Chapter 25 #2
“Fire is better,” Kaen grumbled.
Azahara smiled widely, “Please! I’d love that.”
“Perfect, then it’s a date.”
Watching Akua shift his gaze to Jayce had her looking up at him. Today is a day of firsts, she thought, seeing the expression laced across his beautiful face. Was he jealous? Why? Yikes. She took a deep breath and found Jayce’s hand. Their fingers lacing immediately, and he settled.
“Let’s get going,” Akua continued, turning his back to them, and placing his hands in front of him.
“Hey,” Azahara was watching Akua, but tilted her head to the side, raising her ear to Jayce, who whispered, “I get my date first.” His hand snaked around her waist and pulled her to him. “Okay?”
Turning her head up to look at him, “You can have your date,” she stepped from his grasp, surprising him, “After,” looking back at Akua, who had water spinning in a cyclone in front of him, “I get my answers.”
“Let’s go!” Akua called out.
Azahara didn’t look at Jayce but reached for Xol’s outstretched hand.
She watched Xol take Kaen’s and jump through, tugging her along.
With Jayce taking hers, the three of them followed suit.
The water drenched them but felt comfortable, unlike the wether portals that tore her apart just to put her back together again.
She was immediately hit with heat when they emerged on the other side. It was nearly too much, and she cowered backward, ready to jump straight back through the portal to the comfortable air of Isis.
Jayce was behind her, his hands on her arms.
At first, she thought that Kaen was setting something ablaze, but that wasn’t the case. All around them, steam spewed through the ground, the smoke making it a bit difficult to see further than a few feet in front of them.
“This is what is known as the Katsukazan. The Mountain is alive, and while nothing in our texts have explanations for it, it has never harmed us. We believe it is Ilkiz’s way of protecting her tomb from those with fear in their hearts.
” Akua hadn’t released her hand, and she slowly slipped it from his grasp.
At first glance, she hadn’t noticed any water around them, but upon closer inspection, there were small bouts of water seeping through the ground. It truly shocked her at how little water he needed to bring them here. She was thoroughly impressed.
“Speaking of, there it is.” Xol stepped beside them, all three of them drenched but quickly drying thanks to the heat.
Following her eyes, Azahara looked up to the towering structure that was crafted entirely from black onyx.
It was imposing, radiating both elegance and strength and it made her need to take a breath, as it stole it nearly immediately.
It sat at the peak of one of the mountain ranges that cascaded the distance. There was no greenery here like there was in Isis, but it held its own beauty. The dark rocks and steam added an otherworldly element, as though she had stepped onto a completely different planet.
“Why are there five dragons?” she asked as they began walking up the windy pathway.
Five mighty dragons rested on different sides of the structure, all facing different cardinal directions.
They seemed to be guardians, all holding an air of protectiveness in their features.
Their eyes, made of the same jade used in so many areas of Ilkiz, seemed to glow.
“They represent the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and space. Each of them was gifted to Ilkiz children and their children. The five you see here were all her first Dragons, and upon their departure from this realm, their bodies became capsules of memory.”
She was smiling as Akua was talking, completely oblivious to anyone else at that moment. It wasn’t just the sheer awe-inspiring sight before her that was captivating her, it was its power that was drawing her towards it.
Despite the billowing smoke surrounding the mountainside, the tomb itself seemed untouched, as if shielded by an invisible force.
This world truly held wonders that Azahara had not even fathomed she would see, and she wondered what else it had to offer.
Knowing a place like this existed and never being able to see or feel it, was a tragedy.
She was beginning to wonder if living for eternity would be such a bad thing if she got to see more of this.
Once they made it to the trail’s end, which led up a small flight of stairs, Akua and Kaen came to a halt. “This is where we part ways, Azahara.” Akua turned to her and gave her a soft bow. Kaen followed suit.
Awkwardly, Azahara did the same, bowing and smiling to try and dismiss the tightening in her chest. “You both will be here when we come back out?”
Kaen crossed her arms with a large grin, “When you come back, your little protection detail can’t enter with you.”
“What?!” Xol and Jayce nearly screamed simultaneously.
Jayce stepped just in front of her but didn’t block her view from the twins. “You never mentioned that,” She felt the heat radiating off of him, and the tremble across his skin as his hand curled into a fist. “I’m going with her, I don’t mean to be rude to your traditions, but I cannot leave her.”
Akua began, “Ilkiz would annihilate you if you entered; even her descendants can’t—” but he was quickly cut off.
“I don’t care,” his voice had lowered, but the fervor behind it never faltered, “I made a promise.” “I’m here, I promise I’ll never leave you,” she heard his words from when he held her on the beach of Itotaki, just after she was saved from Goddrick.
“I don’t think it’s the right time, especially with everything going on. It wouldn’t do either of us any good.”
He wasn’t lying; he was protecting her. Jayce was always trying to shield her, not only from physical threats but also from those unseen.
He was keeping her safe her from the King and Jaakobai, understanding that if he volunteered to find her, he could throw them off her trail. He would protect her from Goddrick because he was the only person that could, and that was what he wanted.
He loved her, and he never needed to say it.
“Jayce,” She captured his attention, and he turned to her. The unsmiling face that looked at her was not one she liked to see, but understandably accepted. “It’s okay.”
He was shaking his head. “No, if you go in there, and don’t come back out, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
He was searching through her eyes, hoping that she would concede to him coming. “I can feel her, Jayce.” His hands came to the sides of her neck, his thumbs brushing against her cheeks. “She won’t hurt me, and he can’t get me here.”
Still, he didn’t smile nor did the fear in his own eyes disappear. “I’ll come back to you. I promise.” She whispered, trying to settle him.
It may have seemed weird to the twins, but his fear was valid. Along with Xol, who she could feel was hovering closer to her. They both had seen what happened, and if Azahara was right about Xol, they both knew equally what the world could bring down on her and have no remorse for it.
Jayce pressed his forehead against hers, saying, “You better.” He pulled her into an embrace, holding her so tightly against his chest that she let out a huff of air. Her own arms wrapped tightly around his torso, not wanting to let go, but knowing it was necessary.
“I will,” she closed her eyes, and took in the place that felt like home.
After he finally released her, she gave Xol a hug.
“Be safe, call out to me if anything goes wrong.” When she stepped back, she looked deep into those sapphire eyes.
They were not familiar, but Xol was. Azahara was sure then she knew who they were, and believed that the once monstrous creature turned ally, would come to her as she had in Howl.
“Thank you,” Azahara said, smiling and turning towards Ilkiz’s Tomb. With a deep intake of air, she made her way across the courtyard that led straight to the singular entrance that had no door, but a blanket of darkness just beyond its veil.
Before she stepped through it, she looked back at the four of them one last time. Surprised to see Xol grabbing at Kaen, and Jayce wide-eyed staring at her. What the hell is going on?
An unspeakable force grabbed her arm and ripped her through the darkness, taking her out of their sight and plunging her into the abyss.
Azahara was not afraid of the dark, and it knew it.
It tried to steal her breath, but she only took more of it.
It tried to silence her, but instead, she spoke, “Hello?” The quiet that answered her was by no means surprising, but she had hoped at least an echo of her own voice would ring.
There was nothing to indicate up from down, left from right.
No indication that she had truly stepped into a tomb or was back in purgatory with Death.
Her head slowly turned on a swivel, taking in the abyss that was truly nothing. The sounds and lack of anything but darkness was both eerie, yet beautiful. The temperature was comfortable, and she realized that she was completely dry.
Then, just before she was going to take a step forward, she heard a voice.
“Hello,” She was right back there, sitting at the dining room table five hundred years ago. “We weren’t expecting you for at least another couple thousands of years.”
She turned, and standing before her, with an innocent smile that yearned to spew about romance novels and telling’s of the world, the wavy red hair that complemented her porcelain skin, and the gray eyes that were seekers knowledge and exuded understanding.
“Mel…” Her voice was shaky, because unlike seeing a spirit or a vision of someone, she was standing right in front of her. Complete, as if she were truly there in the flesh. “Melody? Is that…”
“Hello sister, I’ve missed you.”