Chapter 59 Melody
Melody
We landed, and I’d never been more grateful for a dirt surface. Jasper had flown through the skies above the treetops with me in his arms. It’d been magnificent when it wasn’t stomach-droppingly terrifying.
Dante had Tio ride on his back as they speared through the forest beneath. When Jasper stopped, I recognized fatigue was setting in for him, too. Yet, he didn’t once complain, his wings unfaltering as we’d kept a steady pace.
This was where Ro’s letter indicated a camp was tucked in the woods. Tio slid from Dante’s back, marching to the firepit and crouching down. He set his fingers into the ashes. Dante maneuvered around the deconstructed tents, sniffing and huffing for information.
“Hasn’t been lit for a while, probably since at least last night,” Tio said. My heart split watching him frantically search for any other telling signs. He hadn’t seen his best friend in weeks. And we would have barely missed her.
I wished Tio could have gotten to her on time. I tried schooling my features, but heat pricked the back of my eyes. If only I hadn’t needed so many blasted breaks.
Braxius left his perch on Jasper and came to rest on my shoulder. “Oh, hello,” I said. The tiny blue creature sniffed along my cheek, then pressed his head against it in a nuzzling fashion. “Oh, you’re very friendly. I like you.” I gently patted his head with the pad of my finger.
“Do you know her scent? Can you smell her?” Tio asked Dante the question that would be offensive in polite society, but completely normal among magical, enhanced creatures.
Or, enhanced man, I guessed. Maybe the term creature was offensive and other-ing when he was in this state?
It’s shameful I never thought twice about these things before finding out they were my people.
Tio ran a tense hand through his golden streaked curls, and I sobered back to the moment.
Dante’s beast form flared his wolf-like nostrils.
“She was here, but it’s faint. There’s many other scents and they’re…
” he paused, as if trying to determine something.
“Off. I’ve scented a group like this before.
Their magic taints the air like something rotten.
But it’s mingled with the decaying ground, so I can’t separate them enough to track. ”
“How recent?” Tio pressed, his voice rising, desperation clawing its way out.
“Hard to say,” Dante started.
“Dammit.” Tio paced in circles, pulling back his hair so tightly between his fingers I wondered if it was painful. Perhaps not as painful as the hard emotions encircling him.
Braxius lifted from my shoulder and flew to him.
He didn’t perch on Tio, instead head butting him in the chest once, enough to break Tio’s spiraling worry.
Tio stopped and cradled the tiny beast in his hands, holding him to his chest. “Is she okay?” he whispered to the dragon, a near wobble in his words.
I couldn’t see what transpired between them, but judging by the slow release of Tio’s tense shoulders, he received confirmation.
“She hasn’t been here today,” Dante said to Tio before looking at me. “We should test your magic first, then we can investigate further.”
I balled my fists at my sides, nodding in resolution.
The time had come to see if my rare magic held any chance against the curse.
I tried batting away the thoughts that insisted on creeping in, the ones that had me dreaming of a way I could save an entire kingdom using the magic I’d suppressed all my life.
“Jas, can you scout the area? If Ro or her party are anywhere around here, I want to know,” Dante said.
“Aw man, can’t I watch the light show first? I’ll go right after, I promise! Imagine blondie here defeats the curse and I miss it,” Jasper whined.
Dante huffed through those beastly nostrils of his, resigning to the negotiation. “Fine. This way.” He nodded and began north, stalking through the woods.
I followed, Tio joining my side as we departed from the abandoned camp.
“We’ll find her,” I said, hoping I sounded more sure than I was. This kingdom was vast, and so much of it was forest. Finding her would be like searching for a sewing pin in a haystack. But with an aerial scouting party, and one that could sniff her out, we at least stood a chance.
“How are you feeling? Do you need to rest before you try your magic?” One hand held Braxius to his chest, the other gliding along the small of my back.
“No. Maybe. I hope not. I don’t want to rest, I want to try.”
“However this turns out, I’m proud of you. This journey hasn’t been easy,” he said, motioning his hand in comforting circles.
I sighed, taking in the decrepit surroundings. “It’s certainly a long way from the tea room.”
Tio offered a soft chuckle, one that pushed past his concern for his friend. “That it is, sunshine.”
I thought I had seen the worst of the curse’s destruction. Thought that the destroyed life, ravaged forest, decaying land was as bad as it could get.
It wasn’t.
The veins that seemed to breathe, despite existing only to suffocate anything living, writhed slowly. The depth of black swallowed any light that dared touch it.
“It looks like pure evil,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. The warmth of the summer day couldn’t keep the shivers from erupting over my skin.
“It’s been bleeding further into Argora Vale,” Dante said, his voice grave.
“Maybe you can stop it, blondie,” Jasper said, a crease of worry between his gray eyes. Braxius sat atop his head.
Tio took in a deep breath beside me. “You ready?”
The obsidian malice laid ten feet away. To give my magic the best shot, I took a step forward.
“Careful,” Dante warned. “If you touch any part of those new veins, it’ll suck the life out of you within an instant.”
My hands started shaking.
“I’m here with you, Mel,” Tio whispered. “Just try.”
I would have taken a deep breath to center myself, but the thought of inhaling air that might have touched that crawling darkness made me feel uneasy.
Instead, I raised my hands and summoned light to my fingers.
A low rumble barreled across the sunny sky, a preparation for the strike I was about to call.
Breathing slowed. Eyes locked. Each passing second weighed heavier than the last over the potential outcome. The fate of an entire kingdom depended on these next few seconds, and every single one of us knew it.
Now was not the time to cower or hide. I pulled on that thread of magic, the one that connected me to the light, and sent it hurtling into the living veins.
A loud crack rang out, echoing into the corrupted woods.
Light erupted in a dazzling burst. I pulled that thread taut, summoning and controlling the power.
The light didn’t dissipate like a normal bolt would.
No, this lingered as I pulled and pulled.
I sank into the well of power, drawing all I could.
When I felt like I’d used the majority, I released it.
The world returned to its peaceful summer state, and my chest heaved.
Tio’s hands swiftly secured my hips. I hadn’t noticed I was swaying.
I worked to calm my ragged breathing, eager to see what I’d done.
Dante took half a step, staring out at the place where my magic had struck.
Jasper looked at Dante.
The beast’s paws curled at his sides, tension gripping his shoulders. Simultaneously, I became more steady and determined.
“I can try again,” I blurted out, as if that hadn’t been the most potent light wielding I’d ever accomplished. Tio’s fingers dug into me.
“You tried, Mel. That’s what we came here to do, and you did it.” It was the pity in his voice that had me shaking my head uncontrollably.
“No, no, I can go again. Maybe it just wasn’t in the right spot. I can try again, I can try again.”
I raised my hands, but he stepped in front of me, clasping his own around them with securing strength. “It’s not your fault.”
I broke.
My scariest memories of the times I felt most hopeless bubbled to the surface as if they banded together to overwhelm me.
Being taken on the streets of South Harbor to be thrown on a ship.
Having to be rescued by my sister. The sudden destruction of Rahana from peaceful and calm, to a blood-soaked battleground where Tio almost died throwing himself on top of me.
This was the time I was meant to do more, to be more. Tears slid down my face though I tried to keep my composure.
He hauled me into his arms, and I wept.
“It was a long shot, King,” Jasper said solemnly. “At least we can say we tried.”
“Well, well. Look what we have here,” an unfamiliar woman spoke from several yards away.
I jerked out of Tio’s hold. Dante and Jasper whipped around at the same time I did, none of us having seen her and the band she traveled with approaching.
Their eyes were masked in a line of black makeup with tiny jagged lines spreading further into their cheeks.
A menacing sight to behold. Tio moved, stepping between me and the woman.
He assessed our visitors, spotting them in the trees in places I hadn’t.
I followed his movements, realizing they surrounded us.
Behind us lay the fresh spreading curse, assured death, according to Dante.
They positioned themselves between us and the forest, our only escape.
That alone told me their intentions weren’t friendly.
“That was quite the light show you put on. What were you trying to do, anyway? Blast dark magic with some prolonged lightning? Seems a little silly.” Her body was built like a warrior, but she bore no weapons.
She gestured to the forest that still struggled to recover from the attack one hundred years prior. “Don’t you think?”
“KING!” Jasper pointed to the ground and Dante leapt from where the new inky lines stretched outward, slithering over the ground as if it were sentient. Jasper launched, flapping his wings, keeping tabs on its movement and proximity to us.