She threw her head back, panting, eyes closed. The rest of the world faded away and all other sensations grew distant—except for his body against hers and those fingers insistently, expertly, stroking that most intimate part of her.
His hand lifted from her wrist and found the back of her neck, and his lips pressed into the hollow above her collar bone. He said something to her, quiet and urgent. The words vibrated through her throat. His fingers slipped over a part of her that sent her over the edge.
She saw stars, and she struggled to stifle her gasps. Her hands clenched on him.
She tilted her head to kiss him again, and then, hands moving with languid fluidity, she pushed him away enough to unlace his pants. She pulled him free clumsily, her fingers too impatient for accuracy in the complete darkness. He didn’t seem to mind.
Her hand slid down the hard, soft-skinned rod, her thumb circling under the head as she slid back up. He made a soft, wordless sound of appreciation and rested his hands on the wall on either side of her, leaning in.
The darkness let her appreciate little things that she hadn’t noticed before. The tiny shudders that went through him. The way his breaths grew ragged as he gradually came undone with her movements.
It was all so real and so close and so physical. So very much alive. She felt a certain pride, a certain intimacy, knowing that he was still here because of her, and she because of him.
He nudged her head upward and kissed her again. His cock twitched in her grasp. He gasped a few sputtered words against her cheek, and his hips went stiff. She felt him spill over her hand.
Breathing hard, he leaned heavily against her. She didn’t mind. She didn’t want him to let go. They could stay that way forever, as far as she was concerned.
But they couldn’t really, could they?
Reality came crashing down again. Something in her core twisted painfully. She quickly put a hand to his chest to push him away, then pulled at her clothes, trying to make herself presentable again. His dark outline was motionless in front of her. She didn’t look toward his face.
She’d only even spoken to him aloud a handful of times. She had no right to feel this way about him. It was all incredibly foolish.
She bent to pat the grass until she found her light. She flicked it on, located the fallen notebook, and picked it up. She started toward the front of the house. Aruna’s arm shot out and caught her arm. Ducking her head guiltily, she let him pull her to a stop.
Bright eyes studied her. His face was flushed dark. He held a hand out for the notebook. She gave it to him. She ground her teeth as she watched him write.
“Every time you touch me, you end up upset.”
She shook her head at him. “It’s not like that,” she wrote.
“Then what is it like?” he scrawled with a heated flourish.
I saved you because I care for you, she wanted to say. But he was looking at her with so much impatience and frustration by then that she couldn’t bring herself to admit to such a troublesome thing.
“I wouldn’t keep touching you if I didn’t like doing it,” she wrote. A non-answer. The one good thing about not being able to speak was that it made it easier to avoid questions.
He took the book from her and held the pencil over it. She watched his expression go from angry to something more like hurt and tired. He made several starts and stops before he wrote, “We shouldn’t do this anymore.”
Novikke’s stomach lurched. Aruna was watching her warily, holding the book at his side.
Novikke got the impression he was hoping she would argue. She wanted to. But this was probably for the best.
She gave a half-hearted nod, and walked past him.
Chapter 3
They slept, and another day passed.
Aruna sat across from her at the table the next evening after they awoke. He set his chin on his hand and watched Neiryn help Shadri cook again, not looking at Novikke even once. He was in a visibly poor mood. Novikke didn’t comment on it.
Kadaki, who had left by herself earlier in the evening, returned and stopped in the open doorway. She stood there until Novikke and Aruna looked over at her.
“You need to see something. Outside,” she said. She was looking at a spot between the far wall and the floor, her hands folded in front of her.
Aruna finally glanced at Novikke, waiting for a translation.
“All of us?” Novikke asked.
“All of you.”
“Is something wrong?” Neiryn said.
She sighed. “Just come.”
They followed her out into the waning daylight and across the village, garnering displeased glances as they went. She led them to the edge of the village, then stopped, waiting. A small crowd of Varai were already there, gazing into the forest at whatever she’d brought them there to see. None of them looked happy.
At first, Novikke saw nothing. Then, looking closely, she spotted a pattern among the trees. A line of dying trees and bushes and grasses, following an invisible path to the east.
Toward the ruins, which she could see in the distance.
Aruna placed a hand on the closest tree. Its black bark had turned an odd brown-gray, its branches had withered, and its needles had turned from a healthy deep blue-green to almost white. The bark crumbled under his touch, and when he pulled his hand away, his fingers were coated in an ash-like substance. A solid heaviness settled in the pit of Novikke’s stomach.
He looked down the path of dying plants, then at Kadaki, and said something.
“What is this?” Neiryn translated quietly.
Kadaki crossed her arms, looking into the trees. “The forest is dying,” she said simply.
There was a stunned silence.
“You can’t know that. A dead tree or two doesn’t mean the entire forest will die,” Novikke said.
Kadaki just gave her an unhappy look.
Aruna nudged Neiryn’s arm, still waiting for a translation, but Novikke could tell that he, too, had guessed what was happening.
Kadaki pulled them away from the other night elves and explained further as Neiryn murmured translations to Aruna.
Kadaki hadn’t stopped Theros in time. Things had already been set in motion by the time she’d closed off the leak at the ruins.
The loosing of the ruin’s magic had disrupted the precarious equilibrium of magic energy in Kuda Varai. Like shaking a basin full of water, it created waves, overflowing in some parts and sinking in others. And now that this death had begun, it was unlikely to stop.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of effect an event like this would have,” she said, frowning up at the dying trees. “But I can feel something happening. The forest is changing. It feels unwell. Magic energy is snapping and flickering everywhere, like a guttering candle.”
Novikke couldn’t feel any of that. Neither could anyone else, it seemed, not even the night elves. Not yet.
“How can you be sure?” Novikke asked, more because she wanted it to not be true than because she doubted her.
“I’m sure, Novikke. I wish I wasn’t.”
“What will happen?”
She paused, chewing her lip and staring into the forest.
“Kadaki?” Novikke prompted.
She shook her head. “This—” she gestured to the trees, “—this is not a good sign. I think the forest could die from this. Really die, and not grow back. I can feel it happening already.”
Novikke watched Aruna’s face go dark. “How can we fix it?” she asked.
“I can heal a body, but I can’t heal an entire forest,” Kadaki said. “I believe there’s a way. Anything is possible with magic. There is a way.” She winced. “I just don’t know what it is yet.”
“What was that thing Theros was using?” Novikke said. “Can’t you just…do the same thing, but in reverse?”
Neiryn and Kadaki both looked at each other like that was the stupidest question they’d ever heard, but tactfully didn’t say so.
“That’s not ho
w it works,” Kadaki said. “It’s kind of a one-way system.”
Aruna said something to Neiryn, and Neiryn heaved a sigh and began giving translations.
“If worse comes to worst,” Kadaki said to Aruna when Neiryn had finished, “We could... try to evacuate the forest. Your people could seek shelter across the border. We could speak to your leaders about making a truce with Ardani...”
As Neiryn translated, Aruna’s face twisted into an expression of disgust and horror. He launched into a tirade that Neiryn didn’t bother to translate, and didn’t really have to. Novikke heard Kadaki take a shaky breath.
Aruna abruptly turned and stalked away. Novikke watched him go, unable to offer any meaningful comfort.
The three of them returned to the house and sat around the table. Shadri glanced up at them, perhaps noticing the somber mood, but said nothing. The Varai in the village didn’t seem to understand what was happening yet. After a while, Shadri and Nhazin went out, leaving them alone in the house.
There was both too much and not enough to talk about. Too many questions, and not enough answers. Every solution they tried to come up with was half-formed and less than uncertain to work. The situation seemed hopeless.
A while later, the front door opened. Aruna came inside, looking drained. He sat down beside them, licked his lips, and started talking.
“I haven’t told anyone,” Neiryn said, translating Aruna’s words as he spoke.
“Good,” Kadaki said. “I doubt they’d be very happy with us if he had.”
“Do you know how to fix it?” Neiryn translated again. Aruna was looking at Kadaki.
Kadaki slowly shook her head.
Aruna said something else.
“Will you help me try?” Neiryn translated.
Novikke was surprised he had to ask. “Yes,” she said.
“Yes,” Kadaki echoed.
“Za,” Neiryn said.
Aruna let out a soft breath. His worry and relief were bared on his face. As if he’d thought they would refuse. He spoke again.
“Where do we start?” Neiryn translated.
Kadaki cleared her throat. “I…” She hesitated, uncertain. “I did have a thought. I don’t know for sure that this would work, it’s possible the axis could rebalance itself if it was given a large influx of magic energy to make up for what it lost. But there’s no way we could summon that much magic at once, not without dozens of mages all casting at once.”
“We don’t have time to find dozens of mages,” Novikke said.
“No, we don’t. So where does that leave us?”
Aruna listened carefully to Neiryn’s translations. He waited hopefully for Kadaki to continue, and it was clear Kadaki had nothing more to offer.
The front door banged open. Shadri quickly shut it behind her, barking a string of Varai words into the room.
All of them watched as she strode across the room to pick up a pack, which she shoved into Aruna’s arms before he’d even gotten up from his chair. He asked her something, and she gave a sharp reply.
“What’s going on?” Novikke asked.
Neiryn was pulling Kadaki out of her chair. “She says we need to leave. Right now.”
“Why?” Kadaki said. “What’s happening?”
Shadri was still snapping at them. She ushered Aruna to the door, then turned to the rest of them and impatiently waved them on. She was pushing them all through the door and onto the porch when she looked out toward the village. She froze.
Aruna was looking in the same direction, watching something that Novikke couldn’t see in the darkness. After her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she saw the dim outlines of figures approaching. Faintly shimmering eyes hovered in patches of black.
It was just a village, she told herself. They were just people. But there was something about being in the dark, stalked by beings of darkness, that pulled at a primitive, animal part of her. It was impossible not to feel terror when you looked into the darkness of night and knew something was coming for you.
One of the figures stopped a short distance away from the porch. He spoke, loud enough for all to hear. Then another one shouted something. Then another. They did not sound pleased.
“They’re saying that they’ve received news,” Neiryn said quietly. “They’re saying that Aruna is a traitor and that we all need to be taken to Vondh Rav to face justice. They’re telling us to surrender.”
“I’m impressed they haven’t just decided to kill us,” Novikke said.
“I think that’s far from ruled out,” Neiryn muttered.
The mob waited for a response. There was a trace of guilt on Shadri’s face as she sidestepped away, separating herself from them. None of the Varai moved toward her. She wasn’t the one they wanted.
Aruna spoke into the darkness. He didn’t have the confidence in his voice that his accusers had. Even without understanding his words, Novikke thought it sounded unconvincing. An argument erupted, people in the crowd shouting accusations while Aruna tried to defend himself.
There was another pause—a brief impasse. Aruna murmured something to Neiryn.
“They’re afraid of us,” Neiryn translated, then added, “As they should be. We can fight them. Kadaki can shield us from arrows and I can torch them.”
“Are you crazy?” Novikke hissed. “We can’t just start killing people.”
“What do you think they’re going to do to us if we don’t?”
Something flew toward them. They all jumped as an arrow jammed into the wood beside the door. A warning shot.
“Everyone come here,” Kadaki said, her voice solid and commanding. “Now.”
They all turned to her. She grabbed them and pulled them in a tight circle around her. “Stay close to me,” she said, then bowed her head and closed her eyes. Her mouth moved, whispering the words to a spell under her breath.
One of the Varai yelled something at them. Novikke couldn’t help but think that it sounded like a “last warning” sort of tone. She watched the darkness beyond the porch with wide eyes, taking in as much of the low light as she could. One of her hands had found Aruna’s arm without really meaning to, and the other was on her sword hilt.
Footsteps approached. She glanced at Kadaki, wanting to ask what she was planning, but not daring to interrupt her. When she looked back at the darkness, a shape had emerged, lit by the dim firelight coming through the doorway: a man holding a sword in one hand and wearing a murderous expression. He shouted something at Aruna.
Novikke drew her sword. Kadaki’s voice grew louder as the spell took shape.
“Kadaki—” Neiryn said, and Kadaki’s eyes squinted tighter, as if trying to block him out. Neiryn turned toward the approaching Varai, still holding Kadaki’s hand, and summoned a bright flame in his other hand. There was a chorus of gasps from the crowd.
Aruna’s hand shot out to grab Neiryn’s arm. Aruna snarled a warning at him, his fingers tight around his wrist. Neiryn yelled something back, tearing his arm away.
Several people had reached the porch steps. The man in front came toward Neiryn, sword raised.
And then, something happened.
The world spun and blurred in front of Novikke’s eyes. She had the distinct sensation that she was falling at great speed. There was a feeling like her heart being pulled out through her throat.
And then, with a stomach-wrenching jerk, everything was still again, except they were no longer standing on Shadri’s porch.
She took an unsteady step back, feeling like she was was on a ship rolling over tall waves. There was white stone under her feet. The familiar towers and arches of the Auren-Li ruins stood all around them. Crickets chirped nearby, as if to emphasize the sudden silence.
Neiryn, Aruna, and Kadaki still stood in a circle with her, looking as bewildered and nauseous as she. Kadaki slumped, and Neiryn extinguished the flame in his hand to catch her. She was boneless in his arms, her eyes shut.
Novikke sheathed her sword and flicked her mage torch on.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Too much casting in too short a time,” Neiryn said, lowering her to the ground. “The same thing that happened to her after the last time we were here. Mages can only channel so much magic energy before they hurt themselves.”
Aruna sighed, letting his shoulders slump. He was still holding the pack Shadri had given him. He said something acerbic to Neiryn, who replied with equal venom. There was a tense back-and-forth for a few seconds.
Night Elves of Ardani: Book Three: Invocation Page 3