Wilde's Meadow (Darkness Falls #3) (20 page)

We should have known. We shouldn’t have showered or eaten or slept together. The comfort of a world without war was enchanting. We were foolish, but it was not his fault, or mine, it was ours together. At least we can claim the failure as a team.

The flames flicker, diminishing with each selfish, scared notion, but I guess that’s just who I am: selfish, scared, and foolish.

Arland turns his head, holding my teary-eyed gaze. “You are the least selfish person I know.”

“Do you two do this often?” Mr. Tanner asks.

I glance at him. “Do what?”

He waves his hand around. “It’s like you’re carrying on some silent conversation, and then you’ll suddenly speak aloud.”

“We are,” Arland says, a little humor playing into his voice. Being around people who don’t know everything about us, about our love, our futures, our place in this world, is awkward. “Kate and I are connected on many levels.”

Gary growls, clearly misinterpreting what Arland means, though we’re connected that way, too.

“Arland and I are Bound to each other, Gary. You haven’t freaked out about anything yet, so I might as well tell you that you were frozen in time for over a month … three if you count the time Brit claims we’ve been gone just to bring you here—”

“Bound?” Gary asks, narrowing his eyes, looking from me to Arland.

“We’re married. My mother never shared any of this with you, me, or Brit for reasons I don’t understand, but I’m not even human, Gary. Neither is she. My mother and father were Leaders of Encardia—the world we’re in now—and before I was born, they were told to take me away to keep me safe, that I would one day come back here and fight in a war against a dark god named Dughbal. Arland and I are the key to saving this world. I am Light, and Arland is my protector, my Coimeádaí.”

Mr. Tanner tugs his horse’s reins, the skin around his eyes twitching. “Where is my son? What have you done to him?”

Of course. Mr. Tanner still assumes Brad and I are together. Maybe that’s why my communicating with Arland bothers Mr. Tanner so much.

Arland circles back, riding up behind Brad’s father, eyes to the forest. “We need to keep moving.”

“Tell me where my son is!”

“I will show him to you—”

“
No
!” Arland shouts, abandoning Mr. Tanner. “You cannot.”

Bowen trots alongside Mirain, and Arland leans closer to me, melting me with his gaze. “I will not allow it. We have no idea how powerful he has grown since we have been gone. You are drained, barely in control of your emotions. You have spent the last hour doubting
us
. Do you really believe you have the energy to protect yourself and this man if I am not around?”

His words cut like daggers. I don’t doubt us, not our feelings. I can’t believe how confused I am, how tormented I’ve been since we left Encardia to return to Earth and then come back again. What’s wrong with me? I’m hurting, worried, consumed by fear, frustration, anger. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Putting myself out there for Dughbal to see is too dangerous.”

Arland’s shoulders relax, and he reaches out, cupping my cheek in his palm. “Thank you,” he whispers.

“What does Dughbal have to do with Brad? I’ve always trusted you, Kate, but right now, you should begin explaining the rest of what’s going on.” Mr. Tanner rides his horse, joining us. “Please.”

Mirain walks without my guidance—she knows where we need to go; I’m sure of it—and everyone else follows.

I look back as we travel, holding Mr. Tanner’s angry stare. “The war is between gods, but they cannot fight each other without destroying life. According to prophecy—and a god named Griandor—I’m the only one who can fight Dughbal, but only with the combined strength of my husband and me. So, I guess if you look at it that way, we’re the only ones who can fight him.” As soon as I say it, I know what we did on Earth wasn’t wrong. We couldn’t have known time for us moved slower. Maybe we weren’t supposed to know. Everything happens for a reason; our moments of happiness spent in my family’s home can be no different.

My spirit lifts, allowing fire to be free again. The sense of right travels to Arland, too. He smiles as though all my thoughts and feelings just jumped into his head.

My husband turns and takes in the two men as well. “Unfortunately, Dughbal found out about Kate’s prophecy and traveled to the world you come from. He attempted to taint your son but failed. However, when Kate, Brad, and Brit stumbled into Encardia, your son was attacked by daemons, allowing the poison Dughbal once tried to use on him to filter through every memory of his life.”

“I tried to save him, to get him home, but we had no idea he was affected by Darkness. When we brought him to the portal, daemons attacked again. We thought they—”

Mr. Tanner chokes and clutches his throat. “A-are you telling me my son is dead?”

“No. Yes. Sort of.” I take a deep breath and gather my thoughts. “Brad is alive, but the god is living in him and using Brad to get to me. Our friendship, our connection—”

“His unrequited love,” Gary offers, turning to look at Mr. Tanner.

“Love is most definitely involved in what Brad feels for her,” Arland says.

“These things draw Brad and Dughbal to my presence, but Arland protects me from him. I can’t show Brad to you yet, but you will see him again. Maybe not during the war, but certainly after.” I thread my fingers through Mirain’s white mane, trying anything to calm myself. “I have to kill him, Mr. Tanner, but once this war is over, the gods will give him life again.”

“Why you, Kate?” Gary asks. “And what can we possibly do to help?”

“Griandor says it’s because I’m pure, but I’ve been asking myself the same question, and you are here because all the worlds must unite against Dughbal.” I don’t want to mention I think they are here only to die.

“And who is Griandor again?”

“He and his sister, Gramhara, are the two gods who gave me their powers.”

Nodding, my stepfather pales. He rubs his hand up and down his left arm. I’ve given them only the gist of what’s going on here, and he appears shaken. What will happen when they see a coscartha or tairb … or me fighting one?

Mr. Tanner looks up, eyes wet. “And killing Brad is the only way?”

“But the gods have promised to restore his life—”

“My son won’t want a life without you in it.”

I know. “They promised to heal his heart, too.”

“Okay.” He draws in a breath. “Okay. I will help. What do you need us to do?”

Great question. Beyond uniting people from all the worlds, I’m not sure what the next step is before killing Brad.

“We need you to stay alive, fight when we say fight, run when we say run,” Arland says.

Bowen trots out ahead of us by a few feet. Through the forest, I see the faint glow of a fire and the shadows of people walking around it.

“Is this it?” I ask.

“This is where Brice said they would be.” Arland calls to all the horses and sets to running. “Come on!”

Brice? Here?

“Halt,” someone booms, shaking the ground with the deepness of his voice, stopping my attempt at figuring out why Brice would be on this side of the Crossing Caves. A huge man with gray—almost green—skin, at least ten feet tall, jumps out in front of us.

Bowen throws Arland from his back then stops and dips his head, almost as if he’s sorry for what he just did.

Flames erupt from my heart, engulfing my body in fire. Mirain sprints to Arland’s side but stops when she reaches Bowen. I slide from her back, then help Arland up.

“What is that?” I whisper, out of breath.

“Móran.” Arland stares past me, eyes narrowed and hard, then backs me up behind him, protecting me from the dark-haired beast before us.

“You are not daemon, but we do not know you. Why you here?” The
Móran’s face is square and rocklike. His words are on the grade level of a kindergartner, but the club he carries is nearly the size of my horse!

The bushes behind the Móran shift and shake. I draw my sword, preparing for a battle with a daemon. Not exactly what I expected for our arrival.

Cadman emerges from the forest, and I release the tension in my shoulders.

“Stand down, Huffie. This is Arland and Katriona. They are our Leaders, returned from a long journey to Earth.”

Huffie lowers his club and smiles, revealing two huge front teeth with a big gap between them. “This who you all worried over?”

“Yes.” Cadman places his hand on Huffie’s forearm. “Please, allow them to pass.”

The man moves aside, shaking the earth, nearly knocking me from my feet. “Glad you is alive.”

“Thank you,” Arland says, taking Bowen by the reins. “Your diligence to keeping this camp safe has not gone unnoticed.”

I grab Mirain, motioning for a gawking Gary and Mr. Tanner to follow, then we all walk beyond the gatekeeper Móran.

Arland leans close to Cadman’s ear. “How many more of those do we have?”

“Ten. Many lost their lives in battle already.” Cadman points at a couple extremely short people with long, red hair. “Take the horses. Put them with the others. Do
not
steal any of their equipment as you did before. You will only increase the danger on your life!”

Gary and Mr. Tanner stay close behind me and Arland, and I’m pretty sure one of them whispers ‘dwarf.’

Cadman leads us up the side of a cliff. Gray, crumbling stone. Small, dark, and round entry. Light at the back. My visions showed me this place before. I’d love to protest, to run away, to never step foot inside, but I already know there’s not much I can do to change the outcome.

Touching the small of my back, Arland encourages me to keep moving, and I do, because I can’t stop. I won’t stop. I have to keep fighting, although I doubt where we rest has much to do with him dying. Or maybe it does and I’ve already changed the future. I’m not sure, but I cannot continue to worry about him when so many others have already suffered.

The cave is small and has a fire burning in the center. Smoke drifts up through a tiny hole in the top. Soldiers lie against damp walls, arms wrapped around their shins. Some of them sniffle, others moan. Everything reeks of body odor and dried blood and feces.

My stomach cries out to empty its contents, not that I’ve eaten much recently. I got only a couple bites of Muriel’s soup, and according to Brit, that could have been months ago. I search around for my sister, Perth, Rhoswen, Flanna—anyone I recognize—but my eyes haven’t readjusted to the dark.

Cadman takes a seat by the fire and motions for us to join. The confusion I felt earlier infiltrates my thoughts again. There’s no life in this cave, no happiness, no hope.

Arland laces his fingers with mine. “
We are hope, Kate, and we have been gone. This is why Cadman brought us in here
.”

I swallow hard, and I pray he’s right.

The four of us sit around the fire. The light illuminates battle scars all over Cadman’s face. I wonder what happened in Ollmhor; nothing here injured him that way. He’d be dead.

“Seeing you both in good health does wonders for my faith,” Cadman says, breaking the eerie silence. “The spirit beings from Gaoth threatened to leave if the Leaders of our army did not appear.”

Arland picks up a stick from next to the fire, then pokes at the burning logs. “I would like to call a meeting. Everyone should attend.”

His voice echoes around the cave, rousing soldiers from their resting places. People lumber to their feet and stumble closer to us, closer to the flames. I recognize so many faces, so many injured friends and …
family
.

“Brit?” Her eyes are black with exhaustion. Her body is frail and thin. I jump to my feet and rush to her.

“Kate.” My sister wraps one arm around my waist. “You look so healthy, and you brought … Gary.”

Heat burns my cheeks. Her energy for life, her life itself … she’s dying. Everyone in this cave might be dying. My power bubbles inside. Dughbal did this. Not me. Not Arland. These people should not suffer any longer, and they shouldn’t have suffered in the first place.

Blue fire radiates from my body. Arland runs over to us. Standing on the other side of my sister, he offers me his hand. We’re stronger together, and Brit needs us. Everyone needs us.

I take his hand. “Wake up. Come to these people. Heal them. Restore their energy. Fill them with peace, love, hope.”

Sprites materialize from everywhere, filling the cave with pink, glittering light. The beings pass over each injured person, blanketing their skin with a healthy glow. Some soldiers stand immediately and smile as though the war around us has ended, while others need more time, coughing and spurting up blood.

The magic lands on my sister last, working on her harder than the others. Cuts line so much of her exposed skin, and blue veins bulge from her pale, thin arms. Her green eyes glaze over, and Brit slumps in my arms, dragging me and Arland down with her weight.

“
No
… .” I kneel next to her and move hair from her face. “God, Arland, please tell me we aren’t too late.”

Arland takes my sister into his arms and carries her over to Cadman, leaving me on the ground.

“What happened to her?” Arland demands, laying my sister by the fire.

The sprites still hover like sheets of silk flying in the wind, but she hasn’t moved. I haven’t seen her chest rise or fall. She shows no signs of life.

Gary brushes her cheek with the back of his fingers, head hung low, eyes glistening. “My child. My beautiful, beautiful girl. Please don’t leave us.”

Brit opens her eyes and squints. “I’m here,” she wheezes.

Words are exchanged between Arland and Cadman, but I can’t hear anything aside from my sister’s ragged breaths. I crawl over to her, body trembling, heart pounding.

She’s going to be okay. She’s alive. The sprites helped her.

“I knew you’d be back.” Brit cracks a faint smile and sits up slowly, pressing her hand to her chest.

I urge her back down, but she fights me off. I would do the same, so I allow her to do what she wants.

“You were just … .” Gary shakes his head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Brit leans into my open arms, and even though she’s okay, I can’t stop crying.