As they exited the portal, Dally was once again captured by the moment’s sheer potential.
She slowed and allowed most of the company to move ahead. Before her rose a village she had never seen before, but one she knew from conversations and books. Three Valleys was a misshapen fork laid out from east to west. The two northern tines had streams, the southwestern finger held the river. Cliffs rose in the distance, tightening around the river and forcing it through rapids. Dally heard the rush of water, a constant murmur that never ceased, not even in the dry season.
But there was no time for that.
Dally reached out a hand without actually seeing whose arm she gripped. She could only say it was a man. She had not really seen any of the wizards and acolytes who had joined them on the escarpment. Now she regretted the lapse.
She whispered, “Say nothing and guide me.”
An unfamiliar voice murmured, “As you say, my lady.”
“Slow down,” she said.
Even after he did so, she stumbled and might have fallen had his free hand not gripped her other arm. “I have you, my lady.”
She had only a moment to notice how he did not ask if she was all right, or inquire after this or that. Instead, his hand and strength and sheer presence offered a sense of something more powerful than just supporting her body. He was there for her. Without questioning. Which was very good indeed. For she was about to do what Edlyn would no doubt have forbidden.
Instead of being impacted by another invasion of images, Dally allowed her awareness to extend. Though perhaps “allow” was not the proper term. She had no idea whether she could have fought against the moment’s sheer intent. The one thing she was absolutely sure of was, this needed doing.
The forest was a dark hulking presence behind them. There was no hint of peace or calm to the woodlands, as she had known throughout her childhood. Of course there had been dangers then as well. But the threats had been well defined. So long as they were careful, she and her brothers had been free to skip along its boundary, gathering berries and filling hours with their pretend adventures. All that was gone now. Lost to the shadows that hid the beasts.
They were there. So many she could not count them, a great heaving mass awaiting the signal to strike.
In the space of half a breath, Dally saw that the beasts were controlled by a different sort of enemy . . .
And then the enemy realized she was out there. Exposed. Vulnerable.
The fury that swerved toward her was terrifying, like she had slipped over the edge of a volcano and was blistered by the rising heat.
Dally withdrew as swift as her cry for life. She clutched at the man. “Help me!”
Edlyn rushed back. “What is it?”
“There is something back there,” she said, shredding the words. “A force or beast of a different kind. Something. In control.”
“And the fiends?”
“So many.” Shudders wracked her frame. “Hundreds.”
It was only when Dally heard Shona’s voice that she realized the young queen had joined them. “Go back and warn Ainya.”
“At once, my lady.” Then the man’s hands were gone. The loss of his strength caused Dally to whimper.
“I have you, child. Myron, rush ahead and alert the others. The rest of you, to your positions. Hurry!”
Dally tried to clear her vision and find the man who had held her upright. She felt bonded to him in a manner she could not describe, not even to herself. But she merely caught a glimpse of his back as he raced away. She wanted to turn around and follow him. Speak words she could not bring herself to form.