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“I don’t have my power back.” Merlin somehow managed to look even more put out than he had a moment before. “We’re going to go fix that.”
“So…we’re stuck.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to be stuck.” She glared at him. “Ireallydon’t like you.”
“The feeling is mutual. And if you would shut up and let me think, I might be able to come up with a solution for our problem.” He grimaced, baring jagged and broken teeth.
“Mordred might know how to—”
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” He shook his head. “Do you really think he’d help us? Yes, what could possibly go wrong with a suicide march back to the man who you justbetrayed?”
“Whatever.” She frowned. He really was an asshole. “So, if we’re stuck, where are we going then? How do we get ourselves unstuck?”
Avalon’s skies were clear for the first time in three hundred years. Sunlight and spring were back, and it seemed like every living thing in the forest had come out to celebrate. At least the view was nice, even if her current company was sorely lacking.
“Where are we going?” She followed after him.
“There’s a town not far from here. We will take what we need for travel, and you will burn the rest.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if pointing out the obvious to a child.
“Wait, what?” She jogged to walk beside him. “You skipped, like, eight steps. What’re we doing? Where’re we going?” She stopped walking. “I’m not taking another step until you tell me.”
He rubbed his hands over his face, muttering in a language she didn’t understand. “If you wish to return home, then you will keep helping me.”
“And what if I decide I don’t want to go home?” She lifted her chin in defiance. Sure, she missed her parents—and she’d miss her own world. But Avalon was full of so much more. Here, she might have a chance at being someone. Or at least living an interesting life.
He stormed up to her, trying to use his grizzled appearance to intimidate her. “What is your grand plan, then, little human?”
“I just take a left and walk somewhere else. If we’re stuck together, that means you’re just as bound to my decisions as I am to yours. Lancelot must be out there somewhere. Maybe I could make friends or allies.” She held her ground.
“Think it through, girl. The Crystal is broken. Magic has returned. And with that, a new struggle for power. Forces will rally against Mordred before he can capture them all again. The elementals will rise to fight, and ifwedo not help them, then Avalon will never be free.”
“Try harder. Not good enough. I can lie low. Find friends.”
“Friends?” He sighed heavily. “Consider this—without me, you know nothing of where you are. Where you’re going. Who could be a danger and who could be an ally. You would fall prey to another elemental in moments. They will not take kindly to you.”
“Why not? I’m the one who set them free.”
“You clearly do not understand the nature of this place.” He turned and began walking into the woods again. “I am done with this conversation. It is a waste of time. I’m going this way. The farther away we become, the more pain you will experience until it blinds you. I expect my tolerance for such things is higher than yours.”
She frowned. That sounded miserable. “You could have just started with that.”
“I foolishly thought you might have some sense in your head.”
She sighed.
Go it alone.
Or follow a jackass cat turned…whatever he was now.
“How do you plan on fixing this?” She jogged after him. Fine. She’d tag along for now while she tried to come up with a better plan. “Where’re we going after the village?”
“To the mountain. There is a wizard there who might be able to help us. If the crazed bastard is still alive.” He snorted.
“A wizard? Is he the real M—”
“I don’t know!” Grinn cut her off. “But probably not. Stop asking if everybody is Merlin.”
