28. Chapter 28
Vaelin dropped to his other knee, not feeling the cold of the stone seep into his leathers. His blood felt like ice in his veins as he stared at the spot on the bridge where Bronwyin and Alaeric had been, just moments ago.
His hearing felt muffled, like something had been pulled over his ears, but even still, he heard Aurelia and Isla’s panicked sobs.
Evric dropped to all fours beside him, losing the contents of his stomach.
Vaelin’s eyes burned, either with the threat of furious tears, or because he hadn’t blinked, still staring at the bridge — maybe both.
Time passed in silence. Seconds? Minutes? It was impossible to say. He exhaled slowly.
“Aurelia,” he croaked, his voice strained. “Heal me.”
He turned to see her shaking her head slowly, eyes wide. “Vaelin…”
“Do it,” he snapped. “I need to be at full strength for this.”
Evric barked a laugh, tone disbelieving. “You’re out of your fucking mind,” he said.
Vaelin felt his jaw twitch, fury still funnelling through his veins, threaded with determination as he whirled on his best friend. “There is no alternative. We’ve talked about this.”
“We head back to Vaelora. Wait until the Pass is cleared,” Evric announced to Aurelia and Isla, ignoring Vaelin.
“You want to take a ‘wait and see’ approach to peoples’ lives?
” Vaelin thundered, pulling roughly at Evric’s shoulder until he spun to face him, embers glowing in the Fireborne’s eyes.
Vaelin leaned into his space, voice dangerously low, “You want to wait a few weeks and see if the continent still exists, or if it’s shattered into dust under the weight of floods and earthquakes and the Gods know what else?
You want to wait and see if we were too late to save everyone you’ve ever known and loved from a violent death, choked by their own magic? ”
Evric pulled out of his grasp, stepping back and loosing a growl as the air in the clearing sparked, dust swirling in tiny whirlwinds as Vaelin’s own magic flared in response.
The wind was a tempest in his ears, blocking out everything else as he glared at the faint glow under Evric’s veins.
What the fuck was wrong with him? This was the only way forward.
He wouldn’t watch anyone else fall victim to their own magic, wouldn’t watch anyone else he loved wither away into a husk before death took them.
“Vaelin,” Isla’s voice shook, piercing through his blind fury like a blade parting silk.
He glanced over his shoulder, to where she clung to Aurelia, the terror in her eyes like a punch to his chest. All at once the air returned to his lungs, the tempest of the winds dying down to a mere breeze.
He turned back to Evric, his friend still faintly glowing, his irises rimmed with embers as he trembled.
Not with anger — but with fear. Terror. He was terrified.
Vaelin’s jaw slackened as his stomach tightened in knots.
In two quick strides he’d placed his hand on the back of his friend’s head, dropping his forehead to Evric’s and murmured an apology.
A guttural noise escaped Evric as his own hand came to rest on Vaelin’s shoulder.
He squeezed his eyes shut, tears slipping down his face, disappearing into the auburn stubble that dusted his jaw.
Vaelin took a deep breath, exhaling as he closed his eyes, willing his friend to calm, to trust him.
“I won’t let you fall, brother,” he said firmly.
Evric opened his eyes and nodded, his jaw tight as he squeezed Vaelin’s shoulder before turning away to face the bridge the way a soldier faced a battlefield with punishing odds.
The tightness in Vaelin’s gut twisted as he moved toward Aurelia. Ashen, she nodded, reaching for his wrist. Warm, healing light flooded his veins as he felt the well of his magic refill.
He could do this.
Isla watched as the glow of Aurelia’s magic enveloped Vaelin, hugging her arms around herself tightly as if the harder she squeezed, the more likely she might be to stay in one piece.
She watched as deep furrows of tension painted lines across Vaelin’s forehead, like a soldier mentally preparing for battle.
Aurelia released his wrist, moving to where Evric stood gazing at the yawning nothingness that stretched on either side of the bridge.
Isla flinched as the phantom echoes of Bronwyin and Alaeric’s screams rang in her ears.
Her mind raced, pulse thrumming in her ears.
What was she doing here? What was she thinking?
"I need you to let Aurelia heal you,” Vaelin said, his voice cutting through the fog of her spiralling thoughts.
She looked at him, struck by the emotion in his eyes.
Despite the fact that he’d made it sound like an order, she knew he wouldn’t force her — he would respect her decision.
But she could see the raw desperation that gnawed at him, the pleading in his eyes.
His concern wasn’t misplaced. Bronwyin had been a fae spy. She’d been strong, trained, and had the benefit of natural fae grace and balance… and still, she had fallen.
"Please, Isla,” he said, his voice gravelly. And she nodded.
Aurelia appeared, smiling as she reached for Isla’s hand. Moments later, their clasped hands began to glow.
Isla’s eyes widened as the feeling of warmth spread through her body, seeming to warm her very bones.
Her muscles eased, the fatigue of the last few days melting away, and she suddenly felt better rested than she had in months.
Beside her, she could almost feel a layer of tension roll off of Vaelin.
“Thank you,” Isla whispered to Aurelia, and she nodded.
Vaelin nodded to Aurelia, then Evric. Last, he looked to Isla. She nodded and his eyes flashed, the irises suddenly rimmed with brilliant glow as the wind around them died abruptly.
Taking a step forward, Vaelin dipped his head toward hers and her breath hitched. His voice was rough, brooking no argument, his breath coasting over her forehead. “You keep your eyes up - on me. You do not look down. You put one foot in front of the other. You do not stop.”
Isla felt herself nod as she willed her body to stop shaking.
Vaelin looked up, nodding curtly at Evric, and the firewielder stepped onto the bridge. Aurelia followed, then Vaelin. Filling her lungs with frigid mountain air, Isla stepped onto the smooth stone of the bridge.
Seconds that felt like hours passed. She blinked repeatedly, as though that might clear the thick fog that ebbed and flowed across the bridge. Vaelin held the winds at bay, but the fog moved unnaturally, as though it moved outside the reach of the wind.
Ahead, Evric and Aurelia moved slow but steady, the fog nearly obscuring them from view.
Every step Isla took felt like equal parts victory and tempting fate.
She kept her gaze fixed on the broad expanse of Vaelin’s back, the cords of muscle in his neck thick with tension, though each step he took was as smooth as the last.
They passed the first quarter of the bridge, then reached the middle.
Isla tried to focus on keeping her breathing even, tried to imagine she was walking along a narrow, stone path on the ground, instead of thousands of feet in the air.
But the punishing altitude reminded her of the reality with each too-thin inhale.
She willed her body to stop trembling as the punishingly cold mountain air nipped at her exposed skin.
Ahead, Evric neared the end of the bridge, mere steps from the safety of the adjoining mountain summit. Isla breathed out, reminding herself there would soon be an end to this hell.
She watched as Evric stepped on to the plateau and turned, his face white as a sheet, but relief palpable even at a distance. An involuntary sound of relief escaped Isla’s throat and Vaelin shifted his head slightly to the side, but did not break stride.
Evric's long, auburn hair whipped across his face, torn from the leather he’d used to hastily tie it back before they’d begun their crossing, and Isla swallowed hard as her eyes slid back to Vaelin.
He gave no indication of how much effort it was taking him to hold such powerful winds at bay, but she knew he must be riding the edge of burnout to have released the shield of protection he'd held around Evric so quickly after he stepped off the bridge.
The mists seemed to curl around Isla like a living thing and her breathing hitched.
She forced the breath out, reminding herself that the mist was not solid, could not trip her.
Beyond Vaelin’s shield, the winds seemed to echo the last of Bronwyin’s screams. She resisted squeezing her eyes shut, shaking her head as if to clear it.
And then Aurelia slipped.