Chapter 22 Ivy #2
The faerie freezes instantly. His grip tightens on my wrist, and I flinch when his claws prick me, threatening to draw blood.
Before the scream leaves my throat, he pushes me away, and I almost land on my ass. When I look up again, he’s already gone.
Dropping to my knees at last, I cry out in despair. How did it come to this? One moment, we’re friends, and the next, we’re enemies…
I can’t stay.
I have to leave.
I wake at the crack of dawn and gather the few meagre possessions I have left in the world.
When I’m finished, I depart for the tunnel, taking one last look before I leave.
This cave was mine for a while. Despite the lonely nights I spent inside its cold, grey walls, there were still some good times.
For a moment, I thought I could actually grow to love him… But not anymore. This is for the best.
I tiptoe down the tunnel as the contents of my bag jostle dangerously, and I hope he doesn’t hear me somewhere.
One peek inside the kitchen confirms it’s empty, and with a heavy heart, I take several jars of honeyed fruits and pickled vegetables from the cupboard, then meander down the tunnel again.
Now the next thing on my mind: my necklace.
Forget our bargain. It was a load of horse crap, anyway, and I will never allow myself to be tricked so easily again.
I soon find the fissure in the wall and slip inside. I hold my lamp out before me, expecting to find him lurking in the darkness, but like the kitchen, he’s nowhere in sight.
Odd.
Tegwyn never spends the whole night out of the mountain, especially in the cold of winter.
I hope he’s okay.
Shaking the thoughts away, I start searching for my necklace. My eyes land on a padlocked drawer, but when I tug on the handle, it stays put.
Typical.
There must be a key somewhere.
So, I move my hands around his desk, shuffling aside various rolls of parchment and feathered quills, yet my search proves fruitless.
Losing all hope, I start rummaging through boxes, tossing aside bric-a-brac until I find a sewing kit.
If I can’t find the key, then I will make a key. Bending several sewing needles, I get to work on the padlock, biting my lip in concentration. I don’t expect to have much luck, but when the tumbler clicks, my eyes widen, and then I open the drawer.
To my great disappointment, it’s annoyingly empty.
However, I get an idea and begin to knock on the bottom with my knuckles. The sound reverberates.
I should have known...
Pushing the bottom of the drawer aside, I stagger back when I finally find what’s hidden beneath.
There, on a stained, yellowed parchment, lies my necklace.
The diamonds shine brightly once again, greeting me like an old friend, and I don’t think twice—I stuff the necklace inside my pocket and scurry out of the cave.
It doesn’t take me long to find the exit, and I soon arrive at the slope. The cold takes my breath away the instant I step outside.
Dawn peeks over the mountains, painting the snow blood red, and I’m running out of time.
Bypassing the main trail, I find a lesser-used path.
Loose scree clatters in my wake, and I slip several times, spreading my arms out for balance.
I must be losing my mind, but if it means avoiding that faerie, so be it.
I tread carefully, trying not to make any sudden movements. Rock rattles underfoot, and every time they make a sound, I think it’s him following me...
The ground soon levels out, the forest directly in my line of sight, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally.
A hooded figure appears suddenly in my path, and I almost slip the rest of the way down.
With a face veiled in shadow, he’s death forged in flesh.
I backtrack, never taking my eyes off him.
“Going somewhere?” he rasps, lifting his face into the watery light, and I finally meet those yellow eyes.
They shine no longer, and he’s a mere reflection of the Fae he was.
I wet my lips with my tongue, trying to find my voice, “I…I was…”
He stalks closer, tendrils of darkness hissing in his wake, and I almost stumble on a rock. “Go on.”
My heart pounds, and I shut my eyes, whispering, “I was going for a stroll.”
The faerie studies me for a long time, his once flaming eyes reminding me of shards of ice. Then he bares his fangs, a low growl reverberating in his chest. “Don’t lie to me…I know you were trying to run.”
I finally find my voice, meeting his cold, lifeless eyes. “Trying? I was succeeding.”
A cruel smirk taints his lips, and then he takes another torturous step closer. “And how far did you think you would get before I found you again?”
I bare my own teeth. “You talk as if I’m your prisoner… Was that what I was all along to you, Tegwyn? Your prisoner?”
His eyes flash, and then the shadows slink closer, waiting to consume me whole. “Give it back.”
I raise my chin. “Give what back?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Trees rustle in the wind, yet I stand my ground. He will never get it back. The necklace was never his.
He chuckles. “Tread carefully, Ivy… You don’t want to break a bargain with a faerie.”
His eyes glow in warning, but I don’t care anymore. I’m not afraid.
“No. You tricked me. The necklace was never yours to take. So, move out of my way.”
In one fluid motion, he grabs his longbow, the one concealed in shadow, then points his arrow at me.
A manic glint dances in his eyes as he draws the bowstring, displaying his fanged smile. “The necklace. Now. Before it gets ugly.”
I don’t take my eyes off him, refusing to show fear. My heart punches against my chest. How could he threaten me over a piece of jewellery? Is the necklace really worth that much to him?
I’m no idiot. I know this has nothing to do with the necklace. He’s just trying to hold on to something, anything, because he knows that he’s already lost. This necklace will be all that he has left of me once I’m gone.
I squeeze my eyes, and a tear slips down my cheek.
Fine. If it means so much to him.
I dig my hand into my pocket, throwing the necklace down at his boots. “Go on. Take it. You obviously need it more than I do.”
He doesn’t speak. He just lowers the arrow, keeping his penetrating gaze on me the whole time as he bends to pick up the necklace.
Tegwyn crushes the pendant inside his gloved hand once he has it in his grasp, and a maelstrom of emotions storms through his golden eyes so quickly that I barely see it…
The heartbreak.
His eyes find mine, and a cloud of white escapes my lips when his face finally cracks.
I flinch when he drops the necklace at my feet, turning his back on me forever as he heads up the mountain.
My heart shatters with every step he takes away from me.
We’re done here.
I guess it really was never meant to be.
Fumbling, I grab the necklace, never looking back. There is nothing left for me here, so I run as fast as I can, my world spinning into utter chaos.
Yet through the chaos, there was still some beauty and light. I had that with him.
But now, it’s over…
Stones pelt the back of my legs, but I don’t stop. Even when the stones turn into rocks as big as my head, I don’t hesitate.
I just run, run, run, down into the pits of despair.
A rock nearly twice my size rolls past, and I realise…far too late.
I’m caught in an avalanche.
If I could just outrun—
Someone shoves me aside, and then a thunderclap splits the mountain in two.
I roll the rest of the way down the slope, and the moment I stop, I get to my feet, finding him lifeless beside me. He’s not moving.
And that wasn’t the mountain cracking in two.
That was Tegwyn’s horn, shattering…
His blood pours from the broken stump, staining the perfect snow vermilion, and a strangled cry rips free from my throat, echoing through the woods and into oblivion.
He's gone.