Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) (16 page)

Chel looked back and forth from Finn to Daegan as tension continued to build between them. Kaeleigh could see the sparks flying, invisible to everyone else apparently. She laid her hand gently on Finn’s arm that blocked her path. He finally looked at her and his eyes softened. “Finn, we don’t have any other options. Something is in there that might be worse.” She pointed back toward the now very dark forest. “What do you propose?” Kaeleigh asked, genuinely open to his idea if he had one.

Finn dropped his arm and sighed. “I don’t have a better one, but this is not a good one.” Then he walked forward out into the open and the girls followed him. Both Kaeleigh and Chel looked around nervously, expecting something to jump out and grab them. Suddenly Kaeleigh giggled quietly and turned to Chel. “We’ve watched too many scary movies with no idea that we would one day be living in one.” Chel nodded, relaxing a bit at Kaeleigh’s inappropriately placed humor which was usually Chel’s forte but she apparently found comfort in it coming from Kaeleigh.

They relaxed as nothing happened. The foursome stayed relatively close together as they pushed their way, a bit slower than they would have hoped, having to trudge a path through the tall grasses. Kaeleigh tried to take in the beauty that she was surrounded by even as tense as she had been. Grasses as tall as a person waving and bending as a slight breeze blew from one end of the plains to another. Night had fully fallen by the time they were far into the plains and the cover of darkness provided them all with a false sense of ease. The night sky in Alandria was the biggest Kaeleigh had ever seen. In the city, in the mortal realm, and especially in Montana where they had been from, she could see the sky and most of the stars, but the magnitude and the intensity of what the stars looked like here was overwhelming. If she wasn’t running for her life and searching for her destiny, this would be a perfect place to have a picnic and lie around with someone special just wasting the day away. She jerked out of her daydream the instant she realized that she was visualizing Daegan lying on his side on a blanket completely relaxed and smiling at her with not a care in the world, leaning toward her, moving in to kiss her. Kaeleigh’s heart clenched and her stomach flipped at the thought. Chel gave her a curious eye, but Kaeleigh shook it off and continued to stare at the sky.

Rushing up behind them, carried on the wind, was an eerie sound that gave Kaeleigh chills and made her heart race. A deep rumbling howl that seemed to shake the earth itself, sending all living things into hiding. Kaeleigh couldn’t see anything as she looked around frantically. She grabbed Chel’s hand as they now ran. The evil noise surrounded them, causing them to stop in their tracks. Circled together back to back, they searched for their invisible foe. It was so dark, but the air around them was moving, herding them together. As Kaeleigh peered into the darkness, she could see trails of blackness mixed with red reminding her of the creatures from the cave they had fought.

Finn whispered next to her, “The Droch-Shúil.”

Just as the fear began to paralyze Kaeleigh as she saw no way out, it began to once again ignite the anger at the assault of darkness upon her friends after everything they had already been through.
No more.
Power surged within her. Just as she was about to push it out toward the darkness, she felt Daegan beside her. The strength of his raw energy was something she hadn’t felt before. It was overwhelming... intoxicating... electrifying, and it caused her power to expand, stretching to meet his.

“Enough!” Daegan growled out with complete authority.

His sword clashed with Kaeleigh’s as they raised them simultaneously. An electric pulse of power shot out, creating a mass force around them. She could see the threads of his power tangling with hers. If they weren’t fearful for their lives, it would be a beautiful thing to see.

A dark, angry howl split the air, causing Chel to jump, which only pissed her off. She came up behind Kaeleigh and put her hands on her shoulders, joining her energy like Hunter had taught them at the cottage. There was a surge in their power.

Seeing the result, Finn joined his sword to where Kaeleigh’s and Daegan’s connected and they stood strong against the evil. Another primal scream rent the skies but they felt the pressure from the Droch-Shúil release as it backed off. Its power and the winds of darkness continued to circle them for a short time.

Kaeleigh could see its red eyes locking on her more than once as its evil words hissed through their shield. “Mistress wants you. You will be found again. We will have you.” The last words trailed off as it felt like the darkness was sucked back into the nothing that it came out of.

Then silence.

The four of them stood there panting from fear and adrenaline, afraid to let their guard down in case it wasn’t actually gone. But after a few moments they relaxed. No one seemed to want to speak or even know what to say, but they couldn’t stay there.

“We must continue on,” Daegan said, breaking the silence.

All a little shaky, they trudged on, seeking a place to rest.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Eventually, the fields started sloping downward toward a river that cut through the plains, creating a valley. This was not the same river that they had crossed before at the Bridge of Revealment, but a smaller stream that cut right through the heart of the plains. The water before them was mostly calm but still alive with motion. For the first time in several hours Kaeleigh saw trees again. She hadn’t realized what a sense of protection and security they had provided for her until they were no longer there. It had been so flat and open and now the trees were converging once again close to the river, digging their roots into the soil and drinking deep from the water, satisfying an unquenchable thirst for growth. These were different than the old ancients in the forest they first came through. For one, they were younger and had more life energy streaming from them. Kaeleigh could actually see it—ribbons of colors streaming from the heart of the trees, from one in particular which touched each of the others around it, uniting their front of energy. It reminded her of when she was trying to make her way back from the In-between and she could see the life cords of her friends come to lead her home. Unable to explain it, she was drawn to this copse of trees. There was something inviting and comforting about them. There was stability and security in their shade, yet freedom in their reach. No one else seemed to be reacting to them the way she was. Trying not to make it obvious, she couldn’t help her sigh and enraptured gaze at the beauty of their life energy. It was contagious, making her feel light again, especially after the dark encounter they had recently had, so she reveled briefly in the feeling, absorbing what she could.

Chel and Finn approached the water, thirsty from their journey as Kaeleigh was also, but she couldn’t move just yet. Daegan stood where he was as well, eyeing the trees and then her. Kaeleigh wondered if he could see it too, but his gaze wasn’t following hers. He was looking at the trees, but with more apprehension than awe. “Wait,” he called to Finn and Chel before they could dip their hands in the water. They stared back at him, confused. Finn looked back at the trees then back at Daegan with wide eyes.

Finn was about to ask a question, but Kaeleigh cut in. “I think we should ask their permission first. It would be the polite thing to do.”

Chel looked at Kaeleigh with an “are you crazy?” look. She was thirsty and impatient, but she waited. Kaeleigh glanced to Daegan and he gave a quick nod.

“Ask who, Kae?” Chel asked, cautiously looking around for someone else that she hadn’t picked up on her radar. Or maybe she thought Kaeleigh had finally snapped under all the stressful things that happened in such a short amount of time. With her arms crossed, Chel swiveled her gaze to Daegan, only to realize he was seeing something that apparently only the two of them were seeing, so she waited to see what Kaeleigh would do.

“The trees,” was all Kaeleigh said.

Kaeleigh hesitantly approached what to her looked like the “head tree,” if there was such a thing. It was the one where the most life energy was flowing from and into the other trees near it. There was a great variety of trees down by the banks of the river. Oaks, hemlocks, ash, holly,  cedar, birch, and many others she didn’t recognize. This particular one was a holly tree that radiated with natural energy. The closer Kaeleigh got, the more she could feel the energy seeping into her skin. It was greens and browns, full of life with healing elements. She felt filled and strengthened as it seeped back out of her pores. She heard her friends give startled gasps as they could see her glowing with energy, but not knowing what it actually was. Feeling her friends approaching out of concern, she signaled to them that she was fine and not to get any closer, all without taking her gaze from the large yet feminine holly tree.

Kaeleigh dropped her gaze and gave a slight bow of her head and body, but didn’t give all of herself to an entity that she wasn’t sure of. It seemed instinctive so she went with it. To her disbelief, the tree gave her the illusion of a partial bow in return. As awkward as Kaeleigh felt, she proceeded to make her request on behalf of her friends.

“I realize I am unaware of the proper way to approach you, but I would like to request your permission for my friends and me to partake of your refreshing water.” Kaeleigh felt stupid, like she was babbling yet trying to sound all proper in a land with customs she knew nothing about but was supposed to be a part of.

The tree made a sweeping gesture with its branches, inviting them to drink from the river. Apparently Daegan must have seen something, because he whispered for her ears only, “Well done.”

Chel and Finn stared at her, waiting. Smiling a little too enthusiastically for an interaction that they only saw one part of she said, “It’s okay, they will share their water with us!”

Finn, knowing what must have transpired having had interactions with the trees quite some time ago, had a revelation. “It is Holly, isn’t it?” He turned to the tree and gave it a slight bow. At Kaeleigh’s questioning look he replied softly, “I have encountered her before, but it was in a different place. This grove used to be elsewhere. I can not
see
them as you can, but she came to me in a dream state once when I needed...” He dropped off the end with a sadness that Kaeleigh wanted to remove from his heart but he quickly covered it. “How do you see them, Kaeleigh?” Finn asked, raking his fingers through his hair.

“Um, I’m not sure who
they
are that you are referring to, but what I see is the color of their life force.” At his look of confusion she clarified, “I see ribbons of color streaming from within the trees telling me they have a strong life energy in them. I don’t know why or how I can, it seems to be a relatively new development.” She also told them of their individual color cords she had seen earlier too. Shocked didn’t seem an appropriate description to their reaction of what Kaeleigh shared. Turning to Daegan she asked, “Is that what you see when you look at them?”

Looking out at the trees, Daegan replied more quietly than he normally spoke, “No, I don’t really
see
anything.” Not noticing the looks on Chel or Finn’s faces, he only saw the confused look on Kaeleigh’s so he continued, “I
feel
them, for lack of better description. I can feel their emotions or as you said maybe it’s more their life force that radiates from them. I can
feel
it... them. I can associate it with images that represent to me what they are.”

“Fascinating,” she said, staring at him. She then turned to Finn. “Can you see them? How do you know what they are? And what
are
they?”

Finn took a deep breath as if about to divulge deep secrets. “
They
are of the Dryad clan, but no, I can’t see them or anything at all for that matter, but maybe similar to Daegan I have a feeling or a sense of their presence, but I didn’t notice it until after you said something.” Finn averted his eyes for a brief moment then back at Kaeleigh. “My senses seem to be a bit rusty, but they are coming back. Unfortunately, a little slower than I expected,” he said, disappointed and obviously irritated.

Kaeleigh nodded sympathetically to Finn, not wanting to embarrass him by exploring it further since she was the reason that he was back here and she was the reason that his senses had been dulled in the first place, or so she thought.

Turning to Chel, who was quietly and intently watching the trees, Daegan asked, “What about you, Chel? Do you hear them like you do animals or have any impressions at all?”

Chel started to shake her head no, then stopped and cocked her head to listen more carefully, but then shrugged. “No, I thought maybe I was hearing something but it was coming from birds or other animals near the trees.”

“What are the birds saying?” Kaeleigh practically whispered, in awe of her friend’s gift.

“I didn’t really listen, I just tuned in enough to distinguish where it was coming from.” At Kaeleigh’s surprised look Chel expanded on what she was saying. “Well, think about how many animals are in my vicinity at any given moment. I would go crazy with all the chatter because that’s what most of it is—short, incoherent thoughts, scattered and choppy. I’ve been figuring out how to tune it out and focus on specific voices. Hunter was trying to teach me while you were practicing with your sword,” Chel said matter-of-factly.

Kaeleigh approached her and put her hand on Chel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Chel, I didn’t even think how that would affect you. That would drive me crazy, it’s a good thing you got that gift.” She gave her friend a loving hip bump.

Chel squirmed uncomfortable with the compliment. “Yeah, well, I already had some of the crazy going on so it wasn’t too much different than what’s usually going on in my head,” Chel joked. There was often teasing of the “voices” and the “crazy” that lived inside Chel. Only now, Kaeleigh wondered if she had just been picking up on animals’ thoughts earlier on. There weren’t a lot of animals in the city so it wasn’t all the time, but Chel would sometimes randomly respond to something or scratch at her ears when nothing had been said. Kaeleigh knew she felt uncomfortable talking about it, because sometimes she really did think she was becoming crazy, but Chel was very private and didn’t want to talk much about it with or to talk about it at all with her parents. It was all starting to make more sense now. If only her parents had communicated about their situation to prepare her earlier on she would’ve been much more prepared to handle all the newness of this world.