by TJ Klune
“I won’t allow it,” I said, running a finger over his eyebrows. He was cool to the touch. “I won’t let it happen.”
“Death awaits us all,” she said, not unkindly. “For some, sooner. How did you think this would end? You heard the dark man. He has promised to take from you. And he will. Some paths more than others. Yet in every single one I have followed, every single thread I have plucked, this is the one thing that cannot be avoided. Even if you defeat the dark.”
My eyes burned. “I don’t understand. How can Ryan still be taken from me if I destroy this darkness?”
“Randall,” she said. “Morgan.”
I looked up at them. They were already watching me passively, but they didn’t speak.
“They outlived their cornerstones,” she said. “As all wizards do.”
“What?” I whispered.
The scene changed. The King was gone. My parents were gone. Randall was gone. Gary, Kevin, and Tiggy were there, looking almost as they did now, though they were a little thicker. Justin was there, and even though he’d aged into an old man, I still knew him. He was slim and still had his strength, but the lines around his eyes and mouth were pronounced. There were dark spots on the back of his hands. His hair was mostly white, thinning and held in place by the crown atop his head.
Morgan was there too but looked as if only twenty years had passed, not a lifetime.
Ryan, though.
Ryan had fallen to the ravages of time as Justin had. He was bone-thin, and his beautiful hair was gone. His skin was wrinkled and his hands gnarled as they held the sword to his chest. His armor didn’t fit like it had when he was young, much larger than he was now. He looked almost like a child playing dress-up, skin pale in death.
And I caught my reflection in the shine of the armor.
I looked almost the same.
“No,” I said. “No. No.”
“It’s inevitable,” Vadoma said. “The passing. You are a wizard, Sam. Your life… is not your own. The magic in you. It will prolong your years until most everyone you love has passed through the veil and ascended to the beyond. Randall is almost seven centuries old. Morgan almost three. Their cornerstones. They… learned from them what they could. They loved them deep in their hearts. And then the time came in which they had to say goodbye. Because cornerstones are just a beginning, Sam. They build you toward becoming what you’re supposed to be. And then you have to let them go. And when they don’t have magic in their veins, when they’re ordinary, you will lose them sooner.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t speak because I couldn’t think of a single word to say. How this had never crossed my mind, I didn’t know. It should have. The moment my magic said finally when Ryan stood at my side, I should have known. The moment Morgan even told me about cornerstones for the first time, I should have asked. How Randall had been able to say goodbye to Myrin. How Morgan had been able to say goodbye to Anya. I never knew the extent of their relationship with each other, but someone who meant that much to you, someone your magic recognized as a means of completion, their passing could not have been anything but devastating. But I’d never even thought of it, so wrapped up in having Ryan at my side, that I didn’t think of the repercussions. Gary and Tiggy and Kevin were magic. They still lived and would most likely live beyond even the oldest of wizards. My parents weren’t there because they were dead. The King was dead. Randall was most likely dead.
And Ryan? Ryan had died of old age. After a life lived.
“But…,” Vadoma said, sounding regretful.
“But what?” I asked roughly, wiping my eyes. “You tell me a man is coming. That a star dragon predicted my birth and told you that I would face a rising darkness. That even if I defeat the dark man, even if I gather the dragons and somehow am able to stop the darkness, that in all possible endings, Ryan dies? But. What.”
“It is the price of the power you wield.”
“Then maybe I don’t want this godsdamned power!” I shouted at her. “Maybe I don’t want any of this!” My voice echoed around the silent throne room.
“It’s not about you, chava,” she said. “It’s about the greater good. There are more forces at work here, forces that care not about the love you think you carry for the Knight Commander.”
“I don’t think. I know.”
“Do you?”
“You said but.”
“I did. But I don’t know if you’ll hear me.” She sounded regretful.
And I fell right into her hands. “I’m listening.”
“Because you’ll do anything for him.”
“Yes.”
“You care for him.”
“Yes.”
“Do you treasure him?”
“Yes.”
“You would lay down your life for him.”
“Yes.” And then I knew what was coming, because we’d done this dance before.
“Would you let him go if it was for the greater good? If it meant he could live a life free from the pain of an early death? Free from the trappings and attachment that come with those that aren’t purely mortal?”
And I hesitated. Of course I would. Because I was a wizard, and maybe I was more powerful than anyone else in the world, but I was still human. I was still covetous. Jealous. Prideful. What was mine was mine, and I wanted nothing else to touch it.
Vadoma came to stand before me, reaching up to cup my face. “You will lose him,” she said quietly. “One day. Either by the hands of your enemies or by the passage of time. You will watch him fall when a sword pierces his flesh. Or when magic stops his heart. Or, and maybe the worst of all, you will watch him age while you do not. You will see the end coming and won’t be able to do anything to stop it. The moment you chose to love him was the moment you chose to watch him die.”
“No,” I said hoarsely. “I refuse to believe it. I refuse.”
She dropped her hands. “And that is your right, naïve though it may be, chava. But I speak only in truth. Morgan and Randall have hidden so many things from you, least of all this. But I can offer you something more. An… alternative. Something that may have your Knight Commander live to see another day.”
“What?” I asked, hating the way hope bloomed in my chest.
“Ruv.”
I stilled. “What about him?”
“He is the Wolf. The magic in him is latent, but it is there. His life, while not as long as yours, will be extended. It is the gypsy way. Your mother forsook it when she chose that… that man over her own people. She is my daughter, and I will love her until the end of my days and beyond, but I cannot follow her path. I can bring you home, Sam. Where you belong. With your family. Continue as you are and everything you love will crumble before you. At least with our people, you have a chance.”
And, okay. You know what?
I’d had enough.
Fuck this bitch.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You thought it’d be that easy, didn’t you?”
She cocked her head. “That easy?”
“You thought I was what… young? Stupid? Naïve, I think you said.” I took a step toward her. She stood her ground. “I have seen things in this life that defy logic. I have stretched the boundaries of my magic more than you can possibly imagine. I have done things in the name of the people I love and would do so again without regret. And even if the dark man comes for me, even if he tries to take from me, I will have my family at my side fighting with me, for me, every step of the way. And there is nothing you or Ruv or your people can say that would change my mind. Ryan Foxheart is my godsdamned cornerstone. I won’t let anything happen to him. You say you’ve seen the paths I will walk? Fuck you. Because I’m about to blaze my own fucking path, and you won’t even see me coming.”
“Insolence,” she breathed as the throne room began to crack around us. The runes on my skin began to itch and burn, but I didn’t look away from her. “You would risk everything?”
“For them? For him?” I didn’t even have to
think about it. “Yes. Because they would do the same for me. We are better together than we ever will be apart. We are bound to each other. And nothing, nothing, will change that. Not you. Not the Dark. Not anything.”
The roof cracked overhead as she said, “It would seem I have underestimated you.”
I snorted. “No shit. Maybe next time, don’t come in here pimping a half-naked guy when I already have someone’s junk to play with. Not cool, Grandma. Not fucking cool.”
She nodded. “I see that now,” she said slowly, and her skin began to sag and wrinkle as she aged right in front of me. The walls were shaking. “I wish there could be another way.”
“There doesn’t need to be,” I said, attempting a rakish grin that I didn’t quite feel. “In case you didn’t know, I’m Sam of Wilds. I can take whatever’s coming our way.”
“I hope you remember that,” she said. “When the time comes.”
The roof caved in and I—
Chapter 10: The We-Hate-Sam-A-Lots
I OPENED my eyes.
Only to find myself lying on the ground, squinting up toward the sky. And since everyone I know couldn’t be normal, I had Mom, Dad, Tiggy, Gary, the King, Justin, Randall, Morgan, Kevin, and Ryan all staring down at me with the same weird look on their faces.
“You’re all a bunch of creepy-ass motherfuckers,” I said. “Sorry, Mom.”
“Your little towel thing fell off,” Gary said. “During your stoned dream quest vision gypsy thing.”
Gods, I felt like shit. Like we’d spent the night drinking apple wine and I didn’t understand the meaning of the word moderation. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” Gary nodded solemnly. “Your bits and bobs were just flopping all over the place.”
“That sounds about right.” I scrubbed my hand over my face. “So of course you all are staring down at me now.”
“I just had to make sure your testicles were all right,” Kevin rumbled. “Because I care.”
I groaned as I pushed myself up, trying to breathe past the shooting pain in my head. The runes on my skin were dead, the magic depleted, but they still itched. I saw someone had had the decency to cover me up. Probably Ryan, as he tended to get uncomfortable if anyone else saw me naked. (“It’s weird, Sam, you don’t just forget to put on pants!” Uh, yeah, smartass, sometimes I did.) Ryan knelt beside me, running a hand up my back, a worried look on his face.
“I’m okay,” I said, giving him a weak smile.
“Really,” he said in that tone that meant bullshit.
“Well, reasonably okay. As okay as one can be when one has seen the destruction of Verania, a star dragon that predicted my birth, and a bad guy who denied he monologued, but then monologued anyway about how he was going to destroy me. Oh, and he might have been covered in shadows and then tried to mind suck me a little bit. Or something. I don’t even know. I feel slightly vomity right now.”
They all stared at me some more.
“Freaking weirdos,” I mumbled, “with your staring and your faces.”
Randall groaned. “Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?”
I glared up at him, squinting against the afternoon sun. “Oh yes, because it’s my fault I got whammied by my grandma.”
“Phrasing,” Dad said, reaching down to grab my hand and pull me to my feet. I felt dizzy as I stood. Ryan had an arm firmly wrapped around my waist, supporting my weight against him as my knees felt like jelly.
“What did she do to you?” Ryan muttered in my ear, and for a moment, I had a flash of him both young and old, skin sallow, eyes closed, clutching his sword in his hands.
“Showed me her version of the truth,” I said through gritted teeth. “Where is she?”
Mom tossed a glare over her shoulder before stepping aside. “She blew that powder in your face. And you started convulsing.” She was angry. More so than I’d seen in a long time. “Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed when you did. You were both out for almost twenty minutes.”
“We couldn’t get her to let go of your hand,” Dad said. “Not without hurting either one of you.”
“I wanted to break her wrist,” Mom said. “But your father wouldn’t let me.”
“So bloodthirsty,” I said in awe.
“I wasn’t trying to stop you,” Dad said. “I was trying to get Ryan to give me his sword so I could chop off her hand.”
“Such violence,” I whispered. “Those are my parents.”
“So we just tried to pry you apart, but it didn’t work very well,” Mom said.
I shook my head. “She needed it. To maintain connection. She was there too. She…. I was her. And she showed me things.” I looked up, vision clearing slightly.
Vadoma was sitting on the ground, head in her hands, muttering something to Ruv, who crouched down next to her. Her tone was quick and clipped, but I couldn’t make out anything she was saying, if she was even speaking Veranian. Ruv glanced back at us, gaze finding me almost instantly. His expression was blank, but it was enough to cause Ryan to harrumph and pull me tighter against him. I didn’t complain because I was sure I was going to be awkwardly clingy toward him for a while yet while I parsed through what Vadoma had shown me.
“Is she all right?” I asked Ruv.
He hesitated, eyes searching mine, as if trying to gauge my sincerity. He must have found me worthy, because he said, “She’ll be fine. It’s draining on her to perform that level of magic. She is not a wizard like you. You draw from the earth. She draws from her blood.”
“Have you seen what she showed me?”
He shook his head. “It was not for my eyes. It was meant for you.”
“But she thinks you’re a part of it,” I said, and Ryan tensed beside me. “She thinks that you will be my cornerstone.”
He shrugged, looking younger than he had before, more vulnerable. “We don’t know what fate has in store for us. The paths are many, Sam of Wilds. Ours could converge.”
“There is no path for you with him,” Ryan said. “I’m sorry that you were misled, but you cannot have what doesn’t belong to you.”
“And does he belong to you, Knight Commander?” Ruv said, cocking his head like a bird. “Because in all our conversations, you’ve spoken of him like an object and not a man. Someone of his strength and caliber cannot be possessed like you seem so fond of doing.”
“Oh, girl,” Gary breathed. “Shit’s about to get for real right now.”
“My money on Knight Delicious Face,” Tiggy said.
“You don’t have any money, kitten,” Gary said. “Remember? We were cruelly forced to invest it because Morgan said otherwise we’d be frivolous and buy things like brooms and scarves, which, in all fairness, is completely true.”
“Aw.” Tiggy crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I never get anything.”
“Ask them if they’ll get naked and cover themselves in oil before they fight,” Kevin hissed. “It makes it more erotic—I mean, it makes it hard. Er. Harder to fight. Therefore making it even. And erotic.”
“There’s going to be no naked oil wrestling,” I snapped. “And if there is, it’s only going to be between Ryan and me. Ryan, hand me my trousers. I’d rather not be naked when I’m talking about you and me being naked.”
Ryan sighed but did as I asked.
“Do you ever get the feeling like we know too much about our son?” Mom asked Dad.
“All the time,” Dad replied. “We should also consider the oil wrestling for ourselves. You know. For reasons.”
“Perhaps now is not the time for this discussion?” Morgan said, looking like he was about as done with today as I was. “Surely we can talk about getting oiled up back at the castle.”
“Gross,” I said, buttoning up my trousers. “I don’t want to ever think about you oiled up.”
“I really wish you’d stop saying oiled up,” Randall said. “Why, back in my day, we wouldn’t even need—”
“Nope,” I said. “Nope, nope, nope. Not e
ven gonna listen to that. Ryan! Babe! Stop glaring at Ruv and abscond with me to the castle so I can forget about all of this.” Which, frankly, I knew was going to be impossible.
“There will be no absconding until we have a discussion,” Morgan said. “This isn’t something you can just ignore, Sam.”
I snorted, feeling irrationally angry. “Oh, I’m well aware of that. Especially when the star dragon mentioned you specifically by name.”
Both Randall and Morgan startled at that. “Come again?” Randall asked.
“The star dragon,” I repeated slowly, as if they were both daft, “told Vadoma. To find you. And she did. And then you found me. And now, apparently, I’m supposed to gather the five dragons of Verania to take on some gigantic douchebag. Oh, Kevin, by the way. Good job. You’re one of the five the star dragon mentioned. Don’t let that go to your head.” Which, honestly, I knew was already too late even as the words left my mouth.
“Me?” Kevin said, rearing up and sitting on his back legs. “The star dragon talked about me? A dragon made of stars came down from the heavens and started spouting prophecies about me?”
Gods, I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut. “It’s not just about you—”
“Why, this is so unexpected,” he continued, ignoring me completely. “I mean, I always assumed I was destined for greatness, given that people make religions out of me and leave me human sacrifices that I won’t eat because I respect all nature like a good dragon should. Aside from sheep, of course, because fuck those guys. Seriously. Floofy little cotton rats. That’s all they are. I don’t know why you humans insist on gathering them in flocks as you do, especially since it’s so much more fun to chase after them and hear them scream.”
“This is all your fault, you know,” Gary said to me.
“I know,” I muttered. “Also, shut up.”
“But a star dragon came down from the night sky and said that I, Kevin, the fearsome Beast from the East would be the one to unite Verania under a banner of my epicness. It truly falls on my broad and muscular shoulders to save the kingdom and those I love from the clutches of tyranny.”