Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (25 page)

“Alright, let’s go and see how my magic detector works,” I teased Skye, and I darted ahead to start scoping out the woods.

It didn’t take long for me to pick up the use of magic. I could feel it all around me. Having Selene place magic throughout multiple locations had actually worked to my advantage even more than I thought it would. I could sense it all around, and now just needed to zero in on each individual spot where she had placed it.

“There! I can feel magic on this tree!” I called out to Selene as I circled the large tree to my right.

As plain as day, I could sense the magic that covered the tree. Continuing to move forward, I felt myself being pulled towards the right, deeper into the woods. I glanced toward Skye, trying to keep her in my line of sight while she tried to keep up with Selene, who had disappeared on the trail ahead of us.

The trail had steadily become rockier as we started to descend the mountainside. I could feel the pulsing of Selene’s magic somewhere up ahead - it was getting closer.

“Xander? I can’t see Selene, so don’t go too far.”

“I won’t. I’m keeping an eye on you,” I promised, as my eyes were drawn to the rocky path. I scanned the ground with my eyes and zeroed in on a small rock that had tumbled slightly off the path. I picked it up and sensed the slightest amount of magic within. I tucked the rock into my pocket, smiled to myself and ran back to Skye’s side.

She was practically sitting on the ground as she tried to scoot over the gravelly ledge. We had come to an area with many boulders and gravel, where the terrain took a complete dive down for about fifty feet before it flattened out again.

“How did Selene get over this so quickly?” Skye muttered as her foot slipped on the loose pebbles. I quickly grabbed her elbow to stop her from falling further.

“She didn’t. There’s no way she got over this ledge, or else we would have seen her down there. Hang on.”

I stretched out my senses and looked for where Selene was hiding. Closing my eyes so that I could rely 100% on my senses, I turned in a circle and tried to feel the thrumming vibration of her magic.

My senses pulled me to the left around the side of the boulders. I noticed a partially hidden trail that ran under the boulders, and sure enough, ahead of me was Selene. She was carefully traversing a very narrow trail down the hill.

I tried not to gloat as I called out, “You left a trail?”

“Yep, a little trail of magic breadcrumbs for you to follow. Very good, Xander! They were really just sparks. Your senses are very strong!”

“Thanks. The tree and rock too, right?”

“Yes. Now let’s work on getting down this cliff so we can find a good place to camp for the night. I can place more around if you’re still interested in practicing.”

By the time we made it to flat ground again, the sun had descended down below the western horizon. The forest was covered in shadows and immediate options for a safe camp were slim. We searched the area and finally decided on a copse of trees with some large shrubs at the base. The shrubs provided much needed shelter from the wind, which had begun to pick up.

Skye disappeared into the trees while I built a fire. I assumed that she needed some privacy so I didn’t call out to her, but I was tense as I waited for the moment when she came back into view.

After helping me practice with the magic, Selene had been cordial, yet still quiet. I tried to draw her out of her shell and keep the peace by initiating a conversation.

“When do you think Rioden will make it here?”

“He said he was going to keep track of McClintock’s army for a while to see if they would be returning to Tyalbrook in the next few days.”

“Is he trying to figure out if they know we’re here?”

“I think so. They obviously have a working portal to bring them back and forth, and I think he’s hoping that he’ll be able to know what they know by watching.” Her face portrayed the same level of worry I saw in myself whenever I was away from Skye, and I found myself curious about Selene and Ri, and exactly how their relationship had manifested.

I watched as she pulled some food and a blanket from her bag. She spread the blanket on the ground, sat in the center and unwrapped the sandwich she had made earlier that day.

She was a very pretty woman. Her long hair was raven black and very straight; hanging midway to her waist. During the trek through the woods she had braided it into two long braids, which made her look like a school girl. Her lips were small, her nose simple and straight.

Although her hair was beautiful, it was her icy blue eyes that truly stood out on her face. They were luminous, framed by dark brows and black lashes with a piercing color that reminded me of frozen water. There was something unsettling about them that reminded me of the way ice shimmered in a glass of water.

She looked up and caught me watching her. She stared back at me, daring me to ask the questions she knew I had in my head; her eyes squinting in the waning sunlight.

“I can’t say that I feel like I missed out on camping as a kid,” complained Skye. She trudged back to our camp through the brush, breaking the stare down between Selene and myself.

“Seriously, I have to say that I prefer a proper restroom,” Skye grimaced, and plopped herself down on the pile of leaves by the fire I was feeding. “I’ve never really considered myself a girly-girl, but there are
some
things that just make life better.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her comments - she was so cute! We sat in silence around the fire, eating the food that had been packed earlier in the day. I was thankful for the prepared meals, because honestly I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to hunt down and cook the food by myself.

Sure, Rioden had taken me hunting many times, and had taught me how to set traps and clean and cook small game. But I would readily admit that I didn’t enjoy it, and had no true desire to kill a bunny in front of Skye. Even if it
was
for survival.

I watched Skye yawn again and again in the glow of the fire. A light but steady breeze was blowing in, and she had wrapped herself up in a blanket. We’d covered a lot of ground walking that afternoon, and I knew that she had to be exhausted.

Selene sat across the fire from us. She seemed to be in deep concentration; staring at the flames as they leapt and ate the logs I had added. Occasionally she would glance our way, but for the most part her eyes stayed glued to the flames.

My own thoughts wandered that night as well. I was still furious about the argument that I’d had with Selene earlier. I hated the doubt that just wouldn’t leave my mind each time I thought of her, but more than that, I was still angry at Rioden. He had kept so many important details from me, and I couldn’t understand why. Did he not trust me? Did he think I was too young? Or was he just worried?

I wanted to believe that all of this had just been his way of protecting me, but certain things had started to nag me- making me uneasy. One thing in particular that had jumped out at me earlier today was Selene’s explanation of when she’d first met up with Rioden on Earth.

While explaining her story earlier, she’d mentioned that she left Ri and I
after
Skye had been settled in at the group home. First of all, I had no memory of Selene being around. Secondly, how would she have known that Skye was in a group home? Ri hadn’t even found out for four months!

My lack of memory bugged me the most at the moment. I was almost ten when my parents died. I had been knocked out that night and was unconscious for several days, but from what Selene had said so far, she’d remained with Ri and me for a while. My swiss cheese memory, along with Skye’s, continued to nag at the back of my mind. I couldn’t imagine that Selene - and especially not Rioden - would have had anything to do with that.

I turned my attention to Skye and noticed that she was pretty much asleep, still sitting up. Taking my mind off of the past and Selene, I pulled myself up from the ground and wandered over to Skye’s side.

The crack of a twig as I walked snapped her eyes open.

“Hi,” she spoke softly, her voice deep with sleep.

“Hey, you need to lie down,” I recommended. I swept the ground of any twigs and pulled her cape around her shoulders and head.

“I know; I am so exhausted. All of the walking and…” She trailed off as she lay her head on the soft leaves and closed her eyes.

She was out. I stood there in amazement as I thought of her bravery with everything she had learned that week. I pulled the blanket up and over her shoulders and wandered back to my spot, leaning against a tree ten feet away from her sleeping body.

“She seems tough, Xander. I think she’s going to be able to save us all.”

“Oh? Do you? What makes you think that? You barely know her, Selene!” I heard the sarcasm in my voice, but let it slide out anyway.

“She’s here, isn’t she? She believes. That’s the first step. Rioden filled me in on what you’d told him about her past. She is strong, but I think she finds much of her strength in you.”

I glared at Selene then. I didn’t want to get into another conversation about how Skye and I shouldn’t be together. She surprised me instead when she confessed, “I have never seen a bond between a Guardian and royal like yours. The two of you are connected in a way that I don’t even think the Guardian blood is responsible for.”

Selene’s face was glowing red from the fire that lit her face. Her eyes held mine as she continued, “There is an aura to you two, Xander, and it scares me to see it. When you are near each other, the glow that you both give off is almost blinding to me. I’m afraid for you both. You are already invested so deeply, yet you know she will need to marry another.”

I swiveled my head over to watch Skye’s sleeping form, and then glanced back to Selene. The threat in my voice was clear. “Don’t tell her any of that, Selene - please. She knows that I love her, and I think she loves me. I get that at some point things are going to have to change, but I’m seriously hoping that we can still move forward. I don’t want to lose her, but I will let her go if it’s for the best.”

“Best for who, Xander? Are you thinking in terms of what’s best for you…or what’s best for her and her Kingdom?”

“Best for her. It will always be about what’s best for her, Selene,” I growled. The wind had begun to pick up and I pulled my blanket over my legs.

“What’s best for her may not be what you think. Just keep in mind that her duty is to this Kingdom and not to her own happiness, Xander. She may have to sacrifice herself for Tyalbrook…does she even know this yet?”

I sat in silence at her question.

“Judging from the angry stare you’re leveling at me, I’m going to guess that your answer is ‘no’. Xander,
you
put her life first, but
she
must put Tyalbrook first. The Guardians we meet will expect her to do whatever she can for Tyalbrook, even if it’s not what her heart desires. If you can’t support that kind of thinking, they may find that they have no need for you at all. Be careful with your feelings once we get to the village.” Selene’s face was sad as she finished her damning comments. She lay down and pulled her blanket around her, but propped her head up on an elbow and looked at me.

“Why do you even care, Selene? Why do you care about what I do or what happens to me?”

Her brows snapped together at my outburst and I almost apologized after I saw the flash of pain that crossed her face.

“Xander - I know we argued earlier, but you need to have no doubt in your mind that I love Rioden. With my love for him, comes my love for you. You are the world to him, Xander, and I want to protect you the same way he would, were he here. I also love Tyalbrook, and I actually
do
want the Princess to succeed in her task to take back the throne. I want to marry your uncle. I want to live here and raise a family, and perhaps even find out what happened to my mother. I want the life that was taken away from me fifteen long years ago.”

She rolled away from me once she had finished. I rested my head on my knees and let my mind play back everything she’d said; finding only truth in it. She might have been jealous or angry about all of the things that had happened because of Skye and the prophecy, but in the end, she still wanted everything to be righted.

The knowledge of that put me at ease, and I found myself able to drift into a comfortable sleep.

TWENTY - DREAM A LITTLE DREAM