Page 5 of The Edge of Darkness

So, I tried.

And failed.

My efforts hadn’t even been enough to make the wards tremble. A few stones around me had rattled loose, but the wards held firm. By the end of that day, I’d exhausted myself trying, and Aremis made me call it quits so that I could rest.

Again, I found myself lying in Niall’s bed, surrounded by the scent of him, going over everything he had taught me. He’d always spoken of power like it was a well within someone, and if one descended deep enough into it, they could summon greater amounts.

That was when I knew I hadn’t been summoning enough. We hadn’t gotten that far into my training yet. I’d tapped into my power, but I’d never plunged into the core of it. Not like this task required. And if all I’d been doing was skimming off the surface for something as monumental as bringing down a territory’s wards, it wasn’t nearly enough. The type of undertaking I was attempting would require me to dig deeper, to descend into the depths of what truly resided within me, until I either succeeded, or ran my well of power down to nothing.

The following day, I plunged into my well without a second thought. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and imagined the knot in my core like Niall had said. It unraveled, leading me down, down, down, into a chasm that was beyond what I’d imagined.

I’d sunk only a fraction of the way into it, when I decided that was enough, and reached out for the wards. I instinctively raised my hand—as if to touch them—and called forth my power from the depths of that bottomless pit inside me, commanding it with one word.

Fall.

I felt the shift in the atmosphere as my power surged beneath my skin, skyrocketing forth from the well, and pumping through my veins like pure energy. Then, I heard Remic’s confirming words, just before I blacked out.

When I awoke seven hours later, I’d learned that I’d done it. The wards had fallen for about four seconds. That was more than enough time for us to bypass Ramil’s watchful eye and enter Benmoor. With this advantage, we no longer needed to create a diversion. Once inside, we could move quickly—with Morah’s insight—and return to Calledan without being noticed.

What we didn’t need was for me to pass out after one bout of power usage in Benmoor. I needed to be able to command the wards more than once if we wanted to get in, get Niall, and get out successfully.

So, I spent all of yesterday morning at the eastern gate, practicing, hoping to build up my stamina so as to not drain nearly as quickly. Using power was like training a muscle: the more you put it to use, the stronger it would become.

After a few hours, Remic gracefully flew me home and tucked me into bed. Thankfully, I awoke only two hours later and was greeted with Aremis delivering food to my chambers.

The rest of the night, I’d tossed and turned in a fitful sleep, anticipating the real task. I was desperate to see Niall, to hold him again and hear him say my name. Part of me wished I could dish Ramil a hearty dose of vengeance while I was within his borders, but the time for that would come later. Getting my mate back was the top priority, and doing it without being found out was of the utmost importance.

Three hours ago, Morah, Maeson, Roirdan, Remic, and I had readied our weapons in the war room of The Keep, preparing to port into Benmoor.

And now, we all stood on the backside of Calledan’s mountain range, where the land sloped into flat plains and continued out into what would eventually become the Desert Court. This was the closest to Benmoor we could get without leaving our territory. From here, Remic would take me, and Roirdan would take Maeson and Morah to the gate. Once there, I would have precious seconds to knock out the wards to allow us to slip through, and Morah would have to muster her power to port all five of us into Benmoor. Porting herself and another fae used a bit of power, but porting four others . . . that was going to be a significant strain. There would be no wraith-walking for her once we got into her home territory. Thankfully, she wouldn’t need to call upon that power. We would only need her insight to find Niall.

If I did my job quickly enough, Ramil wouldn’t have time to recognize who was at the gate. If I failed, we would more than likely be held there. And none of us wanted to face what might await us should that happen.

Aremis stayed back in Calledan. His weaponry skills were more than impressive, and his Aura was an unmatched advantage, but as Niall’s second, if something were to go terribly wrong and none of us came home, he would have to assume control and delegate command of the Mountain Court. He was an asset best kept in the heart of our territory.

I had pulled him aside earlier and expressed my gratitude for his strength and rationale once again. I could see exactly why he was Niall’s second. He had been able to make the hard decision to get me out of Benmoor after the poisoning. If we would have lingered another minute, we’d be locked away as captives ourselves. But thanks to him, we had a chance to free my mate.

As for the rest of us, we all knew our jobs. Morah would get us in, and her loyalists would get us underground, unseen. Roirdan and Remic were our swords and shields. Maeson was armed with a plethora of remedies and herbs to combat any type of poisons we might encounter, and of course, her fire was at our disposal.

My goal was to remain focused and break any wards that might be holding Niall down once we got to him. When we had him in hand, Roirdan would port Maeson and Morah back, and Remic would port me and Niall. I could port on my own, but I didn’t trust myself with long distances yet, and now was not the time to find out if I could, especially since I was going to be using the vast majority of my power on this rescue mission.

Everything was riding on me.

I forced my jaw to unclench. Roirdan was right, I needed to calm the storm building inside me. I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease the tension, then checked that my sword was secured at my side.

All of us were armed with blades this time.

Remic had thrown on a glamour, keeping his wings out of sight, in case we were spotted. He had also changed his ears from their rounded form to pointed tips, like a fae. The glamour would have probably done wonders for anyone else, but his stern and haunted expression was enough to make anyone look twice and question him.

“We all remember the plan, right?” Morah asked.

“Take these,” Maeson said, handing out thick black cloths. “If you see the faintest hint of smoke, cover your nose and mouth immediately. I’ve coated them with ambrosia to counteract any type of inhalants.”

We tucked away the cloths, and I double-checked that I had the map Aremis had drawn of the tunnel system beneath the city.

I turned to Morah, thanking her for helping us.

She gave me a strained smile. “Don’t thank me yet. We need to find Niall first. If he’s being held in the catacombs as Aremis believes, my loyalists can only get us so far. After that, we’re on our own.”