Chapter 9
Allie
The howling wind swallowed my scream.
I ripped myself from Ryker’s embrace, fighting the mounds of snow as I rushed to the edge of the hill.
In the distance, Dax struggled to grab onto the ice's edge, the tips of his wings jerking in and out of the water.
Each time he managed to reach out, another shard of ice broke, like the lake was taunting him in his final moments.
Sparks of dark blue power shot from his arms, but nothing other than gargled shouts escaped his shocked lungs.
The icy water was silencing him.
“Dax!” I roared, my own blue light bursting out of my wrists. “I call upon the winds, harden the ice, bind the fractures. Hold, until he climbs.”
The gusts rolled and twisted around me. They plunged toward the lake, carving a path through the snow. The blast squeezed out the dregs of energy I had, ravenous as if someone–or something–else was greedily draining me.
In the chaos, I lurched forward, dangerously close to the steep rim.
Ryker’s steady arms caught my shoulders and dragged me back to safety against his chest. Still, that insatiable pull tried to yank me toward the lake, as if asking for a sacrifice.
The gale of blue-tinged wind rushed to the crack, embedding itself into the ice. But just as the frost began to harden under Dax’s desperate grasp, a pulse of purple light shattered it.
Ryker and I gasped.
My blue tendrils snapped and jerked back inside of me. Hard and fast, buckling my knees. Only Ryker managed to keep me upright as my entire body burned.
“Why isn’t it working?” I yelled.
Right under my desperate eyes, Dax went under the ice, wings and all.
My heart collapsed with him.
Ryker turned me around, face taut and determined. He let me go for the barest moment, checking if I could stand on my own. I swayed, but my legs didn't give out.
He gave me a curt nod. “Don’t risk your own life.”
Before I could argue, his back rippled. The sound of bones cracking and grating against themselves ripped through the air.
With one last furtive glance my way, he was gone, turned into a blur my eyes couldn’t track.
But I felt him rush past the steep edge flanking this side of the hill and slide over the ice, his boot prints in the snow the only trace of him.
I couldn’t have done that, not even if I’d possessed Dria Vegheara’s legendary powers.
Because he was doing the impossible.
His own panic beat against me as he reached the break in the ice.
No sign of Dax.
I felt his jolt of dread as clear as if it were mine.
I didn’t have time to make sense of it, though.
Fully clothed and weighed down by leathers and furs, without any hesitation, Ryker dove into the cold waters.
For a moment, nothing moved. Not even the wind dared howl.
My heart thudded in the sudden stillness.
I was alone, both of them fighting for their lives in the icy water.
Without a second thought to the crown I left behind undefended or the dangerous drop before me, I crouched, gripped the edge of the cliff, and twisted my body over it, driven by nothing but adrenaline and the bone-deep need to protect them.
The acrid scent of my fear radiated from underneath my furs.
I slid, dangled, and jumped off the sharp rocks as fast as my freezing limb could move. By the time I’d climbed down and thundered down the path to the lake, my fingers were numb, my left palm was bleeding, and my lungs ached from the effort.
I cursed my stupid human body, and ran as fast as it could carry me.
My eyes didn’t stray from the crack in the ice, begging, pleading for the merest glimpse of them.
Nothing.
No frenzied bubbles on the dark surface.
No figures thrashing underneath the ice.
Only silence.
No.
I couldn’t lose them both.
My feet pummeled the snow harder, as if wanting to punish the entire crater for daring to take them away.
Clouds blurred the moon’s light, taunting.
Light.
They needed light.
My power still trembled from being snapped by the purple pulses, but I still called upon it. Harder.
Faster.
Desperate.
“Silver moon ray, do not stray, come this way.” I forced the chant out along with the blue tendrils, still running through the thick snow blocking my path at every turn.
My power glided through the air, catching the moon’s rays, and rushed back toward the lake. But they hesitated to touch the surface. Like they were terrified, too.
They twisted and blended into an orb, right above the opening.
“Please,” I mouthed. Air refused to escape my chest. “Guide them.”
The light levitated, but didn’t draw them out.
Each second that passed with only the sound of my racing heart and the wind in my ear slashed through me.
How long had they been under?
Two minutes for Ryker.
Maybe more.
Longer for Dax.
I’d wanted to show Ryker the wings, to prove Dax’s innocence.
I’d been the one who’d called upon the gods’ wrath–and they were punishing my insolence by striking where it hurt more.
I finally reached the shore in a flurry of snow and ragged breaths. As soon as my boot touched the ice, it cracked. The water hissed as it breached the surface.
A warning.
I clenched my jaw so tight, the pain reached my temples.
“I will shatter the Heart right out of you if you don’t let them go,” I said, half-delusional from fear.
A blinding madness burned through me.
I stepped onto the ice once more.
It fractured again.
Another step, another crack.
The water had already reached my knees when a frantic gasp filled the air.
Beyond the black spots now dancing in front of my eyes, Ryker’s head breached the surface.
The blue light danced across his face.
His eyes sparked in that same dangerous hue, as if answering its call.
A cry of relief burned up my throat.
With a grunt, Ryker heaved his right shoulder and pulled Dax’s head to the surface.
His eyes were closed.
He wasn’t breathing.
A shudder raced through me and right into the orb, which began to tremble.
Ryker’s left hand erupted from the water, digging into the ice shelf.
It screeched and broke, just like it had with Dax.
My heart fell near my soaking ankles.
The ice breaking for Dax was an anomaly.
But the crater had now betrayed its master.
Terror rushed through me. If Ryker couldn’t command it, then who could?
From deep within me, I scraped all of my remaining energy and called upon my power once more, despite its burning protests.
“I call upon the wind,” I chanted, cold and unrelenting. “Harden the ice, bind the fractures. Hold, until they climb.”
The blue orb disintegrated, falling into shards along the ice.
My hands trembled with the blaze coursing through my veins. The black spots dancing in my vision burned away, leaving behind only a milky haze I could barely see through.
Still, I didn’t relent.
If I had to burn myself alive to save them, I would.
The shards of light shimmered on the surface, clustering in a makeshift bridge that barely grazed the ice.
In the next breath, the purple pulses flared toward the icy crust, rippling and tearing the blue lines.
“No!” I yelled. The rip vibrated in me, threatening to tear me as well. “Hold!”
Ryker gripped at the ice again.
It fractured.
“Hold!” I cried.
The purple light pierced the bridge.
A hum resounded in the distance, mocking me.
The world around me turned a murky shade of silver. My body was now a shiver, no longer under my control.
I felt my powers slipping just like Ryker and Dax were back into the water.
“HOLD!” Ryker roared.
The entire valley quieted under its Commander’s rule.
No wind.
No snowfall.
My vision began to sharpen once more.
Even the moon’s rays seemed to shimmer in fright. Or maybe defiance.
The blue path stopped trembling.
The purple light retreated back into the darkness with a hiss.
With a ferocious groan, Ryker’s fingers dug into the blue ice with a resolve that would have made lesser men shake. His other hand gripped Dax tighter, wings and all, as he hauled them both from the depths.
I stepped onto the bridge, eager to help. My own knees threatened to buckle again, this time from the effort of keeping it afloat.
“Stay there!” Ryker bellowed. His voice was still commanding, but I heard the tremor beyond it.
Fear.
It took everything in me to listen.
The whole world blurred around me. The only thing I could still see was Ryker fighting for both of their lives.
Finally, mercifully, Ryker managed to drag Dax’s entire body onto the surface. He hauled him into his arms, wings dangling to the side, and raced them both to the shore.
As soon as he reached the steady, safe ground, I collapsed into a spent heap. My knees welcomed the relief, even as they stung.
The bridge succumbed to darkness.
Ryker placed Dax gently onto the snow. In one move, he ripped the wings from him, as I crawled toward them.
He kneeled beside Dax and pressed his hands onto his chest, each pump punctuated by a word.
“Stubborn. Protectorate. Brat.” Ryker hissed, as his own soaked frame trembled from the cold. He hadn’t even had time to use his powers on himself. “You. Do. Not. Die. Under. My. Watch.”
Nothing.
Only Ryker’s determined thrusts moved him, Dax now a puppet.
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to acknowledge them.
Dax couldn’t die so there was no need for me to cry.
He couldn’t die.
He couldn’t.
No Protectorate chant or wind could help me now.
“I need to use my power,” Ryker said.
Not a question.
Not a request.
A fact.
“Do it,” I said, desperate gaze not straying from Dax’s face.
I grabbed onto his cold hand, bringing it to my lips. “Don’t die. Do NOT die. Not like this.”
Ryker splayed out his hands over Dax’s chest. In less than a breath, his hand began to warm underneath my fingers.
But he still didn’t move.
Gods, why wasn’t he moving?
“For the love of Xamor and Solkar.” Ryker grabbed Dax’s chin, opened his mouth, and pressed his own against it, blowing vital air into his lungs.
“Come back, come back, come back,” I chanted, delirious.
Just as another piece of my heart fractured, Dax’s hand flinched.
He yanked it away from mine.
With wide eyes, he pushed Ryker off him, turned to the side, and vomited murky water.
Finally, the tears I refused to let loose spilled over my cheeks, hot and freeing.
He was alive.
Gods, he was alive.
My hand reached out for Ryker’s, a silent thank you when words failed me. His skin was so cold. I nudged closer to him, gluing my body to his to give some of the warmth which had almost boiled me alive.
“You’re so warm,” he said, alarmed. He pressed the back of his hand against my forehead. “You have a fever.”
I shook my head. My power still simmered deep within me.
They were scared.
So was I.
Dax spat out more water, heaving so hard, his spine contorted.
When he’d gasped enough air back into his lungs, he turned back to us, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, a grimace contorting his face.
He raised his palms, flexing his fingers with ease, shock sparkling in his wide eyes.
“I’m alive,” he whispered.
“You are.” My tears fell harder. “Ryker saved you.”
“Thank you,” Dax mumbled, as if pained to say it.
“You’re welcome,” Ryker said just as reluctantly.
A laugh wrenched itself from my lips. It sounded like a cry.
Dax leaned back, propping himself onto his elbows, as he stared at the crack which had almost claimed his life.
“What was–what just happened?” he asked, voice hoarse.
Ryker and I looked at each other, the same heinous realization reflected in our gazes.
The crater turned against us, that’s what had happened.