Not Alone
Our group marched quickly toward the forest, Dray in front, followed by Bramick, then me, then the female I’d seen flying with no wings, and then four more behind her—two males, a female, and a mortal man.
I recognized one of the unknown fae males as Buzzed Head.
He and Bramick were the two who had infiltrated the castle and posed as guards.
“So…does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on? I mean, I’m thankful for the rescue, but who are you? And why?”
Dray just grunted, so it was Bramick that answered me. “We’re the rebellion. Thought that much was obvious.”
Dray threw a warning glance at Bramick over his shoulder.
The rebellion had come for me. The joy and sadness in my heart were overwhelming. Joy at the freedom, and that it had come at the hands of the ones my mother had allied with. And sadness because my mother wasn’t part of this group. That she wasn’t the one here to rescue me.
“The grumpy one in front is Drayce, the tactless dunce in front of you is Bramick.” It was the female behind me who spoke. “Don’t mind them, I’m the real brains here. Call me Aerie.”
Drayce. Something about his name made the still-sleeping beast in my chest perk up its ears.
I slowed to walk next to the female. “Aerie, thank you. So why exactly did you guys risk so much to save me?”
She was short and petite, with long white hair woven with various feathers and wooden beads.
Her warm, olive skin was at odds with her stark white hair and gray eyes, and she had a tattoo of several pairs of blue wings up her forearm.
She was beautiful and dangerous-looking, instantly likable, especially because she openly insulted the males ahead of us.
“I wish I could tell you, Naci. But Dark and Broody up there told us not to discuss this topic until we clear the outskirts of Dolvenar. Soon, I promise we’ll answer all your questions.”
“I will answer the questions that are appropriate,” Drayce said. He really was grumpy.
Aerie rolled her eyes and then winked at me. “He might not trust you, but I do,” she whispered with a smile.
So Drayce didn’t trust me? That was rich coming from the male shrouded in mystery and menace.
“So what can you tell me then?”
Aerie glanced back up at Drayce before saying, “Umm, that we’re really excited for you to meet everyone, and I hope you don’t get seasick.
And that I’m really sorry for everything you’ve been through.
We’ve been planning your escape for a while.
Bramick was feeding us intel. He told us what things were like when you were a prisoner. ”
“Aerie…” Drayce growled. The sound made me wonder if he was a Veythryn with a beastly vey form.
“We’re in the forest, well beyond the Dolvenar walls, Dray. They’re long behind us.”
It was at that moment that a furious roar sounded from behind us, hauntingly like Caedryn’s. It was unfortunate that the tunnel collapse hadn’t killed him, I thought with a shiver.
On second thought, I wanted to be the one to kill him. Maybe it was better this way.
“Pick up the pace, everyone. Don’t want our asses cooked from behind,” Bramick said with a chuckle at his own joke.
We all broke into a run, weaving around trees and taking no distinct path I could see.
“How is it that you can fly without wings?” I asked Aerie. I had been contemplating that, but I couldn’t make it make sense.
“I’m an air elemental. I can manipulate air to support me even when I’m in my fae form.”
Now that she had said it, it made all the sense in the world, and I felt embarrassed at my lack of magical knowledge.
“And why would seasickness be a concern?” I asked, slightly breathless, changing the subject. Admittedly, I’d never been on a boat, never even seen the ocean. So I wasn’t sure how my stomach would react.
“That’s enough. No more discussion until we reach the Halcyon and set sail,” Drayce said.
Drayce—Dray, now I wasn’t really sure what to call him—was clearly the leader here, barking orders that everyone followed. We ran in silence for several minutes as a light snow fell. There was so much to contemplate that my brain felt full and bogged down.
I was with the rebellion, and we were headed, seemingly, to the ocean—did that mean we were heading to Elyndor by ship? Was that rumor about their base location even true? And how many of them were there? I hoped it was more than just this crew.
“Aerie, air report,” barked Dray.
“On it, boss! Mind grabbing my clothes?” Aerie winked at me once more, and before I could even ask what she meant, she changed from fae to bird in a matter of seconds, leaving her impressively not-ripped clothes behind.
I skidded to a halt and backtracked a few paces to scoop them up while she circled me once before letting out a loud cry and taking off toward the sky.
Her vey form was an enormous bird of a type I had never seen before, larger than any I’d ever seen.
Sleek golden feathers covered her head, transitioning to long brown feathers covering the wide wingspan, while white feathers adorned her underside.
Her beak was long and sharp, curved down at the end, but it was her talons that looked the deadliest. Looking from so far below her, I guessed each of the three front ones was as long as my forearm, the back one shorter but just as pointy.
She was unmistakably a bird of prey.
Just as the rest of our group reached the edge of the forest, she gave two loud cries from above, which seemed to satisfy Dray, who said, “Let’s move, board quickly.”
I nearly stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw coming into view ahead. The forest gave way to a steep bank ending at a rocky beach, where vast, dark-blue water rolled lazily back and forth over it. Its majestic beauty was awe-inspiring and stole my breath.
The wooden ship floating atop was nearly as impressive as the ocean itself. It was massive. I couldn’t fathom how it floated on the water, as large and heavy as it must be—I supposed that must be magic.
I had seen ships in paintings and in school, but seeing one in person didn’t compare.
Large white sails hung from pillars and beams high above the deck, and white banners with a blue fox hung below those.
There were more of the white glowing symbols on its wide side that I had seen on the dungeon wall, but these were huge in comparison and had different shapes and angles.
A realization hit me—the ship was sitting well off the coastline, and I couldn’t swim. As we got to the edge of the water, the concern must have been evident on my face.
“There’s a boat around here somewhere, just hang on a second.” It was Buzzed Head that spoke as he walked around from rock to rock on the beach, placing his palm on each. I was so confused, but I just watched with intense curiosity.
“Ah, here it is!” As he placed his hand on the rock he was looking for, it glowed with yet another white symbol, and a small wooden boat came into view beside him. It literally just appeared out of thin air.
I needed to figure out exactly what these symbols were, but thus far, I had determined that they performed complex and impressive magic. Assuming the boat hadn’t actually materialized, I figured it must have been hidden behind some magical shroud.
“Glythyr,” Buzzed Head responded to my questioning look.
“Glythyr?”
“I’ll explain on the ship. Let’s get moving before Dray has my head.”
The way everyone spoke about and reacted to Dray made me unsure of him. He’d saved me from imminent death, but he still scared me a little.
If he heard the comment about him, he ignored it.
Dray, Buzzed Head, and the mortal man I hadn’t yet met carried the wooden boat to the edge of the water and pulled out two wooden oars. They had clearly done this before, operating like a well-oiled machine.
“In,” was Dray’s order as they placed the boat in the shallow water.
Okay, bossy.
I stepped into the water, and what greeted my bare feet felt like liquid ice.
It was so cold that it sent shivers through me as soon as my first toe touched it.
My teeth were chattering from the icy water by the time I stepped into the boat.
Once all except Dray had crammed in, he positioned himself at the back of the boat, pushed us further into the water, and then jumped aboard.
He sat, picked up the oars, and dipped each wide end into the water.
I had never seen anyone move a boat. It was so fascinating that I just watched him, over and over, plunging the oars into the water in front of him and pushing the handles forward to propel us toward the ship.
He caught me staring, so I quickly looked away, heart skipping a beat under his scrutiny. I looked up to find Aerie circling the ship with a much smaller black bird in tow.
Noxie. I didn’t bother to stop the tears from falling.
Noxie was here. I couldn’t communicate with him still, but I knew it was him, and he was going with us.
He was crossing the ocean to Elyndor with me, just as we had said we would.
The happiness blooming in my chest was a foreign feeling, happiness that had been gone from my life for so long.
But that happiness quickly faded when I realized our plan was two people short. We said we would cross the sea together as a family: me, Noxie, Nella, and my mother. I had lost so much so quickly. It was a wonder I hadn’t just died of a broken heart.
Maybe I would have, if not for my fae heart. The mortal one broke and died with Nella. I still hadn’t fully understood what happened that night in the ballroom, but I couldn’t think about that now. Maybe when I had all the time in the world to sit and think instead of fearing for my life.
I looked back toward the shore and found no guards or royals pursuing us. What had seemed like pure chaos to me must have been a well-formed plan by the rebels.
We reached the ship quickly and, one by one, climbed the rope ladder up to the deck. Aerie transitioned back into her fae form and landed lightly on the deck, naked. Noxie landed on the railing next to her.