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“
He’s in the observatory,”
Landen thought, answering my question.

I nodded, then he stood and gently pulled me up. The others looked up from the table.

“Brady’s back?” August asked.

Landen nodded. August walked around the table with the intent of telling Drake it was time. As he left the room, Brady came through the opposite doorway.

My eyes moved to each of them; I felt their confidence in us and took ownership of it. They all seem to nod at once. Landen took my hand, and we crossed the room to meet Drake. His eyes found mine; he looked strong, confident, and eager to move forward with our plan. When we reached him, he turned to lead us to the rooftop. I felt the others follow behind us. As Drake led us to the observatory, on the back wall there was a wide metal door. Landen let go of my hand and helped Drake open it. When the door was opened, it revealed a stone staircase. Drake led us again, and we all followed.

At the top of the stairs, I heard the wind whistling. The stars made a beautiful backdrop to the night sky. Once on the roof, I realized just how high we were; the buildings in the city reminded me of miniature toys.

We were at the far end of the palace, and Drake led us along the roof to the weather main in the center. As we walked, I studied the sky above: above the city of Delen, the stars sparkled - but on the edge the gray clouds hid them; it was as if the city were trapped in a snow globe, a world of their own.

I could see the weather main in the distance; it was almost twenty feet high at the base. I could see the night air move, and the passage we were told about was there. Landen looked down at me to make sure it was clear. We stopped just before it, and the others surrounded us.

Drake looked down at me, then to Landen. “I haven’t moved anything this big before either; all I have is Alamos’ direction,” he said.

I smiled, proud that they were encouraging one another, recognizing each other’s strength; it was a moment I never would have believed would have occurred just a few short days ago. Drake and Landen both smiled at me, and my grin grew wider. I knew the logical emotion for me to have right then was anxiety, fear - but I was calm, confident. I had them both peacefully at my side, and my family supporting me; what more could I ask for?

I stepped nearer to the edge of the roof, and they followed me closely. From there, you could clearly see that the wall was nothing more than a giant U; the workers had yet to close in the city completely.

As I kept the wall in sight, my focus moved to the energy around me. I pushed my energy forward slowly; as it stretched out from me, I could see it joining with Landen and Drake’s. I stepped forward as they did, and our energy flowed down to the wall. When the energy met the wall, a rumble could be heard from where we stood. I heard screams below; it took everything I had to block them out. I envisioned the wall of clouds rising and urged my energy to pull it up; gracefully, the wall began to rise. Dust rained down as the workers scattered, screaming in every direction. From our height, it was hard to judge how high we’d brought it. I looked across the wall to make sure that Landen and Drake were holding the sides at the same height that I was holding the center. As I took in the wonder of this massive wall being suspended in thin air, a smile came across my face; what had caused me so much worry was now in the palm of my hand. I pushed forward and watched the wall glide through the air. I then stepped closer to the edge, wanting to be able to push it as far back as possible. I could still hear the screams of the ones below, but everyone had managed to move out of the path of the wall. As it moved away, it was growing smaller and smaller, fading into the darkness.

I felt my mind and body begin to drain, and a dizzy sensation crawled through me. Suddenly, I felt my father’s fear; I knew he was watching me closely and that I must be approaching a dangerous point. I stopped the push of energy against the wall, and it halted its glide. Slowly, the three of us let it fall to the ground. It was just inches from the earth when I had no choice but to call my energy back to me. I heard it collide with a brutal force, and the palace shook with the vibration. I fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. My eyes searched the ground as I frantically judged the emotions around me, hoping we hadn’t hurt anyone.

Silence came. I looked to my right side and saw Landen on his knees. He looked up at me and nodded his head in Drake’s direction; I turned to my left to find him on his knees as well. He held his head down, and I could see him fighting to catch his breath. I crawled across the short distance between us; it was only a few feet, but it might as well have been a mile. I felt so heavy, so weak.

When I reached him, I pulled my body up onto my knees, and he looked up at me. “You can’t do this; it’ll hurt you. We’ll just keep time frozen long enough for me to find my memories,” he said.

I reached up for his face and pulled his forehead to meet mine. “You don’t have the strength to keep time frozen; let me help you.” I whispered

He sighed and reached out his hand to cradle my face; his numbing touch helped me find my breath. Within that second, I felt his energy inside of me, his addictive rush. A second later, he leaned back and I fell forward. He caught me in his embrace. “You are my life,” he whispered into my ear.

He stood, lifting me. Landen had found his way to his feet, and Drake nodded in the direction of the weather main. Landen took the few steps to it, then leaned against the metal rod. Drake gently set me down in Landen’s arms, and Landen held me as tightly as he could, protecting me from falling.

“Maybe I should take the two of you home first,” Drake said, clearly energized with my power.

“No. Go,” Landen said, smiling slightly. “Remember to be fierce.”

Drake grinned, finding the idea pleasurable. “Be in the string at mid-day, and make sure others are there to help you; I don’t know how many I’ll push through.”

Landen nodded, then Drake looked at me. It took the last bit of strength I had to smile at him. He vanished into the string. Landen’s arms then tightened around me, and we slid to ground; I knew he was trying to keep time still for as long as possible, so I focused on a calm emotion: the blissful love I felt for him.

It felt like an hour, but I’m sure it wasn’t more than ten minutes before I heard the screams from below again. I raised my head up to look at Landen, and he leaned down and kissed my lips. I felt our family rush to our side.

“Brady, carry her,” Landen said.

I felt Brady’s arms around me and leaned my head back to see Chrispin and Ashten helping Landen up. Landen leaned into Chrispin, letting him support him. I felt a pride rise in Chrispin; he felt needed, appreciated. I felt my father’s overwhelming concern and imagined that we looked as bad as we felt on the inside. I closed my eyes and leaned into Brady. A second later, I felt the hum of the string and the gentle flow of energy.

Brady carried me home. They’d left Jeeps by the passage, but I don’t know who drove us to our house; I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness.

“Willow,” I heard my father say. I opened my eyes to see that I was in my room and that Landen was next to me. “I want you to drink this water before you fall asleep; you’re very dehydrated.”

I pulled myself up and looked to my side. Rose was handing Landen a glass of water. My father brought the glass to my lips, and I took in what I could, then fell back. I felt myself drifting and focused on my room. It didn’t take long for me to find myself at the foot of my bed. Landen was still drinking, and his perfect blue eyes saw my soul. He smiled as he gently let himself fall back to the bed, and he held my gaze until his eyes grew too heavy to remain open.

As Rose pulled the covers over our bodies, Landen’s soul appeared at my side. My father kissed my forehead and turned off the lamp, and we watched them leave. We could feel the urgency of Chara all around us, but even in this state, we still felt weak. Landen moved away from me to the window. I followed, curious to see why we could feel so many people so close.

When we pulled back the curtains, we could see a line of hundreds of travelers waiting their turn to step into the string; their intent was to bring calm to Delen. Landen turned to smile at me. Our world was reaching out once again; it was an amazing sight.

He turned to me and slowly let his hand rest next to my heart. As his energy joined mine, a beautiful sensation raced through me; I felt as if life itself was finding its way back into my soul. I reached for his heart and watched as the glow around him grew. He slowly pulled me to him. In that moment, everything I’d been through seemed worth it.

When the sunlight peered through our window, we brought ourselves back to our bodies. I pulled myself to the warmth of Landen’s body, and he turned to his side and pulled me closer to him. We stared at each other for a moment; I couldn’t understand how it was possible to love one person as much as I loved him.

I could feel Landen’s emotions drifting through the last few days; overall, he felt victorious - yet he feared what was still to come.

“
Do I get the pleasure of telling you that we have nothing to fear?”
I thought. He was always the one who never showed any fear.

“
Maybe so,”
he thought, bringing his dimples to life.

“
What are you afraid of?”
I asked.

He raised his hand to trace my eyes. “
When I was talking to Drake yesterday, he told me that he’d seen Dane in a lot of your lives,”
he thought.

“
I really don’t want to think about that; it’s just too weird,”
I thought, making a face.

Landen didn’t smile, and I felt a dread build in him.

“
Why are you upset? Are you still upset with him about yesterday? He was just being protective,”
I thought, pulling myself up on one arm and searching through his emotions and intent.

Landen sighed and rolled to his back.
“I’m sure I’m overreacting,”
he thought.

“
I don’t understand,”
I thought, turning his chin so he’d have to look at me.

“
Drake said that in the life of Jayda and Oba he didn’t choose to fight for Jayda’s children because their father, Dane, practiced dark magic; he was known for controlling the elements of the land, and Jayda feared that a drought would kill them all if they took the children by force,”
Landen thought.

“
He must have his memories crossed, or he’s just seeing it from his point of view. Dane couldn’t be dark; he doesn’t know how,”
I thought, finding the idea farfetched.

“
He remembers him being dark several times. Drake spoke the truth when he told me,”
Landen said.

I didn’t say anything; I just sat up and pulled my knees to my body. I didn’t like seeing Dane in a dark light.

Landen moved his hand slowly across my back. “
Drake fears that because Dane’s soul is old and that it’s practiced with the devil before that he could become possessed. He wanted me to watch him closely. He wants me to watch everyone closely. He said you’re the only one that he and I could trust completely.”

“
Dane loves Clarissa; you know that, and I know that. Our family would never hurt us,”
I thought.