A burst of thunder crashed through, dropping a tree, knocking Ailith down and pinning her leg. She couldn’t move and their link was broken, her scream making his heart beat so fast that he feared it would explode out of his chest.
Edan grabbed the heavy trunk, trying to lift it off her leg. But they were no longer connected, causing the walls to crack. “I can’t move it. Help me, Dyna.”
The two tried, Edan’s muscles straining enough to make him bellow with a frustration unlike he’d ever felt. He’d come so close to saving his daughter and the woman he was falling in love with was slipping from his grasp, pinned helplessly down.
“Edan, the branches are moving toward me. Please.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the cages. How could he choose? He couldn’t. He had to save Ailith first, then together they’d find her.
A large figure shoved him off to the side. “We’ll do this together.”
Alasdair had the calm he didn’t, bent down and said, “Grab the trunk on the other side of her.” He did as he said, and Alasdair nodded, the two lifting together. Once they had it lifted a fraction, Dyna came into the middle and the three shoved the tree off with a shout. Once she was free, Dyna reached under and hauled Ailith out.
Alasdair said, “Get Heilyn and get out. We don’t have much time. More cages are dissolving.”
Edan picked Ailith up and let her test her leg. “Can you walk?”
“Not without help.”
Dyna, her usual take-charge manner intact, said, “We’ll stand on either side of you. That will give you and Edan the contact to stop the hill from collapsing.”
“Which way? I can’t see anything.”
“Over here!” A voice that sounded distinctly like her grandfather called out.
Dyna shouted, “Again, Grandda!”
They moved across tree limbs and roots toward the voice.
“Get your arses over here!”
Dyna smiled. “I love you too, Gwyneth.”
“Where’s Heilyn?” Edan asked as they made their way toward the voices and the back of a cavern that appeared endless.
“Over there,” she pointed as they passed the warriors.
Dyna yelled, “Ailith, your father!”
“Da!” she yelled as a warrior bore down on him from behind. A blade arced over her sire’s head, ready to split him in two. She grabbed Edan’s hand, bracing herself against Dyna as she pulled their joined hands to the shadow warrior’s armor. The otherworldly being recoiled as if struck by a death blow, struggling to pull away. But Ailith wouldn’t allow it. She forced him back into his cage, the transparent material locking him in place the moment he crossed its threshold. Edan reached for another warrior and did the same.
Grant said, “Get your daughter, MacRuari. We can handle the rest.”
“Where? I can’t see. Can you see Heilyn, Ailith? Help me!” Warm fluid dribbled down his cheeks, but he refused to turn back.
“To your right, Edan,” Dyna shouted.
A flock of ravens attacked, but Ailith swung her arm at them in a rage, and they disappeared. When they finally made it to the last caged bairn, he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up, seeing his dearest daughter frozen in the state she must have been in when she was stolen, her face bearing the same look of fear he had seen whenever a thunderstorm hit.
“Heilyn, it’s Da.” He placed one hand on the clear surface, noting the rise and fall of her chest. He was pleased by the cage’s warmth, but she didn’t move. “Ailith, help me. Use your talents. Free her like you did the others.”
She leaned into the crystalline cage, closing her eyes to calm herself, a challenge amidst the cacophony of sounds around her: clashing swords, shrieking birds, and other noises she didn’t recognize.
“Hurry, Ailith!” Edan’s voice, insistent and fragile, forced her to place her arm on the cage.
A bat swooped down at her face, but she held her scream and shooed it away. Interrupted, she pulled back and looked at Edan. “It’s not working.”
“Try again.”
