18. And then comes Marriage.
There’s a moment when you think your life is done, and you slowly accept it. Then, there’s the moment when you realize your life isn’t ending, and the pain of your recovery almost makes you wish it would. When my eyes opened to the dirty ceiling of the cave I lay in, all I wished for was anything to give me relief.
My body felt stiff, my bones ached, my throat burned, and every breath I took felt like it was fighting me back. What happened to me? The thought repeated in my mind as slow-moving snippets, memories of my past, returned like strokes of a paintbrush, filling in the gaps of an image.
The soft whining at my side drew my eyes to the warm body curled up with me. Piko. His eyes were closed, but he whimpered, and I wondered what he must have been dreaming of. I turned my head just enough to scan the space. This was a cave. Where, I didn’t know, but I didn’t think it was Earth. There was one small entrance, a fire pit in the center with a dying flame, and then I saw it.
Large feet in leather boots connected to a body on the ground. I carefully shifted to see who the owner of the feet was and panicked when my eyes reached his face.
“Metice?” I tried to get up, but it took much more strength than it should have. He wasn’t far, only about a foot from the bed. I could make it to him. I had to.
I rolled out of the bed, knocking Piko over as I did. Instead of crawling to the fallen demon, which would have made the most sense. I stood, took two steps, and then fell forward, right on top of the unconscious demon.
That was all the energy I had, burned up in half a step. I passed out the moment my head hit his chest. I woke to Piko’s tongue licking my face, his large, worried eyes darting between me and the one I fell on.
“Dammit.” I pushed myself off Metice and sat next to him. “What the hell happened to me?”
Metice groaned next to me, and all I could think to do was pull his head into my lap. It looked like he was sleeping, but I could tell something more was going on. I just didn’t know what it was.
“Please wake up.” I rubbed his face and felt the stubble along his jaw. “Metice, I don’t know what to do. I need you.”
His eyes fluttered opened, and he stared up at me, looking at me like he couldn’t believe I was real.
“Rayna?” he asked.
“Metice, are you okay? What happened?”
His dark eyes jumped around, trying to focus. The embers from the dying fire crackled as he looked at me. Then, the smile lifted the corner of his lips. “You’re awake.”
“I am.” I nodded and touched his face again. “And so are you.”
“Rayna? You’re okay.” He spoke like he was trying to jolt out of a dream.
“Yes. Are you?” I searched his eyes. Something was different, I just couldn’t figure out what it was. “Are you okay?”
Metice sat up and placed his hand on my face. He held it there and then pulled me to him, kissing me gently before wrapping me in his hold. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Metice, what happened?” I asked, inhaling his scent. It was warm, like a campfire, and made my heart feel whole again.
“What do you remember?” he asked, still holding me, and pressed my head to his chest. “Tell me what you remember, and I’ll fill in the rest.”
“I was with Keri.” I shook my head as jumbled thoughts struggled to settle in my mind. “Then something attacked us. Olian locked me away. Oh my God, I was dying. No, I died. Am I dead?”
“You did not die, but you were close.” He ran his hand across my satin-covered head. “I almost lost you, but you’re here.”
“I…” My throat suddenly felt like I’d swallowed sand, and I coughed to clear the feeling.
“Here.” Metice produced a bottle of water from the bin next to the bed. “Drink”
I sipped and eyed the large plastic bin with the moving label still stuck to the side. “Is that from my house?”
“Yes, I had to go there to get things for you,” he confirmed. “It was the safest option. Luckily, no one else was there when I went.”
“Thank you.” I drank more of the water, slowly, because even the first few sips had my stomach shaking.
Scanning the area, I realized just how much Metice had done for me. My clothes were clean despite the chaos, and the bedding on the cot was also mine. The bin held items from my home, including shampoo. I touched my head and found my hair safely tucked under a bonnet.
“You washed my hair?” I slipped my fingers beneath the band of the bonnet and felt the fresh twists in my hair.
“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just,” he paused nervously, “I remember you talking a lot about how hard it was to get your hair to grow after the medication you were on. I’m not sure why, but it felt important to make sure when you woke, you didn’t have matted hair.”
“Thank you.” How could a demon be so gentle? How could he think of things like that?
“I’m the one who should thank you.” Metice’s response shook me.
“For what?” He looked like a new puzzle to me, and that feeling continued. There was a shift happening in our relationship. I didn’t know how to define it yet, but it felt too important to ignore.
“For surviving.” He pulled me close to him and kissed my forehead. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t.”
“You came there for me.” I looked up at him. “You saved me.”
“Yes.” Metice nodded.
“Those demons? What did you do?” I asked and had a moment of regret when I did.
“Do you really want to know the details?” It was like he could sense my hesitation. “I will tell you if you do.”
I thought about it. Did I really want to know what he’d gone through to save me? What he’d done to get me out of there? I remembered the feeling of gravel and sprays of something wet on my skin. My imagination filled in details of blood and gore that I didn’t want him to confirm.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to know.”
“You’re safe now. You’re here with me; that’s all that matters.” Metice stood and lifted me from the floor to put me back on the cot. “You need to rest, Rayna. Don’t overdo it. Your body is still healing.”
“What about you?” I asked as he pulled the cover over me.
“I’m fine,” he assured me. “I’m a demon. I’m tougher than you, remember?”
“Then explain what happened. Why were you laid out like that?” I pointed to the ground where I found him. “You weren’t just sleeping, I know that.”
“Likosa gave me an elixir, one for you and one for me. Whatever it did to you, it must have affected our bond. I’m assuming my dose was to account for that,” he explained. “Just before you woke, I passed out.”
“But you don’t know for sure?” I asked. “She didn’t fully explain what this stuff does, and you took it anyway?”
“No, unfortunately. I didn’t have time to ask questions, but I trust her.” Metice grabbed my hand. “Likosa is a friend. She is strange, yes, but she’s trustworthy, I promise.”
“Okay, but you should still rest. Please.” There was no way I’d rest knowing he wasn’t. We’d both been through a lot.
“I will.” He smiled.
“Why did you choose this dress?” I lifted the soft purple fabric that covered my legs, a dress I’d purchased to wear at a renaissance festival I never attended. It cost so much money, I refused to get rid of it. I thought it would rot away in the back of my closet.
“I thought you would look nice in it, and it seemed easy enough to put on you without disturbing your dress. Was I wrong to choose it?”
“No, it’s just, I never got to wear it, and I thought I would never have another reason to.”
“Is it for a special occasion?” He scanned my body.
“Something like that, yes.” I nodded, but I didn’t tell him I was supposed to be portraying bride at the event.
“We can make one. When you’re well again.” He yawned.
Metice lay on the ground next to the cot. The compact frame wasn’t big enough for two, and he promised he would be comfortable, but I couldn’t see how he could be. We slept, though, with Piko’s soft whimpers echoing around us.
When we woke, I asked if he could go to my home and bring back my mattress. It was heavy, but I couldn’t stand seeing him lay on the ground. He did, and we lay together, comforted by each other’s touch. Any time it felt like he would move away, I pulled him back to me. It wasn’t something I would say aloud, but I was afraid of being in hell, even with Metice next to me.
It took two days, but my appetite finally returned, and Metice made the canned soup he’d taken from my home. I ate and continued to drink the supply of water. Though my wounds healed and my body felt better, there was something deeper that made me feel hollow, some piece of myself that hadn’t come back with me after what I thought of as my first death. It was the third day when the fever set in. My body felt like it was on fire, and nothing he did helped.
“Please be okay,” he whispered and kissed my forehead.
He stood from the bed, and I groaned, reaching out for him. Piko quickly took his place by my side.
“I’ll be back. We can’t stay here like this. I need to get you help.”
Metice disappeared, leaving me with a worried Piko, who nuzzled my shoulder.
“I’ll be okay, Piko. I promise.”
Metice returned, and with a worried look, he quickly scooped me up from the bed. “We have to go.”
“What?” I clung to the cover that lay over my body, but it fell. Two seconds of the air on my skin, and I was shivering like I’d been standing naked in a snowstorm.
“There is someone you need to meet, someone who can help.” Metice pulled me into his chest, and I sighed at the warmth his skin provided. “You won’t heal if we don’t go now.”
Something shifted in the corner, and I blinked several times to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. The shadow opened! It split in half, and from the center of the opening stepped a demon. He looked more like Metice, nearly human, but I could feel the nervous energy flowing from him.
“You owe me one, Meti.” The new guy pointed at Metice, and the fluff of curls on top of his head bounced like punctuation to his words. “Don’t forget it.”
“I won’t. I know.” Metice nodded. “Can we go now? Is it safe?”
“Path is clear. Follow me.” The man stepped back into the shadows, and Metice moved to follow him.
“What are you doing?” I asked weakly.
“Trust me, Rayna. Please.” Metice looked into my eyes.
After searching his gaze, there was no question. I trusted him to take care of me. If this was the path he thought best, I couldn’t disagree, not after everything he’d already done to save me.
I nodded, and Metice moved forward. Though his body still warmed me, when the shadows wrapped around us, a new chill spread through me. I kept my eyes closed tightly. Whatever we were walking through, whatever the darkness held, I didn’t want to see it. After everything I’d been through, there were some things I still wanted to remain a mystery.
“You can open your eyes,” Metice whispered in my ear, and I did. We were no longer in the darkness, but standing in another cavern-like place. Only, this place was different. There was something menacing in the air.
It looked more like the dungeons I expected to find when trapped in hell, like the depictions I saw in fantasy movies. There was red dirt everywhere, immersed in the smell of something burning, like decaying bodies and the exhaust from old cars. I couldn”t see much from my position in his arms, but there were disturbing sounds. Moans and groans echoed the ones I heard in the shadows we moved through.
Was this the place the worst of the Bane gathered? Was this the place where souls went to suffer? Their energy, their pain, and their hatred became tangible sources in the air, and for a moment, I feared this was what Metice spent so much time avoiding, the darkness that filled this room. And to save me, he ran back to it?
A rattling chain called my attention to a frail old woman sitting on the ground, dirtied and chained. Though she looked like she was just a few steps from death with her thin frame and matted hair, her energy felt warm and loving. She looked up at Metice and flashed a yellow smile full of rotted teeth.
“You came to see me again. It’s been so long. Oh, and a visitor!” She looked at me. “Ah, it’s you. You found her. You brought her to me.”
“Yes,” Metice said. “I’m sorry I haven’t come in a while.”
“Oh, I heard the rumors. You left the fold. Good for you. I’ll survive. I’ll pay my time.” She waved Metice’s concern aside and looked at me. Large eyes covered in grey film found me, and her smile grew wider. “It’s so good to see you, child.”
“Metice, what’s going on?” I asked.
“This is Floushal, the woman who told me about you,” Metice explained as he cradled me in his arms. “She is the one who can help you.”
“Oh?” I looked at her. “She saved your life.”
“Yes, and hopefully, she can save yours. Likosa said I would have to bring you to her. You’re not recovering, and I think this is why.” He looked at the woman. “Can you help her?”
“Yes, but when I do, you must know you will change,” Floushal spoke and reached her boney hand out to me. “I can heal you, but you won’t be able to go back to who you were before.”
“What does that mean?” I looked down at her. “You’re going to change me? How?”
“You come from a powerful bloodline. Your ancestors were originally from a world called Muniko, a world full of beings with wonderful magics and psychic abilities. They shifted through space and time like no other. Unfortunately, some ventured into worlds with terrible beings who sought to use their abilities for evil things.” Floushal looked at me like she could see the story she spoke playing out in my eyes. “Some were captured, most were killed, but a few escaped and went to new worlds. You are a child of those who landed in your world. To heal you, I must heal every facet of your being, including your psychic abilities, which I can feel you’ve tapped into already. I’m not sure what other magics you will develop or what changes will happen after I heal you. There could be some physical ramifications as well. When I do this, it will unlock that side of you fully.”
“And if you don’t do it?” I asked, not sure if I wanted what she described. I had to know the alternative.
“You will die.” She nodded with sad eyes. “The elixir will only keep your body going for so long, but your genetic structure is a unique and delicate balance. It must be repaired entirely, or your body will break down, and you will lose your life.”
“Rayna, please.” Pain broke through Metice’s voice, and his grip tightened. He’d already faced losing me once. Could I put him through that again? “Please don’t give up. Whatever happens, I will be there by your side. I promise. I won’t let you go through this change alone.”
“Do it.” Whatever the consequences, death was not an option. I looked at Metice. “You really are stuck with me now, you know that?”
“Do you hear me complaining?” He smiled.
“Likosa gave you a third item, yes?” The old woman held her hand out to Metice, who produced a small box. She opened it and pulled a vial from the box. “Perfect.”
“Do you have everything you need?” Metice asked.
“Yes,” Floushal confirmed then turned to me. “Can you stand on your own?”
“I think so.” I nodded, and Metice carefully placed me on my feet but stayed close enough in case I lost my balance and he needed to catch me.
Floushal pulled a pipe from her shirt, sprinkled what looked like red dirt into it and, with a quick wave of her fingers, the pipe lit. She put it to her mouth and inhaled the smoke. She then opened the vial Metice gave her and quickly blew the red smoke into the vial and sealed it again. The clear liquid turned gold, then blended with the red smoke, creating what looked like glittery blood.
“You must drink it.” She handed the vial to Metice. “Half for you, half for her when I tell you to.”
She then pulled a golden thread from her mess of hair. Those cold, boney fingers wrapped around my wrist, and she placed my hand into his before tying the thread around our wrists, joining us together. As she did, she recited a spell in a language I didn’t understand, but I could feel the weight of her words. My body felt heavier and lighter at the same time, and I felt something else, the spark of a tune in my mind. It was a soft murmur, and then a sharp high-pitched squeal before it settled again. Metice winced. He must have felt it too.
The more she spoke, the tighter the thread became, until it felt like it wasn’t just wrapped around my wrist, but my entire body. The pressure was almost suffocating. The invisible threads reached beneath my skin, and I could feel them weaving inside me. They twisted with my veins, threaded through my ribs, and coiled around my heart.
My lungs felt hot, like they were being ripped apart and recreated at the same time. I looked at Metice, and if he felt what I did, he was good at keeping it from his expression. One wince, that was all, while I had tears streaming down my face and gritting my teeth.
Then, I couldn’t take it anymore. The pain I felt made my bones feel like brittle glass. I dropped my head back, expecting to scream, but instead, a stream of golden thread exploded from my mouth. My voice was a gargled mess as I cried from the pain. More threads formed, making my throat feel like it would rip apart.
“Drink now.” Floushal hit Metice, who looked ready to try to rip the threads from my throat. “You must drink now, or she will die!” she yelled, and when he turned his eyes to her, she continued her spell.
Metice popped the top of the vial. He hesitated for a moment and then poured half the liquid into my mouth. The threads sizzled when they touched the fluid then disappeared, and my throat relaxed, no longer strained by the material.
The elixir was thicker than I imagined, like swallowing raw honey. It coated my mouth and throat, but at least the taste wasn’t terrible. It tasted like old grapes, the kind left in the refrigerator for so long, they started to shrivel into soggy raisins. At least it soothed the previous pain caused by those damn threads.
“Drink it now!” Floushal reminded Metice, who looked at me.
Metice downed the rest of the drink but kept his eyes trained on my face.
“And so, it is done.” Floushal smiled and placed her hands over our joined wrists, and when she removed her hands, the golden thread was gone.
“Now what?” I looked at my wrist, then at her.
The question mark was the punctuation that invited disaster. The moment I asked, my core burned again, this time centered in my heart. I stumbled away from Metice, who placed his hand on his chest.
“What is this?” Metice choked out his own question, and then, those same threads ripped through his chest. They shot out at me like circuits looking for a connection.
The golden threads waited for a response and found it when my chest opened with the same dramatic display. The threads, what looked like hundreds of them, reached out to his, blending together. Soon, they weren’t just individual strings searching for a path of connection. Their deliberate movements created a beautiful woven tapestry made of our essences. She said I would change, and not only could I feel it, but I could see it happening. The very basis of my being shifted, and Metice became a part of me.
The tighter they wove, the closer they pulled us together. When we were chest to chest, they exploded into light that flowed inward and flooded our bodies. The warmth reached all the way down to my toes. I looked into his dark eyes and saw the sun behind them. He was everything, all encompassing, all consuming. He was life.
“Now, you two are one.” Floushal clapped, as if she’d just given us the greatest news.
“Meaning?” I looked at Metice, who shrugged. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one confused.
“Your souls are bonded forever. Um.” She paused, tapping her chin. “Oh, in human terms, you are married.”
“Married?” I’m sure if my jaw wasn’t connected to my face, it would have been rolling across the floor. “Did you say married? When did I agree to be married? You didn’t say I had to be married to live.”
“It’s just a matter of saying.” The woman lifted her boney shoulders. “You’re alive. Be happy. Look, you’re already more vibrant, strength quickly returning to you.”
“We don’t have time to freak out over this.” Metice touched my arm. “We have to go, but you can curse me out as much as you want later.”
“You knew this would happen?” I smacked his shoulder. Was that why he chose this dress? He wanted me to look pretty for our wedding.
“No,” he clarified. “But I know we can’t stay here, and knowing you, there is a lot more you want to say. Let’s get out of here, and you can lay it on me.”
“Fine.” I turned to Floushal, who had a twist of joy and disappointment on her face. “I’m sorry for my outburst. Thank you for helping us. Thank you for saving my life.”
“Oh, you’re so welcome.” She smiled. “Metice, do try to come and visit again. I miss our chats.”
“I’ll do my best.” He looked at me. “Time for you to go home. You’ve spent enough time in hell.”
Metice pulled my hand into his and, using his power, we left the old woman behind. He might have intended to take me home, but what his power started, my power finished. I felt it happen mid shift when I took control of the ride. Then, that haze ended, that foggy space between one world and the next. We definitely were not in my home.
We hung in the air again.
“Oh shit. Not again.” I braced myself.
And we fell!