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“We will definitely succeed,” Jared muttered defiantly. “There’s no way we won’t.”
Macey gave him a grim smile. “We’ll do our best. Now, any idea how to summon the Staran?”
Jared shrugged. “No idea. Maybe think of them? Wish them into being? Honestly, I have no idea. Usually I travel with one of the others, and I’ve never thought to ask them how exactly they’re doing it.”
Oh well, Macey would just have to try. If her men could do it, so could she. At least, she hoped so. It was just a hunch after all, and all the earlier vision had shown her was them travelling on the Staran, not how she entered it. Maybe they’d supposed to ask Wilg for help? It was too late for that now.
She did as Jared had suggested and closed her eyes, thinking of the Staran.
“Tell me if anything happens,” she warned the incubus, before focussing on the feeling of the Staran, the strange scent of them, the stomach-lurching feeling of travelling on them. She remembered the first time she’d done this. It felt so long ago, yet she could recall every detail. Every sensation.
She instinctively pushed her magic into that memory, and Jared whooped.
“It’s there!” He hooked an arm around her waist. “Quick, think of where you want to travel and hopefully they’ll get us there.”
That’s when Macey noticed that she had no idea of the actual place her men were. All she’d seen in the vision was the sea, with no visible land or islands in sight. But what was it what the guys had told her when they’d first taken her to travel on the Staran? That they were sentient and sometimes knew where they were needed?
She brought the image back into her mind. Flint, Cam and Rónán in their little boat, the waves threatening to overturn it. The looks of panic on their faces.
Without thinking, she took a step forward – and was catapulted into the Staran.
Orca
Twelve
“Ehm, Macey? How are you doing this?”
She opened her eyes and looked around. They were standing on solid ground – and below them was the sea. And the ground
wasn’t there. Their feet were on nothing but air. But it felt solid. Macey tentatively took a step forward. Yes, solid.
“I’m not doing anything,” she said. “It must be the Staran.”
“Well, they got us to the right place.” Jared pointed to somewhere on the horizon. “I think I can see their boat. But now the big question is, how do we get down there? And then, how do we get to them? I’d like to avoid swimming in the ocean, if that’s possible. I’m not a great swimmer.”
“If it comes to that…” Macey took a deep breath. “I’d let you ride on me.”
Jared stared at her, then broke into laughter. “I’d never thought I’d ever ride you in that way.”
“I take it back. You’ll have to swim.”
Suddenly, a warm breeze surrounded them. It almost felt like a hug.
“Jared… I don’t think the Staran are holding us up here.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Air?”
Macey nodded. Talia? She asked in her mind, but didn’t get a response. She hadn’t really expected one. Air was living inside of her, but it was more like an extra source of magic rather than a person or spirit.
“Ehm, bring us down to them?” she asked tentatively. Luckily, Air seemed to understand. The warm breeze grew stronger and embraced them even tighter, until they began to move slowly, very slowly, through the nothingness of empty space above the sea.
“This is so weird,” Jared muttered, and Macey wholeheartedly agreed. This way of travelling didn’t rank very high in her list of transport methods. To be honest, most of her recent trips hadn’t been very nice. Travelling through the earth with Jared… claustrophobic. Travelling on the Staran… creepy and nausea inducing. No, she much preferred swimming, walking, or even driving in a car. Maybe she was a bit conservative or anti-magic in that aspect.
The closer they got to the boat bobbing up and down on the wild waves, the faster Macey’s heart beat. The men in the boat seemed calm, not shouting like she’d seen in her vision. Did that mean they’d arrived after or before the events in the vision?
“They look okay,” Jared said, echoing her thoughts. “Do you think they’ve dealt with the Orca yet?”
Macey shrugged. “No idea, but I think we’re about to find out.”
