Returns to earth

If she could do it, then why shouldn’t I do the same? I had taken her blood into my dead body and I possessed her magical cauldron. Did I even need the help of Pan? I wondered.

I turned to Thorne. ‘I’m going to attempt to return to Earth,’ I told her.

‘Take me with you, Grimalkin,’ she demanded.

‘Later, Thorne,’ I said, my hand on her shoulder. ‘Let me check that it is possible first.’

I concentrated, drawing more power from the cauldron. The pathway ahead of me began to shimmer, then moved widdershins, against the clock. The four paths were now spinning like a wheel with the cauldron at its hub. It was hard not to grow dizzy, and I heard Thorne gasp at the spectacle. But the area around the cauldron was stationary. As long as we didn’t move, we were safe.

Suddenly I saw that there were more than four paths. As I watched, they multiplied, each of the four replicating madly. Faster and faster they spun; at the end of each I could see different scenes: villages, cathedral spires, seascapes and farms. Each path led somewhere – there seemed to be an infinite number of destinations.

Where did I want to go on my first journey back to the land of the living?

Valkarky! Why not? I would spy upon the city of my enemies.

No sooner had I made that decision than the multitude of paths began to spin more slowly; there were now fewer of them. When the vortex came to a halt, I could see only the original four. I gazed down the narrow path ahead of me; in the distance, beyond a line of trees I saw the city of Valkarky gleaming as white as snow – beneath a dark sky. This was important: I knew that I could not visit Earth during the hours of daylight. I knew that it was after midnight there; seven more hours remained before the dawn.

‘That is where I am going!’ I said, pointing towards the city. ‘This will be my first journey back to Earth.’

Starblade Book 3 Chapter 13