Force of Nature

by Shawna Logue

  I should have been paying more attention to my feet, because the second I stepped up behind the wet curtain, my bare foot slipped on the slick surface. My arms did little to brace myself, as they found even less grip and slid out in front of me. My jaw cracked loudly as it hit the ground. I lay there for a moment, dazed and defeated.

  Though I felt I had been climbing for an eternity, I was sure it had only been minutes. I needed to get back to the top, and fast. I was only halfway, and I could barely move. My body ached with a pain that I knew magic would not cure.

  My clothes made a strange suction sound as I pried myself off the wet slab. Even stranger was the fact that the sound repeated even after I was standing, but it was clearly not an echo.

  “Miss Alexis?”

  I jumped and turned around, just in time to match a third sucking sound with an unfamiliar man stepping out of the rock face. He was tall and slender, but well built. His dark, russet hair fell in gentle waves at his shoulders, and his Elven ears pointed through on each side. Another man stood beside him. Both were dressed in some sort of uniform, and I immediately felt intimidated. King Fallon was in front of them, staring at me with a curious expression. Despite the fact that I should be used to strange things, such as people stepping out of rocks, it took me a moment to realize I wasn't hallucinating.

  “Alex, are you alright?” Fallon's hand held my arm reassuringly.

  “Yeah, I'm fine,” I stuttered automatically. “Just fell a few times. What are you doing here?” It seemed a silly question to ask, considering this was his land, but I was still slightly in shock from their sudden appearance.

  “I just came back from the High Council,” he replied quickly. “You're soaked. What are you doing down here?” His question held more confusion in it than mine.

  My eyes widened as everything came back to me in a rush. If he hadn't been supporting my arm, I'm almost positive I would have fallen from dizziness. I had forgotten Fallon didn't know what was going on.

  “Lahela,” I squeaked, hoping that would be enough of an explanation. I barely caught Fallon's perplexed expression as I turned and sprinted up the final curve of steps with a newfound determination.

  Fallon was waiting for me when I reached the top. He held one hand out like a crossing guard, his face so stone-like it brought me up short.

  “Now please, tell me what is going on?”

  Before I could reply, Fallon and the two Council members cringed. Behind them, a large flock of birds took to the sky. The forest was getting totalled. I didn't wait for them to compose themselves. I knew elves well enough now that they could easily keep up with me if they chose to. And judging from their pained faces, they would follow to see what was causing the destruction.

  Lahela's wicked laugh echoed through the forest. As I raced nearer, I could see several trees smouldering gently, likely the aftermath of a fireball. Several other sawdust piles lay where trees once stood. It was a war zone.

  The clearing only emphasized the destruction. Every plant, bush and tree nearby was dead or burning. Magic rippled through the clearing as a weak spell shot out from somewhere near me. I followed its path and saw it hit Lahela square in the chest. She looked up from the pile she was examining, and her eyes darkened black. The pile moved slightly. Jack.

  “Stupid human,” she shrieked, “Still alive?”

  I looked back for the source of the spell and caught Connor leaning behind a tree. His skin was covered in black soot, and I could see he was only supporting his weight on one leg. I tried to pull magic from around me, but there was none. It had all been used up.

  Connor stepped out from behind the tree to cast another spell but she was too fast, and an unseen force ripped him off the ground and toward her. His body went limp under the force of her magic. Her cackling increased.

  I grabbed a rock and dashed into the clearing. With the last bit of force I could muster, I threw it at her. It stopped in midair inches from her face. Of course she could stop it.

  But she wasn't moving. In fact, no one was moving, including myself. Jack still lay motionless on the ground, but I couldn't be sure if that was a result of whatever spell was on us now. Connor's body hung lifeless, his heart centered two inches from a spear-like branch in Lahela's hand. Lahela's face, which a second earlier had been fraught with cruelty and malevolence now showed fear. Her eyebrows were raised in a frozen, shocked expression. I wanted to be able to turn, to follow her gaze, but I too was cemented in place.

  I watched as Connor was slowly lowered away from the deadly stake and placed gently on the ground. A moment later, the spear flew out of her hands in the direction of her gaze. The rock I had thrown fell with a faint thud just as I felt sensation return to my limbs. Before I could make any move toward Lahela, however, her arms and legs clamped together, and she raised silently in the air, stopping just out of reach.

  As soon as I could, I turned, somewhat frightened at this new force in the meadow, but not surprised when I saw the two Elven Council members with both arms raised as though they held her up. Fallon was crouched over Jack, who was sitting now, holding something to his head.

  I ran to Connor, who was also moving, though slowly. I didn't give him a chance to get up farther as I pelted him with kiss after teary kiss. He laughed quietly, and I could hear pain in his voice, but he did not stop smiling.

  “Did we win?” he groaned. I nodded, but I could tell he already knew the answer.

  “Where’s Dermot?” I asked, looking around again.

  “I’m… not… sure,” he answered confusedly, putting a hand to his head and grimacing.

  “Can you get up?” I asked.

  He looked at me, appraising my dripping wet hair and clothes. “What happened to you?”

  “I went for a swim,” I teased, helping him to his feet.

  “Just so you know,” he chastised, rising and groaning as he discovered each new ache, “I am never making you that promise again. Do you know how badly I wanted to chase after you? Do you know how much it ripped at me not to know if you were okay?” His tone was almost angry, but at the same time relieved.

  “Thank you,” I said, kissing him again. He didn't seem to mind my less than perfect response.

  One of the Elven strangers coughed loudly, reminding me that Lahela was still hovering rigidly behind us.

  “Perhaps we should move away from this scar,” he said, gesturing to the destruction surrounding us. King Fallon, looking up from Jack, nodded once, then turned to help his son stand. It looked especially difficult for Jack to move, but he was smiling slightly, so I knew he was okay.

  Connor took my hand, and as I had been preoccupied with watching Fallon and Jack, I hadn’t made an effort to control the last bit of magic I stored inside me. It wasn’t much, and it transferred to Connor effortlessly. He flinched.

  “Oops,” I smirked, turning to him. Somehow though, the motion felt heavy and slow, as though my head was filled with wet sand. My whole body seemed to respond in the same way, a combination of dizziness and exhaustion. I silently wished for that last piece of energy back. My gut wrenched, and I felt like I would be sick, if not for the fact that I was still turning, now spinning uncontrollably to the ground. I felt Connor’s arms catch me, but they hit me so hard that the wind was knocked out of me. I heard voices, including Connor’s, but they were far away and distorted.

  My breath hadn’t returned yet, and I felt Connor’s arms start to shake me, gently at first, but then with increasing force. I tried to tell him to stop, but I was gasping. I could see him looking at me with a pained expression, but my eyes wouldn’t fully focus on him. Instead they focused on an unseen point behind him, never letting me fully grasp my view.

  I fell back onto the damp earth, but Connor was still shaking me. I could just make out his eyes were watering as he watched me, with a new look of fright. He took a step back for a moment, and that was when I realized it was me that was trembling. Not trembling, seizing.

  I gasped for air.
“Something’s wrong! What’s happening to me?” I shrieked through each tremor. Connor’s hands came down onto my shoulders, pressing me back into the earth. His strength wasn’t enough to pin me. I knew he was talking to me but I couldn’t hear him.

  My head slammed against the earth several times, and my arms and legs flailed wildly. I had no control of my senses. Finally my eyes focused, just for a moment, on Connor. His face was frantic and soaked with tears. It quickly turned to anger as two sets of hands pulled him away from me. I watched, still rippling violently, as he struggled to come back to me, but the two men, Fallon and one of the Council members, were too strong and held him back.

  The last few seconds passed by like minutes. I screamed for Connor, and I knew he was screaming back, struggling against the vice grips of his captors. Finally, I felt my body go limp, though I still had no control over it. My eyes, which had been glued to Connor, lolled up into the shade of my eyelids. Sound never returned.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When I woke up, I knew exactly where I was: Connor’s house. The slightly musky smell, combined with the faint scent of green apples wafted gently past my nose as I inhaled. As if that weren’t enough, the soft hand that kept caressing my arm tentatively confirmed my first impression. I didn’t open my eyes at first, instead tilting my head slightly, and searching.

  I heard the faintest sigh of relief before I felt his lips. His kiss was so soft and gentle that I could have mistaken it for the brush of a feather.

  “Tastes like more,” I whispered as he pulled away. He sighed again, and kissed my forehead just as softly.

  I wanted to flutter my eyes open, coy and cute, but lifting my eyelids proved to take some effort. I tried to raise my hand to rub the sleep away, but they felt like they were weighed down with sandbags. Finally, my lids lifted, and thankfully, the light was not overly blinding. Connor was watching me carefully.

  I took a moment to compose the millions of questions I had into a few conscious thoughts.

  “Where’s Dermot?” This hadn’t been the question I meant to open with, but subconsciously I was afraid of the answer for the one I meant to ask.

  Connor looked perplexed. Clearly he hadn’t expected this question either. “He hasn’t returned yet,” he answered quietly. I could see he was masking his worry for my benefit.

  I thought about how he inflected the word “yet”. It didn’t seem to ring with any hope. Was Dermot alright? If he was in trouble, wouldn’t someone have found him near the clearing? I didn’t think Connor had these answers, or if he did, his tone told me he didn’t want to talk about the subject.

  I took in a deep breath, deciding between the question I wanted to ask, and one of the many others floating around. I chickened out again.

  “What happened, Connor?”

  His expression grew more pained as he looked intently into my eyes. “I’m not entirely sure what, Alex,” he answered, sweeping away a loose strand of hair from my face. “I think that you had,” he paused to take my hand, “an overdose.”

  I laughed, but quickly stifled it when I caught his expression. “You’re serious?”

  His face remained grim.

  “What could I have possibly overdosed on?”

  He cocked his head at me, as though the answer was obvious. When I did not respond, he spoke. “My theory is that you used too much magic too fast.” His voice turned to a whisper, adding, “I shouldn’t have asked you to come there.”

  If I could have moved my arm, I would have slapped him. “Connor,” I said angrily, “You didn’t ask me, and there was no way you could have kept me from fighting Lahela. Maria’s life was at stake.”

  “So was yours.” His guilt felt thick in the air.

  “Yeah, well apparently my life is often at stake.” I let out a deep sigh. “Please don’t make me argue this with you, I’m too tired. Just tell me I win.”

  His face softened as he chuckled and shook his head. “Alright, you win.” He reached down and kissed me on the nose.

  “That’s right. And don’t you forget it,” I grinned.

  “I somehow think you won’t let me,” he teased back. We both giggled for a moment before his face turned curious. “There’s something you aren’t asking me,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.

  He was right. I wasn’t sure how to ask my question without freaking him out, but I also was getting a bit frightened myself. I pursed my lips, trying to figure out the softest way to speak. Finally, I gave up on the question, and just made a statement.

  “Um,” I began, pausing to check out his face. It was perfectly composed. Great. “So, I don’t think I can move.”

  Immediately, and as predicted, his face turned from composed to shocked to fearful. His hands glided over me softly and quickly, poking and prodding here and there.

  “Well, that’s a relief,” I added, once his frantic worrying slowed down.

  “What?”

  “Well, I can feel you, I just can’t move. I guess that means I’m not paralyzed or anything, right?”

  He paused to think. “I suppose so. But I still don’t like that you can’t move. Can you try to touch my hand?” He held it up about a foot above me.

  “Connor,” I laughed, “I’ve been trying to leap into your arms the entire time we’ve been talking.”

  He smiled at this for a moment, then shook his head. “Why are you laughing? This is serious.”

  “Because… I’m happy, I guess. I mean, not about being frozen here, but about you, and that we won, and that Maria is sa- Wait, Maria’s safe right?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “Then I’m happy.”

  He smiled slightly and lifted my hand to his lips. “We need to figure this out, love.”

  “What’s there to figure out? Is there some sort of medical treatment I should be seeking? What do I do? Don’t you think that I can recover?” Up until that point, I had been certain my condition was temporary, but Connor’s face seemed to be lost somewhere else, making me wonder if I was wrong. This couldn’t be permanent, right? I would know, wouldn’t I? My brain would know. It would tell me if this was forever. But, looking at Connor, I wondered if I was oblivious to my own condition. I felt all the happiness slowly suck out of me. “This is going to get better right?” I asked hesitantly.

  “I hope so,” he replied quietly, staring directly into my eyes. I melted into the familiar puddle that his gaze often made me in to. He seemed to sense my stupefaction and sighed. “What will I ever do with you?” he laughed, shaking his head lightly.

  There was a soft knock, to which Connor gently waved his hand to open the door. I could see Fallon and Jack enter in the corner of my peripheral vision.

  “You’re awake!” Jack exclaimed. “How are you?”

  “Oh, I’ve been better,” I said, trying to keep my tone light.

  “She can’t move,” Connor said seriously. Damn, I was hoping he wouldn’t mention that right off the bat.

  No one spoke. From Connor’s mixed expressions, I knew that an unspoken conversation was happening, but I couldn’t quite see the other two now that they had moved into the room. I decided to stare at the ceiling instead of trying to decipher the conversation.

  Someone prodded my leg. “I can feel that,” I muttered aggravatingly.

  The poking stopped. “Apologies,” King Fallon answered, “I only wish to help.”

  My face blushed. “No, I’m sorry,” I replied sheepishly. I still wasn’t sure how to act around the king. “I’m just a bit annoyed at this all.”

  “Perhaps the two of you would give us some privacy?”

  Connor shot me a look, and I blinked once slowly, as though I had nodded. He seemed to understand. After a moment, I was alone with the king. I suddenly felt nervous.

  “Alex, you did me a great service. I am in your debt.”

  I wasn’t sure how to phrase my reply. “Sir-” I began, but he cut me off.

  “Please, there is no need for formality anymore.” H
e moved so he was more directly into my line of sight, and I could see his eyes twinkle slightly as he smiled at me. He had a paternal air about him that made me feel safe. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad then.

  “Aren’t you mad at me?” I finally asked.

  His brow furrowed. “For what?”

  “Didn’t I destroy your castle?” I remembered how hard I had pulled on the ley lines holding up the building.

  He laughed, low and long. “How would you have done that?”

  “The ley lines supporting the castle? I drained some of them.”

  “You think that they are holding up the castle? Oh Alex, you have much to learn about magic.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Ley lines are drawn to magic, just as magic users are drawn to ley lines. It’s like magnetism. If a magical being spends enough time in one place, the magic will come them.”

  I thought about how he said “magical being” and wondered if I was included in that grouping. I wondered exactly how long the elves had lived in Cathedral Grove, and remembered something I had missed a moment ago.

  “What did you mean that there was no need for formality anymore?”

  His face twisted for only a moment, but I still caught it. “You lost your kingdom, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly. There was no doubting the sadness in his voice. “With Lahela gone, we have no link to the forest. The Council has appointed a new family to watch over the land. I am sure they will be the strength the forest needs to recuperate from such a devastating loss.” There was no doubt to the mourning in his voice, but I sensed deep down he was thinking more of his daughter and less of the woods.

  “I’m so sorry. When do you have to leave?”

  He sighed and looked into his hands. He seemed so vulnerable sitting next to me. “I’m afraid that once Lahela was taken away the new family was put in place immediately.”