Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Idrew in a deep breath of the crisp Stormfell air, the tension which had been lining my limbs for the past weeks lessening at last. It felt good to be making this decision for myself, even if I still wasn’t at liberty to make the one I truly wanted.
But Cayde’s time would come. I’d put out missives to several of Stormfell’s spies in Avanis in hopes of at least discerning his true name in anticipation of my hunt, and hopefully they’d get me a location too.
Being promoted to General did have its perks.
One of which being the look of utter indignant outrage on General Imona’s face whenever I had the displeasure of seeing it.
That woman hated me to the bones of what I was and now she was forced to treat me with the respect of an equal.
I took great pleasure in making certain she did so as often as I could.
The mountain paths were mostly trodden by the hooves of deer or perhaps foxes, bears, wolves, but not many Fae, and I found that suited me just fine. I’d always been more like the wild creatures of this land than its dignified population anyway.
The wind brought the whisper of my name to my ears as I walked, each syllable slipping over me, tugging on my fingertips, urging me on.
I was headed north, the song of the ether guiding me in an almost perfectly straight line towards the top of world – or at least to the tip of The Waning Lands where the magical barrier containing our continent stood.
When I was young I used to think about what might lay beyond the gleaming dome which trapped us all here.
What savage continents might exist beyond ours?
But as I’d grown I’d come to realise that there was more than enough savagery trapped within The Waning Lands to keep me occupied, and my questions about the mysterious world beyond it had faded.
I’d been travelling alone for two days and the temperature was plummeting the further north I headed, lingering well below freezing all through the day, the mountains shrouded more heavily with snow than their counterparts which surrounded the capital.
I wondered if the landscape up here ever felt a reprieve from the bite of snow.
I’d taken my leave without seeking permission face to face, instead leaving a note for my prince informing him that I had matters of ether to attend to and would return once they were done.
No doubt he assumed I was in the cavern of lost souls with Moya and the other Sages, tending to my skills in blood magic.
It was one of the few things which stood true against the Void after all, so my focusing on it made sense.
But my real destination was a little further afield.
I glanced up at the sky, trying not to question or doubt, but that night in my chambers felt like a dream hazed in shadow, a reality which couldn’t have truly come to pass.
The morning had brought the harsh light of day down upon us and I still wasn’t certain what it had revealed.
But I’d given my orders and we’d made this plan between whispered secrets in the dark before the sun rose and I had no other option than to trust in our plotting now.
If he didn’t come then I couldn’t blame him. But Moya was right – I’d been treading this path alone for too long.
I trudged on, my boots leading me into deeper snow as the path led me into a valley between two mountains, the pair of them straining up towards the grey sky as if racing to reach its embrace first.
The cold was painful now, its teeth digging into my flesh and gnawing at my bones.
I was going to have to put up an air shield soon to block the worst of the wind but out here in the wilderness I had no one to draw magic from.
No way to replenish my power once it was gone.
And I had a feeling I would need every drop I had once I reached my destination.
A shadow fell over me and I jerked my head skyward, squinting up at the endless blue above me, the sunlight blinding me as it reappeared and the dark blight which had passed over the sky vanished behind the western peak.
My fingers curled around the hilt of my sword and my pulse quickened to a pace I’d come to realise it only reached for one Fae.
Snow catapulted from the tip of the mountain as a Dragon so large it engulfed my view of the sky burst into view over its peak, his claws clipping it and knocking enough snow loose to cause an avalanche which came tumbling towards me in a rush.
My lips twitched into a smile as I watched the wall of snow racing down on me, magic burning my fingertips as I held it back and counted the seconds, allowing death to reach out for me, letting it think it might just get a chance to claim me at last.
I shot from the ground with barely a moment to spare, snow hitting my boots hard enough that one was almost ripped from my foot and my ascent became a spiral in which I pirouetted towards the sky.
Bastian nearly collided with me, his steely eyes wild with panic as if he had thought me dead for a sliver of time.
I used my magic to direct myself away from him, launching myself through the valley between the mountains in a rush which propelled me clear of the avalanche before I dropped to the ground once more.
The mountains clustered even closer to the path where I’d landed and Bastian was forced to circle above me, unable to land in his enormous form.
I tilted my head back to watch him, the frigid air twisting around me as he beat his powerful wings.
A heavy bag fell from his claws with a solid thump, missing me by inches and I arched a brow at him, wholly unimpressed by the move.
He shifted next, plummeting from a height of around twenty feet in his Fae form, his naked body dropping towards the snow before a vine shot up from somewhere deep in the rocky ground and snatched him into its grasp.
A thrill raced through me at the sight of him wielding his magic, the act so forbidden and so pure all at once.
I’d never seen earth magic wielded like he did it, with practice and care, its intent to aid instead of hurt.
My only real experience of the power of Avanis had been in battle and I found far more appreciation for Bastian’s magic than I did for wooden spears and jagged stones shot at me with ill intent.
He prowled towards me, his body thick with muscle, the ink and scars which marked his flesh a map I wanted to learn the secrets of.
“If you like, I can just leave my clothes off,” he said, stopping before me so that I had to raise my chin to meet his gaze. “That way you can stare for as long as you like.”
My smile darkened, a tendril of lust coiling from him as he looked into my eyes. “Go ahead. I’ve always wondered what happens to a man’s cock if it gets frostbitten.”
Bastian barked a laugh, stooping to retrieve his pack from beside me and pulling it open to take his clothes from it. “That would be a crying shame,” he said. “Especially when you’ve been having such sordid thoughts with it in mind.”
I scoffed lightly, my eyes now on his back as he turned it to me while he dressed.
The tattoo spreading across his dark skin stared back at me, a sky full of stars falling down on a depiction of The Tower from a tarot deck.
I’d seen it before and asked him about it too, not that he had given me a real answer.
But out here in the wild parts of the world I found myself wanting to know more.
“Tell me why you inked The Tower into your flesh,” I demanded, my tone brokering no refusal and more than enough to make most Fae quiver into submission.
But Bastian wasn’t most Fae.
He stood, yanking his trousers up as he turned to me, though he left the stays at his waste undone and they sank low on his hips, threatening to fall again.
“Tell me what The Tower means to you,” he suggested, his voice a growl of warning which told me this was a wound he wasn’t fond of poking.
I considered him then shrugged a shoulder as I gave him his reply.
“The Tower is…danger, crisis, destruction.”
“Do you happen to a have a deck with you?” he asked, not giving my answer any attention.
“Funnily enough, I do.” I took my own pack from my shoulders and opened it, rummaging in the bottom of it until I located the intricately-decorated tin which housed the deck I carried with me and pulled it free.
“Shuffle it,” he instructed and I arched a brow at him before doing as he’d asked then holding the deck out for him to pick from.
Bastian drew The Tower, flipping it over for me to see before handing it back. “Again.”
I shuffled the deck once more and this time he took the top card, revealing The Tower before returning it to me and getting me to re-shuffle it so he could draw it three more times. The card he pulled never changed.
“How are you doing that?” I asked, the corner of my lips twitching as I suspected some trick but he only released a low growl in reply.
“If you think I’m somehow fooling you then go ahead and draw for me.” He stepped back and I had to resist the urge to move forward and reclaim the closeness between our bodies.
I eyed him suspiciously then shuffled again, doing so twice to make certain the deck was thoroughly mixed before drawing a card from the heart of the pack.
The silver border that edged the card flashed in the sunlight as I revealed The Tower once more.
“Since the moment I was born, every time I try to read a deck, every time someone else tries to read one for me, The Tower reveals itself first.”
“That’s…odd,” I said slowly.
“It’s fate,” he corrected grimly.
“Fate? You think yourself marked by The Tower?”
“It’s inked into my skin, isn’t it?” He took the card from my fingers and scowled down at it.
“You put that there yourself,” I replied flatly.