61. Raea
Raea
Two weeks. That’s how long I’ve been trying to shape anything other than a dagger.
I can shape two daggers, one in each hand.
They’re perfect. Strong. Lethal. Capable of cutting through anything.
They pulse, emitting their own light. Finn is proud of me.
So are the other Elven warriors he’s brought to train with me.
But I’m not proud of myself.
Daggers won’t win a war. I need more. I need to awaken the damn universe within me and learn how to wield it properly. I look across the clearing to see Ryker doing hand-to-hand combat with Vaeric, a blade made of ice against Vaeric’s steel blade.
After he learned about my shaping abilities, he tried it himself, and by the end of the day had crafted an elegant sword of ice.
We thought it might shatter, but it’s as strong as the Fae steel and Elven blades.
So far, the only thing it can’t hold against is my starlight daggers.
They cut right through the ice as easy as swiping the blade through water.
“Try a spear,” Finn says, the exasperation leaking into his voice. He’s leaning against a wooden platform.
I close my eyes and summon the image of a spear—long, elegant, and balanced.
But as the light solidifies, it stutters.
The tip is blunt and rounded, more like a walking stick than a weapon, and the shaft is so thin it vibrates in the wind.
When I try to grip it, the starlight turns brittle and snaps, dissolving into harmless sparks that sting my palms.
Nobody else can touch the weapons I make.
We learned that the hard way when one of the Elven warriors reached for my dagger to inspect it and burned his hand to the point that his flesh melted.
He was whisked away to a healer. He’s been recovering since.
Now, everyone stays far from any of my creations.
Finn sighs, dragging his palms down his face.
I hold out my hand, displaying a perfectly shaped book. Finn puts his hands on his hips and stares at me. We’ve been over this. I can shape small things. Books, a plate, a pen…it’s the weapons I can’t get right.
I tried to create a Hallo gun and had been mostly successful.
It wasn’t capable of shooting anything, so it was useless, but it looked cool.
I’ve even tried staring at a broad sword while I created one in my palm, paying attention to the details, and for a second, I thought I had been successful.
That was until the entire hilt broke off and fell to the ground, burning a hole in the grass and sinking into the mud beneath.
Ciara yelps from across the field, pulling my attention.
She’s been excelling. Hell, all of them have.
Everyone—except me. Ciara has been training with the other Elyndorai, learning how to fly, how to fight midair, how to fly in formation.
She’s a natural. I can’t help but think she was born for the sky.
Maybe that’s why she was always wanting to cliff jump.
It was the closest thing she could get to soaring.
Kamden and Tate are both in the obstacle course racing against each other. Kamden is insanely tough, brute strength, Riven had said one day. Tate is fast. He likes to tease his opponents, bouncing away before they can even get close enough to touch him.
Kellan has been working sun up to sun down with the Elven warriors brought here.
Like at home, he’s amazing with a long sword.
The warriors enjoy sparring with him. I’ve noticed he’s been accepted among them.
One day, they even offered to take him to a party.
He was going to decline but I pushed him to go. He needs to get out more.
I jump when Finn touches my shoulder. “Sorry,” he breathes out a laugh. “C’mon, we’re going on a little fieldtrip.”
I don’t have time to argue before a gateway opens for us.
"I'll see you later. I love you!”
Ryker’s head snaps to me and Vaeric takes advantage, knocking him on his ass before chewing him out about not getting distracted.
“Be safe,” he grunts before attacking.
I smile, shaking my head before following Finn through the gateway. He slows his steps to match mine once we’re through.
“Where are we?” I ask, looking around and failing to keep the awe out of my voice.
I step through the gateway and the air changes instantly—cool, crisp, and heavy with the scent of damp earth and blooming jasmine.
Pale trunks, wide enough to house entire families, tower into a canopy that blurs into the clouds.
The winding manor ahead is woven into the forest. Stone bridges arc over a turquoise lake that glows with its own inner light, while a merman breaches the surface in bursts of spray to catch laughing children.
It is a sanctuary that makes the Fae palace look cold and ridiculous.
At the edge of the lake, there’s a centaur. I’ve read about them. The upper half of their bodies are the shape of a man, the lower half, a horse. Something buzzes by my head, leaving a trail of glittering dust in its wake.
“A pixie,” Finn supplies. “Welcome to my home.”
My jaw drops. “This is your home?”
He nods, leading me down the stone path toward the towering buildings. The glass door swivels at our approach, revealing a bright interior.
Arched windows line either side of the entry, but overhead…
My throat tightens and my eyes water as I take in what looks like the night sky as the source of light. Finn explains they’re light bugs that prefer dark spaces, so he made them a home here and they supply the light.
We keep walking down halls, the arches open to the outside in some halls, closed off by glass so clear it looks open in others. We pass Elven families, servants busy with work, a mother humming as she rests in a window rubbing at her swollen belly.
We pass a grand staircase with towering arched windows with swirls of iron. The amount of greenery within and outside makes the space feel alive. Buttery sunlight bounces off the pale stone interior.
I peek into a room as we continue, gawking at the interior. A large white bed sits at the center of a raised platform, the rounded space filled with arches leading to various parts of the room, but it’s the open-air ceiling with vines spilling into the space that catches my attention.
To fall asleep under the stars would be unreal.
Finn pushes open two wooden doors decorated in ornate vines revealing a library that reaches so high I can’t see the top. Stairs circle the room, going higher and higher, opening at each level before ascending.
And books. So many books. Finn continues through the open chamber to the far side, pulling back a curtain of vines revealing a wooden door. He opens it and gestures for me to follow him through.
I do, surprised to find the room filled with ancient tomes and magical items. The space is darker, lit with candles and light from somewhere above, delivering enough to bounce off the pale stone, illuminating the space.
On a table is a scroll with glowing text.
It looks like the one Ryker and I found on Ista in the old temple buried beneath the new one.
Once again, it’s written in Elvisiah. Though I can read it, speak it, understand it…
seeing it is a whole different experience.
The script with its whirls and swirls and dots looks more like a piece of art than a text.
Finn leans against the table, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’ve been thinking…” He pauses. “I think you guys should leave Einsmall and come live here. Your magic is connected to the heavens, to the aether, you shouldn’t be living underground. Besides, you should live among your people.”
I swallow thickly. “And Ryker?”
Finn’s lips tilt. “You two are mated. Do you understand what that means?”
I shake my head, feeling stupid. I do understand in the sense that we were chosen by the cosmos for a union that would unite our souls…beyond that, practically, no.
“A Mating Bond is seen as the deepest connection one can have. The way we see it, you’re more than married.
Even though you never completed your Ceremony back home or whatever you called it, in the eyes of everyone here, your union is deeper and more profound than anything else there is.
There is no separating you two, for you are one. ”
The pressure in my lungs has to do with the overwhelming sense of love and appreciation that I can’t contain.
For Ryker. For the gods. For creation. Not officially being married to Ry has bugged me more than I’d like to admit.
I feel like I’m somehow not his. Not in a way that makes sense to me.
But hearing this, it helps that sad part of me spill out.
“Can we have a wedding?” I ask.
A female voice answers before Finn can. “Of course you can. Though is it necessary?”
I turn to find Lady Serathiel, the council member of Knowledge and Truth. I curtsey, unsure of what the proper protocol is.
Finn stays upright and when I stand again, Serathiel’s eyes are glittering with amusement. Dammit. I hate making a fool of myself. I make a mental note to ask him later.
“Well, what a surprise to have the Light Bringer brought to our home.”
Our home? Is Finn married…to her? I check both of their hands, not finding a ring, though I’m not sure what the Elven custom is.
Lady Serathiel laughs. “Oh no, dear. Finn is my son.”
Heat spreads up my neck, covering my cheeks. I had no idea. He never said anything about his mother being a council member. And she looks to be maybe thirty, thirty-five at most.
Finn groans, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Raea, my mother you’ve met. This is her library.”
Serathiel’s eyes bore into me. “Open and available to all of course. We do not hide knowledge nor truth from any who endeavor." She crosses the room, her pale robes dragging behind her. She reaches for an older tome from a high shelf before standing before me again.