It took nearly two days to leave Fargelsi and portal back to the human realm, wait for night, and return to Eldur, where the sun was just setting when they made camp along the banks of Sol Loch. Normally one of Tierney’s favorite places to visit, with its warm sulfur springs and hot mud baths, it was now in danger of being consumed by the fire plains. Already, the vast lake was evaporating in the intense heat.
They waited impatiently for the sun to rise so they could get to work. Neeve accompanied them to Eldur to help push the fire plains back in the same way her people were doing along the Gelsi-Eldur border dealing with the marshlands. It was slow going, but it was working.
Uncle Finn and his Eldurian magic wielders were well-rested and ready to get to work. Tierney was anxious to do her part, bringing as much Gelsi magic as she could contribute alongside her aunt and the handful of fae she’d brought with her. Even Brea was prepared to aid with either side of her magic wherever it was needed.
“This is exhausting.” Keir paced across the cracked desert clearing. They were camped as close as they could get to the plains without risking their tents to fires. “Does it not drive you mad to wait for the sun and the moon to use your magic?”
“Not any more than it would drive me mad to need a vessel to use my magic. Just think of it like the sun acts as a totem for all of Eldur. They have to await its arrival to be able to reach their power.”
“I’m just anxious to see this work.”
“It started working for Gelsi, it will work here.” Tierney pointed to the horizon. “Look, they’re gathering already. Come on.”
Sweat poured down Tierney’s face as they crossed the desert sands, trying to ignore the way her shoes felt like tiny ovens strapped to her feet.
Dozens of Eldurians knelt in the sand, waiting for their magic to rise with the sun. The Gelsi fae were already at work, their hands reaching into the hot desert earth, letting their magic trickle into the ground, soon to meet with Eldurian power. Together, the two kingdoms would heal the fire plains, pushing them back within their borders.
Part of Tierney wished they could push them all the way to Lenya. She wanted a world where her friends weren’t so isolated.
“Ready for this?” Tierney’s mother said as she and aunt Alona came to join them.
“We’ve got this.” She squeezed her aunt’s hand. Alona would wait with Keir, Uncle Myles, and Lochlan while everyone else went to work.
Sinking her fingers into the hot sand, Tierney called on her Fargelsi magic, murmuring the words Aunt Neeve had taught her.
Laekena pao sem brennte hefur verio.
The ground heated as Eldurian fire magic poured in to join the Gelsi magic. Tierney held her breath, waiting for some sign that the plains were receding. For the sand to cool and moisture to return to the air. Something.
“It’s not working,” she whispered to her mother.
“Keep trying.” Brea pushed her hands deeper into the ground, the Gelsi spell falling from her lips.
An hour later and nothing had changed. Neeve sat back on her heels. “I am afraid we are wasting our energy.”
“Why would it work in Gelsi but not in Eldur?” Tierney frowned, dusting the sand from her blistered hands. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“We will just have to try something else.” Brea stood and brushed the sand from her leggings. “We have enough magic wielders here that we are bound to come up with a solution.”
But Tierney didn’t miss the shadow of worry that filled her mother’s eyes. “We can’t leave them trapped in Lenya much longer, Mom. If we can’t find a solution …” Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of the danger Eavha and all her people could be in right this moment.
“If all else fails, we will bring them here. We will not let them suffer. We just need more time.” Brea ran a hand through her sweaty hair. “The one thing we don’t have enough of.”
The wind kicked up, and sand whirled around them.
“Something’s happening.” Tierney looked around, hoping for a miracle, but she knew what this was. “Keir! Over here!” she called, waving him frantically over to her side.
“Your grandfather really shouldn’t be driving that thing. He’s never been very good at it.” Brea ducked her head and held on to Tierney.
“What’s happening?” Keir reached her side, draping an arm around her as if to protect her from some strange foe.
“It’s okay, Keir,” Tierney shouted over the roar of the wind.
Golden light sparked above them, and the Library of Aghadoon appeared, settling into the landscape like it always belonged there.
“He must be out of sorts if he forgot to hide the village.” Brea shook her head with a smile. “I think you need to help Keir out. I’m not sure he’s breathing.”
Tierney reached for his arm. “It’s fine; everything is fine. It’s just my grandfather.”
Keir gaped at the sight of the normally concealed village. He pointed at the buildings, blinking his eyes as if to clear the vision from his sight.
“Did that … just drop out of the sky?”
“There’s no place like home.” Brea snickered, and Uncle Myles threw his head back and laughed. Everyone else just shook their heads at whatever human nonsense they were talking about.
“You know, sometimes I hate living among the fae.” Brea shook her head. “No one ever gets my jokes.”
“Begone, my pretty!” Myles cackled in a creepy voice as he advanced on Brea, hunched over with his hands raised like claws. “Before someone drops a house on you!”
It was Brea’s turn to laugh.
“Just ignore them.” Tierney sighed. “My guess is they’re shouting movie quotes at each other. Let’s just pretend whatever they’re doing didn’t just happen.”
“What about that?” Keir pointed at the village. “How did that place just fall out of the sky?”
“It’s a really long story.” She linked her arm around Keir's. “The short version is this is the village of Aghadoon. It contains a very powerful library with all the histories of the fae. My grandfather Brandon—former King of Fargelsi—is the custodian of the library. If he’s gone to the trouble of moving the village, then he’s likely found something important.”
“Okay, but I want the long version of this story at some point. Libraries don’t just fly around, Tia.”
“Here, they do.” She tugged him toward the crumbling columns that marked the entrance into the village. Brandon was already making his way down from the library.
“Hi, Dad, what have you found?” Brea walked to greet him. He carried a large leather-bound book, thick with handwritten pages. He held it open to a specific spot.
“It’s not a solution, but it’s important.” Brandon paused to drop a kiss on Brea’s forehead. “Sorry for the sloppy arrival. I was in a hurry.” He thrust the book out in front of him. “The vatlands aren’t natural.”
Tierney had never seen her grandfather so rattled. “What do you mean?” She moved to stand behind her mother, peering over her shoulder to see the book.
“It seems there was an ancient war among the original Lenyans who ruled these lands before us. There were many kingdoms at that time, and they were at constant war with each other for one reason or another. They couldn’t negotiate peace, so they agreed to live separately. They created the vatlands as physical boundaries to separate their kingdoms and bring an end to the conflict. For ages and ages, it worked and there were no more wars. But then, the vatlands began to expand as they are now.”
“What did they do?” Tierney stepped closer, her heart in her throat as she hoped for some clue that would lead them to the answer.
“They died,” Brandon said flatly. “Except for a small group, who somehow survived.”
“Doesn’t that book tell you how they survived?” Her voice cracked. They needed answers, not more dead ends.
“Not that I have found , but we’re still looking.”
“We are running out of time, Grandfather.”
“May I ask where you found this book?” Keir’s face had gone pale with shock.
“The library here is a mystical place. I’m not sure I can explain where it came from, but it showed up while I was searching for information on your homeland.”
“That is my father’s book. How could you possibly have a book that sits in my father’s rooms in the palace of Vondur? I gave my sister access to that very book before I left, hoping she would find some source of information in it.”
“Are you certain it’s the same book?” Tierney sniffed back her tears.
“May I?” Keir reached for the book, and Brandon let him take it. Flipping through the pages, Keir stopped on a page toward the back. “It’s the same. This is my father’s handwriting. I don’t understand how you have it. Can your flying library reach Vondur?”
“The library houses all the knowledge of the fae worlds.” Brandon scratched his head. “That doesn’t mean every book and scroll is physically there at all times. The magic of the library shows us what we need based on the subjects we are searching for. It’s possible the magic somehow acquired this book … or perhaps an identical copy of it simply because we needed this information.”
“That is a conversation for another time.” Tierney pulled their attention back to the important discussion. “The fact is, we need to study this book. It has to be what Keir’s father mentioned when he told me he had access to great knowledge of the histories of all the realms. At the time, it seemed like he knew a lot more than he was saying. This book might be the clue to what we’re looking for.”
“Why is it always a magic book we have to decipher to figure out how to save the world?” Brea muttered.
“There is one other thing.” Brandon’s voice grew soft. “There was a treaty the ancients created when they set the vatlands in place.” He glanced at Brea, taking a deep breath before he continued. “The vatlands were meant to be stationary as long as the terms of the treaty were honored. It seems when Tierney crossed into Lenya, taking the magic of three kingdoms with her into a land that had no such magic, she broke the treaty. The magic saw her arrival as an invasion of three kingdoms against one, and it triggered the consequences the ancients set in place. They wanted the treaty to last, and so they made the consequences of breaking it so dire no one ever dared risk it.”
“But how can that be?” Brea asked. “Tia has traveled across vatlands before. We all have.”
Brandon shook his head. “When she was a child with Gelsi magic, yes, but since she came of age and inherited the magic of Eldur and Iskalt just a few short years ago, has she made such a journey?”
“Anytime we’ve visited Gelsi, Eldur, or Myrkur in recent years, we’ve traveled through portals.” Brea’s shoulders slumped.
“So, you’re saying it’s my fault.” Tierney took a step back. “All of it.” A vital piece of her soul shattered inside her, and she couldn’t see past the veil of tears clouding her eyes. “The expanding fire plains that have killed thousands. It’s because of me and my stupid, childish impulsive behavior.”
“Tia.” Brea took a step toward her daughter.
Tierney shook her head. “No.” She turned and walked away from their sympathetic eyes.