Seasons of Ferne, Summer's Passion

Chapter 39

The gem exploded with light, shattering the basin and opening a hole in the storm beyond. Evelyn gasped as her necklace hung in the air, pulsing with light as water spread across the opening. It formed a thin, liquid wall across the fissure, slowly revealing the world beyond. It were as if she were staring into the pool Puck had created in the woods not so long before, only this time she was looking at the present instead of the past.

Beyond the portal Evelyn could see torches burning brightly behind shadowed figures, each one sending streams of glowing energy outward from their hands towards a massive entanglement of wilting vines. Even from their vantage point in another world both Evelyn and Puck could see the few leaves left on the mass turning brown and falling off.

"The spell's breaking, Eve!" Puck yelled between cracks of thunder. "We have to go now!"

"No, Evelyn! Stop!"

Evelyn barely heard his voice over the wind, but she heard it still. Shocked, she turned to find Brandon running through the underbrush towards them. He called out again, his voice overpowered by another violent thunderclap. "Brandon!" Evelyn screamed.

"Eve, please! We have to go before it closes!" Puck screamed with desperation as he pulled on her arm, trying to turn Evelyn back towards the portal. Evelyn jerked her arm out of his grip and ran to Brandon.

"Don't do it!" Brandon yelled when she was close enough to hear him over the storm. "Evelyn, please! It's your life, not theirs!"

"It's not my life I have to worry about!" Evelyn said, taking him in her arms. She reached up and pressed her hand against his cheek, wiping his tears away with the palm of her thumb. "I love you, Brandon! I won't let you die for me!"

"Eve!" Puck screamed from behind. Beyond the portal the tangled vines were beginning to break apart as the creature they contained fought to free itself.

"You don't have to do this! Stay with me, please!" Brandon cried, taking her face in his hands.

Evelyn pulled him in and kissed him furiously, taking in everything she could about him in that one final moment. His smell, the feel of his lips against her own, the taste of his tears. Evelyn didn't hear Puck calling for her, didn't feel the storm raging. All she concentrated on was the feeling of Brandon's love for her, all she listened to was the beating of his heart. Finally she pulled away and looked up at him though tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry, Brandon. I love you."

Brandon's eyes went wide as he felt vines take hold of his legs and arms and jerk him backwards away from Evelyn. He fought against their grip with everything he had, but Evelyn wouldn't let him go until his life was safe. "Don't forget me," she whispered, forcing herself to turn away and run for the portal.

"Evelyn, no!" he screamed.

She wouldn't allow herself to hear him. With every ounce of will she possessed, Evelyn ran into the fissure of the tree and burst through the vail separating the worlds. It was like a punch to the gut and electrocution all at once. Evelyn fell through and landed on the ground in a heap, barely conscious.

The air was filled with torch smoke and a mixture of screams and chants as mages fought to keep the beast within the prison contained. Evelyn heard vines snapping across the mass and a high pitched scream come from within. She dragged herself towards it, clawing at thick and damp grass as she pulled herself hand over hand in the direction of the sounds.

"No!"

Evelyn didn't know where the scream came from or from whom it originated, but its agonized tone snapped her to attention. She forced herself to look up in time to see one side of the tangled mass get torn apart from within. The thing that emerged was thin, nearly skeletal. It wore decaying leather and crumbing armor, pieces of which fell off with each movement as it pulled itself free of its enclosure.

She was too late.

Like a crying banshee it came at her, as if recognizing the one threat to its freedom. Evelyn tried to move away but found herself too weak. The shadows of the mages ran inward from their circle, but they were too far away to reach her before the wraith. The smells of damp rust and decaying flesh filled the air as it bore down on her, its eyes nothing but hollow sockets.

"Please no..." she whimpered, holding a single weak hand up in pitiful defense.

Thunder cracked behind her again and the creature abandoned its pursuit to face the portal. It screamed in a hellish rage as vines shot over Evelyn's head and wrapped around its body. "Eve, move!" Puck screamed as he passed through the portal and into the clearing.

Evelyn used the last of her strength to roll out of the way as the vines dragged the fighting wraith across the ground past her. Evelyn was too weak and had no chance to stop what was happening even as she realized the wraith was being dragged towards the portal. She tried desperately to stop the vine's progress, but her energy was too far gone.

The wraith let out a final defiant cry before it was dragged through the portal and into her world. The last thing Evelyn saw before the portal closed forever was the wraith standing on the other side bellowing with rage while Brandon looked on helplessly, still tangled in Evelyn's vines. The door shut in a final thunderclap just as the creature turned its attention to Brandon, bearing down on him like a hungry wolf approaching a lone sheep.

Then the spell died and the door closed. Evelyn's necklace hung in the air a moment longer before falling silently into the grass. Before the world turned black Evelyn let out a single agonized wail. There was nothing she could do to help him, nothing she could to do help herself. She was trapped alone in an unfamiliar world filled with unknown dangers.

Forever.

End of book one.