Chapter Twenty
That day marked the third of our group’s journey to Neokell. If we didn’t get back to our rendezvous point soon, the other half of our posse would start to worry.
That thought, among many others, kept me from completely breaking down.
But we’d been going for days straight with little to no rest, and my body felt as heavy as my crown did.
We’d been switching between walking and shadow travel all day, but the exhaustion was starting to catch up to me. Not just physical exhaustion, but emotional, too. It all felt like too much. So much so, I thought it might be better to feel nothing at all.
We zoomed by trees and rock and even some animals, all in a rush to make it back to meet the others before the sun set. If I was reading the sun right, we’d make it with time to spare—but only a little.
Despite that, when we materialized next to a crystal-clear creek for a quick break, I couldn’t help but itch to be the water. The creek didn’t have to think about its next moves—it always knew exactly where to go.
And right then, I wanted to be one with that.
Or at least as close as I could get.
As Laurence, Matea, and Byn all crouched—or stood, in Laurence’s case, as he could water wield—next to the creek to refill our water skins, I didn’t stop walking at the water’s edge.
Fully clothed, I walked into the frigid water, barely registering the temperature of it against my skin. The water filled my boots and soaked through my pants within heartbeats, as though it was welcoming me to be a part of it—exactly like I’d wanted.
“Love, what are you doing?” I heard Byn call out as I passed him.
Without responding, and with the water finally up to my waist, I dove forward into what I could tell was a deeper part of the creek. Being that it wasn’t a large body of water, it didn’t go as deep as I’d have liked to go, but I’d make do.
I kicked my feet a few times, keeping my wings wrapped around myself to preserve heat, and approached the rocky bottom. There, I laid with my back against the rocks and my face toward the sky. I could still feel the kiss of the sun on my face, but just barely.
I used just a touch of my zirilium to move the water in a way that held me in place. And each time my breath nearly ran out, I reached for bubbles within the water around me and guided them into my lungs. A couple times, I reached far enough to take fresh air from above the water.
Down there, with the weight of the water all around me, I didn’t have to think about everything that was riding on our success—on my success. Down there, it was just me, the water, the rocks, and a few tiny yet curious fish.
And if a few salty tears mixed with the fresh water surrounding me, well, nobody was the wiser.
My hair floated all around me, and I was just beginning to feel at peace with the absence of my usual thoughts and anxieties, when two large arms wrapped around me and tugged me back towards the surface.
My eyes flew open as I slipped out of the trance I’d been in, only to see Byn pulling me up.
Within seconds, and no time to fight against him, we’d broken the surface of the water. I listened as he gasped for air, while I hadn’t needed to.
“What were you thinking?” I reeled on him, my emotions returning full force.
“Me? What were you thinking?” He threw his hands in the air, his soaked hair falling into his face.
“I wield water and air, Byn! I was fine down there!” I reasoned.
His concerned expression faltered slightly, seeming to understand that he might have made a mistake.
I looked toward the shore, only to see Matea and Laurence heading into the forest. Giving us privacy even without being asked.
Stars, did I appreciate those two.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Byn said softly after I looked back towards him.
I sighed, but before I could respond, a cool breeze licked at my skin, sending chills down my spine. The two of us were still standing in the creek, the water up to our thighs.
“Come on,” I said softly as I walked toward the shore.
Once we were both back on dry land, I closed my eyes and focused. Byn didn’t speak as I did so, seeming to understand that whatever I was about to do, I needed to concentrate.
I reached into myself, searching for the zirilium that felt cool to the touch. Not freezing, but refreshing.
Once I’d reconnected with my water zirilium, I slowly moved my hands in a motion that looked like I was grooming Eden—large swipes in the air in front of where I knew Byn was standing.
With those motions, I slowly collected the entirety of the water that clung to him, holding it in the air until I had every last drop.
Shifting my hands slightly, the water moved to be over the creek again, where I funneled it back into the stream we’d gotten it from.
I couldn’t let my husband freeze to death.
Nor myself, I supposed.
A moment later, I too was completely dry. The cool air coming off the mountains still slid over my form, but it was more of a comfort than anything.
Like a small piece of what I used to call home.
Now, my home stood in front of me.
Looking more anxious than ever, actually.
“What was that?” Byn asked as he gently took my hand, guiding me to sit on the ground in front of him.
“I just… needed a break. From the thoughts.”
Byn’s gaze softened, and I could feel through our soul-tie that he truly understood what I was saying.
“I know what you mean. But… a quick heads-up next time would be greatly appreciated.”
I nodded, stating that I would warn him if there was a next time, before we lapped into a comfortable silence.
“We need more,” I said softly, Nolvym slipping off my tongue.
“More of what, Avi?”
“More soldiers. More wielders. More trokavs. More willing to fight. More numbers,” I said, the anxiety slowly trickling back in. “We don’t have enough right now. Not after the latest battle. Not enough to fight and defend the number of captives I saw in there.”
Byn sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair, but he didn’t answer immediately like he usually did.
I shifted my energy inwards, towards the place I had come to find his presence at inside of me, and felt. Then realization washed over me.
“You have an idea already,” I stated, looking up to lock eyes with him.
Slowly, he nodded. But the next sentence out of his mouth did little to ease my anxiety; if anything, it made my anxiety spike.
“I do… but I fear the asking price might be more than we can afford.”
***
The sun had just slid below the distant horizon when the four of us barreled into the lush cave that served as our rendezvous point.
Rayven’s head snapped toward us as we materialized from our shadow forms. He was in front of us a few heartbeats later, with Chess and the Ocrein royal siblings fast on his heels.
As Matea and Laurence appeared first, I couldn’t ignore the way Rayven’s eyes slid over my sister’s form, checking to make sure she was in one piece.
His attention shifted quickly, though, as Byn and I appeared next to them. Rayven was immediately before us, his loyalty to his king and queen apparent.
“Are you two alright? We were concerned when you four weren’t back before us. I was just saying we should start looking for you all.” Rayven subtly looked us over, checking for wounds and the likes as he spoke.
“We’re fine, brother. Don’t worry,” Byn said, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“We didn’t find a single thing in Jackton. It was a waste of time and resources,” Callum informed us as he stepped closer toward Byn and me.
I took a deep breath before my next statement. “That’s because we found them.”
I watched as the royal siblings shared a concerned look, and Chess’s face blanched. Rayven met my gaze, his expression stony.
“What did you find?” Rayven asked, his voice cold.
Byn, Laurence, Matea, and I all took turns speaking as we filled in the other half of our posse on what we had discovered. And as we spoke, even Caelia, who rarely displayed her true emotions, had a look of horror on her face.
It was how we all felt, by the end of the discussion.
“So… we don’t know what caused this lack of zirilium?” Callum asked, obviously still processing everything we’d just divulged.
“I… think I do,” I spoke up.
All eyes in the cave shot over to me, and I could even feel Byn’s surprise. But I locked eyes with Matea from across the space, and she nodded slightly.
Her encouragement was all I needed.
Slowly, I reached into my internal cloak pocket—where the map and sketches from Valenia had been, which were now on the floor before us. When I pulled my hand back out, I held a tiny metal spike in my palm—no bigger than the length of my finger.
The spike I had taken from the wall.
I had it placed on a small strip of cloth so it wouldn’t touch my skin. I held it out before me for everybody to see.
“Whatever this is made of did it, I’m pretty sure.
When I first ripped it off the wall, before Matea and I went back to find Byn and Laurence, I held it in my hand, and it touched the skin of my fingers.
And when it touched my skin, it was like…
nothing I’d ever felt before. It’s like it zapped the zirilium from me, like it completely cut me off from them.
” I shuttered as I remembered what that felt like.
“I think, even though we weren’t making contact with the metal when we were near the wall, the sheer amount of them so close to us cut off our zirilium.
Aviva and I were only able to shadow wield to the top of the wall because there was less of this material in that area,” Matea added, nodding toward me when speaking my name.
“May I?” Callum asked, his gaze on me and the spike.
With precision, I tossed it to him from across the cave. I watched as he caught it with one bare hand.
Then I watched as his face paled.
“I can’t… I can’t even feel my zirilium,” the prince said, concern and frustration in his voice.
“We know,” I said gently, then held my hands open. He tossed it back, and I caught it in the cloth, folding it back up and sliding it back into my pocket.
“That’s…” Callum shuttered, “terrifying.”
Matea nodded her agreement, but didn’t speak. The grave expressions of those around me matched how I felt about it, too.
“That looks like the same stuff Ezra’s cell in Gatlyn Castle’s dungeon was lined with, and that his chains had been made of. It made it so I couldn’t wield past it,” Rayven added, staring at the last spot he’d seen the shard—my pocket.
How could we fight against something like that?
“So… what do we do now?” Chess spoke up, his eyes wide.
Byn, who had been unusually quiet these past few moments, looked up at that. “Now we pursue the only option we have left. Aviva and I talked about this, and she made a devastating point.” He paused before adding, “We need more numbers.”
I watched as a few heads bobbed in agreement, and couldn’t ignore the way Caelia looked towards Callum—like she knew what Byn was about to say.
“Now, we get ready to head to the Isles.”