Page 33 of Magic & Secrets
I opened my eyes to find Roque inconsolable. He howled in agony. His handsome face was clenched with rage and despair. Despite his horror, I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful sight than the creature who cradled me in his powerful arms.
When Roque looked down to find me looking back, his expression shifted to annoyance.
“You’re not dead.”
“No, I’m not,” I replied, reaching up to touch his bearded jaw. “And neither are you.”
Roque’s irritation eased, and he studied me with his icy blue eyes. “I landed here first. I saw someone drop from the sky and tracked your location. I haven’t seen anyone else. Perhaps, they will fall soon.”
Roque glanced upward, but the massive, gnarled trees hid the sky. His gaze returned to mine as his fingers brushed across my cheek.
“I don’t understand what happened,” he said, still holding me against him. “The Sorcerer must have thrown the wrong spell.”
“I think the magic we’ve been feeling acted like a protection spell. This was its reaction to the little spell thrown by the Sorcerer.”
“Little? It blew us into another Territory.”
“His spell likely would have merely injured us,” I said before remembering how I was only supposed to be an Elven half-breed. “Well, my sisters and I would have likely perished, but you would have been fine.”
My mind returned to Ivitithi’s ceremonial hall, where the various magic folk cheered for the end of the Murade. Those were the creatures behind the deaths at Haven Junction.
“I think your kind is in danger,” I said, sitting up in his lap and wiping mud from his temple. “The creatures worshipping Ivitithi want to use the Bane Shifters to overthrow the Murade.”
“You know how?”
“I dreamt it while I was falling.”
“So, you don’t really know, then, do you?”
Roque’s irritation made me consider leaving his lap. I surveyed our surroundings. Dropped into a magically dangerous forest, I was no doubt safer closer to Roque than farther away.
“The Sorcerer organized an ambush for you,” I said and stared into his eyes in the hope of forcing him to submit to my will. “Why would any creature willingly face off against the Bane Shifters?”
“Possibly, they were suicidal. Back in my day, a tribe of Elves wanted to die in battle, so they challenged the Bane Shifters. We viewed killing them as an act of charity.”
Despite his arrogance, I found myself frozen with worry over what awaited us in Pandorium Forest. What if our arrival here wasn’t an accident?
I closed my eyes and tried to sense my sisters. The forest sang to me as if I were an old friend. Startled by the strange magic here, I opened my eyes and found Roque watching me.
“Isn’t it odd how the magic dumped us together here?”
“No,” Roque insisted while staring transfixed at my face.
My tingling fingers found comfort when touching Roque’s jaw. His exasperated expression softened. My fears eased when his gaze was on me.Nothing mattered outside of us.
“You were terrible in battle,” Roque said, setting me on my feet. “Tirso would have been embarrassed to witness your behavior.”
Vexed by his refusal to acknowledge the reality of what was happening between us, I grumbled, “You become cruel when confused.”
“I’m not confused.”
“Then, pray tell, explain to me what’s happening?”
Roque glanced around and shrugged. “The Sorcerer was bad at his task. His magic transported us to Pandorium Forest.”
“What Territory?”
“I don’t know,” Roque said and sniffed the air. “Varema, maybe.”
