Page 141 of Beyond The Maples
Willow lets out a squeal of delight—I smile at the utter wonder overcoming her face. She topples over our brother in an attempt to get closer. For a brief moment; I remember why I'm doing all this.
"This is Danu. My... guide," Leo says, with a crooked grin.
I look around the group. Everyone is silent, shocked.
"Ho-lyshit," the twins say in unison, both leaning forward like they want to get a closer look.
"Praise Nephrani," Vera mutters under her breath.
Willow is now right in front of Leo's hand, crouching. Linden tries to pull her back, hissing something like we don't know what this thing is, as Leo corrects him.
"He's my guide—he's good," he says protectively, nervously pushing his golden curls out of his eyes.
"Hello Danu, I'm Willow. It's nice to meet you," she says, and the sprite beams at her outstretched hand. He touches it, sending sparkling droplets of waters zipping around her fingers, and she giggles.
"Show off," Leo mumbles.
"So, you have magic?" Tane says cooly.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I would guess, yes, some weird stuff has happened. But so far nothing concrete, and I wasn't about to practice at the base. Danu is the only real evidence," Leo says as the sprite nods his head encouragingly.
Tane and Hollisexchange a concerned look.
"How have you been feeling?" Hollis asks cautiously.
Leo shrugs. "Honestly, great. Better than before, even."
Lachlan scrubs his face as if this is not great news.
"What?" I demand.
"Well, I'm just not sure how this is happening..." Lachlan says, concern lacing his tone. And I know what he's going to say before he says it.
"Normally, if you have any significant magic in New Providence, you get really sick."
Linden's head snaps to me, and I press my eyes shut for a moment. I had pushed this bit of information far, far down. Willow turns slowly. Her blonde hair almost white in the moonlight.
"Sick... like how I'm..." Willow mumbles softly, and it's not a question. I know the pieces are clicking into place for her too— my sweet sister, so smart.
All I can do is nod.
"Sick, like how mom was sick," Linden confirms, gears turning over in his mind as his eyes pinch with a painful realization.
I nod again—the hurt that flashes across their faces makes me want to crawl inside a hole. Tane saves me from having to explain.
"Anyone with wielder blood, who isn't able to find an outlet for their magic, gets sick. Another clever way for the Council to weed out magical families. Sometimes though..." He nods to Leo. "Something will trigger a trickle, so you may not have access to your full powers, but there's an outlet at least."
"Why wouldn't they just kill anyone who got sick?" Linden asks.
"Because, what they didn't anticipate was the fact that a lot of our population is ill. Most are simply sick because of poor nutrition and air quality," Lachlan responds bitterly.
Leo looks puzzled, Danu seems to sense everyone’s worry and starts to try and distract Willow with more party tricks.
"This is all good and dandy information, but what's the game plan here?" Mack asks.
I'm sure he wants to know how many people he's going to have to try and smuggle into Zaphira.
I feel like the crumbling walls of this concrete building are pressing down on my ribs. Exhaustion, mixed with dread and grief, completely overwhelming me.
