Page 92 of A Crown of Darkness

‘Wren!’ It was Finn. His hand closed on her arm, strong and warm, as if he could pull her out of danger. ‘Let it go.’

‘I can’t,’ she told him. ‘It will take all the witchkind, everyone with even a touch of magic in them, no matter how small, andit will unmake the world. That’s what the twins meant. It’s unbound, unfettered, with no understanding of our world, or of us. It’s out of control and it’s dangerous. I have to do this, Finn. I have to stop it.’

‘Not you!’ he yelled. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. His scent enveloped her and she almost sobbed with relief. ‘Notjustyou. You can’t do it alone, heart. Us. We can do it. The two of us.’

He was right, she couldn’t do this alone. Even together they might not be strong enough.

But they had to try.

She had the will and the magical focus. He gave her all the strength he had, acting as her foundation and her rock.

Wren reached out. Not just for the light this time. She reached for the light and the darkness, for the dawn and the twilight, for the glints of hope and the shadows of despair. And she drew it all into herself.

All the green and glowing power, all the rising tides and falling stars, everything that swirled around her, all the magic of the witchkind past, present and future. She felt their cries and their sobs and tried to bring them comfort, to give them back hope and strength.

‘It’s all right,’ she whispered, as all those magical senses turned to her in desperation. ‘We’re here. Hold on. It’s going to be all right.’

Her mouth found his and she kissed him, branding his lips against her own as the power consumed them both and they fell into it together.

CHAPTER 54

ROLAND

Roland didn’t know where he found the strength or the ability to move but something desperate and primal drove him. Elodie was only a step behind, her face pale, her hands trembling.

As they reached the spot where the two of them lay, still entwined together, Elodie sobbed, trying to gather Wren’s limp form in her arms. ‘What happened? Wren, please, love, please wake up.’

Finn stirred first, though he looked like even breathing was agony. He blinked slowly at them and for a moment Roland feared he’d lost his wits.

‘Wren?’ His lips seemed to stumble over her name and his voice sounded like it had been tortured to breaking. Roland helped him up carefully, but he just gazed at her still form. ‘No.’

‘There was so much magic,’ Elodie whispered. ‘She couldn’t take it all in. Even Wren couldn’t…’

‘Oh, you would be very surprised at what she can do,’ said a young voice behind them. Somehow it didn’t sound young though. It was ancient. And wild. And oh, so powerful. More so than ever.

‘Lark?’ Roland whispered and the little girl from the forest smiled at him. There were flowers in her hair, living growingflowers, blossoming even as he watched. Robin stood beside her but his whole attention was fixed on Wren. His skin had taken on a mossy green tint that made him look even more wild and unnatural.

‘Do something,’ Elodie snapped, ever imperious.

Robin tilted his head to look at her. ‘You kept her safe for us for so long, Elodie. We promised in Cellandre that we would protect her. Did you think we would forget?’

‘I don’t know what something like you thinks issafe, but this…this is not safe!’

‘Hedge witch,’ said the boy who was not a boy, ‘can you not heal her yourself? That was always your gift. Not the Aurum, not all those charms, just healing. You were so very good at it when you set all else aside. Have you forgotten that as well?’

Hedge witch…Roland saw the expression change in Elodie’s eyes, as if she had been slapped. And perhaps she had, and by the boy, no less.

‘Try, Elodie,’ said Lark. ‘I believe in you.’

Healing, Roland had always been taught, was the hardest of all magics. And the most important. It was a blessing from the Aurum and yet the Aurum was gone. There was no sign of Nightbreaker, nor of the crown. No sign of the shadow kin or the flames. He couldn’t even feel the touch of them in his heart. Not anymore.

‘I don’t…I don’t know what to do…’ Elodie whispered, and for the first time in his life he saw her look lost.

‘Yes, you do,’ he told her suddenly. ‘You always do. Elodie, my love, heal her.’

Elodie hugged Wren to her, a mother with her only child, and kissed her head. She murmured something and Roland heard the soft sound resolve into a lullaby. She rocked Wren gently against her, and sang about driving the darkness away, and about sleeping softly, and about the morning that would come.It was the gentlest song, one so old that no one truly knew its source.

‘My child, my child,’ Elodie sang, ‘my precious child, when you wake a new day will dawn.’

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