On the other side, she met Nix and Ever. They nodded silently, as if they had overheard everything.
Captain Plaith pulled out a small flute and played a simple melody. A few minutes later, three centaurs came over the hills in a cloud of dust, all of them heavily armed. The dark-coated one had a long sword, a palomino female wore a long bow, and the tallest—with the whitest of coats—carried an axe.
“Thank you for coming Adrith, Basal, and Prase,” Captain Plaith addressed them in order. “I think one has come who is able to save us. Can we count on your herd to escort us?”
The white centaur, Adrith, held up his axe and reared in challenge. “We do not fear battle. Your company will be safe with us.”
“Then we must hurry,” Captain Plaith answered. He gestured for Mina to mount Prase, the closest centaur, but Adrith stepped forward.
“I’ll guard this one.” He offered her his hand.
Mina placed her hand in his palm as he kneeled and helped her onto his back. Ever and Nix climbed upon Basal and Prase, while Captain Plaith readied his own Fae steed.
Adrith took off at a canter through what was left of the swamps. Mina’s hair whipped around her face, and she tried to not let the darkness that was hopelessness envelope her. She had to have faith, even in the most difficult trials.
“I may not have been able to save you, but I will try to save your home,” Mina whispered in promise to the air. Not a single tear fell from her eye. She doubted she had any left to shed.
When they came to the expansive bridge, Adrith pulled up short. The lake was still there, but barely. The palace was in full view, since the veil of magic that hid it was gone. Even from this distance, they could see a large group of Fae gathered on the other side of the bridge.
Basal sniffed the air and stomped his hooves in displeasure. “Reeks of gnome. Lots of them.”
Prase shook her head in distaste, her white and brown hair flowing. “They’re just thieves and scavengers. Coming to steal what’s not rightfully theirs.”
“Let them,” Mina answered. “Things don’t matter if we can’t keep the world from dying.”
“The girl is right,” Adrith spoke. “We must restore the conduit of power.”
“And does anyone know how to do that?” Ever asked.
“I do,” Ferah spoke up. The elf walked up to them, her red hair falling in dirty clumps past her shoulders, her face streaked with tears. She turned to Mina, her shoulders slumped. “This is all my fault. This is what I saw, this is what was foretold. The death of our world. It’s why I tried to kill the prince all those years ago. Now I’ve failed twice over.”
Mina glared at Ferah but felt a twinge of sympathy. “Yes, this is your fault, but you don’t carry the blame alone. That is too much a burden for any one of us. Now that you’re here, you can prove yourself. Help us save the Fae world.”
Ferah cupped her hands over her face and brushed fresh tears away. She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Then she turned and looked at Mina with a gleam of determination. “If only I had seen it then. I would never have stood in your way.”
A great rumbling began, and the centaurs shuffled in place as the ground quaked and shifted. In the middle of the lake, a fissure opened, and water rushed into the rift. The great stone bridge before them began to crumble, small stones falling into the remaining water.
“We must hurry.” Ferah ran across the bridge before the earthquake finished.
Adrith yelled for Mina to hold on as the centaurs took off running toward the bridge. If they didn’t hurry, they wouldn’t make it across.
Mina’s heart pounded in her chest as more stones fell away. Adrith was the first to cross, followed by the other centaurs. Prase’s rear hooves just scraped the last stone before it dropped.
Mina turned and saw that Captain Plaith’s horse had misjudged the distance. A cry ripped from her throat as the horse’s hooves barely scraped the stone. Another rumble ripped through the plane, and more of the bridge fell away.
One second, the horse and captain were there.
The next they were gone over the ledge and lost to the deep chasm.
Chapter 34
Mina stared at the edge of the bridge they’d barely made it across, until Ferah cried out in warning, “Go, go, go!”
The stones underneath her feet were cracking, and Basal neighed in fright. They couldn’t afford to stop. Nix grabbed Ferah’s hand and pulled her onto the mount with him, and the centaurs ran as if their lives depended on it, which they did.
They raced to outrun the ever-growing chasm that threatened to swallow them all.
Then it stopped. The middle of the lake was gone. Just an empty hole ending a few hundred feet from the end of the bridge.
They hurried on.
When they arrived at the doors of the palace, they were greeted by multiple Fae, old and young alike—all terrified. Some yelled, trying to assert their dominance over the group of frightened Fae. Mina and the others slid down from the centaurs and tried to hear what was going on.
“Settle down, settle down,” a tall, broad shouldered gnome commanded. “We can solve this problem peacefully.”
“Where are the Fates?” an angry dwarf yelled.
“Why are they not saving us?” an elderly elf asked.
The gnome leader seemed to be losing his patience. “They can’t save our home anymore. A terrible accident has befallen them.”
“We’re doomed,” the same elf cried out.
Mina and the group came along the outskirts of the Fae. Ferah motioned for Mina to follow her, so Nix and Ever said they’d stay and see what they could learn. Mina followed Ferah along the side path and around the palace until they arrived at the hedge maze.
“This wouldn’t have happened if I had just stepped out of the way,” she berated herself.
With the plants dead, it was easy to cross through the broken and dying bushes or step over them, until they came to the tower. The tower glass had been repaired, and something compelled Mina to hurry. She didn’t need more prompting. She ran up the steps of the tower and came into the round observatory room.
“What now?” Mina asked as she stepped in and turned in a circle. A flood of memories rushed back to her as the former assassin joined her.
Ferah faced her. “I don’t know. I only know that I was supposed to bring you here. All of the Fates have been chosen in this room. It’s why the test ended here. Except…”
“Except what?” Mina asked, sensing her hesitation.
“I don’t know. I feel like I’ve let you down. I don’t know what else there is to do. I should leave you.” Ferah looked around the tower once more and started back down the stairs.
Mina walked over to the large windows and saw how fast the Fae world was dying. So much had happened up here. The memories were equally sweet and painful. How she longed for the prince to be standing here with her.
The ground began to rumble again, and the tower swayed.
Mina tried to make sense of all this. She still felt like she was missing something. Captain Plaith said the Fates were a conduit of magic for the land, and with their deaths, the magic was gone.
“Again, you get in my way!” Annalora shrieked from behind Mina. The tower leaned, shifting with the quakes. Annalora stood in the stairwell, bracing the wall for support as the round of tremors passed. “How are you here? You should be dead! I’ve sacrificed too much for you to still be here.”