Image (Insight #3)(79)

I felt my mind and body begin to drain, and a dizzy sensation crawled through me. Suddenly, I felt my father’s fear; I knew he was watching me closely and that I must be approaching a dangerous point. I stopped the push of energy against the wall, and it halted its glide. Slowly, the three of us let it fall to the ground. It was just inches from the earth when I had no choice but to call my energy back to me. I heard it collide with a brutal force, and the palace shook with the vibration. I fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. My eyes searched the ground as I frantically judged the emotions around me, hoping we hadn’t hurt anyone.

Silence came. I looked to my right side and saw Landen on his knees. He looked up at me and nodded his head in Drake’s direction; I turned to my left to find him on his knees as well. He held his head down, and I could see him fighting to catch his breath. I crawled across the short distance between us; it was only a few feet, but it might as well have been a mile. I felt so heavy, so weak.

When I reached him, I pulled my body up onto my knees, and he looked up at me. “You can’t do this; it’ll hurt you. We’ll just keep time frozen long enough for me to find my memories,” he said.

I reached up for his face and pulled his forehead to meet mine. “You don’t have the strength to keep time frozen; let me help you.” I whispered

He sighed and reached out his hand to cradle my face; his numbing touch helped me find my breath. Within that second, I felt his energy inside of me, his addictive rush. A second later, he leaned back and I fell forward. He caught me in his embrace. “You are my life,” he whispered into my ear.

He stood, lifting me. Landen had found his way to his feet, and Drake nodded in the direction of the weather main. Landen took the few steps to it, then leaned against the metal rod. Drake gently set me down in Landen’s arms, and Landen held me as tightly as he could, protecting me from falling.

“Maybe I should take the two of you home first,” Drake said, clearly energized with my power.

“No. Go,” Landen said, smiling slightly. “Remember to be fierce.”

Drake grinned, finding the idea pleasurable. “Be in the string at mid-day, and make sure others are there to help you; I don’t know how many I’ll push through.”

Landen nodded, then Drake looked at me. It took the last bit of strength I had to smile at him. He vanished into the string. Landen’s arms then tightened around me, and we slid to ground; I knew he was trying to keep time still for as long as possible, so I focused on a calm emotion: the blissful love I felt for him.

It felt like an hour, but I’m sure it wasn’t more than ten minutes before I heard the screams from below again. I raised my head up to look at Landen, and he leaned down and kissed my lips. I felt our family rush to our side.

“Brady, carry her,” Landen said.

I felt Brady’s arms around me and leaned my head back to see Chrispin and Ashten helping Landen up. Landen leaned into Chrispin, letting him support him. I felt a pride rise in Chrispin; he felt needed, appreciated. I felt my father’s overwhelming concern and imagined that we looked as bad as we felt on the inside. I closed my eyes and leaned into Brady. A second later, I felt the hum of the string and the gentle flow of energy.

Brady carried me home. They’d left Jeeps by the passage, but I don’t know who drove us to our house; I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness.

“Willow,” I heard my father say. I opened my eyes to see that I was in my room and that Landen was next to me. “I want you to drink this water before you fall asleep; you’re very dehydrated.”

I pulled myself up and looked to my side. Rose was handing Landen a glass of water. My father brought the glass to my lips, and I took in what I could, then fell back. I felt myself drifting and focused on my room. It didn’t take long for me to find myself at the foot of my bed. Landen was still drinking, and his perfect blue eyes saw my soul. He smiled as he gently let himself fall back to the bed, and he held my gaze until his eyes grew too heavy to remain open.

As Rose pulled the covers over our bodies, Landen’s soul appeared at my side. My father kissed my forehead and turned off the lamp, and we watched them leave. We could feel the urgency of Chara all around us, but even in this state, we still felt weak. Landen moved away from me to the window. I followed, curious to see why we could feel so many people so close.

When we pulled back the curtains, we could see a line of hundreds of travelers waiting their turn to step into the string; their intent was to bring calm to Delen. Landen turned to smile at me. Our world was reaching out once again; it was an amazing sight.

He turned to me and slowly let his hand rest next to my heart. As his energy joined mine, a beautiful sensation raced through me; I felt as if life itself was finding its way back into my soul. I reached for his heart and watched as the glow around him grew. He slowly pulled me to him. In that moment, everything I’d been through seemed worth it.

When the sunlight peered through our window, we brought ourselves back to our bodies. I pulled myself to the warmth of Landen’s body, and he turned to his side and pulled me closer to him. We stared at each other for a moment; I couldn’t understand how it was possible to love one person as much as I loved him.

I could feel Landen’s emotions drifting through the last few days; overall, he felt victorious - yet he feared what was still to come.

“Do I get the pleasure of telling you that we have nothing to fear?” I thought. He was always the one who never showed any fear.