CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The next day found me waking from the deepest, untouched sleep, a luxury I’d gone without for longer than I’d care to admit.
I sighed and stretched in the hammock, the scratchy blanket uncomfortably rubbing against my skin.
Noctis’s pallet lay empty on the floor within our room, so I used the quiet opportunity to get ready for the day.
After brushing through my hair, I braided it into three pleats and pulled them through the ponytail at the back of my head.
I scrubbed my morning breath with a fingercloth and mint leaf, a practice that used to feel odd but became more familiar the more memories returned.
My fingers played with the final button on my tunic, snapping it shut just as a knock rapped at the door.
“Caelyn?” Calvin called through the other side. “You know… we need some urgency in awakening the titan… if that’s okay with you and all.” He sounded nervous, his words tripping on each other.
I threw the door open.
“Are we already at Yundantan Island?”
“For hours. It’s past noon. Also, could you please get your pet to stop terrorizing me? What have I done to anger it?”
I pushed past him and climbed up the ladder to the influx of light on the main deck.
“You should ask him,” I said through a smile behind me. Raven swooped down and clung to my shoulder. His glare locked onto Calvin, sharp and unyielding, like a soldier bound to my protection.
“What did you and Noctis do last night that made you so cheery?” he quipped back, and I laughed, refusing to offer him a response.
We walked to the railing overlooking the overgrown island.
There were no signs of inhabitants from what I could make out as Jun and Noctis hammered stakes into the ground to tie off the ship.
A large distance of water separated us from the shore, but with nowhere else to safely bank, the males worked to make it possible.
“No answer? I’ll take that as something…” he thought for a second, staring off at the sky with a finger to his lips, “fun.” A wicked smirk plastered his face.
I rolled my eyes. “I prayed to the gods.”
“Like the gods that banished your lovestruck Blood Tie that’s been in a similarly chippy mood this morning?”
My eyes trailed the glistening sweat along Noctis’s chest that cast a sheen in the afternoon light. Red streaks of hair fell across his face, tousled from the half up bun that he messily attempted at the nape of his neck.
“You’re staring,” Calvin continued in a singing tone, probing for more answers.
He’s right, Noctis sent down the bond, his eyes not leaving the mallet he used to strike the stake into the ground repeatedly.
“Yes. To the gods like Noctis.”
“Did anything else happen?”
He wasn’t going to give in.
“Nope.” I walked off, heading to check on Evelyn.
“You’re lying,” he cried like a child, and I chuckled.
“And you’re prying. I’m sure you wouldn’t like me to probe into your love life.”
“As if I even have one,” he tried to snap back, but his voice strained around the words, as if forcing something he couldn’t quite hold onto. “Jun and I are just friends. Like brothers.”
“I didn’t even mention him. You did.” I threw my hands up while he casually walked himself into a confession.
“You rat.”
“Raven…” I taunted.
“No, no.”
The bird on my shoulder fluffed out his wings as if preparing to catch flight, but I rested my hand along his back.
“Having your bird fight your fights, eh?” Calvin joked and walked off to give me privacy.
Evelyn still slumbered peacefully in the lantern lit captain’s quarters.
It made me feel more at peace at night to have my sister safe within the walls with Zahara.
Every day, she breathed a little deeper, twitched a little more frequently.
I could tell that it would be any second that she would awake, and when she did, I wanted to be at her side to welcome her back to life.
Even if waking up meant landing herself right back into harm's way.
I quietly left and closed the door, leaving my sister a note in case she awoke and set forth to help the men dock the ship.
How can I help? I sent down to Noctis, who was finishing his knot around the makeshift stakes.
He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he shot into the sky, rising fast enough that I had a moment to register it before he arced back down and, in a blur of motion, scooped me off my feet. Raven immediately broke into a frantic scurry from my shoulder.
I yelped, not in fear, but excitement that this time he wouldn’t allow me to fall. That we would soon end the dangers that lurked nearby, awaiting to display a show of power. That when it was all over, we could all live in peace—no more war, no more pain, and no more unmanageable expectations.
“You can help by coming with me,” Noctis whispered close to my ear. It sent chills through my body at his proximity and intimacy at having his breath caress my neck. “Raven will stay to monitor Evelyn.”
“And what if we need his ravenous appetite with the titan?” I quipped back, a smile etching my mouth.
Noctis’s eyes caught the emotion and paused. They roamed over my lips and slowly lifted to meet my gaze. He was the one that looked ravenous.
“That’s what we have you for, love.”
The trail to the inner village was overgrown and decayed, but the crew knew mostly what to expect based on stories and history that had become bedtime stories over the generations.
I questioned a vast majority of the accuracy of those stories of the village, but Calvin’s eagerness was enough for me to relish in the excitement.
Playing a game of sorts is the price we would have to pay to gain access into the shrine.
Roll a die, get inside the door. Between the five of us, the chances to roll a three were great, but if we were unsuccessful, it could be the downfall of protecting the realms. Denying the game and barging in would upset the god, cursing our blood for the remainder of our years.
Luck would taunt us, laughing as it ensured the god denied every want and need.
According to Jun, it was an ancient ritual, one that symbolized the role luck played in life’s successes and honored Neyari, the God of Luck.
We tore through the greenery and shrubs, careful not to brush against the thorns along the vines.
Light filtered through the canopy of trees, and I was eager to be out of the confined trail.
I struggled to breathe, not because of the hike we took to get to the titan, but the images that replayed in my mind of the cylindrical chambers.
They had a habit of assaulting me in in times of silence. Times I wished for peace and ease.
Warmth slithered across my mind then seeped through my body like spilled ink.
Noctis didn’t need to use his words to provide comfort.
Instead, he sent his own images into my mind—his shirtless, sweaty body reflecting sunlight, the arch of his lips up close, the curves of the muscles that ripple along his back at every one of his movements…
A little conceited, are we? I sent back down the tether, and Noctis’s laugh rattled me. I worked so hard to hide the pleasure I found in what he showed me, but my racing heart was surely giving me away.
Confidence is not the same as conceit. I’m just aware of my charm.
A sharp gasp from Zahara drew our attention back to the opening in the trees.
The village lay in shambles. Stone pillars crumbled to dust in the destruction before us.
Jagged pieces of wood were strewn about at random, embers glowing faintly as ashes and smoke choked the air.
Blood pooled along the ground in an irregular circle, an opening carved deep into the ruined land falling away at the center.
Faint light cut through the smokey haze, dust particles catching in the light like sparks that swirled through the wind.
The entire expanse was a ghost town, silent in entirety.
The ground convulsed beneath us, violent enough to throw loose stones dancing across the realm.
What little trees survived the recent attack cracked and splintered as massive bodies tore through the forest, each impact echoing like thunder through the island.
Deep fault split open at our feet, jagged fractures racing through the soil.
The Oricaan beasts emerged from the tree line, four towing shapes pushing through the haze of crushed leaves and drifting dust, their heavy strides shaking the air with every step toward us.
The puppeteered creatures awaited our arrival, and I knew that they sought revenge after we destroyed their entire facility.
Noctis shifted his weight so he shielded me, facing the beasts head on. The Oricaans marched forward in sync, each step covering ground that would take me twenty strides.
“I’ll distract them. You all run,” Noctis demanded, but I would be damned if I chose to run at that point. Nor would I leave him to fight off the Oricaans alone.
He threw his hands forward and pelted the gilded beasts with gusts of wind harnessing the strength of tornados.
The air rotated in spirals, pulling up what little debris wasn’t destroyed in their attack.
The beasts tilted back slightly, struggling to get traction again, but Noctis couldn’t hold them long enough.
He kept rushing his powers into their front sides, but they only staggered and kept marching forward.
Zahara and Calvin stood together behind the god, swords in hand, but they would do no good. Jun looked between the Oricaans as if contemplating his next move.
Then, he sprinted straight for them.
“Jun!” Calvin’s voice cracked. He reached for him, but Zahara snatched him back by the wrist. He fought in her grip, frantically trying to be set free, but she held firm with her remaining arm.
Devastation wracked her face as she watched the young man she considered a son run straight for the creatures.
Jun cut through the air, his feet barely touching the ground.
The hood that normally hid his scarred head fell, Noctis’s billowing powers blowing it back against his will.
He jumped onto a jagged tree stump and propelled himself over the golden joint of the closest beast. Landing in a flip along the ground, he aimed for the back leg, clutching to the metal appendage and climbing up inch by inch.
I watched in horror, regardless of the irate Calvin at my back. My feet reached to step, but Noctis targeted the other three Oricaans. The beasts weren’t giving in. Each one resisted his godly powers, even at his strongest.
Jun topped the closest Oricaan, reached the Terraguard soldier behind a shield of gold and set it all on fire.
His flame ricocheted off the glinting metal at first, but the gilded shield wept liquid as it melted under his power.
When it engulfed the man, the shrill scream that followed was pure agony to listen to.
The closest golden Oricaan fell to the ground in a crash that I was sure shook the entire Bound.
Jun tumbled down with it, slowing with each jump off the falling limbered creature.
He was sluggish already, as if the use of power drained him quickly, but then I remembered.
He had been pouring his all into Evelyn.
He wouldn’t be able to take down the other three. We needed to act fast.
I took off in the same direction, kicking up dust in my wake.
“Run!” Noctis screamed behind to the others, but I never slowed. I spun around a crashing leg of a beast as it attempted to crush me under its weight.
I sprinted past the three towering creatures, and in unison, they turned their attention to me.
The trident scraped painfully against my calf and along my back with each rushing step, but I purged forward.
I stripped the weapon from my back and focused on pulling from it.
Heat simmered against my fingertips, and I released it through the trident, piercing through two legs of the nearest beast. They stumbled in their haste to reach me.
I knew carrying the trident myself would be beneficial—not that I wanted to let anyone else hold it, selfishly relishing in the power it gave me.
I couldn’t hesitate. Couldn’t contemplate the decision or second guess my choice. I just had to take the leap.
So, I did. Right into the gaping hole the Oricaans guarded at their backs.
I fell for what felt like an eternity. Seconds stretched and warped, then dissolved into something closer to minutes as the world above me receded into a distant blur. Light did not penetrate the tunnel, a constant void although I jumped through the opening in broad daylight.
Frantic beats hit against the brick wall I built in my mind. If this would mean my death, I didn’t want Noctis to witness it. Regret overwhelmed the terror as I dropped further and further.
Massive arms closed around me in the darkness, the sudden grip jolting me still. They held me tight—almost desperately—as if letting go wasn’t an option they were willing to consider.
Noctis.
Then, we crashed into a body of water.