23. Not My Own
Chapter 23
Not My Own
R ed and gold flowers swayed in the warm summer breeze. Green grass poked at Sylzenya’s exposed legs, her white linen dress soft and light as she leaned her head against Elnok’s warm skin.
“I never knew days could be like this,” Elnok said, the smile in his voice causing her to look up.
Her stomach fluttered as she looked at his lips. Elnok surveyed the lake sprawled before them, his green eyes shimmering in the sunlight. She found it difficult to remember when they’d gotten here, or how they’d arrived. Yet she smiled, for it didn’t matter how, only that they were here—together.
“Like what?” Sylzenya asked as she leaned further into him.
He ran his calloused palm up her arm, cupping her jaw, bringing her gaze to meet his.
“Full of life,” he said.
Warmth flooded her body as she gripped his black tunic, bringing his lips to hers. He tasted of worn leather and musk, sending heat into her core, every part of her body wanting him.
Needing him.
He wrapped a strong arm around her waist. She giggled as his soft laughs feathered her mouth. She straddled him, deepening the kiss as she felt his hardness press against her.
“And I’ll make sure your people know nothing less,” she breathed, lightly biting his lower lip. His whimper sent heat between her legs.
“ Our people,” Elnok replied breathlessly, twisting her hair in his hand, a light tug causing her nipples to harden, “There’s no other woman I know who could provide Druenia with life like you can.”
“And yet I know next to nothing about any place outside of Estea.”
He gripped her neck, sending a delightful shiver up her spine as he leaned back, his green eyes searching her face.
“You’re Estea’s most renowned Kreena. Your very presence will calm storms and win hearts. You’ll be a beacon of hope.” He kissed her neck softly, slowly. “Just as you’ve been for me.”
Everything within her melted into his touch as he slid her linen dress up to her waist. Sylzenya gasped as she clung to his neck.
Suddenly, as if the grass was fake and the flowers were frauds, everything blurred, only to sharpen again as she smelled Elnok’s skin.
“How can someone say such sweet things and yet act in such a foul manner?” she teased with a grin, rocking against him slowly.
He stopped.
“Do it for me,” he whispered as he stroked her hair, “Show me what life you will bring to Druenia.”
Sylzenya didn’t question the request as she dismounted his body. He looked at her expectantly as she kneeled in the soft grass. A clear orodyte sat in front of her. She dug a hole in the ground and placed the empty stone in it, covering it and sealing it with her hand. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she ushered Aretta’s power.
It answered her.
A sharp sting ran along her back as golden sparks lit her hands, her arms, her entire body. She called upon life, a sprout poking through her fingers, curling into a flower. Yellow petals unfurled with flowing grace. Sylzenya smiled wide as it opened itself towards the sun.
Towards her.
But as she lifted her gaze, her heart stopped.
Elnok no longer stared at her with those shimmering green eyes. Instead, he laid crumpled in the grass, his body naked and thin, his flesh a cruel color of jaundice.
“ Elnok! ”
She crushed the flower under her feet, rushing to his side. Falling to her knees, she held his head in her lap, his eyes sunken and lined with deep purple.
“You…” he struggled to say, his arm reaching for her face, his fingers dry and cracked, “You did this.”
Her stomach dropped.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head furiously as she brushed his thin black hair away from his face, “I didn’t mean to, I swear?—”
“You don’t bring life,” he choked, red blood dripping from his mouth and onto the earth. “Druenia’s been dying, and it’s your fault . You’ve taken from us. ”
Panic gripped Sylzenya’s chest as the green grass and colorful flowers faded into dust. Breaths shortening and heart pounding, she turned. The lake was no longer filled with water, but cracked with brown dirt. Warmth turned into unbearable heat as the sky took on an orange hue, bathing the dead meadow and dried lake in what looked like charred smoke.
“Elnok,” Sylzenya whimpered, tears forming in her eyes, “I didn’t mean for any of this. Please, you have to believe me . ”
But he said nothing in return, his hand falling to the earth, eyes fluttering shut.
Sylzenya’s throat burned as she screamed.
“It is finished,” a grating voice echoed from behind her.
She turned to find the High One in his white robes, his long hair floating above him in the shape of a crown.
Not the High One.
Distrathrus.
“Help me,” Sylzenya pleaded as she held Elnok’s dead body in her arms.
Distrathrus dug into the earth, pulling out the orodyte stone that now glowed bright with yellow light.
“You’ve done well,” he crooned as he crushed it in his hand.
But the stone didn’t shatter; it became liquid, flowing to the earth and coating the ground in orodyte serum.
“Please,” Sylzenya begged, “ Save him! ”
Distrathrus laughed, the sound echoing all around her as if he was not one, but many.
“You are truly Estea’s most renowned Kreena. Aretta’s most devout ,” he said as he swiped his finger in the serum, creating a strange pattern. “If it wasn’t for you, my plan would’ve taken another century to achieve. I’m grateful, for now we get to behold this beauty you’ve brought to the world.” He lifted his yellow gaze to hers, motioning his hands to the death that lay before them.
“This wasn’t my doing,” she breathed.
His smile widened, “Oh, but it is. You and every other woman who has filled orodyte with Aretta’s power.” He ceased tracing the orodyte serum as he tilted his head, “But I still need you, Sylzenya. There’s one more task to accomplish, and I’m in need of my most powerful Kreena. So please, come home.” He pressed his hand to the earth, “Come home to me, your true god—the one who has never abandoned you—so I might finally be set free.”
Rage rose up her neck as she spat, “Why would I ever come back to you?”
“Because,” he whispered as he rushed to her, too fast for her to react. He gripped her face with one hand, his eyes flashing between yellow and black. “ You are mine .”
Everything spun, her screams echoing as darkness melded with golden light; a ring that turned into blood and a bird crushed by branches. The bird’s warning rang through her mind over and over and over again…
For life there is a price, and only in pain is it made whole. Your choice has been made, and so your consequence is set in blood and stone.
“ Sylzenya. ”
She bolted upright, her hands sweating and chest heaving. Darkness surrounded her on all sides. Terror speared her insides. She tried to shuffle away from whomever was holding her, but her body ached in ways that had her fall back into their arms.
“We escaped,” Elnok’s familiar voice echoed, his warm calloused hands gripping her arms. “We’re in Lhaal Forest now.”
Worry and uncertainty filled her as she opened her eyes. The dim, familiar outline of Elnok’s broad shoulders and sharp face came into focus, accompanied by his scent. She relaxed her shoulders.
“Your scars,” Sylzenya whispered as she slowly cupped his jaw in her hand, remembering how Distrathrus had pressed the sword into his scarred back, the hissing of his flesh still echoing in her ears. “Are you alright?”
“Not nearly as painful as my brother’s methods, although he did give it a worthy try, didn’t he?” he replied, sarcasm biting at the end of each word.
Before she could reply, he withdrew from her, the absence of his skin sending an icy shiver up her arms. The compass’ golden glow dimly lit his face, casting sharp shadows across his features and against the cave walls. His eyes were puffy, the skin underneath them a deeper color than usual.
“You don’t have to pretend like that,” Sylzenya said, reaching out to touch his arm, “If you have your salve on you, I can apply some to your scars.”
He flinched at her touch. “I’m fine.”
Gulping, she tucked her hand into her chest. “It’s clear that you aren’t fine.”
“Sylzenya, please, just…” He took a deep breath, his thumb spinning something—a ring, by the looks of it—on his pinky finger, “I’m relieved you’re awake, but we need to focus on finding Aretta’s Willow.”
Vision blurring, she held herself together. Now wasn’t the time to cry, nor was it the time to try and recover everything Distrathrus had torn from them. Surely these were his desired outcomes, that Elnok would lose trust in her, and that she might lose all faith in herself as well.
“How long was I out for?” she asked, sitting up straight and blinking back the tears until she could see clearly.
“Over an hour.”
She cursed. “Has the compass changed direction at all?”
He nodded. “It’s pointing east.”
“Shit,” she whispered, “any monster sightings?”
“Not yet.”
Sylzenya took a deep breath. “I don’t know much about Lhaal, but I do know that’s not normal, not when we don’t have a Dynami with us. The monsters can sense their power and are more apt to avoid than attack, but you and I…”
She trailed off, observing her hands, remembering what it’d felt like to touch her willow tree she’d created while they were trapped in the grove. It’d burned her with life, a song she’d never heard rushing through her veins. It wasn’t just the roots and leaves opening up for her, but it was her own blood and skin. It was everything in her veins and under the earth, flowing through her body like glittering streams of water populated by buzzing dragonflies.
The orodyte serum.
Everything had fallen away, desperation taking hold of her as she called on the roots and vines of the ancient forest floor to obey her every whim, calling them to rise, to come to life—to fight.
But the “cure” she’d been given—Distrathrus’ blood—had fought against her at every moment.
Never in her life had her cut bled so much.
Surprise found her as she gently ran a finger along her scar, the wound had already scabbed over.
“How did you do that, back at the grove? Using your power?” Elnok asked.
She furrowed her brow, the compass in Elnok’s hand pulsing with golden light. She pressed her palm to the ground
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The compass and her goddess’ heartbeat pulsed as one.
“It seems that whenever I’m near something filled with Aretta’s power, I’m able to connect to it. My willow seemed to have more of her power stored within than I’d thought.”
Elnok looked to the compass, then to her. “Let’s see if your theory is right.”
Breathing in deep, she closed her eyes, letting her goddess’ heartbeat thrum through her, the song of the soil running through her veins again.
Dried plains, fire-charred sunlight, Elnok’s dying body.
She yanked her hand back.
“I can’t,” Sylzenya stated, sweat sliding down her temple.
“What?” Elnok questioned, leaning forward, “It doesn’t work?”
Sylzenya gritted her teeth. “No, it does, but… you heard the High On—” She paused. “You heard Distrathrus. When I use my power, it depletes Druenia—takes away your crops, rivers, even invokes sickness on your side of the continent.”
“With orodyte ,” Elnok argued, “You steal life from the continent and put into those stones. He never said using it without the orodyte did that.”
“Orodyte or not, it’s power , and it always comes with a price.” She stared at her hands. “I won’t let any more death be met by my hands.”
Elnok ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. “It isn’t just your life that’s on the line right now, Sylzenya.”
She grimaced. “You’d tell me to use my power, knowing I might be killing people in your land, just so you can live?”
“And Orym. And my crew.”
She scoffed, digging her fingers into her robe. “Didn’t know how little you cared about people’s lives.”
“What can I say?” He grinned as he spread his arms wide. “I excel in disappointing others.”
“You know what?” She stood up, grabbing the compass. “Just because you bear some scars on your back doesn’t mean you get some kind of free pass to disvalue the lives of others.”
“Look who’s talking.” He replied, standing with her. “You have no idea what it’s like to kill to survive: seeing them face-to-face, forced to watch the light leave their eyes, to know you probably just stole a parent from their child, a lover from their spouse, a man from his father. But you? You’ve killed without even knowing it, taking entire villages in one sweeping measure according to Distrathrus’ little confession.” He sneered. “So before you go questioning my choices, my life, I’d spend some time doing some self-reflection.”
A bright wave of anger flooded her veins. “Fuck you, Elnok.”
He raised his brows. “Careful, Your Holiness, you’re losing that piety pretty quick.”
“Last night was a mistake.”
The words left her mouth before she could stop herself, but she meant it. She’d been unknowingly causing suffering for an entire decade, and now that she knew it and could stop, he was asking her to intentionally put the lives of others at risk so they might survive. She should never have trusted him with her body, no matter how badly she’d wanted him.
“Well then,” his smile faltered, eyes mirthless. “Glad we can finally agree on something.”
He walked past her, swiping the compass from her hand and unsheathing the glowing sword he’d stolen from Kharis as he left the cave.
“ Elnok. ” She rushed after him, grabbing his shoulder. “What’re you doing?”
He held up the compass. “Orym has about two days left to live. I’m finding his cure.”
“But you’ll die out there.”
“How generous of you to care.” He turned to her. “Good luck living the rest of your days in this cave.”
“Elnok, wait ?—”
“I think you’re beginning to learn something, Sylzenya,” a deep voice echoed from somewhere in front of them, the dark fog obscuring them from sight. “Prince Elnok doesn’t have a very patient temperament.”
Three Dynameis pushed through the fog, swords unsheathed and bodies glowing with the power of their orodyte stones.
Sylzenya’s limbs grew cold.
It was Westley and Marlo–the two Dynameis that approached her and Nyla only days ago–flanking either side of Kharis.
Elnok stretched his arm over her body, forcing her to take a step back. She grabbed his wrist, her fingers picking up on his increased heart rate.
“This is pretty shitty of you, Kharis,” Elnok seethed. “I’m not even sure if Tosh would approve of you pursuing me like this.”
“Tosh is nearly dead and there’s nothing that can be done. I’ve accepted that,” Kharis replied, sending his sword into a wide arc. “I’d recommend coming back with us peacefully, and maybe Distrathrus will show some kind of mercy.”
Elnok scoffed. “ Mercy. Right.”
Sylzenya stepped forward, Elnok’s muscles tensing as she pushed against his arm. “Kharis, you’re under his influence right now. Look deep within yourself and see the truth for what it is. Help us. Help Westley and Marlo.”
“You speak as if it’s something none of us wanted, but this is as it should be. As you should be, Sylzenya. Don’t you see that he needs you? That he made you? That you belong to him alone?”
Elnok held up his sword as he stepped fully in front of her. “Over my dead fucking body.”
“Don’t be a fool,” she whispered, her cheeks suddenly warm.
Elnok didn’t respond, nor did he back down.
Kharis let out an exasperated breath. “If that’s what must happen, then so be it.”
As the Dynameis stepped forward, a loud crunch echoed from within the cave. Kharis stopped the other two warriors, his eyes focused at his feet. Sylzenya strained her gaze; a thin, translucent material shimmered in the fog.
“ Serpentum ,” Elnok whispered.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, bringing Sylzenya and Elnok to their knees; the Dynameis managed to stay on their feet, their stances wide and swords readied.
A loud hiss slithered along Sylzenya’s bones, her stomach dropping as six large clouded eyes glowed in the darkness of the cave. Elnok grabbed her arm, stumbling as he dragged her away.
“I’ll take the serpentum, you two get the prince and Kreena,” Kharis yelled over the tumbling of rocks.
“Still not going to use your magic?” Elnok asked.
Sylzenya grabbed Elnok by his tunic and led them away from the Dynameis. “Not if I can help it.”
“What if I’m about to die?”
“ Don’t you dare. ”
“That’s answer enough,” he replied.
She gaped as he ripped his arm from her grasp, shoving the compass into her hand and running straight towards the Dynameis—the deadliest warriors on the continent—while three serpentums slithered out of the cave.