Kissed by the Sun (Bound by the Veil #3)
Chapter 1
Chapter
One
Senara
When I woke up, the clang of steel on steel reverberated in my ears. The shouts of fighting were deafening in my ears as my vision began to clear.
I tried to sit up in bed but found that I was already standing.
In the middle of a battlefield.
Just as I was wondering how the hell I got there, an all-too-familiar voice sounded from just behind me. “Horrific isn’t it?” she asked as a warrior screamed while being impaled on a sword in front of me.
My senses were too muddled to understand anything, and I was left with my mouth working in response, but no words coming out.
“This isn’t happening right now, do not fret.” An unnatural wave of calm swept over me. “You are not on this battlefield, only observing it as one might a memory, for it is a memory of mine.”
I finally turned toward the voice and saw the woman from when I’d passed through the Veil.
“The fae were once a mighty people. They ruled from mountain to field, from glittering wave to glittering wave and everything in between, yet in our current time they have fallen, much lower than I ever would have imagined.” She shook her head sadly, even as she watched more warriors died in front of her. “They've surrounded themselves in a bubble, the magic of which is slowly eating away at the core of them, and they don't even realize it. This battle,” she paid and gestured to the fighting fae in front of us, “is just one of many that occurred when they were new, fighting for dominance.”
I glanced away from the woman.
The warrior closest to me jumped backward and wings unfurled from his body.
A gasp left me as surprise rocked through me. The wings weren't like a butterfly or a dragonfly, nor were they like a bird’s, they shimmered in the same way as the Veil, that strange iridescent purple-green with hints of blue and yellow. All of the colors each getting their own second in the sun as the male warrior flapped and drove himself higher above the battlefield before he swooped down, sword in hand, and beheaded his opponent. The force of the impact sent the two parts of the opposing warrior flying in different directions.
The fae in flight looked like an avenging god, one punishing a blasphemer. As though his actions had inspired others, fae all over the battlefield shook their own wings out before soaring into the skies and dive-bombing their opponents like sparrows on a hawk.
All different shades of armor glittered in the sun, which would have made it feel warm in a way, if it wasn’t for the bitter wind blowing through the air, bringing the scent of blood to my nose. The metallic tang coated the back of my throat, reminding me of my own battles that I’d fought in the past.
“They can fly,” I murmured, amazed at what I was seeing.
“The magic of the fae used to be strong, stronger than any of the other magic beings. When I say that their isolation has eaten away at them, this is what I mean. It has made them weak, vulnerable. The blight that is spreading across the land is a good indication of that. If their magic was as strong as it once was when I could visit the realms, then they would have no problem fighting it off, holding out against it, hunting down the source.” She sighed wearily, like a parent dealing with a misbehaving child. “Instead, they flee from the countryside into the cities, letting it spread further and further and grow more powerful with every passing day. Since it has yet to reach any of their major cities, they don't think it's a threat, or at least not one that is worth investigating.”
A roar sounded, and the same bald-headed man I had seen previously emerged onto the battlefield from somewhere. He had a great hulking frame, bigger than anybody else around him, and his sword was aflame; but not just with regular fire, these flames were bright white with a slightly blue and purple tinge to them. The colors echoed the ones in the gown of the Goddess that stood next to me.
“I see my love has come to retrieve me,” the woman said. A small smile crossed her face as she looked at the man. “He leads the Sun Court,” she explained, turning that secretive smile on me. “I know you have very little knowledge of fae history and politics, which is partially why I chose you. Why the magic chose you. You are unbiased. You have yet to see the failures, to pass judgment. You are my greatest hope and my deepest fear. If the fae are too far gone then there is nothing that will save them, not even the intervening of gods, but if they listen then they just might be able to bring themselves back from the precipice of annihilation.”
Her voice resonated within my very soul.
“If they do not seek help, seek to expand their views of the world, then there is no hope,” she murmured. Those words seemed to be more to herself than to me, though.
The man came striding across the battlefield, cutting down anyone who got in his way. I had no idea what the fight I was watching was even about, with the exception of dominance as she had mentioned. Was he cutting down friend and foe alike? He certainly didn’t seem to care whether those in front of him wore gold or silver armor as he started toward this Goddess, who was still standing next to me with a regal bearing that would put any other ruler to shame.
He had a single-minded determination to get to her, that much was obvious from the way his gaze never strayed from her for more than a blink of an eye. His focus was one that, if I was honest, made me a little jealous.
It wasn't that I wanted to be part of a war or a battle of any kind—I had fought so much already in my life that I would be fine if I never had to fight again. Seeing the way he focused on her as he came toward her, but still took care of the enemies in his path? I couldn't imagine anybody having that kind of devotion to me.
“Who are the fae fighting?” I asked finally. It was somewhat to fill the silence and somewhat to distract her from the way she had seemed to forget that I was there as the bald man drew closer.
Her gaze flicked down to me for the briefest moment. “This is not necessarily one specific battle, more an amalgamation of battles that have occurred over the centuries. However, I am pulling from the memory of the last battle that my mate and I descended to take part in.”
“Your mate?” I asked.
“What else would I call the man who makes the sun rise for me?”
“She makes the moon rise for me in return.” Suddenly the bald headed man was right there in front of us when he’d still been a good distance away when I looked at him last.
I was dwarfed by his presence. Not just his size, but his presence. It was like a physical entity battering at me.
Standing next to the Goddess felt like slipping into a pool of warm water. I knew she was there, but it was a comforting embrace, whereas his presence was more like a wildfire running rampant through a forest.
“Your Sun is coming,” she said eventually after exchanging a long, indecipherable look with the man. “Don't lose hope.”
The clang of steel began to fade, as though we were moving away from the battlefield even though I could still see it clearly happening right in front of me.
“We must leave,” the bald-headed man said, his gaze traveling over the Goddess with concern as though assessing for injury. “It is too difficult for you to stay in this world.”
She nodded.
I opened my mouth to protest. There was still so much I wanted to know, wanted to talk to her about.
“It was different when you were in the Veil, surrounded by magic itself, but entering your dreams is something that I can hardly do anymore. However, I needed you to know that I was aware of your plight.” Her form flickered for a moment, making my breath catch and as I glanced between the two deities I saw the worry on his face, even if it was only there for a moment. When she stabilized once more she said, “You have trials and tribulations ahead. And I hope you don't have to give up that which is most precious to you in order to succeed, but I beg you as the Goddess of the Moon to please help our children survive.” She reached out and clasped the Sun God’s hand, the two of them squeezing each other as their eyes tightened slightly, sadness tinging their expressions.
The sun God nodded at me slightly before the two of them disappeared and I was left watching a battle I knew nothing about. Warriors slaughtered each other by the dozens across the battlefield and I couldn’t help but feel an almost overwhelming sadness at the loss of life, and if I was honest, the loss of magic that the fae had experienced. Did they know they used to be able to fly?
My thoughts raced as the men and women doing battle in front of me began to fade like a memory being forgotten over time, and I suppose that was exactly what it was, at least in the minds of the fae of my time. It seemed like the only ones who remembered were the two deities I’d just spoken with.
Somehow I got the feeling that if I came out and said I’d met with the Goddess of the Moon in my dreams every fae that heard about it would laugh me out of court. Not exactly something that I was going for at the moment, not when I was still trying to figure out what was going on, especially what was going on between me and Thorn. Just the thought of him had my brain snapping back to reality and pulling me from this strange dream.