Chapter Thirty-Six
Tears roll relentlessly down my face as I hold Nala’s head in my lap, rocking uncontrollably. Her face now has a blueish tint, and her eyes stare lifelessly up at me. I think of Charlie. What am I going to tell him? I cry harder.
“Come on, young one… She’s gone.” Craize interrupts my sobs, but leaving her is the last thing I want to do.
“No. I can’t leave her,” I sob and hold on to her tighter.
The rain becomes heavier, and the sound of lightning makes me quake. I rest my head on hers and lie with her for a moment.
“Please come back. I can’t do this without you,” I whisper to her, hoping that she hears my cries. “Please.”
I sob gently into her and confront the memories rushing to my mind. I wish I could go back in time. My tears fall onto her face and roll down her cheeks almost as if they are her own.
“We have to go. The rain is going to get worse, and an elion can’t fly in such weather,” Craize reminds me, and I know he is right.
I reluctantly place Nala’s head onto the icy ground and get to my feet.
My stomach drops at the thought of leaving her here.
All alone. But I am not strong enough to lift her.
If I ride to the taming quadrant, I can get help to come back and bring her body home.
I untie my jumper from around her leg and use it as a blanket, covering her slightly to keep her dignity.
Using the backs of my hands, I wipe the tears from my eyes and tell myself to pull it together.
She’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Craize’s wing is lowered for me as he waits for me to get onto his back.
I hesitate; it feels wrong to leave. Kareem looks at me with grief in his eyes. I know he feels terrible.
“It’s not your fault,” I whisper to Kareem, placing my hand in the fur between his eyes.
He nuzzles me, but I can still feel his pain.
I finally begin the climb onto Craize’s back, admitting defeat, my vision is blurred through the wall of tears.
My knees could buckle with the weight of the guilt I feel.
I should’ve told her everything; she was my best friend, and now I feel so alone.
“Asha?”
My head snaps towards the ice where her body lies. I drop my jaw in disbelief and wipe my eyes so I can see her more clearly. Nala is sitting upright, rubbing the back of her head with a perplexed expression.
“What happened?” she asks, and I drop back to the ground and run as fast as I can to her aid, skipping over the jagged edges of the rocks on my way to her.
Her flesh is pink, and her cheeks are rosy.
The deep gash that was once open, draining her blood, is closed and nonexistent.
She stands effortlessly, and her ankle does not cry out in pain.
Her shin bone is hidden under her muscle and skin, no longer exposed.
“B-But you were dead…” I mutter in shock. “I saw you die.”
I try to comprehend what I am seeing. I forget the logic and pull her into a tight hug. The rain stops in a flash.
“I know… I was dead, and now I’m here.” She looks as puzzled as I am. “I felt something when you were holding me…a warmth.” Her words are muffled into my shoulder. I never want to let her go.
“You brought me back, Asha…How did you bring me back?”
“I-I’m not entirely sure,” I explain whilst checking her skin for any cuts or marks. She is in perfect health, and her skin does not have a blemish on it. I did this? Nala is clearly confused; she looks down to where her lifeless body lay just a moment ago.
“Wasn’t this covered in ice a minute ago?
” she asks, studying the melted ground. She kneels slowly and ushers me down to her level.
The ice has thawed, and the dark rock of the mountain edge is exposed where her body lay.
It is no longer barren and destitute, as a dozen bright lilac flowers flourish between the cracks.
I gulp. I’ve seen these flowers before in the greenhouse, that day with River.
“A Restorer creates life where there is none,” Nala recites as if she is reading straight out of the Book of Gifts.
Her eyes widen as she looks into my soul. “But you’re not a Restorer. I saw the light you yield with my own eyes.”
She plucks one of the flowers from the bed of rock and twizzles the stem between her fingers, clearly trying to piece the puzzle together in her mind.
My heart begins to race; through all these intense feelings of relief and joy, I have forgotten the part that comes next.
I have to tell her my secret. But I have already lost her once, and I can’t bear to lose her again.
Her eyes sparkle with life as she sits down on a flat rock behind her. I am done being selfish.
“I have an explanation…for all of this,” I blurt out in one breath.
She looks up at me as I take a seat next to her.
The wind stills, and the sun peeps through the clouds.
There is still a bite to the air, but it is not as ferocious as before.
Kareem and Craize are shaking the water off their wings and basking in the newfound warmth of the sun on a neighbouring rock.
“I’ve been keeping secrets from you…but not by choice.”
“What do you mean?” She shields her eyes from the sun with her hand and looks deep into my eyes.
“I’ll tell you everything, but promise you won’t freak out.” My words ache with desperation. I can’t lose her like I lost River. I take to my feet and pace anxiously, trying hard not to trip over the uneven terrain.
“You just brought me back from the dead, I’m already freaked out!” A slight chuckle slips from her lips as she looks at me in disbelief.
“Okay, here goes…”
I take a deep breath and scrunch my eyes shut. I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ll be able to tell her better if I can’t see her face.
“On the night I received my Gifts, I didn’t meet Heira like I said.” My heart begins to race out of my chest. “I met another God, a God that shouldn’t exist.”
I un-scrunch my eyes to gauge her reaction. She is staring back at me, her eyes wide with intrigue. She doesn’t say much, but her facial expression prompts me to continue with my story.
“Oriah, God of the Stars. Turns out I am not a Sun like I thought I was. I’m a Star and the last of my kind.”
I hold my breath again. Nala looks puzzled. I don’t blame her; it’s a lot to take in.
“But your light — I’ve seen it.” She looks at me as if I were the one with damage to my skull.
“You mean this.” I summon my light in my left palm for her to inspect, and she nods her head slowly. “Oriah told me to lie and say that I met Heira, because I have her Gift.” Closing my palm, I extinguish the flames and gear myself up to expose the Gift that will make or break us.
“But I have other Gifts, too.” Opening my right palm, I unleash the darkness, presenting a shadow in all its blackened wonder.
Nala gasps and staggers to her feet. She leans close, and her jaw drops in awe.
“What?! How!?” She takes my wrist and studies it further. “The energies…darker…that’s Moon power.”
She drops my wrist and takes a few steps back from me, her feet crunching on the chalky rocks.
“I know…that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” I step gingerly towards her, not trying to spook her further. “I’m half Moon.”
Her eyes stare back at me in shock, and silence overwhelms us. A minute passes, and I stumble uncomfortably in my stance. “Please say something…Anything. I just need to know you’re not mad at me.”
“Mad at you?” She pauses, leaving me in a state of the unknown for a moment longer. “How could I be mad at you? You saved my life.”
She smiles and walks in closer to me, taking hold of my shoulders. I sigh a shaky breath, and steam seeps out of my lips.
“Actually, I take that back. I am mad at you.” She shakes my arms, and my body tenses again. “I am mad that you didn’t tell me sooner. You’ve been going through this all by yourself.”
A tear slowly rolls down my cheek, and she pulls me into the warmest hug I have ever experienced.
“I’m your best friend, Asha. You can tell me anything.”
I feel her arms wrap around me, and the weight of the world lifts simultaneously from my shoulders. The vice that has been closing on my lungs has finally released me from its metal grip, and I can breathe easy again.
“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that,” I enthuse through my smile, squeezing her tighter.
She is not repulsed by my power; she does not view me as an abomination.
Her eyes dance across mine with adoration.
I almost feel stupid for not telling her sooner.
Her soft hands press against my cold cheeks, cupping my face.
“No more secrets,” Nala declares, and I nod in response. She pulls me into another hug and sighs deeply.
“Agreed. I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get back on solid ground.”
A nervous chuckle escapes my lips, looking at our surroundings, these valleys are unforgiving.
Nala smiles in agreement. Her clothes are dirty, and my blood-stained jumper is heavier than it was an hour ago, the rain has seeped into its material, making it feel like chain-mail rather than cotton, and my light grey leggings are now a dark shade of charcoal, clinging onto my legs like they are a lifeline.
I think we could both appreciate a long shower or bath right about now.
“Kareem,” Nala calls out.
The wind gusts with the movement of his wings as he gracefully settles down on the cliff’s edge. She makes her way over to him, boots squelching with each step.
“Mind taking it a little slower this time?” She speaks through a warm smile while rubbing the space above his nose, three clicks escape his mouth, and his body lowers, ready for her to hoist herself onto him.