by L J Andrews
“He died with honor,” Raffi gasped.
Jade nodded, her tears trickling down her nose unashamed. Gently, she rested her hands on her warrior—her friend’s—chest and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long, and there was a glimmer of peace that came from watching the ritual, but slowly, flecks of light broke away from Dash’s unmoving body. Like soft stars, his peaceful energy returned to the sky, only adding to the good of the world. Never the bad. Dash was too good to have anything but light.
Wiping my eyes, I turned away when the last of Dash’s energy dissipated. My heart stopped. The ache of my pulse still throbbed in my neck, though it seemed as though no blood pumped in my veins. I was frozen. This wasn’t real—none of this was real.
“No,” I gasped, my voice breaking. Scrambling around the fallen, my trembling hands cupped her face. “No, no, no, Aunt Liz.” Her face was covered in ash, but she carried her sweet smile still, even in death. I buried my face against her neck, shaking her shoulders. “You can’t…you can’t go,” I sobbed. “Please…”
She didn’t move. She didn’t hug me as she always had. Memories filtered through like a movie on the screen as I brushed her hair away. Cherry lollipops whenever I skinned my knee, and dinosaur band-aids. Talks on the front porch when I admitted, on the rare occasion, I felt different than others. Sunday dinners—always spaghetti with enormous meatballs. My tears soaked her cheeks. I wanted her to reach for me. I needed her to tell me I would amount to greater things, that I wasn’t defined by my mistakes. She always said that. Each screw up, each arrest, each visit to the principal. Now, because of me, her heart had stopped.
Jade’s hands brushed over my shoulders. She sobbed at my side—though she said nothing. She didn’t need to, I felt her heartbreak for me, for Liz, as though she said the words. I cried like a child, I pleaded for her to come back. Every inch of my body burned. My chest ripped like hooks tore in opposite directions, splitting my ribs.
When I finally pressed a kiss to Liz’s forehead and pulled away, Raffi, Athika, and Ruby had joined Jade at my side. Wiping my eyes, I faced Jade. Brushing my thumb over her chin, I whispered so my voice wouldn’t break again. “Will you make it peaceful?”
Jade kissed me softly and nodded before placing her hands over Aunt Liz’s chest. My heart broke into a thousand pieces watching the glimmering energy—no, it was her soul—filter like magic toward the sky.
“I love you,” I whispered when the final gleaming orbs faded at the top of the cave. Facing Athika and Ruby, I stood slowly. “Where are my parents?” They weren’t in the room, and I refused to watch one more person fade away in gilded energy today.
Athika directed us toward their room. I didn’t waste a moment before shoving my way inside. Thane was sprawled out on the bed, his broad shoulders shielding Gaia from view. I saw her legs, resting still and unmoving. Thane was whispering to her, while several mages were touching my mother at different places.
“Let me help,” I gasped, rushing to the edge of the bed.
Thane snapped his attention from Gaia’s face, his eyes just as red as mine probably were. Before I reached the bed, he leapt from the edge and buried me against his chest. I clung to him, agonizing tears spilling out again as I spoke against his chest. “Aunt Liz…she’s…”
Thane held me tighter. “I’m so sorry.”
I believed him. I sensed his ache for me, for Liz, for his people. For my mother.
Pulling back, I gripped his arm briefly before kneeling at the edge of the bed. Thane took his place again on their bed, brushing Gaia’s auburn hair from her face. She looked peaceful. A soft, gentle smile pulling at her lips. I clasped her hand—she was still warm. The wound on her stomach was bleeding, but it was different than a normal stab. I sensed a darkness—something evil bursting from the blood.
“Bron…cursed the sword,” Thane muttered, his eyes still locked on her face. “It’s destroying her energy. It’s draining her—slowly.”
“We need to stop it,” I snapped, glancing at the frantic mages that moved around my mother’s side. They clasped her arms, her cheeks, her legs, her chest. I felt them pulsing all their strength into her body. Jade took a place at her legs and closed her eyes. Jade had healed a lot of people, she could do it now.
Pressing Gaia’s hand against my cheek, I whispered low. “You can’t die,” I said. Thane cleared his throat but didn’t stop me from speaking. Tears burned my eyes, but I choked them back. I needed to say the words. “I already lost a mom today. I can’t…I won’t lose another one. You can’t die,” I said again. “Gaia—Mom, you can’t die.”
I held my breath, surging what little energy I had left to give into her palm. I was part of her, we shared the same energy, surely it would help. But as mages drained their own energy and filtered through to replace those who couldn’t continue, she didn’t improve. The cursed blood scorched through her body, sending her into a raging fever. Ruby and Athika placed cold towels everywhere around her. I still refused to believe this would end. But when Thane pressed his forehead against hers and went silent, that moment brought a crushing reality breaking down my back. My mother was going to die.
Jade wiped a trail of perspiration from her forehead. I turned to tell her to rest, but she glared at me and only urged her energy stronger. Gaia was fading, slowly, but the draining anguish in Thane’s expression told us all we needed to know.
“Please, let me help.”
I stopped breathing at his voice. Turning over my shoulder, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to respond—in anger, or just to kill him. It wasn’t fair, and I knew it. But in this grief, I desperately needed someone to blame, and Bron wasn’t there.
Amber stood by Ced protectively. Thane bristled, but he didn’t shout the prince away.
“Please,” he continued. “Night energy can heal. Let me try.”
“No,” I muttered. “You might…make it worse.”
“How?” Ced replied—not maliciously, but with a genuine kindness. “She is dying. Let me give her a chance to live.”
Thane rose from the bed, easing his arm from beneath Gaia’s head. His eyes were narrowed at Ced, but he waved him forward. “If you can help, do it. Anything—save her.”
Ced nodded, taking a deep breath and inching to the edge of the bed. “I will tell you. If I do this, her energy will be changed. Still hers, but just changed. Night energy is potent and it will be added to her power.”
“I don’t care what power she has, that is not why I love her. Now do it,” Thane growled painfully.
Ced positioned himself at Gaia’s side and pressed his palms on the sides of her head. We watched. We waited. For several agonizing hours we waited. There were moments when Gaia’s eyes would dart about behind her lids. Her mouth would twitch, or her hand. But she didn’t open her eyes, her breaths were still shallow. Interesting, though, were the jade colored marks around her face, her arms—the color deepened. The hue shaded with a shadowy tint the longer Ced clasped to her skin. Finally, with a haggard breath, the prince hung his head and released her from his grip. Ced’s dark hair was damp against his forehead, gray pillows rose beneath his eyes. Amber took his hand and helped steady him when he rose from the bed.
“Is that it?” I snarled. My lips were chapped, and my cheeks felt dry and salty from emotion.
Ced sighed and nodded. “I have done all I can.”
“But she’s not awake,” Thane bellowed.
“I did not say it would wake her instantly,” Ced’s voice was strained. “If my energy reached her in time, it may still be hours—possibly days before it cleanses her body of the cursed blood.”
“I don’t like how you said ‘in time,’” I insisted.
“Timing is critical,” Ced answered sympathetically. His shoulders caved forward slightly, and Amber had to wrap an arm around his waist to steady him. “She is strong, Teagan,” Ced muttered. “Truly. I wish I could offer more comfort, but I’m afraid waiting is all we can do.”
Thane’s han
d clasped the back of my neck like I was becoming accustomed to, while Jade rose from Gaia’s bed and held my hand.
Wait. I would wait until the end of time if it meant Gaia would live.
There was a scuffle outside of Thane’s room. Every eye darted toward the narrow entrance until Raffi and Leoch burst through the opening. Thane’s brow furrowed when he saw a fiercely injured Leoch toss a bloodied Tao at his feet. The warrior glanced up at my father, and I realized in a matter of moments Thane didn’t know about Tao’s betrayal.
“Leoch, what is this—”
“Thane,” Leoch bellowed, though it seemed like it caused him a degree of pain to speak. I saw long gashes along the side of his neck that looked like claws. From the blood staining his bare chest, I was amazed Leoch was still standing. “I lay the traitor at your feet to do with as you will.”
“What?” Thane’s snarl was dangerous and his eyes out for blood when he looked to Raffi and Leoch.
“Tao was the one who sought out the dark High Priest.”
“I only wanted him…he assured me he would rid us of the lindworms, that it was safer for us to be without the alliance. I would sacrifice my life for my people,” Tao blubbered. “The lindworms would have killed us all.”
“You put your faith in the dark High Priest over your fellow warriors, your royals—me?” Thane snarled. The grumble was low and like the cutting edge of a blade. Thane stalked closer, and I feared he would tear Tao’s head off right then. “You trusted him, after all you’ve been witness to. Now our people are dead—and my mate may not wake,” he finished dangerously.
“Thane, you know me. I would never betray you. I believed you to be blinded by the queen’s order because of her connection with…believe me, I never imagined this would unfold.” Tao flattened his forehead against the cold stone in a desperate bow.
I was locked in bitter shock for a moment. I didn’t know how to expect Thane to react, but I found a great deal of pleasure when my father ripped Tao up by the hair and forcefully pinned his shoulders against the wall. “You did this to her. You made a fatal mistake, Tao. I curse your name forever,” he growled with a deadly tremble at the back of his throat. “My queen,” Thane spoke without facing any of us, his eyes locked on Tao. “I ask permission to rid our people of this…snake.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed, almost as dangerously as Thane’s. “You don’t need my permission,” she snarled.
Tao protested when Thane dragged him toward the doorway. “Raffi, Leoch, hold him in his weaker form. I want the last thing you feel to be my claws shredding through your flesh, Tao.”
I shuddered, remembering the dark story of Thane’s revenge against a mage. Glancing at Gaia again, she seemed so peaceful. I knelt by her side and whispered close to her ear. “He needs you—we need you. Please wake up.”
Though I despised Tao, and the crime fit the punishment, I hated the sound of his cries from the outer pit. Jade even shuddered slightly and closed her eyes. After a few moments, Thane returned, blood on his chest. Though Raffi and Leoch had more.
“I took my flesh,” Thane announced, though I sensed it was only for my benefit. “But Leoch took the honor to end it. Revenge never suited me.”
I smiled and nodded, knowing exactly what he alluded to. Silence settled around us. I didn’t know how to move forward. Emptiness swirled in my head; even Jade’s touch didn’t shock me from the haze. Bron was right. He’d broken me.
The fire blazed, though most people huddled together in quilts. Harsh mourning surrounded the cave. Only two days had passed by since Bron’s slaughter. Tonight was the night we’d all looked forward to and also dreaded. We would honor the fallen.
A smile broke over my lips, a real smile, probably the first one I’d had since the carnage. Mitch limped next to Raffi, his chest wrapped tight in cloth bandages and healing salves from Johan’s making.
Clasping my hand, he accepted my help as he lowered to the large boulder. “Good to see you moving,” I chuckled. “I thought you were a goner, man.”
Mitch puffed out his lips and snorted. “Yeah right. Sending dark energy at me is the best thing that prick has? Come on, who do you think you’re talking to?” Mitch paused, staring into the fire. I heard him clear his throat, and by the way his jaw pulsed, I could see the flood of emotion he was fighting. “I know what Dash did for me. It sucks—you know? Before all this happened, I always thought him and Raffi were macho jerks.”
“Mitch,” I began cautiously. “Don’t feel bad, man—”
“I don’t—I wouldn’t do Dash the disservice by regretting his decision to keep me alive. Because that’s what Dash did—he saved my life and sacrificed his. But you bet I’m going to live, and I’m going to fight like I’m a dragon, or a mage, because Dash deserves to know—wherever he is—that he didn’t die for a weak human. He died for someone who was willing to sacrifice the same as him. So, like I said, I don’t feel bad. But you bet I’m pissed. Bron is going to wish he never came here. He killed my friend too, Teagan. I won’t let him take anyone else.”
Mitch smiled when I clapped him on the back, but I knew. He was broken like the rest of us. I wished Gaia were here. Her condition hadn’t improved. Last night it worsened, though Jade, Athika, and I were able to break her fever this morning. Thane was a shadow, though he was the one the others looked to during this aftermath. I knew he was at risk for losing himself again—and I refused to lose another person.
Though he was reluctant, Thane stood at the head of the fire. “Tonight is our night to pay homage for those who died—those who died for our people. Who will begin?”
It was quiet for a moment, but slowly, Ruby rose from her spot next to Athika and Onyx’s two brothers. “I honor Onyx. Loyal, fierce, and true.”
Ruby tossed gold dust into the flames.
Raffi stood next. “My brother, my friend, my most trusted ally, Dash.” The flames shuddered when he tossed his dust.
Several mages took their turn. Mostly the older mages died when the lindworms invaded the cave. Some died beneath Bron’s assault. A few warriors announced their fallen friends. I was heartbroken when one woman honored her mate, who was also a warrior. It didn’t seem fair. The pit silenced when Ced stood up. No one sneered at him, most watched him curiously. “I would like to honor my lead warrior. My friend, Magnus. He died in place of me. I will always be indebted to his goodness.”
My stomach tumbled for several more minutes of tributes, until finally, I rose from my place. “Aunt Liz. She raised me when I couldn’t be with my family. She took care of me, she loved me. I hope I always make her proud.”
Jade kissed my shoulder when I returned to my seat, and Mitch slapped my back. After the professions of honor, the night lightened. Memories were shared and laughter dared filter back into the cave.
Thane was sitting near the mouth of the cave long after the fire fizzled from the pit. “Hey,” I muttered.
Thane smirked and signaled for me to sit next to him. “I find a sense of peace looking at the stars.”
I chuckled. “I do too, except you can hardly see the sky with the monstrosity I built.”
Thane smiled, but shook his head. “You saved us,” he said easily. “Your quick thinking, knowing when to abandon a fight, saved many lives. I cannot remember a time when I faced a battle with so hazy a mind as this one. It is beyond my ability to explain how difficult it was to leave you out there alone, but I hope you know I could not be prouder.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I whispered, glancing at the ground. Thane looked at me, his smile widening. “What?”
“You called me Dad,” he nudged my shoulder.
I scoffed and looked at the dark walls trapping us away from the darkness that lay beyond. “You are my dad,” I said, fearing my voice might break again. I’d done more crying (mostly in private) than I’d done in my entire life. “I made sure everyone heard it too—Bron knows how deep the loyalty goes. He’s afraid of you, of Mom, of me. I know it. He beat me out there. I had
to run, but I sensed his fear of us.”
“He’s a coward, and he isn’t going to break this family apart ever again. She’ll wake up.” I heard his desperation. “She must wake up.”
“Look, I know…I can understand how devastating this is for you, but you have to promise me, if…if she doesn’t, you won’t give up. You won’t give up because…I still need you. Alright?”
Thane studied me long and hard. “You think I would leave you—that I would will my life away?” He shook his head, his jaw pulsing. “I promise you I will never do that. I promise. Though I may not speak for a few years, and I might be incredibly brooding, I would never do that.”
I smiled. “Good,” I said simply. “That’s good.”
Jade was awake when I came back into the small sleeping space. Slowly, I sat on the edge of the blankets, running my hand through my hair. Her gentle fingers trailed along my back, until her chin rested on my shoulder. “Everything as okay as it can be?”
“Very careful wording?” I teased.
“Well, because things aren’t okay,” she whispered.
I shook my head, reclining back and breathing in her sweet scent when she nestled against my chest. “I’m okay with you. Right now. Jade, this has taught me we aren’t invincible, but we’re strong together. I want to always be together, through everything. Having you at my side against Bron, you’re the reason I even escaped with my life. I need you to know, I love you. With every ounce of energy I possess. I love you.”
Jade’s mouth found mine in the dark. Her palm warmed my cheek and held me fiercely as she kissed me deeper and deeper. I knew things weren’t okay. We both did. There was a chance my mother might never wake up. Bron knew where we were hidden. It was only a matter of time before we met again. I didn’t know if I would win. It was a real possibility that I might die at his hands. But tonight, this night, I would hold Jade close. I would give her my heart, and I would live to fight another day.