We were attracting too much attention, and I knew Edmund and the guards he had left were not far behind us. I shielded us quickly, the decision only causing more screams of fright to echo round the dark stone of the canyon as we disappeared from view.
I moved us through the horde of tourists that had congregated around the ancient carving at the end of the damp canyon. The carving was known as the dwarves door to the tourists but was known as the gates of Imdalind to my kind. It was those gates I needed to seal.
At this point, I did not care about the upset I caused. If I had, I might have been more careful, but my only goal was to get us in position before Edmund could find us. I needed him out of the cave before I could block the opening and seal him away from the wells of Imdalind. I pushed people out of the way, causing more fear as people reacted to being manhandled by an invisible entity.
We reached the end of the line of tourists and moved around the edges of the crowd back to the side of the ornate carving we had just emerged from.
My heart thumped in anticipation as I locked my jaw. The tourists had begun to settle down, forgetting what they had seen quickly, as is the case with magic, their fully mortal brains unable to process what had happened. There were a few others, the ones with un-awakened abilities in their blood, who were still so worked up that they were lingering on the edge of panic.
I watched and waited, trying to control my breathing as I placed my hands against the rock face. My magic surged under my skin, the pulse of my magic matching the hectic beat of my heart. I felt the magic surge as it prepared to burn the rock and destroy the portal. I needed to find him first.
It was only a matter of minutes before I caught sight of him, my chest tightening at seeing Edmund in the middle of the crowd. He had appeared there, having shielded himself to get through the gate, but unable to maintain his cloak as he moved through the panicking tourists. Edmund was out. Timothy and my brother were still inside.
I narrowed my eyes and let my magic surge, filling the rock behind me with the heavy fire magic, the rock melding and morphing as I urged it to shift. I was careful to keep the labyrinths of mazes intact, careful to keep Cail safe. I moved the rock until I was sure I had covered the entrance, hoping to block Edmund from the wells of Imdalind. Of course, I was also trapping Cail inside, and I was leaving Talon’s body behind.
Perhaps forever.
Chapter Twenty-One
One moment. I took one moment and risked closing my eyes to say goodbye. I looked into the blackness behind my lids and said goodbye to my brother, I thanked him for what he had given up to help me and silently prayed he would be all right and that I would see him again. I said my final goodbye to Talon, the man who had loved me no matter what and had protected me from myself for a hundred years, helping me grow as a person and learn to love life. I placed my hand against the cold stone of the mountain and felt my magic surge, the heat behind my eyes growing as I fought back the tears.
Then the moment was gone. I shoved the pain and loss into the black pit of my icy heart and opened my eyes to the crowd of tourists. They snapped pictures of the carving, made crude signs in front of their cameras and complained about their lack of water. I heard them but let it all wash over me as my eyes scanned for what I was really looking for.
My magic ran through the ground, serving as my sensor. My magic did not work as Ilyan’s did, it did not alert me to any power nearby. I had to scan.
It rushed through the ground as I searched for him. My eyes narrowed as I found him near the edge of the crowd, surrounded by at least twenty of his men. Edmund stood still, presumably looking through the crowd for me.
My jaw set in a scowl as I looked at him, my magic pulsing in excitement.
I could take out at least three of Edmund’s guards before he would notice, if the tourists surrounding them didn’t notice the men turning to pillars of ash right beside them. I doubted that would happen. Besides, I wasn’t sure that causing trauma for innocent bystanders was really my thing anymore.
I didn’t want it to be.
As much as I could fight, as much as I wanted to, I also knew it wasn’t the best choice anymore. I had lost Talon, Ryland was gone, and I had trapped Cail in the caves of Prague with my father. I stepped closer to Sain as I weighed my options. I needed to get us out of here.
I ignored the stubborn ache in my chest and continued to glare toward Edmund, wishing that I was as heartless as I had been once upon a time.
I needed to get to Ilyan and to Joclyn, so that together we could end this. As much as regaining the fire magic had benefitted me, Joclyn was the only one that could stop the wicked man.