“I swear, all we’re doing is making it angry.” Tierney tucked her face under the scrap of fabric she’d wrapped around her head to shield herself from the sand storm. Each grain of sand felt like tiny hot needles stabbing into her flesh.
She mopped the sweat from her brow and searched the sea of dirty faces around her. “We’re throwing everything we have at this, hoping something will stick. We need to work smarter.”
“I think we’re all tired and we might need a break.” Brea stretched her back and groaned. “This old lady needs a glass of wine and a bath. A cold one.” She wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her hand.
Tierney paced back to the campsite, flinging herself down on the ground in the shade of a lone tree. She saved the more comfortable seats for her parents, aunts, and uncles. They were old, after all.
“Aunt Neeve?” Tierney waited for her aunt to sit as the other royals made their way back into camp. “I don’t understand how this is working in Fargelsi and not here.”
“I don’t either, love, but I received a report this morning that it continues to work. They’ve managed to push the marshlands back toward their borders. It will take time, but I believe we can eventually heal the entire marsh. We have fae working from both sides now. The Dragur Forest is nearly free of the effects already.”
Tierney was thrilled for Gelsi and Eldur. It was a relief to know something was working somewhere. It was getting worse everywhere else. Ice storms were raging across Iskalt. If they didn’t get results here in the fire plains soon, they were going to have to join the magic wielders back home to see if they could make progress there. For now, it was safe to say Iskaltians knew how to handle a blizzard.
“Tell me again how it worked.”
“Darling, let your aunt Neeve have a rest.” Brea fanned her face with a palm frond. “We need our wits about us if we’re going to figure this out.”
“That’s just it, Mom. I feel like it’s right there, just out of my reach. I can feel it, like my magic knows the answer and it’s just waiting for me to catch up.” Tierney worried her bottom lip, chapped from the hot desert winds racing across the plains.
“Is it something in your magic specifically?” Keir came to sit in the shade with them.
“No. Yes. Maybe? I don’t know.” She threw her hands up, wishing the answer would just fall out of the sky.
“Maybe your young man is onto something,” Neeve said, and Tierney chose to ignore her aunt’s nosey insinuations.
“Like what?”
“It wasn’t exactly a specific Gelsi spell that worked. It was more a request to heal the land. But it didn’t work until we joined with the Eldurians, like we needed the right blend of magic we just happened to stumble upon.”
“Oh!” Tierney sat up straight, trying to force her mind down the right path to the answer that continued to elude her.
“What is it, Tia?” Her father was the one to catch on to her excitement.
“I need a map! Does anyone have one?”
“Yes, we all carry maps of the world in our pockets when we’re on an emergency expedition to save Eldur and Lenya.” Brea’s dry humor rolled right off Tierney’s back.
“I have one.” Keir fished through his bag. “Well, a sketch of one I made from a map I found in the library at the palace. Not your magical flying library.” He passed her a journal opened to the center page.
“Perfect, you already added Lenya.” Tierney’s eyes darted across the pages, her mind working faster than she could articulate her thoughts. “May I draw on this?” She glanced at Keir.
“Well, yes, but don’t ruin it.” He handed her a quill and ink. “I’d like to replicate it for our records once I return.”
Tierney sketched a line where the original fire plains should be within their boundaries along Eldur and Lenya. “If you had to guess, where would you think the maelstrom would fall on this map?” She held it out for Keir to see.
“Somewhere in here.” He pointed to the narrowest part of the sea separating Lenya from the far reaches of Iskalt. “Your grandfather and I were just talking about this the other day. He believes the maelstrom occurs because it resides between fierce opposing temperatures.”
Tierney nodded. “That makes sense.” She sketched a quick spiral shape where the sea narrowed. From there, she drew a line to represent the Northwestern Vatlands.
“Look at this, everyone.” She held up the map, using the feathered quill to point to the fire plains. “What if all of this is one big vatland? The fire plains, the maelstrom, and the impenetrable mountains?”
“That is possible.” Lochlan studied the map. “What are you thinking, Tia? If we can find the right magic, we can heal all three areas? That still doesn’t solve our current dilemma.”
“Look here.” Tierney scrambled across the sand to sit at her father’s side. “It’s working in the marshlands.” She pointed to the map. “With Gelsi and Eldurian magic.” She pointed to either side of the marshlands.
Lochlan’s eyes widened in surprise. “My daughter’s a genius.” He scanned the map.
“Sure, she’s your daughter when she’s a smarty pants, but she’s mine when she opens portals to lands that shouldn’t exist,” Brea muttered.
“It’s the borders.” Lochlan dropped the journal, beaming at his daughter. “It takes the magic of the lands on either side of the vatlands.”
“So, the fire plains need the magic of Eldur, Lenya, and Iskalt.” Tierney returned her father’s smile.
“Then, we have a lot of work to do because I’m the only Lenyan on this side of the world.” Keir stuffed his journal and quill back into his bag.
“We have about an hour until dusk. This is only going to work for a short period, so we’re going to have to make the most of the time we’ve got.” Brea set off to tell the others. They would need all hands on deck to try this.
“It puts a damper on things when you’ve got to wait for the sun and moon to get things done.” Keir shook his head as everyone scattered to deliver the good news.
“I think this is going to work, Keir.” Tierney wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. “We’re going to fix this so you and your people won’t be so isolated. Think of what that will mean for Vondur and Grima.”
“If it works.” Keir let out a nervous breath. “Do you think I can do it? The part where I have to perform powerful magic for Lenya when the most complex thing I’ve ever done with magic is restore my energy during a long battle.”
“We’ll help you.” She laid her hand over his, a crystal clutched in his fist. “But the magic itself will guide you. You just have to listen and trust in it.”
Keir nodded. “All we can do is try.”
As dusk fell, every Eldurian, Iskaltian, and Keir lined up along the border of the fire plains, as close as they could get to it without burning. Even in the fading light, the air shimmered with heat.
“What do we do?” Keir whispered, leaning close to Tierney. “I mean, how do we know how to direct the magic?”
“Start by embracing your power. Let it flow from the crystal into you, and then direct it into the earth like the Gelsi magic wielders do.”
Keir nodded. “I sure hope this works.” He sank to his knees, waiting for the signal to start.
“Begin!” Lochlan’s voice, magically amplified, echoed across the camp.
Streaks of every color of magic lit up the sky and ground as each person added their magic to the attempt.
“Now you, Keir.” Tierney held her hands steady as her Iskaltian magic joined the others. It was a wonderous sight, and it reminded her of another time, long ago, when all fae had united as one to fight a common foe.
It brought tears to her eyes to think of how much she loved these people. All of them willing to help each other or die trying.
Keir’s magic hummed like a live creature in his hands. It was beautiful, like a song in its musical quality. She watched as he clutched the powerful opal now pulsing with a fiery light. Sinking his hands into the sand, he released his magic, guiding it into the land that needed healing.
Tierney held her breath, waiting for something to happen.
“It’s not working.” Keir groaned.
“Give it a little longer.” Myles paced behind them, his human eyes on the shimmering wall of heat. “These things take time and patience.”
“Myles, look!” Neeve pointed to the sky.
Tierney looked up, keeping her magic steady. The boundary of the fire plains shone with an iridescence, like a rainbow of colors reflected back at them. Gasps of surprise echoed around them as the wall began to collapse, shrinking from the magic of the united kingdoms.
“It’s so beautiful,” Tierney murmured, sniffing back her tears.
“The colors are pretty,” Keir said, “but why the tears?”
Tierney shook her head. “It’s not the colors. It’s the people. The unity. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed, and this is the second time in my life I’ve seen it. I feel so lucky to be part of it. Then and now.”
“Forward!” Lochlan called. “Careful now, we don’t want the boundary to snap back in place as we move. Keir, be very careful as you move forward. Don’t break your connection with the magic.”
Lochlan paced behind the row of magic wielders, barking orders. “Someone get the boy another crystal. He’s going to need it as a backup.”
“There has to be enough magic in this one crystal to get us all the way to Lenya.” Keir lifted his hand from the sand, carefully moving forward a few steps at a time.
“This is powerful magic, Keir. It will go quickly.” Tierney stepped forward, keeping her magic steady as she moved.
“What do we do when the Eldurian magic fades?” someone called out. “Will it bounce back?”
“We have no way of knowing.” Lochlan paced, kicking up sand in his urgency now that they were making progress. “Eldurians, give us a shout when you’re nearing the end of your power.”
The dusk stayed with them long enough to move the boundary back at least a league. As the Eldurians pulled away when their magic faded, everyone held their breath, prepared to run if the boundary wasn’t stable.
A cheer went down the line when Keir, as the last magic wielder, stepped away and the boundary settled exactly where they’d pushed it.
Exhaustion swept through Tierney, and her arms felt like dead weights, but she was happier than she could ever remember being. “It worked!” She cheered with the others. “Can you believe it, Keir?”
“I just wish we could keep working at it.” He stared behind them. The fire plains shimmered and glowed in the darkness as they made their way back to camp. “It could take months of this to reach Lenya.”
“We’ll be ready at dawn.” She took his hand. “And we’ll keep working at it until there is nothing left but scorched earth.”
Every fae that worked the boundary had blisters and burns from the blackened charred ground that now lay cooling in the evening breeze.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Tia?” Toby and Logan joined them, strolling hand in hand in the moonlight.
“It’s exhausting work, but look at how far we reached?” Logan beamed at them. “At this rate, we’ll be walking to Lenya in a few days.”
“We have no idea how far it is,” Keir said.
“Think positive.” Logan shrugged. “This was just the first day. We’ve figured out what we need to do now. I’ll wager we reach twice as far at dawn.”
“I’ll take that wager.” Keir grinned, slapping Logan on the back. “I bet we’ll reach three leagues by the time Tia’s moon magic wanes.”
“Dude, she has Eldur magic too. She can’t even tell when the switch happens.” Toby’s teasing voice made Tierney smile. She liked seeing them all get along so well.
“Then, we’ll base it on your father’s magic,” Keir decided.
“You’re on.” Logan lifted a brow. “What are we betting?”
“Loser has to wake Tia up before dawn every day for a week.” Toby snickered. “She’s vicious in the mornings. She’s been known to give a few magical black eyes and fat lips when she doesn’t want to get up.”
“Very funny, Tobes.” Tierney stuck her tongue out at her brother.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think she’d be nice if I were the one waking her up.” Keir grinned down at her, taking her hand in his.
“So, what you’re saying is, you’re going to lose.” Toby nudged Keir.
“Could be well worth it.” Keir shrugged, and Tierney’s cheeks flushed.
“Awe, they’re so cute,” Logan whisper-shouted. “Do you think they’ll ever figure out they’re nuts about each other?”
“Poor Keir is in for a long wait. Tierney’s always been the stubborn one.” Toby shook his head in mock sympathy.