Chapter 41 #2
“To Gaethri,” we all echo.
“May he be at peace with his fallen loved ones now,” Meela says quietly, but loud enough we all hear it. She’s staring off at nothing, lost in her own tortured thoughts.
Another long, reverent silence falls over the table.
I take a large gulp, then glance at my anchor beside me. My eyes go blurry, and I have to blink the tears away a few times to refocus.
His brow pinches in concern. “You okay?”
Without thinking, I reach for the back of my head and rub it.
He tracks the movement and reaches out to do the same. “You hit your head?”
I lift my head to nod, but it suddenly feels incredibly heavy. I had forgotten all about hitting it in the chaos.
“How do you feel?”
I give him a look, saying nothing.
“Right,” he says, rubbing a hand down his face. We’re all exhausted and feeling shitty, I’m sure. Head injury or not.
“I think it’s fine, honestly. I’m just… you know. Tired.”
He nods. “Once again, you were fucking incredible out there.” He shakes his head, as if I just keep surprising him. In a good way, I guess. I don’t feel so good about it, though.
“I froze. If I had gotten up right away, maybe I could have saved him.”
Daegan shakes his head with fervor. “No. You can’t start thinking about the what-ifs. It will drive you crazy. You did amazing. You did your best.”
“I guess…” I pause, glancing at my hands. “It’s weird… I thought I felt rested and recharged when I woke up this morning, but… when I went to use my magic today, it felt weak.”
Daegan mulls that over.
I sense Meela listening in from across the table now too. “That book did say that when you really drain your magic, it can take a while to recover,” she comments.
“True. I guess I just assumed it was replenished since I felt so rested.”
“It’s probably its own thing, separate from your physical energy. You’ve never used so much before,” Meela says. “I’m sure you’ll get used to the feeling and learn what your thresholds and all that are.”
“Did you feel depleted?” I ask.
“I didn’t hold back a raging fucking fire forever with a giant water-sealed door. You pushed yourself to burnout.”
I hang my head.
“Well, you came through anyway. Even if you felt depleted, you somehow managed to pull that badass ice spear out of your ass and save yourself. Everyone did great. Meela, your fire is really becoming impressive,” Rhydra says, joining the conversation.
Raef looks at me with his mouth open.
“What?”
He cups a hand around his mouth and somehow whispers even louder than his regular talking volume. “Did that really come from your ass?”
“No,” I say, scrunching my eyebrows.
Meela blows air out of her mouth, and it almost sounds like a laugh. Raef lets out a low chuckle, and I smile for a blink.
He winks at me before looking away.
I shake my head, slowly. He’s trying to lighten the mood, as he does.
“You were all badass. I froze for far too long.”
“Same,” Rhydra mumbles, taking a drink.
Does she blame herself too?
“What the fuck were those things?” Meela finally says.
“I think they were the creatures he talked about. The ones that hunted his home back in Dothron,” I say.
“Could be.” Rhydra seems to contemplate it.
“Whatever they were, they were fucking intense. And I’ve seen some shit,” Raef says, staring off in the distance.
I take another large gulp of ale as images of blood and skin and torn clothes flash across my vision.
I cup a hand over my mouth as the horrors haunt my mind, and I look around the room, hoping for something to take their place. I feel Daegan’s eyes on me, but I don’t look his way. I can’t let him see how weak I am.
“Let’s go to our room,” he whispers in my ear.
The shaking of my head is too immediate, too frantic. I can’t go and sit in a silent room. It will only get worse.
“It’ll be okay,” he says. “Come on. We need rest.”
He stands before me, still holding my hand, and I finally give in and let him lead me away.
But before we make it out of the room, we’re met with two familiar faces.
Well, familiar to Raef and Daegan.
Two dragon shifters I had seen around the castle but never knew the names of stand in front of us.
“Raevel, Haedan… What are you doing here?” Daegan asks. Not with concern, exactly, but a note of uneasiness.
“Been waiting, hoping we’d catch you coming through here.” The taller one with blonde hair, Haedan, answers.
“Is something going on?”
“Want to sit for a moment?” Haedan motions toward a table.
Daegan gives a curt nod.
“Should I…” I begin to ask, unsure if I should join. He answers my question before I finish, taking my hand and leading me with him.
Daegan looks impatient as he sits, glaring at them.
“Shit wasn’t going well in Ellyar. We all left before it got worse, but… that might have just made them madder.”
“What do you mean?” I interject, unable to help myself. My stomach is in knots suddenly.
Raevel, the dark-haired one, answers me. “The king has been pissed off since you left. He thinks we have something to do with it.”
“As in, all the dragons?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Well,” Daegan says, rubbing his jaw. “We knew that might happen. Good thing we didn’t plan on going back.”
Haeden looks between the two of us, finally catching on. He doesn’t look particularly pleased. “He’s going to declare a war on us if we take the princess back to Torrynth.”
“Then he declares a war,” Daegan says with a lethal tone. “She’s not going back there.”
The males across from us say nothing.
“I have a feeling he’s been looking to start one anyway,” Daegan says. “It’s not enough that we’re barely surviving as it is,” he adds a little more quietly.
They look at him, waiting for more direction, I think.
“You can likely make the next town if you leave now, let my father know we’re coming. We’ll be heading that way as well in the morning, but we need rest. Thank you for staying back to warn us.”
With that, they’re dismissed, and they each give him a curt nod before flashing me one last glare.
“Now what?” I ask, defeated.
“Nothing’s changed. We’re still on the same path. They may end up giving us a little more trouble than we hoped, but maybe not. No one wants a war, not even the elves. They’re all too comfortable in their little village.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He releases a sigh, then glances back at the group. “We need to fill them in.”
I follow him, and then we sit back down with Raef, Meela, and Rhydra, filling them in.
No one is all that surprised. I think we’re all still a little numb.
Meela releases a dramatic sigh. “I hope once we get to Torrynth, we can settle there for a while. I’m tired of all the inns, a different bed every night, drinking in the bar every night…”
“That would be nice,” I agree. I turn to Daegan. “Will there be… room for us? A place to stay for a while?”
“Yes. You’re staying with me in the palace, obviously.” His eyes focus more intensely on me, lowering his voice. “You’re never sleeping apart from me again, Elle. That’s a promise.”
I smile and nod in agreement. “Yeah. It’s just… it’s your home. I didn’t know if you wanted everyone—”
“To know about us? I don’t give a fuck.”
I glance at Meela for a flash as she chortles. “Thank the stars you worked that shit out,” she mumbles.
Rhydra watches us from across the table. “A dragon and an elf. Who knew.” She shakes her head.
“Not you,” I say. “You tried to pair me with Raef and Meela with Daegan before.” Any other day, I would have laughed at the idea.
“Oh please,” she snorts, though the humor is missing from her face. “I was just fucking with you. Anyone with eyes can tell Daegan’s only got eyes for you.”
I risk a glance at him. He’s not really paying attention anymore. His eyes are distant.
We don’t stay long before rising again, the exhaustion setting in heavily now.
Daegan leads me by the hand as we navigate the room that’s become too crowded. I look around for the first time, and the deep-rooted dread that something isn’t right washes over me. I think I see…
“Don’t let him shift,” I hear from my left.
I snap my head that way, but someone is already grabbing me, ripping my hand from Daegan’s. They already have cuffs around him as they try to wrestle him to the ground.
“Elle,” he yells, searching for me. My eyes meet his for a moment, but I’m being pulled away with my hands behind my back.
I begin to thrash in a panic, but strong hands are around me, and I can’t… I can’t use my magic. “What the fuck did you do to me?” I scream. I scan the faces around me and feel like a fucking fool, because they’re all elven soldiers.
I can’t see Daegan. There are too many bodies blocking the way. So I look back at our table to scream for help, but there are more soldiers overtaking them too.
How many fucking soldiers have been watching us, just waiting to act?
I feel sick.
Someone throws me over their shoulder, and I thrash and scream and kick. No one in the room seems to know what to do. They stay back, watching the scene unfold, not wanting to risk getting involved.
“Let go of me!” I scream, attempting to use my magic again.
I can’t see Daegan. Or Meela. Or Raef. Or Rhydra.
They carry me outside, and I scream more.
“LET. GO. OF. ME.” Every word comes out like a roar, each breath in between more desperate than the next.
I finally pause when I see five soldiers struggling to get Daegan out. His hands are tied and he’s still fighting, but he can’t do much.
“Daegan!” I yell.
His head whips to mine.
“Shift!”
His eyes turn angry as he takes in the sight of me. So, so angry. He shakes his head.
He can’t.
They put the fucking magic blocking cuffs on both of us.
My attention turns to the barn not far away as the doors burst open and Meela, Raef, and Rhydra emerge on horses. Somehow, they fought the soldiers off and they’re getting away with the sword.
A short burst of relief takes over me, and I slump my shoulders.
But then I see the archer, lining up his shot.