Chapter 77 Faylinn
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Faylinn
Iwalked across the cold floor, the bare pads of my feet scraping slightly against the rough stone. My fingertips trailed softly against the walls of the hallway, jolting with every dip and bump.
The first time I was here, I was too blinded by grief and exhaustion to fully appreciate my surroundings, but this visit was different.
I knew it would come; I expected it, anticipated it.
I completed the Bond with Rohak, knowing exactly what would happen the minute we both fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s warm embrace under the coil of post-coital bliss.
Now, I could absorb my surroundings with a freedom that didn’t exist before, and the scholar in me wanted nothing more than to sit and document every inch of this sacred space.
How much longer would it be before I visited here again?
I wandered the winding halls, head hung back on my shoulders so I could gaze at the open ceiling. At least, it appeared open. Upon deeper inspection, it was clear that a very powerful Air Ward kept the interior of the castle dry and protected from the elements.
Fate’s residence was almost at the peak of the split mountain in Meru. The sporadic window—curtained by the same enchantment as the ceiling—revealed blustery landscapes and feet of snow without a view of the cracked earth far below.
I hummed as I watched the tendrils of magic—for that was certainly what the colors in the clouded sky were—dance and writhe. It almost looked . . . painful. As if they were stuck there by some unseen force, unable to move freely and touch the ground below.
Perhaps that was why the earth was so dry, the trees dead and barren.
“Taking your time, granddaughter?” Fate’s voice echoed from somewhere up ahead, and I sighed at the combination of amusement and exasperation.
Patience was not a virtue the immortal being possessed.
“No, Fate,” I said softly. “Just observing.”
Fate was silent as I felt along the hallway.
The walls moved suddenly, and I closed my eyes at the lurching feeling that gripped me low in the gut.
Disoriented, I leaned against the stone for support, breathing heavily through my nose in a desperate desire to keep my stomach from upending its contents all over Fate’s palace.
“You’re naked,” Fate deadpanned, his voice much closer than before.
If my eyes were open, I would roll them aggressively in his direction.
“Yes,” I panted, still fighting the urge to vomit. “You’re the one who expressly said in our bargain that I was to return here after I completed the Bond with Rohak. Did you really think I would do that fully clothed?”
“I expected you to dress afterward,” he grumbled, and I barked a short laugh.
“How many times have you redressed after fucking the love of your life, Fate?”
Silence met my question, but I felt soft shadows kiss my bare skin as something akin to a magical dress covered my naked body.
I expected his magic to be cold and smell of sulfur, but the shadows were surprisingly warm, their gentle writhing leaving little sparks of heat on my skin.
My eyelids cracked open of their own accord, and I gazed at the shadow dress in barely concealed awe.
“Your powers are returning?” I asked, immediately regretting my question when I turned to see Fate slumped far down in the throne of bones where he was bound.
“No,” he barked. “That . . . used what I had left.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline at his disheveled appearance. His skin was sallow, his eyes deep set and surrounded by the blackest circles I’d ever seen. Bones protruded from his waxy skin, nearly matching the throne he perched atop.
My heart thumped painfully at the sight, and I sighed deeply in resignation, all thoughts of observing this place fading completely.
Perhaps it was better if Meru and Fate’s palace weren’t saved for posterity—it was a secret reserved for the gods, and maybe it should stay that way.
“Tell me what you need me to do,” I said, my voice confident yet soft.
“Don’t lose your fire on my account, Rune Master,” Fate rasped, a rattling sound taking residence in his concave chest. Gone were his resplendent doublets and elaborately designed outer coats; instead, black robes sat heavily on his frail frame.
The runes sewn in the very fabric of his being pulsed erratically, their light waning and rapidly fading.
I shook my head, curls bouncing around my face.
“If I waited any longer, you would be dead. Would you have summoned me before then?” I asked, troubled by the visage before me.
Fate gestured with an emaciated hand, skin stretched across bone.
“What do you think?” His voice was weak, but the steel was still there, and I had my answer.
“Give me the knife,” I said, gesturing for the rune-engraved knife of bone resting across his knees, but Fate didn’t move. For a moment, I feared he had died.
“Immortality freely given. Remember, granddaughter?” Fate rasped, his head leaning back against the bones with a slight thunk.
With a shaking hand, I reached out and hesitantly gripped the knife. It was heavier and longer than I expected, the blade of it spanning nearly the length of my forearm.
“It’s heavy,” I mumbled, testing its weight to ascertain how much force I would need to put behind my thrust.
“Artifacts from the cosmos themselves tend to be,” Fate remarked dryly, his fathomless eyes rolling lazily toward me. “You won’t need much force. A gentle nudge should do it. If you’re here of free intentions, it should slide like butter.”
My nose wrinkled at the comparison.
“Quickly now, granddaughter. Or we’re both dust, and Elyria falls.”
The shadow dress dissipated, exposing the area above my left breast completely.
I hefted the knife so its point rested against my skin. It was much warmer than I expected, and I felt something foreign beneath my sternum writhing as if trying to move away from the weapon clutched tightly in my hand.
Knuckles white, tattoos gleaming in stark contrast, I took a deep, fortifying breath before letting it out slowly.
“Will . . .” I asked, unsure how to pose my question.
“Will it hurt? I don’t know, Rune Master. I’ve never cleaved my immortality from my soul before,” Fate wheezed before hacking a cough.
I shook my head vigorously. “You misunderstand. Will I be able to come back here?”
A thin smile split the skin on Fate’s face. “So like your mother, and your grandmother, really. Come here.” Fate gestured for the arm not clutching the dagger.
In a swift motion that burned more than I expected, he used his fingernail to etch a rune on the inside of my elbow. I looked at it, understanding and recognition cutting like a knife.
“So you can return,” Fate whispered.
“Do it, Child,” he rasped, nodding to the knife.
I thought I would be afraid when faced with death. Turns out I was more afraid of what would happen if I didn’t die than if I did.
With a soul-deep determination, I thrust the dagger straight into my heart.
Breath froze in my chest as my whole body careened between cold as the mountaintop outside and the raging fire of a volcano.
The knife stayed lodged in my chest, the skin and bone closing around it to keep it in place as the magic from the runes pulsed down its length, seeking something inside.
I fell to my knees with a keening gasp of pain as the magic flooded my system, overwhelming my senses and setting my nerves on fire. My vision blackened, scenes of my life flashing before my eyes as I clung to the desperate desire to see Rohak again.
At some point, I fell sideways, my head thunking against the stone with a force that almost sent me into oblivion.
Hours passed, eons flashed as I saw Elyria made and unmade, the knowledge of the cosmos just out of reach. I thought for certain my brain would melt through my ears with the searing heat that was roaring through my veins.
With no warning, the heat lifted, cold rushing to fill its place as the Rune Magic grabbed whatever was writhing in my chest and pulled. Out came the bone blade, clattering to the floor, its runes pulsing with a bright golden light.
I felt cold, bereft of something I couldn’t quite name. Different and changed irrevocably.
Was I still me?
“Now, Faylinn. Now,” Fate pleaded as I felt the very foundation of the palace shake.
Rubble fell to the stone floor with soft plinks as I bonelessly grabbed the knife.
I pushed to my knees, naked once more, before standing on unsteady, shaking legs.
My limbs sagged as I shuffled forward, my bare feet scraping bloody over the rough stone.
Fate leaned forward in his throne, nearly falling forward onto the knife that I thrust upward with my remaining energy.
I placed a hand on his back to steady myself as the knife lodged itself in his sternum.
Immediately, the golden light on the runes of the blade flared to life before filling Fate’s empty chest cavity.
I fell back on my bare ass, energy completely depleted with the sheer weight of this place pressing in all around me, making my bones heavy as stone.
Bright light filled my vision as Fate slowly filled out, finding enough strength to stand once more. The light pulsated outward, coating Meru with its sparkling intensity and eviscerating my body into tiny, shiny particles of dust.
My immortality was no more, but Fate and Meru were safe, if only for a little while longer.
Arms stretched languidly over my head, and I groaned as muscles stretched and joints popped.
My body was deliciously sore everywhere from the countless times Rohak and I took pleasure in each other’s flesh.
After my visit to Meru, I’d woken on a gasping cry, body sweating and shaking with emotion that flooded the Bond and woke Rohak.
His eyes softened in understanding and undiluted appreciation as he rolled me beneath him and filled me with one strong thrust, chasing away any lingering pain.
I hummed in contentment, the Bond pulsating in time with the ache between my legs.