Chapter 34

I stumbled out of the portal, catching myself with the staff Suon had gifted me with a gasp. Feeling very tired and drained, despite how ready I'd felt on the other side, I tried not to collapse. John fell to the grass next to me with a soft thud and a groan. We'd come through in one of the pastures, just as Poe and I had pictured it in my mind. The sun was bright overhead and the early summer heat was already building.

In the distance I could see people running towards us, and one of them was Avery. Her excitement and anxiety filtering through the connection made her hard to miss.

We need to close the portal. Poe's voice sounded strained in my mind. I turned my attention to the portal as John picked himself up. The task of closing the link between the two worlds was much easier than it was to create. The summoning circles closed in on themselves, folding over and over in their intricate patterns until there was nothing left.

"Ezra!"

I turned as Avery sla