I thought of the spell I’d used to trap Alpha Chandler. Roots were strong, like a bridge. I whispered the spell to myself.
The ground trembled.
The Norwind survivors started to panic, crying out in fear and backing away from the cliff.
I held my arms out, willing roots to grow.
They shot out of the ground under my feet and spread across the giant crevasse. When they connected with the other side, the roots buried themselves in the ground and stuck firmly.
The rumbling stopped and I panted. Leaning forward, I clutched my sides. My hands and legs trembled.
Charles had warned not to use magic but I wasn’t going to let the Norwind survivors down!
“Oh my...” Lilian gasped, stepping up to the cliff.
“Mila, did you do that?” Enzo asked.
I nodded, righting myself when I caught my breath. “It isn’t as strong as a bridge, but if one person can get across, we’ve got plenty of rope to make a bridge with, along with the roots.”
“You want one of us to risk climbing over those roots? How do you know they will hold?” soone asked.
I shrugged and looked at Soren.
“They’re strong enough,” I assured.
“I’ll go,” Payne offered. He smiled at and nodded. “I trust Mila and if she thinks the roots will hold, then I believe her.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Payne nodded. “Get so rope. I’ll carry it across and make the bridge.”
Soren handed Payne several bundles of rope, coiled tightly. “Take it slow.”
“I’ve got this,” Payne assured.
I lopped the rope coils around his shoulders and headed off across the root bridge.
The roots bounced slightly under his weight, wiggling back and forth. I grabbed Soren’s hand, squeezing. I hadn’t tested the strength of the roots before, especially over such a long distance. There was a chance that Payne wouldn’t make it...
“Mila.”
I glanced at Soren. His brow was creased and he gave an odd look.
“What is it?” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.
I thought Soren would have his eyes on Payne, but he looked at with concern.
“Your hair...”
“What about it?”
I grabbed my hair in my hands and turned my head to see the strands as best as I could.
Gasping, I let the silky, blond strands slip through my fingers. Blond hair? For as long as I could rember, my hair had been reddish brown in color. And now... blond?
Thinking back, I rembered the dream vision April had shown . At the ti, I hadn’t thought much of it, but I’d been a blond haired child until after my pack was destroyed. One of my mother’s last actions was to disguise my appearance so no one would know who I was.
But my hair was changing color now. Back to its original blond.
“The spell my mother cast... it is wearing off,” I whispered.
Soren nodded somberly. I knew he’d understand what I was referring to, since he’d been there with in the dream.
“What could be doing this?”
“Perhaps it is your witch power awakening,” Soren suggested. “You’ve been using magic a lot lately.”
He frowned slightly and it didn’t take much to know what he was thinking. He was thinking about Charlse’s warning with magic and my pregnancy.
I was glad he didn’t say anything in front of everyone else. Soren knew as well as that this was our only viable option for getting everyone across the ravine.
“I’ve got the rope bridge ready to go!” Payne shouted across, cupping his hands over his mouth so his voice carried farther.
“I’ll get it and bring it back,” Thomas offered.
Before anyone could say anything else, Thomas scurried across and grabbed the rope bridge. He ca back, securing it to a tree on our side while Payne tied it to a tree on his side.
The bridge was fairly simple, but it was sturdy.
“Single file across the bridge,” Soren instructed. “Children should go first. And everyone needs to carry sothing.”
The Norwind survivors didn’t argue or protest. They imdiately complied with Soren’s orders.
I waited at the back with Soren and Thomas. Soren made sure that everyone stayed spaced out as they crossed. He didn’t want too many people on the bridge at once and he didn’t want them putting too much weight in one area.
It was slow work to get everyone across, but finally, I got on the bridge, then Soren, and then Thomas.
Soren stood on the opposite side of the ravine, looking at the roots and the bridge we’d just crossed.
Everyone else was taking a quick water break.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Soren, going to his side.
“We can’t leave these here for soone to follow us across. If our attackers track us this way, it will be too easy for them to co after us.”
“You’re right. We need to get rid of it. It will take anyone else months to build a bridge across without magic.”
“Payne, Thomas, can the two of you go back on the bridge and chop down the roots? I don’t want any sign that they were here," Soren said, snapping at them.
Payne and Thomas went across the bridge, hacking and chopping at the roots until they were all gone. They did a good job of clearing the roots but we still had the rope bridge to deal with.
“We’ll cut the rope down on this side. Payne, can you cut the rope off the other side of the ravine with an arrow?” Soren asked.
“I can. But then there will be an arrow in the tree,” Payne pointed out.
“That’s fine. An arrow won’t be out of place given the battlefield all over Norwind.”
Payne pulled out a bow and arrow and made the shot. Thomas cut the rope bridge down from our side of the ravine and the rope fell into the dark, bottomless pit below.
Imdiately, relief swept over . We were really safe! We got out of Norwind, and everyone that ca with us was safe and unhard. We’d also covered our tracks. It would be a long ti before anyone ca this way to look for us.
“Let’s move down the mountain enough to be out of sight of the ravine, then we can make camp for the night,” Soren said, shouldering his pack.
I picked up my own bag but Soren took it from .
“I can carry my bag.”
“You exerted yourself a lot with magic. I’d prefer it if you recovered your strength.”
I sighed and smiled. I wasn’t going to argue with Soren’s sweet gesture.
We didn’t have to go far to be out of sight of the ravine. There were lots of rocks and trees to help shield us.
As everyone else set up tents and the rest of the camp, Soren made sit still and eat to help recover my strength.
Even though everyone was working hard, I could see their exhaustion. They’d been living in fear for so long, and for the first ti, they felt free and safe. They could finally let go of that fear!
“Mila, you saved us,” Lilian gushed. She hugged .
“It was a group effort.”
“No, we wouldn’t have gotten here without you.” She smiled and walked off to collect firewood.
“Thank you for offering us the chance to get out,” Enzo said, approaching .
“Thank you for taking it.” I smiled at him.
Enzo grinned and took a seat beside . “You know, you should be careful with your magic, like Charles said.”
“I am being careful. It was necessary for our escape. I doubt I’ll have to use more magic now.”
Enzo creased his brow. “I hope so. We should be in the clear now.”
I appreciated all the praise but I was also feeling exhausted from traveling and the feeling of relief now that we were safe from the attackers.
“Mila, I’ve got a tent set up for us,” Soren said.
“I’m ready to rest,” I agreed. I stood up and stretched.
“If you’d like, Mila, I can make so tea with those herbs that are good for pregnancy,” Enzo suggested, standing up with .
I noticed the way Soren narrowed his eyes at Enzo. he couldn’t be jealous, could he?
“I’ll take care of her.”
He scooped into his arms and carried to the tent. I giggled and shook my head.
“You know that Charles and Enzo are skilled healers,” I reminded him.
Soren scoffed. “So was Eros.”
“They’ve proven themselves to be trustworthy.”
“Honestly, Mila, I want to keep an eye on you for a bit, no intrusions and no distractions.”
I shrugged and rested my head against his shoulder. Truthfully, I wanted to rest. If it made Soren happy to have all to himself while I slept, I wasn’t going to argue.
Soren carried to our tent and placed on the cot. He pulled the blankets around .
“How’s that?” he asked.
“Comfortable.”
I smiled and yawned.
“Soren?” I heard Charles’s voice from outside the tent.
Soren growled and rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back.”
He headed out to talk to Charles and I could hear them through the tent flap. Their shadows moved on the wall of the tent and I could see their movents and gestures.
“Is Miss Mila feeling alright?” Charles asked.
“She needs her rest,” Soren replied.
“Does she need anything? I can make her tea to recover her energy. We brought so good pregnancy herbs.”
“Bring the tea and I will make sure she gets it. Otherwise, your focus should be on the Norwind survivors. They’ll need your support now.”
Charles walked off and Soren ca back inside. I could tell he wasn’t happy and I wasn’t sure why.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, patting the cot beside .
Soren ca over and sat down, a surly look in his eyes.
“I’m worried about you, Mila, and the baby. You’re... with all the magic use and changes to your body... you really need to be more careful now that you’re pregnant.”
He frowned as he looked at .
“I’m keeping an eye on my limits, Soren, I promise.”
“How do you know what your limits are? You shouldn’t be doing magic at all if there is the slightest risk.”
“I’m not going to do anything to risk the baby. Trust .” I batted my eyelashes at Soren and took his hand.
He sniffed and shook his head.
“You worry too much. I love you for that but We’ll be okay. I’ll be the first one to call myself out, okay?”
“Don’t try to sweet talk . I’m not going to stop worrying about the two of you.”
Soren put his hand on my stomach over the covers.
“I’ll accept your worrying. I think it ans you’ll make a great father.”
Soren smirked. He sighed and bowed his head.
“You know that Charles and Enzo only want to help . I bet the tea Charles makes will keep my strength up.”
“I’m sure it will...” Soren took my hand and kissed the back of it. “Right now, I don’t want any other n around you. You’ve been spending so much ti with them.”
Shifting, I propped myself up on my elbows.
“I’m sorry, Soren...”
He ran his thumb along my knuckles and kissed the back of my hand again.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s just... the more I’m with you, the more I want to keep you all to myself. Maybe that makes a selfish man, but if it ans I get you all to myself, I’ll be selfish.”
He smirked and leaned closer, resting his forehead on mine. He released my hand and covered my stomach.
My heart lted a little and I cupped the back of his head with my hands.
“You can have all to yourself, for a little while,” I assured.
Soren growled. “It better be more than that.”
I giggled and nuzzled my nose against his.
Soren’s hand rubbed my stomach slightly and suddenly, I felt a tug in my stomach. Creasing my brow, I gasped.
“Soren...”
“Did you feel that?” he asked.
I nodded vigorously. “You felt it too?”
“Yeah... was that the baby?”
“I think so... what else would it be?”
“But that’s not... I an... is that possible.”
I shrugged. “I am a witch and a shifter. Maybe... things are different.”
“Wow. That was our baby...”
I smiled and hugged Soren’s neck. He leaned down and kissed warmly on the lips.
My eyelids grew heavy and I fell asleep, clinging to Soren.
Yawning, I opened my eyes. Soren was next to . He was awake, sitting up.
“What ti is it?” I groaned.
“Not ti to get up yet. You can keep resting.”
“I... I have to get up...”
I tried to open my eyes fully but I was still so tired. My body felt heavy and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
“I can’t... make everyone else late...”
“You won’t cause any delay,” Soren chuckled.
After he spoke, I felt like I was floating. I forced one of my eyes open and saw Soren above . His arms wrapped around . I could tell he was walking by the way he moved.
Was he carrying ?
I was so tired I hadn’t even noticed him picking up and moving again.
As we moved along, I started to wake up a little more. Soren ca to a stop and set on my feet. I leaned against him.
“Why are we stopping?” I asked.
“Look.” he nodded past the mountain.
All of the Norwind survivors had stopped too. They stared over the mountains and gasps floated through the crowd. From there, we could see all of Poni packlands.
There were no buildings but the hills were covered in lush, green grass. Patches of vibrant wildflowers poked out through the grass, giving the entire packland a colorful, innocent look.
Beyond the fields, the forest looked healthier and stronger than the last ti we were there. It was so bushy with green leaves and the breeze made them rustle together.
A river wound its way around the edge of the territory, glittering in the afternoon sunlight. There was a waterfall over a hill and then the river headed straight out to the horizon.
All the farmland was clear and ready to be used again. It was dusty, the soil red, but with how healthy the fields and river were, I knew that the farmlands could be restored easily.
The packland was an untouched paradise, waiting for soone to call it ho.
“Welco, everyone, to Poni,” Payne said, waving his arm over the lovely panoramic view.
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