30. Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty
Ryker
I wasn’t going to make it. I was going to die. It had been two days since I last saw Kya, since I was last near her, and I felt like the bond was going to burn my very soul.
While in Oryn, I dedicated all of my time and efforts to the matters that needed my attention. It helped keep my mind distracted. Once everything was settled and more manageable for Mavris to handle, I was finally able to go back to her.
Even if it was just for a short while. I couldn’t continue to follow her around the continent. Not while I needed to be here. But at the very least, I could get away for a couple of days at a time.
Theron hadn’t been able to travel me to her so once again, I flew hard and fast into Riyah letting the bond guide me to her.
She was only a few hours away from Ilrek when I saw her sitting atop her horse riding through the trees. I know I had said that I would see her in the city, but I couldn’t wait that long.
I remained a short distance away, observing her as she chatted with the other two. She had a lightness about her that sucked me in and held my attention. The sounds of her soft, breathy laugh while talking with her sister caused my lips to turn upward involuntarily, as if contagious. Infectious.
I quite enjoyed watching her from afar, seeing how she interacted with others, how she held herself with confidence and purpose.
Unlike the cheery female she conversed with, she had a seriousness to her demeanor, but also wasn’t as intense as the pinched-faced male either.
She was a mixture of the two—a perfect balance of light and dark.
She was also observant, constantly glancing, taking note of her environment and situation.
So observant in fact that she turned her head to look directly at me, as if she knew exactly where I was in the treetops though she couldn’t see me through the shadows.
I swooped down and landed between the horses, startling them.
Kya’s eyes brightened with her mouth gaped open, and I threw her a wink. I heard Nikan’s scoff but didn’t bother to look at him. I kept my gaze on my mate whose beauty continued to astound me.
“Mind if I catch a ride with you?” I asked, disappearing my wings.
“What about our skin touching?” She raised a brow.
“I’ll be extra careful.” The side of my mouth curved into a smile.
Come on. Let me be close to you. I want to know you better.
I hoped my smile portrayed my thoughts.
She pursed her lips and held my gaze for several moments, sizing me up. She was hesitant, and I wondered what had caused her demeanor to change from her eagerness within such a short amount of time.
I sighed with relief when she finally relented and scooted up in the saddle, leaving room for me to climb on behind her.
Both of our bodies were so tense, touching like this, her perfect plump ass rubbing up against me with every sway of the horse’s steps. Not a single part of me was able to relax the entire ride, not when I could scent every bit of her .
I hadn’t ridden a horse for at least a century.
There was no need. Not when I could travel so much faster on my own in the skies.
But I wanted this closeness to Kya. The closer she got to me, the more I never wanted her to go.
I wanted to curl my body over her and embrace everything that she was. She was intoxicating to me.
“I’ve been wondering.” I broke the silence between us to offer a distraction, more for myself. “Are you able to feel me?”
She slowly turned her head to look at me. Her face blanched. “Erm, what do you mean?” Her eyes darted to my hardened cock pressing against my pants, between us, before quickly looking back to me.
“I know you can feel that. But that isn’t what I was referring to.” She turned back around and I huffed a low chuckle. “I meant…well, I don’t know what I mean exactly. Several times, when I would get closer to you, you could feel me.”
“How do you know that?”
“I, um,” I lowered my voice. Shame washed over me. “I entered your mind before. Only briefly though.”
“Hmm,” she hummed before she continued. “I don’t know if I like that, or if I don’t.”
My eyebrows scrunched together. I couldn’t think of why someone would like that at all.
“But yes,” she answered. “I could feel you. Though I didn’t know it was you at the time. And I was curious how you were able to seemingly appear and disappear, but after seeing your wings, it all makes sense now.” She smiled over her shoulder.
“Appear and disappear?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. From the ground.”
My eyebrows raised with intrigue. “You’re a terbis wielder.”
“Technically.” She shrugged.
“What does that mean? ”
She sighed. “I’m not strong in manipulation; however I can feel vibrations through the terra and I can sense where and what things are, so long as it’s touching the ground.”
Manipulation or not, having a unique ability such as hers was something to behold. I smiled down at my mate.
She truly is a rare little gem .
“What about your gifted ability from Kleio? Have you worked on developing it?”
“A bit. But not enough to hold for long without passing out. I need to work on it more, as well as what I’ve gotten from Odarum. He’s supposed to be helping me but he keeps disappearing.” She scowled.
“Odarum is your Spirit?” I gazed at her. Those green eyes shone in the morning light, captivating me wholly, and I wanted to taste those lush pink lips.
She nodded.
“Good to know it’s not just mine. Has your shifting manifested yet?” I asked.
Kya pursed her lips and shook her head. “No. He said it would take more connection through the bond, but I’m not entirely sure what that means.” She twisted her upper body to look up at me. “How did you do it? With the wings and all?”
“Depends on what it is. But from what I’ve learned, it’s equal parts bond and emotion. It took a life-threatening situation for mine to manifest. And my wings aren’t the only thing I can shift from my Spirit. It is possible to shift multiple physical aspects as well as a magical ability.”
“What ability have you gained from your Spirit? What is your Spirit animal anyway?” Kya asked. Her sweet voice was smooth like silk, and it only caused me to get even harder.
“Get to know your mate later. We’re here,” Nikan snapped.
Dick.
All three of them pulled up their masks, concealing their faces. I didn’t understand why they kept their faces hidden as we approached the city of Ilrek before us.
After depositing our horses at the stables on the outskirts, we quickly passed through the city as dusk approached.
I had always appreciated the beauty and peace of the city.
I hadn’t spent much time in Ilrek, generally busy with matters in my own Nation, but I enjoyed the atmosphere of the culture here.
It reminded me of Voara, how harmonious the people were.
Nikan grumbled something about running an errand before meeting us back at Morah later.
I walked a step behind my mate and her sister, catching a glimpse of Kya’s ass occasionally as we passed through the rings of the city to the center where the great library was.
People parted in the streets as we passed through and mumbled low whispers, quickly getting out of the way.
I eyed them curiously, realizing that they weren’t looking at us but rather the two females in front of me.
The people in the streets were wary of them.
My eyes widened when one such whisper was audible enough to make out a single word.
“Roav.”
My mate is a Roav?
How could I have missed it? Had I been so distracted with her presence that I failed to notice? Now that I had, it was obvious. The cloaks and hoods and, for the love of Xareus, they had fucking Roav pins fastened to their cloak.
“Little gem,” my voice kept low. “What is your occupation exactly?”
“ Little gem ? That’s so cute!” Malina whispered to Kya.
She turned her head and the edges of her pine-green eyes crinkled underneath her hood giving me a wicked look before she winked at me.
“You’ll find out soon enough, shadow .”
Her sultry voice and the mischievous look in her eye had my cock hardening all over again, and I had to adjust myself to make it less obvious after she turned her head back around.
And the way she called me shadow had my fists clenching to keep from grabbing her and taking her right then and there.
I forced my mind to think about anything else.
We wove our way through the city and thankfully, as we rounded a corner, my thoughts shifted to the great library before us.
Even having seen it dozens of times, being in the presence of the towering obsidian building nearly took my breath away as we entered the inner ring of the city.
Morah was an incredible piece of architecture, the exterior made entirely of dark glass, shining with the light of the setting sun.
Even though the glass was translucent, you couldn’t see the interior, but those that were inside could see out.
No one knows exactly how long ago Morah had been built.
Some say it was erected by the Gods themselves, but it was more widely believed that it was the work of great terbis, air, and fire wielders.
The theory was that the fire wielders heated the rock until it became molten and the terbis wielders manipulated its shape and pressure to form the glassy substance, with the air wielders cooling it quickly.
Some have said that it was filled with darkness of shadow wielders, creating the black within the glass, but most doubted that.
Funny how there was no record of how the library was built, when the Scholars who worked inside recorded everything else in the realm.