Free Call of Sunteri (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 2) by Missy Sheldrake Page A

appreciate being called stupid.” I throw back over my shoulder. A bush of thorns catches my pants, scratching through to my skin. I growl at the thorns that rip into my fingers as I yank it away.
    “No, it’s something else. Did you have a dream last night? A nightmare?” he asks as he catches up to me. I pause. My hands start to shake again. He takes them and binds them with a strip of cloth.
    “How,” I whisper. “How did you know?”
    “I had one, too,” he says quietly and kisses my fingertips. My cheeks grow hot and I pull my hands away.
    “Was she in it?” I don’t want to say her name. He’ll know who I mean if she was.
    “No. Emris was,” he says. I shiver. Emris was one of the six Sorcerers we defeated at the battle of the Keep at Kythshire. I can see his evil face as plain as day, blue-black and terrible with swirls of the Mark so thick that his skin seemed to undulate with it. He tried to entice Rian to join him. In the end he was defeated by a wind fairy named Shush, and Iren, the massive, statue-like Spirit of the Shadow Crag, who drained him of his magic and ground his body to pebbles and dust. Rian goes on.
    “He was marching on the village with an army of Mages. I’ve never seen so many gathered together before. They were using unfamiliar spells. Horrible spells. He was gliding at the front of them, and you were beside him.” He looks at me and swallows, and then looks away. “You were dressed in robes and covered in the Mark. I couldn’t even see the color of your eyes anymore. And then you reached for him and pulled him to you and you let him…” His breathing is shallow. He shakes his head.
    “It was just a dream,” I say, my voice shaking. His was almost exactly the same as mine.
    “So was yours,” he whispers.
    We stare at each other for a long time in silence. I know he’s right. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real. He loves me today as much as he did yesterday. Viala is gone, she doesn’t exist anymore. Emris is dead, his magic embedded in a single pebble and entrusted to the fairies. To Flitt. The thought of her chokes me up again, and then I have a thought.
    “Did he have the diamond? Emris? In your dream?” I search his face and know the answer even before he nods his reply, wide-eyed.
    “What does it mean, Rian?”
    “I don’t know. But one thing is certain. You need to warn Flitt before she tries to jump to her tether. Hopefully she hasn’t tried to leave the Grotto yet this morning.”
    He’s right. I know I can get to her if I think hard enough. I just need to set an intention to see her and concentrate hard on her grotto. I’ve done it before. I go to Rian’s side and take his hand.
    “Ready?” I ask. He shakes his head. Tears prick my eyes.
    “I knew it. You’re not coming.” I whisper.
    “I can’t,” his voice is thick, like he’s fighting his own tears.
    “I need you,” I say, moving closer to him.
    “You don’t understand,” he says quietly. “I shouldn’t, Azi.”
    “I trust you, Rian. They trust you. They said you’re always welcome back. Please.” I squeeze his hand. “Please. Don’t make me go alone. If she isn’t there—”
    “She’ll be there,” he says firmly.
    “Rian.” I say pleadingly. I can’t bear to leave him behind. Not for this. I can’t face it alone. He reaches up and rakes shaking fingers through his short-cropped hair and lets out a long, slow sigh.
    “Fine,” he says finally. “Do it quick before I change my mind.” He whispers a spell and I feel the air shift around us as we enter the Half-Realm.
    “It’ll be easier from here,” he says.
    I close my eyes and think of the Grotto that Flitt calls home. Nestled in a colorful corner of Kythshire, it’s a beautiful, tiny space with a sparkling pool full of graceful fish and a peaceful little waterfall. Rainbow-colored willow fronds drip down to graze the water’s surface, and the trees there are adorned with trinkets that chime melodically in the