The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) (27 page)

Alexander began to slow, his steps landing all wrong, his timing off. And he wasn’t singing. So Adelaide departed and sought out a better partner. The others were standing stock still, watching the performance. Adelaide could feel the tickle of Lilacoris scratching at her mind’s door, but she ignored it, and curtsied to Sachihiro.

She held out a hand. “Dance with us, music-maker.”

Sachihiro took her hand and she swept him away, leading him over Gaia’s gentle movements and modeling the correct notes to sing. They completed one turn and a grin split the man’s face. He pulled back from her and held up a finger. With a toss of his shoulder, his lute spun to his chest and his fingers began to dance along the strings. She gaped. Every note was perfect, intertwining with Gaia’s. She curtsied to his nod and resumed singing. Sachihiro added quick steps and stomps, and the two rotated around each other, entranced in the music they created.

Lilacoris couldn’t move. The burly man and the slight girl cut a beautiful image as they twirled and danced about one another, but it was not the majesty of the performance that paralyzed the High Watcher. The girl had communicated with Gaia with hardly a thought, and Lilacoris still could not break into her emotional mind, try as she would. She knew at that moment that Tannyl was right to be concerned about her.

She wrested her eyes from the dance and turned away, trying to control her own racing thoughts. She covered her face and turned inward. Her thoughts flew along the magic with every bit of desperation she could summon.

It is Ta’Nyah. She has come for you.

It only took a moment before the response entered her mind as if it were her own.

Let her.

Chapter Thirty-One

VYLARRA WAS NEARLY as breathtaking as Gaia. The city was housed in a single sprawling oak. It towered above the surrounding forest, miles high. It was an impossibly giant tree atop an impossibly giant turtle. The sky dimmed as the ship docked at the uppermost branches. The air smelled sweet and cool, wrapping invisible arms around Adelaide as she stepped onto the rough bark.

“Hey,” Sachihiro said, stepping beside her. “It’s finally night.”

“Yes, you will find a more familiar sky here, I believe,” Lilacoris said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will send word of your request to the All-Mother. Opis can assist you with anything you may need while you wait. And Erlen,” she said, looking at the empty air near Adelaide. The sprite shimmered into view, looking ashamed. “It would be best if you came with me, dear. I can’t imagine your mother gave you leave to travel as you have.”

“No, Erlen,” Sachihiro cried out. “We were just finding our rhythm.”

Erlen rubbed the back of his tiny neck and fluttered over to Lilacoris without saying a word. The two turned together and vanished down a set of stairs.

“That was really strange,” Sachihiro said. It looked like he wanted to cry.

Adelaide took his hand in both of hers and turned to survey her new surroundings. She didn’t think it could challenge Gaia for her favorite place ever, but she secretly hoped it would. There was always room for more wonder in her life.

The peak of Vylarra was a vast, open area of intersecting platforms and walkways spanning out hundreds of feet in all directions. It made Adelaide dizzy just to look at it all. A bright green glow emanated from the centermost platform. A stooped figure fussed about the base of it. They looked tiny at such a distance, and the green glow towered over them. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around, and Adelaide could only hear the distant calls of birds. For such a great city, it seemed nearly unpopulated.

“Well, that must be Opis, I guess,” Alexander said, nodding toward the glowing platform.

“He better be serving,” Sachihiro said. “I need a drink.”

“I didn’t have time to mix up another Sach special,” Jaydan said, “so take it easy.”

Sachihiro pushed at the smaller man. He put little force behind it, but Jaydan still stumbled. “I just lost my best friend. Now it’s just Squirrel and me. We have sorrows in need of drowning.”

Jaydan rolled his eyes and shook his head in the way only he could. Adelaide’s stomach rumbled loudly enough for Alexander to hear it.

“Maybe we can see about finding some food first,” he said. “Drinks later.”

Sachihiro let out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Let’s go see if Opis can get us some grub.” He started walking, but stopped abruptly and turned around. “Hey, where’s Tannyl?”

Adelaide spun around and sensed something to her left, hidden against a backdrop of foliage. She jabbed a finger at it. “There he is!” she shouted proudly.

“Hey, Tannyl, where you going?” Sachihiro called out. “Opis is this way. Just wait till you see what Squirrel and I can do with a fistful of nuts.”

The shadow shifted and slowly approached. Tannyl had a dark look in his eyes. Adelaide shivered, but thought it was from the coming cold. She rolled the sleeves of her shirt down and crossed her arms. It didn’t help.

Tannyl stood before the group, looking at each in turn. “I have to go somewhere else,” he said.

“Wait, so you’re just leavin’ us?” Sachihiro asked.

“Just like that?” Alexander asked.

Tannyl nodded and looked away.

Sachihiro threw his hands in the air. “Oh, wonderful. First, Erlen vanishes, and now you’re going too?”

“Weren’t you going to say goodbye?” Jaydan asked.

Tannyl looked at the man, but quickly glanced away again, his eyes hard. Adelaide shivered again. The elf looked angry, but he felt like something else. She didn’t recognize it.

“Not much for goodbyes,” Tannyl said. “You know that, so let’s not make a thing of it.”

More of his emotions leaked into Adelaide’s mind. She still couldn’t identify the swirl of energy, but she knew how to fix it. Or at least thought she did. She walked up to Tannyl and put her hands on her hips.

“We’ll go with you, then,” she said.

Tannyl stared back. Alexander put a hand on her shoulder. “Addy, hon, we need to get you to Wolverhampton to see your friend, remember? Lilacoris should be back soon.”

She pulled away and shot a frown at Alexander. Turning back to Tannyl, she raised an eyebrow. “But we can help you.”

“No,” he said flatly.

“Why not?” she protested.

“I said
no.
And I will not explain myself to a child.
”

“But why not?” she pressed.

Something snapped behind the elf’s eyes and he took a single sharp step toward her. “You’re not coming. I’m going alone.” His eyes bore into her. It still wasn’t anger she sensed. But the way his face was contorted, Adelaide found it strange that it could be anything else.

He turned and began to walk away, but Adelaide lunged for him, snared the back of his leather vest, and pulled. He whirled on her. She held her ground.

“When are you coming back?”

“I’m not,” he said.

“Then we’re going with you.” She took a step forward to show her intent.

“No, you’re—”

She stomped her foot, cutting him off. She jabbed a finger at his chest. She felt anger now, but it was her own. “You can’t leave us,” she shouted, far louder than she intended. “We’re a family. Sachihiro said so. And Miss Hastings said families don’t leave each—”

Her words vanished under a sharp burst of pain at her cheek. All the sound in the world disappeared in that moment as she stared up at him. Tannyl’s hand was still extended, held at his side, having completed its task. She tried to speak, but only a weak cry came out. She collapsed onto the ground under the weight of a million tears.

Tannyl’s hand struck Adelaide like a bolt of lightning and echoed through the canopy of Vylarra like a roll of thunder. The air was suddenly too thin to breathe. Jaydan wasn’t sure his eyes had recorded the event correctly, but then she fell and he knew what had happened.

Alexander recovered first and lunged for Tannyl, glaive leading. Jaydan dove for Adelaide. He slid to her side just as Alexander thrust for Tannyl’s belly. Tannyl twisted aside with ethereal grace and, like a viper, struck at Alexander’s throat with stiffened fingers. Alexander crumpled beside Adelaide, gasping for air and finding none. Jaydan looked up at Tannyl, his mind still lagging behind his eyes.

He stared back, opened his mouth a fraction, then shut it and turned away. Adelaide moved at Jaydan’s side, tearing his attention away from the traitorous elf. Alexander was still clawing at his throat, trying to breathe, but Jaydan knew the man would recover in due time. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen that attack used.

He tried to help Adelaide up, but yanked his hand back as soon as it touched her fair skin. He shook his hand and stared at it, dumbstruck. Before he could generate an explanation, a wash of heat struck him with enough force to send him stumbling away from the slight girl. He rolled on the rough bark and looked at her, squinting through the haze. Adelaide was on her hands and knees, hands curled into claws. Jaydan could
see
the heat radiating off her. Alexander found his senses and retreated a safe distance as well. He heard Sachihiro swear from somewhere behind him.

“You self-centered elven spawn of shit,” Adelaide growled, her voice nearly unrecognizable. She lifted her eyes to Tannyl. The tears that ran down her cheeks turned to steam with a sharp hiss and small tendrils of black smoke curled up from the corners of her eyes. She rose into a crouch. Her breath came in ragged gasps. “I could kill you, Tannyl,” she hissed. “I could kill you!”

Tannyl stopped for a moment and glanced over his shoulder, but didn’t linger. Jaydan looked back at Adelaide. Sweat ran openly down his cheeks. He tried to rise, but fell against the heat. He tried to speak, but his mouth had turned to sand. The only relief he found was in the chill that her words set along his spine. He knew with utter certainty that she meant every one.

Sachihiro knew that if he didn’t act Adelaide was going to kill Tannyl. He didn’t know how. His mind was still trying to piece together what he had just witnessed, but that fact was not in doubt. Alexander looked like he would soon pass out from lack of air, and Jaydan huddled against the ground trying to find some reprieve from the immense heat that burst from Adelaide in thrumming pulses.

He ran at her, but after just two steps he hit the wall of heat. It was just as tangible as an actual wall, forcing him back. His face flushed, and sweat ran free. He squinted and wiped at his eyes. Adelaide was no longer crouching. She was running.

Sachihiro did the only thing he knew how to do. He swung his lute into position and set to playing with everything he had. He dropped into the most powerful charm he knew, each pass of his fingers drawing magic into the strings of the instrument. He didn’t know how to channel as Jaydan described, but he knew how to play. And when he was playing it just happened. Like breathing. There didn’t seem to be a better option.

He directed the charm at Adelaide’s back, blending each note into the next until no single one could be discerned. Sachihiro could see the music rise from him like an ethereal snake, a single tone of unending complexity. The series of runes glowed beneath his palm and he felt a surge of energy. His legs stiffened and his back arched near the breaking point, but he continued to play. Twisting his head to the side, he focused on Adelaide. She had nearly closed the gap. In the clarity of the magic flowing through him he could see the skin on the back of Tannyl’s neck begin to blister. Still, he didn’t turn to face her.

The magic snapped after the girl, lashing at the air. Even in the chaos and desperation, Sachihiro saw it for the beautiful thing it was. For just a moment, he allowed his mind to conjure the image of his uncle. Brengan Teller smiled warmly and began clapping with an enthusiasm Sachihiro had never witnessed in life. He banished the image and turned back to his magic. It crashed into Adelaide with an explosion of color. A backlash of energy shot through Sachihiro, dropping him to his side, stiff as a board.

Sachihiro caught his breath and blinked the tears and sweat from his eyes. Adelaide lay on the ground where the charm had struck her. The air was calm and cool once more. She wasn’t moving.

And Tannyl was gone.

Alexander ran for Adelaide as he had never run in his life. His eyes scanned beyond her, looking for any sign of Tannyl. He saw only a distant glow of green. His eyes flashed back to Adelaide and he fell at her side, ignoring the pain in his throat. Breathing was still difficult, but that didn’t matter. Sachihiro and Jaydan stumbled after him, and they surrounded the still girl.

“So help me, Sachihiro, if you hurt her,” Alexander said.

Sachihiro held up his hands. “It was just a charm. I saved her and Tannyl and this whole city, if I’m not mistaken. Give me some credit.”

Alexander shook Adelaide gently. Her skin shone with sweat. Her hair was matted and tangled. Her hands were locked into claws.

It seemed like forever, but finally Adelaide’s head lolled to one side and her eyes fluttered open. They adjusted and looked at the three faces staring down at her.

“Addy, are you all right?” Alexander asked, holding his breath.