“Write your own, Emma,” Ethan said. “You’re the Worldweaver, the bridge between this universe and our own. As long as the intention is true, the crystal should be able to harness enough power.”
Ethan was right, but I’d had no experience writing my own spells before. I worried it wouldn’t work.
Well, first time for everything. I chewed on my lip, trying to conceive the proper incantation. It had to be clear. If it wasn’t, the dragon stone could deposit us who knew where. Possibly a universe without oxygen. It’d be something I would do.
Yet the spell also had to be similar to the one that got us here. This was complicated magic. It took me a few moments, but I think I got the words right.
I closed my eyes as I grasped the dagger in my hand, putting all my might into the intention of the spell. “Fae of old and fae of new, take me back to what once I knew.”
I opened my eyes as the ruby began burning against my hand. Flowing from the stone was a wispy whirlwind, which expanded in front of us to create a spinning portal— one large enough for all of us to walk through at once.
My gut knotted nervously. The portal was red, like the ruby. We couldn’t see what lied beyond.
Theo stomped his hooves. “You sure about this, Emma?”
“No,” I said as I placed the dagger into my bag. “But what choice do we have?”
I pulled myself onto Ethan’s back and threaded my hands into his soft fur, holding on tight. Ethan crouched. He shook his tail as he said, “I trust you,onawilke.Hang on!”
Ethan bounded toward the portal. I closed my eyes as the portal enveloped us completely, hoping to the gods it didn’t spit us out on another planet we didn’t know.
I smelled the meadow around the Willow Maiden before I saw it. I opened my eyes, and felt spring sunlight encompass me as Ethan sailed through the portal and back to Malovia. He landed on his feet, and stumbled. I went flying off, rolling into the base of the Willow Maiden with my head still spinning.
I looked around. We’d spent hours in Edinmyre, but by the sun’s position, it didn’t look like any time had passed here at all. Milonna was right. Time moved differently there.
“You all right?” I felt Ethan’s hands lift me up. He was a man again, and set me upright. I leaned against the base of the Willow Maiden. I was back in my normal clothes, and as far as I could tell, my wings, tail, and wolf ears were gone.
I shook my head to clear it. “Yeah... I think so.”
“Wee!” There was a happy cheer as Odette and Theo jumped through the portal, with all the grace of a horse and his rider. They landed gracefully, and Odette slid off Theo’s back before he changed into a man.
Alexei flew through the portal with Kiara on his back. He helped her off, though he looked a little dizzy as he became a man again.
“Are you okay?” Kiara asked in concern.
Alexei rubbed his temple. “I’m fine. The headaches get bad when there’s a lot of emotion, you know?”
I was about to ask who was getting emotional, until Stefan and Delmare emerged through the portal, making out the whole way. Fucking really?
“Okay you two, get a room,” I teased. Now that the floodgates were open and Delmare no longer felt the need to hide her feelings, they were being totally gross.
Stefan pried his mouth away from Delmare’s and pointed at me. “In a moment. What are we doing withthatthing?”
He gestured to my bag. I withdrew the dagger. It looked even more splendid here than it did on Edinmyre. The silver had an exceptional glisten to it, and the ruby’s red color was so vibrant, it appeared to be not of this world.
“I think it needs to go to Delmare,” I said, handing it to her. “It feels right.”
“Me?” Delmare balked as she took the dagger in hand. “Why? You’re the Worldweaver.”
“I think each crystal should go to its main Faction,” I said. “Not to mention I don’t feel safe holding onto them all. If all the crystals are in one place, it makes it easier for Gabby and Eli to find them. If we keep them separate, there’s a better chance of keeping them in our possession.”
Delmare nodded. “I agree. I’ll keep this safe for you, Emma, until the time is right to use it again.”
“Arewe using it again?” Alexei asked aloud. “I mean, Edinmyre is cool, but it’s kind of dangerous.”
I shrugged. “If we figure out there’re more stones in Edinmyre than on Earth, we’ll have to.”
Kiara tapped her chin. “I can do some research about it. I don’t know much about the Crystals of Harmony, but there have to besomeclues out there on where they are.”
