Seven Stories

Chapter 9: The Last Beacon

The bright light came again. The seven people in the Dulains' garden could only try to block it out with their hands and arms but there was no hiding from its power. The brothers and sister could not know, but Lii and the others had no doubt they soon would all be very far from their home. Lii took a look at her right hand, still holding her staff of wood, and sure enough it had began to fade already.

"We're going back!" Karen exclaimed.

It was clear she feared what would happen to her once she crossed the Line again, and so did Lii, for there would be no one to help them in the middle of the Land would the little Queen faint. She came to stand close to Karen and wrapped her in her arms.

"It's going to be alright", she promised. "Nothing will happen."

She saw Karen close her eyes, and she did the same as the blinding light drowned the world.

The first thing Lii felt was Karen, still standing in her arms, pulling gently at her hands to make her let go. She opened her eyes.

It was nighttime on the Land, and it took her a minute to adapt to the darkness; then she could see the burnt grass they were standing on, the brown grass of the Land, and all around them, the remnants of the camps of Lights and Shadows. On each side, the blue, red and black fabrics of the tents, let loose from the ground, were swirling under the wind, when they were not lying on the floor entirely, like abandoned rags at the mercy of the rains and the snow.

"Don't tell me what I think happened happened."

Lii broke her gaze away from what used to be Karen's high tent. They had left the bed in, but one feet had broken down, and now there were torn up pillows everywhere on the ground. On her right, as far from her as they had stood in their garden, Timothy and Agnes were taking in their surroundings. Lucian was the one who had spoken, and he was looking straight at her. She shook her head sadly.

"I'm afraid it did."

"Where are we?" Agnes whispered.

"This would be Nisays," Ikan scorned, dusting up what was left of Lii's earlier attack from the priest robes he had not left. Agnes shot him a dark glare.

"I gathered that, thank you."

"We're in the middle of nowhere," Karen completed sternly.

"Well that helps," Timothy snarked in a low voice.

"My kingdom is that way."

Karen was pointing in the distance, in the southern direction. As though there was anything to see, Lucian, Timothy and Agnes's eyes followed her fingers and they squinted.

"Don't bother, it's a three-week walk," Lii sighed. "You won't see anything."

She let Karen go and picked up the book Laya had let fall on the ground. "Mind if I take this?" she asked the warrior of Shadows, who gave her a distracted look before agreeing silently. She didn't seem less lost then the Dulains.

"Are you okay?" Lii enquired. However little she trusted the woman, there was no need for anyone to be unwell at the moment. Laya nodded.

"Fine. It just feels weird that... this worked."

"Weird but good?"

Finally, Laya allowed their eyes to meet, and she gave an uncertain smile. Then she bent her head again and focused on her boots.

"Oh God," Agnes muttered, realizing she had kept the huge knife they had opened up the blue book with. "What do I do with that?"

"I'd advise you to keep it," Lii told her. "Your brothers and you are practically defenseless here without magic, and Laya and I may not be able to protect you."