‘Are you sure you don’t need a break?’ Drew tried one final time.
Drew could see that Laura truly believed a fight was brewing. In fact, he wasn’t opposed to agreeing that that was, indeed, the case, regardless of how little training the Wicked had. However, due to that belief, Laura had clearly made the decision to be as prepared as she possibly could be, and in turn, had taken to training every spare moment. While Drew approved of her decision to take up regular training, he wasn’t sure her insistence to train so often was doing her any good. She was pushing herself too hard and too far, and if she wasn’t careful, it would break her. Drew had seen people after they’d been broken, and it wasn’t something he wanted anyone he cared about to experience.
‘No, I’m fine.’
Drew stopped himself before a reply could leave his lips and began setting up the dummies for practice.
It was growing more and more evident with each passing day that Laura was not only quieter, but she was becoming increasingly distant, especially from him. They rarely spoke with the light hearted ease and banter they use to, and it pained him to remember how they’d once been.
It seemed that, besides their training sessions together and when they were in a group, they rarely conversed, no matter how hard Drew tried to ensure he was nearby. In addition, when they did talk, like the night before, it was all professional, all planning.
Drew couldn’t understand what her reasoning behind pushing him away was, but he knew that the aftermath of their run-in with Erebus had affected Laura much more than she’d let on, and it appeared that the only way she could deal with it was by throwing herself into training and distancing herself from everyone.
‘Come on, let’s go.’ Laura said impatiently, pulling the practice sword from the wall and plunging it into the nearest dummy.
~
Stella paced the office, hands resting over her belly, for the nerves that so commonly flit through her stomach had taken up permanent residence there, and it seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she could no longer remain calm, cool or collected.
‘Stell stop, please.’ Leo said at last.
‘No Leo! We haven’t got anything to give the Gods, you gave the last of the gold to that Flyer!’ Stella huffed, her face growing hot with frustration.
‘We will find something, we have the silver in the weapons-‘
‘No, who knows when we’ll need them with this war fast approaching.’
‘They also trade in charms-‘
‘No again, we only have enough of the Invisibility Charm in our Identity Mark to get us through our lifetime, we can’t risk giving any of it up.’
‘They also take personal items, like an important memory or something passed down through generations that holds special meaning and importance.’
Stella paused at that, turning to her husband, and realisation quickly dawned on her. ‘Oh Leo, you’re not thinking about giving them your Mothers locket?’
Leo refused to meet her gaze.
‘Leo, that’s all you have left of her. Surely we can find something else.’
Leo shook his head, his mind set. ‘It’s all we have to offer, I refuse to force any of our students to give up something precious, that’s too much to ask of them when they’ve all lost their families so young. Between you and I, this is the most important item we have that the Gods will want.’
Stella took a step towards him and placed a hand on the side of his face, her fingers curving around his cheek and temple, her thumb brushing his brow.
‘You are a good Wizard, a good man, Leo,’ she whispered.
‘Believe me Stel, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be.’
Leo leaned in and kissed his wife warmly on the lips.
~
‘Be careful, and take this. If something goes wrong, call us and we’ll be there in an instant.’ Stella said, passing Leo a walkie-talkie, for a mobile phone would not receive reception where they planned on going.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Leo promised.
‘And are you sure you disabled the monitor correctly?’ Stella persisted.
‘Yes Stel, we will be fine.’ Leo responded with a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead.
‘Laura, are you ready?’ Drew asked.
‘More ready than ever,’ she responded, sucking in a heavy breath to ease her nerves.
She was nervous, it was no lie. She was afraid that one of two possible results would occur. She perceived that either they were all wrong in believing she had a connection to the Gods, and the summoning wouldn’t work, or, worse than that, she feared that - if they did indeed achieve their goal in calling the Gods - they would receive no answers.
‘Lets go.’ Leo said, giving Stella one final, reassuring hug. ‘We will be home in a few hours.’
Leo led the way to the weapons room, tugging open the door and ushering Drew and Laura inside.
As he closed the door behind himself, he glanced over his shoulder at Laura, ‘there’s a secret passageway in here, the same kind as the homes back in Alast had. This one exits in the stables.’
They passed through the dark musky tunnel, emerging from a wooden panel hidden in the furthest stall of the stables. The stables were lit by small rays of moonlight streaming down from the high windows above, and the three navigated their way calmly through the straw covered stalls to their horses, knowing the animals would be a speedier, quieter solution to their need to travel quickly through the night to Leo’s location. Plus, they hoped that the three of them riding horseback wouldn’t attract any attention, and allow them to move swiftly through the darkness. Drew resorted to feeding the horses extra grain to keep them happy while they saddled up, and as an incentive to remain quiet through the night ahead.
‘I don’t think horses understand the concept of bribery.’ Laura said.
Drew snorted, holding out his hand full of grain to his horse.
‘Horses know bribery all right. They’ll only keep quiet if we feed them, not the other way around.’ He said, waiting for his horse to scoff down the rest of the grain before taking the rope clipped around the horse’s neck.
Drew snuck a glance through the door, confirming the guards weren’t about, then urged Laura and Leo out into the cool night air.
‘They pass by this area in about ten minutes, so we’ve got to be well clear of here by then.’ He told the two as they halted the horses. ‘We need to be quick. One at a time, aim for the bush there. Move fast but be careful where you tread. Use the moonlight as a guide.’ Drew continued, encouraging Laura to go first.
Laura sucked in a quick breath then took off for the tree line, jogging as quietly as she could, Scarlett, her horse, trotting along beside her. She kept to the shadows, using the moonlight as a guide while also ensuring not to actually step out from the darkness. It felt like the run took ten minutes in itself, though it only really took two or three, until at long last she made it to the tree line and led Scarlett into the bushes. Leo breezed in a minute later, followed by Drew, their horses clearly sensing the excitement and nudging them into action. The three of them with their horses in tow hurried further into the bush, pushing their way to the other side of the forest where the trees were lighter, until they finally deemed it safe enough to mount their horses.
As Laura climbed up onto Scarlett’s back and settled down into the saddle, adjusting her stirrups to fit her feet, the flash of a memory emerged in her mind. She recalled her father teaching her to ride as a little girl, leading her in circles until she’d grown familiar with the techniques, breaking into a trot, and then working up to a gallop. He’d stand there watching as she finally began to ride without him keeping a hold of the lead, calling out words of advice and encouragement. The pang of hurt and loss hit her so hard that she forgot where she was, what she was doing, and simply sat there for a moment, staring down at her hands that gasped the reins. She wondered what had happened to her home, who was looking after it in her absence? Originally the Force had hired peop
le to maintain the place, but with everything that had occurred since, were there still people out there taking care of everything? And what would she even do with it? She supposed she would have to clean the place out and sell it, but it hurt her to even think of saying goodbye to the only home she’d ever known. With her Father’s funeral approaching, perhaps it was time for her to return home. She knew there were be a few personal belongings he would’ve appreciated having with him when he was buried, and a part of her wanted to see the place again. She hadn’t been back there since… she cut herself off before she could even allow the memory of her Father’s last moments enter her mind.
‘Right, both of you follow closely behind me, don’t stray. It’s a half hours ride to where the forest meets the lake. It should be quiet and safe enough to perform the summoning.’ Leo said, snapping Laura out of her trance.
Leo kicked his steed into a walk, Drew and Laura following suit, and the three of them worked their horses into a trot, then a gallop. It felt good to have the wind in her hair again, Laura thought, remembering the many afternoons she’d spent riding alone out on the farm. They worked the horses hard for twenty minutes, until the bush grew thick, forcing them to slow the horses to a light trot.
‘So how will this work? Don’t we need Mum to transfer the charm to me or something?’ Laura asked, the question weighing heavily on her mind.
Leo glanced over his shoulder at Laura, ‘I suspect placing the Identity Mark over you, as Cara must have done, is similar to placing the Invisibility Charm over someone or something as we’ve all been trained to do, and so I’ll attempt that. This is unfamiliar territory, which makes me wonder what else Cara is capable of.’
‘Do I perform it in the same way Mum told me?’
Leo turned back to the path ahead as Laura sidled up beside him, Drew on her other side. ‘Most people call on the elements when contacting the Gods as the Gods came from the elements, thus forming the strongest connection with them. It’s preferable, but not required.’
‘What other ways are there then?’ Laura inquired.
Drew spoke this time. ‘Depends what you’re calling them for. As long as you speak the first chant you can follow it with anything you want, though it must at least relate to the summoning.’
Laura straightened, ‘so Mum knew that to speak the elements it would call them to our rescue.’
‘Essentially, yes.’ Leo agreed.
‘Perhaps I shouldn’t call them using that phrase again. We don’t want them to come down blazing, attacking the whole forest.’ Laura reasoned.
‘It might be helpful to mention who you are, what you require from them. Maybe they will remember you, which will interest them enough to come?’ Leo suggested.
Laura paused, then said, ‘what if this doesn’t work though? If they don’t show up, how will we know if it’s because I can’t contact them or because they just didn’t want to show?’
Drew shrugged, ‘I guess we will have to try again another time, until we know for sure.’
Laura had more questions, but she felt Drew’s presence beside her, and it was enough to keep her quiet. She’d tried to distance herself from Drew over the past weeks, though she couldn’t rationalise in her mind why. All she knew was she was completely and utterly confused when it came to him. She felt a mix of emotions ranging from fear to joy, and she couldn’t afford the distraction of trying to deal with them. Not when Erebus was still at large and her Mother was still missing. She had to be ready for the approaching battle, for everything else that would follow. In addition, words had become too hard, explanations too complicated and she couldn’t think of how to straighten out her muddled thoughts. As a result, it had become much easier to stow all those emotions away in the back of her mind, and keep Drew at a distance so that they couldn’t rear up and take back over.
Her other major concern, the one that weighed on her constantly, was that she would hurt him, and everyone else she’d come to care for at the Manor. She didn’t know the extent of her power, she didn’t even understand it. What if it took over and she couldn’t stop it? What if she injured someone like she had James? What if she killed someone? Even the thought caused her heart terrible pain, which was why she felt safer in the training room, away from everyone. A part of her also felt that if she trained hard enough, it would give her the strength required to handle her power.
‘We’re here.’ Leo said suddenly, startling Laura.
She halted abruptly and dismounted, tying the reins to a nearby tree and giving Scarlett a warm pat, all the while glancing around at her surroundings. They stood before a small lake, the forest meeting its left edge, empty plains etching into the distance on it’s right. Moonlight glistening on the water’s surface and the sky was clear, the stars gleaming bright.
‘Where should we try it?’ Laura whispered, afraid to disturb the peaceful serenity around them.
Frogs croaked, owls hooted, insects skimmed the surface of the lake, and the air smelled of cut grass and musky rain. It was busy yet silent. Still.
‘Over in the open, close to the lake.’ Leo said, nodding with his head towards the empty plains. ‘Drew, stay by the horses with the walkie-talkie. Just in case.’
For a moment, Drew looked as though he were going to protest, and Laura’s heart began to beat wildly as her breath caught. She realised then that the situation was indeed dangerous, that the God’s were unpredictable, and the recollection of her Mother’s plans to summon the God’s and sacrifice herself flashed through her mind. Laura couldn’t imagine the fear her Mother would have felt, considering it was racing through her own veins, soaking into her bones, overpowering her thoughts. Her Mother was fearless, she concluded.
Leo led the way to a clear patch of grass, and Laura risked a glance back at Drew. He was watching them, seemingly emotionless, but despite their distance, Laura knew Drew better than that. He was concealing his thoughts, she could tell by the uneasiness in his stance, the hand that rested on the hilt of his sword, the constant scanning of their surroundings. She turned back to Leo before Drew could catch her eye. Emotions were dangerous.
Leo stood a few centimetres apart from her, watching intently as she mustered the strength required to proceed.
‘Take some time if you need, then when you’re ready, let me know. I’ll speak the chant as Cara did, then you tell the God’s what it is you want.’
Laura sucked in a breath and gave Leo a nod of understanding. She saw then that he was just as afraid as she was, only he was better at hiding it.
‘We’ll be all right… wont we?’
He avoided her gaze, ‘I- I honestly don’t know. Not all summoning’s go well. You saw what they did to the Lost City.’
Laura was breathing heavily again.
Leo took a half step towards Laura, ‘calm yourself. They can sense fear. If we appear brave, hopeful, we may have a better chance. Okay?’
Laura glanced down at Leo’s extended hands, her breath whistling through her lips as she let it out slowly in attempt to calm her rising nerves. She then reached out and took a firm grasp of Leo’s arms.
‘Ready?’ He asked.
‘Ready.’
Then, Leo began to chant, his eyes closed, glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose.
‘With my light and power, I summon thee, to help your allies, in desperate need.’
The world around them began to encase them in a brilliant blue glow and Laura gasped. Spirals of blue laced their way up Laura’s arms, up Leo’s arms, surrounding them, engulfing them in a spiralling turmoil of flames that licked at their skin yet didn’t burn. Leo kept chanting, three more times, and the blue lightening grew stronger, creating a wind around the two as it had between Laura and Cara.
And then, rather quickly, he stopped, the words spoken, and as rapidly as it had arrived, the blue disappeared. Leo opened his eyes, and Laura could see the question behind them. He didn’t need to ask, for she knew he wondered if that was how it had happened last time.
She gave a shocked nod in answer. Only one more step, and they would know for sure.
Leo pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and stepped away from Laura, indicating it was time for her to speak.
She waited a moment, fear taking a hold of her again, but she was quick to squash it down, for she couldn’t back out after coming so far.
She sucked in a breath, and then she said, ‘I am Laura Harmer, Daughter of Cara Westmill-Harmer, and I need to know what I am.’
Laura felt a wisp of wind brush past her, tousling her hair lightly, but besides that, the world was quiet. She stared up at the sky, wondering if they were watching. Considering.
‘Please.’ She whispered, her voice cracking on that single word.
Then the world around them exploded.
Chapter Four
Plan of Action
The sky transformed into an angry swirl of reds, oranges and yellows, the stars still twinkled through the flashes of colour and the moon rotated behind what appeared to be a massive wall of fire. The glare of the sky above reflected off the lake’s surface, turning the world around them to flames. Wind whipped across the plains and Laura stumbled to the ground with the force of it. She raised her arm to her forehead in an attempt to block the bright light that was glaring down on her, and desperately cast her eyes around, searching for the source. And then she saw something… something white, blurry and transparent all at the same time, seemingly floating from the sky…
It was almost completely invisible, in fact, only a vague outline seeming to take shape, and bright colours reflected off and around its body, blending in with the sky, as it descended. The thing was growing larger, and the closer it got, the more it seemed to blur, hiding it’s figure and making it hard for Laura to decipher what it was.
Laura allowed herself a moment’s glance at Drew to ensure he was safe, only to find him in much the same state as herself, knocked to the ground and shielding his eyes from the intense brightness coming from above. She cast her eyes briefly over Leo as well, who somehow was still on his feet, though he too was staring up at the sky with strained eyes.
The Sacrifice (Wicked Book 2) Page 4