“Of course we will,” I concurred and gave Dylan a very determinedly cheerful look.
He just laughed and shook his head before clicking his horse into a walk behind Sir Dagonet.
We rode as fast as we could that day, pushing the horses and ourselves. It was clear we were all eager to get there.
By afternoon, we broke free of the forest. I stopped my horse and took a great deep breath of the salty, fresh sea air. The water shifted in front of me in its unending dance. Forward and back, a lick up here, a pull there—I was mesmerized by the beauty of it, at the delicate lapping of the waves and at the immense strength of the water as it pulled back on itself before bounding once again onto the beach.
But as I stood there watching the sea dance before me, something else was lapping at my memory.
I had seen this before, but where?
I looked around me at the forest, the trees, the rocks that were scattered about on the shore. No, this wasn’t quite right. But it was close. We were very close; I was certain of that.
The wind picked up, welcoming me to its shores. I jumped down from my horse, landing on the soft sand at my feet. Bridget joined me, as did Dylan and Sir Dagonet.
“It’s magnificent!” Bridget said in awe as she looked out into the endless sea.
“Incredible!” I agreed.
“Neither of you ever see the sea before, wot, wot?” Sir Dagonet asked. Even he seemed to be a little in awe of the majesty before us.
“No,” Bridget answered.
I didn’t say anything. I’d never been to the coast, but somehow this was all very familiar, though I just didn’t know how it could be.
“It’s hard to tell, but I think that jut of land is just a little to our north,” Dylan said squinting up and down the beach.
“Yes. That’s exactly right,” I agreed.
Everyone turned to look at me in some surprise. I laughed nervously. “It...it seems like the most reasonable thing,” I said, with a shrug. I didn’t want to admit to having been here before, because I couldn’t remember when I had—if I had. It was all rather confusing.
As we traveled on, everything became ever more familiar to me. And just as a huge wave crashed over a boulder that had been negligently tossed on to the shore, it came to me in an instant.
I had seen this all in a dream. I had traveled this path, walked down this shore. I would know the place where the chalice was the moment we reached it.
Bridget was getting ever more antsy behind me, fidgeting this way and that, even making the horse nervous. The closer we got, the more she fidgeted. She finally gave up and just jumped off.
I pulled up on the reins. “Bridget!” I hadn’t even stopped the horse. We had been at nearly a trot when my sister had jumped down. She could have easily been hurt.
“Wot, wot? Is this it?” Sir Dagonet exclaimed.
Bridget flipped around to face the old knight. “No, I just, I just can’t stand it. We’re so close!”
“We are, I can feel it,” I added.
“I recognize where we are, but it’s farther down the beach,” Dylan said, about ready to jump off of his horse as well. The animal did a little sidestep, but he controlled it firmly and kept moving forward.
Bridget picked up her skirts and started to run. Her bright red hair, which had been tied into a neat braid, now had tendrils dancing wildly all around her, like the flames of a campfire. We slowed our horses to match her pace, but Sir Dagonet was overly eager and moved ahead.
And then Bridget stopped. She just stopped in the center of the beach, her hands on her hips, panting from her run. At first I thought she’d just gotten tired, but then I felt it.
We were there. We had reached the place.
There was nothing but a feeling, a tingle in the air that told me I was right.
Sir Dagonet, however, had ridden right by.
“Sir Dagonet!” I called out, but he didn’t hear me above the sound of the water.
“Sir Dagonet!” Dylan and Bridget called out in unison.
“Eh?” he turned.
“We’re here!” Dylan called out.
Bridget had already turned toward the forest. Slowly, reverently, she approached the trees, as if they were royalty.
And, indeed, they wore such vibrant colors they could have been royal. Brilliant red, gold, and orange leaves flared toward the sea like flames. The wind picked up and the branches swayed, bowing their greeting. And all the while, behind them, the water crashed upon the shore and yet retreated with grace so as not to get any of us wet.
It was a most perfect place.
I closed my eyes, just feeling the wind on my face, smelling the fresh air, the richness of the earth, and the salt of the sea. My ears were filled with the constant thunder of the waves. But beyond all of this, I felt the thrumming of magic. It was like a vibration that made my blood rush through my body and my heart sing with joy. I felt free and happy. I felt...home.
Yes, this was the feeling of coming home.
A feeling I’d reveled in after meeting my brothers. It was happy and sad, exhilarating and overwhelming. A rush of emotion thrilled through me such as I had never felt before.
I opened my eyes to share my joy. Dylan was looking rather pale. I climbed down off my horse and went over to where he stood peering into the woods.
“Are you all right?”
He shook his head clear and then turned to look at me. He seemed to force the smile to his lips, but he said, “Yes. It’s...it’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it? So much magic, concentrated into one place.”
“Yes,” I said, reaching out and touching his arm. I wanted to calm him, to reassure him, somehow.
His smile became true, reaching into his eyes as he placed his hand on top of mine.
“But these aren’t the trees.” Bridget’s voice broke into the moment.
Dylan turned to look and then moved forward to stand next to Bridget at the edge of the forest. He reached out to touch the beautiful leaves. But she was right. These weren’t the leaves of the intertwining trees that I remembered from my dream. These were the leaves of ordinary oaks and beeches.
“They must be here,” Dylan said, with a slight panic to his voice. He plunged headfirst into the thick growth that bordered the beach. But the branches were too thick for him to go very far very fast.
Bridget was smaller and more lithe. She passed him, ducking under and climbing over the branches that formed the dense barrier. “Here!” she called out.
“Is it there? Do you see it?” I asked from just beyond the tree line.
“Wot, wot? Is it there?” Sir Dagonet said, coming up from behind me.
“I don’t see the chalice yet, but the trees are here. They’re...” she paused.
I had lost sight of her, but Dylan was continuing to climb in after her. I could hear him moving among the branches. I gave up waiting for them. Holding up my long skirts, I journeyed forward to try to see where Bridget had gone and to try to catch up to Dylan.
It wasn’t easygoing. I could barely take a step forward for all of the branches that poked out at me, twisting this way and that and stopping me from reaching the treasure that lay inside.
“What is it, Bridget?” I asked as I came closer. My sister was just standing, half crouched under a particularly large branch. She turned as Dylan and I drew near. “They’re dead,” she said softly. “The trees from my dream. They intertwined in this same way, holding the chalice. Do you remember, Dylan?”
“No. I didn’t get close enough to see them. I went off to try to find where they were,” he said.
“Oh, well, there were three of them, just like this. In fact, I know that these are they. Only, in my dream, they were alive with green shoots among the brown of the branches. But these trees—well, they’re dead.”
“And so will you be, soon,” a low voice said just behind us.
We all turned at once.
Shivers shot through me. I fought hard to keep myself from shudderin
g too obviously. Lady Nimuë stood on the beach, looking into the tangle of dry branches where Bridget, Dylan, and I stood.
“I thank you for finding Merlin’s chalice for me. Honestly, I could not have found it on my own. But I knew it would call out to you. That it would tell you where to find it. And here you are!”
Chapter Forty Two
Nimuë smiled and opened her hands out in an almost welcoming gesture. “The chalice is there?” she asked.
Not one of us answered her. In fact, we hadn’t even seen the chalice yet, but we all knew it was there. We could feel it—or at least, I could, and I was pretty sure the others could as well. But none of us were going to admit as much to Lady Nimuë.
“Have you children no manners? I asked you a question,” Nimuë said, her voice hard and demanding.
“But we shall not answer it. Now, be gone!” Dylan said with none of the fear that was making my stomach ache.
“I would do as he says, my lady. I don’t want to hurt you,” Sir Dagonet said, holding his sword at the ready just behind her.
“You do not want to hurt me? ” Lady Nimuë laughed. “You have been very helpful, Dagonet, but I am through with you for now.” With a negligent wave of her hand, Sir Dagonet was suddenly frozen into place.
“Sir Dagonet!” I cried out. I spun around for help from Dylan, but as I did so, my eyes passed not just Lady Nimuë, but four of her!
One was standing outside of the tree line on the beach, but another was standing near Dylan, and there was a third on the other side of Bridget. And, just a few feet from me, staring at me with those implacable eyes, was the fourth.
Four Lady Nimuës. I couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying.
Until the world exploded.
Rain poured down, the wind whipped at us, and lightning shot out from the sky, targeting us and the tree. Huge waves crashed against the shore, sending ice–cold water pouring into the forest. I stood frozen in fear and confusion, as the wind whipped my hair into my face.
But with that slap of wind, a gust of clarity burst open my mind. I could do something about this. It only took a moment’s concentration.
Reaching deep inside of me, I pulled my energy together. With a quick wave of my arm, I made the wind stop. Looking up into the sky, I willed for the clouds to disperse and the rain to cease. And beside me, I realized that Dylan was making the sea water recede while Bridget froze the lightning.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy. It couldn’t be.
The Nimuë standing closest to me pulled back her hand and sent a sphere of concentrated energy straight at me. It glowed a swirling blue, red, and yellow as it flew.
I didn’t know quite what to do for a moment, but my instincts kicked in—with a wave of my hand, I sent a blast of wind gusting toward the sphere. It disappeared.
But immediately, it was replaced by another, and then another. I wasn’t fast enough. Lady Nimuë was sending the spheres more quickly than I could extinguish them.
As the energy spheres hit me, they hurt, burning my skin and causing excruciating pain. I ducked one coming straight at my head and caught sight of Bridget battling the same things coming from the Nimuë closest to her. I didn’t have time to even look to see if Dylan was in the same situation, I just assumed that he was.
From off to my right, I heard Sir Dagonet’s war cry. Somehow he must have gotten free of the spell. But then there was a grunt before I heard, “What the...?” She’s not real! I can’t hurt her.”
“No,” Dylan called out, “It’s a glamour, an illusion.”
“Three, no four of her, wot?” Sir Dagonet said, his voice heavily laden with awe. “That’s four too many, I say.”
“Which is the real Nimuë?” Bridget called out.
The air filled with laughter as all four Nimuës threw back their heads and laughed out loud.
Sir Dagonet, brandishing his sword, forged into the trees. He took a swipe at the Nimuë battling Dylan, but his sword just glided right through her.
“Old man, you are beginning to annoy me,” all four Nimuës said, in unison. A glowing sphere of fire and energy flew toward Sir Dagonet. It hit the brave knight squarely in the chest and sent him flying out onto the beach. My heart lurched into my throat.
“Sir Dagonet!” Dylan shouted and reached out toward him, but got his hand caught by the branches.
My fear for the old knight made me involuntarily take a step backward. I started to trip over a limb that was just behind my knees, but grabbed hold of the branch directly in front to stop my fall.
A frisson of magic shot through my hand and a low creaking sound began under the earth where we were standing. The ground began to shift. I held on to the branch, but the movement stopped.
Nimuë looked up, catching my eye. For a moment I couldn’t move. I was locked in Nimuë’s gaze, helpless even as the witch pulled her hand back to form another energy sphere. Fear trampled through me, but my arms would not respond.
“Dylan, hold on to your branch again,” Bridget called out, with excitement lacing her voice. “And keep holding it!”
Nimuë turned to look at Bridget, freeing me to see Dylan swing back around and grab the branch that he had just been holding. I sagged with relief as I turned back to my sister, who was holding on to a knot of branches just next to her, also trying to keep her balance. My fingers gripped onto my own branch ever more tightly, ignoring the rough bark that dug into my hands.
The creaking sound started again, and once more the ground gave a slight tremor under my feet. For a moment, I wondered if the earth was going to split apart and swallow us all with the way it shifted and buckled under me. This was almost as terrifying as Nimuë’s magical spheres.
“No!” the Nimuë closest to Bridget suddenly screamed—and that was when I noticed that shooting up out of the ground were what looked like the tree’s roots. They were wrapping themselves around Nimuë’s legs, climbing her body. The other glamours faded away as the real Nimuë tried to push the roots off. She even aimed some of her energy spheres at the tree, but that only seemed to make it grow even more quickly.
“No! Stop them! Stop them!” she screamed, trying to escape, but they were too strong.
I didn’t know what the roots were doing to Nimuë, but for the first time I had a feeling that the woman was just as scared as we had been. It was stunning to see her truly frightened.
If I weren’t so terrified myself, I might have done something to help Nimuë—I just couldn’t stand to see anyone so upset, no matter how much they deserved it.
Nimuë looked up at the three of us with pure fury on her face. “I will not allow you to win. I am the most powerful Vallen in this world and you are nothing but children.”
And then she disappeared. Just like that.
I looked around. Was this another illusion?
“She’s gone!” Bridget shouted and let out a whoop of excitement.
“Is she really?” I asked. I could hardly believe it.
“No, wait. It’s got to be another trap,” Dylan said, climbing toward me.
Bridget stopped and looked around, but all was quiet. The tree root that had held onto Nimuë silently slipped back into the ground, like a harmless earthworm.
For almost a full minute, we all stood there, ready for any sudden attack, sure that it was going to come.
Waves crashed onto the beach with a gentle thunder. Yet there was silence in the trees all around us. A leaf began to unfurl itself from the branch still in my hand.
“The tree!”
Dylan was next to me in a moment. Bridget looked all around her and gasped, “It’s coming to life!”
“Did we do that?” I asked, unable to keep the awe from my voice.
“We must have,” Dylan began.
“With our magic,” Bridget finished.
“And Nimuë?”
Dylan’s smile spread across his face, lighting up his eyes like the sun reflected in a calm pool of water. “She’s gone!”
Chapter Forty Three
The tree attacked Lady Nimuë and she retreated,” Dylan said, as amazed as any of us.
“She wasn’t meant to be here, I suppose,” I said, trying to make some sense of what had happened.
“No, but we are,” Bridget said, moving forward once more.
“But what about Sir Dagonet?” I called after her.
Bridget turned around for a moment. “It’s all right. He’s coming to.”
I turned around, and indeed, the old man was beginning to stir.
“Let’s get the chalice, shall we? Then we’ll take care of Sir Dagonet,” Dylan said, beginning to climb toward me.
There was nothing I could do but go along, telling myself he would be all right. I turned back toward Bridget and started to climb farther into the wood.
All around us, the trees had begun to come alive. The branches showed new life. They bent, instead of breaking, when I pushed past them—and I could even see some new shoots beginning to grow out of them. It was just incredible. It was as if, with our combined touch, the trees had taken a deep breath and begun to live once again.
And they were beautiful, folding in on themselves, bending this way and that, forming complicated knots, the branches leading us further in toward the center.
With one more twist of myself between two closely growing branches, I stopped next to my sister. She stood, finally upright, staring into the center. There the trunks of the three trees stood, at their center— the chalice.
It was just as I had dreamed. Branches intertwining, wrapping around its base, up and around the cup of white stone. As I got closer, I could see that some of the lines moving up the cup weren’t branches at all, but the veins in the stone. It all blended together so perfectly, that it was almost difficult to distinguish the stone of the cup from the branches supporting it. It was, truly, a cup of the Earth.
Dylan reached out his hand and tried to take the cup from the branches, but they refused to let go. As he began to reach toward them with his other hand, Bridget grabbed it instead.
“You can’t just tear at them and hurt the trees,” she reprimanded him.
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