Her fingers tensed and drew me closer to her as she pressed her lips to mine. They were incredibly soft and only a little chapped. Raven’s mouth lingered on mine, but it was chaste, loving. It was a kiss that made clear her feelings for me.
Ones that I didn’t know if I could reciprocate.
She pulled away a lifetime later with a subtle pop as our mouths uncoupled. Her breathing was uneven, her pulse raced, but she wore a wide smile as she backed away and dropped her hands.
My hand went to my lips as a whirlwind of emotion writhed in my chest. I was conflicted, so very conflicted.
“I’m sorry for springing that on you, but I wished I’d done it back at the cathedral, and I swore if I saw you again, I would find the courage to do it.”
“I─I don’t─we can’t…never mind. What are you still doing here? I told you to leave.”
“I did, and I came here. I was going to take the Heart back to Magnus, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t abandon you, not when you risked your own life to save mine.”
“So you still have it?”
She nodded.
I sighed and went to the fridge to grab the last ale. I took a long pull and went and sat on the couch. We don’t have time to be sitting around, but I was planning to bust through the gate solo. I can’t do that if she’s beside me, let alone carrying the godsdamned Heart.
“This complicates matters. I don’t have a plan for getting us both out of Aldrust.”
Raven plopped down next to me and snagged the ale as I was about to take a sip. She took a drink and passed it back. A small smile curled the edge of her lips. “I’ve got one.”
“Oh, do tell.”
“We use the vents.”
“The vents? The air vents?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re insane, there’s no way that could─” I tugged at my unruly beard, lost in thought. “Well. Okay, that might work.”
I paused, working the logistics out in my head. There isn’t anything but a series of nets to keep debris clear from the vents themselves. In theory, it’s a straight shot to the surface, though we’ll have to break the metal encasing the shaft at the bottom and top to escape. I didn’t know how it would play out, but it was a better plan than rushing the guards and slaughtering them.
“All right, we’ll get moving as soon as I get a bath. I don’t even want to think about how nasty I am right now.” I got up from the couch and turned to head up the stairs when Raven’s hand closed around my wrist. “What?”
She frowned. “We’re not going to talk about the kiss?”
I huffed and scratched my chin. “What do you want me to say, Raven? I’m already in love with someone, and even if I like you, it doesn’t change that.”
“But you do like me.”
I sighed. “Yes, I like you, happy?”
She beamed at me. “For now.”
I climbed the stairs and quickly drew a bath. As I hopped in, I sat back and let what just happened sink in.
That’s not going to end well for me, I just know it. I’d hated what she was when we met, didn’t want anything to do with her, but she was a lot like Eris. Not so much in their personalities, but she didn’t give me any choice but to like her.
Especially now. After what Eris did, it’s only fair I’m allowed to do the same. I shook my head. Don’t be ridiculous, I couldn’t. I can’t. Eris had a good reason for what she did, I just knew it. I couldn’t let that and whatever feelings I had for Raven influence my thoughts.
I knew Eris wouldn’t care one bit about sharing, but that was something I didn’t know if I could do.
It was every man’s fantasy, but I was loyal to my partner, and even kissing Raven was a betrayal to Eris.
But she betrayed me first. I blew out a very long breath. Worry about your love life after we get out of the city that would see us dead.
I cleaned myself thoroughly and finally got rid of the beard. It had grown out and was filthy. Never liked it to begin with. I only kept it because Eris liked it.
When I was clean, I changed into a fresh set of clothes and raced to the bedroom to grab my knife from under the bed. I glanced at the black metal for a brief second as a wave of regret came over me before I stowed it away and went back downstairs.
Raven was waiting by the door, and as soon as I came down, she walked out. Let’s get going. Raven glanced around the dead street before transforming. With a cloud of feathers, she became the giant black raven and lowered to let me on.
“We need to hurry; it’s going to be hard to fly straight up with you weighing me down.”
“Right.”
I hopped on she took off in a single smooth motion. In a handful of seconds, we were soaring high above the sleeping city. I wasn’t worried about anyone seeing us. There weren’t many people out at this hour, and we were high enough up that we blended well into the shadows cast by the earth and rocks.
We flew past the giant cluster of mana crystals embedded in the ceiling; our reflections multiplied with the pulsating light. It was gorgeous, and my skin prickled with the condensed and stored up mana that leaked out ever so gently.
“It’s even prettier up close,” I said, staring as we passed by.
My remark didn’t earn me a comment from Raven. Either she didn’t hear me, or she was busy concentrating on flying. The closest vent came upon us quickly, and I let the chitin flow over me as we approached. The vent stuck out like a thick metal tube many dozens of feet wide. A thick cap clung to the tip of it, and a wire net prevented us from entering.
“I’ll make a pass, and you climb onto the vent and create an opening,” Raven said.
“Got it.”
I readied myself, and when I was right underneath it, I leapt and clung to the vent like my life depended on it. Which it did.
I did an incredibly stupid thing and looked down. Far, far below me was Aldrust, and my stomach lurched, roiling with nerves. My skin went clammy just as cottonmouth dried my tongue and I fought to keep from hurling.
“Holy shit!” I swore and focused on anything other than the many hundreds of feet that separated me from becoming jelly on the pavestones.
With my claws, I set to work slicing through the dense wire, careful where I cut so I wouldn’t cut away my lifeline. The string dipped and buckled as I severed it, and I clung ever tighter as I made a hole more than wide enough for Raven to fly through.
When I was finished, I slowly crawled up through the hole and perched on the lip of the metal while I caught my breath and my nerves quit screaming at me.
It only took a few moments before Raven flew up through the hole and landed beside me.
“That was kinda fun,” she said.
“Yeah, but look up.”
The tubular shaft stretched up and up; more nets like the one I’d just gut through hung on brackets every hundred feet or so. We had plenty to cut through to get out of this place.
“Well, we best get started.”
This is going to take a while.
***
“Woo!” I screamed as we shot through the vent and out into the blistering daylight. “Freedom!”
It had taken several long hours of hopping from net to net before we reached the top, and by the time we were done, we were both slick with sweat and beyond exhausted. But soaring through the open air once again was more than enough of a reward for our hard work.
“I’ll fly as far away from Aldrust as I can, but we’ll have to find a place to stop and rest soon.”
“Understood.”
I sat back and relaxed as the cool wind whipped the sweat from my face and arms. The sun was bright and high in the sky, telling me it was mid-afternoon. I basked under the sun’s rays as they brushed along my skin. We flew for an hour at least before Raven’s tempo faltered and she slowed. She’d worn herself out and landed in a grassy field in the middle of nowhere.
As soon as I climbed off of her, she transformed back into her human form and sagged to the ground.
> “Fuck, I’m beyond exhausted,” she said, leaning back on her hands.
“I’m just glad we got away. Seems like whenever I leave a place these days, it’s because people are chasing after me. You know, a month ago, my life was actually pretty simple. Now it’s world-shattering conspiracies and power the likes of which I don’t understand.”
“You can’t say it’s not exciting, though.”
“Ha, you know, back on my world, there was an old two-part curse that went something like that: ‘may you live in interesting times.’ These are certainly that.”
Raven laughed as the breeze lifted blades of grass into the air around her and clawed at her gorgeous dark hair. “What was the second part?”
“May you find what you’re looking for.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a curse to me, but then again, my threshold is set at a terrifying little girl gouging out my eyes.”
I chuckled and pulled out my bag, trying to find some food and drink. “Touché.”
There was still a bit of dried food and water left, so I split it among us, and we scarfed it down while letting our fatigue fade.
“We better hurry,” Raven began, fifteen minutes later. “I’d rather not reach Castle Aliria in the middle of the night.”
“Hey, hand me the Heart.”
She did as I asked, taking it out and passing it to me. I took it and grunted as the curse set in, but the reduction of my stats was nothing new, and I grinned and bore it. I stowed the gemstone away and stood up.
“I was fine carrying it. Why’d you take it back?”
“Because we’re not going back to Magnus,” I told her.
“What? Why?” she asked, climbing to her feet.
I had to admit, I liked Raven. Her personality and mine got along well, and I would be the first to admit I was wrong about her, but at that moment, none of that mattered if she was loyal to Magnus.
“I just spent the last five days working myself to the bone in Tombsgard. I’m tired, angry as hell, and I want to go home. Magnus has waited for his bauble long enough. Another day or two won’t matter.
“Now the question you need to answer is where do your loyalties lie? If they’re to Magnus, then you can run back to him like a good little slave.” I held out my hand to her. “Or you can come with me.”
It wasn’t even a decision for her. She took my hand without hesitation, and my heart swelled.
“Then let’s go home.”
We set off and spent half a day flying. When I spotted the Rolling Hills in the distance, I knew I was home.
The sun faded under the horizon when we glided over Lake Gloom. The cool air was tinged with moisture, and it beaded along my skin and clothes. Castle Gloom-Harbor was the same as always, but I’d never seen it from on high like this, and as we dipped and flew over the gate, shouts rose from our men at arms.
Raven landed in the outer bailey as a group of guards approached in charcoal and purple armor, each of them brandishing their weapons.
“To the king who walks in shadow,” I shouted before they made a foolish mistake.
At once the assault halted in its tracks. The man lowered his weapons. “Sorry, lord. We didn’t know it was you.”
I smiled at the rabbitman. “It’s okay, Lyahgos, you were just doing your job, but speaking of…”
“Right, lord,” he said in a rush, and they went back to their posts.
Raven transformed once again, and when her human form presented itself, she smiled. “You probably gave them a heart attack.”
“You’re the one who shifts into a big-ass bird.”
She doubled over with laughter, and I was about to join her when a notification blared in front of my face.
Warning! Proximity to Hive Queen less than a hundred meters.
Stat penalty removed.
Eris!
In that instant, I didn’t care about anything else. I didn’t care that she had slept with someone else, or that I was angry with her. It didn’t matter in that moment.
I ran for the doors and arrived just as they opened. It seemed nearly every one of the Gloom Knights came to greet me as Gil and Wilson pushed open the doors, weapons drawn, with Evelyn, Adam, and the others close behind.
They just stopped and stared at me, eyes wide.
“Duran?”
“Hey, guys.”
Wilson went to respond, but a voice silenced everything else in my world.
“Sam!”
Eris rushed through the crowd like oil through water and was suddenly standing before me. Her large obsidian eyes filled with tears as wind swept at her unruly golden mane.
Then she was in my arms, and everything was right with the world again.
I cradled her against me as she sobbed in relief and brushed my fingers down her hair as she shook. I didn’t even care that she’d said my name in front of everyone. I no longer cared. All I cared about in that moment was Eris.
We stayed that way for only a short time, and after what must have only been a few seconds, she let go of me and stood. Though her eyes never left mine.
“I’ve missed you.”
“As I you, my bonded.”
I pulled her close and kissed her, telling her with my lips how much I loved her. And I knew that no kiss could ever hope to measure up to it again. Even though my entire world consisted of Eris, I became acutely aware of the eyes of the audience behind us, and I realized our touching reunion had a few more guests that I’d anticipated.
I broke the kiss with a final brush over her mouth and stood up. My fingers found hers and intertwined as I walked over and greeted my family.
“So what’s new?”
Gil just laughed; his baritone echoed throughout the bailey as Wilson rolled up his sleeves of his black tunic, revealing his multitude of tattoos as he crossed his arms.
“Seems we have a lot to discuss. If we could all adjourn to the guildhall…”
“Oh, goody. A meeting.”
***
Saying there was a lot to cover was an understatement to say the least. Since I’d met with the puppet master himself, I went first. I told them nearly everything. About meeting Magnus, the power he wielded, and the staggering amount of wealth he possessed. And stealing Lachrymal’s Heart. I left out anything about Aliria, and I especially left out the fact that we’d been here for nigh on a millennia, at least for the time being.
Magnus had promised answers, and when I had all the facts, then I would share them.
And then they told me of their journey to Slaughter Woods and meeting the Arachne queen. Eris told me of their fight with the gigantic spider Misumena.
I winced when she told me of getting impaled.
“That explains what happened in the vault,” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“I had the Heart in my hands when my own stopped. I fell, and things got…complicated.” I knew the forlorn look on her face and stopped her. “Wasn’t your fault for getting stabbed, love. Don’t even think of blaming yourself.”
She chuckled and squeezed my hand. “You know me too well, my bonded.”
Neither of us broached the topic we knew we needed to discuss. It would come later, and I just wanted to enjoy being next to her for a while longer.
“Can we see the Heart?” Wilson asked.
“Sure,” I replied and pulled it out of my inventory. It retained its size, sitting comfortably in my hands. “Just be careful of it. It’s no mere gem.”
I slid it to the center of the table, and everyone stared in wonder at it.
“Kinda small, don’tcha think?” Harper asked, his hands absentmindedly running through his short hair.
“It’s always about size with men,” Yumiko joked, snorting with barely suppressed laughter.
“Har, har.”
“Adam, look,” Evelyn said, nudging her brother.
“No, I see it. But how would he know?”
Evelyn shrugged. Her golden eyes dimmed as she squinted at the eme
rald on the table before they widened. “Couldn’t be. Guild leader, this Magnus—what does he look like?”
“Uh, average, I guess. Not tall or short, medium build. Shaggy blond hair, green eyes.”
Her eyes lit up in surprise, which was the most emotion I’d ever seen in them, and that terrified me.
“Excuse us,” Adam said, standing from his chair.
They both left the guildhall before I could ask them what the hell was going on.
The rest of us stared after them until Wilson spoke up. “Well, I guess that concludes this meeting. I’m going to grab a bottle of brandy and try not to think too hard.”
I stowed the Heart back in my inventory, and grimaced as the curse set in. Guess I’ll go grab a shower and some sleep. Though I still need to introduce everyone to Raven.
I’d only briefly explained her presence, and that she was a shifter. The others took that fact much better than I had, though there was still plenty of distrust towards them.
“You can come in now,” I called out.
Raven came in through the open door, followed by Mika. We exchanged nods.
“Glad to see you decided to take me up on my offer.”
He laughed. “Well, I wasn’t busy. Figured why not?”
Wilson cleared his throat. “So is everyone in agreement about allowing Takamikazuchi entrance into the guild?”
My hand shot up first, followed swiftly by everyone else’s.
“Then it’s settled. Welcome to the Gloom Knights, Mika.”
“Glad to be here.”
Eris came up and placed her hand on my lower back. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, right,” I said, motioning towards Raven. “Eris, this is Raven. Raven, Eris.”
Raven smiled and held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Duran wouldn’t stop talking about you. All good things, of course.”
Eris took her hand and jumped like a bolt of lightning struck her. Her eyes flicked down at their hands and then over to me. “So that’s what that feeling was. You’ve bonded to my Sam.”
Raven nodded and looked over to me. “It wasn’t exactly by either of our choices, but it can be undone when we return the Heart.”
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