Chapter 127
A thick mist suddenly rolled through the ruins, swallowing everything around us and reducing the world to little more than pale shadows.
"Rhaevan?"
I turned around. He had been right beside me only moments ago, but there was no sign of him now.
I moved deeper into the memorial ruins, slowing my steps as I strained to see through the mist. The path narrowed as broken walls rose higher around me, guiding me towards what appeared to be the centre of the sanctuary.
The further I went, the stranger the air felt.
The wind had changed. Earlier, it had been cold and hollow, threading through the ruins like distant voices. Now it moved with intent, circling me in slow spirals as though the entire sanctuary had become aware of my presence.
"Rhaevan?" I called again.
There was no answer.
"Is this a prank?" I forced out a weak laugh. "Because if it is, it isn't funny anymore."
"Cassiane? Are you there?"
I stopped.
Rhaevan.
"Rhaevan, where are you?"
I followed his voice through the ruins until a silhouette appeared through the mist.
Relief washed over me.
"There you are. Seriously, you just leave me there and come here all by yourself? What if-"
The mist slowly cleared.
My words died.
Rhaevan stood several feet ahead of me, his profile turned towards me. Behind him stood a hooded figure holding a sword infused with dark magic, its blade raised and poised to strike.
"Rhaevan, watch out!"
I ran towards him, but I was too late.
The figure drove the sword into his side.
Rhaevan's body jerked violently. A strained grunt escaped him as the blade was pulled free, and he staggered before collapsing onto the stone.
"Rhaevan!"
I reached him and dropped beside him, immediately pressing my hands against the wound.
"No, please. No."
Blood seeped between my fingers.
"Cassiane... run..." he managed weakly.
I shook my head.
"I'm not leaving you."
More figures emerged from the mist, slowly surrounding us. One of them stepped forward and pointed his sword towards Rhaevan.
"You seek the Heartforge?"
His voice was low and mocking.
"You will never reach it. This is what happens to those who seek it."
I tightened my hands against Rhaevan's wound.
"Please, stop."
The figure laughed.
"And now you shall suffer."
He raised his sword and drove it into Rhaevan's chest.
Rhaevan coughed violently, blood spilling from his lips as his body convulsed beneath the blow.
"No!"
My scream tore through the cavern, swallowed almost immediately by their laughter.
I barely heard the figures anymore. Rhaevan's breathing had become increasingly shallow, and when he called my name, I immediately leaned closer, desperate to hear whatever he wanted to say.
"Cassiane."
"I'm here."
His eyes struggled to remain open as he looked at me.
"I... I'm sorry."
Before I could ask what he meant, his eyes closed.
"Rhaevan?"
I waited for him to open them again, but he remained completely still. I touched his face, then pressed my fingers against his neck, searching desperately for a pulse.
Nothing.
I checked again, refusing to accept what my hands were telling me.
"Please."
I placed my palm against his chest, waiting for the movement that never came.
The realization settled over me with a heaviness that seemed to crush the air from my lungs.
He was gone.
I shook him harder, my trembling hands gripping his shoulders.
"Rhaevan, wake up. Please."
His head moved loosely with the motion.
I stopped.
The figures were still standing around us, but their voices had become distant and indistinct. All I could see was Rhaevan lying motionless in front of me, the blood on his robes growing darker by the second.
"You brought this upon him."
The words reached me again.
Rhaevan had followed me into the lake when he knew how dangerous it was. He had come after me because he was afraid something would happen to me.
And now he was lying here because he had followed me again.
"If I hadn't agreed to search for the Heartforge..." I whispered, my voice barely audible. "If I hadn't been so reckless, you would still be alive."
I reached for his hand.
It was cold.
I wrapped both of mine around it, rubbing his fingers between my palms as though I could somehow bring the warmth back.
"You're always telling me to listen to you," I whispered. "So just this once, listen to me."
I waited, almost expecting him to answer.
He didn't.
My eyes filled with tears.
"You're supposed to wake up and tell me I'm being ridiculous. You always do."
My voice faltered.
"Then I'll call you an idiot for worrying me like this, and you'll probably pretend to be offended."
A broken laugh escaped me, but it dissolved into a sob almost immediately.
I rested his head on my lap and stared down at him, trying to memorize every detail of his face because I suddenly understood that I might never see those eyes open again.
The guilt was unbearable, but beneath it was something even more painful.
The truth I had spent so long refusing to acknowledge.
I had loved him.
Somewhere along our journey, without realizing when it happened, he had become the person I looked for first, the person whose presence made even the most dangerous places feel less frightening.
I had spent so much time convincing myself that what I felt was gratitude, friendship, attachment-anything that would keep me from confronting what I already knew.
Because admitting the truth had always frightened me.
If I said it aloud, it would become real.
And now, when I had finally understood it, I had lost the chance to tell him.
I lowered my head until my forehead rested against his hand.
"I should have told you."
The tears slipped freely down my face.
"I kept thinking there would be time. After the mission. After we found the Heartforge. After everything was over."
I tightened my fingers around his.
"I thought I could wait until we were safe. Until there was nothing left between us that needed to be said."
My voice trembled as I looked at him.
"I thought you would still be there when I was ready."
A sob caught in my throat.
"But you aren't."
I brushed my thumb gently across his cold fingers.
"And now I would give anything for one more chance. One conversation. One moment where you could look at me and hear me say what I was too afraid to admit."
I bent over him, my shoulders shaking as the tears fell onto his robes.
"I love you, Rhaevan."
The words came out broken, but there was no hesitation left in them.
"I love you. I think I have for longer than I was willing to understand, and I am so sorry that I spent all that time being afraid of a truth that could have given us so much."
I pressed his hand against my cheek.
"You deserved to know."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"And I deserved the chance to tell you while you were still here."
I closed my eyes, holding onto his hand as though refusing to let go could somehow keep him with me.
"I love you," I whispered again. "And if there really was a later, I would have spent the rest of my life making sure you never had to wonder how much you meant to me."