Chapter 3 #2
Each of us moved our goblets to the center of the table, clinking them with a unified “cheers!”
“To the Imperi,” Nori said sarcastically, raising her glass again.
“To almost dying before we’re sent to die,” Cairis added enthusiastically, giving me an apologetic yet playful nod.
“To fate!” Varro exclaimed, eyeing me meaningfully.
I lifted my cup last and added, “To the cruelest Gods.”
Even that one had Nori giggle so hard, she almost snorted her wine.
The rest of dinner carried on with an ease and lightness that I can’t recall feeling since before our first mission. Cairis and Nori talked about what it felt like using the portal stones for the first time, and I was eager to conclude dinner so Varro could take me to try mine.
“I guess all that training you did on how to scent-track Nori won’t help you if she can just portal away before you find her,” I said to Cairis, amused.
He pondered the idea, irritated at the thought of being evaded so easily.
“It’s ok, I plan to learn some new tricks tomorrow,” he declared.
“And what’s that?” Nori asked, her curiosity piqued.
“I’m going to portal while in flight!”
“Is that even possible with moonstones?” I asked, just as interested as Nori.
“Why not?” he questioned. “Saryn and Theory said you either have to be able to see your destination or picture it clearly in your mind. I’m going to try to portal from one end of the valley to the other, all while airborne.”
He sounded so confident, as if he’d thought all of this through already. Nori looked concerned. He placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
“Someone else will have to cover beverage services if I die…” he joked.
I winced at the persistent mention of death from Cairis, which led me to believe that he was more shaken by what transpired than he was willing to let on. I hardly ever heard Cairis say a serious word, and humor was a shield he knelt behind often.
Varro felt the awkward silence thicken and commented, “Just make sure Nori is on standby for healing during said attempts.” He grinned at me before continuing, “If Cress happens to show any promise in portaling tonight, we’ll join you on the flight decks tomorrow for one of the most epic games of tag this world has ever seen. ”
Everyone smiled, our imaginations running wild at the prospect. We should have been taking things more seriously, especially since our fellow members were Gods-knew-where with the enemy. But sometimes, we just needed to permit ourselves these carefree moments to survive our own reality.
Indulging in the fleeting sweetness of the evening, I decided not to broach the topic of the Drift with Varro. That time would come soon enough.
A bit after dinner, I met Varro alone in the common room, holding the portal stone tightly in my hand. He looked delighted to show me what he and the others had learned while I toiled in a closet, discovering that my power would turn me into a mindless shell of a Fae.
“I figured we could walk down to the healing pools together and use that as an excuse to make short portal skips. Sound good?”
“You’re the teacher! I will do as you instruct.”
There was a slightly wicked look in his eye at my response, and I rolled my eyes at the implication.
“So, your first time might feel…strange…” He continued with a smirk, before growing serious and explaining, “After a few jumps, you could feel a bit nauseous from moving through the loops quickly, so try and keep your sight line steady and your mind clear.”
I listened to his guidance intently, worried that if I made a misstep, I’d accidentally portal myself through the glass walls shielding me from the falls. I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not even if Varro was looking particularly handsome this evening.
“They did not want us portaling from memory until we’d mastered jumping from one space to the next in close proximity.”
Their concerns were warranted, but my fingers itched with anticipation to try what he and the others had mastered earlier.
I put the stone in my pocket and studied the destination in front of me, noting the details of the hallway farther ahead.
Varro did the same next to me, and a small circular cloud appeared right before him.
“Concentrate,” he reiterated sternly.
I breathed in deeply, and let it out slowly and calmly, focusing on drawing my energy to my core. A small ring like the one Varro had conjured began to form. It hovered, flickering and stretching, but was still too tiny for my body.
He placed his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. “You can do this. Focus on the clarity of where you’re going. Let the circle expand. It only has to be big enough for you to step through. Nothing too taxing, Cress.”
I let the heat of his hand relax me even more, and slowly the circle widened, bit by bit, till it was large enough to accommodate my size.
“As you proceed, keep your mind singularly focused on where it’s taking you. We’re going to step in at the same time. I don’t want you to become distracted by me arriving before you. On the count of three.”
I nodded to him without turning my gaze from the floating portal.
“One, two, three.”
We stepped into our own portals in unison.
It felt like only a second or two passed, and in that brief flash, I could not see or hear him.
Only nothingness surrounded me—bright light, a noiseless expanse—but I quickly braced myself for the next step, almost tripping as I exited.
I arrived about twenty or so feet from where I began, looking back with shock as the cloud dissipated.
My surprise was broken by the sound of Varro’s celebration.
“You did it! I didn’t lose you after all,” he said clasping my shoulder enthusiastically.
I looked at him with concern—did he think that would actually happen?
“I’m only joking; you’re a Dark Wielder. I’m not worried about you and a portal stone.”
He meant it as a compliment, but it struck a deeper nerve than he realized.
Everyone on the team acted like I was becoming something invincible.
How could they even think that, given how little control I’d demonstrated?
My power slumbered inside of me, only to occasionally awaken in an uncontrollable outburst.
Even so, I was happy to have accomplished portaling on my first try. Every challenge conquered made me feel more confident, something that I sorely lacked when it came to dark wielding.
Varro looked ahead, farther down the winding hallway, and asked, “Again?”
Together, we portaled the entire way down to the bottom of Basdie, making leaps every visible length of the hallway.
Due to the twisting of the halls, my sight line was limited to a few dozen feet ahead, and he encouraged me not to make jumps where the destination was unseen.
By the time we had reached the bottom, I couldn’t recall just how many jumps we’d made.
It must have been at least a hundred, and I was now at ease with the skill.
He was also correct in that I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous from the whole exercise.
Saryn and Theory weren’t joking when they explained how quickly it could deplete your energy.
Even these short, repetitive jumps were a bit tiring and dizzying.
Varro noticed my minute swaying and moved to steady me.
From his pocket he revealed a small orange, and handed it to me.
“Eat this. It will help, I promise.”
Did he bring that for me specifically? I took it from him without question and began peeling it, but he pulled it back from me and finished what I had begun, quickly handing it back to me ready to eat.
I popped a piece of orange into my mouth and relished in the tart, citrus taste and the renewed sharpness to my senses. Varro opened the door to our usual pool, stepping aside for me to enter first.
“I don’t think they were lying when they said if you portaled a great distance you might find yourself exhausted and starving. Didn’t you see how much Cairis ate at dinner? All that practice with the stones really makes you hungry,” I said, while continuing to eat.
The warmth of the room enveloped us, drawing a sheen of sweat across my arms. Varro began to remove his shirt, leaving his loosely-tied pants hanging below the dips of his hips, accentuating the outline of his abdominal muscles and ribcage.
If I hadn’t been chewing an orange slice, I might have been drooling, but there was nothing hiding my stare.
If this was the mate promised to me, I could have done far, far worse than this.
Finishing the orange quickly, I slid off my layers and entered the pool after him.
These visits were beginning to feel comfortably routine, like we knew we’d always have this—barring the previous night’s missed rendezvous.
The moment I entered the pool, the hum of the bond amplified, causing goosebumps to ripple over my skin.
“Do you feel that?” I questioned, my voice echoing in the rocky cavern.
“Yes,” he sighed, his back still turned to me. “I always feel it...” His tone was somber.
I made my way closer to him, my body half-submerged. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
He took a seat across from me and ran his hands through the wet tendrils of his hair. “I didn’t know if you knew and were choosing to deny it, or if you really had no idea. I don’t know which I was more worried about,” he answered earnestly.
“Honestly, I had no idea. I’ve never met anyone with a mate till Gia, and well…
it’s a sensitive subject for obvious reasons.
But she’s how I made the connection; I’d asked her about the humming as she was leaving, mentioning that I’d been feeling it since the Offering.
I wish she were here to help us—I mean me, navigate this. ”
I don’t know why I was confessing that to him, but who wouldn’t want a friend to confide in, who understood the emotions occupying my every thought?
He spoke up abruptly. “Gia knows I’m your mate?”