47. Raea
Raea
Two weeks into training, and while we’re still not as fast or as strong as the Fae and Elven warriors, we’re improving.
The bruises covering my body say as much.
We’ve finally conquered the obstacle course.
We can mostly keep up in the sparring rings.
And somewhere between the bruises and the sweat, we’ve grown closer.
Today, Ryker and I are running the obstacle course together.
Riven called it a test of us as mates, of whatever the Bond is doing beneath the surface. His cryptic warning leaves me uneasy, but he’s been on edge all week. I know he’s worried about my awakening.
Our friends gather to watch. Riven gives one sharp nod—begin.
I take off first, hopping pillar to pillar, almost dancing.
Ryker follows a step behind. When we hit the hollow log, we drop to our stomachs, crawling through the dark space.
He slaps my rear, and I squeal when his hands wrap around my waist.
“Stop.” I giggle, attempting to pull away. “Don’t make us los—”
Ryker snorts. “Lose? It’s not a race, Princess.” He presses a quick kiss to my calf, and I laugh.
Ever since our fight, something between us has shifted—stronger, steadier. We found the line between protection and trust. Ryker can’t shield me from every trial, and I can’t mistake his love for doubt in my strength.
“Careful, or I’ll kick you,” I tease.
He grunts but releases me, allowing me to crawl through until I reach the rope. He crawls out a beat after me and gestures to his back. “On.”
I roll my eyes, but launch at him when he bends low, catching my thighs as I wrap my arms around him. Once I’m locked in, he starts climbing.
“Hold on.”
I can feel the mass of muscle rippling underneath me. He’s fast, reaching the platform in record time, even with me on his back. I slide down before he can argue and throw myself at the handholds.
He waits until I’m halfway across before following. I’ve done this enough to know I have to swing myself before I let go. I’m too short to make the distance otherwise. I almost stumble, but land on my feet. When I turn, Ryker is already there, and he slams into me.
I fall to my back, but he cradles me, taking my weight as he falls with me. He grins when he settles on top of me, his sapphire blue eyes alight with amusement.
“Well, well,” he muses, “is this what it takes to get you underneath me these days?”
I wiggle my brows with a teasing smirk. “Maybe we can disappear tonight.”
He groans, burying his face in the crook of my neck and inhaling. Aside from heated kisses and wandering hands, we haven’t been alone much to get any sort of physical intimacy, and we’re both feeling it.
“You know we can hear you, right?” Vaeric drawls from below the platform.
Ryker lifts his head and replies, “Then stop listening, asshole.”
I fight the laugh that threatens to break free. Vaeric has taken Ryker under his wing like it’s his personal mission, and they’ve become friends…kind of.
Trysten sighs. “I’d rather not stand here and wait all day.”
Ryker nips at my lip. I yelp, and he jumps to his feet, offering out a hand. He pulls me up, his mouth meeting mine in a searing kiss that leaves me breathless.
“Tonight,” he mutters.
He turns, taking the bough before I can, looking over his shoulder once to make sure I’m following. When it comes time to make the jump, he turns to face me, pulling me into a hug. I’m about to tease him about being handsy, but then he falls, pulling me with him.
When I curse at him midair, he has the audacity to wink at me before telling me to hold my breath. He twists us, so we hit feet-first. The water closes in, and I’m pulled from his arms. I swim for the surface, sputtering when I breach.
I look around, searching for him. I panic until he wraps his arms around my waist and tugs me down. I scream at him under the water until we both surface again.
“Asshole.” I giggle, swimming for the shore.
It takes us a few minutes to hike back upstream. When we reach the vines, I challenge him to a race. When he’s about to take the lead, I leap, my body slamming into his.
He laughs. “Playing dirty, Princess?” He wraps his legs around me, causing me to lose my footing until I’m dangling by my hands.
He knows that if we fall, these little vines will reach out and pluck us out of the air. I huff and pull myself up. He does the same, his legs locked around me, and we climb without touching the wall. When we reach the top, the forest air thickens unnaturally.
It’s never felt like this, and when I take a step, Ryker grabs my hand, pulling me close. “They set something,” he mutters. “A trap.”
My skin prickles, but I nod.
Right…a trap.
Magic can leave a cold feeling in the air sometimes.
We’re halfway through when a gateway rips open in front of us, and the world yanks us through before we can decide.
I take in the surroundings of the forest we’ve been pulled into, and something tells me we aren’t on Auralis anymore. No—this place feels wrong. Starved. Lifeless. Ryker’s hand tightens on mine, but neither of us dares to speak.
The trees surrounding us are thick, knotted, and crooked, like disease took root before they even had a chance to sprout. The bark twists into faces—mouths stretched wide, frozen mid-scream.
A shiver rolls up my spine. It’s dark, but somehow lighter than where we came from. Milky-white fog coils around my legs, swallowing the ground to my waist. I don’t want to think about what might be moving beneath it. Neither of us has weapons, and neither of us has been able to access our magic.
Ahead, a towering structure looms forgotten and half-devoured by the forest, like something that was never meant to be found again.
Its tall columns, once glittering white, are blackened with age and rot, strangled by creeping vines.
Cracks run the length of the columns. Overhead, an ancient script once named this place.
Now the letters lie shattered on the steps.
Ryker studies the words, looking up with a crease in his brow. “The Hall of Silent Echoes,” he mutters to himself.
A gust of wind comes from our right, unnatural and foreboding. A moment later, Caelus steps through the thick fog. He looks around, taking it all in, the armored clothing somehow still bright and shiny even here, as if it contains its own light.
If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now. There is no doubt Caelus is a god. His golden wavy hair blows in the breeze, and those fiery blue eyes are alight with amusement when he sees us.
Ryker angles his body in front of me.
“Ah,” Caelus muses, “so you’ve finally been summoned.” He gestures to the crumbling building to our left. I swear I hear a ghostly chant leaking out through the cracked doors. “I’ve just come from speaking with Riven. They all know you’ll return by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I ask, unsure if I heard correctly. Surely we aren’t staying here…overnight.
Caelus nods like it isn’t a big deal. “Your awakening, Light Bringer. You both must enter the hall together. I cannot say what trials you may face, but the fates of the universe have always been just.”
I swallow a laugh. Because no, they haven’t. If they were just, I wouldn’t have been created and then separated from my twin. I definitely wouldn’t have the damn weight of the universe on my shoulders.
Caelus blinks, his gaze reading me like he knows exactly what I’m feeling. To be fair, he is a god. “Complete the awakening, and when you leave, there will be another gateway that will take you back.”
He dips his head, and with a single step back, he vanishes.
“What?” I whisper. “He can’t just…leave us here.”
Ryker looks around, taking in the hall once more. “Well, he just did. C’mon, time to face the universe.”
When Ryker takes the first step, I stop him. My body refuses to move. Gods, I need to press pause on my life. I suck in a sharp breath that doesn’t fill my lungs.
I am human. I knew exactly how I wanted to live out my average lifespan.
I could picture it down to the smallest detail.
I’d be crowned queen someday, my parents at my side.
They would grow old in the palace alongside my family, chasing their grandbabies around.
I’d attend meetings, sign treaties and decrees.
I’d travel our system and understand as much as I could about the people and our histories.
My heart races when I think of what lies before us. I came through the gateway. I’ve been training with beings that aren’t human. The Elven are tall and lithe, and there’s a grace and speed as they move, like they almost float along the ground. They’re cunning and deeply intuitive—patient, too.
And the High Fae are tall, strong, and beautiful. So beautiful, it’s hard to gaze upon them. They command a presence and are fierce, intimidating, raw creatures.
If Ryker and I go in there, will we lose who we are?
Will he become a stranger to me—not in the ways that matter, but in all the small ones?
In the way his inky locks catch the light and appear almost bronze.
The way his eyes swirl like miniature storms. Will the dimple in his cheek disappear when he smiles? Will I recognize the arms that hold me?
And what about me? Will I recognize myself when I look in the mirror? Will I still be me once my body changes?
All of this, for a lifetime, I can’t wrap my mind around. For thousands of years, living a life I wasn’t born into. It’s a funeral for the girl I am, swallowed by the shadow of the heir I was born to become. But what choice is there, really, if I say no?
I look into the stormy gaze of my mate, my friend, the man I’ve fallen so deeply in love with that there is no end. For him—with him—I would choose a thousand lifetimes. Eternity will never be long enough.
Tears flood my eyes as Ryker steps closer, his hands now bracketing each cheek as he tilts my head back, my gaze lifting to his. “Together, Soraea,” he whispers. He’s been saying that for months, and he’s never left my side. Every task, every new revelation, he’s been there. He’s always here.
He brings his mouth to mine, the kiss slow and soft, a simple brush of his lips.
“I love you,” I say, my breath fanning over his mouth.
His lips tilt up, still pressed against mine. “And I love you.” He pulls away, taking my hand in his, our fingers interlocking. He doesn’t even look back as he pulls me along. “I’m claiming my forever with you, Soraea, so keep up.”