Chapter 31 Ashwiyaa
Chapter thirty-one
Ashwiyaa
“I will always be a little too much for this world.” -Anjum Chouldhary
“Shit, this place is an endless nightmare,” Kai grumbles, swiping the sweat from his brow.
“It really is,” I agree.
“The weather is shit. And apart from you, there’s nothing good to look at,” he adds, his tone a mix of irritation and playful affection.
I snicker, glancing around us, my senses on high alert. I can feel eyes on us, shadowy presences lurking just out of sight, but they seem content to watch for now. It’s likely they are biding their time, none of them game enough to venture from their shadowy hiding spots during the day.
“Well, we’ve reached the Valley of the Dead,” I say, taking in the harsh, rocky landscape stretching out before us. “Now we just need to find this cave.”
Kai stops next to me and stretches his arms above his head, wincing slightly as he does. The motion is fluid, but there’s a hint of stiffness in the way he moves.
“Are you okay?” I ask with concern.
“Fine, baby. It’s just my back aching. Probably from sleeping on the ground,” he replies, his casual tone doing little to ease my worry.
Or the poison, I think to myself, biting my bottom lip as the anxiety gnaws at me.
Before I can dwell on it, Kai stalks over, his movements purposeful as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest. His thumb reaches up, tugging my lip free from my teeth, and he runs it gently over my bottom lip, his touch sending a shiver through me.
“Don’t be biting your lip and looking all sexy and pouty, especially dressed in this,” he says, his voice low and rough, eyes blazing with heat as his other hand slips down, giving my ass a firm squeeze.
I can’t help but grin, warmth flooding my cheeks as I push up on my toes to kiss him.
The moment our lips meet, butterflies erupt in my stomach, the sensation curling low in my belly, sending a wave of desire through me.
When we pull apart, I rest my hand on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat under my palm.
“Great, now I’m completely turned on,” Kai grumbles, his voice tinged with frustration, though there’s a playful glint in his eyes.
I nip at his throat, making him tense.
“Not helping, Ash,” he chides.
I tip my head back and laugh, stepping away from him.
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
We continue walking through the stark, empty landscape, the bleak vista occasionally punctuated by the skeleton of a tree or the bleached bones of some long-dead creature. The ground is a patchwork of browns and grays, with areas of scorched earth. Rocks and jagged ridges litter the valley.
I let my senses sweep out, stretching them as far as they can reach. The view before us is a vast gorge of emptiness, a barren expanse that seems to stretch on forever, but I know better than to trust appearances. The air here is thick with something unseen, something ancient and powerful lurking.
My pulse quickens, a flutter of anticipation blooming in my chest as the sensation grows stronger. There’s a tension in the air, a sense that we’re being observed, studied, even if I can’t see what or who is watching.
“Something is watching us,” I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper, but I know Kai hears me.
As the last word leaves my lips, a bolt of magic streaks through the air, crackling with raw energy.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise in warning, and I react on instinct, throwing up my arm in a desperate attempt to create a protective barrier.
The shield materializes in a flash of light, but it’s not enough.
The magic is too strong, and the force of it slams into us like a tidal wave, knocking us backward across the dry dirt.
The impact rattles through my bones as I skid to a stop, the earth rough beneath my palms. I push myself up quickly, scanning the area, but there’s nothing—no movement, no sound, just the lingering hum of the dissipating magic in the air.
My gaze darts from shadow to shadow, searching for the source of the attack, but I see nothing.
Frustration and a creeping sense of unease bubble up inside me. This isn’t just some random assault; it’s calculated, precise. I close my eyes for a moment, focusing on the energy still tingling in the air around us. There’s something familiar about it, something I should recognize.
Lifting my nose in the air, I inhale deeply, letting the scents and sensations wash over me. That’s when I detect it—the unmistakable energy of a witch, sharp and distinct, cutting through the lingering traces of magic. It’s strong, deliberate, and it’s close.
My heart pounds as I open my eyes, every instinct on high alert.
Suddenly, Kai is knocked backward, and he flies through the air, landing on his feet in a crouch as dust billows around him. His eyes burn fiercely, now more gold than blue.
“Something is messing with us,” he murmurs, his muscles tense, ready to strike.
“It’s a witch,” I murmur.
“Seriously, first an ancient-as-fuck vampire, then a Grindylow, and now a crazy-ass witch?”
I shrug and close my eyes, letting out a slow breath.
“We are in the Outlands,” I murmur, more to myself than to Kai.
The weight of those words settles over me as I surrender to my magic, allowing it to flow through me like a current.
I stretch out my senses, letting them expand and unfurl, searching.
In my mind’s eye, I see the rugged terrain spread out before me, my owl sense homing in on the smallest details.
I focus, trying to detect anything—any movement, any shift in the air that might indicate something hidden or lurking.
My vision sweeps across the vast expanse, and what greets me is a valley stripped bare of life, a wasteland of dirt, with jagged rocks that dominate the landscape like the bones of some ancient, forgotten creature.
The terrain is harsh and unyielding, its sharp edges reflecting the unforgiving nature of this environment.
The ground is cracked and dry, with only the occasional twisted, brittle shrub breaking the monotony.
My senses continue to probe, reaching deeper, searching for the slightest hint of movement, but all I find is emptiness. An unsettling calm.
“I can’t find her,” I whisper, the words tasting like dust on my tongue. But even as I say it, I pick up on a faint heartbeat, a slight shift in the air ahead.
My head snaps in the direction, and I open my eyes. “This way.”
Kai silently falls into step next to me as we stealthily maneuver around the jagged ridges and boulders littering the valley. The sharp and irregular rocks loom ominously around us, casting elongated shadows that seem to swallow us whole as we hastily move in the direction of the heartbeat.
“I wonder if this witch is the one who cursed your dragons.”
My attention darts to him. “One, they aren’t my dragons, and two, what curse?”
“You don’t know?”
“Obviously not or I wouldn’t be asking.”
“They couldn’t come here themselves because of a curse that a witch had placed on them, and since we are here to collect the last—”
Suddenly, Kai’s mouth snaps shut, and he grips my arm tightly, his eyes wide with alarm as he brings a finger to his lips in a desperate gesture for silence.
I freeze, straining my senses to detect the source of his hesitation.
The air grows heavy with awareness, the silence broken only by the faint whistle of the late-afternoon breeze through cracks in the rocks.
Then, without warning, the ground beneath us trembles violently, a low rumble reverberating through the valley. My heart pounds in my chest as I look up, dread pooling in the pit of my stomach. A crack splits through the cliff above us, uneven fissures spiderwebbing across the rocky surface.
“Run!” I shout, my voice raw with fear, pushing Kai forward with all the strength I can muster. We sprint frantically, our feet pounding against the unforgiving earth.
A deafening roar fills the air as the cliff side breaks off behind us, a cascade of rocks and debris hurtling down in a deadly avalanche.
With each step we take, the earth quakes beneath our feet, as if eager to devour us, while the suffocating cloud of dust and debris follows.
In this moment, there’s no room for fear or hesitation, only the primal instinct to survive.
Without warning, Kai’s arm shoots out, his hand firmly grasping mine with a strength that leaves no room for argument. He yanks me sideways with a sudden, jarring force, and the shock of it rips a scream from my throat.
Before I can fully comprehend what’s happening, Kai pulls me into a narrow crevice in the rock face.
The space is barely wide enough for the two of us, and the rough stone scrapes against my back as he presses me into the tight gap.
His strong arms envelop me, drawing me close, his body a solid shield against the outside world.
The warmth of his chest seeps into me, a stark contrast to the cold, unyielding rock at my back.
I grip his shirt tightly in my fists, my knuckles white with the intensity of my hold.
My heart pounds, each beat loud and frantic in my ears as I bury my face in his chest, seeking refuge in the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
His scent, warm and familiar, mingles with the faint, dusty smell of the rocks, grounding me in the midst of the chaos.
Kai’s face presses close to mine, his breath warm against my neck, and I can feel the tension coiled in his muscles. His body is taut, every sense alert, yet there’s a calmness in the way he holds me.
As we hide in the crevice, a thick cloud of dust sweeps past, filling the air with a gritty haze that clings to our skin and makes it hard to breathe.
The dust chokes the world outside, turning everything into a blur of brown and gray, but in this small, enclosed space, there’s a strange sense of safety.
Time seems to stretch and warp, each second dragging out as we wait, the world outside muffled by the thick, swirling dust. The only sound is our breathing, Kai’s deep and steady, mine fast and shallow as I try to calm the panic that bubbles just beneath the surface.