Shadow Spell by Caro King Page B

was no Raw. A river, a silver-blue ribbon glittering in the evening light, unrolled beneath them. A herd of deer scattered and bounced over wide heath land. Broad oaks and tall beeches, golden and coppery in the late sun, clustered in woods or stood alone in meadows thick with clover and buttercups. It was beautiful.
    Nin stretched out, spreading her arms like wings. Around her arm the spell stirred, its colours shifting to darker blues, then a purple that was almost black. It tightened and Nin remembered that it was made by a sorcerer and wondered if it was afraid, if a sorcerer’s spell could have in it a sorcerer’s fear of flying.
    Below, wild horses raised their heads to the sky and shook their manes, then broke into a gallop, racing across a plain of emerald grass that deepened to black in the dying light. As they gathered pace, their hooves burst into fiery life, carrying them over the ground at a breathtaking speed and lighting the dark with red flames.
    â€˜Fiery steeds,’ said the Darkness. ‘Once there wouldhave been unicorns too, but they died, like so many magical beasts. Like the Land itself is dying. And faster now, so very, very fast.’
    â€˜I know,’ Nin sighed, ‘first the Fabulous, now the Land. Soon there’ll be nothing left but Mr Strood.’
    â€˜Ahh. Strood,’ said the Darkness and there was an edge to its voice.
    â€˜Um, what has he done to you?’
    â€˜Not just him. There are others to blame as well.’
    And suddenly, it let go.
    Nin would have screamed, but her breath was snatched away as she fell. The air rushed past her, burning her face with its speed. Her heart lurched, its beat broken by the sudden plunge. There was no time to think, just the wheeling Land as it rushed to meet her. Even before she hit the ground she could feel her bones cracking, her skull smashing open like an egg. See the blood.
    And then she was surrounded by the Darkness again. Through its silky veils, grass brushed her face. She sobbed once, choking for breath, her hand stinging where it had hit the ground a split second before her body would have joined it. The Darkness had caught her barely an inch from the Land. She could smell the earth. A beetle squirmed against her cheek.
    Gasping, Nin struggled briefly as the Darkness lifted her up. She felt pain in her arm and knew it was the spell, cutting into her skin as it clung tight. Like the spell, Nin didn’t want to go. More than anything right now shewanted solid ground under her feet. But there was nothing she could do.
    Up they went. Up and up. When it was high enough, the Darkness began to fly onwards again. Slowly, Nin’s heart stopped thudding and her breathing began to steady. She sensed the Darkness watching her, feeling her panic with amusement. Anger swirled out of the fright.
    â€˜What did you do that for?’ she demanded.
    The Darkness chuckled. ‘To show you how easily I could have my revenge.’
    â€˜On me? But …’ Nin frowned. ‘Have I done something to you? Is that what you meant by there being others to blame? But how can whatever happened to you be my fault? I never met you before!’
    For answer it dumped her on the ground in the middle of a land so ravaged it was unrecognisable. Then it drew back and hovered, a thick shroud of darkness behind her, waiting for her to work it out.
    Around them, columns of smoke rose, spiralling upwards to join the pall that blotted out the sky. It made Nin’s eyes smart and the bitter smell caught at the back of her throat. Under her feet, the ground was blackened, crumbling into ash as she moved. And everywhere were the ruined, smouldering stumps of trees.
    â€˜A burned forest,’ she said through her coughing, ‘you want me to know about a burned forest?’
    As she spoke her eye was caught by a charred stump in front of her, its blackened remains jutting towards the sky.
    She stared at it, fear forming in her heart,