“The King will have Athler watching Brock. If you go, his second will sense your emotions unless you’re shielded, and you’re too drained to maintain both with your invisibility. They’ll capture you, Dove.”
“Then I’ll be captured. I don’t care. I just need Kallon to portal me to our spot. Give me a day. Just one day. That’s all I’m asking. If I can’t find him, I’ll come back. But I have to try, Tez. I have to. You would if you were me.”
And I would. I would break mountains to get to Scottie. I would rather be caught and captured with her than have her in the hands of the Lux King alone. “Alright,” I conceded. “But your reserves won’t last an entire day.”
Kallon cut in. “I’ll give you three hours, Dove. Then I’m coming back for you and Rainer.”
“Fine,” she said as she swiped at her cheeks.
Kallon started opening the portal, twisting and bending the already built one from the prison so it could take them back to Lux. “I’ll be right back. Get yourselves ready,” she said as she eyed my appearance. “I’m portaling you all as soon as I’m back. This territory is about to be crawling with Luxians.”
Dovelyn lifted her hands and casted invisibility over the two of them right before they jumped into the purple and black hole.
I stared after them, praying she would be able to find Brock and Rainer without getting caught. I couldn’t stomach the thought of her father having her too. He would never kill Dovelyn, but there were worse things he’d do to destroy her.
“I know it’s hot as balls in this place,” Peter remarked, breaking the silence, “but you might want to put some clothes on. I doubt mortals walk around looking like that.”
I completely forgot I only had my towel on. I looked over at Peter. He was hovering over Sie who was now starting to stir. Scottie lingered behind them both.
I turned around without responding and walked into the bathroom, letting the door slam behind me.
It didn’t take longfor Kallon to return. She portaled us two at a time to the outside entrance of the camp. I knew she was exhausted, but her reserves were nowhere near depleted by the time we finally made it.
Commander Dravenburg was already waiting for us with his arms crossed over his chest. I knew my vague message would have pissed him off, but it wasn’t worth the risk to give him a heads up on exactly who we’d be bringing to the camp. I didn’t want to tip anyone off that we were attempting to rescue Sie until after it was done.
His hazel eyes scanned our group ruthlessly. Kallon withbeads of sweat clinging to her despite the frigid temperatures, making her saffron and black bangs stick to her forehead; Peter holding up the semi-conscious prince; and Scotlind, who was turning her head from side to side taking everything in.
We were standing in snow half a foot deep, our previous clothes nowhere near functional for the weather. I always forgot how cold it was in this territory. It was nearing the end of winter, maybe only a month left, but this year was worse than previous ones.
It didn’t look like a camp, but we hadn’t fully entered yet. The shields the air users created here were the strongest I’d ever seen, thanks to Wells’ creations. No Advenian could portal or teleport in. The only way into the camp was by foot.
“Tezya, I would say I’m happy to see you, but I’m afraid under these circumstances, I’m not,” Dravenburg spoke, his eyes flicking over to Sie before meeting mine again.
“We always knew this day would come,” was all I said, because it was all I could say. I hated that I was shattering his well-constructed bubble.
“Yes, well I just hoped my children could have gotten a bit older first.”
“You know I will do everything I can to keep Wells and Savannah out of this.”
He chuckled darkly. “Good luck with my daughter. That girl was born into this world ready for a fight.”
“Speaking of Sav, where is she?” I missed her, I always did when I was stuck in Lux for too long.
“Anxiously awaiting your arrival. Come, we will be starting dinner shortly.” He hesitated for a moment, eyeing Sie again. “I’ll bring yourfriendsto the healers.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
Dravenburg gave a curt nod, then turned around and stalked off what appeared to be a cliff with a large drop into the ocean. To everyone else, it would have seemed like he plummeted intothe rocks. The fake waves roared below as they slammed against them. Scottie yelped, thinking the mortal commander had just jumped to his death as he immediately vanished from view.
“What are you doing?” Scottie yelled as I took a step to follow Dravenburg. “Are you crazy?”
I turned to look at her. She was shivering, her chattering was so loud, her words were almost inaudible. It would be warmer as soon as we crossed. The temperatures inside the shield were tepid, similar to the ones surrounding Lux and Tennebris.
Her sapphire eyes were wild as she looked from me to the cliff. The color was such a deep blue, it matched the illusion of the ocean below. I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s the way into the camp,” I replied, then followed Dravenburg through the shield.
It beeped as I passed through, revealing a grassy field that stretched for miles. Tents were haphazardly erected throughout the plane, with electricity and fire users heating the space.
Behind me, I could see Kallon and Scottie talking, one of the perks to the shield—it only created the illusion on one side. If any mortal approached the area, our scouts would know. But mortals didn’t often travel this far north in Maine. It was one of the reasons we picked the location. And if they did come here, not many dared to step too close to the cliffs. Air users on watch generated strong gusts of winds whenever a human was spotted nearby, and most stayed far away from fear of falling to their death.
