The Emerald Passage
DAPHNE
“Come on!” Sway begs, leaping to her feet more silently than a trained assassin might.
The three imps at her back suddenly leap beneath the waterfall then hold their hands outstretched above them as if to create a makeshift shelter and just like that the water begins to cease its flow, leaving not but a crystalline hollow of emerald rock walls and a very shallow end. The space is maybe a slight few inches taller than the shadow steed but not nearly deep enough for them to fit.
I am about to voice my concerns when the far wall begins to twinkle and glow, reminding me of the North Gate and how I came to be in Faery but a few nights past.
Of course. Here we go again.
“The Lost Gate only appears when Hidden Fae be near,” Lohan swears in a whisper. “We must go now, afore he sees! The false one must never know where theLost Gate be!”
Klyesque's eyes find mine and her gaze flashes with worry. “Are you ready, Daphne? It is time.”
“Yes,” I hiss, turning toward the glimmer of green stone.
The beat in my chest is suddenly humming with dormant power and my back begins to sizzle and burn, much like it did that day on the ship. Gasps of fright chorus around me as another sound rents the air shaking the ground above the cave like the thunder of a thousand footsteps.
The imps begin to cower with fear and on impulse I grab for Lohan’s soiled cloak, yanking him toward his companions and shoving him into the cave opening. “Go! I shall follow you!”
“No!” Lohan snaps. “I promised to lead you by hand! Take me hand milady!”
When Trielle and Delago suddenly sprint into the creek and head straight for the uncanny staircase that is even now being formed by the tumble of rock, I drag Lohan forward and out of harm’s way, clutching him against me as the shadow steed gallop past.
They are heading straight for the cave wall with no fear nor hesitation in their gait.
Their approach causes the imps to scatter like mice, a sweared oath or two leaving their childlike mouths as they barely avoid being trampled upon.
“Bad doggies!” The yellow haired one gripes as Trielle and Delago leap straight into the wall and beyond without so much as an echoed hoofbeat escaping the strange jewellike chasm.
“Come milady!” Sway hisses, following the horses without glancing back.
The trio behind her grin slyly at one another before following her lead as the ground above the gate begins to shake and rumble.
“What comes this way?” I can’t help but ask, not entirely expecting an answer but gaining one just the same.
The book whispers, ”The Meadow King… he comes.”
Is he so frightening?
”His evil is a fealty with betrayal,” the book whispers and for a moment I am stalled by its answer.
“Go Daphne,” Klyesque says without looking away from the ridgeline. “You first,” she draws her sword as a sudden tumble of leaves scatter above us like rain. “You must go now and don’t you dare look back.”
My head tilts upward and again I see a shadow pass beyond the branches , yet somehow I know… that particular shadow… that thing… does not travel with the Meadow King. On the contrary, it appears to have slipped into hiding, both from them and from me.
How interesting…
It's right then that I feel it.
Something that changes in me. Something that fairly claws at my chest to be set free.
My power. My magic. It wants to be unleashed so badly it feels like it’s tearing through my insides.
It wants the Meadow King’s head.
It despises him.
I must make a face of pain, or a grimace, because Klyesque notices right away. “What’s wrong, Daphne? Are you in pain?”
All I can answer with is a glare of pure hatred and a voice so full of contempt that I scarcely recognize it as my own. “I should not be running from him. He should be running from me!” My statement surprises Klyesque as well as myself, but still she shakes her head.
“Him?” Klyesque whispers.
I nod, my eyes heating.
She smiles. “The time for that will come,” Klyesque promises me. “Go.”
I shake my head. “Together or not at all.”
Respect and acceptance shine in the teal of her eyes and she sheathes her sword, taking my free hand. “So be it.”
Voices sound above us and I know without questioning, time is running out, so knowing some mysteries are better left unsolved, I take my first step toward the humbling stairway, leading on a run when the snapping of more branches infiltrates my ears.
The moment the three of us clear the cave opening, the sound of it closing behind us has me gasping for breath.
“Do not turn around!” Klyesque scolds me.
It’s as if she’s stepped into my mind in that moment and I have to grin. “Right. Of course.”
We start to step slowly, but an arm suddenly shoots out of the rock wall and grabs Lohan’s cloak, tugging us forward just as darkness and dirt fall in at our back, barely missing our heads.
Once again it feels like passing beneath a waterfall and just like before what finds us on the other side is more than a little bit of a shock. However, it’s not so much the tunnel beyond which glows like the burning of stars, but the face that greets me.
It is enough to have Klyesque cursing, “Bloody hell. Seriously?”
I smile from ear to ear. “I thought I heard you say seven days.”
The Woodland Witch smiles. “You did. And so did every other set of ears that was listening.”