Harper brought up the rear, constantly looking over her shoulder. The flames were dying down, as was the sound of fighting. She hoped that meant Drew and his people had gotten away, but it also meant the Silver Bark would be returning. They’d find the empty cage.
She wanted to hide their trail but that would be impossible. There was no way to hide the passage of the prisoners. They were tired and weak, breaking branches, leaning against trees, pushing aside bushes. To Harper, it looked like a herd of elephants had run through the forest.
They weren’t quiet either. Some talked, trying to keep it low but not working. None moved with stealth. Harper couldn’t blame them but she still wished they would keep quiet and move faster. She was angry at herself for thinking it. What had they been through?
She looked back at the camp, seeing shadowed forms running closer.
They had to get moving. They had to put distance between themselves and the camp. Cerie and Elora didn’t think the Silver Bark would give chase, not without their leaders there and after the camp was attacked. They wouldn’t think the prisoners worth the effort. They wouldn’t come out in force, but maybe some individuals would think they could earn some merit with the leadership if they recaptured the prisoners.
She stopped next to Davis as Billy and the old man, Harper still didn’t know his name, kept going.
“You know what to do?,” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, turning to look at her. He reached out and took one of her hands. “You going to be okay?”
“I’ll be with Drew’s team. We’ll meet up with dad and mom.”
“Good job in there,” Davis said, nodding to the cage.
“Thanks,” Harper said, glad it was darker so he couldn’t see her blush. “You need to get going.”
“Right,” Davis said but didn’t move.
He leaned down, an arm going around her waist. Harper let him pull her closer. Their lips met. It wasn’t her first kiss but it was the best one she’d had yet. He pulled away a minute later, smiling down at her. She smiled up.
“Good luck,” Davis said, running to rejoin the others.
“Bye,” Harper said, still smiling, Activating Shadowskip.
In the Shadow Realm, the distant flames looked odd. No longer shades of red and orange, they were grays and blacks, but still somehow coming across as fire. The Shadow Realm was odd. She’d never imagined there could be so many shades of black and gray.
Running through the camp, she started the second part of the plan, her next responsibility. In the Shadow Realm, Harper couldn’t affect anything in the real world. She had to hop out, so she did. Appearing in front of the largest tent, not seeing or hearing anyone, Harper ran her tonfas through the fabric, running around the perimeter. She cut through the support ropes, the whole thing collapsing. If she had more time, she would have gone inside and looted the place, but she could hear the shouts of the Silver Bark returning. Some had already found the cage, shouts ringing around the camp. Back in the Shadow Realm, Harper ran to a collection of crates and barrels she had noticed from the tree. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small round canister. Leaving the Shadow Realm, Harper tossed the canister into the pile of crates. She returned to the Shadow Realm, quickly rushing across the camp.
She couldn’t hear or feel the explosion. Looking over her shoulder, she just saw more of the gray and black flames. It should have been hot but in the Shadow Realm, everything was cold.
Harper made her way around the camp, cutting tents, destroying what she could. She avoided the elves as much as she could, only jumping out of the Shadow Realm for a couple of seconds if there were elves nearby. They spotted her, but were left confused when she disappeared.
She may have given the elves a signal they didn’t understand. A single finger, the middle, extended. Harper hoped her father never found out she had done that.
From one end to the other, Harper bounced around the camp. Her Ability to jump in and out of the Shadow Realm had grown. She could do it more often, for a longer duration. She still felt the cold creeping in the more time she spent, but it was taking longer before the Realm started to affect her.
Chaos covered the camp. Without the leadership there, none of the Silver Bark took any initiative. It should have been easy to regain control, even send out patrols to find the prisoners, but none of the remaining Silver Bark wanted to step up and assume command. If they did, and failed, they would be killed. Even if they did and succeeded, they still might be killed. There was no motivation to do anything unless ordered.
Feeling the cold of the Realm, Harper knew her time was over. She had just one more thing to accomplish. Her father had insisted she do it last. As Harper ran across the camp, crossing what should have taken minutes in seconds, she realized why he had been right. She had wanted to hit the target first, but her father had argued that it would have been the most well guarded spot in the camp. She needed the first distraction and the following chaos to take away some, if not all, of the guards or else she’d fail.
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And failure could mean death.
Harper hugged herself tight, a shiver running through her body, as she watched. There were only two guards, both wearing heavier looking armor and even helmets. Instead of a sword, each carried a spear with a wider and larger head. Halberds? Wasn’t that the word her father had used?
Behind them the portal looked strange in the Shadow Realm. It was small, similar to the Gaunt portal in Johnson’s Field. Elora had said they spent the Resources to keep it active but not open. It would not open until the Silver Bark on Earth had established enough territory and controlled enough Resources to power the portal themselves.
She had remembered the gaunt portal being blue, the edge’s crackling as it pulsed. The Silver Bark portal, looking at it through the Realm, was a shiny gray. The edges still crackled but it looked more liquid.
Harper approached slowly, feeling some resistance from the portal itself. The thing wanted to drag her out of the Shadow Realm. She fought against it, but knew she couldn’t fight for long. The portal was stronger. Walking around it, she found the stone. Harper left the Shadow Realm.
She immediately felt the crackling heat of the portal, the blue light almost blinding. The stone sat on a small pedestal, looking like it was made from granite. There were markings carved into the pedestal, which Cerie had said were used to channel the energy of the Resources into the portal. There would be no traps as the energy of the portal itself messed with them.
Reaching out, Harper grabbed the stone. As soon as she pulled it from the pedestal, the portal winked out. There was an audible snap as the small rip in reality disappeared. The guards turned, staring at Harper, who just waved at them before Activating Shadow Skip again.
She made one final Skip out of the camp. She appeared in the woods, just past where the fires had been started. Some of the trees were done, others with their trunks covered in ash. Grass had been burned away. She felt bad, but the distraction had worked.
One last look into the camp, making sure she wasn’t noticed, Harper ran into the forest. She darted from tree to tree, using all her Stealth to avoid making noise. It was dark and she knew she blended in with the shadows, but noise could still give her away.
***
“Hey,” Harper said, holding back a smile as Drew jumped.
The older man, only ten or so years older, drew his batons turning and facing her, weapons raise to defend or strike. Harper leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath, holding a hand up to give a little wave. Her other arm was wrapped around her body, fighting back against the chills that spread throughout. She held back the shivering.
“Jesus,” Drew said, relaxing, but not putting his weapons away. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry,” Harper said, standing up.
She moved away from the tree. All she wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but couldn’t. Not yet. She still felt the chills, but not as bad. There was no way she could go back into the Shadow Realm, not for a while.
Drew was alone. She wasn’t sure where the rest of his party was, hoping he wasn’t the only survivor of that group. They shouldn’t have encountered much in the way of resistance. Their part of the plan had just been the distraction. Start the fires, run away. She had heard fighting, it hadn’t gone fully to plan. She looked past Drew.
“They’re fine,” he said, motioning for her to follow. “Mostly minor wounds but Graham had gotten a bad one. We barely managed to get him out of there. A couple Silver Bark came after us but we took them out.”
Drew led her deeper into the forest, away from the spot on the road that had been their designated meeting spot. Harper kept looking over her shoulder, expecting pursuers.
“You look pretty tired,” Drew said.
“Pushed my use of Shadowskip,” Harper replied. “Pretty low on Spirit.”
“Take it, the prisoners are free?”
“Yeah, up to Davis and the others to get them the rest of the way. Didn’t look like any Silver Bark were chasing them either. Your girlfriend was right.”
Drew looked back at her, seeing Harper’s smirk, he just shook his head, not bothering to respond. Harper knew Elora wasn’t really Drew’s girlfriend. The elf woman probably didn’t even know what the term meant. But it was obvious to all that Drew was interested. Harper thought Elora was too, but didn’t know elven mannerisms enough to judge.
The two continued through the forest, Drew in the lead. Harper could feel herself slowing. Exhaustion was setting in quickly. She didn’t know what to call what she’d just done, but the adrenaline caused by it was fading and all her energy with it. The cold from overusing Shadowskip lingered in her bones, making her shiver as they moved through the thick forest.
She just wanted to sleep for days.
“We’re almost there,” Drew said after what felt like hours of walking, but was really only a half hour at the most.
Harper didn’t answer, at that point it was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other.