The cords looked like they were acting to bind the stone’s power, keeping the light that it held from escaping. Then, from within the Shadow a finger reached out. Kiora covered her mouth with a tiny gasp. Whatever this Shadow was, its finger looked very human, or near to it. Long and thin and pale. It touched the stone, and when it did, the stone regained a bit of light directly underneath the fingertip. The light moved up, wrapping its way around the finger and moving deep within the Shadow. Whatever it was, it sucked the light right out of the ball. Kiora and Emane heard an audible sigh of delight escape from the blackness. When it removed its finger, sliding back into the depths of the Shadow, the stone returned to its lifeless state, buried beneath tons of sand. Suddenly the top of the Shadow, what Kiora assumed was the head, jerked in their direction as if it could see them.
Kiora reached out, grabbing Emane’s arm as a sick feeling rolled over her. The picture flickered in and out as a piercing shout of anger echoed through the room. Then the Wings went black.
They stood in silence for a few seconds, Kiora’s fingers still wrapped tightly around Emane’s arm. He finally asked, “What just happened?”
Kiora frowned, forcing her fingers to open. Moving closer to the Wings, she peered between them. The middle was still solid, as if it should be showing them something, but it was black as night. “Show me Eleana,” Kiora said.
The Wings obediently fulfilled the request, growing light and focusing on Eleana and Malena. They stood on the same ridge where Kiora had told Emane of this new world they were supposed to save.
“Do you think it will be enough?” Malena asked, fluttering next to Eleana’s shoulder.
“It is all I can do,” Eleana said, crossing her hands in front of her. “I cannot erect the gate again. The most I can do is give back the illusion that once existed.”
“But without the other enchantments, it will be just that, an illusion. Once someone wanders into it—”
“I know,” Eleana interrupted. “But it is all I can do. Hopefully it will buy Kiora and Emane the time they need.” She raised her hands and began chanting in a language Kiora didn’t understand. Under her touch the lush forest around the base of the mountain reverted back to what people thought it was, a barren desert with dunes stretching out over where the valley of Meros lay.
“Show me the Shadow,” Kiora demanded. The picture once again turned completely black.
Kiora turned to Emane, eyes wide. “Something is blocking it.”
“Are you sure?” Emane asked.
“I don’t see any other explanation,” Kiora said, fiddling with the side of her pant leg. “There is nothing wrong with the Wings. They worked when I asked to be shown something else. It’s only blocked when it tries to see the Shadow.”
“Great,” Emane groaned, dropping into one of the two chairs Lomay had left swirling for them. “Now we are stuck here until Lomay comes and gets us. Then we have to tell him we found the location of one of the missing lights before the Wings went black.”
“It’s one more than we knew before,” Kiora offered, sitting next to him.
“Kiora,” Emane said softly, putting his hand over hers. “This is crazy. You know that, right?”
“What is?”
“All of it. This world, the state of it. The jewels, or lights—or whatever they’re called.” He stopped, swallowing. “How are we going to do this?”
She knew what he meant. They were up against something more powerful than they had ever seen, something powerful enough to turn the Wings black. And she had a deep feeling that they still had no comprehension of what they were dealing with. They were in a strange land with strange people and strange customs. A place where humans didn’t exist. They were in so far over their heads she couldn’t see the top. Despite that, she couldn’t deny what she knew. It had to be her, had to be them. That feeling nagged at her heart, pulling deeper than the fear that had settled in her stomach.
“I don’t know how we will do it, but we will,” Kiora said, more weakly than she wanted to. Looking up into Emane’s eyes, she added, “If we don’t, everyone will die, including our people. Our valley can never be shut off again, which means the only way for us to save it is to save everything else.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Wings