“No!” she shouted, covering him with her body. “Please—please don’t hurt him. I’ll go. I’ll wear the cuffs if that’s what it takes.”
“Enough!” Marina’s voice cracked through the tension like lightning. “Isha, stop this. She’s a girl, not a weapon.”
“So was Magna, and look what she did,” Isha bit out.
Isha stared at them, chest heaving, his face carved from stone. The cuffs hovered in the air, pulsing with quiet threat.
“I’ll go,” Alice repeated, her voice softer now. She turned to Geoff, gently cupping his cheek, her thumb brushing the blood away from his lip. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I understand. He’s afraid. You told me what happened before… with the other alien.”
Geoff shook his head, fury and helplessness flashing in his eyes. “This isn’t right.”
“But it’s happening,” she murmured. “Let me do this. Please.”
Marina stepped forward and pulled the cuffs toward her. “I’ll keep an eye on her,” she said firmly, glancing at Isha with a look that warned him not to push further.
Erin knelt beside Geoff, her fingers glowing softly as she healed the split in his lip. “Sorry,” she whispered. “He doesn’t mean to be cruel. He’s just… being Isha.”
Geoff muttered a quiet thanks and stood, his movements stiff with barely checked anger.
“If she threatens Queen Magika, I won’t show her any mercy,” Isha warned.
“Get a grip. She’s not going to hurt anyone. Even Elder liked her,” Geoff retorted.
Isha stood taut, his eyes glowing as he stared at Alice. “I swore an oath to protect the king and queen. I let them down once. I will not risk it happening again.”
“I understand. I do,” Alice murmured.
A nerve pulsed in Isha’s jaw before he gave a curt nod, twisted, and began walking again. The group was silent, the only sounds the soft crush of leaves underfoot and the occasional whisper of wind through the trees.
Alice kept her eyes on the path ahead, trying not to think about what would happen next.
“Have you heard anything… about my friends?” she finally asked, her voice fragile in the heavy silence.
Isha didn’t answer.
Marina’s eyes softened slightly. “Who else was with you?”
Before Alice could reply, Isha barked, “You should remain silent.”
Marina pursed her lips. “You’re being paranoid, Isha.”
“We all should be,” Isha said without looking at her. “Queen Magika will decide what to do with the girl once we reach the village. She’s arrived through an unsanctioned portal. That is a punishable offense.”
Alice winced and glanced at Geoff. His face was unreadable now—locked behind walls she hadn’t seen before. But when he looked at her, his eyes softened. She offered him a crooked smile, hoping he couldn’t see the fear trembling behind it.
And then she saw it—through the thinning trees ahead.
A clearing.
As they stepped into the open, her breath caught.
A valley opened before them, wide and rolling like a quilt of green and gold. Nestled in its heart was a village that shimmered with magic. Delicate spires twisted like tree branches into the sky, rooftops glowed with gentle hues, and lanterns hung in the air as if suspended by thought alone. Vines of crystal light curled up the buildings, pulsing like heartbeat threads in a living tapestry.
But it wasn’t just the beauty of the place that stole her breath.
It was the energy.
Alive. Thrumming. Singing in waves that danced across her skin like fireflies on a summer night.
