Chapter 6
SIX
Dirge
Ishifted from foot to foot, still waiting in the same spot where I’d watched my heart walk into the swamp, bravely going it alone.
After the rest of the fae left, Queen Lyrica had promised Shay would come back out the same way that she’d gone in, because the swamp and bridge were magical. She would go forever until she either met the challenge or went insane and was unable to complete it.
If the former, the bridge would deposit her right here. If the latter… Well, I refused to consider the latter. But there was nowhere Shay could go that I wouldn’t find her.
So the two of us waited in silence, as the day dragged on, the sun sliding past overhead.
The creak of a single board had my head snapping up, and there she was. My beautiful, furious mate.
She was hot, tired, and sweaty, and she’d still never been more beautiful than she was to me in that moment.
I lunged forward, eager to sweep her into my arms, but the queen’s hand snapped out, landing against my chest with the force of an iron rod.
“No, don’t step onto the bridge, or you’ll be forced to endure the same trial. Let her come to us.”
My wolf growled, eyes glowing as I glared at the queen who dared stop us from going to our mate, but she merely smiled at my rage, as if she were glad to see my reaction.
And then Shay was there, stumbling off the last step of the bridge, straight into my arms.
“You did it, muzic? mea. You did so well.”
She laid her head on my chest for a heartbeat before she turned, still letting me support her exhausted body even as she faced the queen with a defiant cant to her chin. “Hello, Mother.”
The queen stiffened, reeling back. “Shailene, do you remember?”
“Remember begging at your skirts to be able to stay with you? Not to be abandoned? Yes, I do remember. The fingertips of strangers prying me away from you, while you stood by, doing nothing? Yes, I remember. And the second that stone is in my hand, I never want to see you again.”
Her pain radiated in my chest so strongly, it stole my breath. Whatever she remembered, it didn’t seem to be all that her father had shared with me. Only the pain, and my wolf needed to take her away from that. “I think it’s time to go, my heart. You need rest and food.”
She nodded, turning her face abruptly away from her mother. I bent down and lifted Shay into my arms, not waiting for the queen to speak or follow. No matter what, my allegiance was to my mate.
So I took her back to the castle, to our rooms, and started a lukewarm shower.
Only then did she sigh and slide out of my arms so she could stand on her own two feet.
“My mom is still alive. And she abandoned me. Let someone take me, let me be abandoned and abused. I’m never going to forgive her for that.”
The way her voice shook had my chest aching all over again, this time with my own feelings, not only hers, echoing through our bond. “What did you remember?” I asked, brushing my fingertips lightly over her hair, trying to soothe her even as I held space for her painful memories.
I couldn’t take the hurt away; I knew that now that we’d been bonded a while. But I could comfort her while she dealt with it. Soft steam began to fill the air, but she didn’t pull away, didn’t move to get in.
“Not much, actually. I couldn’t even see their faces in the memory.
But I know in my bones it was them. I heard Brand’s voice, clear as a bell, when he said my name in the memory.
Her scent… Your mother’s scent is a primal memory, ingrained into your psyche where nothing can strip it away.
She smelled familiar that first day when my wolf scented her, but I couldn’t place it, not until I was in the swamp and the memory came back. ”
I nodded, understanding what she meant even though some of the details were foggy. It was enough to confirm my suspicion that she didn’t remember everything, didn’t remember any of the good times or the dangers that led to her abandonment.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but some instinct held me back. Whatever I knew, she wasn’t ready to hear it yet. This wasn’t the moment to tell her more; this was the moment to hold her, to let her grieve. Let her feel.
When she leaned back, searching my face in that way I knew all too well, I knew just what she needed. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, teasing the seam with my tongue.
She opened for me so sweetly, matching each of my strokes with her own, that soon we were both lost to the moment, diving into the comfort only a mate could provide, hiding away from the world’s problems together.
After a moment, she twined her fingers in my hair and pulled back, lips swollen with my greedy kisses. “Make me forget, Dirge. Just for a little while, make me forget.”
The next morning dawned, and we were ready for the second trial.
Shay wore her daggers, while I carried a simple sword over my back, loaned to me by the enclave for the mission.
When it came to a fight, both of us led with our wolves, always.
It was one of the many things that made us such perfect bond mates.
But we had no idea what tricks might be up the court’s sleeve, so we came with human weapons as well. A servant once again bowed to us in the foyer and led us out into the wilds of faerie to meet with our second trial.
Today, the trip was longer. The landscape changed as we walked, and after about an hour, I began to speculate on how the island we’d seen floating above us—which didn’t look so large—was able to encompass this much ground. It defied logic, but that was magic for you.
Still, we walked on as the supple greenery gradually gave way to rocky ground, red clay, and venomous-looking snakes. All that we passed were sunbathing, but I knew to never underestimate a potential enemy.
Finally, when the sun was midway through the sky, our guide stopped, pale faced.
“Where are we?” Shay asked, glancing around at the expansive nothing.
“The proving grounds. The trial observers are watching.”
With that, the servant turned and scurried off, as if they couldn’t get away fast enough.
“That’s it? No instructions?” I pondered aloud, studying our surroundings more critically.
“Seems like it,” Shay muttered, also scanning everything as if the boogeyman were about to jump out and attack.
“There’s a ravine over there.” I pointed to the crevice in the hard-baked land. “Otherwise, this place is pretty much a desert.”
“Should we go check it out?”
“It could be a trap, or it could be the challenge to make our way out of here. Or just survive.” A scorpion skittered in front of me, its stinger swaying threateningly. “If we’re going to find water and shade, the ravine is our best bet.”
Shay nodded slowly, as if she were still unconvinced of what the fuck the challenge was.
It seems too easy. But the sun is going to cook us if we just stand here, so obviously, we have to do something. She sent the message mentally.
Agreed. We’ll just take it slow and keep our eyes open.
Let’s go.
We jogged across the empty expanse, taking a few small detours around the wildlife, but it didn’t take us long to reach the edge of the ravine.
It was larger than it had looked from our drop point, several stories deep and at least thirty feet across from side to side. We wouldn’t be jumping over it, that was for sure.
“Too far to jump, but I do see a stream down there,” I said aloud, mostly for our invisible watchers’ benefit. We didn’t know what we were being graded on here, so making it clear we had basic survival skills seemed wise.
“There’s a ledge down there,” Shay pointed about halfway down, and sure enough, there was a small ledge midway between the top and bottom of the ravine. It was no more than six square feet, but it would be enough to make the jump safe for a wolf.
We jogged some more, still careful to avoid the various snakes, lizards, and desert occupants as we made our way down the ravine’s edge.
The hair stood on the back of my neck as we stared down at it.
We’re missing something here. I can feel it, I told Shay, my wolf’s agitation building in my chest the longer we hesitated.
Me too, but I can’t pinpoint what’s causing it.
The longer we stand here, though, we’re just sitting ducks.
“On three?” she asked, holding out a hand for mine.
“On three. One, two—” The ground shook under our feet as we jumped, landing on the ledge below.
Shay’s wide eyes met mine. “Okay, you can’t have an earthquake on a sky island, so…”
The ledge beneath our feet trembled again, hard enough now that we were in the ravine that a sizable chunk chipped off the edge, shattering as it bounced off the walls on the way down to the ground below.
“Fuck. We should go back up.” I spun toward the wall, mentally calculating each handhold and how quickly we could climb to avoid the risk of falling rocks.
“Dirge.” Shay’s panicked whisper made me freeze. I slowly turned, my wolf’s instincts forcing me not to make any sudden movements.
It took a moment for my brain to piece together what I was seeing.
Sand-colored scales. So, so many of them, stretching in an undulating wave that nearly filled the large ravine until we couldn’t see anything else below us.
Wings snapped open, the membranes between the bones so thin they were nearly translucent in the harsh sunlight.
But it wasn’t until a serpentine head swiveled our way and a great, mud-brown eye cracked open and zeroed in on us that the pieces all fit together.
Wyvern! I shouted down our bond, throwing myself at Shay as it struck.
It barely missed us as we toppled from our perch. Chips of sandstone rained down on us as we fell, and the beast’s indignant screech echoed ear piercingly from the walls.
We landed hard in a heap, only feet from a large, black-taloned claw. I ripped the sword from my back as I pulled Shay to her feet.
I could feel her panic in my own chest, the way her lungs struggled to drag in oxygen after having the breath knocked out of her.
“Can you run?” I asked as the great head surged toward us for a second strike.
“Yes,” was all she could gasp out, but her feet were moving, adrenaline overriding everything else at the moment. We ran, and the ground shook underneath us as the beast gave chase.
When Shay got her breath back, she yelled over her shoulder. “How do you kill a wyvern?”
“No clue,” I shouted back. “Dodge!” I warned as my wolf howled out a warning of another impending strike.
We both dove right, toward the trickling stream that ran through the center of the ravine. I landed on my stomach with a splash, the water deceptively deep. It seemed everything here was deceptive, but we hadn’t had much choice between water, wall, and wyvern fangs.
I popped up gasping and realized our error. The current was carrying us straight toward the wyvern, which waited with its maw open and fangs dripping. The only thing more terrifying than those fangs was the homicidal glint in its eyes.
“Shit,” Shay swore, realizing the same thing I had.
She pulled a dagger from her forearm sheath and waited as the water dragged us closer, lining up a shot on the beast’s eye.
Her aim was true, the dagger flipping blade over handle directly toward its slitted reptilian pupil, but it dodged at the last second, and the dagger bounced off an armored scale as if it were no more than a flea to a dog.
But the wyvern was pissed, screeching again, this time at a different pitch that made my eardrums feel like they were going to bleed or burst. I couldn’t help it, I sheathed my sword so I could clamp my hands over my ears, anything to stop the pain.
The pain, though, was only just beginning.
The current swept us under the beast’s darker belly, where I could count its ribs through its gaunt flesh.
But above us, two more wyverns landed on the edge of the ravine.
Huge chunks of the sandstone walls broke away, pelting the first wyvern, which was temporarily distracted from chasing us as it snapped at the offending boulders.
Shay used the distraction to throw another dagger, and this one sank in. The beast’s whole body undulated as it tried to turn, but it was too large in the confines of the ravine, and its haunches crashed into the wall of a nearby cave, presumably its home.
And shelter. But it was a crazy idea. We’d be pinned in there, with no way out but past three angry, hungry wyverns.
A clawed foot came crashing down into the stream in front of us, and we were out of options.
The cave! I called to Shay, and we both swam hard for the edge.
We were so close, but those talons were deadly sharp and coming up fast. Making a snap decision, I grabbed Shay’s waist and shoved, relief filling me when I saw her hands meet the pebbly shore.
She was pulling herself out when I crashed into a giant toe with rib-cracking force.
The black wyvern’s claw sliced straight through my clothes to my skin, flaying my side open with the ease of a scalpel.
The water around me turned red. The other two wyverns screeched and scrabbled to get closer to the source of the scent.
Not only was I losing blood with dangerous speed, but I’d started a feeding frenzy.