Chapter 16 #2
We both ate, and I could tell she was truly starving because she devoured the food within minutes and couldn’t sense my thoughts. I wasn’t actively sharing, but they weighed so heavily on my mind that they were practically falling out of my head.
Elariya took the last bite of fish and drank more water. Then she looked at me, and it was as though realization dawned on her.
Slowly, she lowered the branch and propped it against the wall.
“Wolfe.” She studied me a moment.
I offered a gentle smile and took her hand with the Velastra mark. I brought it up to my lips and kissed it.
“We’re going back… aren’t we?” The words came out careful, like a child’s voice in the dark.
“Yes.”
She hung her head. “Oh gods.”
I kept hold of her hand. “You were hellsbent on trying to get me to go home from the first night.”
Her breath caught. “I…”
“You know you were right, Ziyka. I was just… being selfish. I knew that being here would heal me, but I’m not healed. This was just a break the ring’s magic gave me. Gave us.”
“The ring’s magic?”
“The Nyzith strands brought us here when I portaled away from Zyrra.”
Understanding formed in her eyes. “Blessed Mother.”
“Being here restored some degree of my Fae essence, but I’m too far gone, Elariya. The moment we leave, I’ll change back.”
She covered her mouth with her free hand and held back a sob. “I can’t do it. I can’t watch you go through that.”
I kissed the top of her knuckles. “You must, my love. We can’t… stay here.”
“One more day.”
It broke me further to shake my head. “It’ll make it harder to go, and we don’t know what we’ll encounter here. I don’t think the ring intended for us to stay longer than necessary. We need to leave now.”
“Oh, Wolfe.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
I pulled her onto my lap, and we leaned against the wall. “I… can hurt Zyrra,” I told her.
Her gaze snapped to mine. “She looked afraid of you.”
“Because she is. I’m some kind of threat. That’s why she wants me dead. I figured it must be the Deathwalker powers and maybe my dragon bond.”
“So, you could kill her?”
Kill my sister again. No, Wolfe. She is not your sister. She’s an entity. That’s all she is.
“I think so. Think of it. She and the dark forces wanted me gone from the moment they discovered they could get to the ring and control it with you. I never considered, though, that it was because I could hurt them.” The reason was twofold, but the latter gave us some leverage.
A possible slither of hope. “I have to go back for that reason. And if we hope to have a future, we have to find the ring.”
She gazed up at me. “Ozaileith. A plane of possibility.” She spoke to my mind. Clever girl. I was glad she was taking extra care.
“How did you figure it out?”
“My dragon.”
I straightened. “You saw it?”
“In the past. It was one of the dragons your family raised. I don’t know how to find it now, and I don’t know anything more than we did before. That it’s in the dragon caves on a time plane.”
“We’ll figure it out.” I nodded. “But first… we have to get back.”
She blew out a ragged breath.
“There’s a gateway close by. We can use it,” I added. “I’ll portal us back to Vyrenth Hollow. I may have a few minutes before I completely change back into a Deathwalker. You must freeze me before that happens.”
She swallowed hard. “What if something goes wrong and we can’t get you back?”
I sat forward and pressed her dainty hand to my cheek.
“We can’t think like that.” I wanted so badly to give her hope, to promise her the moon and the stars and to search all corners of the earth to find a way to get back to her.
But I knew better than to make promises I couldn’t keep.
I wouldn’t do that with her. She had to be prepared in case of all eventualities.
“Ziyka.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “We have to try. If we don’t, we’ve already failed. If we try and still fail… then at least we had this moment. It’s something. It’s better than nothing. And better than the fate that awaited me before.”
“I can’t lose you.”
I cupped her face. “You were right about one more thing. You’re stronger now.”
“I don’t know I—”
“You are.” I spoke with more conviction, looking her right in the eye. “And there’s more to you to come. I know it. Right now, I need you to do this for me. I need you to be brave for me. Please, Ziyka, can you do that?”
She held my gaze for a long moment, steadying her breath before she nodded. “Anything for you, Wolfe Nightblade.”
I leaned in, and we shared a soft, tender kiss. A promise of something to come back to.
I pulled back before I changed my mind. “Let’s go.”
We stood, and I put out the fire. I gathered the little we had, took her hand, and led her out of the safety of the cavern.
I said the gateway was close. It was, but I’d have to fly there.
I unfurled my wings and picked her up. She clung to my neck and curled into me.
I wished I could take her somewhere where we could be together without worry. One day.
I had to believe it.
One day.
On that note, I flew up into the sky and followed my senses.
It took five minutes to get there. I could already feel the Deathwalker magic gripping at me, and those howling voices of legions willing me to return to the dark side. Return to Death.
Don’t worry, you bastards. I’ll be there soon enough. But you don’t fucking own me.
I descended, lowering steadily until my feet met the barren ground. Elariya had her eyes closed, but she opened them and looked ahead with dread.
Ten feet away was a tree with mystical green light swirling around it and pulsing into the heavens. That was the gateway. It seemed similar to the one I’d encountered the necromancer in, though not as deranged.
The magic grew stronger the closer we got and shadows began curling around me. Elariya noticed straightaway and looked at me knowing those weren’t my normal shadows.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry,” I assured her. It was false hope, but she needed it.
The elements began pulling at me, fusing with my mind, body, soul. My magic was back. It was time to act. Fast.
I stopped before the tree, wind whipping my hair. “We have to portal now.”
She kept her gaze on me, wanting to speak but holding back the words.
“Ready?” I asked.
“I’m ready.”
I flicked the air and opened a portal. As soon as I stepped in, the entire bottom half of me was surrounded by shadows.
Death was coming for me.