She turned, pulling Jasi with her. They could suffer through the needlegrass and hide from the magi as long as they needed to reach safety. That way made more sense anyway.
The sudden roar of anger stopped her.
“How did they escape?” Even through the trees, she recognized the rage in the High Seat’s voice. “Who tied them?”
The question was punctuated by another blinding streak of lightning. This one struck along the edge of the forest, crashing into the trees where they had been tied. Light bloomed, surging up as if striking something deflecting the bolt of lightning.
“Innash tied them, Great One!” one of the magi screamed.
Eris wondered if the High Seat had turned the attack upon the magi. She would not mind if they destroyed each other.
“Find them! Take the horses and search. They cannot have gotten far!”
“But the spell…”
“We will maintain it until you return with them.”
“Even without the princesses, we can still damage the flower mage. Let us turn our attention to the forest.”
Eris realized the suggestion came from Davin.
“You think the five of us alone can accomplish what an entire emissary failed to achieve? A full thirteen?” The High Seat asked. “No—the girls are the key to this plan. Find them before they get too far.”
Eris froze, daring to wait and see which way the magi chased.
One of the horses started toward the trees on plodding hooves. There came a harsh neighing that ended abruptly. Then the horses started away again, this time out into the grasses.
Lightning strikes began anew.
This time, they struck the outskirts of the forest. At first failing to reach the trees, but after a few bright blasts, the topmost branches were struck. Fire bloomed where lightning touched, scorching the sky. Now, with each strike, lightning reached the trees.
Soon, the outer edge of the forest burned.
Now Eris had no choice but to move deeper into the forest, away from the magi, away from the growing flames. Would the field of needlegrass burn as Jacen had wished?
She stumbled forward, moving toward the near blackness. They passed through something cold which made her skin tingle, and Jasi jumped.
“What was that?” she moaned.
Eris shivered, clutching her sister’s arm tightly. “We have entered the Svanth Forest,” she answered as she dragged her forward.
Chapter 20
A heavy chill settled over them as they moved deeper into the forest.
Had there not been light from lightning streaking down in rhythmic succession, the blackness around them would have felt oppressive. Faded images burned into Eris’ eyes following each blast and she used them to keep from stumbling over the knobby roots and ever-thickening undergrowth. The texture of the trees changed as they plunged deeper, the trunks becoming thicker and the upper most branches higher. Soon, they did not have to duck to avoid any reaching branches.
Jasi remained silent but at least managed to keep moving. Other than her single question, she had not managed to put together anything more than a soft gasp at the sound of a particularly strong blast of concussive thunder. Eris decided to worry about her mental state later, when—and if—they were safe.
They still hadn’t reached a point of safety. Though the magi were now behind them, trapped by Lira’s magic outside the forest, they weren’t safe. Whatever they planned, whatever dark magic they worked, would not be easily stopped. Eris needed to move them deeper into the forest.
“This is the wrong way.”
Eris jerked to a stop at the suddenness of Jasi’s words. She looked over. In the flashes of light from the lightning, some of the energy had returned to her eyes. No longer blindly unfocused, she still looked around with a wild energy.
“They can’t enter the forest,” Eris said.
“Why?”
Eris shrugged, wrapping her arms around her for warmth. The night air continued to grow cooler, but she knew better than to wish for fire. For some reason, she suspected it would only draw the magi to them. She had seen the way the smoke wrapped itself around the magi, almost caressing them, the flames not managing to hurt them even though their cloaks practically rested atop the fire.
“I don’t know. Something Lira did. She has a garden here.”
That woke Jasi more than anything. She looked around. A strange cry echoed deep within the trees, and she jumped. “Here? How can a garden grow within the forest?”
If they found the garden, they would have even more protection from the magi. Lira’s protection, whatever it was worth. But Eris had no idea where to look. She shook her head, wishing she had found the book from Feliran about the flowers of the Svanth. Then she might understand how such a garden was possible.
“I don’t know, but there is power here. I feel it.”
With the words, Eris knew it was true. As she felt the oppressive magic the magi worked, she felt the welcoming power of the forest. This was different, softer, more delicate, and…comfortable. Eris felt no sense of threat from the power around her. If only Lira were here to use the power to protect them.
“I don’t feel anything,” Jasi replied.
Eris glanced over at her sister. Her clothing was torn and tattered. All sense of grace and dignity gone from her stance. Her hair was a tangled mess. After everything she had been through, she was not surprised Jasi felt nothing.
“Is there anything Lira taught you that might be useful?”
“Lira taught us about colors and arrangements. How can any of that help?”
Eris frowned. “That can’t be all she taught you.” How many months had she wandered the gardens searching for her flower while they worked with Lira? During that time, they must have learned something useful, some bit of magic which might offer them protection while they hid in the forest. “She’s a flower mage. The gardens are her source of power. And the magi think she has one hidden in the forest.”
“A flower mage?” Jasi repeated. The confused expression returned to her face, leaving her eyes looking clouded. “That can’t be true.”
“You didn’t know?” How was it after all the months that Jasi had worked with Lira she still didn’t know about her magic? Eris figured Jasi especially would know; she had chosen her flower almost immediately, had been working with Lira for months, all while Eris still wandered the garden, searching for her flower.
And now she’d reached the Svanth Forest with the teary star tantalizingly close, but all she wanted was to get home, to get Jasi home safely—away from the magi in Saffra—and make sure her father and Lira knew what the magi intended.
“Lira is one of them?” Jasi asked, turning back toward where they had left the magi. A loud explosion of thunder punctuated her question. Lightning streaked from the sky, crashing almost to the treetops near them. The air hissed and sizzled.
“Not one of them. All they care about is destruction. They seem to have been plotting against Father for years. They want the throne for the Conclave.”
“But not Lira?”
Eris shook her head. Apparently, she didn’t know anything about Lira. “Her garden works against them. I think it prevents their magic from influencing father.”
“How have you learned so much?”
“I haven’t learned anything. No one has been willing to teach me,” Eris said bitterly. “I’ve seen what happened, overheard the magi. First in the garden, and then once we were captured.”
“Why did they want us?”
Eris shook her head. “They didn’t want me. They wanted Lira’s students.” She realized that was the intent of the magi. “I think there’s something you know they intended to use against her.”
Jasi turned and took her hands. They felt cold and damp and had little strength remaining. “I’m glad it was you. You’re the only one who would have been strong enough to get us free.”
The compliment surprised her. How hard must it have been for Jasi to say?
“How did you do it?” Jasi asked.
“Do what?”
A blinding blast of light struck the tree line. It dipped past the tops of the trees. Fire bloomed briefly before fading. Whatever the magi were doing seemed to be working.
Eris grabbed Jasi’s arm and started them forward, deeper into the forest. If the magi managed to get past Lira’s defenses—whatever they were—maybe the heart of the forest would be safest.
“Get free. The magi had bound us tightly. I could barely breathe I was tied so tightly. I heard the spell they used to bind us.”
Eris considered explaining to Jasi it wasn’t the bindings making it hard for her to breathe; rather, it was the magic of the magi. She wondered if being this close to the focus of Lira’s energy made them more sensitive to it.
“I don’t know how I managed to get free.” She hadn’t given it much thought. She remembered pushing against the ropes without managing to get them to give…and then wishing the tree would somehow stretch. “That was probably Lira, too,” she decided aloud. Another protection.
“We need to return to the palace, Eris. Father needs to know what has happened before he sends his men after us. They need to know about…about the other things.”
Other things?
Eris faltered. “What did they do to you?”
Some of the usual strength came back to Jasi’s eyes. “They took me while I slept. I don’t know if Petra knew what they intended. I…”
“Jacen was with me. Father will send men looking for him.”
Jasi nodded. “Not just him. For you, too.”
Eris didn’t argue but doubted it was true. How often had days gone by before anyone came looking for her? She had assignments and teachers, but most were like Lira and had given up on her long ago. No one in the palace would notice her missing.
“We need to return. But I don’t think the Kingsroad is the safest way to get there. If the Conclave and Adrick were willing to abduct us, I fear what they’ll do to prevent us from reporting what happened to father.”
The voice of the magi who’d abducted her, the one who’d touched her with a dark longing she felt through his fingertips, came to mind. She shivered. He would be more than pleased to keep her from returning to the palace. Already he had promised what he would do, if given the chance.
“If not the Kingsroad, then how do you expect us to make it back to the palace? Across the Verilain Plains? Take the Sofil River? Circle around to the north and climb through the mountains?”
Eris shivered when she mentioned the plains. The prospect of moving through the long needlegrass again frightened her almost as much as facing the magi. “Not through the plains. And not through the river.”
“You can’t intend us to cross through the forest!”
Eris looked around. Lightning surged overhead, but the farther they walked, the less they heard the thunder crashing. The lightning gave enough light to mark their way.
A question came to mind that almost made her turn back. What happened when the light faded? There were other things to fear than the magi. Even Terran had been nervous about entering the forest. What were they—two princesses unarmed and unaccustomed to the woods—in the face of that?
“I don’t think we have any other choice,” she said.
Jasi’s eyes went wide, and she pulled against Eris’s grip. Eris held firm, unwilling to let her sister go crashing away from her. Now freed from the magi, she wasn’t going to let her sister wander off for the forest to claim. They were better off together. Safer, if anything.
Besides, she hated to admit she just might need Jasi’s knowledge.
Those months she had spent wandering the garden, mindlessly searching and failing for the flower Lira determined she needed, Jasi and her sisters had been allowed to work with Lira, to learn from the Mistress of Flowers. There was much they might have learned, much more than colors and arrangements. Perhaps Jasi didn’t even know she could access some of the same power Lira accessed. What if Jasi was already on the way to becoming a flower mage and didn’t know it?
Jasi fell silent and allowed Eris to lead her deeper into the trees.
Eris had no clear path in mind. She moved where it seemed the trees were willing to let her move, following the outline of the undergrowth, staying far enough away that it didn’t rip at hers or Jasi’s dress. After a while, even the light from the lightning wasn’t enough to clearly make out their way, and Eris had to rely on gradations of shadow, sliding her feet carefully along the forest floor. She imagined the trees guiding her, steering her where they and Lira wanted them to travel. She prayed it was toward safety.
After travelling for what seemed like hours, a thunderous roar split the night, and the sky erupted in light. Blue-white lightning surged from the sky far behind them, visible even as deep as they were in the forest in a constant wave of fire crashing down from the night sky. An oppressive sense of heat followed, and the constricted feeling to her breathing returned.
Jasi cowered close by, and Eris held her arm in an attempt to comfort her. Other than the sound of the thunder, the forest remained silent around them.
She struggled to breathe. Her chest felt heavy. She swallowed against her dry throat, tasting the earthy flavor of the forest around her. The pressure of the lightning built behind her ears and in her chest.
Jasi shivered, and Eris looked over at her. For the first time in her life, Jasi looked back with an uncertain expression, as if resigned to her fate. Jasi did not expect them to live.
Eris closed her eyes. What could they do against the magi?
If only Lira were with them. Someone else other than just the two of them.
Why did she wish it would be Terran?
But they were alone. They would just have to manage on their own. Somehow.
Another blast of thunder came, this time closer. Jasi jumped again, and Eris shivered. If only the protections of the forest held. Keep us safe, she wished silently.
The forest seemed to sigh. A soft breeze picked up beneath the trees, pushing through and out of the forest. Rain began pattering down on the treetops but did not penetrate through to the deepest layers, leaving them dry. The lightning bursting around them slowed.
As they pressed onward, deeper into the forest, their way seemed easier. The space between the tangled undergrowth opened around them, letting them move more easily. The arching roots seemed less prominent the deeper they went, so they weren’t forced to climb over or move around them. Moonlight began trickling in through the canopy, and an almost glowing light reached the forest floor. A few flowering plants—none she recognized—bloomed along their path. Eris wondered if they neared Lira’s garden, before deciding Lira would have more than just a few plants.
Jasi held tightly to her arm but had slowed her steps. Soon, Eris was dragged her along, trying to get her to keep up. Behind them, the lightning continued but diminished. Either the magi were weakening or simply giving up. Eris cared not which, just wanting to get the two of them to safety.
“We have to stop,” Jasi said. Her voice sounded weak and thready, the strain of hurrying through the forest almost too much for her to manage. “We have gone so far. I don’t think we should keep moving into the forest.”
“We need to go on, Jasi. We need to get deeper into the forest.”
The trees themselves seemed to guide their way. She suspected that was Lira’s doing; that the flower master reached across the distance to help them made her feel less alone, less frightened of what had happened.
Jasi pulled against her. “I’m scared to go any farther.”
Eris looked at her. It wasn’t the forest Eris feared; it was what would happen if the magi caught them. The farther they went into the forest, the safer she felt.
“We have to keep moving, Jasi. If we stop…” She didn’t want to say what she thought would happen if they stopped moving.
Jasi wrenched her arm free. “I’m tired, Eris. We should find a place to rest. In the mornin
g we can start making our way back out, back toward Eliara. We’ll tell Father what happened. Everything will be fine then.”
Eris looked from Jasi to the forest around them. Nothing would be fine, not with the magi attacking. What did it matter if they warned their father? Could anything he did actually matter against the magi? Could Lira really help against so much strength?
But Jasi…she’d been through so much. Eris couldn’t push her any harder. “We can rest. You’re right. We need to get you back to the palace.”
Eris was not as exhausted as she expected after running from the magi. Part of her felt invigorated; the damp earth and the mixture of scents in the forest seemed to clear her head. She felt as if she could press on for another few hours. By then, they might be able to reach the heart of the forest.
Would she find the teary star then?
For some reason, it nagged at her.
“Eris.”
Jasi sounded near exhaustion. But where had she gone? Had Eris kept walking after Jasi stopped?
Eris turned, looking around the forest.
Her heart started fluttering. Had she managed to help her sister to escape the magi only to lose her within the Svanth Forest?
“Jasi!” she called.
She didn’t answer.
Eris looked around. Trees seemed to lean toward her, large roots leaning out of the ground as if trying to keep her from turning around. The path she had been following had disappeared, fading back into tangled undergrowth. Even the moonlight slipping through the canopy faded, leaving shadows stretching around her.
“Jasi!” she called again.
Faintly, she heard, “Eris?”
She turned toward the sound of her sister’s voice and pushed through the branches blocking her way. Eris had to step over tall roots and moved slowly as she did. “Jasi! I’m coming for you!”
Her voice faded quickly into the forest.
Jasi did not call back.
For the first time since entering the Svanth Forest, Eris felt afraid.
Chapter 21
Eris stumbled forward. Fatigue finally caught up with her leaving her drained and weakened. The lightning crashing into the treetops had faded and stopped some time ago. Thunder still rolled distantly, but even that became little more than a soft roar she barely heard above the breeze blowing through the trees.
The Lost Garden: The Complete Series Page 16