Chapter 51
Everyone in the room is frozen, as is my heart, my breathing, my mind, and my body.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Adrian says from somewhere beside me. He sounds so far away.
My eyes are still locked on the doorway in disbelief as he stares back at me. He finally shifts his gaze to Adrian, holding his sword higher in a very clear threat.
“We came to rescue her, obviously.” It’s not him that speaks, but Rhydra. I almost let out a sob as the red-haired warrior steps into view.
“She doesn’t need rescuing. Clearly,” Adrian retorts.
Daegan shifts his gaze to me.
Daegan Vaelor.
He’s here. It’s not some lucid dream. He’s really come to rescue me.
He looks at me as if waiting for me to answer, to contradict Adrian’s statement. Or confirm it. Something in him looks… unsure.
Then I realize what he walked in on, what he must think. The shock of seeing them here after all this time made me temporarily forget what transpired just moments ago.
They begin to look impatient in the doorway. I’m still frozen. They haven’t come in, as if they’re hesitant to approach me. “What’s it going to be, princess? We don’t have a lot of time.” Daegan speaks the words with a cold indifference.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see color, orange and bright. Out the window, there’s a blazing fire. My jaw drops as I look back at them.
“Shit!” Adrian yells as he notices at the same time.
“Choose wisely, though,” Rhydra says. “There might not be much left on this island when we’re done with it.”
Adrian steps forward, then halts and looks back at me, clearly torn. He reaches out a hand. “Come on. We have to go help. Your water powers will be useful.”
Daegan glances at my wrists, which are now free, and something dark crosses over his features. They remain planted in the doorway, weapons raised, like they have no intention of letting Adrian leave this room.
After a year of pushing everything down, being a coward, a quitter, and a version of myself that I might forever look back on with shame, I’m finally, truly done.
I look at Adrian, pretending to reach for his hand, and then I slap him across the face with all the fury, frustration, and anguish I’ve been holding onto.
He freezes for a moment, shock all over his face, and I don’t hesitate. I shoot dozens of sharp icicles his way. Some puncture skin, and a few even stick into his face. Then I shoot a powerful force of water at him, and it launches him into the corner of the room.
I turn and bolt for the door, grabbing nothing on my way out. The one thing I need is still tucked securely inside my shirt.
“I need to get the fuck off this island,” I say, suddenly getting tunnel vision. I know he’s not dead. I’m unpracticed with my magic, and it felt weak. But suddenly the need to get the fuck out of here overpowers everything else, so I run to the door without looking back.
Rhydra whips into action, leading the escape down the hallway.
“We don’t have much time,” she yells from up ahead. “Raef is facing the entire stronghold on his own, and there may be more waiting for us when we reach the mainland. We need to get as far away from here as possible, as fast as possible.”
“Fine by me,” I mumble, following their lead.
“Daegan! Now!” Rhydra hollers.
Glancing back, I realize Daegan stayed behind, holding a sword with a murderous expression on his face, glaring into the room like he’s conflicted.
“Daegan!” she yells again.
He looks back one last time with regret, then takes off after us.
“Elysande?”
I stop, turn, and freeze.
“Phaedra.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s time to go. Come with us.”
She hesitates. “Where’s Adrian?”
“Taken care of.”
She gasps. “Did you… kill him?”
“No.”
“We don’t have much time. This place is burning to the ground. I don’t want to leave you behind.”
She looks back down the hallway the way we came, as if she’s expecting a better option to come along.
“Okay,” she says at last. She’s about to turn back toward her room in a hurry, but I halt her.
“No. We don’t have time to grab anything. We have to go now if we want to get out of here.”
She joins us in the hallway, taking the spot in front of me as we continue running.
As I jog through the halls with Daegan close behind me, it sinks in that he’s really, truly here.
His hair that I’ve longed to run my hand through is slightly shorter, and I noticed a sliver of a black tattoo peeking out from his collar.
I want to embrace him, be wrapped up in his comforting scent again, but there’s no time for that right now.
Besides, a long time has passed, and I don’t know where we stand anymore.
We were just barely figuring that out before we were violently ripped apart.
We emerge outside to a sky on fire.
The other side of the island is completely ablaze, gray billowing smoke rising up into the veil. It accepts it like a generous offering, absorbing the smoke as it greets it.
“This way!” Daegan hollers at us, taking the lead. We follow him toward the shore on the opposite end.
I pump my arms harder than I ever have. Every horrible thing I felt while being trapped here feels like it’s pouring out of me, and hope fills me with every step in the sand. I run until I see a small sailboat up ahead, and then I keep going until I see Raef’s smiling face come into view.
Raef, who’s standing there waiting for us with a grin like no time has passed. Raef, who’s probably responsible for those fires behind us.
“Hey, Sand,” he says with a giant grin. I keep running until I reach him, then I crash into him and wrap my arms around him. An elated, high-pitched sort of whimper escapes my lips as I squeeze him, and I then step back. We have no time to waste on pleasantries.
“Let’s go,” Daegan commands from up ahead, already standing at the bow looking out toward the sea.
Raef, Rhydra, Phaedra, and I all climb in and take our seats, and Daegan begins to paddle almost immediately.
There’s a tense stretch of silence as we gain some space from the island.
Daegan faces my direction from a small length ahead as he pulls the oars with his powerful arms and avoids looking at me.
I take a moment to turn in my seat and watch as the island fades into the distance forever.
The fires are gone now, but the wreckage it left behind is clear even from here.
They’ll most likely have to relocate while they rebuild. Or abandon the island forever.
I finally made it.
A tear trickles down my cheek as I watch the last dredges of the smoke rise.
I’m not proud of the person I became while on that island, and I’m saying goodbye to her now.
She can burn with the flames, rising with the smoke into the veil and whatever lies beyond.
I won’t be that pathetic, hopeless elf ever again. I vow it.
I turn back around as it becomes so small in the distance it’s almost completely gone, wiping at my cheek with the back of my hand.
When I glance up, Daegan is watching me. For a moment, our eyes lock, the blues of his irises undetectable in the near darkness. There are so many things I want to say. But I can’t. Not here.
Something has hardened in his expression, and I don’t think it’s just from tonight, but something I fear is now permanently etched there. My stomach drops, wondering what he’s been through. I’m terrified to find out.
I shift my gaze to Rhydra, who sits in front of me, and I notice the sword strapped to her back. The sword of the dragons. They still have it.
I want to ask them so much more, but I don’t fully trust Phaedra still, and I’m certain they all trust her even less. Frustration claws at me.
“Neat sword, huh?” Raef is watching me with a mischievous grin.
“Yeah. It is,” I reply softly. “Any chance you have a pretty crown to match it?”
He huffs out a laugh, but then his head hangs a little, his expression looking slightly less jubilant. “Afraid not. I have an idea where one might find such a thing, though.”
My eyebrows rise, and I can feel myself physically perk up. “Really?”
“You bet. Maybe I’ll show you some time.” He smiles and winks at me, then resumes rowing.
Another stretch of silence falls over the boat, and then I realize—we’re not heading toward the mainland.
“Where are we going?”
Raef looks at Daegan like he’s expecting him to answer, but when he doesn’t, he makes a face, then looks back at me. “Couldn’t head straight to shore. That would be too obvious. We’re going to head south for a little bit before we touch land.”
“It’s almost nightfall…” I trail off, looking out at the vast gray sea around us.
“We’ll take our time, stay on the boat until morning. It’s much safer out here, actually.”
“I know,” I mutter quietly.
I glance at Phaedra, who hasn’t said a word and is cowering quietly on a bench just behind me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” It’s not convincing, but what can I do. Our best option is to find the safest nearby village or inn to drop her off at, then leave her behind. She can’t be in on this. Her blonde hair falls over her face, and she keeps it there like a curtain, shutting us out.
The gentle sounds of the water lapping against the boat as they slowly row into the night in no real rush soothes me.
I lean my arm on the side, resting my face on my arm, and look out at the water which looks like a black sheet now.
It would’ve been so incredibly easy for me to swim away after my cuffs were removed.
But now I’m glad I didn’t. I would have missed my rescue crew—what’s left of the order.
“You don’t wear cuffs like her.” The voice I yearned to hear for so long now sounds accusing, bitter almost. My stomach twists.
I glance at him and my heart hurts instantly. “Not anymore.”
I don’t know what to say to him. If I talk about what happened, then I’ll have to admit how shameful I was. How I almost gave up. On everything.
Phaedra finally stirs, picking at her wrists. “Now how am I supposed to get these off without Adrian around to sweet-talk like you did?” she mumbles, glancing at me for only a flash.