Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Boreus wasn’t scared; he was slightly nervous about what Auster was going to do when he was confronted with Eleni in Autumn, but he wasn’t scared that his loves would abandon him.
He was standing guard, glaive in hand, at the side of the Highest. There was nothing that would get past Light, but he felt better armed against what might come. And out of the corner of his eye, Boreus thought he saw someone that should absolutely not be there.
It was a momentary flicker, but when he turned his head to look fully, the flicker was gone.
Light took her eyes off Autumn for a moment to raise an eyebrow at Boreus, who just shook his head. “I thought I saw something, but it was only a tree branch outside the window.”
Light nodded, transferring her eyes back to the pair kneeling on the floor with their heads pressed together.
Auster was the first to come back, leaning away from Autumn to fold her into his arms and cradle her while she struggled out of her head and forced her eyes open.
“Are you well, child?” Light asked gently.
“Yes Highest,” Autumn looked over at Light. “The braid is stronger now. Eleni has gone back to assist with the stability.”
“Excellent,” Light nodded. “Now that we have secured the braid, I would like to hear your plan for how you will rescue Skirion.”
“There’s something there,” Autumn shuddered. “I have to go in and save him, but I cannot allow whatever is in Charan to escape. That means I will have to go in alone. If I am fast enough, it will not notice me.”
“You are not going alone,” Boreus and Auster both said, Boreus looking at his partner and nodding. “Autumn, you will not go alone.”
Autumn looked as if she were about to protest, but Light held up a hand. “You will not go alone, Autumn. There is another way to circumvent the thing in Charan.”
“What is it, Highest?” Autumn asked. “What can I do to make certain that the Mountain is safe?”
“It is a remnant,” Light replied. “We cannot let it go free. You will need to be quiet, quick, and may not be able to wake him before you must leave.”
Autumn nodded, and Boreus offered both of them his hands to assist them off the floor. “A remnant of what?”
Light shook her head, looking over at the blooming almond branch outside the window. “Magic,” she said after a long moment. “It is a remnant of the locking sigil that Magic used to imprison the Mountain.”
“But why is it after me?” Autumn asked, puzzlement all over her face.
Light shook her head. “I cannot give you an answer to that, not yet.”
“Is there something we can do?” Boreus asked.
“Until I figure it out, simply stay together.” Light smiled at them. “I am working with Chaos, but thus far, he cannot tell me what the issue is.”
They were dismissed soon after, returning to their home on the rise, to sit in the living room, all curled together on the sofa and drift together.
Boreus could tell Autumn was turning the things that the Highest had told her over and over in her mind, so he bent towards her and caught her lips with his.
Just kissed her for a moment until her mind stopped doing frantic loops, and she relaxed.
“Better?” he looked at her, looked at her smile and smiled back.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Curling down into his arms with a sigh. “I’m trying not to borrow trouble. I don’t need anyone more than the two of you, but I still wonder?—”
“If Skirion will love you?” Auster reached for her, and Boreus watched as she went into his arms without hesitation. “It may take a little time, but I think he will come to love you as we do.”
“It will take as long as it takes,” she said, smiling up at Auster. “And if we are only ever friends, I am still loved, and that is all I have ever wanted.”
“We love you, Autumn,” Boreus told her, reaching to envelop them both in his arms. “I think he will come to love you, especially after things are explained to him.”
“I am not going to worry about it right now,” Autumn said firmly. “We have until the Highest figure out what to do with whatever wants to kill me in Charan before we can save him, so what will we do in the meantime?”
They all fell silent, considering what they wanted to do, and that was when the air split and Chaos wandered in. He looked exhausted, disheveled, but his eyes were sharp and lucid.
“Elder?” Autumn rose from the sofa. “What is it?”
Chaos just looked at them for a moment before gesturing to the split in the air. “The sphere,” he said in an odd voice. “You have more voices, they must be added to the chorus.”
“Alright,” Autumn turned to them. “When I was first back on the Mountain, Chaos had me begin with my story on the sphere, and he wants you to add your past to it.”
“The sphere?” Boreus tilted his head at her. “Do you mean that round rock?”
Autumn nodded, “If you look at it now, it has mine and Eleni’s story on it in little symbols. Chaos wants to add your stories, but you can think about it, or you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“What does it do?” Auster asked, reaching to take her hand.
Autumn nodded, “I don’t know what it will do, I just know that the Highest have one too and I think it’s going to be needed if I am to become Compassion in truth.”
Chaos nodded, looking more lucid than any of them had ever seen. It was an odd expression on his face, and Boreus was more than a little worried.
“Come,” he said, gesturing again. “Time runs, little pomegranate.”
“Yes Elder,” Autumn moved towards the split in the air, looking back at them with a smile. “I’m come back, but you know Chaos loses time, so I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Boreus shook off the worry and stood, rising at the side of Auster before they both moved towards the split in the air. “We’re going too,” Auster said firmly. “We’ll always be there when you need us.”