was right about this,” I said, kneeling down and running my fingers over the crest.
Jace leaned down beside me. “It makes sense.” He pulled me back to my feet. “And don’t lose focus, no matter what you hear. I’m here to fight so you can do your thing.” He eyed me closely.
I nodded shakily. “Okay, hand me the text.”
Jace dug out the small book from his leather satchel. It was old, ancient, used back in the times of our guardian ancestors and written in Egyptian. Dr. Thailow had gone over the incantation with me about a hundred times before Jace and I had set off. He’d been the one to originally place the barrier spell around Haven Falls. But after he’d taken it down, and a new, more powerful one had been raised, there was no one else who could reverse it. No one else except me. Maybe. I still wasn’t completely confident that I was more powerful than the man who claimed to be my father.
I was Feyan. But what did that mean? Reese was Feyan along with the rest of the Feyan Army, but Drevan still ruled over them with enough power to force them into submission. And if I was being honest with myself, I had to admit he intimidated me, also.
I shook out my hands and cracked my knuckles. Then accepted the text from Jace. Placing my feet directly over the crest, I stared out over the ocean. “How long before dawn?” I asked.
“An hour,” Jace said. “Don’t think about that, or me, or the battle. Just focus.” He laid his hand on my shoulder. “Reese may be a dick, but I trust he’ll hold the Feyan Army back. You can do this before the last flank is called in.” He tightened his grip, assuring me. “And after the barrier goes up, whatever Narcos are still inside, we’ll take care of them.”
“I’d feel better if I knew the spell Drevan used to make the humans leave.” If I failed to raise the barrier, having a backup plan, like using Drevan’s spell against the Narcos, would be comforting. I lowered my head. I hated all the death this battle brought, but it was either them or us. And the spells were another reason I felt Drevan was more powerful than ordinary Narcolym. He knew things other Kythan didn’t. According to Dr. Thailow, those kinds of magics were thought to be long dead to the Kythan centuries ago.
“Dez,” Jace said, a warning in his voice. “It’s time.”
I blew out a long breath and cracked the book open to the marked page. I slid the satin marker over and began reciting the spell I’d memorized. I couldn’t read ancient Egyptian, but I felt more confident looking at the markings and pictures as I thought of my lines. And the book itself was magic. I felt it could help me, even if it really couldn’t.
The words tumbled out, and after a moment, a glimmer appeared before me. My eyes widened as the spark grew, becoming a glowing, translucent-blue, wavering circle. It stretched and wobbled, slowly expanding. I could see the shield. I knew the barrier wrapped all the way around our city, but Dr. Thailow didn’t tell me I’d actually see it. I wondered if the blue light had to visibly encase all of Haven before the spell was complete.
I paused my chant and looked over to Jace. “Do you see this?”
He ran up beside me. “What? Is there an attack near?” He looked around, and then back over the bay.
“No,” I said, pointing in front of me. “That. The light.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Nope. There’s no light out there from what I can see.”
I stared at the halted light. It was waiting for me to continue. I had to hurry. Brushing my bangs from my eyes, I began chanting from the book again. The light grew, quickly becoming as long as my body. Amazing.
Watching the light spread along the border of Haven in a sheer blue glow, I knew I was getting close. It was moving quickly now. I looked down the pier as the light expanded, hoping it was strong enough to cancel out Drevan’s spell.
Dr. Thailow had said when the spell was completed, when Haven was safely guarded, I’d feel the magics surge through me. I kept chanting, waiting to feel something…anything. We were running out of time.
As I ran my finger over the text, a loud crack sounded from behind. I dropped the text and spun