Vivienne Ashford's Arc

Chapter 7 of 8

Inside the living mansion, the dark pressed close. Vivienne stood in the green hall and listened. No boots. No flat voices. For now, the walls held Kane's soldiers out. But her body ached, and her creatures were spent. The dragon landed on the leafy floor and folded its wings. The spined creature dragged its barbed tail behind it. Both needed rest. She could not scout a way out with them stumbling at her heels. She needed a corner to hide them. Somewhere the soldiers would not find them if they broke in. Vivienne moved deeper down the hall, past thick vine columns and broad leafy walls. Every room opened onto another. The place was a maze with no clear back wall. She found no safe corner. She found only more doors. The fairy dropped down through the dark. Her wings threw soft light across the leaves. She hovered before Vivienne's face, the same small figure who had led her here through the net. She had not spoken then. She did not speak now. Instead she flew a slow circle around Vivienne, the dragon, and the creature, and light trailed from her hands like scattered sparks. Vivienne raised a hand to stop her. "There's no time for tricks," she said. "I have to find a way out. They need somewhere to sleep first." The fairy shook her head. She pointed at Vivienne, then swept her arm wide, past the walls, past the door, out toward the forest and beyond. Her meaning was plain. Not a corner. A door out. Not for the creatures. For all of them. Vivienne's chest tightened. "Home," she said. "You can take us home." The fairy smiled and nodded. She flew higher and spread both hands. The sparks she trailed did not fade this time. They gathered in the air and spun into a ring. The ring widened until it stood taller than Vivienne, a circle of pale light in the green dark. Through it she saw a room she knew. Wood floors. A window with morning light. Her own home, whole and quiet. The dragon lifted its head. The spined creature stood. Vivienne looked back once at the sealed door, where Kane's soldiers still hunted the wrong trail. Then she did not wait for a corner she would never find. She stepped into the light. The portal set her down on her own floor. Sunlight warmed her face. The dragon and the creature tumbled through beside her, safe. Behind them the ring shrank to a point and winked out. The forest was gone. The soldiers were gone. She was home. Then she saw the front door hung open. Boot prints crossed her floor in dried mud. On her table lay a black gauntlet, dropped like a message. Kane's soldiers had already been here. They knew where she lived. She had escaped the fortress, but she had run straight to the one place they would come next.