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Rogue Rescue

By Melinda Kucsera

A Bright Problem (Chapter 1)

Light slammed into Robin as she hit the golden dome that hopefully covered the Haven. Please let this be where my daughter is. A terrible desperation filled her, and she clawed at the light surrounding her. It was in her way, and she couldn’t deal with any more delays. Let me pass.

The light didn’t. Robin reached into it, but there was nothing to grab. The gold light stood before her, barring her way as if it were a wall. Robin pounded on it as the delays of the past two days flashed through her mind.

Some were unavoidable, like the trek to Mount Eredren to get help for Kat. Robin stilled as she recalled her companions. Were Kat and Strella still at Mount Eredren, or did they leave and continue on their way? She couldn’t recall where they headed before the Wild Hunt attacked their camp and took her daughter. If you leave, then take my wishes for a safe journey with you.

Robin blinked as tears blurred her eyes. She’d lost Kat and Strella and the other allies she’d picked up on this quest. I shouldn’t have left Rugira behind. But I had to take the chance that Shade would take me to my daughter if only to save their beloved. She lost Sarn too. But he was never mine to begin with and if that green blaze I saw before Shade’s demonic passenger teleported us is any indication, then Sarn is somewhere in the Haven or near it.

She must get past this light to find out. Why won’t you let me pass? Robin punched it, but her fist hit nothing at all. Nor could she do anything but float around and remember her chilly reception at Mount Eredren, and the many delays she encountered there when no one would help her.

None of that matters now. I’m here, and I must find a way past this shield. Robin stopped fighting it since that was getting her nowhere. Nor could she float in this liminal space forever. “What do you want?”

The shield didn’t reply, so it probably didn’t have a golem to manage it like the rings of standing stones around Mount Eredren. Did that help her case?

Power, unlike anything she’d encountered, encircled her, and the light surrounding her dimmed as brighter patterns cascaded down the shield. Some symbols rotated or shot like stars from one cluster of symbols to another.

I wish I could read them. Robin extended her hand to touch them. They weren’t written in any language she recognized. Well, there was always the Litany of Allies, Enemies, and Other Folk. Everything one might encounter while hiking around Shayari should be in there, and it included this Haven. But that epic poem floated just out of reach, like her daughter. Rosalie was somewhere on the other side of this shield.

But she must cross this golden barrier to reach her. The longer Robin remained in this place of light and magic, the more her heart beat like a drum in her ears. Fear for her daughter made her cold and shaky, and she’d have collapsed if she wasn’t floating.

What if Shade betrayed me? The question repeated in her head until she remembered the pain in Shade’s dark eyes when they shoved her into the shield. No, Shade didn’t betray me this time. They brought me to the Haven, where my daughter is. They didn’t drop me off anywhere else.

Robin clung to that certainty as the shield strobed and dizzied her as she fell through an endless column of golden light. Was the shield rejecting her? Oh hell no. No shield, however powerful, would keep her from her daughter. No way.

“Let me pass. My daughter is inside the Haven. I promise to follow your rules. Just tell me what they are and let me enter.” Robin hoped that would convince the entity that controlled the shield because she couldn’t stay like this forever, not when she had no idea what was happening to her daughter. I’m coming, Rosalie, just hang on a little longer.

“Promise accepted,” a man said, and his voice was familiar.

Where have I heard his voice? Robin couldn’t place it before strong hands seized her arms and pulled her backward. She fell out of the light and blinked to adjust her eyes as blue afterimages blotted out the world.

“Sit while you acclimate. Not everyone handles the transition well,” said the owner of the hands holding her up. He guided her down until her rump touched a hard surface.

Grass crunched under her butt as she sat, but Robin still couldn’t see anything. The afterimages bouncing around her vision only dizzied her more when she tried, making it hard to keep from falling over onto her side. Finally, some afterimages faded, leaving her staring at the glowing gold strings littering the ground. They rained down from the shield arching over this place, but they didn’t stay on the ground. The gold strings rose and rejoined the shield.

It’s a cycle. Did the same threads rise and become part of the shield, then fall, or did the strings combine to form new threads? Robin forgot why she came for a moment as curiosity seized her.

“What are you doing?” asked the man who pulled her through the shield.

Robin ignored him. He wasn’t as interesting as those threads. What power will they give me if I grab some? Would it be enough to save her daughter and hold off the Wild Hunt?

As Robin reached for the nearest thread, she recalled what happened earlier with the black threads, then dismissed it because she’d just claimed these gold threads too. Surely, that would counteract any negative effect they might have on her.

“Don’t touch what you don’t understand,” that man said, but he wasn’t fast enough.

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