Chapter Nineteen #2
“I choose you both. I chose you the night of the Rite. I choose you every day hereafter. If that means that you go the way of the lost Queen, we will see it so for you. But right now? We have to move. We cannot stay in the elements this way.”
Chiron’s practicality brings us back to the present.
I motion for Chiron to help me up, and then both reach out to help me.
My head throbs again when I am on my feet, but I do not waver.
We dust the fallen snow off all of our clothes, and Chiron picks up his scarf, which was under my head on the icy path beneath us.
Wren nods his head slowly, looking from Chiron to me. His eyes are crinkled, be it from the fierce winter air or concern, I cannot say.
“I will stay, I will see us to the beacon. I need to gather my thoughts before I say more.”
The words leave his mouth, edged in the strict cadence they did when we first met one another that first morning in the cave. Polite declaration said without emotion. I do not know what to make of this. But at present, this is the best either of us can ask for.
We continue forward, but at a slower pace. Wren takes the lead, and Chiron goes behind me. I keep my feet beneath me as we make our final ascent upward.
We come around the final curve of the mountain and onto a plateau that bridges the two peaks together. In every direction I turn, there is jagged rock and ice that make up the expansive range.
While the air is still thin here, the biting wind is mostly blocked as we walk forward across the snow-covered platform. I cannot say how far up we are, but when I look off to the right of us, all I can see is the blowing snow outside of our mountainous enclosure.
Chiron walks slightly ahead of us, almost as if he knows where we must go. For all I can see, there is nothing here but the tall stone beacon in the middle of the space.
However, the closer we get to the beacon, an opening in the stone floor comes into view.
It isn’t wide, perhaps enough for one body at a time. Chiron looks back at me with trepidation, searching my eyes before looking to Wren with a grimace.
“Those steps are going to be dangerous, especially in the dark. Wren, I want you to go first. Take them slowly. I’ll have your back.
" He turns back to me as he continues his plan, “Netta, I want you to walk behind me. Keep a hand on my shoulder, I’ll match your pace as best I can. I don’t know how far these go down. ”
The dark corridor spirals into the depths of the great mountain.
Every step we take is an echo, a cacophony of thumps into my still pounding head.
The darkness is all-consuming, the weight of it heavy over my eyes, forcing my lids closed.
We learn to move by touch alone—the person in front of us sets the pace.
Wren takes the sharp turns slowly, and the descent is disorienting.
I no longer feel secure in my ability to remain standing.
I grip onto Chiron’s shoulder for physical and emotional stability now.
Time remains irrelevant to us, especially with no signs from the sun to guide us. The air grows earthier and warmer the farther down we move. Wren and Chiron keep our rhythm, the blur of echoes beginning to form a beat within my mind.
Step, step, stop. Step, step, stop.
My skin begins to prickle, the cold losing its grip on our senses. Every limb is alight with the sensation of pin pricks as the feeling is returning to them.
The throbbing where my head hit the solid ground intensifies, and a wave of dizziness washes over me. My hand slides from Chiron’s shoulder as I drop back onto the stone steps behind me.
“Wait.” The footfalls cease. Silence engulfs the downward chasm. I pull my knees up close to me and rest my head on my arms. I’m careful to avoid my aching wound, turning my face to the side and taking slow, steady breaths in through my nose.
I have no wish to retch on these steps, but my insides roil all the same. A cool, gloveless hand soothes the side of my cheek, carefully avoiding the swollen mass at my temple.
“My love, Netta?” Chiron’s quiet words rouse me from my misery.
I open my eyes to him, reminded that it is still pitch black in the stairway.
“I’m alright, I’m just dizzy.”
His exhale is long, and his hand presses comfortingly on my cheek once more.
“Let me carry you, please?”
My chest swells. He would. The fact that I am nearly as tall as he is has no bearing on him; Chiron would take me the rest of the way down if I needed him to.
I lift my face to him, searching out his crouching form in the darkness. My lips part at the touch of his instantly. This is a quick, soft kiss, his devotion in the form of touch.
His care for me is bolstering, and I find the strength to rise with his help.
“I know that you would, but I am well. Let us continue.”
I place my hands back on Chiron’s shoulders now, and Wren resumes our blind descent.
No more than a few minutes pass when we take a curve in the endless spiral, and a soft glow appears in front of us.
It feels bright against my closed eyelids, unaccustomed as we have become to the light.
I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to acclimate as our feet land on the first smooth stones of the cavern.