Fallen Flame

by J. M. Miller

  I let out a fast breath and pulled in another, preparing to choose what I thought was best for Caulden and for myself. For the first time, the answer wasn’t so clear.

  The sound of rocks sliding filled the cavern and my attention snapped to the tunneled entrance. Haidee had moved inward, only the very corner of her head visible from her position within one of the large cracks in the wall’s facet. But the noise was not hers. Leint turned toward the noise too, with a hand on the grip of his Guard sword.

  A shadow moved in from the entrance wall revealing a single man, then another, and on, until there were five. Their dark leathers suggested a clear reason they had come during the night. There was nothing recognizable about any of them and nothing outright distinguishing either. Their physical characteristics—hair, skin, builds—varied like anyone from Garlin. But knowing there were many new ships docked in Florisa’s Cove, the men could’ve been from anywhere.

  They all continued on, one lead stepping to the front as the others flanked. The lead drew his sword slowly and pointed its tip past us toward the island. “Archer, the prince.”

  THREE

  How had anyone found us? If they weren’t from Garlin, their abilities rivaled the best trackers. Following prints on the rocky terrain to Sacred Lake took far more talents than a sharp eye. My studies of the mainland and the world beyond had been limited, purposely. I learned all the things any Guard needed but nothing that might take me away from Garlin. I’d been told at a very young age to abandon any thoughts of leaving. If I was feared here after having grown on the island, traveling anywhere else would prove much worse. So I learned the basics of Islain’s high kingdom from some books and what little I’d picked up listening to the traders during the prince’s trips to Florisa’s Cove. This was especially frustrating as I stared at the men walking toward us. Their stances, weapons, and leather armor could hold some minor details, some symbolism, yet I saw nothing.

  The sanctity of Sacred Lake was no longer concerning as soon as the unknown assassin drew his sword and ordered the prince killed. Time wouldn’t allow for talks or quarrels. They had come for blood, so I would show them their own. Drawing my sword with one hand and unfastening my cloak with the other, I leapt into a run, honed in on my first target: the archer pulling an arrow from the quiver at his back. I reached him before he had a chance to nock it, swinging my blade. His eyes squinted then widened when he focused fully on my uncovered face. I took advantage of his confused or fearful hesitation and sliced clean through his bow before swinging around once more and burying my blade into his chest. Haidee had appeared swiftly at my side, a body already falling in her wake. I turned again, counting the final three as one charged at me with a determination that lasted a few strong strikes. His blows were heavy but, unfortunately for him, nowhere near swift enough to battle two Guards. When his life dissolved through a final scream, the count left two. The lead assassin had reached the water’s edge as Leint lost ground with the last. Haidee moved to help him, and I charged on.

  The lead’s sword was sheathed, his large frame preparing to run the narrow pathway when I swung on him. My sword pierced the crest of his dominant shoulder, forcing his body to dip. The strike was meant to change his direction and focus. Since he had led the group, I wouldn’t end him until he gave all his information. Using the momentum of my attack, his body turned with a swing of a fist. I shifted too late, and his knuckles grazed my jaw. The hit wasn’t enough to throw me, but it clipped my head sideways and splintered cracks in my skin, like every hit I’d ever taken. The smell of burnt flesh tinged the air along with the sound of his pained grunt. As the shock trapped his attention for a moment, I caught sight of something in the shadows behind him, moving quickly, past Haidee and Leint fighting the last man, past the curve of land around the fire where Josith and Rhen lay drunken on the ground. It was faint and fast, and it had evaded my line of sight. A splash sounded, snapping my attention farther around the curve, the final stretch of ground along the lake’s edge. Ripples spread away from the rocky waterline, growing wider and wider toward …

  My breaths slowed. Someone else was in the cavern, and they were now in the water heading toward the prince.

  The lead’s sword glinted with firelight as it swung in front of me. He’d had enough time to evaluate the damage to his hand and determine I was a big enough threat to engage. But he’d lost that chance. After dodging his advance and leaving him for Haidee and Leint to dispatch, I ran toward the narrow pathway, sheathing my sword, eyes still on the prince’s listless figure.

  “Caulden!” I yelled. With how swift the shadow had been, there was little chance to reach him first. Each stride closer, Caulden’s subtle movements grew clearer. They were minimal, barely keeping his drunken and bound body upright. Nothing more. If the shadow was to attack, he had to be more alert. “Wake up!”

  He stirred, and his curtain of black hair swung lightly then parted as his head lifted and turned in my direction. There was a moment, as his unfocused eyes met mine, that the situation blended into everyday training, everyday living—seeing those same dark eyes looking energetic and mischievous above rounder cheeks, angry at another defeat, curious at our proximity, broken after his first hunt and kill, sad at Saireen’s death, comforted in my covered arms.

  “In the water!” I yelled, my feet continuing to push closer and closer to the tiny island, the span of water between it and the pathway growing larger and larger. The leap would have to be one of the longest I’d ever managed. Otherwise … My heart stuttered at the thought of my body sinking below the water for the second time in the span of a few hours—the tenderness from my cleansing still very much alive in my mind despite the already restored skin.

  My leg muscles burned but thrived as I willed them to work harder, eating the last few steps faster than one full intake of air. And then, I leapt. I didn’t bother to look down into the depths. The darkness wouldn’t reveal the water’s secrets even if I had. Instead, I kept my eyes on Caulden, who had been able to turn on his knees to face me, still bound. When I landed, more hope built. Mere steps separated us. But it all crashed when a figure emerged from the glassy water. Hands then arms and only the top of a head breached the surface and hooked Caulden’s bound arms, snatching him backward into the water.

  No! I dove and expected to hear the terror in my voice for both Caulden’s fate and my own echoing back at me from the cavern walls. Yet the scream so clear in my mind never crossed my lips, and so I heard nothing but my final breath before the water welcomed my body with its cold, crippling embrace.

  I bared down around the breath, waiting for the familiar pain that was woven into every piece of my life. Only, it never came. Although the absence was sublime, there was no time to rejoice. Caulden remained my biggest concern, my lack of swimming experience following closely behind. With my arms outstretched, I touched something solid and frantically clasped my hands around to hold tight. Leather. Straps. Buckles. Caulden’s boots. The dive leveled out and the boots continued to drag me along through the water.

  Questions rolled in an unending stream through my mind, but the fear of drowning cut through every one. If we died beneath the water, it wouldn’t matter who was dragging us or why the lake water wasn’t affecting my skin. I reached for the dagger at my waist with one hand, and on a hopeless whim of gaining my bearings in the darkened water, I dared to open my eyes. The lake was not how it had been above. A soft haze of light surrounded me, enough to see Caulden’s boots. I used the blade to sever the ties at his ankles and noticed the water wasn’t the light source at all. The light was coming from me, streaming out from breaks in my clothing. I walked my grip higher up Caulden’s legs, feeling his muscles tense up in response. Reaching his bound hands was essential for escape, even though they were the hold for whomever was dragging us. Regardless of how impossible the task, I had to try.

  Before I could pull myself farther up Caulden’s body, a deep, insurmountable rumble sounded within the lake. An intense vi
bration was fast to follow, shifting the water around us with enough force to tear Caulden from my grasp. As his body disappeared from reach, from sight, I caught a glimpse of who had been pulling us, their body tumbling around, light peeking out from the breaks in their dark clothing.

  My foot hit a solid, immobile form and I twisted to grab hold. As soon as I felt the dense rock at my fingertips, I let out my breath and climbed toward the surface to fill my aching lungs. Breaking through the water with a grateful gasp, I quickly took in my position while looking for Caulden. He was nowhere to be seen, but it was too dark to see much of anything. There was no large fire, no entrance. No main cavern. We were in another area.

  The ground rumbled again, breaking rocks from the walls and ceiling and dropping them into the water below. I tucked my dagger away then hauled my body onto the rock ledge. The reddish light from my skin dimmed as air cocooned me, stabbing my skin like tiny blades. As the glow disappeared from my body and my rough outer skin began to form again, I noted two other sources of light. The closest was a beam of starlight pouring in from around a curve in the cavern’s wall, a salted, misty wind twisting throughout. The other source had a red hue much like mine, moving within the lake, water rippling around it.

  I rushed around the lake’s edge, tumbling over the uneven rocks along the way. There was still no sign of Caulden. But the mysterious fighter had already gotten out of the water a few steps away.

  “Ahh!” His scream boomed inside the cavern with so much force I could almost feel his pain. He was injured.

  I leapt forward, drawing my sword, prepared to take advantage. Though, when I got closer to the man, close enough to see the water falling from his silhouetted short hair and chin, I stared at the dimming light encircling his face and hesitated. Slices of light pushed out from behind his clothing just as mine had. But what had happened to the water, to him, I couldn’t care about. He had come here to kill the prince. I swung my sword and lunged forward.

  The fighter screamed again—this time, a rough grunt to mask the pain—and hurled his body out of my blade’s path, rolling carelessly over the jagged ground. I attacked once more, but he dodged another time, bounding back onto his feet and shuffling out of range.

  Darkness had all but taken over. The sea’s turbulent song seemed to grow louder with the night, waves punishing the bottom of the cliffs in a way I’d always envied. Constant. Unyielding. Tenacious. Even though my relationship with water had always been pained, I admired the waves and often tried to emulate their strength. Hearing their battle beyond the cavern was another reminder of who I was and why I had to fight.

  I chased the sound of footsteps. The starlight barely highlighted the open split in the cave, but it was enough to show The Shadow’s silhouette again, splashing through the edge of the water as he ran toward the opening. Either too injured to finish his mission or convinced it was already done, his intention was to flee. His grunts and heavy breaths continued with each stumble. I willed myself to move and got close enough to take another swing, determined to end the fight he had started. He heard my advance and veered off, finally unsheathing his own sword. My body stood in his way, steps from the narrow opening.

  His sword swept through the air smoothly. It would have been a solid blow had it landed. I parried and countered, but he had recovered in a heartbeat and was able to catch my blade with the flat of his. The metal slid together, cutting a sharp tang into the air and bringing us closer. I was prepared to jump and thrust my head against his or kick whatever was in reach. Unfortunately, the soft starlight ended my plans, shining its glow upon his face, revealing skin as charred and as rough as mine.

  “Not possible.” His voice was thick and wild. And though he fought against it, his tone wavered with strain or possibly fright. It wasn’t just me seeing him. He was seeing me as well.

  I opened my mouth, gasping as I inhaled a shocked breath, unable to respond. Instincts and training urged me to move, yet my eyes refused, transfixed on the reality of him—the rough coal skin coating a youthful face not much older than my own.

  Our quickened breaths tangled for a moment more, staring at each other with a paralyzing intensity, then his blade slid from mine and his body darted away, escaping through the cracked wall.

  Had I not heard splashing and a cough from somewhere behind me, shock may have held me captive for hours. But the worry for Caulden pushed my body faster than my own thoughts, leading me away from the starlight and back into the blackness.

  “Caulden!” My voice echoed, hollow but resonant inside the vast space. I stopped at the waterline and moved cautiously along its edge, not knowing exactly how large the second cavern area was.

  Another splash was followed by a sputtered cough. I ran blindly, my balance faltering after a moment and throwing me face first into the water. Once again, there was no pain but there was light pushing out from my clothing. There was a small current leading into the darkness—an exit for the Vitae River, flowing down its path inland. Before the water’s depth threatened to take me under, it shallowed with uneven steps to an embankment where a figure lay.

  “Caulden!” I rushed to him, my hands sliding over his half-submerged body without thought, all formalities of duty shoved aside to ensure his safety. My guilt for chasing after The Shadow before finding him could be heard in my frantic breaths. If he was permanently hurt because of my choice, I would never recover.

  He coughed again, wet and forced. “Vala.”

  Another rumble shook the cavern, the lake. Fractured rocks fell and splashed down around us.

  “How are you? Are you injured?” Blood, tears in fabric or skin—nothing was visible in such little light and feeling for them was next to impossible.

  “I’m fine.” Another cough. “My hands.” His body turned, rolling onto his side with his face leaning into the water.

  I grabbed my dagger and slid the blade between his hands to free him.

  “Ahh.” Once the ties fell away, he sighed and rolled onto his back. “What hap—your skin …” His hand lifted to my wet face, hovering an inch away, the subtle light casting brighter upon his skin.

  The tang in his breath and the slight slur in his words suggested his view could still be hazy, adding even more confusion to what he was seeing. Whether he would comprehend or not, I would explain if only I knew the answers myself. “I …”

  “Beautiful. More so than I remember.” The whispered words were barely recognizable as his widened eyes shifted around, taking me in. My light shone on him enough to see his amazement—the wonder in his stare, his slack mouth, the curious arch in his eyebrows.

  I breathed in, recalling the time he’d seen me after my cleansing a year before, how he’d looked at me then, how he’d asked to touch my smooth, vulnerable body.

  His fingers moved closer, and I instinctively tilted my face away. I wouldn’t make this night worse by returning him to the chateau with burns. His skin had never been harmed by my bare touch, and I wasn’t about to let that change. My movement didn’t dissuade him, though. His hand reached higher and his fingers slid some wet plaits of hair from my cheek. I waited for the hiss I’d often heard from Saireen during my young years. The red skin was no different than my outer layer. Flesh burning, life taking.

  So when that hiss didn’t come, when more of his hand made contact, gliding gently across my skin, I inhaled sharply. The feel of a simple bare touch was surprising. Gentle. Exciting. As comforting as I’d always wanted it to be, as soft as I always thought his smooth, tawny-colored skin would be.

  “Vala,” he whispered, reaching his other hand to hold the other side of my face. “Thank you.”

  I closed my eyes, wanting to cherish the feeling but also contain the tears welling inside. It wasn’t just my skin. It was my heart. I’d never been as close to someone as I was to him. After a breath, I opened my eyes to find a closer view. He had leaned in near enough that his eyes jolted back and forth to look into each of mine. And then his lips brushed against min
e and those eyes disappeared behind heavy lids.

  My body shook under his touch, overwhelmed and overcome. Through the years as his Guard, I’d seen him touch girls in the same way. I’d even wondered how it would have felt if I were them, able to be touched by him, by anyone. My thoughts, my dreams, they had been nothing in comparison. They were a single drop of water, and this, the whole sea.

  The air stabbed at my skin once again, and Caulden’s hands and lips disappeared with that fearful hiss I had expected.

  Embarrassed, I backed farther away, letting the darkness hide my shame. I’d known it wouldn’t last, and yet I had let him continue, wanted his touch for another second, another minute. I hadn’t wanted it to end. “I—”

  “No … I’m … all right. And I’m sorry. I … I wanted to thank you for tonight. Though, I’m still unsure about the details,” he admitted, his voice slowing, still loose from drink.

  I followed his lead, choosing to move on from the topic. “You decided you’d be safe playing with your idiots alone.”

  A broken intake of air was all to be heard, his amusement unmistakable, until he collected his words. “Suppose I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “Not when so many outsiders are visiting Garlin,” I chastised. “What do you remember?”

  “Finishing another bottle. Being tied. After that, your voice. Then the water. I was worried about you following.”

  I brushed off his concern for me, needing to end the emotions of the evening before it all turned sour. “Are you sure you feel all right? Nothing out of sorts?”

  “My problems have little to do with tonight. My mother is less than happy about the queen and princess coming, about me possibly being chosen.” After a pause, he added, “And having to explain what happened here tonight won’t help.”

  “No, it won’t,” I agreed, already contemplating my punishments for nearly letting him die and for desecrating Sacred Lake, not even counting if his lips and hands had gotten burned.