Day after day they traveled, and Garrin was fairly confident they were going in the right direction. One never knew in the Land of Ice. But after centuries of trudging through the terrain, and with Amund’s sense of power levels centering them somewhere between Dark Kingdom and New Kingdom, he was certain they were on the right track.
Only every day that passed, Lex weakened, particularly this last week with the cold snap that had hit them.
This morning, she collapsed shortly after they’d started the long, arduous walk, and Garrin ran to her.
“Can’t,” she said, her lips barely moving. “Don’t feel well.”
“Shh.” He cradled her in his arms. “Conserve your energy,” he said, then shouted for Zirel.
Zirel and Amund hurried over, their cheeks gaunt, lips cracked, with dark circles marring the skin beneath their eyes. Garrin suspected he looked no better.
If he and his men were this bad off from malnutrition, cold, and lack of proper sleep, he could only imagine how Lex’s health fared. She might present with a Fae’s energy level, but her body wasn’t sustaining like a Fae’s.
After spending the last three weeks walking on her own and slowly losing energy, her lips were beyond blue; they were gray. Every night he lay awake worrying about her. He’d lost much of his magic due to exhaustion and could barely keep himself, let alone her, warm throughout the night.
He pulled off her gloves, and she whimpered. Her fingertips were charred-looking. Garrin’s stomach turned, and he clutched her closer.
“She is dying,” Zirel said.
“No.” Garrin’s jaw firmed. He wouldn’t allow it. He looked at Amund hopefully. “Your powers?”
Amund couldn’t take them any great distance, or they would have done so after they’d entered Tirnan, and now he was just as weakened as Garrin. But perhaps if they jumped through a few short portals, they could get close enough that Lex would be able to survive the last leg of the journey.
Amund’s cheeks were burnished from the bitter wind battering them daily. None of them healed like normal in the Land of Ice. “Drained after the last few jumps.”
With their food stores depleted, none of them had the resources to gain back magic.
Garrin looked at Lex, scanning her features desperately. “She cannot die.”
Zirel and Amund sank down, surrounding Lex and trapping in whatever heat they had left.
Amund lifted his head and closed his eyes, breathing in and out. “We are near the Great Ravine,” he finally said.
The Great Ravine marked the halfway point between Dark Kingdom and the other kingdoms of Tirnan. They were farther behind than Garrin had thought. Not only that, but the Great Ravine was said to be the origin of the magic that prevented Dark Fae from leaving their land. Many had fallen to their demise in its jagged depths.
Some Fae had built bridges to cross the ravine—only to fall into oblivion when the edifice collapsed. Others were drained of all powers and could go no farther, forced to return. While still others made it past the ravine, only to become disoriented and incapable of finding their way back. No matter how strong, no Fae survived several months without food in freezing temperatures. There was a limit to their endurance, and the Land of Ice, with its magic-blocking barrier and thousands of miles of terrain, tested all limits. And won.
Until Garrin, it was believed no others had crossed the Land of Ice and survived. But Garrin and Zirel had found Amund in New Kingdom…
“You made it to New Kingdom, as did Zirel and I,” Garrin said. “We can get her to Dark Kingdom. We must.”
Amund nodded. “Twice.”
“Twice?” Garrin asked.
“Once to escape,” Amund said, “and once when the Great War commenced.”
Portal creators were rare, but a few had been born of noble Fae blood over the last few thousand years. Due to his unique magic, Amund was the only Dark Fae, aside from Garrin, who had any hope of escaping his kingdom. It was said he’d returned once to fight in a rebellion within their land. Until Garrin discovered Amund in New Kingdom months ago, he’d believed the story myth.
“How many more portal creators are hidden in Tirnan and Earth?” Garrin asked.
Amund shrugged. “I don’t know for certain. I’ve only seen the one female.”
“The black-haired woman at the Earth cave.”
Amund nodded. “I survived by portaling myself and no others. It took dozens of attempts. I also brought food to last me months, not a handful of Allon leaves stuffed inside my clothes.”
Garrin held Lex closer, trying to keep her warm. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. They’d left civilization in a hurry without proper preparation, and Lex didn’t have her powers. And now her health failed. He swallowed thickly, his desperation to save her a palpable thing.
He leaned over, his face close to her nose. She breathed. Barely. But she no longer appeared conscious.
He formed an ice cup and managed to get a few droplets of water down her throat, but that was all.
Amund looked off. “I can do maybe one jump to the edge of the ravine. If His Highness wishes it.”
In other words, one more portal could kill him. But he’d do it. For his prince.
“It won’t be enough,” Garrin said. “Even without the physical signs, you sense her energy draining as well as I. She is dying. We’ve traveled halfway. Go back or continue on; either way, she won’t survive.”
“We had to take the chance,” Zirel said softly.
It was why Garrin and Zirel had never given up, even after losing their friends in past attempts to cross the frozen land. It didn’t quell the burden he carried.
He looked across the area, snarling. “What if the angels meant for us to remain in Dark Kingdom? What if my father was wrong?” At the rate they were going, none of them would survive the trip back. “What have I done?”
Garrin wasn’t the prince his people needed. He’d failed them.
He rested his hand above Lex’s chest, willing energy into her body.
Amund made a light noise, and Garrin looked up. “What is it?”
He was staring across the landscape. “A great deal of land lies between here and help, but perhaps…”
Garrin exhaled. “Say it.” He had to face whatever lay ahead.
“Perhaps once we pass the ravine,” Amund said, “she will strengthen.”
Garrin frowned. “How?”
“She is Fae, and not as strong as you, but even Zirel and I feel the weight of the magic that blocks our powers and energy here. If we cross the ravine, Lex might strengthen and live long enough for the rest of the journey.”
Garrin shook his head sharply. “It will take days to cross the ravine. She doesn’t have that long.”
“We crossed the ravine by walking to the narrowest section on our way to the other kingdoms,” Zirel noted.
Amund nodded. “That is not so far. I sense it. I can portal us there.”
Garrin looked up, exasperated. “We jumped and climbed from that narrow section to make it across. It was a risk, and our strength was not depleted as it is now.”
“There is no other way, my prince,” Zirel said.
Garrin cradled Lex’s head and didn’t speak for a long moment. “I take all the risk,” he finally said. “She is the priority. If something should happen to me, get her to the king.”
Zirel bowed his head.
“Very well,” Amund said.
Amund raised his hands. It took longer than normal for the air to waver and the portal to form, but when it did, Amund turned to them, his skin gray from the energy loss. “Hurry. I cannot hold it.”
Garrin stood with Lex in his arms, entered the portal, and collapsed to his knees on the other side, his strength more depleted than he’d thought.
Zirel and Amund tumbled through the portal after him, collapsing just as Garrin had.
Garrin took a moment to catch his breath, his arms shaking. Lex had lost so much weight that she was light in his arms. But with his strength drained, he was weaker than he cared to admit.
Fighting exhaustion, Garrin climbed to his feet.
Zirel rose next, but Amund didn’t move.
The healer leaned over Amund, then looked up. “He lives. Barely.” Zirel had lost the ability to heal weeks ago and could not help their companion.
He pointed to the edge of the ravine farther down. “This section. The vee shape shortens the distance. But if we jump…”
They could die. Lex could die. But if they did nothing, they were sure to perish. “You go first,” Garrin said. “I will bring Lex. Should I falter, you grab her.”
Garrin was asking his men to put Lex ahead of their prince. But Lex was no mere Fae. He didn’t know her magic, didn’t know how she might help his kingdom, but he felt in his soul that she was special. And if he survived, he would prove it.
“Amund will follow after me and Lex.” Garrin doubted Amund could do much after creating the portal, but he had to believe Amund could make the leap.
He had to believe they all could.
