***
Shade snapped back into the moment, her memory of the lessons with her grandmother fading from her mind. The house was the same but the wind which flowed about in gusts and made her hair float around her in a halo was different. The weeks spent here had changed from sunny skies to a darker kind of weather. The air was changing rapidly. They were coming, along with the cold bite of winter. Something was very wrong.
She stood and dashed into the house. Lana! Where did she go?
“Grandma! Where are you?” Shade ran around the staircase to the hall where her grandmother stood. She was frail and looked so much thinner than when they had first met, just weeks before. She now looked like she was made of twigs and linen. Shade went to stand in front of her near the old, wooden staircase.
“You have to go now, or they will find you here. Go!” Lana motioned her to the door, fear hovering in her multifaceted brown eyes. Lana had warned them the Unseelie troops would eventually come. It had taken them some time to do so, but it was now time. Shade shook her head, looking behind her at her friends—Soap, Camulus, and Andraste—who were now up and ready to dash. Weapons were strapped on, and swords were out in defense mode. All of them were waiting for her by the door, keeping watch out the front windows.
“You have to come,” Shade said urgently. “We can save you! Please, you have to come now!” The desperation leaked out of her voice like a whimper as she held her frail grandmother’s hand and tugged, but the old woman didn’t budge. Lana turned to her as tears escaped Shade’s eyes and drained down her cheeks.
“No, Shade. I am too old to run. I cannot withstand those perils anymore. You must leave now. I remain bound to this place and am imprisoned here forever. I have withered here, but they will never have my soul. I can no longer go anywhere else. I must stay here until I die. You have no idea how happy I am to have met you before my end.” Lana’s face filled with joy as she smiled at her.
Shade shook her head, sobs shaking her body as she protested. “No, you can still change. Change into your younger self, and then you can escape with us. We can do it. We just haven’t tried hard enough. Hurry, please!” Her last words spilled out, pleading without hope. She moved her sword hilt aside and tugged at the zipper on her pack. Something in her bag of tricks had to help her with an unbinding spell. Where is that magic scroll book Ilarial gave me not so long ago?
Lana smiled. A look of calm masked the sadness within. She held her arms out and hugged Shade tightly. The embrace was still strong, and her comfort still soothed Shade like a warm cup of tea in winter. “Let me go, Shade. Let me go. It is your time now. The wind is fierce, but I will not be cold. The night grows darker, but I will not be afraid. The Summerlands are closer than ever, and their warmth bleeds into me as we speak. Do not be afraid, for I will always be with you. In your heart and in your mind, my child. Remember the memories, the ampule I gave you. Drink in the essence when you most need it, and I will not die. I will always live on in you. Remember, I love you.” Lana loosened her embrace and let her go.
Shade walked to the living room where her sobs escaped, and she sank onto the couch. She cried for all she was losing and all that had been found in her time in Faerie. Soap placed a hand on her shoulder as he moved in front of her. Staring intently into her eyes, he told her, without words, of the need to leave. She nodded at him, and, with her last tears dripping off her chin, she got to her feet. Turning toward the door, she gave another nod, telling her friends she was ready to go.
Shade joined them as they walked out without turning around, her pack and sword securely on her back. She knew her grandmother was resting in her comfy, overstuffed chair. Shade could just feel it. She could almost see the smile playing across Lana’s face in her mind’s eye as the woman who had taught her more about herself and her magic than anyone else, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, one she would never again wake from.
The wind howled and the sky darkened as they made their way into the forest. The group ran down the slope and into the trees which surrounded her grandmother’s prison grounds. Shade kept pace just behind Soap as Camulus yelled for them to get to safer ground and away from the clearing. Her hot tears cooled on her cheeks as she felt the bite of the wind freeze them on her face. Andraste paused in front of them, waiting for the group to catch up as he waved frantically for them to go faster. His arms stopped mid-air as a now-horrified look froze across his face, his eyes reflecting the flickers of orange and yellow fire now burned behind them.
“Bloody hell. What’s going on now?” He yelled as the rest of the group came to a stop, catching their breaths and turning to see what was happening. Shade bent down, gasping for breath as she let her head tilt toward the house up on the slope. It now stood engulfed in a raging fire. Her eyes widened in sheer horror and disbelief.
“No! Oh please, no!” Shade stumbled forward, wanting to run back up the slope to the house. Soap grasped at her arm and pulled hard, embracing her tightly. “Let me go! She’s still up there! Let go!” Shade pulled and tugged with all her strength, but Soap was relentless.
“No, Shade. It would be suicide to return,” Soap whispered to her. “She’s gone now, to the Summerlands where she wanted to be. She’s gone.” His voice cracked in pain as she clawed at his arms. He winced but didn’t loosen his death grip on her, afraid she would run into the inferno. Shade’s sobs shook them both as she tried to control herself, blinking back the stabbing pain she felt as she watched the fire eating the house away in a tall pillar of embers and flames. The ashes spewed from the cracking wood as it collapsed. The entire forest around the house soon caught on fire as well, withered and burned. The crashes of debris sent jolts of sickening pain through her.
After a few minutes, Shade became silent and let Soap slowly loosen his grip. He was still afraid to let go completely, just in case she again decided to head toward the pyre. It lit the night sky around them, illuminating it like the city lights back home did. He pulled at her to continue. Standing at the edge of the woods, watching the mighty crackle of flames and the billowing, black smoke rose from the wreck was not safe. She dragged her feet along, letting the Changeling pull her.
Shade felt numb and weak. Her stomach twisted in a knot, and she wished to close her eyes and curl up against a tree forever. The despair clung to her, a deep and suffocating shroud, pulling her into its depths. Squeezing her eyes tightly together, she prayed for nothing but to wake from this infernal nightmare.
Chapter Fourteen