Chapter 63
Darrow
We followed Aella as she raced across a field of amber fall grass toward a large carpet of blue-green blades that one would expect to find in Zadrya during the warmer months.
To my dismay, dozens of crunchertraps grew all along it.
They stood healthy and strong, despite being in a foreign environment.
In the ground underneath them, I sensed something powerful.
It called to me, unlike anything I’d felt before.
A whisper to end my curse beckoned.
“Stop!” Rayna yelled.
Her warnings were echoed by Galadon, his mother, and the other dragon shifter called Titan.
I could understand their fear. The crunchertraps bristled at our approach, their violet flowers opening and closing as they gnashed their sharp teeth.
They were large and healthy. If they wished, they could easily bite my mate’s head off.
I put a hand up to calm the others close behind me. “Wait and watch.”
Aella slowed her pace and stepped carefully onto the soft grass. Through our bond, I could sense her spreading warmth and calm to the plants around her. They trembled and fought her magic. Then, she began singing a soothing lullaby that suited the scene so well. It was about pain, loss, and hope.
I’d never heard her voice like this before.
It was melodic and so powerful that it swept away the remnants of rage that had run through me while using the god’s power.
Each word she breathed cleansed me. Observing the others, I found it had the same effect on them.
Everyone’s expressions turned soft with wonder—even the large dragon shifter with the eerie flame eyes.
When she finished the last note, we stood frozen yet completely relaxed.
Before us, the crunchertraps bowed to my wife. She moved through the field, caressing each one. “You’re all so beautiful and brave. Look how healthy and strong you are!”
They seemed to vibrate with contentment.
“If I can manage it, I’ll bring you all home,” she said, looking fondly at them.
Jax groaned, her comment snapping him out of his trance. “She’s going to make us carry them, isn’t she? Imagine going through that vortex for gods only know how long while holding one of those.”
“Stop whining.” Faina gave him a pointed look. “The blight killed all the crunchertraps in our world, so Aella has the only two left. Can you blame her for wanting to replace the ones we lost?”
“If only the tractvines had met the same fate,” he grumbled.
My sister sighed. “I’ll put the plants to sleep, so you’ll be fine.”
“Do you have a lot of carnivorous plants on your world?” Rayna asked, unable to look away from the subdued crunchertraps. She clearly didn’t know what to think about my wife’s sway with dangerous flora.
“Yes,” Loden answered, gazing at his cousin with pride. “It’s best to avoid them except when you’re with Aella, since she has the gift to calm them. She’s teaching me how to do it as well.”
After discovering their familial ties, my wife tested my friend and found that he had the same ability.
Because he didn’t spend time in Alavaar as a child, he’d never known it was there or how to use it.
When he could, he trained her to improve her light powers, and she helped him with his druid magic.
Seeing them together, I could tell that it healed them both to find family they’d never known they had, and filled an empty space inside them.
“Aella has decent skills with a sword and dagger, but she’ll never be a true warrior or consider leaping from one dragon to the next,” I said, watching as she continued speaking to the plants. “But she has other weapons in her arsenal that her enemies never expect.”
“What do you mean?” Galadon asked, frowning. Those eyes of his truly were disturbing with the flames burning within them, but I refused to show fear.
I pointed at the flora before us. “Those crunchertraps are one of numerous varieties she cultivates. One night, her uncle accused her of treason for helping my people and me, so he set his soldiers after her. She went to her garden, and all the plants that could do so attacked anyone who came inside. It was a bloodbath with plant and body parts strewn everywhere by the end.”
“Dear God,” Rayna said, putting her hand over her mouth. “Does that mean they can move?”
“The crunchertraps can pull up their roots and walk, so yes.”
The three shifters and the slayer took a step back, wariness entering their gazes.
Ujala shuddered. “They could have done that the whole time.”
“And I thought I was safe whenever I cut up dead dragon pieces to feed them so my horse wouldn’t overindulge.” Rayna sighed. “I just tossed them in there, and they caught them so well.”
I gave her an amused look. “If you were providing them with nourishment, it is unlikely they would consider you an enemy to attack. You may have even endeared yourself to them.”
“That makes me feel slightly better.”
The ground beneath us began to shake, and the crunchertraps suddenly pulled their roots from the ground.
Aella stumbled and nearly fell into one of the moving plants.
My heart was in my throat as I grabbed her with my powers and brought her safely into my arms. She clung to me for a moment before turning around to watch.
The crunchertraps had formed a circle, and in the middle, the ground burst open as something rose from it. Dirt and grass flew everywhere, temporarily blinding us. As we wiped our eyes, a golden fountain emerged.
It was impressive, perhaps ten feet tall and twelve feet wide at the base.
There were several tiers for water to flow if that was its purpose, but in this case, it was pure magic.
Except for the remnants of still falling dirt, only a trace of its mystical power ran through it now.
It wasn’t designed for this world. By the looks of it, the fountain had only been able to affect its immediate surroundings.
When we’d been near the ring, the air had felt static with wild magic.
Closer to Paxia’s ancient artifact, it was purer…
refined. I could breathe easier and feel energy returning to my body despite the battles we’d just fought.
Not only that, but we were one step closer to ending my curse.
Once we returned the fountain to its place on Paxia, I would finally be free of it.
“Dear nameless ones, it’s incredible,” Aella said, squeezing my arm where I had it wrapped around her waist.
“Yes, it is.”
Rayna moved a step closer. “All this time, and it was a fountain? A beautiful one, mind you, but I never would have guessed. We tried, let me tell you.”
“What is its purpose?” Galadon asked, looking at me.
“In every world, there must be balance. Each place does this differently according to its needs.” I paused and gestured at the fountain, where it sat still now, surrounded by dangerous plants.
“On Paxia, using magic creates waste that needs cleansing, and that’s what it is supposed to do to keep our planet healthy. ”
“Oh, like the air purifiers we used to have before the dragons showed up and threw Earth back to the Stone Age,” Rayna said, giving her companions an accusing look.
The slayer’s mate ignored her and addressed me, “But I’ve been guarding the fountain for six centuries, so you’ve been missing it all that time.”
“Sections of our planet have been slowly dying as less and less pure magic remains. Once a piece of land dies, we can’t enter it, or we won’t survive, either.
Unfortunately, when the thieves stole the fountain, they placed it in another dimension where we had no access.
Once it transferred to Earth with the dragons, we had to wait for someone powerful enough to open a portal across the galaxy, which turned out to be my wife,” I explained.
It wasn’t the whole story, but we could flesh out the details later if necessary.
Ujala glanced between us and the fountain. “Who took it from you?”
“We believe it was the Unseelie fae,” Aella answered.
“Who’s that?”
A loud noise broke through the air, like metal wrenching. I turned and found Vas, along with a dozen other Unseelie, with him. Fury instantly coursed through my veins. My damned brother must have snuck through the portal during the chaos and waited for the right moment to appear.
Next to the group, I spotted the ring missing a chunk from where he’d broken it. How dare he? I stomped forward, ready to kill, but then he stepped aside and revealed Rynn. Her eyes were wide with fear.