Chapter 25

Twenty-Five

"There is a blessing that can pour forth from a martyrdom, but the martyred are never there to witness it." — Sayings of the Blessed Crow.

One moment, Mara was in her teashop, her body thrown over Augustus to protect him from the shattering glass, and the next, she was in a dark cave.

"Augustus?" she croaked, searching the ground around her.

There was a flare of magic, and the cave lit up. Hundreds of glow worms cast an iridescent aqua and blue light around them. Augustus was on his side, his back to her. Mara scrambled over the mossy, damp ground and tipped him over.

"Augustus? Wake up!" she begged.

He frowned, and his eyes opened. "What the fuck happened?"

Mara let out a gasp of relief. "I don’t know. The teashop exploded, and we were suddenly here."

Augustus’s eyes focused and then widened. "Fuck."

"What?"

"We are back. This is the cave where I broke the magic. Melba Gully," he said, sitting up. "You see these glow worms? They never used to glow until the magic filled these caves."

"You’ve been back here?" Mara asked, rubbing at her arms.

"Many times. I tried everything I could think of to repair the tear we created that night." Augustus looked about, his face pale in the eerie light. Mara helped him stand, and he pulled her into his chest. "I thought that last cup killed me for sure."

"Magic and fate aren’t done with you yet, sorcerer." Mara went up on her tiptoes and kissed his jaw. "And neither am I. Now, let’s figure out why we were brought here."

There was a panicked meow, and Athanasius came bolting out of the darkness and leaped into their arms.

"Mara! Mara! The shop’s gone! What’s going on?" he shouted.

"Hush, we are trying to figure it out. I’m glad to see you are okay," Mara said and lifted him up to her shoulder. "Stay there."

Augustus took her hand. "Now, let’s try and find a way out."

Unfortunately, the caves weren’t interested in letting them out. The glow worms flashed, and they followed deeper and deeper.

"We should have been out by now," Augustus whispered. He placed his hand on the damp cave wall and pulled it back instantly. "Fuck."

"What is it?"

"It’s magic. It’s coating everything. I think it’s leading us, like a path through a labyrinth," he replied, the whites of his eyes glowing silver.

"That’s just brilliant. Let’s hope there’s no Minotaur waiting for us to tie off such an amazing night," Athanasius snapped.

Mara hushed him, but she knew he was only grumbling because he was frightened. She held onto Augustus, thankful that he was still alive and trusting that they were in the cave for a reason. She didn’t think of what had happened to her teashop or whether they would ever find their way out.

"Do you feel that?" Augustus asked suddenly.

"No?"

He held out a hand and closed his eyes. "I can feel warmth. There are soft energy waves in the air. It’s coming from that way."

Augustus took a path to the left. They took three steps until the world disappeared beneath their feet, and they were falling down, down, down…

Mara’s scream cut off as they hit dark, steaming water. Athanasius wailed, and Augustus cursed.

"We must be in a hot spring," he said, his hand finding her in the gloom.

More worms lit up on a shore, and they swam towards the muddy bank.

"Do you think magic is still trying to punish you?" Mara said, panting. She twisted her shirt to try and get some of the water out of it.

"Without a doubt," Augustus complained. "You still with us, puss?"

Athanasius shook violently. "When we get out of this, I am going to make your life a living hell, sorcerer."

"He’s fine," Mara said, managing a small laugh.

"I suppose we should keep following the worms and hope for the best." Augustus looked towards the opening in the rock face. "Jesus, words I thought I’d never say."

Time didn’t seem to work in the caves. Mara felt like they had been walking for days or months, depending on the moment.

"Surely this can’t go on forever. Sorcerer, do some magic to point us in the right direction," Athanasius suggested.

Augustus made a small gesture with his hand. Nothing happened. "Nope. Nothing. I can’t even feel my power right now." He gripped Mara’s hand tighter. "I think we are close."

With every step, the worms grew brighter. Mara gasped as they turned a sharp bend and found themselves in a cavern glowing brightly. Augustus might not be able to use his magic, but it hung so thick in the air that Mara could taste it in the back of her throat.

"Now what?" Athanasius jumped off Mara’s shoulder and darted off around the cavern. "There’s nowhere else to go."

"I can feel the magic, but none of it is mine," Augustus said, walking about.

"What’s that?" Mara asked. Something was glinting purple in the moss and mud. She crouched down and dug into the ground. It was a gold ring, an amethyst the size of her fingernail in its center. "Look!"

Augustus froze. "Fuck. That’s Gwen’s ring. We must be in the same place where I dueled Highfell." He held out his hand, and Mara dropped the ring into it. As soon as it touched his palm, the cave shook around them.

Magic exploded in the center of the cave, sucking all the power in the air to it. Wind and light roared around them, a glowing pillar of power.

Inside of Mara, the power of heartache called out to her in a screaming cry of agony. Magic’s heartache.

"I hear you,"Mara replied, trying to comfort it. She stood up, her hair and clothes whipping around her. The strange big miracle raced through her veins until she burned with it. The outline of crow feathers glowed under her skin.

Augustus was staring at the vortex, his eyes glowing silver. He turned and spotted her. "Mara!" He tried to reach for her, but the power in the air knocked him backward.

"It’s going to be okay, Augustus. I know what the miracle is for now." Mara smiled at him, taking one last look before she stepped into the vortex and exploded into crow feathers.

* * *

Mara was falling, the wind roaring around her, lightning dancing over her skin. She landed on something firm, the gray and blue walls of a cloud around her. She was in the heart of Melbourne’s magic, and she wasn’t alone.

A tall woman with shining red hair and an old-fashioned dress walked through the wall of magic and came toward her. She had one pale blue eye and one brown. The noise died as soon as she held out a hand to help Mara up.

"So you’ve come at last," she said with a lilting Irish accent.

"You’re Gwen," Mara stammered.

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Aye, that’s me. And you are here to set me free at last. You took your time."

"It’s Augustus’s fault for not finding me earlier," Mara found herself saying. "Bloody sorcerers."

Gwen laughed a big belly laugh that made Mara feel a little better. "He always was a stubborn ass. Lucky, he found you at all."

Mara held onto Gwen’s hand, unsure of what would happen if she let it go. "He misses you."

"I know, and as much as I love him, he needs to let me go. You are going to help him with that. I just know it." Gwen laughed. "Don’t look so worried, achara. I saw you in his future long ago. I’m half-fae, and we are all cursed with the dratted Sight. All except for the important things like dying in a damn cave."

"I’m sorry," Mara said, squeezing her hand. "And so is he."

"There’s no use fighting your fate. Augustus really loves to blame himself for everything, but it was magic that took me, not him." Gwen smiled at her, and it was so bright, tears pricked Mara’s eyes. "No tears, saint. I always knew that I would be a woman that he loved, but you were always going to be the woman. You will look after him, won’t you?"

"Yes, always," Mara replied. "I was waiting for him too."

"Give him hell for making us both wait for so long. If you survive, give him this too. I may have stolen it from him for fun, and he’ll be missing it. It will help guide you back to him."

Gwen pressed something smooth and round into her hand before hugging her tightly. Her eyes glowed with unnatural light, and Mara knew that magic had taken over Gwen’s body.

She opened her mouth and said in a deep, ancient voice, "Thank you for healing us both and setting us free, Saint of heartache."

Mara made to reply, but Gwen shoved her back into the vortex with a smile.

Like Alice and Dorothy combined, Mara fell through a hurricane of silver stags and stars, leopards and laughter, magic and madness.

And then it was only the cawing of crows, the brush of black feathers, and darkness.