53. Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Three
Ryker
M y stomach dropped at the sight of Daegel. Instinctively, I shifted my wings and scales. My shadows burst forth, infused with the singing heat of my fire, blasting into the skies to create a wall of burning darkness and concealing the base.
“Ryker, what—” Malina said from behind me, startled.
“It’s Daegel. Run, Malina! Get the warriors!” I bellowed in her mind.
She didn’t hesitate and bolted back to the settlement.
Maybe if there were enough of us…
“Hakoa, he’s here!” I warned.
“We’re on our way!” he assured.
Daegel stopped at the top of the hill and stared down at me. He glanced to the shadows.
“I’m not here for them. I only want one thing,” he announced, his voice grating against my very bones.
My body vibrated with ire and pure malice. I barely heard his words over the roaring in my head. This was exactly what I wanted—what I was hoping for. I wanted him to follow where Nikan was since he had approached him multiple times before. I just thought I’d have a little more time. I had honestly hoped he would have shown up when we were with one of the other Worthy, but he came right where I had my forces concentrated, and that would have to be good enough.
Subdue him. Don’t kill him yet. He has my mate…
“Give me Kya,” my voice thundered with the wrath of a Worthy.
“Give me the book ,” he remarked in a low lethal tone.
Theron growled and splayed out his wings. “Do not give him what he desires. He will destroy the realm and everyone in it. Your mate will have nothing and no one if you do.”
I pierced the dark wielder’s mind, penetrating as deep as I could go before he had the chance to shut me out like he did during our last encounter. Within the span of a heartbeat, I tore through his memories voraciously, seeing his world through his eyes until I found her. Kya .
My heart stopped. He was holding her by her throat with her feet dangling above the ground and—
I was thrust out of Daegel’s mind as he shut me out, blocking my access. Unable to control it, my flames ignited all around me as the image of his hand around her neck with the look of terror in her eyes was embedded into the forefront of my mind.
Daegel’s hands opened at his sides with the blue wisps of his dark magic. “I’m tired of these games. Give me the fucking book before I send this land back to the dark hole your mate pulled it out of,” he demanded. “And maybe I’ll make you go with it.”
Theron roared so loud it shook the land beneath our feet—the air distorted from the heat emanating from his maw. He didn’t wait for Daegel to make a move and ejected a stream of fire toward him.
Daegel’s own magic flared from his hands, blocking the flames from searing his body with a grunt.
I ran toward him, snaking my shadows along the ground ahead of me. Daegel threw his arm up in an attack, casting the dark magic of the Glaev at me.
I leapt in the air just in time to avoid it.
“Ahhh!” I heard the crippling sound of a scream from the base behind me. “No! No, no, no!”
I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t have time to think about it.
Theron continued to blast fire at Daegel, steadily walking closer, forcing him to keep his magic concentrated on the dragon while my shadows gripped his leg. I slammed back down to the ground and wrapped my shadows around him, but they were cut off with a slash of his blue magic. Theron’s fire had finally reached him, and he roared from the pain.
“Fine!” Daegel shouted, rage dripping from his voice.
Theron and I hesitated for a moment.
“I will give her to you,” Daegel said with a curled lip. “ If you give me the book.”
The one that could destroy everything.
“No,” Theron growled.
“This is your choice. You have ten days,” he warned.
In an explosion of blue, Daegel disappeared.
“Damnit!”
I could still hear wailing coming from the base, and I turned. Hakoa and the warriors had just breached my shadow wall with the help of one of the fire wielders, but they were too late. That whole encounter was too short. I thought he’d put up a greater fight, but perhaps our numbers had intimidated him. As the screams continued, I ran toward the sound, shifting my scales away.
The pained cries grew louder and louder as I neared. It was so unnatural and raw, it grinded my heart. I followed to where several people were gathered, bent over a figure.
Malina looked up at me as I approached with horror in her eyes. She moved to the side, revealing my father.
He was grabbing at his chest, clawing at his skin grotesquely as his nails drew streaks of blood.
“No! No! No!” His screaming pleas shook me, paralyzing me momentarily.
I bent down and pulled his wrists away, stopping him from harming himself.
“What happened? Are you hurt?” I asked, glancing over his body.
“The bond. The bond ! No, please. Leysa!” he mourned.
I felt the blood drain from my face. My mother had died.
Oh no.
Father gasped, struggling to breathe as the bond faded into nothingness.
“Take me with you. Take me with you,” he whispered.
I reached for the bond to Kya, needing the reassurance it was still there no matter how fractured. It was terrifying that this could happen to me at any moment—that I could truly lose her, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I stood abruptly and flared out my wings, thrusting myself up and soaring through the air toward where Daegel had stood in front of Theron. There was no trace of him. Nothing to follow, nothing at all.
“Fuck!” I threw my head back and roared to the skies, cursing the Gods.
The Gods…
…only the Gods can…
Turning slowly to face my guardian, I shifted my wings away. He had told me more than once that he didn’t know where she was, that he couldn’t take me to other realms. Maybe I didn’t need him to take me to Kya. I needed a God.
But the Gods didn’t answer our calls, they didn’t interfere in our realm. With the exception of when I was chosen, I had never spoken to any of them.
I couldn’t speak to a God here . But I knew where I could.
“I’m coming, little gem,” I said down the bond, holding onto it tightly.
Then I placed my hand on Theron’s snout. “Take me to Hylithria.”
It had been three hundred years since I had been in the Spirit realm. The only time I had been here was when Xareus had brought me after he deemed me Worthy following my Trial. It was then I trekked up the mountain to Galadynia where I was judged. During the Test of Fate, the mirror reflected my past, present, and future. Then Theron chose me.
Hylithria was exactly as I remembered. The field of tall grass swaying gently in the wind with sparse, large and ancient trees. The mountains towered in the distance.
A sense of peace washed over me. It was tranquil and enchanting, yet not enough to smother my troubles and distress—the bond still burning.
“How do I find Xareus?” I asked Theron beside me.
“He is your God. Call upon him.”
A twinge of worry pinched inside me that he wouldn’t answer. He never had before. Though that was in a realm he was forbidden from interacting with.
I nodded then took a deep breath as I stepped forward. Lifting my head, I released my bellowing call to the glowing sky. “ Xareus, God of Chaos and Father of Oryn. Your Worthy summons you.”
My voice boomed through the air and across the vast land. I didn’t know if he would grace me with his presence, but this was the only way I could think of to talk with him and plead for him to help me. So I waited, unmoving and alert.
After several moments, Xareus appeared before me.
More than a head taller than me, his body glowed with divine light, and his long raven hair wisped behind him in the breeze. With the upper half of his body left bare, a cloth wrapped around his waist and hung down to the top of his feet which hovered just above the ground.
“Thank you for answering my call.” I bowed deeply at the waist for the first time in centuries before rising to meet the emotionless gaze of his black eyes. My initial instinct was to cower in his presence, but I refused to back down—even from my God.
Theron dipped his head, and Xareus returned the gesture—a mutual respect for one another.
“Worthy Ryker, what is it you seek?” Xareus’s voice demanded of me but was just as expressionless as his features.
“My mate, Kya of Atara and chosen Worthy of Kleio, has been taken to another realm. I wish for you to bring her to me,” I requested with my head held high.
“This cannot be done. I know of your mate, I chose her for you. I watched her Trial as she was chosen by Kleio, having guided the Goddess to her. But your request is not something I am able to grant.”
My gut twisted.
“You’re a God . You’re able to do anything you desire,” I seethed, trying to tamper down my frustration.
“If that were true, do you believe the realms would be as they are?” he asked.
I didn’t know what to think of that.
“Gods have limits, just as Spirits do,” he added.
“I…I don’t know what that means. I just want to get to Kya and bring her back. If you can’t do it, can you at least tell me where she is so Theron can take me there? Do you know where she is?” I asked desperately.
His eyes flicked to Theron briefly. “The Spirits cannot go there. They are forbidden.”
I bit back a snarl.
“Unless,” he continued. “They are completing their duty.”
This time, I didn’t hold back my snarl. “Then you know where she is. If you won’t go there and if Theron can’t, just send me. I just need to find her!”
He didn’t respond, remaining still enough he could have been a statue.
“What about Kleio? She’s her Worthy. She can’t just stand idly by while Kya’s in another realm where she’s not meant to be. She has to get her. Or let me speak to her. She’s your mate. Call for her. I’ll ask her myself,” I clipped.
Xareus’s face darkened. “You dare to command me? Kleio is a Goddess. It is her will, and I will not obstruct it.”
These fucking Gods…
“In three hundred years, not once have I asked you for anything. I’ve fought against the ones you chose to challenge me. I’ve protected the land and people of Oryn in battle and blood—against any threat. I’ve entrusted my life to you and dedicated myself to fulfilling your task. You bound me to Kya. You wove the bond between us. I am trying to do my duty as her mate to protect her. So please, just fucking let me, and tell me where she is!” I roared in his face.
It certainly wasn’t the smartest decision to raise my voice to a God. But at this point, I didn’t care. I wanted her in my arms, for reasons far beyond the bond. Even if I had to call and plead with every single one of the Gods, I would.
“Yes. I wove the bond between you. I made you her mate. But I did not make you love her.” To my surprise, Xareus looked pleased—proud even. The edges of his mouth spread, peeling his lips apart to display the first expression I had ever seen from him.
“Your loyalty has not faltered, and it seems Theron’s fire now flows within your blood.” He tilted his head, studying me for a moment with that same blank expression. “She prays for you. Your mate.”
I inhaled sharply. My throat tightened, and I swallowed down the lump forming there. “She does?”
“Every day.”
I wondered what she prayed about, what her worries were. Was it out of fear or sorrow? Was it for my well-being or for the shared burning we felt?
Xareus took a deep breath and glanced away, contemplating. After a moment, he returned his gaze back to me. “Your mate was taken to Vansera, a realm born from Odes before his fall. I will take you there so you may fulfill your duty to her. But do not forget your duty to me , and what I have asked of you, Worthy Ryker.”
…reveal the darkness…
My pulse raced with anticipation and impatience. Finally. I would finally have her back.
Xareus started to lift his hand to touch my forehead.
“I will not forget. Thank—”
Xareus’s hand stopped mid-air, and his eyes flicked above me as he looked at something.
The feeling of hot air burst against my back and had me whipping around, finding a dark pair of eyes that made every drop of blood in my body still.
“Odarum…”
The winged Spirit Guardian of Kya lowered his head with his ears pinned back. The sound of his deep, demanding voice rumbled in my mind, dripping with the wrath of a Fylgjur.
“Where is my Worthy?”