Chapter 9 Ashes #2
Vex was infuriating. But he seemed to have decided to let Declan leave and follow his own destiny.
There was no nattering voice in his head nor any sense of his father nearby.
So wasting anymore time on what he was thinking or wanting beyond that would only lead to bleak ruminations.
He had long ago learned that such things drained one’s soul, but did little else.
“Forgive me, King Aquilan. You don’t need to hear my sob story. Just know that I have nothing to do with him or the Kindreth. And I’d like… like to come home. To Earth. To Tyrael. If you’ll have me.”
It wasn’t until that moment that he realized that Aquilan would have to allow him to return to Earth.
It was part of the Aravae Empire now and the Kindreth were their old enemies.
He was the Night Prince even if he wasn’t claiming the title.
Despite what Ashryn had said–that Aquilan would protect him against Vex and all comers–that was asking quite a lot of the Sun King.
It was potentially putting him at odds with the Night King and whoever else might come for Declan.
If anyone else figures out who and what I am. But I have no intention of ever allowing that. Rhalyf hides his white hair and red eyes. If the magic that is protecting me fails, he’ll show me how to repair it. Yet I’ll only need to do that if Aquilan allows me to come home…
But any fears that could have built up were immediately quelled as, without hesitation, Aquilan said, “Of course, Declan! Earth is your home. You are a citizen of the Empire. And I… I want you to come back. Very much.”
Aquilan’s hand that was holding onto his tightened its grip.
His thumb ran along the back of Declan’s hand.
A tender gesture that had warmth pooling in Declan’s groin for the second time that day or night or whenever it was.
It was not the place for such feelings as he saw Leviathan starting to mass again to attack them.
The creatures had been keeping their distance, realizing that their tactics so far had just led to fast deaths, were clearly plotting.
Aquilan continued, “And I want to hear everything that Vex said to you. I will tell you all he said to me as well. Our fates are more intertwined than even I thought. Though that day when I saw you upon coming to Earth… Well, it has haunted me, Declan. Shadow. My Shadow,” Aquilan said the last fondly.
Declan blushed and ducked his head though he was not sure why. Having a nickname–a pet name perhaps more accurately–with the Sun King felt very intimate. Something secret and special between them. No one else would call him their shadow.
“Yes, but we best do that when we are back on Earth. The Leviathan are plotting,” Declan said, forcing himself to lift his head and tilt it towards a cluster of the creatures.
Aquilan nodded and a shudder ran through him. “I wish I could use a Sunstone on this nest, but Vex was clear he didn’t want his lichen destroyed. And, in truth, a Sunstone might do more damage than good to this ecosystem.”
“Lichen?” Declan asked. “He cares about lichen?” His left eyebrow lifted.
Aquilan sighed. “I think he cares about the environment. Light down here would kill the Leviathan, true. But it would also kill whatever lives in the lake, burn away the lichen, and maybe even harm the city. We’re near where the wards are anchored.
Releasing the power of a Sunstone could damage those further as well. We don’t want that.”
Declan thought of the crater with the glassy surface. Something had already damaged those wards, likely beyond repair. He frowned. Did Vex really think he’d done that? It was absurd! But no matter. Aquilan was right. They should be careful nonetheless.
“We need to find the others,” Declan said. “Maybe we can just cut our way to them and figure out a solution for the nest later?”
Aquilan nodded. “It’s so large. We couldn’t destroy it on our own without help. I imagine that Vex might deal with it himself.”
Declan’s lips flattened. His father had known about the nest at least since he’d come here.
But he’d made seemingly no move to destroy it though he also clearly knew that the Leviathan were using it as a staging area to invade Earth.
If his father really was as powerful as people said, surely he could eliminate it on his own. Or maybe that was a fairytale too.
“Maybe,” Declan said neutrally.
“I sense Rhalyf over in the city. Oh! And Finley, too. I don’t sense the others, but I’m sure we’ll find them,” Aquilan stated, pointing off into the distance where Illithor shone.
“Finley? He’s okay? I mean… Can you tell?”
“He… he seems all right. His aura…” Aquilan shook himself. “I think he’s fine. He’s with Rhalyf so no matter what he’ll be safe.”
Would he think that way if he knew Rhalyf was a Kindreth? Maybe. But Rhalyf has lied to him their entire friendship. That will hurt him desperately when he finds out.
But Declan made no move to tell Aquilan.
If he’d thought that Rhalyf was a threat to the Sun King he would have acted.
But he didn’t believe that. Like him, Rhalyf was trying to make a life away from the Kindreth.
And his heritage was Rhalyf’s alone to tell.
The other Kindreth had kept Declan’s secret.
“Let’s go. The Leviathan are getting restless,” Declan said.
“This way. We can leave the nest the way I came in. There’s an opening that will lead us to the lake. From there, I can levitate us across,” Aquilan said. “We’ll figure something out.”
Declan nodded. He tossed Ardreth from one hand to the other as they began to move.
The Leviathan kept a respectful distance.
The ruby in the blade’s hilt was glowing a pulsing red.
He remembered its special power was to release a wave of damage that could take out armies.
Well, in the right hands with someone who actually knew how to use it. Declan did not.
The two of them moved swiftly through the maze of passageways in the nest. The sticky strands of webbing tried to snag their clothes and boots, but both of them were sure-footed and avoided the worst of it.
Declan noticed that as they turned a corner that there were cocoons nestled in a group of three ahead of them.
His stomach clenched and nearly revolted as he realized that these must be people that the Leviathan had grabbed–likely from Earth–and brought here.
This part of the nest seemed older than the rest with more broken threads of webbing and several of the cocoons half crumbled inwards as if the bodies inside had simply turned to dust.
“It’s just through here, I think. A few more rights and a left or so and we should be out,” Aquilan tossed over his shoulder with a smile at Declan.
Aquilan then stepped around the corner just past the three cocoons he’d noticed. One of them actually was open at the top and, though he had not been intending to, Declan looked inside.
He saw a face.
A familiar face.
He stopped dead in his tracks, certain he must be mistaken. He had to be mistaken. He leaned forward. He stared.
It was.
It was Tyler Wilde.
His adopted father’s face.
His beloved adopted father’s face.
One he had not seen in half a decade but he remembered it perfectly. His father’s face was screwed up in pain. There was no relaxation of death upon it though it was clear to Declan he had been dead for some time. No, the face showed agony. And fear.
There was a rustling ahead of Declan down a path that Aquilan had not gone. There was a rustling behind him too. But Declan didn’t move. He just stood there. Staring.
He had not known what had happened to Tyler Wilde. He and Finley had assumed that his adopted father had been killed somewhere in Lightwell. They’d theorized vaguely that maybe Tyler had been taken to the Under Dark. But neither of them had really believed that.
Or rather, neither of them had wanted to believe that.
But here was proof of what had happened to his adopted father. Tyler had been snatched from his home and taken by monsters to a place where there was no light. He then had been cocooned in this terrible place where the Leviathan had fed on him for who knew how long. Hours? Days? A week?
And Tyler had clearly suffered. Up to the very end, he’d been terrified and in pain. The very end…
They’re here for you, Declan. They’re here for you.
But they had taken Tyler instead. They had taken Alexia. They had taken so many lives…
No more, he thought in a voice that was and wasn’t his. No. More.
The rustling was more insistent. It had become the hissing of coils. The sound was all around him. He thought he heard Aquilan call his name in alarm. But the Sun King sounded so far away.
And Declan was glad. Because he didn’t want Aquilan anywhere near this.
Without conscious thought. Without trying at all. Declan brought his magic to life. Cold flooded him in a tidal wave of power. The jewel in the end of Ardreth burned as bright as the Sun, but it was red. Red as blood.
The Leviathan converged against him all at once, thinking he was distracted or worse.
But he was waiting for them. He didn’t even have to move Ardreth to cut them down.
They simply disintegrated when they came within a foot of him.
Fangs clanged all around him. There were violent hisses, shrieks, roars and more as death spread out in waves all around him and the power of those deaths fueled Ardreth.
He knew the moment it was enough.
He brought the sword up almost leisurely, languidly, slowly.
Alarm was running through the nest. More than alarm. Terror. The Leviathan were racing away from him, deeper inside, thinking to hide themselves from his wrath. But there was nowhere they could hide from him. Nowhere at all.
Magic pulsed inside of him and flowed into Ardreth, adding to its impossible power.
The sounds the Leviathan were making were deafening.
Declan slowly sliced Ardreth through the air in front of him.
A graceful, almost gentle motion as if he were performing a kata.
Magic erupted from it. Red. Crimson. Fire.
Destruction. It blotted out everything else.
And then there was silence.
From roars to nothing in a second.
Declan’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness again.
He blinked once, twice, more and the world resolved itself once more.
The cavern was clear. No more nest. No more Leviathan.
The lichen were fine. But nothing of the enemy remained except the single cocoon with Tyler’s remains.
It stood upright for a second, but then started to fall.
Declan grabbed for it, but as he touched it, the cocoon broke apart into a sea of white ash.
Tyler’s face disappeared into a mass of white-gray.
Declan let out a sound that was thin and low.
Rahven. His father was suddenly in his mind. He had never left, Declan realized. He had never left. His voice was kind. So kind. Nothing like before. I am sorry for your loss.
Declan was on his knees. He was covered in gray-white ash. The currents in the cavern caused the particles to dance. His eyes closed. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he cradled nothing. Tyler Wilde was no more. Just like the Leviathan in the cavern.
Maybe I did kill Ashryn, Father, Declan sent. Maybe I did.
He collapsed just as Aquilan reached him. The Sun King dove down to him just as he fell. Unconsciousness welcomed him with open arms.