Chapter 73
“Sooo, what’s our backup plan if this doesn’t work?”
“It’s going to work.” Raef holds his chin up high as we head to the wilds on foot to attempt to burn the relics outside of town, away from prying eyes.
“But if it doesn’t?”
He heaves a sigh. “It will work,” he mumbles to himself. “It has to.”
Daegan seems uneasy beside me. Quiet. Maybe a little anxious. I guess we all probably are. We’ve given up so much to get here, and it’s strange that the moment is finally upon us.
We stop in the middle of a clearing amongst a light scattering of trees, then we assemble the relics in the center all together, all touching. I remove the vial of Mathrel’s blood last, placing it atop the sword and necklace.
“Wait,” Daegan says, pulling out his eyebrow stud for possibly the last time. He places it carefully with the rest of the items.
We all step back, side by side, looking down upon them.
Raef is on one side of Daegan and I’m on the other, with Kezra fluttering beside me.
It seems so anticlimactic in this secluded, quiet forest with just the four of us.
Half of the people who helped get us here are dead.
I get an eerie, sad sensation as a light breeze makes its way through the clearing.
Daegan squeezes my hand and looks into my eyes intensely. “I love you. Always.”
“I love you always.”
“And I love you all too,” Raef announces. “Now let’s do this shit.”
“Do you want to do the honors?” Daegan asks his friend.
“Fuck yes.”
Daegan steps back with me as Raef steps closer to the pile.
“I don’t think it’s going to work,” Daegan mumbles, staring at the clearing with a faraway look.
“Why not?” I ask, tilting my head as I look at him.
He shrugs, then let’s go of my hand to wrap his arm around me and pull me in tighter.
“I think the blue dragon may be right,” Kezra muses, also tilting her head thoughtfully at the pile. “It seems too simple.”
Daegan nods in agreement. “Also, Maethrel gave me this at the battle.” He pulls out a vial from his pocket, showing it to us. Raef pauses to look back and listen in.
“He gave you another vial of his blood in the middle of that battle? Why?” I ask.
“After. And I didn’t think about it at the time, but now I’m thinking he must’ve known this wasn’t going to work…”
“Is his fire going to destroy all the relics though? Before we break the curse?” I ask, panicking.
Daegan rubs at his chin. “It shouldn’t if we do it quickly…”
“So…” Raef looks at all of us with a quirked eyebrow. “Am I doing this or not?”
We all look at each other. “Let’s just give it a try. We’ve come all this way,” I say finally.
Everyone is in agreement.
Raef turns around, pulling his shoulders back, and I turn my head away, covering it with my hand instinctively. I feel the heat before I hear it. I wait a few beats, then I look back into the clearing.
The fire is already out. The items are still there, looking slightly charred, and we all take tentative steps to look closer. Everything is still intact, except for the vial of blood. It’s shattered and the blood has spilled out.
We all seem to look up toward the veil at the same time, waiting. The silence around us is deafening as we all wait for… something. Moments pass, no one speaking or moving.
“Damn. It.” Raef says. Everyone looks as defeated as I feel.
“I knew it. That fucking—” Daegan stops himself, running his hands down his face.
“Why didn’t he just tell us we were going to fail?” I muse.
“I think he pretty much did.” Raef picks the sword back up and inspects it.
“I’m so tired of that fucker and all of his mysteries,” Daegan growls. Daegan’s normally so in control of his emotions, never overreacting or letting his anger get the best of him, but he paces around the clearing now, looking genuinely bothered and angry.
“We’ll figure it out,” I say softly, approaching him.
His eyes soften when he looks at me. He pulls me in and kisses my forehead. “We have time,” he mumbles.
So we stay in the clearing, sitting in a circle, ready to make a new plan.
“What do we do now?” Raef asks.
Silence falls over us. No one knows.
I stare off into the trees, thinking about the passage. The curse was cast in Torrynth. In the fires of the Eternal Pit, more specifically.
“We go to Torrynth,” I finally say, breaking the silence.
“We can’t just go back to Torrynth. They’ll be looking for us there. They might even be torturing our people for answers by now,” Daegan responds.
“Well, we’ve been working on gaining more allies this past year.
Trying to inspire people to join us. It’s been…
difficult. We’ve had some interest but not a lot.
But I have people still working on it back home,” Raef says.
“Maybe if people hear about how two badass dragons, a rogue elf, and a skeldaryn-elf hybrid kicked the elves’ asses recently, it will give them a little more courage. ”
“Maybe. But the king is still pissed. There’s a good chance he makes a move on us soon,” Daegan counters.
“Maybe,” I say. “Or… maybe not.”
Daegan raises his eyebrows.
“It’s not a secret anymore that you can shift. They’ve seen what you’re capable of. They got massacred by two of you. Just two. I think they need to regroup. I think it would be really stupid of them to try to touch Torrynth right now.”
“Word had to have reached back to Torrynth already,” Raef says to Daegan, contemplating. “They’ll be ready. And they’ll be pissed.”
Daegan nods his head. “It might actually be the safest place for us to hide out right now.” He turns to face me. “Is there another reason you think we should go there?”
“The curse was cast there. You’re… sure there’s no way to reach the eternal pit?”
Daegan nods. “Very sure.”
“Then maybe there’s something else there with similar properties. Some other solution we’re not thinking of?”
Daegan looks away, pensive and quiet. “Maybe,” he says at last.
“Okay, so it’s settled. We’re going home.”
Daegan pulls me into his lap and I sit between his legs, leaning back against him. He wraps his arms around me, filling me with warmth and a sliver of happiness. “I get to show you my home,” he says, and the way he sounds genuinely pleased at the idea makes my stomach flutter.
“It’s the best place on the continent,” Raef adds with the ghost of a grin on his face.
“You’re biased,” I tell him.
“Nope.”
“What’s it like?”
“Warm,” Raef says.
“The air smells different, the warmth feels… indescribable. The sandy rolling hills and brown, jagged mountains have a certain kind of beauty that may not be so obvious to others, but… it’s home.”
“Your father is there?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, let’s not waste any more time. We already have all our stuff packed, and we really can’t hang out here longer than a day or two anyway.” Daegan stands and helps me up, and then he and Raef shift into their dragon forms that are still completely jarring.
I climb onto his back, and we head for the land of the dragons.
I feel so comfortable and safe when I ride on his large, powerful form. Like absolutely nothing can touch me. I know he’ll protect me by any means necessary.
It’s about a two-week journey, they informed me just before shifting. Plenty of time for me to ride atop my personal dragon and think of a solution.
Part of me is nervous about finally visiting his homeland. Especially as… whatever I am to Daegan. Will people judge him? I don’t want anyone to think less of him because of me. He’s the best person I know.
I’ll defend and protect him until my last breath.