Chapter 18
Idon't remember the rest of the flight to the border, but when we land my temples aren’t throbbing and my muscles have stopped burning. Thank Astora.
"You slept for a while, how are you feeling?" Jace asks, unwinding his arms from my torso.
"Surprisingly okay seeing as I almost just died."
He chuckles and dismounts from the saddle.
His boots thud on the ground, leaving an imprint in the green wild grasses.
We're far enough from the lurkers that the earth blooms in varying shades of green, but the residual bite of those sludge-covered teeth still pricks my neck.
Fuck, we could be hundreds of miles from the den—maybe even off the continent—and it wouldn't be far enough.
Physically, I've recovered, but that void-bound evil still infests every corner of my mind.
“What the fuck are those things?" I lace my fingers through Jace's outstretched hand, and jump from Tenebris's back. The dragon huffs. "Its eyes, or lack thereof, were..."
"I know. Like I've said before, we have no idea where they've come from or what they truly want, but they're voracious and no amount of magic has been able to stop them," Jace replies. Tenebris tucks his wings close to his chest and throws his head toward Jace.
"If she's upright and able to speak, Bris, I think she'll live." Jace throws him a pointed look.
“Gods, I’m fine,” I say, but they ignore me, still fully immersed in some mental argument.
"Yes, I'm sure! Tenebris, please, stop your henning. She's alright."
"She is standing right here," My fists curl at my sides. Astora be damned if I let these two alpha males fight over my well-being. Jace's eyes dart to me, the inky swirls of midnight blazing and turbulent. "And I don't appreciate being argued over in a conversation I can only hear one side of."
Tenebris rumbles a growl that’s almost sarcastic.
"It’s nearly sundown. Let’s get going.” Jace unclasps his pack from Tenebris’s mount. “Storm’s border authority is east of the river. There’s a crossing point just up that way.”
I retrieve my own pack, expecting my body to shudder under the weight, but somehow it holds strong.
“We’ll send word once we’ve located Lightbrood. Make sure Roe doesn’t kill anyone and Isra keeps from breaking anymore of my dinnerware,” he says to Tenebris. My brow wrinkles. His faction sounds like it’s in…great hands. Gods help us, the two don’t start another war while Jace is away.
The Blightfang snorts and stretches his wings. With a quick pat on his front leg followed by a stern look from Jace, Tenebris launches into the skies.
“Let’s go,” Jace says, spearheading our trail. My steps fall in line. One final glance above, and Tenebris ascends through the cloud cover, disappearing into the day’s dying light.
We walk for an hour or two before stopping to rest, passing overgrown hovels and silent, distant mountain peaks. Terrafyre looms to the west, marked on the dark horizon by a smudge of amber and soot.
One glance toward Smoke is all it takes for the tracking link to ripple through my system, like an insistent reminder.
It hasn’t nearly been enough time to spark Finnick’s suspicion.
Regardless of my companion being the most powerful man on the continent, facing another mercenary tightens my jaw.
Facing Finnick plucks at my chest like a bowstring.
“For someone who never stops asking questions, you’ve gone quiet. Should I be concerned?” Jace asks, knocking me back to reality. He takes a seat on a mossy stump and drops his pack.
I don’t answer. Not that him saving my life hasn’t gained him some trust, but because the shame I can’t explain eats at me.
I’ve killed and hacked my way through Finnick’s bidding, yes, but offering my autonomy in exchange for a promise of freedom feels low.
Lower than bloodshed. Finnick’s link seeps under my skin like an unwelcome tenant.
“If it’s the lurkers you’re concerned about, I can assure you, we’re beyond the wards.” He retrieves a loaf of bread from his pack. “Sit. Eat, in silence if you prefer, but eat. Once we cross into Storm, you’ll need your strength.”
I sigh and lower myself to the fallen log opposite him as he rips a piece from the loaf and passes it to me.
“How did you kill all of those lurkers?” I bring the bread to my lips.
Jace’s jaw flexes. “When we came to, the lurker had already gotten its teeth into you. Tenebris handled the others and I was able to fend off the bigger one, but not without injury.” He rolls up his tunic. Traces of black speckled dust coat the enraged skin, now bloody and bruising.
“Fuck, Jace, you’re the one that needs a medic,” I say.
“I’ve suffered worse.” He clears his throat and rummages through his pack. “Here, drink this.”
The water canteen in his outstretched palm feels like a distraction, but my tongue sanding the roof of my mouth is a reminder I can’t ignore. I take it and drink deeply. The water is thicker than I expected, more granular, and flavored with subtle earthen notes.
“Straight from the streams supplied by Morvayne himself,” Jace says. I nearly spray him in the face.
“This is water from Morvayne’s Well?!” I glance into the canteen, and sure enough sunlight illuminates shades of swirling garnet.
“It’s not poisoned, and you won’t grow a third eye or anything, starling.
The minerals from Shadow’s underground deposits give it that color.
It has healing properties you won’t find anywhere else on the continent, not even in Scorath’s infamous hot springs.
Why do you think you’ve recovered so rapidly? ”
My jaw plummets to the grass. The King of Shadow has offered me his faction’s most sacred of gifts. It’s one thing to have submerged myself in Morvayne’s Well in desperation, but to consume its blessed water…
“I don’t know what to say,” I reply, holding the canteen with a cautious grip.
“Perhaps a thank you?” Jace’s lip spreads into that smirk that makes my heart jump.
“Thank you,” I blurt.
“Let’s camp here for the night and we’ll get a head start before the sunrise.” He takes the canteen from me. “We can’t risk a fire, I’m afraid, but it still stays quite mild this time of year.”
A fog has settled around us, masking the wooded brush in dense shadow. Figures of imagination roll and writhe like wolves closing in. I stifle the chill trickling up my arms, even in the warm night air.
“These woods are fucking creepy.” I bite my lip, watching the darkness flood through the canopy.
“Anything out there wouldn’t dare come any closer,” Jace says. He pushes off his knees and retrieves the bed roll strapped to his pack. Then, in silence, unfurls mine right beside his.
My eyes narrow. “I don’t think you could get those any closer if you tried.”
“We can share mine if you’d prefer.” Jace runs a hand through his tousled hair and my lungs practically collapse. The dark mischief glittering in his midnight eyes is damn near unbearable.
“I’d rather bathe in dragonfire, King Ashborne.”
“Get some rest,” he laughs through sleep-heavy whispers.
“Jace,” I say, settling into my bed roll. The cloud cover overhead has thinned enough for glimpses of the dusk risen stars. They shimmer like fragments of glass scattered over the horizon.
“Yes, Nova?” he asks from his own bedroll. Being this close, our bodies exchange warmth like old friends, and I almost forget who’s beside me.
“You risked your life today to save mine. That’s not something I’m used to,” I whisper. My body tenses at the next truth spilling from my lips. Maybe it’s a mistake to trust him, maybe it’s the allure of those inky eyes that pulls the words from me, or maybe it’s an exchange of risk.
Now we’ll be even.
“I was born in Sovereign, to lowborn parents. I’m not your guardian rider, but I am of the astral faction.”
“Decided to own your truths, then?” His voice is low in the dim light. “Thank you for telling me.”
There’s no mocking in his tone, no jests about my lineage being obvious, or hubris-driven remarks, only understanding and a quiet acknowledgment.
“Goodnight,” I say, and roll to my side. Jace’s lingering gaze burns into my back, drawing a warmth on my skin I refuse to admit is far too comforting.
“Sleep well, starling.”