Bonds of the Forsaken: A Reverse Harem Romantasy (Her Forsaken Mates Book 1)

62. Jaiel

The sun was up over the horizon when I let myself half-fall, half-slide down Shaide”s furry back. Every part of me ached and burned, but the Heartless Basin loomed ahead.

And there, in the trampled grass, were the distinctive shapes of mech footprints disappearing into the deadly darkness beyond …

We”d made it.

The large diyre whimpered behind me, shifting nervously as he looked from me to the forest, soft blue eyes wide with worry.

”Thank you,” I said, patting his snout with a shaky hand. ”I couldn”t have made it this far without you.”

He ran a long, wet tongue up the side of my face, then sat back on his haunches as if to say he wasn”t going anywhere.

”I”ll be okay,” I ran my fingers through the long fur on his side. ”I can feel her. She”s close. You go on back.”

Shaide let out a huff as he stared at my injured shoulder and side, growled in the direction of the forest, then shook his head.

”Go on, now.” I nudged him softly. ”This will be easier if I know you”re safe.”

He stared at me for a moment more as if debating the truth in my words, then let out a soft whine and licked me again before standing up. Snarling once more toward the forest, he let out a long howl, then turned and broke into a loping run in the direction we”d come.

I stared after him, trying to ignore the pang of fear making my knees shake as I ran my hand down my side and pulled it away red and sticky.

Not only had the ride been exhausting — it would seem it had also opened some of my stitched wounds. Wounds that should be fully healed by now if not for the damn shadow monster inside me …

The only blessing was that it hadn”t seemed to notice my weakened state, yet — hovering there in the back of my mind — waiting, as always.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out for Kaiya.

The bond was a faint feeling — something I”d normally dismiss as a simple stomachache. But the tension had grown the closer we”d gotten to this forest and something inside me just knew it was Kaiya.

She was in that forest, and she was in danger.

I had to help her. No matter what.

Biting down my exhaustion and pain, I limped my way into the massive woods, keeping an eye out for the infamously dangerous creatures of the forest.

The bond urged me to run, but each step was a struggle, and the dim early morning light just barely illuminated the forest floor.

The last thing Kaiya needed was for me to pass out before I even got to her.

With each step, my body felt a little heavier, though, and my desperation grew.

I had to find her soon …

My toe caught on something, and I staggered forward, barely catching myself on a large chunk of metal, the remains of a mech, splattered with blood.

Nearby was a torn-up mage”s cloak.

Fuck.

My stomach flipped and my heart raced as I searched the area as fast as my body would allow.

None of the corpses belonged to Kaiya or Tye.

Thank the saints.

My mind was sluggish as I stared at a single grouping of tracks leading further into the forest.

I reached out for Kaiya and followed the pull — she was that way.

My eyelids grew heavy with each step, and I had to fight off the urge to keep them closed and sink down to rest.

A guttural scream sounded from above and my eyes shot open. I looked up in time to be pelted in the face as dozens of strange creatures grunted, yelped, and threw sticks and branches at me from the treetops. And that sound …

What the fuck?

Their wailing was so … human. I shuddered, remembering the similar sound of dozens of vrytra mourning the loss of their queen in Gleyma.

What had happened here?

Ducking my head, I used my arms to block the sticks and dodged as best I could as I limped away, trying to stay focused on the survivors” tracks.

Panic pushed at me. Kaiya needed me — I could feel it.

I rounded a massive trunk and froze. There, nestled in the hollow in another tree, was a large gremlyn nest. There were dozens of them scurrying around, scooping up their young and running past me as if I didn”t exist.

Over the years, I”d seen those feisty beasts surprised, hungry and enraged … but never scared.

It sent a shiver down my spine.

Fucking Frexin.

I resumed my stumbling, but my chest rattled with each step and my breath rasped.

It didn”t matter, though. I just needed to focus.

I pushed forward, only pausing to catch my breath when a herd of massive beasts passed — some as tall as a carriage and as long as a ship.

They would be terrifying, if I could think straight.

But with every moment, I grew weaker, and the shadow creature inside grew more restless. It twisted and turned, like a massive serpent beginning to rouse.

Saints! I clenched my fists.

Not yet.

I needed to get to her first — to save her.

I struck at the beast hard with what little charisma I had left of what Kaiya had given me. My body has used a lot of it to heal me, so it was just a bluff. But bluffing was my only hope to convince the beast to keep slumbering.

I was too weak and too low on charisma to win in another struggle.

Heart in my throat, I waited for the onslaught. But it didn”t push.

Swallowing what felt like glass, I stumbled forward up a small hill, breath coming out in high-pitched wheezes as sticky blood made its way down my legs and into my boots with each step.

Finally, I reached the top.

Slivers of morning light shone through the massive trees ahead, but the light was not coming from within the thick of the woods. It had to be a river or a clearing or something.

And she was there — I could feel it. The bond tugged inside my chest, and I answered, dashing forward.

But my body was too weak, and the ground was strange …

The world spun around me as I tumbled down the slope, hard stones, branches, and roots battering me with each turn until finally I slammed hard into something large and solid.

Pain shattered through my skull and the world spun crazily as my vision dimmed and pain consumed me.

And still that bond tugged at my chest.

I couldn”t stop now.

She needed me.

Forcing down the nausea, I took stock of my injuries.

My left arm was bent strangely, and it refused to move.

Fuck.

And my left eye — my vision swam more on that side. Was it just the blood, or something more?

I forced my legs to move, and they reluctantly obeyed, despite the numerous cuts and bruises.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed forward to stand. But a rattle shook my chest and burst out in a rough cough — followed by more, and then more, each bringing up something wet and sticky.

Touching my hand to my lips, I lifted it to the early morning light and went numb at the sight of deep red blood coating my fingertips.

The shadow surged as fear spiked inside my chest.

Saints. I — I”m not sure I”m going to be able to help you, Princess.

Sensing my fear and an opportunity, the monster snapped, striking hard at my korra, causing me to bend over in pain.

I”d never been so near death before. Perhaps this time it would finally consume me as it had every host before.

No. I couldn”t give up now!

But the darkness was already pouring out of me, spreading in all directions as it searched for the twisted — and anything living if its hunger was not quenched.

This was it … the day I”d been waiting for.

The end of my life.

No more parties, or espionage, or … Kaiya.

Her beautiful face swam in my vision.

She”d endured so many things that would have broken anyone else, and she never gave up. She was brave and strong and kind and more than anything I deserved to have in my life.

And she needed me.

Gritting my teeth, I ignored the monster raging around me, ignored the pain of my broken arm, and the bubbling agony of my chest. I pushed myself to my knees. I coughed and spat the dark red blood on the strange gray plants to my side.

”I”m coming, Kaiya,” I wheezed.

Through gritted teeth, I forced myself to my feet and stumbled forward. The monster raged around me, making it difficult to see. But I could feel her ahead — she couldn”t be far.

I should never have left her fucking side!

After what felt like an eternity, I stepped into the bright morning light of the clearing, and gasped.

My eyes burned and my mind spun as I took in the ropes and chains rising from the ground leading up to a massive airship above. People and mechs were being pulled up as I watched.

A blurry half-dozen figures stood in the field.

But something about this place was all wrong …

There was no color. No movement. It was as if every blade of grass, every leaf, had been turned … to stone.

”Saints,” I whispered as my monster screamed at the dark magic covering this place.

The shadow”s screams drew the attention of those still in the clearing, and shouts and hollers sounded as the collared mages and wolf shifters finally saw us.

”Ignore him,” called out Lady”s Frexin”s familiar voice. ”Finish loading the ship before they arrive.”

Lady Frexin, with her familiar hat, moved toward me, removing her glove. She wavered in my vision — first one person, then two, then one again.

”Where is Kaiya?” I called out, voice hoarse, over the shrieks of my shadow.

Lady Frexin cocked a brow and bent to touch the ground. Her fingers dug in, and at first nothing happened … then the ground began to pop and crack, forming a strange wave of stone and dust as it approached me.

A loud shriek drew my wavering attention to the shadow monster, and my skin burned as it yanked me into the sky. I stared as massive black wings of shadows broke from my back, sending massive gusts of wind down — keeping me above the strange magical wave of destruction.

I tried to speak — to push it back. I had to get back to Kaiya!

But the monster had control … was this what happened when it took over?

Lady Frexin”s eyes narrowed below me as she took her ungloved hand off the ground and stood back up.

”I was not aware you could use your shadow beast like that.” She tsked. ”Nor was I aware that you Rogues knew of my powers. How unfortunate.”

A pang of fear shot through me as I realized what her words meant.

If she knew I was a Rogue, she likely knew Dimiri was, as well. And saints knew who else!

And what was this crazy stone void magic she was wielding? My brain spun with all the ramifications.

Fuck! How could this get any worse?

Frexin tilted her head to the side. ”Then again, I don”t suppose you could feign that surprise with as much pain as you have to be in … perhaps you Rogues do still have your heads in the sand. Well, it doesn”t really matter either way. Kaiya is alive on my ship, and you — well you don”t look like you have much time left at all.”

Fear and rage swelled in me as the shadow monster pulled us higher.

”If you hurt her, I will kill you,” I growled, struggling against the strange wings.

”You know, if you were here maybe an hour earlier, I might have worried about your threat.” She shrugged. ”But from the look of you now, I think you”re about out of time.”

Out of time …

The words echoed in my mind as the truth filtered in.

I — I felt fine. The pain was gone. I —

Oh saints! Where had all the pain gone?

I lifted my hands and stared down, panic making my heart race. Instead of the familiar pale Fae skin I”d worn for the last twenty-eight years, I was met with the charred, cracking flesh of a burned corpse.

No … no!

Fear flooded me, and the wings wavered … and then I was falling. The ground rose to meet me, and I hit hard.

Hard enough that I should be screaming from the agony of broken bones.

But I felt nothing below my neck …

Terrified, I looked down to see the exposed skin of my legs and torso were also charred. They wouldn”t move, and the black fire had moved on, that fucking shadow monster steadily working its black flame up my chest and neck.

Fuck! I was dying! This was it.

”Please, Frexin,” I said, voice ragged. ”Please don”t hurt her.”

Frexin frowned and stared down at me, brows furrowed as another massive crash sounded from nearby.

My world narrowed to that look and the sound of ancient trees toppling as massive forms came this way.

Frexin turned her attention back to me. ”I don”t want to, Jaiel, but I think she”s going to make me. You know how stubborn she is. I doubt a collar will be enough to break her.”

Breathing was hard now, but I forced the words out. ”Please.”

Another crash sounded and a stone tree came crashing down to my right, exploding against the stone clearing. Rocks and dust sprayed into the air.

From the tree line, giant creatures with glowing red eyes and rotting, oozing skin lumbered toward Frexin and I.

”We are both out of time, Jaiel,” she said, voice solemn. ”Pray to your Fae saints while you still can. Between that shadow of yours and the mountain wraiths flooding this godless forest, these are your final moments. I”ll return to collect the shadow after. Thank you for your service.”

I tried to speak, to plead once more.

But no sound came from my lips, and Frexin turned away, jogging to a rope ladder hanging down from the ship. She waved her hand, and the airship”s engine roared to life, quickly pulling her out of the reach of the approaching mountain wraiths.

My monster screamed and wailed again as the corrupted Giants approached, but I didn”t care.

I couldn”t look away from the disappearing ship as cold tears trailed down my checks, and black flames licked and bit at me.

I was too late.

Kaiya was up there — collared and alone. Frustrated. Afraid. Hopeless.

Saints! I should have been at her side. I should have saved her …

At the very least I should have told her —

Told her how wonderful she was.

How brave. How kind.

She was stronger than any twisted relic or Forsaken king. The light in the darkness … my darkness.

My breathing slowed and my thoughts grew murky as the ship disappeared.

I”m sorry … Princess … So fucking sor —