Moon Raven Rising (The Moon Raven Trilogy #3)

47. Raelle

Chapter forty-seven

The protests from everyone died the moment I conjured Dax’s shadows with him nowhere in sight. Even though I take comfort in knowing my people are currently safe and far from Soren, it still worries me breaking away from them like this... but the pain I felt coming from Dax…

Bracarva took flight as soon as I said the words. I, however, had to make sure that the people who were looking to me for answers knew where I was going.

Trent surprisingly gave me the most issues about leaving. It’s understandable why. He is looking out for what Dax would want. I know that Dax wouldn’t want me flying back toward the castle because of him, but I refuse to sit back and just wait. My wings carve through the clouds as I follow the route that Bravarva took but minutes ago.

Just before I reach the castle grounds, I hear her bellowing cry and the crashing sound of stone crumbling. Her rattling growl grows to a frenzy as I break the cloud cover. I see her giant black glittering tail disappear into the mouth of the cave in the cliffside the castle is carved into.

It only takes a breath; one moment I’m breathing in the fresh air of freedom, and the next I feel the world shift under my feet. Choking on sorrow-filled pain and the sight of blood.

My wings flatten on my back as I nose-dive to where Bracarva launches into the sky. Dax and the others are in a heap on her back, but the blood being staunched by Osiris’ hands over my mate’s abdomen sends my heart plummeting with my descent through the air.

Landing on the moving dragon’s back, I drop to my knees at Dax and Osiris’s sides, keeping my balance by gripping Osiris’ shoulder and the lapel of Dax’s coat.

“What happened to him?!” I cry, but my voice is lost to the wind as Bracarva carries us further from the castle. Each wing’s beat brings us closer to what could be the end. The harrowing scene unfolds before me, the amount of blood still coming from the wound at Dax’s stomach…I can’t help the downward spiral of my thoughts.

“I can’t do this without you! Please, don’t make me.” My begging comes out with a choked cry as I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to push myself out of this nightmare, but when they open again, I know this isn’t like the vision before. This blood is real. Warm and filled with draining life.

Osiris covers my hand with his other over Dax’s injury, bringing my attention to him. His eyes are filled with more emotion than I have ever seen, and it’s not comforting to see. I shake my head as tears, searing hot, stream down my face in an unyielding current.

“Trust me.” I see the words play over his lips, but the sound of his voice doesn’t reach my ears over the wind and my own blood rushing in them. Do I even have a choice? My nostrils flare as I agree to give him my trust. All words are stuck, lodged in my throat, and causing me to suffocate on sadness.

“Do you have the moonstone I gave you?” I nod again in response, unable to bring words to life. “Good. Raelle, I need you to use it. Hold it in your palm and let your magic guide you.”

“I can’t heal—Osiris, it doesn’t feel right. The wound…” I stammer. Osiris shifts and a face I haven’t seen in the light of day comes into view just beyond his shoulder.

“You can do more than you think, Moon Raven.” A flare of emotion shines in his eyes, causing a shift in my thoughts. The confidence of a stranger brings me strength. I nod again, first looking at the odd pain I see clouding Cano’s already dark eyes and his brows pinch, giving me a curt nod in return.

“Save him.” His eyes drop to the wound as I pull my hand free of Dax’s stomach; he groans in pain as his head falls to the side. It’s only seconds until my fingers are curling around the rough stone in my pocket.

Immediately, I feel the pull of magic. The tug happens first in my palm, where the stone rests, then in the center of my chest. A lightness lifts my heavy heart and carries it to the answer of what I know I need to do.

I press my right hand, holding the stone to Dax’s stomach as Osiris keeps his body upright and held to his chest. I lift Dax’s chin with my other hand, pressing my lips firmly to his, and at the same time I release my magic. Warmth surges from my palm, a kindling of fire I didn’t know I had…

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay, Dax.” His lips part under mine in a gasp, and I continue to whisper the promise into his lips. Over and over again, I don’t know if I’m trying to convince him or myself, but I continue to press my magic down on the wound.

With a heavy thump, Bracarva lands on the barren soil between the wastelands and the caves at the border of the Soule mountains. The ground beneath her feet vibrates with the force. I feel as though no time at all has passed, but the ache in my stiff muscles says otherwise. Being hunched over Dax slowly pouring magic into his wound on the entire flight has drained me more than I thought it could.

Even though I know we have landed and are safe to dismount Bracarvas back, I don’t move, and neither does anyone else. I lay there trembling, afraid that my efforts were fruitless. I don't notice anyone around. No sound or voices. No movement or stillness registers to me as I just sit there with my turbulent emotions.

A warm press on my cheek causes my eyes to flutter open, and when they lock in place with two twin flickering embers of Dax’s Raven, my shift overwhelms me. My eyes flash with light, my wings coming free at my back, and I gleam as Dax cups my face with both of his hands.

“I don’t think I’ve told you just how amazing you are lately.” He says, pressing his forehead to mine.

“I don’t think you have said much of anything to me lately… You know with all the saving the kingdom, shadow projecting, and being kidnapped by evil assholes and all…” I laugh, then remember one of the evil assholes is still holding Dax up. Pushing back, I look up into Osiris’s crystalline gaze and smile warmly. “At least one of the assholes has some redeeming qualities.” Osiris huffs out a half laugh as I move to stand and he pushes Dax to sit up fully.

Both men sit there for a moment, looking up at me and then at our surroundings. The desolate ruins at their backs and the mountains at mine. I feel the magic more than the last time I was here. Its oppressive presence makes the air thick and coats the land with an eeriness I’ve not felt anywhere else. Osiris’s eyebrows dip deep on his forehead as though he feels it too, and Dax’s gaze barely wanders away from me.

Osiris helps Dax stand by lifting him at the elbow; surprisingly, Dax allows it without a second thought, and Bracarva leans lower than I thought possible, allowing both men to slide down the glittering scales of her shoulder. I glide down, catching air with my wings spread wide to slow my descent. Osiris releases Dax once they have their boots on the ground, and he limps slowly over to me. He remains clutching the area of ripped leather, which still shines with the slick darkness of his blood.

He slowly lifts one hand, shakily lifting my chin so our eyes lock. Goosebumps rise along my arms and skate down my spine as his thumb brushes the underside of my lip and it wobbles. My worry over the time spent on the back of a dragon, literally holding his life with my hands easing in just one look. I gaze through the windows of the soul I thought I may never get to see again and hope that he sees the amount of love that I do looking down at me.

“I guess it’s time to do hero shit.” A teasing glint enters his eyes, and I can’t help but laugh as I launch myself at him. He catches me with a grunt of pain but wraps his arms around my waist and crushes me to his body. “This time, I’m not letting you out of my sight. From here on out, we face things together.” His words are breathed into my hair. His fingers snake into my hair at the nape of my neck; he cradles my head back so I look up at him. “All of us.” He says before he traps my lips with his.

After a moment of silence, Cano clears his throat, but Dax does not relent. His kiss deepens. Angling my head to take his tongue deeper, causing a hum of need to build within me, before he finally eases away and looks up at our audience. Most of them had the decency of looking away, but the man I recognize as the prisoner from the cell in Demetrey is blatantly staring. His eyes sparkle with awe as he looks between Dax and me with a barely stifled smile.

“I’ve always believed that fate had a plan. Even when it felt impossible. When it caused pain and heartache, I always knew… The time would come when all the suffering the kingdom had been enduring would come to an end.” The man’s words bring the attention of Cano and Osiris, and Dax grips my hand in his as he limps forward toward him.

“Raelle Apus Aberra Ravendene, Queen of Aldramani, I’d like you to meet someone very special to me.” He guides me to the man and he reaches for my hand. “Uncle Declan, meet my wife.” The moment his hand closes around my wrist, I fall into a pit of a thousand thoughts. Everything swirling around in a vortex of nothingness. A darkness so dark, it swallows light, and a light so glaringly bright it leaves no darkness to hide. A constant battle of day and night. Flashes of lives once lived, of lives being taken.

A voice echoes through my consciousness, the tumble of each word like a velvet caress, “Daughter of the Moon, your rise is soon. Bring balance to those who have lost their way. Bonds carry weight, but they also carry might. Be what is strong and do what is right.” My eyes snap open with a gasp. I look between my arm wrapped in the skin and bone fingers of a man who was thought to be dead and his kind, deep golden eyes before they roll into the back of my head and I lose the ability to stand.