Chapter 56
Adara lounged in a chair across from Asher, sitting on his cot in the crew’s cabin.
Caleb swung back and forth in an olive-green hammock on her other side.
The taste of rum in her cup and the sound of Caleb and Asher’s singing had her choking on laughs.
They continued to obnoxiously sing a shanty about a certain Flamecarrier who had defeated a mighty lykren, saving them all.
Well, not all, she thought, with a pang of guilt washing over her.
Her fingers curled around the wooden dragon in her pocket.
They’d be arriving home in mere hours, and they didn’t even have Silas’s body to bring back.
The bubbly laughter that filled the room between the three of them was genuine, but still couldn’t mask the sting of sorrow.
The Andreilians were all eager to be home, their steps bouncing and their lips pulling into smiles.
It was hard to see how quickly they all recovered from the lykren attack, but everyone mourned in different ways.
The Andreilians sagged with sorrow for a few days, letting their grief take over, but now, they celebrated the life Silas had, grateful to have known him at all.
Adara covered her ears, a dramatic exaggeration. Finally, she lowered her hands and said, “And I thought the lykren was torture. This is even worse to endure.”
“Hey!” Caleb shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her as he swayed in his hammock. “Me and Ash have beautiful voices. You’re just jealous.”
Asher nodded, raising his cup to a toast before knocking it back. “I can’t disagree with him on that.”
She narrowed her eyes at Caleb, who lay sprawled across the hammock. His legs dangled off one side, with his back lying across the thick fabric, and his head hung off the other end, viewing both of them upside down, a dazed look in his eyes.
“Is he okay?” she asked Asher.
Asher’s lips pressed into a thin line, contemplation clear on his features. “When is he ever okay?”
Caleb threw him a vulgar gesture, almost spilling his drink in the process.
The cot creaked as Asher stood and padded over to Caleb. “I think you’ve had enough for now.” He snatched the drink out of Caleb’s hands, the latter futilely attempting to latch onto the cup, and placed it out of reach on a shelf.
Caleb rolled over on his stomach, head resting on a fist, and pouted. “You’re no fun.” Then his eyes slid to Adara. He tried to suppress his growing grin, a vain attempt. “Have you kissed Dominic?” he blurted.
The blade she’d been twirling between her fingers ceased, suddenly heavy and cold in her palm.
Adara’s eyes widened, and she almost spit out her drink as she recalled the feeling of Dominic against her, skin tingling as if she could still sense his lingering touch.
She had not expected him to ask such things, and it was too late to hide the guilty blush heating her face.
“Wait, what?” Asher said, shocked.
“Ha! I knew it!” Caleb exclaimed.
“If only you knew the other things we did,” Adara murmured, purposely loud enough for them to hear, eyes averted to the floor. She continued casually flipping the knife in her hand. If they were going to ask about her relationship with Dominic, she was going to make sure to torture them with it.
Both of their eyes widened so much it looked like they’d pop right out of their sockets.
Caleb sat up abruptly in his hammock. It tipped over, and he landed in a heap on the floor with a thud. “Excuse me?” He gasped, sitting up and rubbing his shoulder from the impact.
Asher only stared at her, mouth still agape.
Adara merely swigged from her drink, returned her knife to her vambrace, and stretched out in the chair, with her ankles crossed on the floor in front of her. Both boys continued to stare at her incredulously.
“Oh, don’t judge me,” Adara said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Then a teasing smile spread across her face. “Caleb, given your preference, you should try it sometime.”
Caleb’s jaw dropped, eyes bulging in disbelief. “Adara! Ew!” He audibly gagged. “Ash, please put an arrow through my head so I can get that disgustingly horrific image out of my brain.” He braced his hands against his temples, face twisted in repugnance.
“You got it,” Asher responded. An arrow flew across the room, skimming right over Caleb’s blond curls, sinking into the wall with a thunk.
Head whipping around, Caleb stared wide-eyed and speechless at the arrow in the wall. Then he slowly turned his gaze to Asher, mouth open in shock. “What the Hel!” he yelled. With a hand over his chest, he said, “You actually just tried to kill me!”
“Oh, come on, you know I wasn’t going to hit you,” Asher argued, setting his bow against the wall next to his bed.
Adara let out a low whistle. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Caleb gestured to her. “See, even she agrees with me, and she never does that.”
“He’s right.” Adara shrugged.
“You should invest in a cot. I’m tired of you scaring the shit out of me when you fall.” Asher shifted his attention to Caleb, now climbing back into his hammock.
Caleb glared at him. “No,” he said sternly, an immature tone to his voice. “And don’t change the subject like that. We’re not done interrogating you.”
“Nothing else to say,” Adara muttered, taking another drink.
She was too sober to be having this conversation.
How could she possibly explain anything else to them when she didn’t fully understand the situation herself?
She and Dominic claimed to hate each other, but they both knew there was something else deep down they wouldn’t admit.
Too afraid to love again from the scars that marred their hearts.
“Does this mean someone won the game?” Asher asked cautiously, as if he didn’t want to hear the answer. His eyes were sorrowful, expecting her to say yes.
When she responded with a firm “No,” he visibly relaxed, filled with relief.
“Look, I don’t know where whatever we have going on between us will lead, but I’m not losing this war.
” Adara’s unrelenting tone was enough to tell them that this particular conversation was over.
She would not let herself love again, at least not during this game of deceit.
All of Dominic’s pretty words could be lies.
Until this was fully over, she could never fully trust him, even though that’s all she truly wanted.
That was the tragedy of war.
“Where are we going?” Adara laughed, struggling to keep up with Dominic.
His grip was relentless, and his legs unfaltering, pulling her from the crew’s cabin. The Andreilian’s stumbled out of their way as Adara and Dominic ran to the forecastle deck. Something fluttered inside her stomach.
He looked back over his shoulder. “I already told you. Home.”
Adara couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face as she let him drag her to the railing.
And leaped right over the edge.
Together, they plummeted toward the sea, blinded underneath the gilding sunlight.
Adara relished the fresh air that rippled through her clothes.
A whoop full of gaiety bubbled past her lips, the glistening sea approaching fast. Before they could hit the water, Dominic caught the wind, taking flight.
Adara sprouted her wings alongside him, gliding over the surface of the sea.
He glanced over at her, eyes so joyful and pure that she mirrored his expression.
Mist sprayed in their wake as they soared through the air just above the water, leaving the ship behind, soaring straight for the island only a short distance away.
Wind roared in her ears along with the steady beat of her scaled wings spread wide across her back.
Adara veered right, gliding over and under Dominic, spiraling in circles as she tested her wings, grateful to not have to hide them anymore.
“Race you!” she shouted over the wind howling in their ears, and launched into the sky, speeding toward Andreilia.
She didn’t need to glance back to know he was following. The roaring crescendo of wind in her ears told her enough. Her wings flapped harder against Dominic’s raging gusts of magic that threatened to slow her down, gaining on her as they soared over the foliage.
The trees shone a vibrant green against the sun’s blazing rays that pierced through the thicket of limbs to illuminate the rich soil and vivid flowers beneath.
Giant mushrooms, draped with threads of colorful glowing light, lit the underbrush, with vibrant creatures skittering underneath.
The ocean glared brightly beneath them, their shadows dancing in the light’s reflection, rippling with the waves.
Adara couldn’t help but smile as she breathed in the fresh air. Home.
She wondered if her return to Blemythia—if she found a way back—would be just as blissful. Would she be overcome with nostalgia and excitement? Or would the weight of her memories and the prophecy crush her?
A strong gale whipped through the sky, sending Adara careening to the right, spiraling out of control. She let out a yelp, then flared her wings, setting herself right.
“Sorry, love,” Dominic shouted over the roaring wind as he flew past.
The intensity of his speed almost had her sprawling again. She raced after him. He rolled, flying with his back to the ground, hands resting behind his head as if he were casually lying in bed.
“I don’t lose,” he said with a smirk.
Adara scoffed and shot through the clear blue skies after him.
Fire crackled between her fingers, a blazing orb growing in her palm.
If he wanted to play with magic, she would be happy to oblige.
Rearing her arm back, she launched the ball of fire into the air.
It exploded into a mass of flames before him.
Dominic reared back to avoid the inferno, halting abruptly.
It gave her enough time to shoot past him.