Bones of Faerie - Janni Lee Simner [48]
Allie fell silent as Matthew came up beside me. Her hands clutched his sweater, as if now she was the one who didn't want to let go. Tallow followed them, sniffing the stone suspiciously.
Come. The River's pull was weaker beneath the Arch and easier to resist. The Arch's metal surface stood only an arm's length away.
Would I find Mom on the other side of that metal? Would I find a way through at all?
I looked at Matthew. He set Allie down, and she clutched his hand even as he grabbed for her. Tallow scrambled up onto Allie's shoulders. Together Matthew, Allie, and I stepped forward, praying the way would be open and the Arch would let us through.
The metal remained metal, nothing more. I pressed it, I pounded it, but it didn't give. I drew a deep breath. Karin had said I might have to rely on my visions, but Mom had found a way through without visions, hadn't she? She'd held that veined metal disk in her hand and spoken some words.
Mom had had that disk all her life. It couldn't be magic.
I took Caleb's disk in my hand and reached out again. The metal still didn't give. If there were words I needed to speak, I didn't know them. The Arch grew bright at my gaze, as bright as a mirror and brighter still. “Lizzy,” Mom whispered. I reached for her, then drew sharply back.
And reached out again. The metal was as solid as it ever was. But a moment before—when Mom had called me—my hand had passed right through, just like Karin had said it would.
“How—” Allie said. “How did you—”
Karin had also said that if I failed, I could wander in visions forever. I glanced at Matthew and Allie. I might not be the only one trapped if something went wrong.
Matthew shrugged. “Your magic got us this far.”
I swallowed hard. “Even if I make it through, you might not be able to follow me. And even if you follow me—”
“I trust you,” Matthew said.
“You don't understand.” My fear turned to anger. “I have no idea what will happen. Even if we don't get lost in my visions, we could get stuck in the metal, or give in to the River, or wind up someplace else, who knows where—my magic could kill us all!”
“He didn't say he trusts you to know everything.” Allie twisted Matthew's sweater sleeve around her wrist, stretching it. “No one knows that. You just do what you can, you know? And see what happens after that.”
I drew Rebecca close, shivering. The baby squirmed in my hold. I hadn't done all I could for her. Or else I'd done it too late. I might be too late for Mom, too.
Rebecca reached out and tugged at my hair. I looked down at her. She smiled, and I swallowed hard. Until I knew I was too late, I had to do what I could.
Matthew took my hand. His grip was steady and comforting—I focused on it as I looked into the metal, willing the visions to come. For a moment I saw only my own reflection—dark hair streaked with paler strands— and then—
Light. Light bright as moonlight, light that pulsed against my eyes. I fought not to press knuckles up against my lids. “Mom,” I called, and then, louder, “Mom!”
Fire. Fire rained from airplanes and fell toward swaying branches. Heat burned my face, like the air from Jayce's forge. Leaves gave way to flame as if they were no more than butterfly wings. Branches blazed like torches and went out. Acorns fell like rain. Berry juice stained the dirt and evaporated in the hot, dry wind. Trees moaned as they died, like wind before a storm—
Fire mushroomed up from the earth, swallowing men and women with clear hair and silver eyes, so fast they made no sound. Ash fell to the ground for miles around, silent as snow. No bone or branch remained—
Farther from the fire, a few black trunks survived, jutting like splinters from the earth. Caleb—why always Caleb?—walked through the dead land, his face grim. He approached a burning lake, stepped into the water, and disappeared—
My mother walked through the dead land, her cheeks streaked