Pre-mention to the Readers: Sorry for any mistakes in the previous chappy. I have reread the series and am no full up to date, kay? Thanks for sticking by!
Chapter 2
Lirael blinked, her mind gradually taking hold of what had happened. When the realization of it dawned on her, she quickly sat up, only to grab her head as a wave of dizziness rolled over her. She looked around and stood, searching for the Abhorsen or the King. She saw Sabriel's hair first. It had broken free of the leather cord she had bound it back with and it flowed around her shoulders, black and thick. A glare of light flashed in Lirael's peripheral vision. She turned only to stumble back, in horror.
The field was burning. Tongues of flame licked up and down where the Lightning Trap used to be. Lirael ran toward the Abhorsen to tell her about the fire, but all that came out was a croak. Then, Lirael realized, the field wasn't burning. It was the sun reflecting off of thousands of shards of bell metal. It was so terrible yet so beautiful at the same time. Lirael saw the Abhorsen staring off into the distance. She reached a pale hand forward and touched her shoulder. Sabriel turned.
Tears coursed down her cheeks in rivulets, drops falling from her chin. Lirael tried to ask what was wrong but all she could manage was
"What?" Sabriel shook her head and said in an equally horse whisper,
"Sam."
Worried, Lirael turned to search for her nephew. He lay by King Touchstone, slashed many times and bleeding profusely. She ran over to him and knelt behind the King. Touchstone's face was haggard and pale, his muscles taut with exhaustion, and his eyes rimmed with dark circles. Although Lirael was a little nervous she reached forward and placed her hands on Sam's temples, beginning a huge healing spell.
Touchstone blinked. His conscious had been consumed with Charter marks and Master marks for the past half hour. He was reaching the end of his rope, he knew when a burst of light flashed near him. Fresh magic coursed through Sam and partly to him. Very powerful magic. It felt like a bath after a hard day's riding: cool and refreshing. He pulled away and his physical eyes saw that it was Lirael. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, and thousands of Charter marks were knitting themselves together in front of her, occasionally falling to rest on Sam.
Touchstone was intrigued. He hardly knew this Lirael but he recognized her magic. That day, on the Clayr's Glacier he had sensed a bit of magic in the snow. Her magic. He realized that she was probably the one burrowed in the snow. Without thinking, he reached forward and tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear, then pulled away, surprised by his sudden gesture of kindness.
Lirael felt it and she managed a smile. All of the Charter marks in her head were finally coming together. She concentrated then opened her eyes. She stood and croaked out every Master mark she knew. The King flinched and shuddered and even Sabriel, standing about fifty feet away flinched and turned. Lirael felt the hot power coursing through her throat but she ignored it. She kept on saying them until she felt she could go on no more. Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Lots of magic poured through her, allowing her to say the final marks. When she turned to see who it was, she was amazed to see the King, the Abhorsen, and a newly-awoken Nick all clasping each other's hands. Sabriel's hand was on her shoulder. Lirael looked down and realized that Sam was getting up. There was no sign of the lacerations from before and a bright pink color had returned to his cheeks.
The wind blew across the plain, strongly from the south. As it blew over the group, they all were hit with a wave of nausea.
"What is going on?" Nick asked Lirael, confusion obvious on his face.
"Normally we wouldn't be able to do magic this far south, even with a strong wind blowing from the north. Somehow we could except now, the wind has changed and it has robbed us of our sense of the Charter, weakening us." Lirael rasped out. Nick nodded. He looked around and saw Sam's sister, Ellimere talking with two beautiful twins. The royal heir walked over to her father and said loudly,
"The Clayr have summoned Paperwings to take us to Belisaere. They have done some sort of Clayr spell to change the wind so they will work."
The King nodded. As soon as Ellimere had finished speaking, a cool wind blew fiercely over them; a North wind. Sabriel had begun picking up the pieces of bell metal. Touchstone removed his shirt, to Lirael's embaressment, and handed it to his wife to place the shards in and then he too began picking the metal up. The twins, Sam, Ellimere, and Nick joined in along with Lirael. She looked up and snuck a glance at Nick. He was looking so confused right now, his emaciated body struggling along with his mind to pick up the shards, his Free Magic side rebelling. Soon, all the pieces of the metal were cleaned up and gathered in Touchstone's shirt.
"Where is Mogget. Er...I mean Yrael?" Lirael asked of Sabriel. The Abhorsen Queen smiled and answered softly,
"He is gone, probably to enjoy his freedom. He will always be Mogget to us, of course. He did leave a little present for you to open when you get 'to Belisaere' to quote the package." The King handed her a brown package wrapped in silver string.
Lirael nodded. She felt the pangs of sorrow already welling up inside of her. She missed the Dog now more than ever. She bowed her head and cried softly, her hair hanging over her face. Nick was the first to realize she was crying and came over, feeling rather guilty that he had come back from Death and not the Dog. An idea sparked in his head and he touched his forehead where the Dog had licked it and thought hard of something. When he opened his eyes, Lirael was looking at him. She laughed.
"Are you trying to do a spell? Don't unless you know what you are doing. I'll teach you later." Nick smiled back and promised not to try. Just then, a shadow fell over the sun. Lirael looked up, shading her eyes with a pale hand, and gave a croak of joy at the sight of three Paperwings landing. Although they made her nervous due to their life-like personalities and faces, she was overjoyed to see them now. Touchstone's voice called out to them.
"Sabriel, Nicholas, and Lirael you take the Abhorsen's Paperwing. Sam, Ellimere, and I will take the royal one. The Clayr may take their own." The group collectively nodded or called out in agreement. Soon, they had all crammed into the three aircraft. Although, normally each Paperwing sat only one or two, somehow these Paperwings were slightly larger and newer. Lirael smiled to herself.
"I'll bet the Clayr Saw us needing these." She said to Sabriel. The Abhorsen shrugged and replied, "Perhaps."
Soon the three Paperwings had risen into the noonday sky to the tune of Charter spelled whistles and made their way to Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom.
AFTERWARD:
Hi everybody, yeah I am back with a new chapter. Sorry. I had to finish my Full Metal Panic story before this one. There are going to be twenty chapters so be prepared for a long ride! Lol.
