Page 88 of Earthbound

Cursed to endure, cursed to survive.

All shall perish lest all three thrive.

I have heard the words before.

‘Don’t you see? The prophecy supports my spell–I can unite everyone with the power of the earth.’

Hady shakes her head. ‘The elves are closing their borders, they want no part in this war.’

‘Well then, they are fools! There is no war we cannot win. With thanks to the obeah, the humans outnumber the fae greatly.’

Hady looks unsettled. ‘With thanks to the obeah? Afa, we killed thousands of fae and many of our own.’

‘And it was not enough,’ I hiss. ‘Still they come for us, again and again.’

‘What will being earthbound achieve?’

‘Our god’s power will be part of us. Prithee, imagine the power.’

‘But what will you do with this power?’ she asks.

Is she afeared of me? She reaches for my hand and I discard the thought.

I bring her palm to my lips and say against its roughened skin, ‘Our children will never know peace unless this ends. I will not let the fae take them from us.’

She pulls free of me and picks up her notebook that lies next to mine. ‘There are other ways to accomplish peace. I’ve been researching protection spells. We can use a root system to weave a boundary—’

‘And they will learn to infiltrate it!’ I do not mean to get angry, but I have seen too many of my friends die at the fae’s hands.

‘Afa,’ she says my name urgently. ‘We do not know what this spell will take from the world.’

‘It will be the final sacrifice, for once we are one with the earth we will never need to trade with the magic again. We will be able to wield the elements without a penance. We will be able to level cities with a breath—’

‘You intend to destroy Lorhan?’ She looks horrified.

‘No, the threat will be enough, of course.’ Her compassion for the people who have killed our friends is grating.

‘Do not do this.’ Hady gets on her knees; it is an effort now. ‘Please, Afa, I beseech you, for our children. Do not do this. Promise me.’

She does not understand that everything I do is in the name of my legacy. Why can she not see that?

But I see the sweat peppering her brow as I help her to stand, and I know this taxes her more than I like.

So I look into her eyes and I say the words she wants to hear. I am not sure I mean them, but there is nothing I will not do for her.

‘I won’t speak the spell,’ I vow.

She grabs my hand and places it on our children. ‘Swear it on the blood of our babies.’

‘I swear it.’

She looks relieved, and I am relieved for her.

—

The next day, Hady is not in our bed when I wake.

Hady? Where are you? I reach down the thread that binds our minds.