Page 21 of Beneath the Earth (Seven Wardens 3)

“And the kabouter taught you how to control the earth?”

“Yes. I seemed to attract them the moment my powers manifested. They’re big fans of mudslides.”

“That’s how your powers manifested?” Her lips pulled up at the side as she tried and failed to smother a laugh.

“And how did yours manifest?” he asked, attempting to sound stern. The laughter was bubbling up in him too though. She could sense it.

“I was born a kelpie,” she replied. “We know what we are the moment we’re born.”

“And your water powers?” he prompted.

Macey frowned as she tried to recall the moment she’d first done magic. “I made a small whirlpool that ripped my brothers’ clothes.” She smiled to herself at the memory, before recalling how trapped her brothers were.

“We’ll get them back.” Jared slipped an arm around her as they walked and squeezed her to him.

“I’m starting to doubt that.”

“We will.” Even as down as she was, she could hear the doubt in his voice. She appreciated what he was trying to do and knew all of them would try their best to free them.

“I know we’ll try,” she acknowledged. “But will we actually succeed? There’s another question.”

“Hmm.”

They lapsed into silence as they walked.

Kabouter

Eight

Jared brought them to a halt in front of a collection of tiny mushrooms on the forest floor. He leaned down and began to almost tickle the fungi, a smile lighting up his face.

“Did you eat some of these?” Macey asked, trying not to laugh. Her mood had lifted substantially since walking through the woods. There was something magical about it. Haunting even. And the beauty had chased away some of her inner demons.

“No,” Jared replied. He rose to his feet, chuckling away before speaking words Macey didn’t understand.

Before her eyes, the earth began to peel backwards, leaving two great hills topped with mushrooms and what seemed like a stone staircase leading into the earth between them. The whole transition must have only taken a few seconds, and she was once again in awe of the wonders magic could achieve.

“I take it that’s where we’re going?”

“You got it.” Jared placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her to the stone stairway.

Carefully, she placed one foot after the other. The last thing she wanted was to fall down and break something. Or make an ass out of herself in front of the kabouters.

The moment their heads were lower than the earth, it began to close in on itself, darkening their path and making the way more difficult. Much to Macey’s delight, a couple more steps revealed glowing jewels in the sides of the walls, allowing her to see once more.

“It’s beautiful,” she gasped as she really took it in. There were gems of all different shapes, sizes and colours, and the lights they created were dancing across the stairway and down into the depths.

“They really are. The kabouters take great pride in their pathways.”

“I can see why.”

Macey was at least a little surprised by how free she felt. The earth always sounded so claustrophobic and not at all like the open water she was used to.

“J

ared!” a little girl’s voice screamed.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a blur firing itself at Jared, who just laughed as he caught it.

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