“Nice trick.” His voice was weak and shaky, but calm. “Can I ask you a question?”
Kera held her breath and nodded.
“Exactly where are we? I know we’re in Teag, but what does that mean?”
“Teag is part of a bigger realm attached to your world. We share the same ground, but in a different way. No one talks about how it’s done, just that it is. Entering the human realm is forbidden to us. It wasn’t always so. We were your healers. Your wise men. Your philosophers and artists. We were a gift from God to the humans. Jealousy and fear turned your kind against us. Humans kill what they don’t understand. We returned to our land and the borders were sealed. We are better off without the humans. That is the official explanation.”
“And the unofficial one?”
“We are manipulators, given to the earth to keep it balanced. Yet we are easily insulted, and if that happens we can create more havoc than the devil. As your kind progressed, we began to fear you. We are not creatures who easily accept change. Humans have always forced that upon us, though we profited from it.
“Firsts cannot lie, but humans…they wallow in lies. So when they were brought into Teag, a disruption occurred. Powers were born to half-bloods who could lie. It strained the balance of Teag. Where we once could believe a man on his word alone, it became impossible. At first, any with human blood were driven out of Teag, but they always found their way back and integrated further with our people. Then a war began. It was small at first, occasionally receding but never dying out. It lasted for two hundred years. It only ended when Dylan’s father was thrown into exile and the wall was permanently closed. The humans who remained either became slaves or went into hiding. Even as weak as they had become, Navar still feared the humans, and hunted them down until only a few were left.”
“And that’s why Lani used her dagger on the wall, cutting a hole through it so she could cross and be safe?” Reese asked.
“It was a daring move, one born out of desperation.”
“I’m glad she did it. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Kera gave him a sad smile. She wished she could agree with him. She couldn’t. Lani lost her life because of what she did, and the wall continued to disintegrate, no matter what the council tried. Teag needed a leader. Teag needed Dylan, but he represented the troubles—all the bloodshed and pain of their past—and Kera was no fool to believe they would accept him.
“Eat,” she said and rose.
He tore off a small chunk of cheese and ate, though he kept his eyes on her. “It’s strange. You look like me, but you’re not like me at all.”
The implication that she was different snapped her spine straighter. “I’m exactly like you.”
But that was a lie. She was a full-fledged first now. And then it hit her. The spell that kept the firsts out of the area was keeping her out. No matter what she did, she wouldn’t be able to break through the barrier.
“Damn and be damned,” she muttered.
Reece shifted, his movements groggy. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, but whispered under her breath, “Everything.”
Because of her impetuousness, they were stuck in the forest. It wasn’t like her. She had to start thinking before she acted.
Facing north, she wondered what her father was doing. Did he miss her? Was he safe?
Her father’s warning before she’d left for the human realm echoed in her head.
A somber spirit circled his eyes, highlighting how tired he was. “Promise me, Kera, that you will look deeply into Dylan’s heart. He is the son of a man who has a tenuous grip on reality. I did not see it until it was too late. Mark my words, where there is a love of power, there lies evil.”
“Don’t you mean the potential for evil? Everyone has that.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You are wrong about Dylan. He is good. As good as I am.”
His countenance didn’t ease as he lingered on her face. “Let us pray you are correct.”
Dylan had begun to exhibit strange magical episodes, but he was still caring, passionate, and loyal. He had her heart, and she trusted him. He would work through the growing pains of their added power, just like she needed to do.
“Finish eating,” she said to Reece. “I’ll be right back.”
Moving away, she drew her dagger and made a quick circle of the area. Her whole life she’d leaned on her natural abilities to fight. Her skills had impressed everyone. But now that she was in Teag, she could feel her newfound powers stretch and rise beneath her skin, stronger, more insistent. It took all she had not to give in to the urge to let out the magic. But why? Why deny what was now a natural part of her?
As she stepped, she dragged her fingers along the bushes. Flowers bloomed as though it were full summer. She called an owl to hand, stroked its head, and set it free. Overhead, she wove a canopy out of tree limbs and climbing plants, and as she walked, rose petals fell. Soon her path was deep in their colors of red and pink and white and yellow, her feet crushing out the scent. Behind her, the canopy slid apart, and the petals slowly curled until they were brown and dry.
Ahead, the woods grew thick with brush. She bent and peeked within the brambles. The animals quickly took to their burrows. She straightened, confused. These were her woods. She knew them well, yet tension filled the air and she couldn’t place its source. Not a sign of trouble. Not even a whiff of enmity. It appeared as if her father had been able to calm the unrest. Everything seemed normal, but not.
She whispered her dilemma into the wind and sent it toward the caves. She could only hope someone would hear her request. Being locked out of their safe haven had her as jittery as a worm on a hook. She felt exposed. Vulnerable. She had to either get help for Reece soon or risk going back to the human realm with their questions she couldn’t answer.
She returned to Reece, no more confident than when she’d left, and hovered in front of him. “How do you feel?”
“Like a truck hit me and I bounced into the gutter.” He shifted again and winced. “I don’t think I was made to bounce.”
She smiled. Any man who could find humor in his circumstances was worth knowing. She could see why Lani liked him. “Signe will see you better in no time.” A promise she was sure of, if only she could see him safely to her friend.
As if on cue, a boy who was known to follow Lani around on her patrols appeared. His bow riding across his back looked nearly as big as he was. For more years than he had been alive, the humans had to walk softly in the woods. They weren’t welcome in Teag and survived on handouts and luck. Allowing a child to wander the woods alone might seem odd to some, but Kera knew Halim. At the age of five, he’d seen both parents murdered and had fended for himself for months until Lani and Kera found him. Every time they sought to limit his excursions, he managed to outsmart whoever was watching him and ended up doing exactly as he pleased.
He stood before her, skin and clothes streaked with dirt and face set with a frown, but all Kera saw was a friend. She took a step forward. “Halim. You came. I wasn’t sure my call would find anyone. I am glad to see you.”
“What do you want?”
The suspicion in his voice made her hesitate. “I-I need to get this man to Signe. He needs help. He’s a friend of Lani’s. Can you take us through the protection spell?”