Page 92 of What Lies Beyond the Realms

Nyx sweeps me up into his arms and leaps into the sky. Chepi yips, flying along besides us.

“No. She told me how to find the portal and will meet us there.”

Flying above the Shifting Forest in daylight is a little creepy. Every now and then I can see the ground shift and change below us.

“Do you think it’s odd that Samael hasn’t tried to find us yet? I mean he must know we’re in Cloudrum by now.”

“Yes, I do think it’s worrisome. All the more reason to get the hell out of here. Athalda had her place spelled to hide us, so it’s possible he assumed we fled to Nighthold after your magic was unleashed. He also has no way of knowing whose magic it was. He’d just know someone was using massive amounts of magic and roughly the location it was coming from.” His face looks stressed. I trace my fingers along his jaw while watching him speak.

He continues, “When we get close to the portal, I want to see if you can sense it and see if it’ll reveal itself to you. That’s why I asked Athalda to let us get there first. If it truly is a Sorcerer portal, you should be able to sense it once we get close enough.”

“How do I sense it?”

“You listen. It should call to your Sorcerer blood. You should feel a gentle pull inside, guiding you toward it. Once you’re close enough, it’ll reveal itself,” Nyx tells me, and I hope it works. I hope I can sense it. That uneasy feeling starts to fester in my chest again, and I tell myself to relax.

“We are getting close. I’m going to bring us down early to see how you track it,” Nyx tells me, and I don’t know how he sounds so sure. I’m not convinced I’ll be able to track anything.

After a few minutes, he starts swooping down in a gentle zigzag through the trees. He touches down softly on the forest floor and holds me while my feet hit the ground and I get my bearings.

“Okay, what should I do?” I ask while looking around. I don’t notice anything unusual.

“I want you to be still. Close your eyes and focus on slowing your breathing. Listen to your heartbeat. Imagine your blood pumping through your heart and out to your body. Your magic is inside you. Inside your blood. Be open to it,” he says softly then goes quiet behind me, taking a step back.

“But I don’t have any Sorcerer magic yet. What makes you think this’ll work?”

“I don’t know for sure it will, but hypothetically it should because you have Sorceress blood. The portal will recognize you.”

I start taking long, slow breaths in through my nose, holding it for a second then releasing it slowly out of my mouth. I place my hand over my chest and feel my heart beating. I try to imagine my heart and my blood like he told me. I imagine the thick warm viscous liquid pulsing through my body, reaching my toes and my fingertips. I think about my blood traveling back to my heart, and that’s when I feel it. I wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t looking for it, but right there in the center of my chest under my hand where my heart is pounding I feel a slight tug.

“I can feel it,” I whisper to Nyx.

“When you’re ready, try to follow it,” he tells me quietly.

The tugging sensation is constant. It’s not a repeated tug or pulsing feeling. I step in the direction of the pull, and the feeling lessons a bit, but once I stop it returns. I try stepping to the side away from the pull to see what will happen, and I feel the tug become slightly stronger, like it’s telling me I’m going the wrong way. Interesting. I open my eyes but keep my hand over my chest and focus on my heart and that small feeling inside me. I take it one step at a time, pausing to make sure I’m going in the right direction, and the direction it’s pulling me. We weave through the forest a couple hundred feet, then all of a sudden the pull disappears, and I don’t feel anything for a moment. I don’t know why, but I take my hand off my chest and put both hands out in front of me, feeling the air around me. A shimmer appears. It’s small at first then slowly expands until the shimmer is the size of a large door. I turn my head to the side, looking at it, then walk a circle around it, examining it. When I reach the other side, I can see Nyx’s distorted body through the shimmer.

“I can’t believe I did it.”

“Don’t touch it. We have to wait for Athalda. Portals can be unpredictable at times,” Nyx cautions me.

“It’s beautiful,” I say aloud, taking a step closer and staring into the translucent shimmer. Nyx must be nervous by my proximity to the portal, because he comes over, wrapping an arm around me.

“It is.” He kisses the top of my head. “Athalda should be here soon. Come sit with me,” Nyx says, sitting down and leaning his back against a tree and pulling me into his lap.

“I can’t wait to be back home, far away from this place.” He tangles his hand in my hair, playing with the curly pieces.

“Me too. I can’t wait to be back at your home. Away from here . . .”

“It can be our home too you know,” Nyx whispers into the top of my head, and I lean into his chest.

“I like the idea of that,” I say softly.

We sit in silence for a while, just enjoying sitting with one another. Chepi lies sprawled out in the dirt next to us. The birds are chirping, and the forest seems oddly peaceful at this moment.

“I need to tell you something.” Nyx clears his throat, sitting up straighter.

I turn in his lap facing him, “What is it?”

“You’re so perfect. I’m so lucky.” He breathes into my ear then nibbles my neck.