Chapter 51 #2
But even if she could, she would fall to her death.
They flew over the treetops. Ava tried to reach her sword.
Her arm screamed in protest, pinned to her side by the monster’s strength.
It looked at her with a wide grin, venom dripping from its fangs.
Licking its lips, it leaned in, as if preparing to have a taste.
She tried to back away, tried to pull from its arms, screaming and writhing.
The inch long teeth closed in, a hair’s breadth from her face. Ava jerked her head away and kicked back, her boot finding purchase with a leg. It didn’t phase the creature. With a clawed hand buried in her hair, it held her still, sniffing her neck.
Ava whimpered.
It froze, eyes widening. An unearthly shriek pierced her ears. She searched the sky, looking for the source of the monster’s terror, but she couldn’t see anything save for its massive wings.
As if in slow motion, the monster’s face sank in on itself, smoking and steaming, then dissolved into ash, whisked away by the wind and rain.
Ava’s braid hit her face as she plummeted to the ground.
She opened her mouth in a silent scream, arms and legs flailing. She was going to die. She was going to hit the earth and break every bone in her body.
Slamming into something hard, she stopped, her breath knocked from her lungs. It wasn’t the ground, but someone’s chest, arms clutching her firmly around her waist and under her knees. Arms that glowed as they hovered a few feet from the earth.
“Cas,” she breathed, prepared to gaze into his golden eyes.
But they weren’t gold. They were…violet.
“Jareth?” she gasped.
“Sorry we’re late.”
“You came?” she asked, as he floated to the ground and set her on her feet.
He gestured to the open land behind him. The sun had begun to crest over the horizon, casting a warm glow around the force standing in the field. Thousands of fae stood before her, their golden armor resplendent in the light. And in the very front stood Orion.
Ava’s heart surged, unable to stop the tears this time as she grasped onto the thread of hope that had unraveled only moments ago, pulling it back and holding on with every fiber of her soul.
After weeks of practicing a complicated spell she’d learned in the book, Ava had been secretly maintaining a portal connecting to Caelestia. Just in case. She hadn’t told her friends, worried about getting their hopes up, but it seemed her efforts were not in vain.
“How did you convince your father?” she asked, heart in her throat.
“It’s a long story,” Jareth said.
Ava flung her arms around his neck. She didn’t care if he was cruel and hateful, because deep down, for whatever reason, he wanted to help. And he had come to their aid. A light in the darkest hour. She let out a sob, unable to help herself.
Jareth gave her a reluctant pat on the back before pulling away.
“Ava!” Casimir shouted, running toward her, followed by Raine, Jorrar and Pax.
Seconds later she was enveloped in an embrace, wrapped in the arms of a giant warrior. “Are you hurt? Are you alright?”
“I’m okay. Thanks to your brother.”
Casimir turned to Jareth. “Thank you.”
He shrugged.
Ava, Luna’s voice was panicked. He’s coming.
Casimir, Jorrar and Raine looked at her, wide-eyed. They must have been informed by their own companions.
“You all need to go,” Ava urged.
Casimir’s face was pained. Full of fear and love and outright terror. He stepped forward and grasped her face in his hands, eyes brimming with tears. Ava gripped the front of his armor, taking in a deep breath.
His lips crushed hers, the kiss full of desperation and unspoken fears. Of vows and promises and a love so deep it was engraved in her soul, seared beneath her flesh. She kissed him back as tears streamed down her face, pouring everything she couldn’t find words for into it.
Pulling away he looked down at her. “I love you, Mi’ra V?ssa.
The Earth Mother blessed me with the other half of my soul that day in the woods.
Every beat of my heart has been yours since.
You are my light; my world.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“No matter what happens, I will always love you. And when the sun sets forever, and the world is bathed in darkness…I will still love you.”
She hiccuped a sob as she placed her hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears. “I love you too. My giant, sweet warrior. My rescuer. My partner. My friend. You are mine. Forever.”
He kissed her forehead. “And you are mine,” he murmured.
“Cas,” Raine said quietly. “We really must go.”
He gripped her face again, his eyes fierce and still filled with tears.
Emotions swirled in the depths of his golden gaze.
“When this is over, I will come for you. Nothing could keep me away. Absolutely nothing. I will crawl if I have to. I’ll drag myself to your side.
I swear it. So fight for me, princess. And I will fight for you. ”
A drizzle of rain fell upon them as she gazed up into the eyes of the man who saved her. Who always saw her and never turned away. Who loved her fiercely without abandon.
Ava nodded. “Always,” she whispered, voice breaking.
After one last brief kiss, he let go and stepped back.
Raine yanked her close. “You can do this. Remember, he may be stronger, but you are smarter. Send him back.”
He released her and then, they were gone.