Page 46 of A Little Highland Magic

The tension in Aria’s shoulders and neck screamed for release. Pressure built in her chest. She missed the eeriness of the blue light that hung over the shadow realm. At least it gave the land a sense of time and place that no longer existed in this darkness.

She fell into a rhythm of one step for every two heartbeats that pounded in her ears. She strained to see past the torchlight into the darkness ahead, searching for danger. After what seemed like an eternity, a blue spot of light appeared in the distance. For a moment Aria considered whether it was her mind playing tricks on her until the spot continued to grow as she drew closer. Then a splash of blue seeped into the void of nothingness.

She paused between the dark and the light, turning to the others. “Graeme and I will emerge first to make certain that no one waits to strike us down. Pearl and Gille, wait here and keep yourselves hidden until we signal you that it is safe to proceed.”

“We should all go,” Gille objected.

Aria set her jaw and handed Gille her torch. “Nay. If anything happens to us, the two of you must proceed to Fairyland to retrieve Keiran and then return to the MacLeods.”

Before Gille could argue further, Aria and Graeme stepped into the blue light. Aria drew a breath of air that was still stale, but not as cloying as that of the crevice. Instead of relief however, the sensation that something else hovered just out of reach stretched her nerves taut. She reached for her bow and drew an arrow from her quiver.

“You feel it too?” Graeme asked, drawing his sword.

The two of them searched the area for danger. Finding nothing, they signalled for Gille and Pearl to emerge. Regardless of what her senses told her, her eyes found nothing. Still on alert, like a beast catching scent on the wind, she started down the steep hillside, towards a bridge that spanned a ravine. On the other side of the bridge was the portal to Fairyland.

Aria wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand as they approached the wooden structure. She frowned. What was it she sensed but could not identify? She kept her eyes trained on the wooden slats making up the bridge as she took a first step.

Before she took another, Graeme pulled her back. “Something is wrong.” His words still hung in the air when the bridge abruptly disappeared, and towering before them were two trolls. They reached their colossal stony limbs towards Graeme and Aria.

Graeme sucked in a quick breath. “Scatter!”

Aria easily jumped to the side, as did Graeme, avoiding them. The creatures were large, but seemingly not very intelligent, for which Aria was grateful. One troll stomped towards Aria. She was able to manoeuvre out of the way easily. “Seek shelter in the crevice,” she called to Pearl and Gille. The women scrambled back up the path. Aria set her arrow against her bow and aimed for the troll’s leg. Her aim was true, but the arrow hit the leather skin of the troll, then bounced off.

It grunted, apparently more with frustration than pain as Aria continued to shift her position, making it difficult for the one-eyed creature to figure out where she was located on the rocky ground before it.

The troll’s features were rugged, like stone worn down by weather, and its hair was black and stuck out at all angles. Plants grew from beneath the troll’s leathery skin at its shoulders and ankles.

The troll reached out with its fists and tried to knock Aria off her feet, but she jumped up on a ridge, avoiding contact. The creature cried out in frustration and picked up a boulder, throwing it at Aria.

She jumped and rolled, eluding being crushed. Securing her bow around her shoulder, Aria dared a glance at Graeme, who was manoeuvring through the same dangerous dance of avoidance and retaliation. His sword hit the troll’s legs, then came away clean, leaving not even the faintest scratch. His sword seemed to have as little effect on the troll as her arrows.

Aria blew out a breath as her troll charged at her. She crouched and darted between the creature’s legs before the massive arms came down. The sensation of the troll’s fists hitting stone vibrated beneath Aria’s feet and brought little rocks tumbling down the mountainside.

Seeing that both Graeme and Aria had to scramble out of the way to avoid the larger rocks, and that they lost their balance for a heartbeat as they stepped over the smaller ones, the trolls changed their tactics. Both trolls began striking the ground until it seemed that half the mountainside came rolling towards Aria and Graeme.

“What now?” Aria asked as fear welled. “We could be crushed by the big boulders. Or, if we lose our balance avoiding the small ones, the trolls will swoop in and capture us. Do we head back to the crevice?” She dodged the stones tumbling towards her with increasing intensity.

“Nay, we might become trapped.” His gaze shifted between the two trolls as he too scrambled to stay clear of the debris. “I have an idea, but it is dangerous.”

“Tell me what to do.”

Graeme reached inside his knapsack and pulled out a rope, and Aria instantly knew what he wanted of her. Together, they charged the trolls, slipped between their bodies while darting around boulders as they came rolling towards them. When they reached the edge of the cliff, Graeme handed her one end of the rope and moved away from her just as the trolls stomped towards them.

They waited until the trolls were close, within arm’s reach, then ran in the opposite direction from each other, stretching the rope taut, and pulling it hard against the trolls’ ankles. The rope burned Aria’s hands, but she blocked out the pain, clamped her hands down harder, and pulled with all her strength.

The trolls tripped over the rope, lost their balance, and pitched over the side of the cliff, shrieking their rage as they fell. Until a loud thump sounded, followed by silence.

Aria drew a sharp breath, then released it as the tension in her shoulders finally eased. Her hands stung, but the pain was worth the success they had achieved. “You did it.” She smiled at Graeme as her legs suddenly wobbled beneath her.

Graeme swept forward and caught Aria in his arms. “I was not at all certain it would work, but I’m grateful it did.”

A shudder moved through her. “If you had not stopped me, I would have been at the bottom of that ravine instead of the trolls.” She pressed her head against his chest, allowing his warmth to envelop her, calm her. “How did you know the bridge was not real?”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “This will sound strange, but the moment you stepped on it, the wood sparkled as though magic was keeping it together.”

“I am grateful you are so observant.” Emotions forged by her now-settling fear, and something else she still refused to acknowledge, beat against her breastbone, demanding to be heard. Aria had kept her feelings prisoner for so long, denying their power, their effect on every breath she drew. But there was danger in giving in to those emotions. Oberon would use them against her. Nay, she could not give in. She had to keep her feelings hidden from Graeme just a little bit longer.

He pulled back to look into her eyes. “I used to fear magic before I met you. Now, I am learning to embrace it. You are the strongest, bravest woman I know. I am truly hopeful, for the first time since we arrived here, that we might succeed in our mission to return to Dunvegan with Keiran and our lives intact.”