“For our part,” Zain jumped in, “unless Roka was a miracle worker in the past, you’ll still need more training. Kyia and I will work out a schedule for when and where we can meet.”
Knowing that Niyx intended to continue working with Alex once he figured out how to sneak away from Meya, she was about to decline the offer, especially since neither Kyia nor Zain should be leaving Roka unattended for long periods of time. But she snapped her mouth shut at the last second, remembering they couldn’t know about her spying friend.
“That, um, sounds good,” Alex said, hoping her hesitation came off as apprehension rather than reluctance.
Zain grinned at her. “Don’t worry, little human. We won’t go easy on you, but we won’t kill you, either.”
Alex pulled a face. “What a relief.”
Even Kyia managed a quiet laugh, a heartening sound given how devastated Alex knew she was.
“How’s your leg?” Kyia asked. “Do you think you can put weight on it and return through your Library doorway?”
“The laendra helped a lot,” Alex said, rising to her feet with only a slight wince as the throbbing in her wound reawakened. “I won’t be running any marathons today, but I’ll survive until I get back to see Fletcher.”
“I only wish I had enough to help you heal completely,” Kyia said, standing as well.
Alex almost said, ‘Next time’, but she didn’t want Kyia to start demanding more promises from her, so she remained silent.
“I’ll escort her,” Kyia said to Zain. “Just to make sure none of the others try anything like Gaiel did.”
Eugh. The last thing Alex wanted or needed was to get in another fight on her way back to the academy. As it was, Fletcher was not going to be pleased that she’d been stabbed.
… Again.
After bidding Zain farewell, Alex limped out of the tent. She expected to hobble to the doorway, but she’d forgotten that she was amongst Meyarins again, and Kyia saved her the additional hurt by sweeping her up in the Valispath, quietly asking for directions to where the doorway was located.
As they moved rather slowly through the settlement—but much faster and less painfully than walking would have been—Alex noted the curious and sometimes furious eyes watching her. Seeing them, she asked Kyia how the Meyarins were adapting to their new conditions, but the answer wasn’t positive. Not at all.
When the Valispath finally came to a stop at Alex’s earlier entry point, she didn’t hesitate to recall the doorway. Just as she was about to step through, Kyia reached for her arm.
“I don’t know how you’re managing to keep it together, Alex,” the Meyarin said, her voice hushed enough that no other immortal ears would be able to hear. “The burden on your shoulders—I can’t imagine what that must feel like. And I know it must seem as if we expect a lot from you, as if we expect that you alone will have to face Aven. But that’s not true.”
Kyia’s brilliant emerald eyes flared with an inner light as she continued, “You’re not alone in this, Alex. Whatever the future brings, whatever you have to face to see this through, we will be with you every step of the way. I swear by the stars that we will not leave you to fight this war on your own.”
Alex had to blink back tears at Kyia’s steadfast declaration. To keep from curling into a ball and sobbing from the unyielding burden that she did indeed feel weighing heavily on her, Alex instead leaned in and wrapped her arms around her Meyarin friend.
“Thank you, Kyia,” she whispered. “That means more than you can know.”
Kyia held her tightly for a moment before pulling back, quickly swiping under her own eyes as she did so. “You’d better go, especially if you’re still supposed to learn something about your gift.”
“I don’t even know how that’s going to happen,” Alex said carefully, her tone revealing her frustration. “I feel as unbalanced as when I’m dealing with Lady Mystique who pops up out of the blue, leaving me to navigate her riddles and ‘sage advice’—none of which I understand until after the fact.” Scratching her chin, she went on to ask, “Speaking of, have you seen her much this week? Has she come by to check on Roka?”
Kyia shook her head. “Aven has his best trackers hunting her, so Aes Daega has been forced into hiding. It’s unlikely we’ll see her again until she is confident she can avoid capture. And there is nothing she can do for Roka right now, anyway.”
The thought of Lady Mystique being on the run from Aven distressed Alex, but she knew the ancient Tia Auran was capable of looking after herself—and in doing so, keeping Aven from exploiting her ability to open the abrassa through time. Alex felt certain she would resurface again—but only when she was ready.
“Next time you visit, we’ll have that training plan for you,” Kyia said. “And hopefully a better idea of what more we can do from up here to help with everything happening on the ground.”
“Take care of Roka,” Alex said in return, and when Kyia offered a smile and a nod of agreement, Alex limped through the open doorway and back to the Library’s corridor of doors.
Only… that’s not where she ended up. Because with a dizzying swirl of colour mid-journey, Alex was transported somewhere else entirely.
Seven
Exhaling with a groan, all Alex could do was mutter an irritated, “Not again.”
At least this time she wasn’t stranded in the middle of a forest, so that was something. She also wasn’t near any kind of camouflaging bushes, so that meant no hidden Hyroas lying in wait to tear her apart. Also a bonus. But that didn’t mean her new location wasn’t without its own challenges. Because as far as her eyes could see, she was completely surrounded by water.
And deep water, if its dark colouring was any indication.
“On the list of weird stuff that has happened to me, I wish I could say this was at the top,” Alex grumbled as she tried to balance on the dinner plate-sized floating stone she stood upon—the only solid surface in sight. “But sadly, it’s not.”
Leaning her weight forward and hastily back again as her stone started tipping, Alex wobbled to and fro for a few breathless moments before she was stable again, her injured leg throbbing in protest.
With her arms out to steady herself, she slowly crouched down to the water’s edge, her thigh screaming at the wound-inflaming move. When she was close enough, she reached out her fingers, hoping to discover some kind of illusion. But when her hand came away wet, Alex knew she was fresh out of luck.
Rising painfully again, Alex had one last idea up her sleeve that helped stave off her panic. It was possible she had been transported to a room in the Library similar to her parents’ ancient environment. If that were the case, she’d be able to call forth a doorway and leave in an instant. If, however, she had been transported to somewhere else in Medora, that would be problematic, since she couldn’t call back a doorway that she’d never technically created. She’d intended to go straight back to Akarnae, not this… place.
With a silent plea, Alex tried to summon a door.