Chapter Thirty-Five
‘Relax, my child, Ryder is alive and well.’ Oriah’s soft voice startles me.
“How can you be so sure?” I reply, worry lines still clear as day on my face.
‘Our connection has not weakened,’ she states, which puts my mind at ease.
I hold on as Craize circles back around and heads for the salvation of the taming quadrant’s main meadow. I breathe a sigh of relief when Craize finally touches solid ground and the aching in my legs subsides.
“Your connection with Ryder…how does it work?” I ask, assuming that Oriah is still present in my mind.
‘The venom in his arm acts like a beacon to the Stars…’ she continues. ‘You can feel him too.’
“Well, she feels something for him,” Craize butts in and chuckles again.
It’s nice to know my secrets aren’t safe with him. I give him a wry smile and dismount, ignoring his comment.
“I mean, can you hear what he is thinking as well?” I ask. What I would give to know if he thinks about me the way I think about him.
‘I have the power to get through to him when I please, but not in keeping with his thoughts,’ she explains, and I unknowingly sigh. I just wish I knew what he was thinking.
The valleys look bare, there are a few familiar faces spaced out around the field, each performing bonding rituals with the elions they feel they have the strongest connection with.
I automatically missed this part of training when Craize claimed me within the first thirty seconds of knowing me.
Nala is a short distance away, her hand cradles a blue bucket filled to the brim with foxes’ feet.
She holds out one for Kareem, who is standing a few metres away from her.
His hair is thick and long, shifting from white to silver in the wind as he tenderly strides closer towards her.
There is a relaxed motion in his gait and a sparkle in his eye.
His steps are large but gentle as he saunters over to her and softly plucks the bone from her grasp, nuzzling his nose into her hand.
Mr Knight says that bonding rituals are a very important part of connecting with your chosen elion, mainly by providing a chance for your elion to see that you are not a threat and that you can provide them with the things that they like.
Kind of like having a pet and feeding it treats to show that you care.
Kareem gets closer and stretches out his wings, shuffling each one of his feathers into place.
He nibbles another fox leg out of Nala’s hand and swallows it almost immediately as it enters his huge jaws.
With his forehead, he pushes the bucket out of Nala’s clutch, causing each remaining fox leg to splay out over the tall grass.
Kareem doesn’t wait a beat before he devours each limb from the grass’s green grip and replaces them with the spat-out bones.
I hear Nala chuckle at his cheeky nature and watch as Kareem rolls happily in the grass like a dog panting in the summer heat.
He stops and bows his head down to her level.
I hear a few clicks escape his mouth, and Nala raises her eyebrows in surprise.
His legs are stretched out as he ducks low into the grass, each blade tickling the soft underside of his belly.
She works her way around his large frame and slowly shifts her weight onto him, just as Mr Knight taught us.
Her hands grip his fur as she pulls herself up onto his back.
He waits patiently for her to adjust herself into position before stretching out his wings and taking flight.
Nala holds on tight as he fights gravity and soars high into the clouds.
I smile widely, knowing Nala is smiling too.
I can’t help but stare into the sky, hoping to blink through the grey of the clouds and watch them soar.
The patter of Craize’s footsteps brings me back down to earth.
“Would you like to ride with them, young one?” he asks as he digs his claws into the soil and stretches long.
“More than anything!” I reply with excitement, climbing up his lowered wing like a ramp. The dip in his back is still warm from the heat of my buttocks, and I cosy up in between his bones.
Pretty soon, we are in the air, high above the clouds, searching for Kareem and Nala.
I know that things aren’t great between Nala and me, but I am hoping the adrenaline will numb her annoyance towards me.
Craize must have some kind of tracking beacon with his pack because he doesn’t even question where to go.
And just like that, materialising out of a silky cloud, Nala soars between Kareem’s shoulder blades with a smile so big it could be seen from space.
Craize increases his pace towards them and, as we meet, the two snowy beasts circle each other and nuzzle their faces against one another as a sign of affection.
Nala and I laugh as they hover side by side, her hair dancing to the beat of the wind that drums against her face.
“Can you believe it, Asha?” Her eyes twinkle as she looks at me.
“I know, it’s pretty amazing.” I nod at her, knowing exactly the thrill she feels in this moment.
“I’ve never felt more alive in my life!” she exclaims as Kareem glides her effortlessly around us. I laugh at her inability to contain her excitement. I know she is probably still mad at me, but right now she is too liberated to care, and I am going to take pure advantage of it.
“You were made for Kareem,” I state, fuelling her ego a little more.
It’s true, she looks radiant, like she is a part of him. She guides Kareem’s fur so that he is hovering, and I am face-to-face with her.
“Wanna race?” She tempts me with a mischievous smile, but a pull in my stomach tells me that is not a good idea. I shrug my shoulders, and she whines in response.
“Oh, come on, Asha. This is the first time we can have real fun in months,” she pleads, and I ask Craize for his take on the idea in my mind.
“If Kareem is okay with it, then race we shall,” he says, which soothes any doubts I had.
“Are you sure Kareem is okay with doing this?” I ask just to make sure, but I know she wouldn’t suggest it if he weren’t. She nods her head, and a smile spreads across my face. “He has been shit-talking you since I suggested it.”
She laughs, which makes me raise an eyebrow, feigning hurt.
“Oh, it’s on!” I shout before leaning into Craize’s fur in an attempt at making myself more aerodynamic.
I begin the countdown. “Ready… Set-”
“Go!” She cuts me off and zooms past Craize and me, getting a head start.
“That’s cheating!” I call out, but she is already too far away to hear me. Craize huffs and soars at record speed to try to catch up with them, but she and Kareem have taken full advantage of the head start and are miles ahead of us.
We fly beyond the twisted pine trees, past Moon Castle and over to the far side of the valleys; somewhere Craize and I have yet to venture.
The wind bites harshly as the temperature drops and thick grey clouds loom in the distance.
A storm is coming. The valleys are icier over here, and the mountain points look treacherous, filled with jagged rock.
I swallow back a gulp at the thought of my surroundings.
“Why would Kareem fly Nala over here?” I ask as a shiver rocks my jaw.
“Kareem grew up here,” Craize explains. “He is showing her his home.”
“Really, where did you grow up?” I ponder as frost forms in my hair.
“Further than the furthest valley.” He swoops three hundred and sixty degrees, showing me the view of the neighbouring valleys. “One day I will show you.”
“I’d like that!” I smile and pet between his shoulder blades, causing a purr to rumble out of his chest. He swoops back around and flies up over a large mountain.
I watch as a baby goat stumbles up the cliff to get to its mother, its knees knobbly and frail.
It stares back at me as we ascend and cowers under its mother’s legs at the sight of Craize.
At the mountain’s icy peak, Craize’s ear perks up a little and his body tenses.
He changes direction suddenly, almost propelling me from his shoulders and into the cliff’s jagged edge.
“Hold on!” Craize instructs in a serious tone. “Your friend is in trouble.”
I grip on tighter, bunching his coarse fur in between my palms. My complexion whitens, and my stomach drops thinking about Nala in trouble.
“What do you mean she’s in trouble?” The wind drowns out my voice as Craize picks up the pace, going faster than he’s ever ridden with me.
I squeeze my thighs tight as if my life depends on it and swallow back the saliva pooling in my throat.
The wind massages my face with daggers and thrashes my hair in every direction.
Craize is plummeting now, and I can see Nala below.
She is lying in an awkward position, unmoving, the white ice slowly turning red beneath her body.
A sudden wave of nausea attacks me with the wind, and my body stiffens in shock.
Kareem is sitting idly beside her with his head down.
“What’s happened?”
“It seems your friend has fallen from Kareem,” Craize explains as he sets down close to the cliff’s edge. The rocks are uneven and rough. I slide down Craize’s wing and gingerly step over the dangerous terrain, the ice threatening to trip me up on my way to her.
“Nala!” I cry as I rush to her side. Her black hair is sticky with blood, and her breath is shaky.
“Asha…” her weak voice fights through her lips. “I-I fell off Kareem,” she says between breaths as her eyes fill up with tears.
“I know…” I reply, my heart breaking with every word.
Tears threaten to stream down my face, but my eyelids bully them away.
I have to be strong. I study her body for a moment, trying to locate the source of the bleeding.
There is a deep gash on the left side of her head, and her shin bone is protruding out of her ankle.
She struggles to move the rest of her body; there is most likely damage to her spine.
She is pale and shivering on the ice. This is not good; I need to get her to the healing quarters soon, otherwise, she will not make it.
I beat myself up trying to think of ways to move her without creating more damage to her body.
I could probably hoist her up, but there is no way I would be able to get her onto Craize’s back; he is far too tall, and I am not that strong.
And even if I could, Craize would not be able to get her there in time, based on the rate of the blood oozing out of her… she has minutes.
“I’m gonna get you out of here,” I reassure her as I try to lift her up into my arms, my elbows buckle with her weight, and she cries out to me.
I try to dig my toes into the ground to steady my stance, but the ice shifts beneath my feet and I’m forced to my knees.
There is no way I can move her, not on this ice.
“I’m sorry, Asha…for earlier,” she confesses, and I break. My eyelids can no longer prevent the tears from plummeting down my face. I watch as they fall and freeze when they hit the ice.
“No… I’m sorry,” I pull her closer to me. “You were right. I haven’t been honest with you,” I admit between sobs. “But I promise I’m going to tell you everything when we get you out of here.”
“It’s no use, Asha…my leg is shot and you’re not strong enough to carry me.” Nala’s words are muffled by the wind, and her lips are turning blue; her eyes flutter closed.
“You can’t give up now, Nala,” I plea with her and wrap my jumper tightly around her thigh like a tourniquet. She winces with the pressure, but at least she is alive. This should give us some more time. Maybe I can portal her out of here.
‘No child…it’s too risky, the school is too busy at this time.’ Oriah interrupts my thoughts.
“I have no other choice…I am not going to let her die!” I shout back in frustration. Nala’s brows furrow as she looks up at me, confused, probably wondering who I am talking to.
‘You have the power to make this right.’ Her voice echoes around my head, tormenting my brain.
“I don’t know the first thing about healing.” My frustration emanates from each word as I grit my teeth.
‘It’s in your blood, child,’ Oriah states.
“What if I can’t do it and then Nala dies?” My tears stream as I confront my thoughts. “I can’t risk it; we need to get her to the professionals,” I shout into the atmosphere, hoping Oriah will understand my desperation.
‘You have no choice.’ Oriah’s voice is stern and unchanging. ‘A whole race is depending on you. Don’t doom them all over one human.’
Oriah’s words cut deep. She is right, but my best friend is dying, and I don’t know how to save her.
The heavens open and the rain begins to fall, washing away the bloodstains on the ice and drenching my hair and body.
The wind is cold against my wet skin, and my body shivers violently.
Craize and Kareem stretch their wings out over us for shelter.
Nala’s face is getting paler by the second.
If I’m going to do this, I need to do it now.
I have watched the healers before. I overlap my hands in the centre of her chest and try to channel the energy from Shirin.
I struggle to see a clear picture through the water welling in my eyes.
Nala’s breaths are slow, and her chest barely lifts with each inhale.
I force my eyes shut and focus on the blood in her body, how it flows through each tangled blood vessel and breathes life into her cells.
I try to channel my warmth into her chest like a conduit, and I can feel heat radiating through her.
Is it working? She mumbles something I cannot understand, and her head falls to the side.
I can no longer see the steam from her breath exiting her mouth.
Her body relaxes as the life leaves her small frame.
She’s dead.
I wail uncontrollably and press her cold body next to mine.
“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” I scream at Oriah. “IF YOU HAD LET ME PORTAL HER, SHE COULD STILL BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW.”
My voice cracks with hurt under the shelter of Kareem and Craize.
‘I am the reason the Starkind are safe from harm,’ she defends without remorse.
“SOMEBODY HELP!” I scream over and over again. But my pleas are met only by the lonely wind.