.
Giant ferns the size of mature trees grew around us, blocking out portions of the gray sky. In the distance came the long, drawn-out bellow of an unfamiliar creature. The leaves moved in the canopy overhead, and the squawking of birdlike animals echoed through the jungle.
“Where are we?” Heidel asked as she stood and wiped the mud from her pants.
I also stood, holding the necklace out for her to see. “I used this as our anchor,” I said. “We’re in the past… by about sixty-five million years.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
Kull and Maveryck also stood.
“We’re where?” Kull asked.
“I brought us to the past,” I answered. “I realized we’d have to go somewhere to undo what had already happened, and I needed to use some sort of anchor to get us there. Destroying the asteroid was beyond my capabilities, and I knew that no matter what, I would be forced to destroy the world, so I brought the asteroid with us.
“Also, if I’m right, we might run into Kitten at some point, which is why I asked you to bring your weapons.”
No one spoke. They were speechless as they first stared at me, and then at the jungle surrounding us. A
