Wylde Magic | Book 3

Three: The Eyes of Humans

Hey guys! I know I don't usually do authors notes but I thought this would be a great place to put the news about the Wylde fan contest! I'm running it with a small prize too. We have this week to collect your quotes, details on my Sabrina Chats book on my profile. You can also click on the link on my wall to go straight to the contest page. Thanks for being awesome readers!

The other side of Sulls was not nearly as hot as the dessert.

For one, the grassy plains were framed by the mountain range I once called home, and it broke much of the searing winds that cut through the sands when it stormed. For the other, the fields rose higher quickly, and by the time they reached the roots of the mountains the air could be downright cold compared to the city proper. But it would take a few weeks travel to reach one from the other.

Days had passed since I left Shanna at the gates of Sulls. Days to brood over how I felt about her claims that the village was gone and the raiders were something not entirely human. Almost none of the villagers ever spoke to me or treated me well, so I didn't mourn them and their loss so much as the sadness of the act of raiding and pillaging itself brought me anger.

Sitting on the grass, watching the sun peek over the mountains that had finally come into view last night, I quietly listened for the rest of the camp to wake up. It didn't surprise me when Schula got up and began her stretching exercises.

Puko stirred from his seat on our things, and flew off to find his own breakfast. I watched him glide over the grassy fields. I could see orchards and farmlands in the distance around us. After all, these are the lands that feed Sulls, and the farmers are well respected for it. Even the lakes of the mountains were welcomed to town with their wagons of fish, which was otherwise hard to get.

I sighed thorough my nose and glanced at the mountains again. At least, there was a time they were welcomed. I guess when you can't offer anything of value to the city, they don't have to help you. Not that I didn't already know that part of the nature of humans.

"Hey." Schula had come near, standing over where I sat with concern in her eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes," I answered, fiddling with the pendant I had taken out from under my clothes. "I think I just don't know what to do now. I mean, we're going back, but what are we going back to?"

Schula nodded and sat down in the grass next to me. "That's the question, isn't it?"

I leaned over and put my head on her shoulder. "What if Eberon couldn't convince Baeleon that I had no connection or knowledge of the elves?"

"There's no use fretting over something we don't know is true," Schula said.

"But, what about Icehold? And... and the courts... What if there's fighting?" I asked. "And it's all started because of us?"

"Oh, there's almost certainly fighting," Schula said. "It's what the fae kingdoms do best. The peaceful period we've enjoyed for a few centuries is long overdue to be broken."

"Oh no," I moaned, putting my hands over my face.

"It's no fault of yours, Wren," Schula said, taking a piece of hair that loosened from my braids and tucking it behind my ear. "You have no control over the origins of your birth. It's DuVarick that was in the wrong, no one else."

"And what about the barrier? I think I've figured out a lot of the spell, but some of the power components that anchor the unstable conjuring while the barrier manifests in it's weakened cognatic state-"

"Woah! Stop," Schula said, holding up a hand. "I do not know what you just said, but we don't have to put that much thought into our magic. Then again, that's probably why the witches can do such complex spells."