Chapter 120
CHAPTER 120
Farron
I t’s almost funny, thinking how I hesitated at the edge of the pool. I was so afraid of the unknown. But this time, my courage won out. I reached into the deep, dark place and I took what was offered.
Took what I deserve.
And look! Now, I need it. I told myself I would never be back in that place again. The field, with my mother cradled in my arms, a spear in her chest.
Ezryn is so upset, yelling at me, crying. The bond within my chest screams with grief. They don’t understand. Not like I do.
Not like he does.
The Son stares at me, his purple eyes hard. Caspian. Shadow-blood. Flame-blood. “Do not do this thing, Farron,” he says, voice dark and low. “Dayton would not want this.”
Ah, The Son is always so cautious! So afraid. I was like that. Before the Baron helped me See.
I walk over to Dayton and kneel behind his head, brushing blond strands of hair away from his eyes. He is beautiful. “Look,” I whisper. “Now, I’m the one protecting you.”
Even more beautiful than my Summer-blood is what hovers above his chest. A tiny sun bursting with all the magic and power of the Summer Realm. Within this bright spark lies the ancestral memory of all the High Rulers of this realm. Summer’s Blessing. It hovers by him, grieving in its own way. But very soon, it will try to make its way to the next in line. Yes, it will try.
And it will fail.
“We’re not done here,” I say to the Blessing. “You just wait a moment.”
I hold my hand out to the magic, and it responds, leaping around my fingers joyously.
“Who are you talking to?” Ezryn asks gruffly. He and Caspian exchange a look.
Oh, they can’t See it. Shadow-blood could if only he wasn’t so afraid. He purposely weakens himself, keeping the sight locked away. He can’t See. Not like I can. None of them can See the threads of life sparking brightly through their bodies. Or Dayton’s threads, lying limp within him.
I can See all these things and more. Everything is clearer within the Green Flame.
Caspian grabs my shoulder. “Stop this madness, Farron. It is not the way of the world.”
“Not the way of your world,” I say matter-of-factly. “I make the world how I want it to be. It is what was promised.”
A ragged breath tears out of his throat, and his eyes are bright with fear. “Dayton will never forgive you if you do this to him.”
I look away from The Son and lay a kiss upon Dayton’s brow. Peace fills my chest. “What use is forgiveness when I hold his life in my hands?”
Caspian grabs my shoulder and jerks me to look at him. “If you do this, you will not be the same.” His voice lowers to a desperate hiss. “ He will not be the same.”
I put my hand on Caspian’s and offer him a comforting smile. “That is how it should be. When one is incinerated by the Green Flame, they must be reborn anew.”
Caspian staggers away from me, wide-eyed.
“What’s going on?” Ezryn shouts. “Farron, what are you doing?”
I turn back to Dayton. “The ways of the world do not pertain to me. I follow no law, subscribe to no rule. I answer to one power alone, and it is not death.” A green glow shines around my hands.
I have been in love with Daytonales for as long as the tides have rippled along Summer’s shores, for as long as the harvests have grown in Autumn, for as long as the great icy caverns have stood in Winter and the rivers have cut through Spring. Because I was in love with Dayton before either of us ever existed; our love is eternal. It shone in the cosmos and plummeted to the earth in fragments of the stars.
I chose to become different—to become more —because I want to continue loving him through the ages. What a simple thing death is, and how easily it can occur. I have always been a logical man. I will not take chances with those I love.
His thread is gone. But from its frayed edges, I shall create a new one.
My magic seeps into his bones, his blood, his nerves, until I reach the filaments of his life’s thread. A green flame lurks behind my own magic, bursting into those threads, remaking them from the ashes of what they once were. This is not creating a new life from the old, but rebuilding what was once there.
I find the strands of his strength, his goodness, his humor, and weave them with my flame as if I’m braiding a bracelet. His memories, beliefs, and preferences come next. It’s all here, so easy for me to pick up and put back, right where it was. I’m particularly careful as I maneuver his mate bond. It’s a strong power, quickly becoming taut as soon as I grace it with a bit of magic.
Last of all is the thing hovering above his chest. The thing that should have left a while ago, but stayed because it too was grieving. Because it too didn’t believe that I am stronger than Death.
“It’s time to go back,” I tell Summer’s Blessing, the little flitting sunburst over his heart. “It’s okay. He’s ready.”
The bright light flutters back and forth, unsure.
“He’s not dead,” I tell it sternly. “At least, he won’t be in a moment. Come now, I’m ready to finish.”
Though it’s nothing but light, it seems to look at me. It flits over his body, over the green thread shining in his chest. Almost as if it’s examining him.
Then, it starts to back up.
“No,” I say. “He’s not dead! He’s the rightful High Ruler of Summer! Get back inside of him!”
The Blessing slowly shakes back and forth.
“I have remade him,” I growl. “ Get back! ”
The sunburst dashes away, but I’m quicker. Green flames erupt from my fingertips, caging the Blessing with my magic.
“What’s happening?” Ezryn shouts and starts to lunge toward us.
Caspian grabs him around the chest. “Don’t touch anything!”
I can’t split my concentration; it requires everything in me to focus on the tendrils pulling, pulling, pulling the Blessing back into Dayton.
“He’s not dead,” I growl. “You belong to him.”
The sunburst fights me, pulsing against the edges of my magic, desperate to get away. With a roar, an inferno of emerald flame explodes out of me, pouring over the sunburst. It goes limp within my fiery chains.
“Good,” I breathe. Delicately, I direct it down upon Dayton’s chest. The sunburst beams like a bright peridot before sinking beneath his skin.
With everything in place, I prepare to stitch the final thread within his life force. It was all so easy, this mending. But when you have the power to See, everything is easy.
“Come back to me,” I breathe. “Come back.”
And as the Green Flame promised, he does.
Dayton sucks in a breath then coughs. Ezryn shouts his name and collapses beside me, grabbing Dayton’s hand.
I look behind me to smile at The Son. To show him the miracles his father can provide.
But Caspian has already started walking away.
Never mind. I turn back to Dayton, staring with pride at the mended skin, every rise of his chest. Each heartbeat is precious. Each heartbeat is what I was owed.
When Dayton’s breath steadies, and he opens his eyes to look at me, they shine the most beautiful and ethereal green.