Out of the Mountain

by Violet Chastain

  “Narissa!” I exclaimed, mind catching up to itself.

  “Yes. It took you long enough.” The cruelty that coated her voice was enough to tie it all together for me.

  “But . . . how?” I asked, confused, and she narrowed her eyes at me and puffed out a sigh, stepping back from Dahlia as if I had just interrupted a haircut and not homicide.

  “Mauve is Narissa!”

  “I am protecting the dais. Make quick work of the traitor,” Rowan growled into my mind, no explanation needed.

  “It’s actually a really long and boring story, but it was easy enough to glamour myself and slip into society. These people don’t remember me, and those who do would expect me to be as old and decrepit as they are. I have transcended time. All I had to do was cause and solve a wilting crop problem, put a few innocents in danger, save those same innocents, and you’ve got the trust of a bunch of idiots just rallying to put you in charge of something. Voilà, I’m in charge . . . the way I should have always been,” she babbled as she pointed the staff in my direction.

  “Then you come along. Imagine my surprise at such a well-kept secret.” She purred as she walked toward me, hands covered in blood. The very same hands that had killed my mother, my grandmother, and grandfather. This woman was responsible for the deaths of so many in my family and countless members of other families. Rage boiled within me.

  “You are a monster,” I spat, and she laughed full and hard. I cringed at the maniacal sound of it.

  “I am much more than that. I am the mother of monsters. All that you see before you was born of my blood. I have plans in motion that you couldn’t even wrap your pretty little head around,” she said as I held my position.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” I lied, even as my heart sped faster.

  “You are, and you should be. At one point, you were central to our plans . . . now you’re more of a backup.” I could see the strings of darkness spilling from her, connecting her to every creature and shadow in this building. I tightened my grip on my daggers. How had I not seen this sooner? Our enemy had been hiding in plain sight.

  She circled me, and as she did, my tigress rose to the surface, angry at feeling cornered. I pushed her back down as I noticed the tethers that tied Narissa to the remaining Six were solidifying. Narissa’s eyes shone with bloodlust as she looked me over, eyes narrowing in on the necklace around my neck with malice. She was fully and truly insane.

  When she rushed me, I swung my arms out and up in a swinging arch, slicing neatly through the darkness that had become a physical boundary. She was caught off guard by my movement, and I watched as horror lit her face, and her eyes fell on Dahlia as she blinked in confusion. The others followed suit, taking in the scene around them.

  “Mauve?” Quillion asked, standing, anger lighting his face and fire igniting in his hands.

  Narissa’s eyes turned on me in disbelief before she slipped into the shadows, disappearing for all but me as she rushed through the crowds and chaos for the door. I gave chase, hurtling over bodies and dodging claws and teeth as I went, desperate to reach her in time. I tripped over a body and gasped when I saw the lifeless eyes of Cassia, her red curls sprawled around her face. Oliviana was on the floor beside her, weeping. My heart lurched, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t lose Narissa. I had no choice but to quickly move on. I heard her yell out after me, and I winced at the sound.

  I spotted Narissa waiting in the corner, hidden and watching the scene unfolding in front of her with glee. I was sprinting toward her when I was ambushed from the side. The air was knocked out of me in a whoosh as I hit the floor, daggers flying from my grasp. A creature was atop me, appearing to be part panther, jaws snapping as I pushed against its neck with all my might. I shifted, swatting at it with a giant paw, desperate to live. Blood seeped from a wound I had opened in its belly. I cried out in anguish as it fell.

  I conjured my dagger and disposed of the Shade, legs buckling when I saw the young girl lying in front of me.

  “Alyssa!” I heard Griffin cry as he slid to a stop above us. My stomach was churning.

  “What have you done?” he screamed and I winced. The sound of his voice was harsh, startling both me and the girl. She was still breathing. I could only assume this was one of his younger sisters.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I cried as I took his dagger, laying it to the girl’s wound and surged all the power from it into her. I could not use my own; I had to get to Narissa. The wound closed, and the girl cried out, jumping up to hug him.

  “Go!” he yelled, relief in his eyes as he held his sister and ran to get her to safety.

  I lost sight of Narissa and panicked before running for the exit. I saw her just about to slip out.

  “Coward! You run from a fair fight!” I yelled at her back as I fought to reach her in time. She turned on me, shocked that I could see her still. I froze feet from her, unsure of what I should do next. I conjured my daggers back into my hands, heart beating in my ears.

  “You do not survive as long as I have without being smart. I had a plan, and you are an unknown, much more powerful and valuable than we originally thought. It would not do well to kill you now and waste such . . . potential.”

  “I will not stop. I will keep coming for you until I avenge what you have done to my family. You will die by my hands,” I growled, my tigress roaring behind my words, and an evil grin split Narissa’s face.

  “So be it.” She shrugged as she turned the staff on me and sent a wave of darkness that knocked those surrounding us to their knees. The power slipped around and away from me easily, with no effort on my part. I stood taller, crossing my arms, and cocking an eyebrow.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” I goaded her, and she screamed in rage, sending a blast of power at me again. This time I felt it, just a little bit. My hair stood on end.

  My smile dropped as hers grew, determination in her eyes. I squeezed my daggers tightly in my hands and lunged, hoping to catch her off guard. She brought the staff up to easily block my advance, and I tried to push through her defenses. She pushed back with a force that I didn’t think she had, knocking me back. I circled her, trying to find the right time to advance.

  She blinked, and I brought a sweeping kick up at her head. She managed to block it with the staff with a loud smack, and my skin was immediately on fire. More than the normal sting from a slap; I saw the blood welling up on my leg and growled. The staff was tipped by a hidden blade! Her laugh was cut short by the staff as it began to glow hot and white. She yelped, dropping it to the floor as it burned her hands. No longer hidden, everyone turned to stare at her as I lunged for the staff and picked it up, pointing it at her. I could feel the staff, almost as if it was begging me to help it, to release it from the darkness.

  I sliced my hand on my dagger and quickly laid it against the wood of the staff and pushed, my magic pouring into it, darkness trying and failing to flee as it was obliterated by the light of my blood. I watched Narissa frozen in fear as she fell to the ground in front of me. I surveyed the room, and a sob broke from my throat. Blood and death, injured and helpless, people were either lying on the floor or fighting for their lives. Rowan was behind me, focused and fighting with all he had, outnumbered already. A bundle of a person with red hair was on the floor in front of him. Briony! Luca was at her side, blood flowing from a gash at his neck. He was shaking her . . .crying out to her. I couldn’t find the others in the fray, didn’t know who had survived to this point. I had to end this.

  When another creature joined the fight, grabbing Rowan’s arm and knocking his blade away, I panicked. I tried to run to him, but I couldn’t get there in time. I had to save him, to save them all. I squeezed the staff, pushing all the power I had left in me through it and screamed as my magic exploded outward in a blinding light that filled the room. It all happened in a matter of seconds, and I was left in the dark.

  EPILOGUE

  I blinked, eyes blurry and unfocused, and began fighting to regain
consciousness. I wasn’t in any pain. I felt almost as if I was floating. At first I couldn’t move, and I panicked when my toes didn’t respond to my brain. I tried my fingers, and when they twitched, I took a deep breath trying to calm myself.

  “Vinnie!” I heard a sob break from Rowan’s throat from my bedside. His face appeared above mine and he blinked back tears from his eyes. His hands cupped the sides of my face as a multitude of emotions sped toward me, and I took in his appearance. Both his hair and beard were longer; his eyes were exhausted with dark circles under them. His face appeared hollower, sunken somehow as if he hadn’t been eating much for a while.

  “Are you all right?” I tried to ask, but my voice cracked and my throat burned. The words were jumbled. I winced. He produced a cup of water from the table next to my bed and helped to prop me up. My body was slow and sluggish as if every extremity had been asleep and was just waking up. I felt painful prickles spreading throughout my body, and I tensed.

  “Drink,” he growled, putting the cup up to my mouth. I complied and tried to take in my surroundings. I was in the infirmary.

  “What happened?” I tried to ask, but he didn’t respond immediately. His eyes were fixed on me, taking in every inch as if afraid I might disappear. There was something visceral behind his eyes. He seemed off balance.

  “You saved everyone,” I heard Farran say as he pulled the curtain aside and entered the makeshift room. Tears sprang to my eyes as I took him in: hair cropped short and skin a few shades paler than usual but healthy and alive.

  “You survived!”

  “As did you.” He grinned, pulling me into a fierce hug.

  “What about the others? What happened?” I croaked, trying to remember the battle . . . the explosion of light.

  “The staff, you restored it with your blood, and in turn it amplified your light. From what I have heard, there was a blinding flash, and when it dulled . . . you were on the floor, but so was everyone who had been overtaken by the Shade. You released them, and beyond that you healed everyone who was in the room. It was miraculous. You saved so many lives.”

  “So no one died?” I asked, heart swelling with hope.

  “All battles are followed with loss, and though you healed those who were not mortally injured, the dead stay dead, Vivi.”

  “Who?”

  “We can discuss it at a later time. You’ve only just awoken. I need to retrieve Seraphina—”

  “Tell me now,” I growled, fear filling my gut. Rowan flinched at the sound, standing rigid at my side he glowered at Farran, who sighed disdainfully.

  “I need to know,” I whispered, and he nodded.

  “Twenty three deaths, not including those of the Six and our group.” He sighed, and I flinched. Twenty three lives lost and that was only the beginning.

  “Of our group?” I prompted.

  “Of the Six, Zoran and Orion. Of our group . . . Jonah, Finley, Tasmin, Marlowe, and Willa.” My stomach dropped. Grief filled me as Rowan pulled me to him. I could feel his anger at Farran flow, his worry for me overtaking all. I cried, confusion and guilt filling me because I was so happy that others had survived, that Rowan had.

  “Do not feel sorry for the dead, Vivi, for they surely would feel sorrier for you and the hardships you have yet to face,” Farran said softly.

  “You sound like a monk,” I tried to joke.

  “Yes, well, I spent some time with them.” He smiled.

  “How long was I out?” I asked, thinking of the first time I had used a burst of power and rendered myself unconscious. They shared looks before Farran finally spoke.

  “Just over a month.” My heart stopped. A month! An entire month lost. What had happened in that time?

  “Show me,” I said to Rowan. He stood rigid at my side as if at any moment Farran might jump at me and attack, which was absurd. I looked at Farran in confusion.

  “Unfortunately he can’t show you anything. Much to our chagrin and warnings that if and when you woke up and found out how he had been acting, you would be pissed- He didn’t leave your side unless absolutely necessary. Even held his meetings with the guard here in the infirmary. He’s been an absolute nightmare to deal with,” Farran groaned, and I winced. I looked Rowan and the room over again and saw the evidence of a month spent by my side. Books were piled on a table, maps lying out, pins stuck here and there.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” I complained, and he frowned. I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “What’s done is done,” he grumbled.

  “What’s done is never done,” Farran replied, but he ignored him.

  “How did I survive a month like this?” I questioned aloud. No food or drink? Was I truly out the entire time?

  “It was almost as if you were frozen in time. There was magic surrounding you, cocooning you, and preserving you. It was unlike anything any of us had ever seen before. We thought you would surely die, but a week passed and then two, then three, and nothing changed. You looked exactly the same. We weren’t sure if you would ever come out of it,” he admitted sadly.

  “Come here then, Farran. Let me see.” I complained, and he complied. I placed my hands at his head and watched the month of my life I had missed play out.

  The monks had helped him survive the night, pushing their magic into him to keep him alive to fulfill a purpose he had yet to discover. I saw him return, and I watched the guard fill him in on what had happened. I saw funerals and ceremonies dedicated to those who were lost. The novices of my group were inducted as guards for their services. I saw vigils held for my supposed sacrifice, the cleanup and rebuild that had already begun, and endless meetings on where to go from here. The rest of the group were alive and well, thrusting themselves into their work and helping to repair the security of those they swore to protect.

  Narissa had been captured and was being kept in the cells below the city to await judgment. So far she hadn’t done much but mumble unintelligently. Her mind seemed to be broken. The king’s staff had disappeared with the explosion of light. No trace of it was found, and Farran had looked diligently. Farran had received word from his Fae contact that Kieran was still within Ambrosine’s lands, and something had gone wrong with the deal that they made upon his entry. The guard had been meeting, trying to figure out a plan of action to deal with Kieran and whatever objects he might manage to retrieve from the Fae realm.

  Rowan had indeed been none too friendly with the others. His conflicted feelings raging just below the surface weren’t helped by the looks of pity he often received from the others. He had reverted to his short and gauche manner, his condition worsening by the day as I lay still, held by the output of all my magic. All in all, the kingdom was still roiling from the attacks and the losses they all had suffered at the hands of someone they had trusted, someone they had inadvertently put into power.

  Seraphina came into the room and shared a glare with Rowan that I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about. When her eyes met mine a smile split her face, dissipating the mounting tension.

  “Finally! Now we can get this oaf out of our hair!” she grumbled, flinging a hand Rowan’s way. When a low growl escaped his throat, I frowned at him in shock.

  “Behave yourself,” I complained, and he blinked at me, taking me in once again. I could see that he was balancing on a precarious edge. His emotions were everywhere. He couldn’t have slept in days and most definitely hadn’t been eating.

  “Go get yourself cleaned up and fed,” I said, and the growl came out at me this time, eyes flashing. I gaped at him.

  “Oh no, he didn’t,” I gasped at Farran, who shrugged as if to say, “This is what we have been dealing with.”

  I grabbed him by the front of his rumpled shirt and held his eyes firmly to mine.

  “Stop this. Control yourself.”

  “I cannot leave your side.”

  “You can and you will. Have you completely forgotten the deal we made? You’re supposed to be fitting in, not alienating yours
elf further.”

  “I care nothing of the thoughts of others. You are my only concern.”

  “Well, I care about the others. They matter to me.”

  “You have no idea what it was like, watching you stuck like that and being unable to do anything to help.”

  “I am looking at you right now and what I see certainly reflects that sentiment.”

  “I am fine.”

  “So am I.”

  He stared at me, eyes narrowed, for a moment longer before his entire body relaxed. His head dropped forward, and he fell onto my lap in a heap. I put my hands into his hair and sighed my own relief.

  “I need you to let Seraphina check me over so that we can leave here together. I’ll even let you carry me to my room if that’s what it takes. We both need to get ourselves cleaned up and fed before we have to face the others and deal with what is to come.”

  “I thought I might lose you. I couldn’t reach your mind. It was like the most important part of myself had gone missing from me. That I would indeed be cursed into existence without you was more than I could bear.”

  “You didn’t. I’m here.”

  ***

  Clean, dressed, and feeling steadier on my feet by the minute, Rowan was feeding me dinner in my room. He too was refreshed, groomed, and back in pristine order. I could almost ignore the desperate look that was still behind his eyes. I allowed him to spoon the soup into my mouth out of both his insatiable need to take care of me and my need for him to get whatever this was out of his system, and to return to the man who was ever in control. I couldn’t face the others yet. I needed to wrap my head around all that had transpired since the battle. It was enough to know that they were alive and well for now. When I had had my fill, I motioned for him to stop and sat back. He froze as if unsure, and when he moved the spoon toward me again, I tensed.