Chapter Twenty-One #2
This was what they'd announce at the gala and what she'd be judged for. She'd show up not with a Cinderback Auroch but… whatever this was.
The silence pressed in, not peaceful, but suffocating. The kind of silence that followed ruin.
Was it even worth going back?
Cassara buried her face in her arms.
It hurt. Not even in her pride anymore. It hurt somewhere deeper, in a place she didn't have words for. A hollowed-out ache that echoed you're not enough with every breath.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear off the ACS, to crush the aether shard into the dirt and forget this ever happened.
But instead, she just sat there feeling small and tired in a way that had nothing to do with travel or pain.
Then… she felt it.
Not a noise or movement.
A presence.
Inside her mind.
It was subtle, gentle. Not invading, just there. Brushing up against the raw edges of her thoughts with quiet curiosity. A flicker of warmth, soft as candlelight against cold stone. She felt it like a breath. No pity, no questions, just comfort.
She leaned into it without thinking and for one suspended heartbeat, it soothed something jagged inside her.
And then she realized what it was.
Her body jerked like she'd been burned.
No.
The bond. It wasn't just locked in. It was active.
The creature had reached for her.
Cassara recoiled from the sensation, shoving it out, if she could even do that. She didn't want its comfort, didn't want its presence in her mind.
Her rejection must have registered because she felt the faintest shift. A quiet withdrawal. Not in pain or anger, just confusion, as if the creature didn't understand why she'd turned away.
The weight of that made her stomach twist. But she refused to feel guilty.
She hadn't asked for this. She hadn't chosen this. And she sure as hell hadn't come into the Wildes to bond with some wide little thing that had ruined everything.
Cassara curled tighter into herself, the bond's fading warmth leaving her even colder than before.
The area was quiet now save for the slow drip of water from the overhang and the faint rustle of leaves stirred by wind.
Cassara remained sitting, staring at nothing.
The creature remained curled a few feet away, still watching her with those wide, uncanny eyes, head tilted like he was waiting for something. She couldn't bear to look at him directly.
Her nails dug into the packed earth beneath her as images began to surface, unbidden and sharp.
Julian's knowing smile when she returned defeated. The way he'd tower over her, satisfied that she'd finally been brought low.
Verena's barely concealed delight, whispering to anyone who'd listen about how the great Cassara Allencourt couldn't even manage what every other first-year had accomplished.
Her father's letter, arriving within days. Cold and self-righteous. I told you this was folly, Cassara. Pack your things.
The wedding invitations would go out before summer's end.
The anguish that had been building to suffocating proportions in her chest solidified into something bitter and resigned.
She looked at the creature. He wasn't what she'd wanted. He would never be what she'd wanted. But he was what she had.
"I am Cassara Allencourt," she said quietly. "And apparently, you're all I'm getting."
She pushed herself to her feet, legs unsteady.
The creature yawned, revealing needle-sharp teeth that should have been impressive but just felt like mockery.
Cassara's mouth set in a grim line.
"Come on then," she muttered, moving toward him with all the enthusiasm of someone walking to their own execution.
The binding circle still lay on the ground, inactive now, the aether shard resting at its center. She bent down and retrieved it, the crystal warm against her palm. Her shard. Bonded now.
She turned to the creature, mind scrambling. What had the instructors said about recall? Something about intent, about the bond acting as a conduit. Or was it a command? She tried to remember Thorne's demonstration—had he spoken aloud or just willed it? Her thoughts felt sluggish, tangled.
The creature sat there, staring up at her with those too-intelligent eyes. Waiting. Watching.
Like he knew she had no idea what she was doing.
Heat crawled up her neck. "If you're so smart," she snapped, "then you figure it out."
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then his form began to shimmer, dissolving into particles of light that streamed toward the shard like water flowing downhill. Silver and gold motes swirled in the air before being pulled into the crystal with a soft pulse of warmth.
The shard flared once, then settled, glowing faintly.
Cassara stared at it. She could feel him there—a presence, a weight that hadn't existed before. Not heavy, just... there. Tucked inside the crystal like he'd always belonged.
She hated it.
With a sigh, she looped the leather cord holding the shard around her neck, gathered the binding circle, and started walking.
The ACS bracer pinged after the first hour.
Cassara glanced down at the display. A beacon marker had appeared, pulsing green at the edge of her range. An extraction point. Not the one she'd started from—closer. Maybe two hours away if she kept moving.
The forest passed in a blur of green and shadow. This time there was no tracking to slow her down. Just the singular goal of getting out.
The aether shard rested against her chest, warm and silent. The creature hadn't stirred or attempted to reach out through the bond again. Maybe it had learned his lesson.
Or maybe it was just waiting.
She didn't want to know which.
The terrain shifted as she walked, the dense undergrowth giving way to rockier ground, then to sparse trees and patches of open sky. Her legs ached and her injured arm throbbed with every movement, but she didn't slow.
Two days to get in. Three hours to get out.
Funny how that worked.
The extraction point appeared ahead—a small clearing marked by a ring of glyphs carved into the stone, pulsing with faint blue light. Standard Academy work. She'd passed a dozen of these on the way in, too focused on her hunt to consider using them.
Cassara stopped at the edge of the circle and pulled the emergency flare from her pack.
It was a simple cylinder, etched with runes. Twist the base, and it would send up a colored signal visible for miles. Green for successful bond and ready for pickup. Red for emergency extraction. Yellow for complications.
Her hand hesitated over the base.
Green meant she'd completed the expedition and was coming back with a beast.
With this beast.
She twisted it anyway.
The flare shot into the sky with a sharp hiss, exploding into a burst of brilliant green light that hung in the air like a star. The glyphs in the clearing flared in response, acknowledging the signal.
Now all she had to do was wait.
Cassara sank onto a flat rock at the clearing's edge, letting her pack slide from her shoulders. Her whole body felt heavy, exhausted in a way that went beyond physical strain.
She stared at the aether shard. Still glowing faintly. Still warm.
Still holding the creature that had destroyed everything.
The pickup skiff arrived within the hour.
It was smaller than the main vessel—a retrieval craft meant for ferrying students from extraction points back to the primary skiff. The pilot didn't speak as Cassara climbed aboard, just gestured to the bench seating along the hull.
Two other students were already there. A girl with a bandaged arm and a tired smile and a boy who looked like he hadn't slept in days.
Neither of them looked at her long enough to ask questions.
Cassara was grateful for that.
The skiff lifted with a lurch, propulsion glyphs flaring beneath the hull as it rose above the canopy and banked toward the distant shape of the main vessel. Through the open sides, she could see the Wildes spreading out below—endless green, mist-shrouded and wild.
She'd survived it.
She'd bonded.
And now she had to go back and face what came next.
The main skiff grew larger as they approached, its dark wood hull inlaid with glowing runes that pulsed in rhythmic patterns. She could see figures moving on the deck. Other students. Instructors.
They were waiting.
Her stomach twisted.
The retrieval skiff landed close by with a gentle thud, arcane anchors engaging with a hum of energy. The pilot secured the vessel and lowered the ramp.
Cassara stood, took a deep breath, and forced herself to walk forward.
She saw Gideon first, arms folded, his coat still streaked with dried mud and scuffed in places that hadn’t been there before. He looked up the moment her footstep hit the ground. Their eyes met and he offered a short nod of acknowledgement.
Talia was seated on a supply crate, bandaged at the wrist and muttering something to Liri, who looked rumpled and radiant all at once. Evie sat beside her, coat askew, grinning tiredly at something none of them had said aloud.
Julian was there, leaning casually against a railing. When he saw her, that familiar smirk curved his lips upwards.
Liri bounced up from where she’d been sitting beside Evie, both girls looking tired but triumphant. “You made it back! Was it terrible all alone? Did you get something magnificent?”
Cassara managed a smile. “Did you doubt I would?”
“Never,” Liri said warmly, though her eyes swept over Cassara’s disheveled appearance with obvious concern. “You look…”
“Victorious,” Cassara finished smoothly, before Liri could say whatever she’d actually been thinking.
She let her gaze wander until she found him standing with the other instructors, codex in hand, his expression carefully neutral.
When their eyes met across the space, she caught the flash of relief that crossed his features, so brief she might have imagined it, but real enough to make her heart squeeze in her chest.
He’d been worried about her.