“I didn’t want to go back, anyway,” Phryne said softly, knowing there was no longer any reason even to consider it.
Leaving the cave and its sealed entrance to the underground tombs of the Gotrins behind them, they set out anew, emerging into the light of day and a forest of tall, multi-limbed trees that looked like oaks, but were something else entirely. Huge, hoary old growth, they formed a forest that stretched away from the cave and the hillside into which it burrowed for as far as they could see. Moss and lichen formed an eerie second skin over trunks and branches, the colors a mix of contrasting greens that allowed only bits and pieces of the graying bark beneath to show through.
“What are these?” Phryne asked.
Panterra shook his head. “Whatever they are, they’re dead. Look at the branches.
Lichen and moss everywhere, but no sign of buds or leaves. The whole forest is dead, probably a long time for this much covering to spread. This doesn’t look like anyplace I’ve ever—”
He stopped in midsentence and looked at her, and she knew at once what he was thinking. “We’re not inside the valley anymore, are we?” she said. “We’re outside again.”
“I think so. I don’t understand it. The time and distances are all wrong. It must be the magic that made it possible for us to come this far in such a short time. We couldn’t have walked it in less than a day or two.” He paused. “But why would the Elfstones bring us this way? Why didn’t they keep us inside the valley? Phryne, did you do something … I don’t know, something that … something different …”
She gave him a look that silenced him at once. “I did exactly what I was told to do by Mistral. I did the same thing I did when she told me to test it the first time by trying to find you!” This time she didn’t blush. She was too angry. “Don’t you try to put this on me!”
“I was just …”
“You were just suggesting I did something wrong!”
“But I wasn’t …”
“Wait a minute.” She held up one hand, palm out, to silence him. She stood frozen in place for long moments, thinking. “Just wait. Maybe this is my fault. I was supposed to focus on where I wanted us to go. But I didn’t use just one image. I used images of Arborlon and Tasha and Tenerife and trees and sky and a lot of other things. I couldn’t seem to keep one thought steady. I didn’t know what image I should use.”
She paused once more, shaking her head in frustration. “Except that nothing I pictured in my head was this. Everything was the valley. So why are we out here?”
Pan’s voice softened. “Maybe the Elfstones made a decision of their own on where they wanted us to be. All magic is unpredictable. We know that much. So maybe …”
She moved close to him, taking his wrists in her hands, gripping tightly. “This is my fault, isn’t it? I’m the one who uses the Elfstones, so it has to be my fault.” Fresh tears filled her eyes, and her composure broke. “I’m sorry, Pan. I did the best I could, but I don’t think it was enough. I let myself be distracted. I didn’t prepare. I was still thinking of Mistral and what she …”
She was sobbing and rambling both at once, shaking her head and jerking at his arms as she held on to him, unable to stop herself. Pan stood motionless before her, looking distraught, and then all at once he freed himself with a quick twist of his wrists, put his arms around her, and pulled her against him. “That’s enough, Phryne,” he whispered, his face pressed against her hair. “Don’t say any more. You don’t have to apologize to me.”
He held her for a long time, even after she had gone quiet and was holding him as tightly as he was holding her. She had her face buried in his shoulder and she was content to stay there, happy just to be held and comforted by the warmth of his body and his words and to not let anything disturb the moment.
But then he eased her away from him, and she looked up to meet his steady gaze.
“Wherever we are, we’ll find our way back to where we need to be. It doesn’t matter how this happened. It only matters that we’re safe now, that we’re free of the Gotrin shades and the underground tombs. That’s enough for us.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I never behave like this. I never fall apart.” She shook her head in dismay. “It’s losing Mistral or using the magic or …”
“Or both and the fact that you’re exhausted.” His eyes fixed on hers. “How long since you’ve slept for more than a few hours?”
She shook her head, unable to remember. “I don’t know. A long time. Days, I guess.”