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  Queen Maris stares at me in wonder, and I do not understand the reaction. I feel empowered, but surely with the node energy contained and connected in a peaceful way I don’t appear to be in danger. I watch as Queen Maris goes first through the portal and then is followed by my army marching in perfect timing with the thrum of the node. It is a glorious sight that I wish could be documented for future generations.

  The node must agree with my thoughts because she sends me another hug, this time lifting me off my feet into the air. I can feel her warm embrace whipping around me in the form of wind. I open my eyes and detect everyone staring at me. It takes all of my strength to form words, “Continue.”

  The single word echos around the chamber in an unearthly manner. It is not my voice, but the voice of the power of Lorcan. After this, I may feel energized, but it will only last a short time before my body gives way for the need of rest. The node can exhaust my simple human form.

  Time has no place for the node, so I, too, am a bad judgement of it. Eventually, everyone makes it through the portal. I spin around the room, raising my hands in the air, reinstating the barrier around us, and shutting the giant door at the same time. This is it. Only Rhett, Trey, Manu, and I remain.

  I say my goodbye to the node. The thrum of energy begins to lessen as I walk closer to the closing portal. It is now or never. I motion for my men to go first, because once I step through, the portal will close.

  Chapter Twelve

  As soon as I step through the portal, my connection to the node is severed. I fall to the ground screaming in agony from the pain. I have become so deeply connected with the Lorcan node that my body feels as if it needs it, like a drug.

  Manu reaches me first, lifting me within his big strong arms as pain continues to send shocks through my body. I am unaware of my surroundings except for the man holding me. My body jostles in Manu's arms as he begins running.

  I do what instinct dictates of me and reach out to the nearest node. My body thinks I need it. Thrum . . . then a long pause before I hear another thrum. This node is asleep. It is not responding to my need. I can feel my body go limp as I now wage a mental war, willing the node to awake.

  Wake, sister, I need you! Please. Please. Wake!

  Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . The thrums of energy from the node are getting closer together. Then boom! I am hit with the full force of an awakened node. My entire body heats and Manu’s hands give way. I drop onto a cold stone floor. I roll over, plastering my cheek to it and willing the stone to cool my fire.

  It takes only seconds for Rhett and Trey to come to my rescue. Their hands touching me allows some node energy to disperse through them. I manage to open my eyes. Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . The room is moving in and out to the now steady heartbeat of the node.

  “She is still burning up.” I hear my mother’s voice near me. Several people are talking, but I can’t separate one voice from another.

  I close my eyes in an attempt to calm the spinning situation and plead with the node again. “You know me. I know you know me. I have visited you, please help me. Please.” The words come out of my mouth in what sounds like delirious rambling.

  What matters is that the node hears me and is no longer rejoicing in being awake and sending all of her energy out into the world. Instead, I am enveloped in a cool loving energy. I feel myself relaxing into the familiar thrum of a node. We may not have known each other personally until now, but somehow we have known each other. This node is my friend and is welcoming me home. I fall asleep within her embrace.

  I am tucked into a soft bed. The node is now thumping in time with my heart, and I am no longer sick from the absence of the Lorcan node. Rolling over, I stretch my body, reveling in the tingle of node energy zapping through me.

  I can smell a fire burning and hear the familiar crackling of the logs within the heat. I pull myself up in bed to take in my surroundings. I'm in a large circular room. The fire pit is in the center, and my bed is along the side. The roof of the room angles up to a center hole that allows the smoke to exit. Large fur rugs line the stone floor and heavy tapestries hang on the walls. It is obvious we are in a perpetually cold area.

  I step from the bed to discover that I am in one of my nightgowns from Lorcan. Mother must have made sure I had the basics. She is always prepared, and I am guessing by telling me to bring nothing, she can continue to dictate the clothing I wear and the image I display. Queen Maris is constant at being one step ahead, except for when it comes to Celeste. The lack of attention she gave her children led to the mess we are in now. I was never meant to be the heir.

  I observe a large wardrobe near the bed with a mountain carved into the dark wooden doors. On the other side of the room is a large curved desk that complements the shape of the room. I head towards it and take a seat in the oversized chair.

  My hands sift through some papers on the desk and see nothing of great interest. Whoever this room belongs to, they are someone important. Most of the papers seem to be documents on basic things like the previous year’s crop count, wool count, and incoming taxes. I inspect a well-used quill trying to sense the energy of the person who held it last.

  An image shoots into my head of a man the size of a mountain with grey-blue eyes, white skin, and dark black hair similar to my own. He is sitting at this very desk looking sick. I drop the quill to the desk. It is as if my image calls to the man, as the door swings open in that moment.

  Gabal enters the room. He is dressed in head to toe gray wool pants, and jacket. He stands taller than anyone I have ever met with shoulders that are twice the size of my own. Gabal is a mountain, and he makes me look small. To him Bee is child size.

  I quickly stand from my seat and back away from the table, “I-I am sorry. I was just trying to figure out where I am.” I gesture to the table and papers.

  “Lumbai, you are in Lumbai.” His voice is velvety and deep. Hearing it in person, with my own physical ears, brings butterflies forth from the pit of my belly.

  “Yes, that is right . . .” I smack my forehead with my hand without thinking. How could I have forgotten?

  “You were hit with node sickness when you arrived. Are you feeling better?”

  Not knowing what to say I simply nod my head. I have never heard of a node sickness like what I experienced. There have been mystics who went mad after the connection was severed. I don’t feel mad, but maybe I am, and this is all a dream.

  “Do you-um . . . . Do you need me to get one of your guards, so you can, um . . . replenish?” Gabal asks from across the room.

  I stare at him, confused, not quite understanding what he is asking. Then it dawns on me. “Oh! Oh! Uh, no . . . . I am okay right now. I am not like other mystics.” I pause as my face flushes red from embarrassment. “It would be nice if you let them know I am awake. I would like to get dressed and use a privy.”

  “It is the middle of the night. I will go let everyone know and bring you some food. I'm hopeful you will get more sleep, I think tomorrow will be a busy day for us all.”

  “Is Celeste near?” I ask with sudden urgency once I remember the main reason we made the trip.

  “No, she is still at the base of the mountains.”

  “Oh, well that is good.” I send a small smile to Gabal which he returns with a big toothy grin. I can see the shadow of beard stubble glistening in the firelight. He is handsome, very handsome in a rugged kind of way, and he is the first mage I have ever met. Well, besides Vex anyway. I also didn’t expect to meet him in his personal room while I am wearing a nightgown.

  “Okay, then I will be back shortly. There is a private bath through that door.” He points to a door on the far side of the room, leaving before I can respond.

  I open the door Gabal pointed out to me and enter a cave. My mouth drops open in surprise. Around the roof of the cave is a soft glow of blue lights. A pool of turquoise water takes up half the room with steam rising out. I run my fingers along the cool wet stone walls in awe o
f this beautiful natural wonder that Gabal gets to bathe in. In the corner, I note an outhouse style privy. I guess when your bathing room is inside of a mountain you can not get the modern luxuries of plumbing like Aster has.

  Unable to resist, and not expecting Gabal or anyone to return anytime soon in the middle of the night, I strip off my nightgown and lower myself into the warm water. The water causes me to relax and sort my thoughts. My mind clears as I look back on the day’s events.

  My response from traveling through the portal was because I disconnected from a node. It is like a drug my body craves. I wonder if there is a way to seamlessly transfer myself from one node to another. My eyes roll into the back of my head as I sink into the water up to my chin. I dip my head back allowing the warmth to massage my scalp.

  With my ears under the water the echo of the node is stronger. Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . Thrum . . . . I close my eyes, allowing myself to drift into a meditative state with my mind clear of life’s drama. The best part about being in this state is being able to feel every breath of my lungs and every beat of my heart. Every inch of the water applying the perfect amount of pressure to my body. In this state, I can even see the thread connecting me to Lumbai’s node.

  Running on pure meditative instinct, I follow the thread of energy into the mountain. I sense the earth coming alive with the awakened energy. Grass wants to grow on otherwise barren landscapes. I am witnessing the seeds within the ground breaking free of their shells, releasing their roots.

  I continue to follow into the depths past years of debris and fossils of the giants that roamed the land before men. Down through the plates and through the molten lava they float upon. It is then, I realize Lumbai isn’t just any node. It is a volcano, and she is awake and transient.

  She senses my approach, grabbing a hold of my astral self, pulling me into her deep hot embrace. She welcomes me as I am her daughter of fire. I feel comforted by the heat and power that would burn anyone else alive. But for me it is home. Lumbai is more home than Lorcan, than Cargil, than all of Aster, and it is all because of the node.

  I stay there for a brief second before I am nudged along a ley line. I don’t want to go, my instincts tell me to stay where I am welcomed. But she doesn’t take no for an answer. Before I know it, my astral self is shoved onto the highway of energy that is a ley line. I am traveling on it at a dazzling speed until the ley line becomes weakened. The energy is groggy, sluggish, and moving like mud beneath the ground.

  I panic, the ley line is sick and dying. How? Is this what the node in Lorcan was trying to show me as well? Is this what happens when a node burns out? I don’t understand. I try to turn back and head to Lumbai, but Lumbai’s energy shoves me along one more time.

  It doesn’t take long before I come upon the sick node. It is cracked and hemorrhaging energy that is being caught and funneled somewhere. I have never seen magic like this. It is dangerous and dark. If a node dies, the lands dies.

  My heart breaks with the damage I see. Nodes are not only sources of energy, they are alive and give to us freely. They choose who is worthy of their power, and yet here is one having her energy stripped from her ruthlessly.

  I push on to follow the funnel of energy. Even though I know who is the cause of this, I don’t want to admit it. There are giant crystals, with symbols set around them, filtering the energy. Energy filters through the crystals, splintering out in all directions.

  I follow one of the biggest channels, and what I find is disastrous. Celeste, Gayla’s daughters, King Maddox, and my missing sisters all have a chunk of crystal around their necks. They all have access to the full power of the node. Celeste figured out how to access it without the side effects.

  I back out and follow the hundreds of splinters dreading what I will find. I hate when I see sections of Cavet soldiers with stones around their necks. She gave power to those who possess none. I have no idea what they are capable of doing, but what I understand now is they aren’t after the knowledge in Lumbai. They are after the unique volcano node. A node of fire is the most dangerous kind of magic to capture. We need a plan.

  I travel up the slow ley line until I hit the Lumbai node’s energy. At that point, my astral traveling speeds along at lightning speed. When I reenter my body, I jolt forward. The water is boiling around me. I open my eyes and see the room full of all of my people.

  “Dina, you need to stop recklessly connecting to nodes! You would think you would have learned that things like this need finesse! If you are going to rule, you need to have more concern for your own safety! The people of Aster rely on you! You cannot afford to be so selfish!” Queen Maris huffs and puffs after she finishes screaming at me. “Now, everyone out! Let my daughter get dressed!” She turns back to me, “I don’t care if it is only three in the morning. When you are dressed, you have that mountain of a man, King Gabal, bring you to me. We need to discuss what you saw.” She gathers her skirts and leaves the room.

  I get a glance of Trey and Manu as they head through the door. Rhett pauses for a second to mouth, “I love you,” and make a little heart with his hands. Rhett always makes me laugh even when everything is falling head first into a pit of drama.

  “Do you need any help?” Gabal stands by the door awkwardly with his arms crossed and unable to stand still. This is hard for both of us. We know we are each other's mates, but there is no time for courtship either. Nothing in my life can have a natural progression. I know Manu better than Gabal, and I still barely know Manu.

  “No, I think I can handle putting on clothing.” I smile.

  “You won’t go all hot on us again if I leave you in here alone?”

  “No. Promise.” I am still in the water, and he is staring at me, debating if he can trust me or not.

  “How about this: I turn around, you get dressed, and then we leave the room together?” he asks.

  “I guess that will have to do.” I lift myself out of the water before he turns around. I chuckle when I notice him turning scarlet red from embarrassment. He spins around to face the door as I finish dressing. His reaction amuses me and warms my heart.

  I am not sure what is getting into me, but I can feel our connection. Since he has magic similar to mine, he has to sense it as well. Brazenly, I walk across the room praying he will take a peek. I want him, even amid Celeste’s bid for world domination. After getting dressed in the same clothing I arrived in, I twist my wet hair into a sloppy bun and pin it on top of my head.

  I attempt to shake all the Dina-ness out, so I won’t say anything overtly offensive or mischievous. I need to inform everyone of what Celeste is doing, so someone smarter than myself can tell me what I can do to fix it. In my mind's eye the only solution I can see is for the volcano to erupt. Is that my idea, or is that the node’s?

  With that thought, the cave rumbles. The walls shake, and I reach out to steady myself. The node’s idea, not mine. She is going to blow. I place my head against the now hot walls of the cave and send my thoughts, urging her to be patient and wait until Celeste is close. We will need to evacuate.

  I notice Gabal staring at me, “Don’t worry, I didn’t fall down the rabbit hole. I was just talking to her.”

  “Talking to who?” he asks. I give him a confused look. Surely he knows the node?

  “The node, who else?”

  “The node has been asleep for centuries. We can still tap into the ley lines, but only females have tapped into nodes, and only the most powerful.” His voice is delicious, and I catch myself ignoring his obviously important words.

  “Well, she is awake now.” I walk up and tap my hands upon his chest. I am short compared to Gabal, and the feeling is divine. My head can easily rest on his chest below his chin. Wanting to wrap myself in his big frame I move in even closer unable to stop my wanton self.

  He does exactly as I want and rests his chin on top of my head breathing in my scent. “I want this too, Dina. I never imagined it would happen. I spent years believing there was no way you were
real, but now that you are here it has to wait.”

  I push off of him and walk through the door feeling rejected. He probably is a rule follower, and I am tired of rules. Rules are exhausting.

  “That is fine, you’re right. I have to let my mother know what I saw. It is horrible, and it is coming straight to Lumbai, and you will need to set up an evacuation plan with your King.”

  “I am the King,” Gabal replies. I look him in the eye and realize that he isn’t lying. “Why would we need to evacuate? We are well protected here,” he asks, sounding every bit a confident king.

  I pause, trying to remember if anyone has told me that Gabal is a king. I think I may have heard it but refused to acknowledge it or purposely forgot. I thought he was a prince.

  “Take me to Queen Maris, and I will tell you. Might as well bring anyone else who has to be a part of your decision making.”

  “So be it. I make all decisions, but I will send for Tivian. He has more knowledge than most.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lumbai doesn’t have a fortress like any other town or city I have been to. It is sprawling, with homes in all shapes and sizes nestled within a massive valley in the mountains. There is no need for strong fortifications. Each home has smoke rising from the chimneys, and yet the air is clear. The smell of burning wood tints the air. No idea where the wood can come from being as there are no trees in the barren landscape surrounding Lumbai. It must be a mage trick of some kind.

  Gabal's home is one of the few that connects to the mountain. I spot the narrow path down the mountain I traversed in my astral form. Although I can’t see it clearly, I am certain it is the path I walked before.

  We descend a set of old stone stairs before coming to a walkway. Gabal turns to the right, and I follow silently behind. The clouds are gray overhead, but there is no snow falling this day, and the ground is clear. After passing three large round buildings, Gabal crosses a wooden bridge covering a small natural spring running down the side of the mountain.