Chapter 8 #3
Slowly… tentatively… his right arm lifted.
His calloused hand pressed into the small of her back, returning the embrace.
It wasn't passionate, and it wasn't sexual.
It was simply a human being experiencing physical contact that didn't involve a whip, a blade, or an agonizing spell.
It was the simple, staggering weight of safety.
Slowly, Garrett let his forehead drop against hers, his lavender eyes closing as he breathed in her scent. “You’re real,” he whispered, his voice cracking with a raw, fragile wonder.
Sydney squeezed him tighter, a single tear slipping down her cheek. “Told you I was coming, Dragon Man.”
There was no time to linger.
While the new natural seal held strong and true, Leviathan's artificial prison was violently rejecting the rewrite. The surrounding cavern began to structurally destabilize; the obsidian walls cracking open and shedding massive shards of stone into the dark. Deep in the distance, Ginnie’s thin, shimmering ribbon of purple Magic began to violently flicker like a dying lightbulb.
“Move!” Carrick roared, sliding his massive shoulder under Garrett’s uninjured side to take the brunt of his weight.
Sydney locked her arm around Garrett’s waist from the other side, and together they dragged the broken Guardsman toward the exit. Whether Leviathan was truly gone or trapped deeper within the collapsing folds of The Abyss remained a terrifying mystery, one that she wasn’t looking back to confirm.
They raced down the glowing stone pathways as the cavern floor buckled beneath their feet. Garrett’s head lolled against Sydney’s shoulder, his breathing growing dangerously shallow as the adrenaline wore off.
“Stay with me, Garrett,” Sydney commanded, her voice fierce despite her shaking legs. “Don't you dare close your eyes.”
Garrett’s eyelids fluttered, a ghostly, raspy syllable escaping his lips. “Bossy.”
A wet sob escaped Sydney’s throat, turning into a startled laugh. “You don't even remember me, and you've already figured that out?”
Deep inside their shared bond, Aodhan let out a low, rumbling vibration of pure amusement. I like her.
Bursting through the final narrow passage, they reached the jagged tear of the threshold. Carrick didn't hesitate. He jumped through first, his crimson and gold Magic flaring on the other side as he anchored Ginnie’s flickering lifeline from the Earth end to widen the opening.
Sydney pulled Garrett right up to the threshold, but the moment his boots neared the edge, Aodhan hesitated.
Garrett’s entire body went rigid. Deep within his chest, Han didn't look back at the cave but shifted his gaze toward something far beyond the collapsing walls of the prison. A strange, primeval pulse rippled through the fabric of the Darkness. It wasn’t a voice, but a profound, chilling echo.
It was a promise that the cosmic consequences of what they had just done were far larger than either of them realized.
Refusing to be baited into another trap, Garrett slid his left foot forward. In a split second, Sydney pulled him forward, and they tumbled out into the blinding Texas sun.
The second Garrett crossed the threshold. The nightmare of The Abyss vanished. Shocked when the warm, brilliant Texas sunlight hit his face, the breath hiccupped in his throat. He had forgotten the sun had warmth.
The high-pitched, whistling squeaks of a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck filled the air. He hadn't realized how silent The Abyss truly was until he heard those birds yelling at one another.
The soft Bermuda grass felt like heaven against the soles of his battered feet. The heavy, stagnant filth of the Underworld was gone, replaced by the pure, unpolluted air of Earth.
The scent of flowers in bloom tickled his nose as the breeze touched his skin with impossible gentleness. Oh, how he’d missed everything.
His legs completely gave out, and he collapsed heavily onto the grass.
Sydney dropped straight down beside him, her knees sinking into the meadow.
Instantly, the peaceful clearing erupted into frantic motion.
Ginnie scrambled over, her hands already glowing with a soft, iridescent light as she pressed them to his shattered chest to start the grueling healing work.
Just feet away, Carrick was pacing, his booming voice barking orders for medical supplies, his Dragon Magic humming as he secured the perimeter.
Everything around them was pure chaos, but Garrett saw only Sydney.
His vision was darkening. The world was fraying at the edges. His body was finally surrendering to the exhaustion. With a trembling, agonizing effort, he lifted his right hand toward Sydney’s tear-streaked face. His fingers hovered just inches from her cheek. He stopped completely.
Remembering the lesson she had taught him in the cavern, he stared into her blue eyes and rasp-whispered, “May I?”
Sydney broke completely, a sob escaping her lips. She reached out, caught his heavy, calloused hand in both of hers, and pressed his palm firmly against her cheek.
“Yes.”
Garrett’s fingers barely brushed the soft skin of her face before his eyes slipped closed, and he completely lost consciousness.