by Sarah Kleck
“Jared!” I turned about, searching.
My heart stopped. There he stood. More dead than alive, but he was standing with his own strength. My legs gave way with relief. I sank to my knees, watching Jared spread his arms to welcome his magic. The pulsating light ball rushed at him to charge with full force into his body. The pressure wave blew the hair strands out of my face. Jared sank down, panted, coughed, and breathed in deeply. He lifted his head and looked into my eyes. Tears ran down my face. I wasn’t able to stand, but he was on his feet. A moment later he was beside me and embracing me so hard it almost hurt. Then he kissed me. First very tenderly, almost like a whisper, then more intensely, passionately. It was as if we’d never kissed before. As if this was our very first kiss.
He looked into my eyes and kissed me again.
I couldn’t say a thing. I just focused on breathing and trying to understand what had just happened.
“You’re alive,” I whispered.
Jared nodded, clasped my face, and kissed me so intensely that I became dizzy.
“What were you thinking?” It just tumbled out of him. For a moment it looked as if he didn’t know whether to slap me or keep kissing me. “You could have died!” He pressed his lips so hard against mine it hurt.
“You’re alive!” I repeated, this time louder, and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pressed against him as tightly as I could. “You’re alive!”
“Thank you,” Jared answered, barely audible, before raising his voice. “But what were you thinking?” He was almost yelling at me. Once again he kissed me as if he needed to feel I was there. I struggled for air. Jared put his hand on the back of my neck, pressed his forehead against mine, and looked in my eyes.
“How could you put yourself in such danger?”
“I had to try.” It sounded like an apology.
Jared laughed, nervous but happy. “I was so worried about you.” He took my face into his hands.
I took his hands and looked at him. “You were worried about me? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
Jared chuckled. Then he held me tightly to him as if he would never let me go.
The barghest growled with raised hackles. My personal guardian had not left my side. I first thought the hostile gesture was directed at Jared but then followed the barghest’s watchful look. I was shocked. Morgana’s struggle was not over yet. She still shook, her fingers bent back unnaturally. An orange light erupted from her, and another pulsing light ball bundled itself together outside her body. For a moment, the sphere stood still, hovering above the ground. Then it began to move. But where was it going? My eyes followed it as it moved toward a figure waiting calmly by the forest edge. The entire clearing shone like a light in a glowing sunset. It blinded me so much that I had to shield my eyes. Faster than sound and with the force of a wrecking ball, the magic united with the figure. When the body had absorbed the trembling sphere . . . I nearly lost my balance. Could this be true?
“Ruth?” I blinked into the dawn. “Is that you?”
For an instant, I’d forgotten to breathe. Jared was already on his feet, drawing me to him in a protective gesture.
The barghest growled and nudged me in the back. I followed its glowing eyes to the east.
No!
Morgana was fleeing! Three of her most trusted servants were carrying her into the woods. With a trembling hand, she pulled Nimue’s amulet—my amulet—from her pocket and put it on. Then she vanished among the trees.
“She has my amulet!” I shouted, horrified. “We must stop her!”
“In which direction?” Jared hadn’t noticed and was trying hard to focus.
“There,” I replied, pointing to the spot where I’d last seen Morgana.
Jared ran that way. I looked over my shoulder, but Ruth had disappeared. I started to run, faster than ever before. A group of daredevil damnati tried to stop us, but the barghest took care of them.
Jared was fast even though he must have been terribly weakened after his ordeal. Maybe it was rage that drove him on. We flew past the trees. I tried to keep up with Jared’s superhuman speed while looking for Morgana in every direction. The glowing light of the rising sun blinded me. Jared ran on. The forest became denser. We soon left the barren area behind to enter a colorful landscape that was still unspoiled. The witch had no influence here.
Still no sign of her. The wind whipped my face. I tried to discern something in the sounds of the awakening day. Steps, voices, something that would tell me which direction we needed to take.
“Did you see her?” Jared called over his shoulder. He briefly stopped, looked around, then ran on. “I can’t feel her energy.” Helpless rage echoed in his voice.
“She’s wearing my amulet!” I called, panting, looking around frantically. Then I slowed down. “Jared, wait.”
He looked back at me, frowning, but didn’t slow down. I stopped.
“It’s useless,” I said, resigned. “The amulet will hide its wearer from anyone wanting to harm them. We won’t find her this way.”
Jared slowed down, clenched his fists, and turned around, searching with his teeth gritted. Then he ran on.
“We’ve hidden from her long enough!” he growled. “Do you hear?” he shouted into the echoing forest. “We’ve hidden long enough!” He took a deep breath and yelled louder. “Run as fast and far as you can—I’ll find you!”
It wasn’t a threat; it was a promise.
I hurried after him, tried to stop him, put my arms around him. Jared was so tense the air around him began to crackle. His tension only lessened when I gently enveloped him with my magic. Finally, he stopped, stood still for a moment, and attempted to control his rage. He had difficulty giving up the chase and kept looking around, hoping to catch sight of Morgana somewhere between the trees.
“It’s useless,” I repeated with a soothing voice, “for as long as she’s wearing my amulet.”
Jared’s facial muscles twitched. “Maybe she’s even left the island.” After all, not much was left of her following. Avalon had struck them down. The thought filled me with pride.
Jared nodded. Then he took a few deep breaths. For a while we were silent as he tried to calm down.
“Who was the woman in the clearing?” he asked. “Do you know her?” His voice was still trembling. I didn’t know if this truly interested him or if he just wanted to switch topics.
“That was Ruth Hayman,” I replied with excitement. “She helped me uncover your and the Order’s secret. She’s the friend I told you about. She helped us find you.”
“Us?” he followed up as his face finally relaxed.
“Yes, Enid and Irvin and Colin . . . Colin!” My eyes widened. “He must have followed me into the fog!” Deeply worried, I put my hand to my forehead and started to nervously walk in circles. “But he didn’t arrive on the other side. I don’t know what happened . . . no idea where he . . .”
“Calm down,” Jared said, taking me in his arms. I was so upset I felt electrified. I would have preferred to run off to look for Colin in the fog.
“Colin knows what he’s doing. He can handle himself. He’s probably the last one we need to worry about. Tell me everything. What happened since you woke up at headquarters?”
I was still beside myself. A thousand questions raced through my mind. What about Colin? Was he all right? What had Ruth been doing there? How had she gotten to Avalon? Why on earth did she not tell me she had magical abilities?
Jared must have sensed I was ready to burst and gently laid his hand on my forehead.
“May I?” he asked.
I knew what he was up to, so I nodded. I was suddenly overcome by a warm feeling of confidence and optimism. I breathed in deeply.
“Let’s start over again,” Jared said. “What all has happened since you woke up?”
I considered where to start but was overwhelmed by the memory. Jared had put me into a magical sleep, then made a pact with Morgana. I was steamrolled by my anger at him for s
imply deciding that—while rendering me incapable of acting so I couldn’t prevent it. Jared’s expression betrayed that he saw it coming, and he took the slap in the face without flinching.
“I deserved that,” he admitted, subdued, rubbing his cheek.
I stared at him angrily but, to my horror, a grin spread across his face. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up.
“I love you,” he said, spinning me around so my legs flew in the air. “I love you!” He grinned from ear to ear, then kissed me and lowered me back down. He was completely relaxed.
“Never, ever do that again!” I said, but it didn’t sound as serious as I meant it.
“I won’t,” Jared promised, without making it sound ridiculous, then kissed me again. I felt his hot breath on my cheek and cuddled against him. Then I kissed him. I finally had him back. We were safe again.
“So Morgana possessed Ruth’s magic. That would mean that Morgana somehow got Ruth to give up her magic in the past,” Jared surmised. “Magic can only be given . . .”
I’d told him everything, left nothing out. It was so good to finally talk about it with him.
“Yes, and it would appear she has her abilities back.” I fell silent.
“What’s on your mind?”
I exhaled. “I wonder if this was Ruth’s plan all along. I really like her, you know?”
Jared embraced me.
“I can’t believe she was pretending all this time. I believed she was my friend.” The disappointment and hurt in my voice were obvious.
“I don’t know Ruth, but perhaps you shouldn’t judge her so quickly. Maybe it’s not what you think.”
I nodded into his shoulder. “I hope you’re right,” I began, detaching myself from him, “but there’s one thing I don’t understand. It was Ruth who told me the body of a magical being and its magic can only exist together as a unit.”
“That’s right. If you take the magic from a magical being, it’ll die.”
“How was Ruth able to continue living without her magic?”
“I don’t know how she did it.” Jared paused. “But . . . we should be dead. Both of us.”
With that, he said what I had pushed aside. I had believed I’d lost Jared forever and had embarked on a suicide mission. “Yes, I didn’t assume I’d . . . survive,” I conceded, thinking everything over one more time. I’d really believed Jared was dead. The memory of him lying on the ground tightened my throat. How he had pushed the last bit of his magic into Morgana to protect me. How it had felt when I’d done the same to destroy Morgana with my magic, knowing I would not survive. So how was it that we both still lived?
Then it struck me like lightning.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Jared,” I answered, my eyes wide open, “I think I’ve found the source of eternal life.”
CHAPTER 13
“Thus I turn my back on immortality,
preferring your love to eternal life.
For all the time in the world is meaningless,
compared with just one day by your side.”
“You’ve got something?” Jared asked.
“I’ve found the source of eternal life,” I repeated, thinking back to my dinner at Ruth’s.
“Was Nimue immortal?” I’d asked her after she’d read from the verse.
“She was the Guardian of Avalon, the legendary, mist-enshrouded island that’s said to contain the source of eternal life.”
“I drank from it . . . filled my bottle with it . . . and then I gave you some of it to drink!” I spoke so fast I tripped over my words. “Do you understand, Jared? The water kept us alive!” I was beside myself.
He looked perplexed. “Are you sure?”
“You yourself said we should be dead.” I hastily rummaged in the backpack and pulled out the book.
“Let’s see if there’s something about it in here,” I mumbled, leafing through the pages like mad. My mouth gaped. There it was! A faithful drawing of the source! Why, for Heaven’s sake, hadn’t I looked in the book before?
“Here! Just look.” I flattened down the page and held the book up to Jared. “I was there. Nimue’s magic came to me from this source.”
Gothic letters proclaimed Vita Aeterna below the drawing. But there was no explanatory text.
Jared took the book from my hand to have a closer look. He glanced at me, then back at the image again. His eyes widened.
“You’re a genius,” he said, casting an admiring glance at me. “Entire generations have spent their lives searching for it . . .”
I stared at him.
Suddenly, he frowned. “Wait a second. Do you think Ruth also found the source and, therefore, was able to survive without her magic?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it. The nymphs showed me the way. I can’t imagine they’d have led anyone else there.”
Jared looked at me while thinking aloud: “I knew you didn’t age as long as you were on Avalon. But I’d always thought it just exaggeration that the water would make you immortal.” He stopped and thought. “Probably only the water right from the source has that effect,” he surmised.
“But all the water on the island originates from the source,” I objected. No idea where I got that from—I simply knew.
“Right. The effect probably weakens the farther the water is away from the source. That must be the reason for Morgana’s eternal youth.”
“So you think the water from the lakes and streams everywhere here on the island stops the aging process, but one remains mortal?”
Jared frowned. “Yes, you don’t age, don’t die from illnesses or old age, but—”
“If you get a dagger in your heart—” I completed his thought.
“Yes,” Jared interjected. “The damnati must have drunk from the water as well, but there’s not much left of them.” He smiled darkly. “That means Morgana—as long as she never drank from the source—is mortal.”
“I’m sure she hasn’t found it. She was burning to know how I’d come upon Nimue’s magic.” I paused when I suddenly had a thought. I looked pensively at the book, which Jared still held in his hand. “Do you think,” I started hesitantly, “that we’re immortal now? Forever, I mean?”
Jared scrunched his eyebrows. Then he shook his head. “No, otherwise Nimue would surely be alive today.”
“The effect must be limited. You have to drink again and again from the source to maintain its effect.”
He returned the book to me, and I put it safely into my backpack.
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“We’ll go back and start looking for Morgana.”
I felt a sting in my chest.
“She’s surely not stupid enough to stay here now that the whole island is against her—” Jared stopped abruptly. I had tensed involuntarily, and he had noticed at once.
“That is . . . if you’d like.” He looked at me.
At the thought of leaving Avalon, an oppressive sadness overcame me. Jared took me into his arms and kissed my forehead.
“Would you rather stay here?” he asked, so cautiously that I knew he was afraid of my answer.
I sighed and fought against the sadness. “What matters most is that we’re together.” It was true, but I started to cry. This was anything but easy. Since Zara’s death, nothing had felt more like home than this place. I loved it and its magical inhabitants—every flower, every tree, every blade of grass, every stone. For the first time, I understood what Nimue had gone through. But she chose Merlin in the end. And I—I chose Jared.
“Let’s find Morgana,” Jared said, with a gentle but firm voice. “Then you can return here whenever you feel like it.”
“Sounds good,” I answered in a tearful voice. I could never have said farewell to this place forever. Even departing for a short time was difficult. But he was right. The sooner we’d rendered Morgana harmless, the sooner I’d be able to return. Whenever I wanted. “But there’s something I have to do before we can leave.�
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I cried a lot as we traveled to the peak. Jared watched helplessly. He tried to comfort me, but I assured him it was all right. I just needed to cry. My tears were a gesture of farewell to Avalon. Farewell to my magic. I had no choice—I had to leave it here so Avalon and all its magical creatures would live.
“There.” I pointed to the shrub-covered cave entrance when we arrived at the peak. This time I’d found the way on my own. Jared followed me through the dark, narrow passages. We were silent all the way. When we arrived, once again, in my presence the subterranean lake began to shine. I swallowed. All I had to do was go into the water and . . . I breathed in deeply. Why did I find it so incredibly hard? As if . . . someone were about to die.
I hesitated. Jared took my hand.
“You don’t have to do this,” he said gently. His look was sincere, and I knew he’d make this sacrifice for me. He’d stay here with me if I asked. Give up everything.
“No,” I answered, trying to pull myself together. “It’s okay.” Would it be easier if I did it really quickly? Like tearing off a bandage? My voice didn’t sound as firm as I would have liked. “Let’s go back. Let’s go back and find Morgana.”
Jared pressed my hand. I looked down. He didn’t want to see me cry again. But he pulled me to him, brushed his fingers along my cheek down to my collarbone. Then he placed his finger under my chin and lifted it so I could look at him.
“We’ll return,” he said earnestly. “I promise.”
I hesitantly nodded and swallowed the pain tightening my throat. I put my arms around his neck. He pressed me tightly to himself, giving me the support I needed. It felt so good to just drop, and do so in his presence. Why was I acting this way? I had come for his sake. To save him! Now that I had done it against all odds and Jared was safe, why was I so sad to have to leave again? He’d been ready to give his magic and, therefore, his life for me, dammit!
“I love you, Jared,” I said. Nothing else counted.
His breath brushed my ear.