Chapter 36 #2
A glow overtook Aela’s skin as her power responded to the call of her Line.
A shockwave blasted Epsilon onto his back and eviscerated the remaining walls of the chamber, revealing complete destruction of their home world beyond.
Aela’s eyes had already shifted to white, the wounds of her planet and home going unseen.
With a cry, Epsilon slammed his palm into one of the many surrounding crystals, channeling his power and surrendering himself to his Primary.
As his power merged with that of their constellation and fed into his daughter, he sent a final prayer—not to the Gods, never them—out into the realm.
Before his light met with those of their Line and preceded her into the night sky, he had just enough sentience to see Aela, filled with the light and power of her House, Ascend into their constellation.
Aela’s form settled beside him. His sense of self, his memories, his love for his bonded, and his love for their daughter faded into light.
Aela’s scream tore through the night, and her mortal form quaked as her core burned hotter.
Her skin mottled to an angry red before turning translucent.
As if the realm shifted, Aela’s perspective tilted, and the perpetual night sky grew impossibly darker behind her.
The Darkness. Aela didn’t hide; she had to face her past—she couldn’t let it control her any longer.
It was hard not to feel the crippling weight of her entire House’s sacrifice, let alone attempt to live up to what they had given up for her.
If they had trusted Alrescha and Epsilon, who shared with them who and what Aela was, if they had willingly Ascended her and trusted her inexplicably to do what must be done…
who was she to deny them? To deny herself the chance of trying?
Eros might have his own purpose for her.
But that wasn’t what she was created for.
She had a renewed sense of hope. Cradled in on herself between her father’s star and where her mother’s star should be, Aela felt a spark of light and something lovely bloom.
Time washed over Aela as she basked in her father’s warmth, The Darkness ever present at her back. She floated with her knees tucked into her chest and closed her eyes, imagining the rays of his starlight were his arms around her.
If only this were a dream, then I could make it real.
“I don’t know if I can do this. I’m not ignoring it anymore, and I know now that I’ve blocked myself, but what if I do it wrong? How am I to master an ability that alters reality? One being should not have all that power. Where is the balance in that?”
Aela emptied all her thoughts to her father: her self-doubt, insecurity, fear, sadness, and the wrongness she felt at finding any joy when there was so much loss and hurt everywhere else.
“I wish you were here,” Aela finished.
She had been so absorbed with speaking to her father’s star that she hadn’t sensed another force behind her. Warm steam blew over her back, swirling her hair into her face. Aela lengthened her legs and turned to face her guardian.
She was getting better at staring down mythical creatures, and though her spine was straight, she dipped her chin in submission.
“I understand if you don’t want me. If I am too painful a reminder of those you were charged to protect, or if you cannot outright act against Piscaria, I beg you—aid me in finding the Gods, help me master my magic.
I don’t want another House to befall our House’s fate.
The realm is cursed in so many ways… Please let me try to correct the balance.
Let me try for them. They deserve that much for their sacrifice.
I will do whatever is in my power to repay you. ”
She knew the chances of Tyran accepting her were infinitesimal, but she cast her words at his talon-tipped feet, regardless. “Please, help me.”
With her last ask lingering in the air between them, The Darkness rippled, revealing Eros and Seba, who materialized from the dark cloud.
“Help us,” Eros clarified, hovering closer and floating beside her as they stood facing Tyran together.
Seba slithered off to the side, watching the exchange. Tyran’s slitted yellow eyes blinked once. Twice. A vibration of clicks and ticks rumbled in reply. Aela smiled.
I’ll take that as a yes.
Aela took her time returning to Aries. Tyran easily kept pace with her, soaring through the astral sky.
More times than she could count, she caught herself staring slack-jawed at her mythical guardian.
She spotted Seba’s golden gaze between the shifting colors amid the blackness of the realm, which meant Eros wasn’t far.
Or perhaps he had already returned to Aries and left Seba to watch over Aela and Tyran.
It’s not like she was bonded to her constellation’s epoc, so it seemed plausible that the behemoth water dragon could turn on her at any moment.
Something inside her stirred just as a shudder ran through Tyran. He swiveled his massive maned head to look back at her. Aela veered closer and lifted a hand to his teal-scaled body. He was warmer than she thought he’d be; his scales were slick for ease of movement in water and air alike.
I wonder…
Aela immediately cut herself off from her current train of thought as her eyes sliced back to Tyran’s. He nodded at her, and her lips parted. Seba appeared over Tyran’s other side, an encouraging gleam in his golden eyes.
Aela crawled onto Tyran’s back. He had stilled his flight, allowing her to find her footing.
A breathless sound escaped her, and she cracked a wide smile.
She stood on his sinuous back, keeping her footfalls feather-light as she made her way closer to his head. Seba writhed in distinct anticipation.
She crossed the top girdle where the muscles of Tyran’s forelegs met his back, and Aela had the feeling she was standing on his shoulders. The crest of fur that slashed down his back was like silk, as was his mane. She imagined if he flicked her with his tail, it’d feel the same.
“You’re much less water-logged since the last time I saw you,” Aela remarked, then straddled his back with her legs dangling toward his front feet.
Soft bells chimed in the otherwise quiet air as Tyran twisted his head to look around and down at her.
Aela held her breath. Instead of eating her like his eyes suggested, for a terrifying moment, her guardian glanced at Seba, a silent communication happening between them.
He darted his yellow eyes back to Aela and they narrowed.
“What are—” The rest of what Aela wanted to ask turned into a screech as Tyran catapulted himself through the night. Aela clung to his teal body as he moved faster than the speed of light.
The realm was a kaleidoscope of colors as she streaked past far away stars in a blur of light. Seba hurtled beside them. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the cosmic snake was bounding with joy.
Having inspirited her mind at her father’s star, Aela laughed.
The wonder of what she was doing barreled out.
The same untethered feeling she experienced in her dreams overtook her as rain fell.
Tyran’s body rumbled beneath her, and a second later, a deafening roar shook the heavens.
Aela enlisted her voice with his as her water element surged within her.
Spirals of water rushed from her chest, and she flung her arms wide, clamping her knees down on Tyran’s back.
A broken breath left her lungs at the reprieve of her native element coursing through her.
Lightning flickered in her eyes, but she held it back.
Reveling in the smoother, calmer sensation of her water.
Seba darted closer, flicking his tail through an orb of water, sending it splashing into her face.
She blinked away the droplets and thrust her palm toward him, shooting a stream of water.
Seba evaporated into blackness, her water failing to make impact.
Tyran turned, circling where Seba had vanished.
The stream of water began to cool, then crystalized to ice.
She hardly felt the cool air and deftly plucked the frozen water out of the sky before tossing it to the side.
“We better get back,” she said, and Tyran once again shot through the realm.
Tyran deposited her outside the wards of Neser, so as not to alarm the Ariean sentinels.
Safely back in her rooms, she picked up her selenite shard, her mind suddenly inundated with messages.
Many were from Zosma, scolding her, until a message from Eros silenced the rest. Aela set her selenite back on the desk and turned toward the small rounded box Eros said he had left for her on her bedside table.
Willing her armor away in favor of a slitted skirt and a simple one-shoulder top, Aela walked barefoot across the plush carpet to retrieve the box.
She thought she’d lost it back in Avarice when Tarek had attendants pack her things for the Primary meeting.
The deep wood, while dull, had been well loved and polished until the wood couldn’t hold much of a sheen. She swiveled the top to the side.
Pale pink salt.
Aela sank onto the edge of her bed and cradled the saltbox in her hands.
She stared at the contents that had spilled when Tarek had claimed Prente and Jaelin.
She had since refilled it in Avarice with salt the spice shop had, though it wasn’t from Prente.
She dipped her fingers into the container and pinched coarse kernels onto her tongue.
“How in all twelve hells did he get this?” Aela wondered aloud in her darkened room.
A heartbeat later, Eros’ deep voice spoke from a shadowy patch in a corner of her room. “Because you need to take care of yourself.”
“And how would salt do that?” Aela asked, a bit out of breath.
“I think you know.”