by J E Reed
“They had to get back to their people.”
K.J. eyed her for a moment then continued. “That’s fine. I’m happy to say, Scorpios made great progress with Leena and they’re on board to help in the coming realms. Reece managing his own castle raised some concern, but that’s only due to the belief that he’ll be operating under my command. I assured them otherwise.”
Kiuno adjusted herself in the chair. “Does Atilla know Reece has his own castle?”
K.J. nodded. “He was furious.”
“The meetings are going to be interesting now.”
K.J. grimaced. “I’ll need your help in ensuring the peace when that happens.”
I can’t stay and watch you love him.
Kiuno glanced at Elite then back to their hands. What would those meetings be like now?
“Enough already.” Palindrome placed her hands on the table and stood. “We can talk about the ins and outs later. Right now, I think a celebration is in order.”
K.J. chuckled and leaned back from the table. “And this is why people love her.”
42: Breathless
Realm: 5
Day: 317
Kiuno padded through the soft grass, her hand clutched in Elite’s warm grip as if he were her lifeline. They walked to the far bathhouse where Palindrome had commanded a fire be tended.
Kiuno’s heart pounded with every step.
Elite knelt and peeled her shoes from blistered feet. He lifted the hem of her shirt and left burning trails wherever his fingertips met her skin. Kiuno’s body ached with every movement, but it wasn’t the only thing that hurt these days.
She dipped her feet into the water and the heat stung every scratch and scrape as she lowered herself beneath the surface. Elite slid into the hot water beside her and silence settled between them. She grabbed a brush and set to scrubbing her arm.
Kiuno felt numb, like she waded through a dream and all her happiness could crumble with the throw of a stone.
She scrubbed and then scrubbed some more, the skin turning red from both heat and friction. There was so much to wash away, but no matter how clean her skin appeared she couldn’t rub away the painful wound gripping her heart.
Elite gently peeled her fingers off the brush and pulled her body against his own. It felt strange somehow. Normal, yet not. She’d rushed into his arms, grateful to see him and all her pent-up emotions had flooded to the surface. Then Reece left and K.J.’s talk had brought reality slamming down.
Kiuno rested against his chest, but it still felt surreal. Like he would disappear any moment and leave her drowning all over again.
Elite ran his fingers through her scalp then traced them over her shoulders. Something in her body responded, a piece of their former life clicked into place. She nestled against him and watched the ripples on the water’s surface.
“Something happened between you and Reece.” She shuddered at the calmness in his tone. This was it. This is what would tear him away again.
Kiuno fought to keep her breathing even, but her body still trembled. Not again. Her heart couldn’t take it. She wouldn’t survive a back and forth… but she couldn’t lie either.
Trust was their cornerstone. Trust made their marriage strong. It was an equal give and take as one respected the other.
“Yes.” It was the only word she could form.
Elite remained silent, but his hand never stopped trailing across her skin. As if he were reassuring her of his presence. She’d been crushed by his absence and Reece had reeled her back from the edge of an abyss so dark she hadn’t even recognized herself.
“We kissed.”
Elite’s fingers paused.
“Reece wanted a future, but I…” She stopped and her heart pounded in her ears. Silence stretched between them so thick Kiuno thought she might choke.
“Do you love him?”
Her heart jolted and she turned to meet beautiful eyes full of sadness and longing. Eyes she thought lost to her. One look and she understood exactly why Reece had run.
Love. Passionate and unbridled.
Kiuno traced Elite’s strong jaw, then ran her fingers down his neck, lingering on the throbbing pulse. “I love you.”
He grasped her fingertips and kissed them but held her gaze. “That’s not what I asked.”
Kiuno looked away and their hands fell beneath the water’s steamy surface. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
Elite’s jealousy had never been a secret. She’d faced it more than once. With her choice of friends heavy on the male side, it’d led to a quarrel or two. But this. This was different.
Elite tried to tilt her chin, but she resisted.
“I’m angry with myself, not you. But I need to know.” She relented and met his gaze. “Do I need to win your heart back or is it still mine?”
Kiuno’s eyes misted. “I don’t know what I felt. Everything was different. I was different.” She took a shaky breath. “A small part of me is grateful to him you know? But love?” She shook away the tears and placed a hand on his face. “You’re the one I love and that never changed.”
A sad smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Elite grasped her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. He trailed it down her arm before consuming her mouth in a kiss her soul yearned for.
Elite laced his fingers through her hair. “That’s all I need.”
~~~
FIRES DOTTED the field and the main hall was in full swing by the time they joined the festivities.
Kiuno wanted to run, to disappear in their room and forget the rest of the world existed, but Elite pulled her toward their table. Toward the friends she’d shunned in her grief.
They greeted the couple and Blue slid a drink her way.
They laughed, teasing one another as they always did. Normal. As if the last month hadn’t almost killed her. Kiuno studied them, Liam in particular. He’d become stronger, but since coming to the front lines she hadn’t made time for him. She hadn’t trained him or talked to him and yet he smiled.
She looked to Scorpios, Silver, and Maltack. People who still followed her. She’d rejected them. She’d abandoned them rather than facing her pain. What kind of leader did that?
The activities and conversations moved in slow motion. Like a movie she watched from the outside, desperate to take part, but bound away by some unseen force. She sat frozen as they relished in the warmth of one another’s company. They shared stories. They gave sympathies. She gave nothing, unable to pull herself to the present.
“Are you okay?” They repeated the question and it wasn’t until the noise at their table paused that Kiuno came to. Each peered at her with worry written across their faces. Elite squeezed her arm.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied.
“Exactly what a woman says when she’s the opposite,” Blue said.
Scorpios set his drink on the table. “Here we are celebrating, and you’ve barely had time to process. Perhaps you two should retire early.”
Kiuno shook her head. Elite wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Silver started conversation again, but each kept eyeing her as if she might shatter at any moment.
And she might.
She might implode never to be found again in the shattered remnants of her heart. The guilt, loss, relief, love, and confusion played tug-of-war in the core of her being.
Elite startled Kiuno by taking her hand and pulling her up. She gave him a confused look until he led her to the dance floor. Every eye burned a hole through her back. This was the last place she wanted to be.
He stepped, forcing her back as she followed the simple movement. It was slow, testing, reminding, but her heart ached too much. They stepped again, the pattern reminiscent from their first lessons.
The next bit required her lead and she answered by stepping forward as if in challenge. A show for the eyes watching. Kiuno took a step to the side, spun, and gave him a pitiful attempt at a smile. He’d know. He’d understand, but as she turned back to the table, E
lite tugged her arm and took control again, turning her in a more advanced step.
Another click. A smile.
Kiuno’s heart fluttered with each motion and Elite’s grin melted the last sliver of ice guarding her heart. He jumped her into a spin and lifted her from the ground before twirling her again. They froze on the dance floor, the noise fading until they were the only two in existence.
Never forget how to dance.
She’d forgotten. She’d forgotten this happiness and the soaring feeling of his love. A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as he spun her again and their familiar motion reminded Kiuno of promises. Reminded her of him.
Kiuno gripped his hand tighter and moved as she used to. She knew his motions. She knew his love and she’d never let it slip away again.
43: Maltack
Realm: 5
Day: 323
Flames clashed against Maltack’s barrier and crawled around the perimeter of Scorpios’s body. Scorpios twisted to the side and countered Kiuno’s blow. Steam splayed across the area as fire and water collided again and again.
Maltack knew Scorpios could maneuver his way around her attacks without help, but he kept his focus.
One moment of distraction could lead to a scar Scorpios would always possess and regret Kiuno would never forget.
Maltack’s gaze roamed from the battle several yards away to Elite who knelt at his side. Elite watched the two with calculated eyes, his hand tearing a blade of grass to pieces.
At one time anxiety would have consumed him, but now Elite’s shoulders were relaxed as he studied their movements. Maltack might have even called him curious.
“She’s something else huh?” Maltack offered.
Elite grinned and stood, wiping the blades of grass from his hands. His eyes never left Scorpios or Kiuno as the two continued to pit their magic against one another.
Scorpios still outmatched Kiuno and he probably always would. Kiuno struggled to contain her magic, thus expending more energy than necessary. She tired quickly as a result.
Ice crawled along the ground, freezing one blade of grass after another. Kiuno summoned a circular blast of flames to incinerate the danger.
She placed both hands on her knees and took several breaths. “Should we call this a draw?”
Scorpios scoffed and pulled particles of water from the air, surrounding himself with spears of ice. Kiuno huffed, righted herself, and summoned her magic again.
“You never mentioned your wife could use magic.”
Maltack turned to find a young, slender woman standing beside Elite. She’d tied her red hair in a tight ponytail and chewed on an apple while observing the two fighters. Daggers hung from each hip.
“You never asked,” Elite replied. “Finally decide to join the living?”
She snorted. “A girl has priorities.”
Sharp, green eyes met Maltack’s gaze and his face heated. He turned back to the battle. Kiuno cursed when a shard of ice plunged into her shoulder and the others exploded in droplets of water that fell harmlessly to the ground.
Scorpios and Elite ran to her side, each assessing the damage.
All eyes turned to Maltack.
His face reddened further, and Elite helped Kiuno from the ground. She winced, grabbing at her shoulder.
Scorpios crossed his arms. “I think Maltack is done for the day.”
Elite wrapped an arm around Kiuno’s waist and whispered words unknown as they approached him. Maltack cursed himself. He’d gotten distracted.
Kiuno collapsed on the ground and Maltack went to work on the puncture wound in her shoulder.
“Sorry about that.”
Maltack’s gaze flickered toward the girl again and his heart surged. Green eyes seemed to bore through his being. As if she knew all his secrets.
“H-Hey, I’m Maltack.” He inwardly kicked himself for stuttering.
She studied him and took another bite of the apple. “Vixin, and I’m not interested.” With that she gave Elite a casual wave and started back to the castle. Maltack stared, feeling as though he’d lost before he even started.
44: Assault
Realm: 5
Day: 325
Kiuno sprinted, keeping pace with Scorpios and Elite as they made their third pass around the outside wall. Her legs and lungs screamed for mercy, but she wouldn’t stop if they didn’t.
They circled the castle gate again, hopefully for the last time that morning, but distant screaming had the trio skidding to a halt. They listened. Waited. Then it sounded again, echoing across the field as four men entered their view.
Kiuno’s heart thundered as a group of reptilian-like creatures gave chase. One jumped, its powerful legs carrying it toward its helpless victim. His scream died as blood poured from the tear in his throat.
Kiuno ran toward the men with Scorpios and Elite at her side. Water shot from Scorpios’s hand and collided with one of the creatures. The liquid solidified, trapping the reptile in an icy prison.
Kiuno reached for her sword and cursed. She couldn’t use her magic without Maltack’s help and getting too close to the creatures would only result in—shards of ice flew past her in rapid succession. The beasts shrieked, shriveling in on themselves then collapsed. One attempted to stand, but it fell again, drowning in a puddle of its own blood.
Three men remained, each sucking in air as they stood in the field glancing between her, Scorpios, Elite, and the creatures.
Scorpios knelt. “What happened?”
His voice shook. “The monsters. They just kept coming. We tried.”
Scorpios placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Calm down. Where were you stationed? Where are they coming from?”
His body shook as he pointed. “The portal.”
~~~
KIUNO PACED outside the medical house waiting for Palindrome’s say. The men were fine, but it wasn’t their wellbeing that concerned her. It was what they’d said.
The portal. Did he mean the portal to the sixth realm?
The felinians lived there. Jim was there and if monsters were attacking they’d never make it in time.
Palindrome emerged, but Kiuno couldn’t read her stoic expression. “Follow me.”
Kiuno shot Elite a glance, but neither him nor Scorpios said anything as they followed Palindrome into the castle. She ordered K.J. and a set group of others to join them in the meeting room.
Minutes ticked by as one person entered at a time. Kiuno kept glancing at Palindrome, but the woman seemed determined to keep her lips sealed until everyone arrived.
Finally, K.J. closed the doors. “What’s going on?” His eyes darted around the room in search of answers.
“We have a problem. Three men just showed up claiming monsters are emerging from the sixth realm’s portal.”
He stopped pacing. “Are you sure? They’ve never been able to transverse the realms before.”
Palindrome nodded. “They’re sure. Cybele helped them escape to call us for aid. Initially, they flew upon felinians to get here, but they reported being cast off after the creatures heard their brethren’s call. From there they ran as fast as they were able.”
K.J. cursed and leaned against the table. “We won’t make it in time.”
Heavy silence settled over the room.
It wasn’t just felinians who lived there, but people. People with children. Felinians with their young.
Kiuno’s heart ached as she recalled Nikita playing with the cubs. They wouldn’t be strong enough to fly away…
Palindrome broke the silence. “Cybele is a strong leader. She’ll head this way. The least we can do is meet her in the middle.”
K.J. nodded. “Let’s go.”
45: Reece
Realm: 5
Day: 325
Reece and four men heaved another log against the gated door. Their enemy rammed against it, shattering the wood in places that let their weapons slide through. Six bodies lay on the ground already, two groaning for help. The s
moke clouded his lungs and Reece traded positions with one of his men.
He jogged toward the castle with the echo of death in his wake.
They were losing ground. Some had already given up, sending prayers to whatever god they worshiped while others worked to keep the wall intact, desperate to fight till their last breath. The lot of them were exhausted from the morning assault and despite their best efforts the creatures had forced them to retreat behind the wall.
Shouts to his right caught Reece’s attention. He wiped the sweat from his brow and tugged at energy he didn’t have. Vines erupted from the boot trodden earth and wrapped around the crumbling stone. It wove itself between the creases as men leaned boards against the structure.
He bounded up the stairs thereafter and caught his informant by the arm. “Any change?”
The young man shook his head. “They’re still crawling from farther than I can see.” His voice shook, and his eyes went wide as men hollered from outside and another crash reverberated off the walls.
Reece let the boy go and took a moment to lean against the entryway of the main hall. Dizziness threatened, but he fought against it and righted himself again. Reece entered the castle. Three men stood near a table, worry lines etching dirty faces.
“Have you gotten through?” Reece asked.
“We’ve lost over a dozen trying. They sense us no matter how we move whether it’s above ground or below it.”
Reece clenched his teeth. “Help the men keep the barricades up. Hold it for as long as possible.”
“Sir, with respect—”
“We’re not going down without a fight. We might all die, but I’m taking those bastards with us.”
“Yes, sir.” The men ran from the hall, drawing their blades and Reece leaned against a pillar in the shadows.
If he could contact Cybele and get reinforcements, they might stand a chance, but without it… Reece shook his head, he finally got a castle of their own and it was going to kill them.
