37. Hailon
Chapter 37
Hailon
“ W e’ll use the mirror,” Seir said, “when we stop to eat. See who they sent and guess how close they might be.” Our fingers were linked together, and he pulled my hand up near his face to drop a kiss on my palm.
“Alright.”
He was mostly talking to himself, completely focused on getting us as far down the road as possible. We’d used his new ability to glide on and off for the distances he could manage without it becoming cumbersome and walked the rest.
After leaving the little lodge behind, we’d covered a lot of ground, but our time was truly running short. We seemed to both be feeling the invisible clock ticking, like at any moment he could disappear again.
“I’ll be fine out here by myself. If it comes to that,” I offered again, for perhaps the third time. I was trying to convince myself as much as him.
“I’d rather that not happen. I’d rather someone be with you, Hailon. The councilman is still unaccounted for.”
“I know.” And I did, but from what I’d seen of the man, he wouldn’t be much of a challenge to me in my current, healthy state.
“Give the notebooks and samples to Rylan. There are a lot of very studious minds in that school. I’ll bet they can make heads or tails of what those men were after with their… experiments… and whether it would actually work or not.” He made a sound deep in his throat, teeth showing in distaste. “Rylan reports to the mage council, besides.” His head tilted to the side. “I gave your description of the councilman to my brothers. Perhaps they’ll get lucky. Though I’d really prefer nothing be done to him until I can be present, his punishment should be left to you for the crimes he committed.”
“You seem very confident he’ll be easy to find. Quick to capture.”
He smiled at me, but there was an edge to it. “Men like that are often blinded by their own ego. They never believe they’ll be caught, so they make mistakes, not realizing others have started paying attention to them.”
“I hope you’re right.” A sense of calm washed over me at the idea of being able to put to rest that whole part of my life. With no other dangling threads, no more of those men still alive and able to show up unexpectedly, I might be able to truly move on. Have a whole new life.
“Do you have a proposal for your unit leader? Something good?”
Seir smiled. “Yes. I think it could be perfect. Plenty of time here with you and enough time there that I get to keep my tail.”
“Your tail?”
He swung our arms between us, a smile gracing his handsome face. “When a demon commits to living anywhere other than Hell, they must sacrifice some of their demon features. My teeth would become more blunted, and my tail would disappear, so I appeared as human as possible if I came here full time. Rylan and Vassago seem unbothered by the cost, but I’d like to keep them if I can.”
“It would definitely take me some time to get used to you without them,” I mused. “When we first met, I remember thinking how strange it was to see your tail move, to think it was normal. But now…” I shrugged. “I prefer you as you are.”
He smiled wide and kissed my hand again, several little smooches to express his appreciation for my compliment.
It was well after midday when we finally found a place to stop and eat. Seir almost immediately pulled the little mirror out of his pocket once we’d set our things down.
“Oh no.” He looked crestfallen, staring at the little piece of glass in his hand.
“What’s the matter?”
“My brother is going to be very cross with me.” He didn’t elaborate, but rather started speaking the words to activate it. The first attempt wasn’t successful, nor the second or third.
My heart stuttered when I saw the terrible crack nearly halfway down the mirror as I peered over his shoulder.
“May I see it?” He handed over the mirror and started pulling out food for us. I tried to mend the mirror with my healing magic. I’d never tried to fix an inanimate object before. Unfortunately, the glass seemed resistant to my magical stitches.
I tried the words myself several times, unsure why a crack would disable the magic in the odd communication device altogether. If it did, that seemed like a terribly fragile thing to put such powerful magic into.
“Hello?”
I gasped, nearly dropping the device. My heart pounded, both from the near tragedy and from the relief of having reached someone. A man with black hair was looking back at me in the mirror.
“You did it!” Seir cheered, taking the mirror back from me. “Rylan, hello. We’ve been on the road most of the day. I wanted to see if we might be getting close, or if the escort was?—”
“Seir? Is that you? Something’s wrong with your mirror.”
My gut twisted.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” Seir paced, holding the little glass carefully in his broad palm. Frowning, he came to stand next to me.
“Vago!” the man called. “Something’s wrong with it.”
The man with black hair was replaced in the little piece of glass by his white-haired brother, the one I’d met.
“Hello! Vago, can you hear me?”
“Seir?”
“Yes! The mirror is cracked, but I?—”
“Damn. I’ll bet he’s broken it. That’s ten now.” He shook his head. “I’m glad the stone kin already?—”
The connection disappeared. “No! Wait!” Seir growled in frustration. We both tried the words several times, but the mirror never worked again. “He’s going to strangle me. I can’t seem to keep myself from breaking these things, no matter how carefully or close I keep them.” He sighed and took a hearty bite from an apple. “Perhaps you can convince him to make us both a new one. I went a couple of decades without before this one. He’s much less likely to deny you, as I’m the one at fault.” When we stood again, he slipped the mirror into my pocket, where it clanked hard against my little horse carving.
“We’ll see.”
We didn’t linger once our stomachs were full and our bodies rested enough to push on.
If we trusted the map, Revalia was not terribly far from Ravenglen, but we’d well learned to be wary of the scale and organization of it after the detour into the ruins.
The trees became denser all around us the further we traveled, and I could feel it was going to be a truly cold autumn night from the moisture in the air.
As the sun started to slip down the horizon, the threat of evening coming on, we both heard it. Wingbeats, far too heavy to be any bird. Seir’s smile returned, a weight lifting from his shoulders.
The sound suddenly stopped, and the dark form in the sky appeared to plummet, just as Seir had. We looked at one another, both debating running toward it. In the end, we only walked a little faster, a carriage drawn by two stout working horses a closer priority. It stopped several paces from us, the horses thankfully unmoved by my presence from that distance. I thought of Jacks, how he hadn’t reacted until I was nearly touching him. I could only hope that these beasts were used to magical presence and my nature wouldn’t be an issue for them.
One woman was driving the horses and another climbed out of the carriage. A man, a very large one, came jogging down the road right after, his large wings tucked close to his back. Even from a distance I could see the fierce bone talons at the tips.
“Well met, travelers!” one of the women called. She, too, was quite tall. She had long dark hair and stood a full head over the smaller, golden-haired woman.
“They sent a full cavalry,” Seir joked. “Greetings to you, friends.”
“Always good to see you, Seir.” The big man shook Seir’s hand and then drew him in for a hearty hug. “My lady.” He bowed at me.
“The pleasure is mine,” I replied politely, surprised to find I wasn’t nervous to meet these strangers.
“Thank you for coming.” Seir’s gratitude was evident in the solemn expression he wore as he bowed.
“Couldn’t refuse a good adventure,” the blonde one said, smiling widely. “We heard you met our brother Coltor?”
“Indeed.”
“Our condolences,” the smaller woman joked. She turned to me. “I’m Lovette. That’s my sister, Imogen.” Imogen raised a hand in a gentle wave.
“Nice to meet you both.”
“We were told you might need an escort back to Revalia?”
I nodded, unsure what to say.
“They warned us about your magic, but some things you just have to experience to believe. Felt like a brick wall when I hit it.” The man did not seem at all put out by this, in fact he was beaming. “Luckily I’ve learned well how to take a fall.” He stuck out a hand. “Alright, my lady? I’m Magnus. We’re happy to have found you.”
There was no mistaking the strong, angular features of the man in particular. Coltor was indeed his father’s son. The larger woman, too, resembled him plainly. The smaller woman had softer features, all light to their dark, including her friendly, open expression.
“Hailon,” I confirmed.
“Shall we go?” Magnus gestured with his arm toward the carriage. “I’m sure you’re a bit anxious to get to the city? Your brothers mentioned something about a short timeline.”
“I’m… not coming,” Seir said. My mouth dropped open and my chest felt like he’d dropped a boulder on it. I knew our time was short, but I’d let myself get comfortable, to pretend he would get to stay with me. “I’m sorry, Moonflower. It’s time. I can feel it.” He scrubbed at his chest, my heart aching behind my ribs just the same. “I’m trusting you with my mate, Magnus.”
The men made steady eye contact, and the smile slipped from the gargoyle’s mouth as he gave a solemn nod. “I understand, demon. If it brings you peace, your brothers have done the same. She will be safe with us.” They clasped one another on the arm, a hushed conversation passing between them. There were lots of wide eyes from Magnus and several nods, then a smile before they embraced one another quickly and separated.
“Don’t mind us,” Imogen said, and when I glanced over, she was very casually cleaning one of her weapons with the tail of her shirt.
“Right, we’re only here for decoration, I suppose,” Lovette teased, arms crossed.
Seir’s face lit up, and he strode to them, pulling them both in for a hug, one in each arm. “I know you wouldn’t have come if you hadn’t already accepted such heavy responsibility. Thank you.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Lovette patted him on the shoulder.
“You all have my eternal thanks.” He pulled me off the road, going several paces away from the gargoyles into the softer dirt. A single little purple daisy was still blooming near his foot, the kind I’d made a crown out of one of our first days together.
He plucked it, then tucked it into my hair, fingertips lingering on my cheek. He sighed deeply, golden eyes sad. “I need you to banish me, Moonflower.”