looked at his friend with concern. ‘What kind of “something dark”?’
‘I don’t know what it is. It’s been there for a while.’
‘How … long?’
‘A while now. I first felt it in Narcissa’s tower, but when I think about it perhaps it’s been there all the time. Maybe since my parents went missing, maybe since Mr Crow came to live with Gran and me. All I know is that it’s there, it’s with me now. Since Darkmount broke my leg and left me for dead. And … and I like it.’
‘You like it?’
‘Yes. It … it’s like a fire. A fire that rages in my chest, a fire that fuels me when I need it. It keeps me going, keeps me strong and hard.’
Nibbler, a stony expression on his face, walked over to Charlie and rested a paw on her chest. ‘There’s nothing there, Charlie, it’s all in your –’ He yanked his paw away as he felt something hammer and pound beneath his talons. His eyes grew wide, and slowly he reached for Charlie’s ribcage again. ‘Oh my gosh …’ he whispered as he felt whatever it was pulse inside his friend. ‘What is that? It’s real, isn’t it? It’s really real.’
She nodded.
Crumble, who had been watching with some alarm, spoke up: ‘Does it hurt?’
‘No.’
‘What do you think it is?’ he asked.
‘I’m not sure. All I know is it helps.’
Crumble cocked his head to one side. ‘I’ve never heard of anything like this before. But what if it’s harmful? What if it’s going to cause side-effects or damage your body? Maybe one of the great healers could take a look at it.’ He scratched his head thoughtfully. ‘Might be best if a Treman healer looked at it. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Sylvaris? With your Keeper abilities you could be there and back in less than a day.’
‘No,’ said Charlie with a determined frown. ‘I’m not moving backwards. I won’t. Forward or nothing.’
Nibbler and Crumble shared a look, but neither chose to pursue the subject. Both of them knew how stubborn Charlie could be.
‘So, where are we now?’ Charlie asked Crumble.
‘I think your Portal took us south of Opal Hold so we’re a bit further away from the Western Mountains than before.’
‘How long would it take us to walk to the Western Mountains?’
‘To the mountains? About four, maybe five days from here and then another two to get to the city.’
‘The city is called the Western Mountains too, though?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why is it people can’t come up with original names for places?’ said Charlie, pulling a face. ‘It’s the same back on Earth, they’re always using the same names over there too. Or if they want to pretend to be creative they add the word “New” in front of the old word: New York, New Zealand, New South Wales.’ Charlie paused as she pushed thoughts of Earth away. ‘Look, I’d rather cut out as much of the walking as possible. Is there another village around here where we could try to get some answers to where we can and can’t open a Portal?’
‘Well there’s –’
‘Hang on a minute,’ said Nibbler, cutting off Crumble. ‘Why can’t you just try to open a Portal to the Western Mountains? Everyone is saying it can’t be done, but we don’t know that for sure. And maybe if a Portal won’t open in one place you can play around. If you try to open a series of Portals leading away from the Western Mountains you’ll eventually find one that works.’
Charlie grinned. ‘Now that’s a good idea.’ Standing up she clapped her hands together. Amidst rocky spires and at the bottom of one of the many canyons that dotted the land, Charlie had no line of sight from which to take her bearings.
‘Crumble, which way are the Western Mountains from here?’
‘There, to the north.’
Charlie turned to face where Crumble was pointing, and although she was facing a canyon wall she felt as though she could sense the mountains in the distance. Feeling confident and drawing on everything she had heard about the city, she summoned her Will. Pulling her hands apart, she teased open a Portal.
Immediately something felt wrong. The Portal felt far too heavy, as though it was fighting her. It bucked and weaved from side to side and a horrendous grating shriek burst from it. Realizing that she’d made a terrible and potentially dangerous mistake, Charlie threw herself to the side. Crumble and Nibbler, already a safe distance off, backed even