Land Keep by J. Scott Savage

Author:J. Scott Savage
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781609073312
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2009-10-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Winds of Change

What just happened?” Marcus scooted across the floor to Kyja’s side.

“We . . . let her die.” Kyja’s rage had banked itself to overwhelming grief at the sight of the motionless figure lying in her arms. No more than eight or nine inches tall, the fairy weighed less than a sparrow. Her two pairs of translucent wings—as light and fragile as tissue paper—were singed from the fire and crumpled against her tiny body by the monster’s fist. Gently straightening the wings with the tip of her finger, Kyja felt her anger rise again at this senseless death.

“It’s our fault,” she said, tears flooding her eyes and leaking down her cheeks. She glared at Marcus. “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t have magic anymore?”

Marcus drew back from the heat of her gaze. “I hoped that . . . I didn’t want to believe . . .” He looked from the fire to Kyja and swiped a hand furiously across his own eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you did?”

“What are you talking about?” Kyja gulped, trying to keep from outright sobbing.

“Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out eventually?”

Blinking until her blurred vision cleared, Kyja realized that Marcus was as angry as she was. He stared at her, his right fist clenched into a ball, his left hand squeezed together like the claw of a bird. She wasn’t the only one that felt the horrible burden of guilt. She remembered the helpless feeling of watching the mimicker nearly kill Marcus shortly after they met because she had no magic.

“It’s not your fault,” she sniffled. “Besides, you nearly saved her with that fire.”

“Stop it!” Marcus shouted. “Stop lying. It was you all along. With the bike on the trail. With the kids on the playground. And now here. Did you get magic at the same time I lost mine? Was it the snifflers? Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

The bike? The playground? What was he talking about? Kyja shook her head, unsure what he wanted from her. “I don’t have . . .”

Marcus pounded his fist on his hips, tears streaming down his face. “Why did you pretend I was doing it? Why did you let me think I was losing control? Why didn’t you just say, You’re a cripple whose only thing going for him was that he had magic, and now that’s gone too? Be honest. I have nothing, and you have everything.”

He wasn’t making sense. Sure, Marcus was struggling with his magic, but he’d regain control over it in time. He had to. He was the one ordained to save Farworld. He had the mark on his shoulder to prove it.

So what did he mean about letting him pretend he was doing it? Didn’t he understand that she, of all people, knew what it was like to have no magic? Once, for a brief moment she’d thought she did have it—at least a little—when she’d made a hairclip move. But it turned out it was Riph Raph, watching over her shoulder.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.