Chapter 24 Harkin
Chapter twenty-four
Harkin
The sun sank low on the horizon, fading rays dipping through the gaps in the trees. Snow began to fall anew from the gray sky in soft, swirling flakes. My boots sunk into the fluffy white layer which stuck to the frozen ground with ease.
As darkness stole over the Váracis Erva and dusted our cottage in rising-moon blue, my thoughts came again to the Markoláb. Its dripping maw cracked wide as it inhaled Seren’s mágik, dimming the light in her eyes.
My heart stuttered, the fear still a living thing in my bones. She had almost died—we both had—and I knew there would not be ease in the journey ahead. We would only know more pain. All through the day, I tried to voice my apprehensions, but they caught in my throat, too harsh for the light of day.
Seren’s lips parted half a dozen times, poised to name that rattled worry I was sure gnawed at both our guts, but she closed them again.
She focused on training, on distraction—ever the soldier at heart—and humor, too.
That new lightness in her brighter than ever, determined to drive out the darkness.
Footsteps crunched behind me, and I turned.
A wave crashed over my head before I could react.
I drew in gasping breaths as icy water sluiced down my face and soaked into the fabric of my tunic.
My hair plastered against my forehead, falling into my eyes.
I pushed it back with one hand, cursing when my wet fingers turned numb with cold.
I wanted to summon anger—even annoyance—within myself, but I found that I could not. There was only sickening affection.
“Was that a challenge?” I goaded, stalking toward her.
“That’s payback,” Seren corrected. “For causing that Tünécris to bite me. It still hurts, you know.”
“No, it doesn’t. That was days ago.”
“No.” A slow smirk tilted her mouth. The cold turned her lips vibrant pink against pale skin, and I fought against distraction. “It really doesn’t.”
Seren raised her arms again, lightning quick, and her mágik rushed toward my body. I hardly managed to repel it with a gust of my own power.
“You will regret this, Seren Corso.” A wicked grin split my face as I took up an offensive stance.
She pretended to ponder my words. She tapped her finger against the bridge of her nose, then pointed it right at me. “Hmm… Actually, I don’t think I will.”
We pounced, barraging each other with bursts of playful mágik. Water dumped into my boots, soaking through my knitted socks and sending me sliding through the snow. I glared in Seren’s direction. “That was uncalled for.”
Seren lashed out again, grinning wildly, and I sent a powerful gust of wind ripping around her. She looked away from me for just a moment then toppled forward as my power pushed at her back.
I was on her before either of us could blink.
My knee slotted between hers as I pushed her back into the snow.
Seren’s lips parted as she exhaled heavily, eyes shifting between mine.
Her chin tilted exposing the long line of her bare throat.
She swallowed as I did. Neither of us spoke—moved—for a moment too long, reveling in the warmth of the other.
“You landed a few good hits. You should be proud.” My thumb stroked along the soft skin of her inner wrist. Her chest rose against mine. “But it will take much more than that to bring me down.”
“I’m sure I’ll find a way.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” I rose, helping Seren to her feet. I studied her, searching for the ache of wounds in her gait and the flash of anxiety in her eyes. They were present but muted, driven out by the small pleasures of progress.
“Let’s dry off, you menace.” The venom that had once filled her voice had been replaced with a fondness I had not expected. Her gaze softened as she recognized the concern in my own.
I wished to show her that my feelings had changed too. I no longer saw her as the insufferable inconvenience that I once had. She had become a person I could rely on in the weeks we had spent together, only strengthened by the days we had spent fighting side by side.
After supper, before the blazing warmth of the fire, I poured over my maps. There was an old story about a mágikal spring buried deep within the Varázis Erva, where the water glowed silver blue, and the vestiges of spent mágik drifted through the boughs like autumn leaves on a swift breeze.
The first map—one that depicted the whole of Szrestia—had proven useless. The one I studied now mapped only the stretch of the Varázis Erva between Ordelés and Acsilla. The parchment was smooth and worn through with age, nearly indecipherable as the firelight cut through its thin surface.
I discounted the Sárkhona Draum—the mountain range far to the north—as well as the many rivers which wended through the trees on their journey to the ocean.
When I finally spotted it, I almost whooped with delight.
Hardly more than a smudge of faded ink, was the small body of water, no more than a few hours' ride from our cottage.
The hour was late, and Seren had long since retired to the bedroom, but I had a bone deep feeling that we needed to go that night.
The handle of her door turned easily beneath my excited fingers, and I crept inside the darkened room.
The steady sound of Seren’s breath in sleep was a whisper in the silence.
Crouching by her bedside, I brushed my hand along her shoulder.
It was warm and bare where the blankets had fallen back. “Ren.”
Her nose scrunched, but she did not wake.
“Seren.” I squeezed my fingers gently into her.
The cold bite of steel was at my throat in an instant, a dagger clutched in her fist.
I froze.
Seren’s eyes snapped open, alarm disguised as anger. Her gray eye was bright against the dark, the other hidden in shadow.
I could see it, the moment the haze of sleep dissolved from her mind, and she yanked the blade away. My fingers found the hollow of my throat, the thin skin she had claimed with her steel. They came away clean—bloodless.
“You absolute fool.” She pushed herself up, blankets falling around her waist. “I could have slit your throat. Why are you sneaking around my room in the middle of the night?”
“I wasn’t sneaking. I was trying to wake you. I didn’t expect you to get stabby—although I suppose I should have. No matter. Get dressed. I have something I want to show you.” I could not help the excitement which crept into my voice.
“In the middle of the night?”
“It’s not yet midnight, but yes, it must be tonight.”
Seren glared down at me. “Must you always contradict me?”
“Of course. Now, hurry and get dressed. I promise it will be worth it.”