The Forbidden Lands (Wattys 2015 Winner)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight
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Someone was nudging me as I slept. "Wake up," he said.

"Go away, Liam," I said. "It's still dark out."

"That's why you need to wake up, Evelin."

I opened my eyes and gasped. The sun was up, but the entire sky was filled with dark clouds. "It's starting," I said.

Liam nodded. "The witch told me that one last star fell into the pits of darkness. And demons rose from the ashes. She said that the demons only come every two to three hundred years. Sometimes, they leave immediately. However, if they gain power, they can do a lot of damage. She said when the humans cast the first Enchantment, the demons had been around, and the humans were afraid. They trapped all of the creatures in Havane, which made the demons leave, somehow."

"So the humans didn't trap the races because of greed. They did it out of fear," I breathed.

Liam nodded. "And we need to get the demons back where they belong, before they become too powerful."

"Let's go to the faeries."

We rotated walking and running up Faerie Mountain. As we got closer to the top, we could see the black clouds even better. The war was not in action. The faeries were arguing. They were afraid.

"Listen up!" Liam called. The faeries turned to us. Whispers of "two humans" spread across the group.

One faerie pointed at the sky. "Did you do this?"

I shook my head. "The demons did. And we need to stop them. We are going to break the Enchantment."

Cries of surprise followed

"We have a boat in the southeast corner of Havane," Liam said. "Head there. That is where we are going to break the Enchantment."

The faeries didn't believe me. "What if you're lying and this is a trap?"

I was fed up of this. "You choose if you want to come or not," I said. "All I need is Dianthe."

Dianthe flew through the crowd. "Evelin," she sang, giving me a hug. I was comforted by the flowery sent of her and warmth of her genuine hug. She turned away and faced the crowd. "Evelin is the Enchanta. Let's go."

At the word "Enchanta," the faeries stopped murmuring. They began at once to use their wind to get to the boat. Dianthe turned back to me.

"Who's this?" she asked, gesturing to Liam.

"Liam," I said. "My brother's . . . " I paused. "My friend. He's been helping me."

"Good, good," Dianthe said. "Now let me use some wind to get you two to the sailboat. Then we can finally break this Enchantment. Do you have the spell, Evelin?"

I pulled the parchment out of a pocket guiltily. "I lost yours. A woman named Freda gave me a new copy. Is it correct?" I showed it to her.

Dianthe smiled knowingly. "Ah, Freda. Yes, it is the right spell."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

A column of wind surrounded me. "If you want to stay together," Dianthe said. "Hold hands."

I took Liam's hand, and we were lifted into the air. The trees sped by underneath us.

"The faeries weren't so bad," Liam said, over the roar of the wind.

"Not as bad as the stiria," I said. I looked down at our entwined hands and blushed. I'd never really held a boy's hand before. Except Jax's, but that didn't count. Only suitors counted. Then I blushed even redder. Suitors? Did I consider Liam a suitor? He had never said anything about it. I chided myself.

"Are you ready?" Liam yelled.

I shook my head. "No. I'm so nervous. I'm going to mess everything up."

Liam's grip on my hand tightened. "You'll do fine." He looked into my eyes. "I believe in you, Lady Fendway."

I groaned. "We aren't back to formality, are we, Lord Duval?" I curtsied teasingly.

He bowed. "Of course not, Lady Fendway," he teased in a pompous voice. "Why, we know each other much too well."

"Much too well," I echoed.

He looked me in the eyes, and the teasing stopped. "I wish I could've known you before we were constantly thrown into life threatening situations." He wrapped his other hand around mine. "Who knows what could've happened then?"

My heart was pounding into my chest. What was he implying? Liam was my brother's friend, after all. I couldn't . . .

But he was staring at me so intently, with those white-blue eyes. And what happened next would've taken months if we'd been in different situations. But with the daunting battle ahead, things like this progressed much more quickly.

Liam kissed me.

Me. The wild Fendway girl, the odd one. Not Margareta, nor any of my sisters.

It was a short kiss, but it was soft and comforting, like a single drop of rain on a cheek. Or a little ray of sunlight. And it made me feel like I was soaring.

Then I remembered that I actually was soaring. On a column of wind. I felt dazed after the kiss. I needed to focus on the Enchantment. I looked away from Liam, my cheeks reddening.

He loosened his grip on my hand. Perhaps he thought I didn't like his kiss. That was far from the truth, but I didn't have time to think of that now.

"Sometimes, the heart is more powerful than the mind," Liam murmured.

We landed on the ground, and he released my hand.

I could see all of the races gathered there together. They all depended on me. I took a deep breath and reached into my satchel for the spell.

I opened it and looked at it for the first time. Incomprehensible words were written below a set of instructions. I gathered together all of the Enchanters. The troll chieftain. Assana's father. Ferrowin. Urora. Dianthe. Lucia.

I had them hold each other's wrists, and stood in the middle of them.

"Repeat after me," I whispered. I uttered the spell's nonsense words, and the Enchanters repeated them.

At first, nothing happened. Then, a little ball of silvery light surrounded the Enchanters and I. We repeated the words once more, this time louder.

The light spun around faster and faster, as we continued to say the words. Finally, on the seventh time we said them, the sphere spread out, covering the entire land of Havane.

It burst into little pieces of dust, and a blinding ray of light appeared before us in the water.

A silvery bridge to Krialle. The races were free.

A cheer rose up, and the merrow dove into the sea in excitement. Hug after hug came to me. Assana. Jax. Laurel. Coten, even. When Nimue hugged me, I was a little elated to see Liam's jaw clench.

The races began to walk across the bridge, but the Enchanters, Liam, a couple others, and I took off on the sailboat, as quickly as possible.

It was time to stop the demons.
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*scream of excitement*

Wow, I can't believe I made it this far. Thank you everyone for your support.

Hugs for everyone!