Chapter Twenty-Three
S leep does not find me easily.
In fact, for a long while, it felt nearly impossible to rest after Draven and Kiran declared we should sleep a few hours before officially departing. But eventually, like a shepherd finding its lost sheep, it came for me, and it guided me away from the looming darkness.
In my fitful state, I have strange dreams. Dreams of fire and ice shooting like spears across an ash-ridden sky.
Dreams where I am running through some foreign place, screaming for something precious to me.
Dreams where I meet an old friend on rubble-littered ground.
I dream of Meiji. Of the Abdite plucking life from him as easily as plucking the string of an instrument.
Of my fingers gripping the hilt of a dagger, but really they are gripping the tethers of a life.
And then the true nightmares come.
Flames that grow wider and taller devour me, but they do not burn.
Gods, I wish they would burn me. Clattering voices, heavy silver, a bedroom, and a dead stare.
Voices swim in my mind, haunt my dreams. But there is something different about this familiar nightmare.
A shadow lurking in the dark, watching. It calls to me.
Says my name. Tries to tell me something. I…
“Lyra.” The gentle voice is like a bucket of cool water, refreshing my senses.
I blink my eyes open, the golden sun a shock to my nerve endings, and I’m surprised to find myself gasping for breath, my entire body slicked with cold sweat. It takes me a moment, but everything comes into focus, and Gray’s pinched face enters my line of sight.
“You were having another nightmare,” he murmurs.
He isn’t asking, but still I nod my head.
Gray’s lips thin. “You were talking. In your sleep, I mean. You were saying something strange, and you were fidgeting like crazy. Are you…are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
I tug at my brows and sit up. “No,” I rasp, my fingers gliding across my clammy forehead. “What was I saying?”
He watches me for a long moment. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t figure that out. I did try, but…it was like you were speaking in some foreign language.”
My cheeks puff out from my exhale. “Great,” I drone, dry and flat.
“Oh, good. You're both awake.” Griff appears in front of us. He tries to smile, but I can see through it. It’s easy to glimpse the way the curve no longer rises enough to frame his mouth.
The way the gesture no longer makes his eyes crinkle.
“We’re going to leave for Bathara soon. You might see to your needs and attend to whatever else before then.
” He begins to turn on his heel but stops short, glancing over his shoulder at me.
Griff clears his throat and rubs at the back of his neck.
“Listen…I—uh, I wanted to thank you for what you did for Meiji. That couldn’t have been easy for you.
And also for the tonic. I’m not sure if I would have managed to sleep without it. ”
Before everyone took to their bedrolls, I offered to take a look at their injuries and prepare something for them. Gray was in remarkably good condition, and between Kiran, Draven, and Griff, only Griff accepted my offer.
My eyes drop to my palms. “You don’t owe me any thanks,” I mutter.
A sad smile flits across his lips. “Funny,” he says, his voice far quieter than before. “Meiji used to say the same thing.”
Leaving “soon” is a bit of an understatement.
It’s much more akin to, leaving right now, at this very moment, as soon as everyone stands, ready.
I barely have time to attend to myself before Gray is calling after me, urging me to meet back up with everyone.
The remains of our campfire have been buried, the tents deconstructed, and the supplies packed.
They move quick, I have to give them that.
I shuffle over and find all the boys waiting for me, packs and satchels strapped across their chests.
Gray glances at me and smiles. My lips tug up at him in return as if on instinct, but my eyes drift over to where Draven stands, locked in conversation with Kiran, whose ruby-red hair is half-drawn.
I can’t help but notice how regal it makes Kiran look—like a true highborn noble.
Draven’s shaggy hair, on the other hand, tousles messily with waves, and his jaded features make him appear anything but.
Though, the structure in his every move gives him away.
Not to mention the brash and authoritative way he speaks to people.
Griff claps his hands together. “Alright, gentlemen.” He flicks his eyes to me and smiles. “And lady.”
I snort a laugh and mock a curtsy.
This time, his answering smile meets his eyes. “I’m going to open a portal to Bathara. Now, I’ve been everywhere on the grounds, so does anybody have any place in particular they’d like to be dropped off at?”
I’m happy to hear a bit of the bounciness return to his voice. Still, his phrasing snags my attention. “What does your being everywhere at Bathara have to do with anything?”
“Because an aether-wielder can only open portals to places he’s been to. Or at least seen with his own eyes.”
I blink at him, a little stunned. “Huh…I didn’t know that.”
Griff braces his hands on his hips. “Doesn’t surprise me.
Most of us don’t like to talk about it since it’s typically seen as a weakness.
” He puffs out his chest and lifts his chin.
“But I like to think of it as a necessary handicap to keep our strength in check. Like the gods knew we’d be far too formidable without something anchoring our magic. ”
Kiran strolls over and claps Griff on the shoulder, tilting his face toward him. “Is that what it is?” That taunting lilt of his has returned, along with his signature smirk.
Griff’s brows pinch together. “What else could it be?”
“A weakness,” Draven answers. Coupled with his dry tone and arched brow, I have to stifle my rising laughter. Draven slides his eyes to me before back at Griff.
And I’m glad to see them returning to themselves, even if shocked at the speed of their recovery. Though, I guess death is more normal for them, for a Jurafen—even one in training. Which means it’ll become normal to me.
Terrifying, the way the thought doesn’t phase me.
“A friend of mine is an aether-wielder,” Gray muses. “He says the magic resting within a place can determine whether or not you can open a stable portal. Is that true?”
Griff tilts his head, considering. “That’s true for any wielder’s magic, if you think about it. All magic can be overwhelmed by stronger magic, rendering it useless. The same is true for us.”
Kiran snorts a laugh and folds his arms over his chest. “How very diplomatic of you.”
Griff’s eyes roll around in their sockets before he sighs. “You know, I could always just leave you stranded in the valley,” he mutters.
Kiran’s brows do a little jump. “Ah, gone is the diplomacy. There is the Griffith I know and cherish.”
Griff winces at the use of his full name and glances at me.
My mouth curves into a smile as I rest a hand on my popped hip. “Griffith?”
He flicks his eyes up to the sky before back down at all of us. “Fine,” he grumbles. “To the surrounding hills of the academy it is.” He throws his palm out, and just like Klytis’s portal, it is a vortex of swirling black and glittering silver.
“Ladies first,” Griff instructs.
My mouth parts in rhythm with my rising eyebrows. “Uh-uh. I am not walking through that thing first.” Griff looks to Gray, who looks more than happy to oblige, but I tug on his arm, pulling him back to my side. “ And neither is he.”
With surprise rearranging his features, Gray studies me before blowing out a conceding breath.
Draven steps forward and glances sidelong at me. He clicks his tongue. “And here I thought we were starting to trust each other.” He steps through the portal without another glance.
Kiran rests a gentle hand on my shoulder and smiles at me, then Gray. “I’ll see you both on the other side. Though, the circumstances may be…different.”
Before I can ask what the hell that means, he steps through the swirling portal next. Which just leaves Gray and me.
He turns to face me. “I can go first, if you’d like.”
I shake my head. “No. We’ll go together.”
Gray smiles at that and offers me his hand. I gladly take it, twining my fingers through his as a thousand thoughts race through my mind. Are we wrong to trust this so easily? What if this portal doesn’t lead to Bathara at all, but somewhere else entirely? What if it’s all some trap?
What if? What if? What if?
Gray squeezes my hand, silently telling me to breathe.
“You know,” Griff says. “Your lack of faith in me is hurtful.”
Despite myself, a laugh escapes me. I quip back, “Excuse me for having trust issues with the shameless flirt.”
A sad look flickers in his eyes, and for a moment, I wonder if I shouldn’t have spoken the words Meiji used to describe him. But then the expression passes, and like a hidden sun emerging through rain clouds, Griff’s smile returns—different, yet still bright.
He shrugs. “Fair enough.”
Gray turns his chin over his shoulder to look at me. “Ready?”
I pull my lip between my teeth and nod. “I’m ready.”
I catch the twitch of his fading smile before we step forward to the portal.
And then, we pass through.
When we emerge on the other side, my eyes flutter as they adjust to the glaring sun. Once they do, once I am able to fully take in the sight before me, a soft gasp escapes my parted lips.
An afternoon wind transports the delicious notes of soil and flora, caressing my skin with its gentle touch.
A kaleidoscope of butterflies—wings of blue and black, sage and white, lavender and silver—flutter overhead.
There is a powdery blue sky and clouds that look like candy.
I look left and see verdant hilltops rolling as far as the eye can see; I look right and see more mounds lost in a sea of lush green.
But when I look directly in front of us…