Chapter 16 #5
Zaheera had sent me here with clear instructions to betray Dalkhan, but now I was contemplating the unthinkable.
Betraying her instead.
I rolled onto my side, drawing my knees toward my chest.
Not now. Not yet.
I forced the thoughts down, locking them away behind mental walls built of determination and necessity.
The door hinges squeaked.
I bolted upright, hastily arranging my features into a composed mask.
Mira swept into the room, her presence so light—so oblivious to the storm brewing inside me. She flashed a smile full of warmth and mischief, but I hardly had the strength to return it.
She hovered by the bedside, curiosity shimmering in her gaze.
Mira had seen it all. The way Dalkhan had laid claim to me. The way his power rippled in warning at anyone who dared look too long.
Unable to contain herself any longer, she perched on the edge of the bed, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“Did you…” Her cheeks flushed crimson, spreading down her neck. “Sleep with the king?”
Her eyes widened, a hand flying up to cover her mouth as if she could push the question back in.
I couldn’t resist.
I crooked my finger, beckoning her closer. She leaned in eagerly, her ear nearly touching my lips. I drew in a deep breath…
“YES!” I bellowed, loud enough to shake the walls.
Mira yelped, her whole body flinching before she erupted into laughter, clapping her hands together in pure delight.
“I knew it! I knew it!” She bounced in place, gripping my arms and shaking me. “The way he was looking at you… Elira, I have never seen anyone look at someone like that. Like he would burn the whole world just to touch you!”
I grinned. Dalkhan had touched me like I was something sacred.
Mira settled in more comfortably, crossing her legs beneath her skirt. She flicked her braid over her shoulder and launched into detailed descriptions of Theo’s exploits at the gathering.
I nodded at appropriate intervals, arranging pillows behind my back while she chattered.
“And Jasila!” Mira’s hands flew up. “You should have seen her with Tavrik. I’ve never witnessed her so…” She searched for the word, twirling her fingers in the air. “Captivated. Completely unlike herself.”
Warmth spread through me at the thought. If anyone deserved a chance at happiness, it was him.
Filtered sunlight broke through the leaves as we ventured back towards the ceremonial grounds, our footsteps crunching on fallen leaves and twigs. Mira wasn’t able to join in, so it was just the three of us.
I pressed a hand against the rough bark of an ancient oak. The forest held its breath around us, as if sensing the weight of the secrets I was about to reveal.
I told them everything.
Dalkhan’s past.
The Wielders.
The betrayal.
The war that had shattered everything.
“So, it’s true then,” Theo said. “He’s not letting go of his grudge. He’s going to take back what was stolen.”
Tavrik nodded grimly. “Which means the mortal realm will suffer.”
Before I could respond, Ice flooded my veins. Zaheera’s presence wrapped around me like a viper, squeezing until I could barely move.
“Are you getting closer, or have you already forgotten me?”
Her words dripped with venom.
“Perhaps I should show you what is at stake.”
A violent pull yanked me from my body.
I didn’t have time to even reach for Theo’s hand before he vanished, swallowed by the world disappearing around me.
The forest was gone.
I was… home.
The familiar scent of cardamon and cinnamon wafted through the air, mingling with the jasmine that always grew outside my mother’s window.
The wooden floors creaked beneath my feet while the walls bore memories I hadn’t realised I’d buried.
I ran.
Through the halls, past the open windows where sheer curtains fluttered in the wind. Past the dining table that still held the half-finished embroidery piece my mother had been working on before I left.
And then… There she was.
Time crystalised around the moment, suspending me in agony.
She sat at the edge of her bed, shoulders curved inward like a wilting flower. Her hands—those beautiful hands that had bandaged my wounds, braided my hair, and taught me to write—lay limp in her lap.
She stared through the window with lightless eyes. No recognition. No hope. Just the hollow ache of a heart that had been gutted and left to echo with loss.
She looked so much smaller. Fragile. A crumbled version of the fierce, laughing woman who had filled our home with song.
“Ummi,” I choked, rushing to her. “Ummi, I’m here. Look at me!”
She didn’t move.
I dropped to my knees, reaching for her hands, but she couldn’t feel me.
Tears carved glistening paths down her hollow cheeks.
“Elira… I miss you so much. The house is so quiet without you. I keep waiting to hear your footsteps, your voice calling for me.” Her voice cracked. “My heart aches for you. Please… please come home to me.”
A sob ripped from my chest. I tried desperately to wrap my arms around her. To promise I would never leave again—that I would protect her from all harm.
But I was formless. A ghost haunting the edges of a life I could no longer touch.
“Ummi!” I cried. “I’m here! I’m right here!”
Invisible hands gripped my very essence, ripping me away from the scene.
I screamed, clawing at the empty air.
My mothers form blurred, colours running together like a painting left in the rain. The walls of my childhood home stretched and warped, reality itself bending around me.
“UMMI!”
Darkness swallowed me whole, then the forest slammed back into focus.
My lungs burned as I gasped for air, each breath a jagged knife in my heart. Tears streamed down my face, dripping from my chin.
Strong hands gripped my arms, steadying me when my knees buckled.
“Elira!”
Theo’s voice penetrated the fog of my grief, his face distorted by my tears.
“Elira, look at me!”
Tavrik’s deep voice joined Theo’s, his large hands cupping my face, forcing me to focus. He wiped at my tears with calloused thumbs, a futile gesture against their endless flow.
Their voices were muffled by the storm roaring inside me.
All I could hear was my mother’s broken voice, calling for me across the divide between worlds. Begging me to return to her. The pain in her words, the physical deterioration of her body—all off it was my fault.
“I forgot her, Theo.” My voice broke. “I forgot all about her.”
I ran.
Faster than I ever had before, my muscles burning with miserable intensity. The tall grass whipped against my thighs, leaving stinging welts as I propelled across the forest.
Theo and Tavrik’s boots hammered against the earth behind me, their shouts cracking as they gave chase.
They would not catch me—could not catch me.
Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
The word battered against my skull.
Zaheera had found the single thread that when pulled, would unravel me entirely.
The vision clung to me like second skin, burning through flesh and bone. My mother, alone. Sick. Calling for me in the darkness.
I reached the heart of the ceremonial grounds just as a pulse of power slammed into me like a wall.
It was deafening now—no longer a whisper but a roar. An echo of something ancient clawing its way to the surface.
The stone was here.
It had always been here, lurking beneath. I had ignored it—turned away in fear, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
The moment my feet struck the exact spot, the power exploded into white-hot fire. I crashed to my knees, agony lancing through my veins.
Theo and Tavrik skidded to a halt inches from where I knelt. Their shadows fell across me, but I didn’t look up.
I dug.
The stone slabs were rough-hewn and heavy, their edges biting into my palms as I wrenched them free from their centuries-old resting place. My nails splintered against the unyielding rock.
I knew they were watching me, but I didn’t care.
I would tear through the entire world, stone by stone, if it meant finding a way back to her. I had forgotten her—gotten so wrapped up in this realm, so lost in him—that I’d abandoned my own mother to suffer alone.
I brushed against something unnaturally smooth amid the rough soil. I scraped away the caked mud with trembling hands, dirt wedging beneath my broken nails as I clawed at the earth like a woman possessed.
And then I saw it.
My heart beat wildly in my chest, my eyes stretched wide. Carefully, I reached toward it, fingers hovering just above its surface.
A violent jolt struck me—a power so intense it felt as though my soul was being torn from my body.
I shook off the sensation and lunged forward, clamping my hand around the damn thing, screaming through my teeth as I wrenched it from its earthen prison.
The stone was small enough to fit in my palm, its edges jagged and cruel, but smooth as silk everywhere else. It pulsed with a deep crimson glow, shadows twisting inside like trapped smoke, writhing against their cage.
Theo and Tavrik dropped to their knees beside me, their faces pale as death. Sorrow was etched into the lines around their mouths, a silent understanding darkening their eyes like storm clouds.