24. Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
Dynalya
“ Y ou cannot go to Kelpway. It is far too dangerous.” Sylar’s statement filled the stifled silence. “If Red Highland knows you are here, they will hunt you, Rawn. They care nothing for Dwarf Shoe’s laws.”
Klyde looked out the windows. “How would they know he is here?”
“Red Highland has spies everywhere,” Elon replied.
Lucenna frowned. “But I glamoured him before entering the city. He must have been seen before coming here.”
“He was.” Everyone turned to look at Dyna at her cool answer. She scoffed. “Galen. The poacher that you let escape survived after all.”
Zev’s eyes widened as he exchanged a look with Rawn.
Dyna turned away from them and scowled at the moon outside. She had been right after all. This was what mercy bought. Another obstacle in her way.
“We need to abandon the plan,” Zev said.
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“We can’t go through with it anymore, Dyna,” Lucenna said sharply. “Going will put us all at risk.”
“They are searching for Rawn. He can remain in hiding until the danger passes. Stay here to glamour him and cloak the area. Meanwhile I will go. Klyde and Zev can come with me.”
“My lady,” Rawn sighed. I understand why you wish to go after Tarn, but now may not be the time. Splitting up is never wise against such an opponent.”
“I have to agree, lass,” Klyde said, and she gritted her teeth. “Together, aye, we have a chance of taking him down and commandeering his ship. But meandering in there alone, let alone with half of the manpower, will get someone killed.”
“As I told Von before he left.”
Dyna whipped around to Elon. “What?”
He took a seat beside Sylar. “Von also defected, Maiden. He no longer serves the Master.”
She took a shaky breath, relieved, happy, but worry knotted in her chest. “When?”
“Three months past. He escaped the ship once it left Indigo Bay.”
“And the others?” She eagerly stepped forward. “Yavi, Geon, and Sorren. Did they make it out?”
Last she saw Von; he mentioned Dalton had already escaped.
Elon expression was answer enough. “No.”
Her heart sank. Then they must still be trapped with Tarn. “Tell me where he is.”
“Von is on his way to Kelpway.” There was something in Elon’s tone that invited something Dyna didn’t like, and she had a sudden urge to leave.
Von must be going back for Yavi,” she said to the others. “We must go. He will surely die if we don’t help him.”
“You will die,” Lucenna exasperated. “How many times must we tell you, think before you leap.”
“That is rich coming from you,” Dyna hissed. She stormed out of the door and went outside into the chilly night. Lucenna followed her out. “I don’t need any more lectures from the sorceress who acts first and asks questions second. What happened to not allowing anything to stand in your way?”
“What happened to the compassionate girl who had a kind heart?” Lucenna demanded. “Who thought of others before herself?”
She stopped with her back to her, the center of her chest shaking. “You know what happened to her.”
“Dyna …”
“How much did you change after you were betrayed by all that you knew? What filled the hole in your chest when you lost your mother?” Dyna asked. At the drag of silence, she said, “You do not get to judge me, Lucenna. We both know if you had a chance to right the world by defeating the Archmage you would take it.”
“Not like this…” Lucenna came to her. “Why is going after Tarn so important to you?”
She shook her head up at the sky. “I am tired of others making my decisions. I am tired of always losing and being out of control of my own life. I need to take him down, and take down everyone who has ever hurt me, so they cannot do it again.” Dyna turned to her. “You used to be brave. I idolized you, Lucenna. I aspired to be you. To be someone who wasn’t afraid to fight against whoever stood in your way. What changed? Why are you so afraid now?”
“Because of you!” Lucenna exclaimed. “I am afraid for you . We all are.”
She noticed then, Zev and her other friends standing at the door. Watching her with the same solemn look Lucenna was now.
“You’re angry and violent, and so lost. I wish I knew how to help you,” Lucenna said, her voice breaking. She hugged her tight. “I want my friend back. Please come back.”
Dyna closed her eyes, fighting the tears welling behind them. The girl she used to be was gone. Why did they keep hoping to see her?
“I’m sorry…” She exhaled shakily and slipped out of her hold, looking away. “I need to be alone. Please…”
There was a pause before she heard Klyde say, “Come, lass. Give her a moment. You have cloaked the area enough.”
Lucenna walk away and the door to the hut closed. Dyna sank to the wet grass and pulled up her knees, wrapping her arms around them. She listened to the chatter of the forest as her vision blurred.
What they didn’t know was that Dyna missed the girl she used to be, the one who trusted the good in people, who loved unreservedly, and still believed in hope. But how could that girl live with half of her heart missing?
At the gentle snort and brush against her head, Dyna hugged Fair’s muzzle. He lowered on the grass beside her, serving as the only thing holding her up as her tears soaked his mane.
Fair didn’t judge her. He never questioned her, no matter how distraught and angry she was. Maybe it was silly, since he was a horse and couldn’t speak, but he was her only comfort now.
Dyna laid there with him in the grass as she looked at the half-moon. The wispy clouds parted, bathing the field in soft light. The stars seem distant without her dreams beneath them. And she wondered where the other half of her heart had gone.
Sitting up, she rolled her eyes at herself.
Crying was pointless. She didn’t need these types of thoughts holding her down. Reaching her in her satchel, Dyna took out a pewter bottle and sipped the tonic. It tasted awful but it did the trick to vanish the ache in her chest. She sighed down at the bottle.
She really was pathetic.
A flick of blue flashed in the corner of Dyna’s vision. It was a familiar aquamarine shade. She whipped her head to the left in time to see the tip of a tail dashing into the bushes.
Azulo?
She leaped to her feet and ran after him. Fair trotted close behind her as Dyna followed the streak of blue darting through the forest. Where was he leading her?
The trees eventually receded to a clearing with a small pond with a short waterfall. The rush of water joined the sounds of the night, and somehow, Dyna sensed that held a purpose. A fully grown blue fox with a diamond-shaped patch on its forehead waited for her by the edge of the bank. He sat on his haunches, wagging three fluffy tails.
“There you are, sweet one.” She smiled and gently scratched his head. “You have grown over the winter, Azulo. How big are you now? Perhaps, to my shoulder?”
A golden light flared around him, and he rose up — way past her shoulder. A young man with furry ears grinned at her. He looked about twenty years old or so now. Only in a pair of black trousers, she got an eyeful of his well-built form. Bright cerulean hair fell around Azulo’s handsome face in soft waves. The sapphire gem on his forehead glinted in the moonlight.
“Much bigger than that, Mistress.” He chuckled at her shocked face, flashing his fangs. Muscle had filled him out well, his new height a good foot above her. He gained some new tattoos on his shoulders and chest. They pulsed blue faintly with magic.
Dyna gaped at him a moment then laughed in surprise. “Dear Gods. You surely have grown.”
Azulo puffed out his chest proudly. He scooped her up in his strong arms and hugged her tight, spinning her around in a circle. “I have missed you.”
“As have I.” But her smile wavered when his did and he set her down. “You didn’t lure me here for visit though, did you?”
Azulo’s ears lowered. He glanced away and she followed his stare to the crop of trees on the right. A shadowed form moved forward and stepped into the moonlight, revealing the beautiful green-haired male she met a season ago.
The Druid’s golden eyes glowed eerily in the night. “It’s time, clever mortal.”
“For what?” Dyna asked, but she knew. It had been coming since the night her geas began to throb.
“To complete the deal, we agreed upon. A favor for a favor of my choosing.” He circled her, grinning like a cat toying with its meal, and he leaned in intimately close. “No amount of scheming will exempt you from it.”