Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Kallie
Odeyssa sits up, stretching from a full night’s rest, while my eyes stay glued to the top of the cave.
After Voraxis and I finished our conversation—which I’m still shocked Odeyssa never woke up for—we collectively decided to sleep while we could.
There wasn’t anything either of us could do then anyway.
But sleep never came. Constant thoughts and different scenarios ran through my head all night and bled into the early morning.
And from the looks of things, Voraxis didn’t get much rest either.
It could’ve been from his own thoughts, or maybe mine were too loud.
But it doesn’t do anything to calm my nerves.
Instead, it only heightens them, knowing neither of us are going to be at our best.
“Good morning,” Odeyssa chirps blissfully. “I trust everyone is well rested.” I tilt my head back, straining my neck to look at her beaming face.
Annoyance bubbles in my chest. Clearly, she can’t read the room.
Voraxis grumbles something under his breath, and I don’t have the energy to care enough to figure out what it was.
“It was a long night, to say the least.”
She looks at me puzzled. “I’ll explain later. But maybe take the peppiness down a few notches.” Or all of them. Voraxis huffs out a laugh.
The exhaustion is imminent as my head immediately begins to pound as I sit up. “You got the necklace?” Without responding, I take out my dagger and pull out the amulet that was resting at the bottom of my sheath and hold it out to her.
“All this trouble for that?”
“You’re telling me.” I put it back where it was, placing my dagger on top and securing it shut.
We should get going, Voraxis suggests, and although my body begs for sleep, that’s unfortunately not an option.
I tell Odeyssa, and she agrees with a firm nod. We both pick up the blankets we grabbed from one of the pouches on the saddle, toss them back where they belong, and single file out of the cave that offered us shelter when we needed it most.
But looking back at it now, and what the cave brought us, it seems more fate than chance.
Outside, the forest is gloomy, air stifling with humidity, causing my leathers to stick to me more than they already were. “I would do anything for a shower right now,” I state longingly, imagining how it would feel to have the scalding-hot water beating down on my dirt-ridden skin.
But then that entices a memory to surface—one that I would love nothing more than for it to be wiped from my mind for good. But the more I try to push it away, the more it presses forward, like this is the perfect moment to relive it.
My cheeks heat instantly, remembering how at peace I had become with life. Content. And although there had been talk of the war, it never truly sunk in until I was thrown into the deep end without a lifejacket.
“Everything okay?” Odeyssa inquires, her voice carrying a lighthearted chuckle of amusement.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, yeah I’m good.” However, by the way her head tilts along with the corner of her lips, I know she fully intends on bringing this up again.
“What’s the plan now?” she asks.
I look around at the dead shrubs and fallen branches, and I take in the silence.
“Now that we have the necklace, I think it’s better we leave sooner rather than later,” I state, dreading having to go back out there.
But even that is a guessing game. None of us knows if we’ll be able to leave once we reach the barrier, but it was a necessary gamble.
The unknown is terrifying. For all we know, Callum and whoever else could be waiting outside the fog for us, not wanting to risk entering themselves. It’s not like I want to stay here, necessarily, but here is relatively safe.
“And from there?”
“I don’t know, okay. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m flying by the seat of my pants,” I snap, my tone a bit more aggressive than I anticipated.
Why can’t anyone see that there is literally no game plan going on up here?
Not only do I not know what to do, or expect, but it seems like every decision that’s made is on my shoulders and turns into some sort of life-or-death situation.
Odeyssa is the fucking princess of Nefarium.
Where’s her responsibility? Agitation settles deep in my bones as I climb onto Voraxis, and against my will, the resentment starts building.
Odeyssa follows close behind, and I can feel the tension.
It’s weighted like a string tied around both our middles, pulling taut with all the things left unsaid.
Voraxis pushes off the ground, launching us into the sky. The sound of his wings beating slows down my heart rate, and at some point, it evens out, and they’re both thumping in tandem.
I’m grateful for the wind piercing my ears, the sting in my eyes, the safety and comfort I find up here.
I sink into that, letting the world be still for a while.
Because once we touch land, all the problems down there resume, and the blissful bubble up here will pop.
The remnants will sprinkle over us and caress us with the small promise of finding it again.
Miraculously, Voraxis gets us back to roughly where we entered—I think. Who really knows? It all looks the same, but he mentioned the spot where we had the Demicrogen ambush and went from there.
The dense wall of fog remained the same in our absence.
Not that I expected it to change—it’s been here for however many hundreds of years.
But the thought crosses while I try not to think about the events that followed last time I passed through.
On the flight, I finally broke down and told Odeyssa about the dream.
It was hard to relive it again. She wanted as many details as I could manage, and there were times I caught myself pausing, getting choked up from it all.
Whether she was shocked or not, I couldn’t really tell, but there was a quiet shift within her that I wasn’t anticipating.
Mainly, I think she’s concerned that if it happened once, it could happen again. And there wasn’t anything I could do to reassure her that it wouldn’t. So we left it at that, leaving the rest of the flight silent.
“We could die,” Odeyssa ponders nervously.
“Won’t know unless we try,” I retort, attempting to keep my cool, but in reality, I’m stressing the fuck out. “Besides, what’s the alternative? Staying here? I’m sure your father wouldn’t be pleased if you never returned.”
“No doubt Aslan sent word of my appearance. But my father trusts her, and if she told him there was nothing to worry about, that would be it,” she explains.
“But on the other hand, it might be better if I stay behind. You’ve never seen my father upset, and let me tell you, that is something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. ”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” My eyes shift to the side, watching Voraxis pace the wall’s edge. We could be walking into a trap.
There’s always that chance, he replies.
That’s not very reassuring, I huff.
Nobody will lay a finger on you, Firebird. Trust that. It’s so dumb. But the nickname he gave me resonates with something deep inside, making me catch the air in my throat each time. Don’t get sappy now.
I chuckle, shaking my head when I catch sight of Odeyssa staring at us on my other side. “Sometimes I really feel like a third wheel.” She must sense my uncertainty and holds her hand out to me. Hesitantly, I take it, and she squeezes my hand in reassurance.
We both take a deep breath, and I look over at Voraxis one last time then squeeze my eyes shut—for some reason it gives me a false sense of security, but I’ll take it where I can— before we all step through to the unknown.
It’s cold, the previous suffocating humidity nearly forgotten about. It’s refreshing the way it glides over my flesh, kissing me softly like it can’t decide whether to love me or destroy me.
I’m praying for the former.
My eyes remain shut, unwilling to open and be disappointed with what awaits them. Anxiety takes root, the dark pressure pushing in the longer I’m in here. I have to force it away, fighting against the gnawing intensity. My grip tightens around Odeyssa’s hand. “I can’t do this,” I admit.
“I’m right here.” But my next step is wobbly, and I feel the comfort of Voraxis’s scaly nose against my other side, keeping me upright. The pressure builds in my skull, pressing against all sides, and I can’t help the wail of pain that slips free.
We’re almost there. I can’t remember if it took this long before. It seemed so peaceful, nothing out of the ordinary, until I got through. What if that’s what happens? It waits, poisoning you until the false reassurance hits, and then it takes you out once you break the threshold?
My body slumps to the side Voraxis was just standing on, but only for a second before he’s behind me, pushing me up as fast as he can.
“Can’t. Do. This.” It comes out in pants as I try to catch my breath. But all I can imagine is the venom leaking into my veins.
Push through, Voraxis demands. But I can’t. The pressure is too much, and I’m certain, in a matter of seconds, my brain matter will disintegrate into the surrounding mist.
I know the moment we exit the fog. The intense pressure immediately lifts, and Odeyssa lets go of my hand. However, it does nothing to entice me to open my eyes. In fact, it does the exact opposite, unsure if this is the calm before the storm.
“Kallie,” she whispers. “We made it.” I believe it. The fog was cold—bone chilling, full of reckless promises—but now my skin tingles with the soft warmth of the sun.
Hesitantly, I pry one eye open, and immediately, my retinas are shot. The blinding sun sits high in the sky, clouds litter the bright-blue sky, and for a beat, I appreciate the normalcy of it all before I’m forced to settle into our new reality.
“We made it,” I repeat. Part of me still doesn’t believe it, like we’re in a dream state to ease us into death. The ground rumbles to the left of me, and I know without looking that it’s Voraxis making his way to us.
My brows sharply pull together, confusion threading through them. The relief is short-lived as I swing my gaze to Odeyssa. “Why was it so easy for the both of you?”
“Truthfully, I have no clue. That was way easier than everyone told me it would be,” she admits.
My confused expression quickly changes to a deadpan look.
Realizing her very poor choice of words, she tries to save it, but the damage has already been done.
“Well, for us, anyway. I expected us all to have the same reaction as you,” she admits.
“You know, if we made it out at all…” Odeyssa trails off, essentially shoving her foot in her mouth.
It tracks that I would be the only one to have a reaction. My life is a sea of misfortune.
I feel the weight of the amulet pulling me down with the questions I don’t have answers to. “Well, the dreaded time has come,” I start. “We got the necklace, but what now?”
“Celene didn’t say anything?” Odeyssa inquires.
“Not really. She just said that if it fell into the wrong hands, it wouldn’t be good.”
She scoffs. “Didn’t know we needed a goddess to point out the obvious,” she mumbles under her breath.
My attention pulls to Voraxis. Nefarium.
What about it? he says.
My mouth twists to the side. I think I need to go back. I need to talk to Donni.
That’s a risk, he states, but I see the wheels turning. But not an awful idea.
Everything at this point is a risk. No matter the decision, there’s always going to be danger. On the other hand, there aren’t many options to choose from. But my heart sinks, knowing if we go to Nefarium, Voraxis can’t come.
You will only go as long as communication stays open, he states. If the wall goes up, even for a moment, I will stop at nothing to burn that barrier to the ground. Do I make myself clear?
My lip quirks. Crystal.
We were apart for so long it was like a big, gaping hole took up permanent residence in my chest. I guess it’s always been there. I just didn’t know it until I lost it.
Fuck. The realization slams into me like a freight train. Maybe only one of those holes got patched.
Placing a hand on the side of his face, I give him a look of appreciation before turning my attention to Odeyssa. “You’re right. We should go to Nefarium.”
Her face is a mixture of delight but also fear.
“I have to talk to my dad.” Guilt settles deep.
With everything going on, I completely forgot about the bomb Stephan dropped before his long-awaited end.
I nod in understanding, knowing there are no words I could say to ease the panic coursing through her.
Mounting Voraxis, Odeyssa seems hesitant, and my heart hurts for her.
The conversation will be heavy. The wound of betrayal is still fresh and bleeding, but it has to be done.
For all we know, even if Marcel isn’t the ringleader in all of this, he could still be a piece on the board.
A puppet to the puppeteer. But I won’t say that.
No use in adding more fuel to the fire when there’s no concrete proof.
She climbs on silently, wrapping her arms around my middle, and shockingly, rests her head on my back.
I’ve never been one for physical touch. I like my personal space, but I try to refrain from the instinctual lockup my body craves, knowing right now, she needs comfort more than I need my bubble intact.
You’re sure about this?
I let out a long sigh, weighed down by all the unexpected.
Not really. Honest. Because I’m never sure about anything as of late.
His wings stretch out to their full width.
All too quickly, the ground becomes farther out of reach, and the wall of fog begins blending into the low-hanging clouds until it fully disappears.
And I can’t help my wandering thoughts as they trickle back to Callum.
If the dream state was a fluke, an error in judgment, and I’ll never truly know the severity of what we’re facing.
Or if I do see him again, if it’ll be Callum at all.