not only air but also a generous cushion against the rock that she was quite grateful for. There were a couple sharp turns that would have been most unpleasant without it, and she would never have been able to hold her breath this long. She had almost relaxed when she felt herself free falling through the darkness of night, flowing with the waterfall to the river below. She screamed the entire way down.
As she hit the water, she was once again grateful for the cushioning abilities of the air bubble. The waterfall pounded on top of her, forcing her under and catching her in the spinning undertow. Kiora tried to kick her way out, but it was useless. As long as she was encased in this bubble she couldn’t affect the water around her. Instead she was swirling and flipping over and over for a few minutes before the current finally spit her out, shooting her to the surface. She bobbed down the river until Lomay appeared on the bank. He popped her bubble by mumbling something Kiora could not understand. The bubble released her into the water and she swam to shore.
“How was it?” Lomay inquired as Kiora crawled onto dry land.
Panting, Kiora pushed her wet hair out of her face. “Useful,” she admitted with a grin. “I need to learn it.”
Emane crawled up the bank behind her looking a little green. “I could have gone my whole life without doing that.”
* * *
ALCANDER PACED STIFFLY AROUND Lomay’s front room, waiting for him to return, waiting to see if Kiora was indeed the Solus. Alcander could feel Lomay’s thread slowly approaching. The second the old man opened the front door, Alcander whirled on him, white hair flying.
“Well?” he demanded. “Is she the Solus?”
Lomay nodded silently, easing himself into a chair.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “This is what we have been waiting for.”
“She saw where the first jewel is hidden.”
Alcander came alive. “That is perfect, we can leave tomorrow—”
“No,” Lomay interrupted, shaking his head as he slumped further. “No.”
“What do you mean, no? This is what we have been waiting for.”
“The Shadow took the lights.”
Alcander paused for a second before waving the statement off. “That was what we suspected. It changes nothing.”
“It changes everything. As I explained to Kiora, if the Shadow took the jewels the wards will be impenetrable. Even if we could go, it is hidden in the Dunes of Arcaya. Any who seek them will be dead before they lay eyes on them. We must reevaluate.”
Alcander hesitated.
“The Shadow knows the Solus is here.”
Alcander’s face darkened, his blue eyes narrowing. “How?”
“I don’t know. The Wings started to show Kiora where the lights were.” Lomay looked up at Alcander, his face older than before he had gone to retrieve the Solus and her Protector. “Midway through the vision Emane said something screamed, and the Wings went black.” Lomay shook his head. “It knew. The Shadow knew someone could see what it had tried to hide, and it stopped them.” Coming to the realization as he talked, Lomay continued. “That’s why the Wings waited for Kiora. It knew what the Shadow would do.” He dropped his head into his hands.
“You’re telling me this is hopeless?” Alcander’s voice rose. “After how long we have waited?”
Lifting his head from his hands, Lomay said, “We will just have to wait for her to figure it out without the Wings’ help.”
“You have been looking for the lights for thousands of years, what makes you think this girl—” He flung his hand towards a window, “will be able to find them? She knows nothing.”
Lomay stood, craning his neck to search Alcander’s eyes. “She is not just a girl, she is the Solus. And she will have help even this old man doesn’t understand.”
Alcander turned his head away.
“Exceptions, Alcander.”
“I am so tired of hearing about exceptions. They never seem to be there when needed but always fall in our enemies’ favor.”
“Perhaps that ‘girl’ is our exception.”
Alcander sighed, leaning into a wall.
“Alcander,” Lomay said, his tone tentative. “I know we haven’t talked about this in a while but . . .”
“Don’t,” he snapped. “Just don’t.” Shaking his head he stomped out the door and down the steps.
* * *
KIORA WAS EXHAUSTED. SHE’D gotten almost no sleep the night before under the falls, and today had been another long and tiresome day. Adding to the exhaustion was the incessant hum of magic running through her that had only increased once she left Meros. It was making her crazy.