29. Alessia
Irefuse to leave for three days to allow Aurelio time to heal. Once I’m satisfied that he can walk on his own, then, and only then, do we pack up and leave for our next quest.
Among the multiple small, easy tasks we picked up lies our greatest challenge: eradicating a nomadic tribe of orcs that’s been wreaking havoc on the villages at the foothills of the Eastern Mountain Range. Our quest demands high skill, impressive endurance, and thorough knowledge of orc fighting styles. I’ve never faced an orc before, but Daelia impressed upon me their strength and fortitude despite their weak, thoughtless minds. Depending on how large the settlement is, it could take us half a day to complete the task and a week to plan it.
Even though Aurelio is injured, I decide to set our course for the Eastern Mountains, seeing as the faster we get to these orcs, the faster my citizens are safe. I care about all my people, not just those residing in the capital. Without our farmers and traveling merchants, we wouldn’t have a stable, healthy nation. I owe it to them as queen to prioritize their well-being above all these other low-level quests.
After all, an orc tribe could wipe out an entire village if one isn’t prepared. That’s a grave loss I can’t take, not when I can do something about it.
Aurelio and I spend four days traveling toward the mountains. We’ve already arrived within a half-day’s march of the mountain pass, which is a road a short ways up the side of the mountain, the route that’s easiest to use from village to village out here. Surprisingly, we don’t face any monsters the entire way. I wonder if it’s because the Oni left its scent on us; monsters are afraid of higher-level monsters, and Oni are feared even among some wendigos.
“Hey, Aurelio, has Lief come back yet?” I question.
He nods, tapping his backpack. “He came back from his side quest with lilies and lavender, just as he promised. He’s taking a nap in the top compartment.”
“Can you wake him? I’d like to ask him something.”
Aurelio unzips his bag, and Lief pops his head up from the compartment, blinking at me blearily as we continue to walk.
“Excuse me? A fae needs their beauty rest, you know,” he grumbles.
I’m still not used to that unnaturally high-pitched voice of his. Aurelio introduced me to Lief weeks ago, and still, I have to stifle a laugh every time I hear him speak.
“Sorry, I just had a quick question for you, Lief. Are monsters able to leave traces on other living things?”
“Well, that depends what kind of monster you’re talking about. Fae leave magic traces all over victims and those they mark for either salvation or death. Others leave dark magic traces, like wendigos.”
“I was wondering about Oni, specifically.”
“Oh, you’ll be marked by the Oni for a couple of weeks, at least,” Lief says, wrinkling his nose. “They stink.”
“They stink?” Aurelio questions.
“Yeah. Like dead flowers.”
I’m not entirely sure what to make of that, seeing as I didn’t know dead flowers had a certain smell, but I file the information away.
“Anyway, Lief, we’re headed to the Eastern Mountains to hunt down a nomadic orc tribe,” I explain. “Will it cause problems if we still have Oni scent lingering on us?”
“Absolutely! Orcs are childish as goblins when compared to an Oni. You’re lucky to have killed it before it got a hold of you and split you wide open! That’s their favorite move, spilling out entrails,” Lief says, shuddering. “I’ve seen it happen one time too many.”
My stomach clenches as I look back at Aurelio, who pretends to be unbothered by the information, but pales just enough for me to notice. The fact that he had such a close brush with death still keeps me awake at night. I’ll probably have nightmares about it for the next year or two. I can’t bear the thought of losing him, let alone on my selfish adventure for experience. I’ve grown far too attached to brush off his loss now.
“Alright, then, how do we get rid of the Oni’s scent?” I ask.
“You can scrub yourself off in the river. It’s not a perfect fix, but if you grab some strongly-scented flowers and keep them on you at all times, it should drown out the rest of the scent until it fades.”
“That settles it. Aurelio, we’re finding a river!” I decide.
“Fine by me. I feel absolutely disgusting.”
I check the position of the sun, noting that it’s only high noon. We have plenty of time to take a small detour. I send Lief to look over the treeline, and he returns with information that seems promising: a winding path cut straight through the trees, far too windy to be a road. We head that way, and sure enough, I hear the rushing of water through the forest, and we happen upon a wide, deep river.
“Perfect. Thank you, Lief.”
“Do I have to go to give you two some privacy?” Lief huffs, blowing a strand of his hair out of his face.
“No, I don’t mind. Aurelio’s more likely to do something stupid than you are.”
Aurelio scoffs. “Ouch! I’ve always treated you respectfully!”
“One can never tell the future,” I say, shooting him a wink. “But I’m teasing. We have to wash our clothes, too, if we’re going to get the Oni’s scent off us in time to face those orcs. We can’t have them running away while we’re trying to gather them up.”
I set my bag aside, pull everything out of my pockets, then jump straight into the river, sighing gratefully as the cool waters rush past me. I dip my head underwater and scrub the grime out of my hair, then resurface, finding Aurelio just walking into the water to join me. He stops short when I stand up in the water, his eyes slowly trailing downward. I see the slight twinge of pink on his face and instantly read his thoughts.
“Like what you see?”
Aurelio instantly looks away. “That was not my intention.”
“What if I liked it?”
“Then that was definitely my intention.”
Aurelio wades through the water toward me, a small smile on his face. He wraps his arms around me and holds me against his chest. Just the graze of his arms on the small of my back has my whole body lighting up with a sort of electricity. His eyes gaze deeply into mine, and I’m suddenly lost in his.
“I must be the luckiest man alive,” he breathes.
He kisses my cheek, and I shiver from the small gesture of affection. My eyes dart to his lips, and I’m feeling those butterflies all over again. Feeling a little brave, I decide to go all in, yank him in by the shirt and bring his lips to mine. He melts into the embrace. He’s gentle with me, and I’m not demanding anything more than I’ve already taken.
“What is this for?” Aurelio murmurs.
I shiver again from the feeling of his hot breath tickling my neck. “It’s a treat. For surviving.”
“That’s all?”
“Well…it could be a little more than that,” I admit.
My lips tease his neck, drawing a small gasp from him. His grip tightens around my waist, and I muffle my laugh against his neck as his manhood eagerly anticipates me.
“Unfortunate. I’d give it to you if Lief wasn’t watching,” I tease.
“I’m not—That’s not—It’s not like I can stop it!” Aurelio protests. “I’m not asking for anything!”
“But I am. The first chance we get, you’re mine.”
Aurelio’s lips part in shock. I take the unintentional invitation to slip my tongue between them. He moans unexpectedly, and although the sound is drowned out by my lips, it has excitement coursing through me. I’d like to have a moment with him again, like we had in the river on the way back to Celestia. That moment was so incredible, it’s etched into the outline of my soul. Even death couldn’t make me forget the way he made me feel.
“Later. Later, you’re mine,” I pant.
“You don’t see me protesting.”
We take turns helping each other scrub the Oni’s scent from our clothes, then return to the riverbank, doing our best to dry without towels in the warm sunlight. I drip-dry for what feels like forever, laying there on the smooth river stones. I guess I’m at least getting a tan out of this.
“Hey, Aurelio, why don’t we—”
“AH! LOOK OUT!” Lief screeches.
My head snaps to where Lief is sitting, only to find him pointing up in horror. I turn around, and the sight that meets my eyes is even more nightmare-inducing than the Oni slashing at Aurelio.
There’s a griffin pouncing on us. Its ten-foot wingspan is so large that at this close distance, it blots out the sun. With the head, wings, and talons of an eagle, and the body and tail of a lion, the massive monster is intimidating enough, but it’s even more terrifying to see it bear down on its prey. Its talons are outstretched, its steely eyes locked on its target—
“AURELIO!” Lief shrieks.
I don’t see it until it’s too late. I thought the griffin was pouncing on a fish, but those talons snatch up Aurelio, and before I know it, he’s being carried away into the sky, growing smaller and smaller as the griffin flies away. It lets out a great screech that sends chills down my spine.
“No. No, no, no! AURELIO!” I scream.
“ALESSIA!” he shouts.
Aurelio struggles, but there’s nothing he can do. He grows smaller and smaller until his voice fades on the wind. The griffin soars effortlessly toward the mountaintop, far out of my reach. My heart palpitates in my chest. My vision goes fuzzy as I forget how to breathe. Everything is a whirlwind of panic, screaming thoughts, and—
“Alessia! Snap out of it!”
Lief’s tiny hand smacks my face with surprising force. I stumble backward, gripping my cheek.
“What the hells, Lief?”
“Aurelio is in trouble! Don’t just stand there, we have to rescue him!” he shouts.
His words are like a kick straight to the ass. My body and mind remembering how to function again, I’m seeing red as I’m snatching up my gear and taking off like a bat out of hell toward the mountains. Lief catches up and perches on my shoulder as I run.
“I didn’t know there were any griffins this far south!” I shout.
“I didn’t, either!”
“What is it doing snatching up a human, anyway?”
“It’s probably desperate! With that nomadic orc tribe in the area, its prey has to be limited! Plus, with the Oni scent washed off, the griffin wouldn’t be afraid to attack anymore!”
“Damn it!” I growl.
The Eastern Mountains are only a few miles away, but the miles seem to take forever when I’m trying to catch up to a griffin. The creature reaches the mountain before I can even get halfway there. In the air, it has to be flying at least three times as fast as I can run, and that’s putting no effort into the flight. I make note of where the griffin heads off to as it crests the mountain and takes a sharp left, landing at the top of a cliff.
“There! Don’t take your eyes off him, Lief!” I order.
“I won’t!”
With Lief concentrating on the griffin’s nest, I can focus on getting there. My lungs burn in protest to the near-sprinting pace I’ve been keeping up, but the adrenaline douses the burning sensation before it can force me to slow down. I don’t care how much this hurts my body. That’s my man that the griffin stole. I hope it’s satisfied, because that’s the last meal it will ever catch, and it will not lay a single talon on Aurelio.
After a few more miles of dodging trees, I finally break away onto the mountain pass. The steep hills of the mountain tower above me, their sleek, gray sides stretching straight up into the clouds. I don’t see any clear path up. My chest tightens more and more the longer I search for a way up. It’s not like I can fly my way up there like the griffin or Lief; I’ll have to scale the mountainside hand and foot if there’s no path, which is a great way to slip and fall to my death, if I’m not careful.
My head is fuzzy from the powerful emotions surging through me as I desperately run along the mountain pass. A tingling starts up in my limbs, like a numbness that isn’t quite numb trying to overtake my body. Panic is seizing me in an iron grip. If I don’t just figure something out and go for it, I’ll panic down here long enough for Aurelio to get eaten, and all of this will have been a futile effort.
“I’m not losing him!” I shout.
Seizing the magic energy flowing through me, I punch my fists into the side of the mountain, encase them in rock, and climb, one step at a time, one reach at a time. The incredibly steep incline will become a ninety-degree angle only twenty feet up, but I don’t care; I’ll either make it to the top and save Aurelio, or I’ll run out of magic energy and fall to my death while he’s being eaten. Either way, I’m going to get him back, come hells or high waters.
“Alessia, do you want me to distract the griffin?” Lief asks.
“No, they’re extremely territorial, from what I’ve read. I don’t need you dying on us,” I insist.
“No, please, I’m faster than a griffin! Let me help!” Lief pleads, tugging on my ear. “There’s no point to me sitting here if Aurelio dies before we even get there!”
I pause, panting, to glance at the little fairy. “You’d risk your life?”
“Of course I would!” Lief answers, throwing his hands in the air.
“Fae aren’t known to take such a liking to humans. But you bound yourself to the Autumnspell household a long time ago, and here you are risking your life for your master.” I give him a small smile. “You’re a strange little fairy, you know that?”
“I don’t care if it’s strange! Aurelio is the only Autumnspell I’ve ever truly loved!” Lief protests.
“Well, why are you asking permission, then? Go get him!”
Lief doesn’t hesitate to fly straight up toward the griffin. I hear his shrill voice yelling insults at the griffin, and before I know it, he’s shrieking in terror as he’s flying away, the winged monster on his tail. Lief leads the griffin away from the nest and further over the mountains, far out of sight of the nest.
Incredible. Even the fae love you, Aurelio.
I suddenly climb a little faster. My heart beats harder, and sweat pours down my back, but I refuse to slow down. Aurelio is up there, the man who’s become an ally, a dear friend, and now my one and only lover. He’s shown me what true kindness can be, proven beyond a doubt that people can change for the better, and given me hope for learning to love myself. I won’t rest until he’s safely back in my arms. I don’t care if I have to burn down entire kingdoms to save him. No matter what kind of trouble he gets himself into, I would rather burn the world than fail to rescue him.
I look down, trying to gather my bearings. The ground is so far below that the height is dizzying. Shaking my head, I look up instead, finding that the griffin’s nest is still straight above. I keep climbing, one hand after the other, one foot after the other, making steady progress as fast as my body will let me.
I’m coming, Aurelio.
The sun beats down on my back. The incline shifts to a full sheer cliff, and my body protests under the weight of gravity. My limbs tremble, my muscles attempting to give out, but every time I’m close to falling, I grit my teeth and push a little harder. Adrenaline pours through me like a deadly drug. My hands and feet bleed despite my magic’s assistance, but I let the blood trickle down my arms and onto the rocky outcrop. My husband is up there. I will bleed myself dry before I let him die.
My eyes locked on the nest above, I finally latch onto the cliff side where Aurelio is. This outcrop is less supported than the rest of the mountain, and I feel it shake with every one of my movements. Pebbles crumble and fall far below. I have to choose my handholds and footholds carefully; one wrong move, and I’ll be joining the dead.
Keep going…one more step…one more inch…
My whole body is trembling violently. My shoulders ache and crack like they’re about to dislocate. The chilling sensation of tingling numbness races from my head to my toes again, and I nearly miss my next handhold because of it. I try to push a little harder, to grip a little tighter, but my bleeding hands are making everything slippery. I’m running out of magic to keep my handhold on this cliff.
I feel my foot slip, and my stomach drops as I hang there by a single handhold. Clapping my free hand to my mouth, I nearly pass out seeing the ground nearly one hundred feet below me. I’ve never been afraid of heights, but seeing a sheer drop-off right beneath my feet is a different thing entirely.
Don’t look at it. Don’t look at it! KEEP GOING!
I remember how that griffin took off with Aurelio, and all of a sudden, that adrenaline is pumping harder than ever before. With a mighty roar, I crash my hands and feet back into the mountainside, take the first few steps, and climb again, moving faster than ever before. My lungs threaten to give out, and I can barely even feel my body moving now, but I push on. Muscle memory and a dash of courage are all I need to get to the top of this cliff. It’s only twenty feet away…now fifteen…and then ten…five now…
At long last, my hand slams onto the surface of the clifftop, and I haul myself over the edge. I flop onto my back there, panting so heavily, I’m seeing black dots dance before my eyes. I’m wheezing for the first time in my life.
Right, I made it. Now, time to rescue Aurelio.
I shakily rise to my feet, barely able to stand upright, but I manage to stumble across the cliff face to where I see a slightly bloodied heap only fifteen feet away from me. There’s no mistaking the messy brown hair, the sun-kissed skin, or the athletic build: it’s Aurelio, passed out from the shock of his unexpected flight.
“Aurelio!” I call.
He doesn’t stir. I stumble toward him again, only to fall to my knees. Grunting, I decide to crawl toward him instead, seeing as my legs won’t allow me to stand upright. When I finally make it to his side, I roll him over, finding him still breathing and mostly unharmed.
“Thank the gods,” I breathe.
Just then, there’s a shrill scream from behind me. I turn around, expecting to see Lief coming toward me, but instead, I’m greeted with the sight of a livid griffin. My heart leaps into my throat.
“ALESSIA, LOOK OUT!” Lief shrieks.
I manage to duck and roll just in time to avoid being skewered by griffin talons. The heavy body of the monster lands only ten feet away from me. It doesn’t charge right away, but backs up against the corner where the cliff face meets the wall of the mountain. It lets out an eagle’s scream, then growls as it raises its talons toward me.
“Shit! Lief, what do I do?” I ask.
“Fight it!”
“I can’t stand!”
“You can’t what?!”
There’s no time to explain the griffin is going to charge any minute. I glance down at Aurelio, finding him still completely unconscious. My legs are useless. I can barely raise my arms. At this rate, all my efforts will be wasted, because I can’t fight off a griffin with my current strength.
“Lief! Can you cast immobilizing magic?” I cry.
“Yes!”
“Do it, now!”
Lief raises his arms and casts the spell. A ball of light appears from his hands, and the second it collides with the griffin, the monster freezes in place, its beak open in a silent screech.
“You’ve got ten seconds! I can’t hold him!” Lief shouts.
I only need eight.
Struggling mightily, I drag myself over toward the monster. My legs participate minimally in the pathetic show. Lief counts down from ten, and he’s on four by the time I reach the griffin’s side. Summoning all the strength left in my body, I draw my sword from my side, raise it high above my head, and slash straight through its wing.
“Two…one…!” Lief counts.
With the last scraps of magic left in my body, I punch my fist into the ground, and in the blink of an eye, a rock column explodes from the side of the mountain, slamming into the griffin. Immobilized, it can do nothing as it topples right over the cliff. I hear it screech down below as Lief’s spell wears off, and then a few heartbeats later, its scream is abruptly cut off. It’s hit the ground, most certainly dead.
“Alessia, that was brilliant!” Lief cries. “You slashed its wing so it couldn’t fly and used the mountain to your advantage!”
“I’m just glad it’s over,” I sigh.
Just then, my stomach protests, and I’m leaning over to vomit down the cliff side. My body gives another great heave, and then I’m knocked flat on my back by a pulsating sensation through my magic channels, like I’m being punched by a hundred tiny fae. I convulse, then curl up into the fetal position, my eyes flying wide.
“Alessia, what’s happening?”
“I pushed myself too hard again,” I gasp.
This may be my closest brush with death due to magic energy draining yet. My vision goes white, and I’m knocked unconscious by my own body.