Chapter 64 #2
“Sedation should wear off before the sun gets too high, based on how long we’ve had them,” Kasia said, stretching her limbs.
“Good news is the prisoners fled east, we’re headed west, and chances are The Order will be searching south.
Now we’ve just got to survive the travel.
Lucky we’ve got an herbalist with us.” She smiled beneath the faint blue of the coming dawn.
The world seemed so dark. The sun would surely rise, but it would take no darkness with it.
We managed a few more miles of travel, broken up by many breaks, our bodies far too tired to carry on in that manner.
The sky transformed into a beautiful shade of orange when I rested my head against Dae’s shoulder during a break I hoped would last longer than five minutes.
With the rising heat, I didn’t doubt any bodily contact would soon become too stifling, so I soaked in the feel of his sturdy strength while I could.
Tio groaned and murmured, the first sounds he’d made in hours. I scrambled across the leaf laden ground, racing to his side. “Tio! Tio, are you awake?”
I cupped his face in my hands, his beard stubble stabbing like tiny needles. His eyes fluttered, eventually finding the strength to hold them open. “Ro?” he mumbled, barely audible.
Joy fractured my heart. “Yes, yes, it’s me. I’m here.” I released a sob, smiling at the sight of my best friend’s bright teal eyes.
He blinked a few times, his eyes widening once realization dawned on him. “Ro.” He launched forward, wrapping me in a hug. “You’re okay,” he said in disbelief.
“I am. You are, too.” I squeezed him tighter.
“What the fuck happened?” he whispered.
“It’s a long story. Why were you in Argora Vale? You know that place is cursed, right?” I laughed, and he chuckled lightly in reply. “I hear it didn’t work,” I said, solemnly.
“No, it didn’t. Mel was—Mel. Where’s Melody?!” Panic accosted his jovial features. He pinched his dark brows together, gaze searching until it fell over my shoulder. He darted upright, almost shoving me to the side to get to her. “Melody!”
He crawled, then cradled her like a lover. My heart ached at the way he assessed the unconscious beauty. He brushed his tan hand over her fair cheek. “How long have we been out?” he asked, peering around at the three of us. “And who are you guys?”
It was happening, the introduction I’d dreamed of. Hadn’t imagined we’d be in such dire straits when it did, but my heart flipped over itself. Dae stood tall, arms crossed before him, onyx hair slicked back in a knot on his head. “I’m Dae, this is Kasia.”
“Hiya.” She waved, sweat glistening over her ebony skin.
Tio grimaced, holding his stare on Dae. “You call yourself a god?”
“That’s what I said!” I gestured wildly with my hands, tears nearly springing forward at how much I’d missed him.
“Okay, Sparrow,” Dae’s lip twitched, that thick black beard framing his teasing smile. My name was mesmerizing on his tongue, and I drank him in.
“Woah, first name basis. She must really like you,” Tio said.
A flash of warmth no doubt tinted my cheeks.
Dae dropped his folded arms and walked over.
He blocked me from view of everyone else, swiped his thumb along the rosy blush, and said between us, “Don’t worry, I really like you too.
” He gave me a wink and a charming smile, one that made me question how I could ever feel embarrassment over my attraction to this man. Hell, how didn’t everyone want him?
He stepped to the side, though I couldn’t take my eyes off him for a few more moments.
Whatever god was in charge of luck must have favored me to place Dae in my path.
I wanted to climb that man like a tree, and on any other occasion, I would have.
But the summer heat was setting in, and we had a long way to go.
Kasia revisited Tio’s former question, before Dae had stolen all the attention—rightly so. “You’ve been out since we found you, for at least six hours. I don’t know if you were awake before you made it to camp or not. Same with her.” She glanced at Melody.
A crease formed between Tio’s eyebrows. “I…I don’t think so. It’s fuzzy. We traveled for a couple of days, but I can’t recall anything after we cleared Witches Pass.” Tio fixated on the sleeping beauty.
Kasia’s face dropped and twisted in a way my gut told me I didn’t want Tio to see. “Kasia, let’s forage for some food before we continue.”
She peeled her gaze from Tio and nodded.
“Don’t go far,” Dae said, extending his hand to lift me from my crouched position.
Unable to stop myself, I tossed my arms over his shoulders and threw myself onto his lips. He didn’t miss a beat, hands roaming across my back and gripping my neck, holding me close.
“What was that for?” he asked with a smile that made my knees weak when I finally pulled back.
“Just…thank you for caring about me.” I flashed a simple smile, then headed into the woods with Kasia.
I didn’t look back. Couldn’t bring myself to watch him shrink from view as distance separated us. I cleared my throat. “What was that about?” I asked once we were out of earshot.
“What was what about?” She kept her focus on the ground, searching for something edible.
Morning light streamed through the leaves, forming shadowed dots over us like leopards. She wore a burgundy suede vest and rolled her brown linen sleeves high.
“The look you gave Tio when you heard him say how long they had been unconscious for.”
She chewed her lower lip. “The herbs they use, when mixed with magic for a spell of rest, well…it’s not a precise science. Sometimes the spell binds too strongly, sometimes the herb is too potent.”
An uncomfortable worry spread throughout my chest. “What does that mean?”
“Sometimes people don’t wake at all.” The look she cast me was grave, concern rooted deep in her brown eyes.
Fear wrapped my heart like an iron cuff. “When will we know?”
She shook her head as we continued trudging through the woods, her eyes scanning the variety of flora around us.
“The window is closing, I’m afraid. Your friend Tio, he stirred in the night, so I wasn’t too worried.
But the girl…she’s been utterly quiet since we saved her. Generally, if it’s beyond ten hours…”
“There’s still time,” I snapped, unwilling to accept any other outcome.
She hummed in agreement next to me, but didn’t comment further. A placating sound, though I sensed it was only for my benefit.
We spent another fifteen to twenty minutes rummaging through the forest before Kasia found the vine of an edible plant.
She wielded her magic, speeding the growth of the blooms. A drop of sweat ran down the side of her face.
They blossomed, revealing bright colored flowers that harbored bulbs beneath.
When those bulbs grew and opened, fruit dangled from them.
We plucked and plucked until we had enough to feed all our bellies.
Kasia wobbled when she stood.
“Are you alright?” I placed my hand against her back to steady her.
She blinked and blew out a prolonged breath. “Used a lot of magic in the past day, that’s all.”
“How long will it take to replenish?” My cheeks heated at the question.
My magic had been the type that didn’t fit the normal descriptor.
Tio described it as a well inside of him, one he could draw from.
Mine, however, seemed to be constant in its existence.
At least, I’d never communicated with a creature long enough to test its limits.
Apparently, mine didn’t require much power at all.
“With a full stomach and a good rest, I should be right as rain.” She ran a hand over the tiny coiled curls that covered her shorn head.
We were all pushing our limits, and we’d need to for a while still.
On our walk back, and I couldn’t resist the question rising in my throat.
“Why didn’t you use your shielding to run away with your husband before yesterday?
Why stay?” Perhaps it was too personal a question, to which she could kindly tell me to fuck off and I’d drop it.
She sighed, a weight that looked akin to grief resting upon her face.
“It took months to find him. I pestered everyone in my town when he went missing. Some of the older women had the nerve to look at me with pity in their eyes, doling out their own sad stories of husbands who’d departed in the night.
But I knew Tomas, and the love we shared. He would never betray me.
“Besides, he’d been growing weaker and sicker by the day.
He could hardly walk a block without stopping to get sick.
There was no way he could muster the strength to leave.
After a couple weeks of persistence, I finally heard something I hadn’t prior.
A traveling party had come through, staying at the local inn.
They’d left before morning and the innkeeper commented on their strange, elusive behavior.
“That’s when I knew to follow their trail. So I tracked them north, and literally just walked right in. Shielded, of course. When I saw what conditions they had Tomas in, and when he explained what went on, I knew it would take a more invasive approach.
“Tomas had developed a cough from the lack of nutrition. Not the same kind of sick as before, mind you, but still no condition to travel or even sneak out of camp. He’s gotten better since I arrived, sneaking fresh fruit when I can, but we both knew he couldn’t make the journey past the sentinels without hacking his lungs out and getting us caught.
He wouldn’t risk me facing those consequences.
I tried to convince him, but he wouldn’t even consider it.
I wondered if I’d ever have the opportunity to try. ”
And now they were both free, wandering these same woods to a future that held a chance for hope and love and life. But my peace was still a couple tasks away.
“One night, when I shielded myself and went to see Tomas, I saw Dae with Delia. He wasn’t cruel or harsh. They spoke like they had something important to discuss. Only when a guard came snooping around did he wear that assaulting facade, so I knew I wasn’t the only one pretending.”
Despite all the corruption, our connections to one another drove our actions to stand against it. “It’s a delicate balance of a game, isn’t it? We all have loved ones we’ve vowed to protect, and we’ll do it by any means necessary.”
“We certainly will. Oh, it was Val that set your tent on fire, by the way.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Doesn’t surprise me.”
“I knew you weren’t there, so I let it happen. Interfering would have stoked the fire of questioning, so to speak.”
“She probably would’ve just come at me harder next time if you’d stopped her.”
We neared the camp, and I picked up cadences of conversation.
Taking less care of the berries cupped in my shirt, I ran with abandon, losing a few along the way.
When I reached them, I saw Melody gazing up at Tio, smiling.
My vision instantly blurred seeing the way his face lit up, how his fallen tears darkened her clothes.
“You’re awake,” I exclaimed, fear melting off my heart.
Melody slowly tilted to face me. “Ro, I’m so glad you’re okay. We were worried about you.”
“Thank the gods,” Kasia whispered when she emerged from the woods beside me.
“I told you there was time.” I flashed a cocky smirk.
“Yeah, and now we don’t have to carry either of them the rest of the way.” She grinned.
I nudged her shoulder with mine before divvying up the berries.
Pretty soon we were all refueling our bodies, preparing for the grueling travel that lay ahead.
The wave of relief was like a drug, leaving me buzzing with a barrage of good feelings.
While Tio ensured Melody nourished herself, she spared the same level of care for him.
Kasia rested her eyes beneath some shade, which allowed Dae and I a few moments together.
I playfully popped some berries into his mouth using my index finger, straddling his lap in our seated position.
Getting lost in his deep dark eyes could have been something I dedicated hours a day to.
I did my best to bury the evidence of my newly hatched sorrow.
Eventually Brax came down and partook of some juicy fruit, a droplet hanging from his chin making it look like he had a tiny dragon beard.
I teased the little reptile, saying how sweet it was that he was trying to look like Dae. He huffed, and a puff of indignant smoke flew from his nostrils. Dae chuckled.
I carved this moment into my memory. To hold onto until the end.