87. THE LINE
Havoc. Mayhem. Madness. Those were the last things I saw as I cried out to warn Roirdan of what was coming.
It hit me all at once—the darkness, the shadows. Skadi’s vile essence and her wicked laugh swarmed our ranks, constricting the air like a vise. I lashed out with my light, but the shadows were relentless. I couldn’t hold my shield and wield my power.
A shadow sliced into my shoulder, then tore free. I cried out, just as a flash of gray and a set of strong wings swept around me. Remic threw his body into mine, and we spun out of the chaos.
In a split second, we were in an open area on the field, far from the ensuing battle. The echoes of swords and guttural screams were a distant chorus. He had brought me out of the center of the fight, to safety.
I clung to his chest, breathing heavily, before leaning back to look at him. His face was covered in blood that wasn’t his. His eyes, and the markings around them, pulsed a fiery red, as if they were full of burning embers.
He scanned my face for any sign of harm, just as he always did, then his eyes lowered to my injured shoulder and he let out a growl.
“I’m all right,” I assured him. “Thanks to you.”
His expression softened, and a crooked grin crept across his lips in relief.
I was beginning to smile in return, when I heard a heavy thud that shook my own chest. Remic rocked forward, his mouth parting with a strained grunt.
Another thud.
His body buckled against mine, wings flaring in distress. The world seemed to stand still as he looked down at me, pain crippling his brow.
By the time I realized what was happening, the thud of a third arrow found its mark in his back. My body absorbed the shock of it as he drew me into his chest and held my head to him, cradling me as if he’d shield me from the world forever.
No, no, no!
Each arrow pierced deeper and deeper, through leather and flesh, yet one by one, he took them, holding his breath upon each bone-crushing, heart-splintering impact.
I pushed against him, trying to get out of his arms—if only to stop whoever was sending endless arrows at his back—but he held firm, tightening his grip. I screamed into his leather, writhing against him, but he wouldn’t let me go.
He held onto me as he took them all.
With each strike, he yielded a small step, taking me with him, folding me tighter into his chest.
“Remic, NO!” I shouted. “NO!” I didn’t know if I was yelling for him to stop, or for the enemy to, but neither listened to my plea.
Another arrow found its mark, and he shuddered, but nothing could break the protective grip he had around me. Not even the end of the world.
He began to struggle for breath, and his sword fell from his grip, clattering to the dirt. As he went down onto his knees, I went with him. His body shook as he pulled back and cupped my face with both of his hands.
Arrows whizzed by us. Some struck the earth. Others pierced clean through his wings. And although they twitched and trembled in pain with each hit, he held them as high as he could.
“You’re safe,” he rasped, rubbing his shaky thumbs across my cheeks as tears streamed down them. “Safe,” he repeated, and it seemed he was saying it more for himself this time than for me.
A single cough escaped his lips.
I grasped at his chest, desperately trying to get around him to see what had been done, to see who was responsible for this. But he used what little strength he had left to hold me in front of him.
“No,” he said. “You don’t need to see the damage.”
I searched his face. “W-What can I do?” I knew the damage was irreparable when I saw the glow begin to fade from his markings and eyes.
He opened his mouth and took a labored breath as he sank back onto his heels.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I frantically shook my head as his breathing became wet and heavy. “Tell me what to do!” There had to be some sort of magic—maybe a healer—something!
The once smooth skin around his eyes was now creased in tight lines, but when he spoke, his voice was calm and quiet. “Stay with me for a while.”
My jaw quivered, and I nodded, tucking myself further into his arms and burying my face in his chest once more. A stray arrow flew past, but the sound was far away now. The only thing I cared to hear was Remic’s heartbeat against my ear. Still beating—staggering, but beating.
This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening.
Why did he have to bring me out here, in the open?
Not knowing what else to do, I gripped onto his leathers, and sobbed. Each breath I took wrapped me in his scent—mist and rain and the open sky. Except now it was muddied with dirt and salty sweat and the metallic tang of iron from the gods-awful arrows.
The assault finally ceased.
In the distance, I could hear someone shouting my name, but I didn’t heed their call. I didn’t move, didn’t want to leave his embrace. I would stay in the safety of his arms, one last time.
His cheek rested lovingly on my head as he ran his fingers through my hair and held me close to him with his fading strength. Then, he grunted, and I caught him just as he slumped to the side.
“Auren . . .” he said between ragged breaths.
“I’m here, Rem,” I sobbed, trying to hold his chest up and support his head in my arms. My vision blurred with more tears as I looked at the face I’d come to know and love so much. My protector. My guardian. My brother. My friend.
“You saved me,” I whispered, smiling at him through my tears. “You were my Dionach, after all.”
He managed a smile back, and the sight broke me and healed me all at once. But underneath that smile, I could see the undeniable fringe of fear. The terror of crossing the threshold of death.
He did not want to go. Not yet.
“I don’t . . . want . . . to leave you,” he choked out.
“We’ll stay right here,” I said, bringing my hand up and fitting it against the strong line of his cheek and jaw. “We’ll stay right here, together.”
“No negotiations,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting again, pushing past the pain and the sadness.
A laughing sob broke free from my lips. “No. No negotiations,” I repeated, hoping the light-heartedness of the comment would wash away all the dread that was burrowing deep in my chest.
His strength gave out, and his arms drifted to his sides. The further his body sank toward the ground, the deeper the arrows dug into his back. Yet still, he held my stare as he toed the line between life and death.
“Thank you,” he whispered, so quietly now that I barely caught it. “Thank you . . . for giving me . . . a purpose.”
I tried to gather my words, but I couldn’t.
Don’t go, I wanted to say. Please, please, don’t go . . .
With one final exhale, his gray eyes went distant, and his mighty wings sank to the dirt.
Silence fell between us, so hollow and final that I couldn’t bear it.
My heart cracked.
A scream flayed my throat, and a shock wave of power burst forth from me in all directions, pulsing out over the plains, carrying my pain and anguish with it.
My Remic was gone.
I gathered him up in my arms as much as I could, digging my chin into his hair as I tucked his face into my neck, and waited.
I didn’t know what I waited for. Maybe I expected to blink and he would open his eyes, and his wings would rustle back to life.
Perhaps I thought that I would wake up and realize this had all just been a bad dream.
But none of that happened.
In my grief, a softer light emitted from my skin and fell over him, over that beautiful face that stared blankly to the open sky.
I wanted his haunted eyes to find mine again. I would have given anything to see that one-sided grin, just one more time.
My tears dripped onto his chin, and I smeared them through the dirt along his jaw as I traced his face, committing it to memory. There was no longer a pinch to his brow. No tension in his expression. He finally looked like he was at peace.
He had found and fulfilled his purpose.
Frantic voices were yelling for me, growing closer, but they were drowned out by my heavy sobs.
The next thing I knew, Roirdan and Aremis were there in a rush of armor and swords. Upon seeing Remic lying limp in my arms, they immediately moved to lift him up, but I cried out in denial.
“No! Don’t!”
Roirdan hesitated, but Aremis put a strong hand on my shoulder. “Auren, please, let us help. We need to get you both out of the open.”
I whipped my head up to him, ready to scream at him to leave me alone, but when I saw that the right side of his face was covered in blood from a wound he’d sustained across his cheek, and both he and Roirdan were gasping for breath, I stopped myself.
I blinked away my tears until everything came into focus, and realized that he was right.
We may have been a good distance away from the fight, but we were sitting targets out here.
Finally, I let go and released Remic’s body to them. “Be careful,” I ordered. “Please.”
They were silent, but nodded and lifted Remic as one.
I got to my feet and froze at what I saw.
Seven of the largest arrows I’d ever seen protruded from Remic’s back. They had pinned his sheath to his spine and trapped the innermost portions of his wings in place. All were directly aimed at this heart. And all had struck true.
A strangled sound broke from my throat as I stepped up to his body and gently folded his damaged wings, smoothing and tucking them in tightly so that Roirdan could hoist him over his shoulder.
When I drew back, a soft, gray feather clung to my armor. I carefully lifted it off and cradled it in the palm of my hand. It was a treasure greater than the most prized jewels in all the realms.
A piece of him left for me.