Heart of Farellah: Book 3

by Brindi Quinn

  “The Song, my pit!” came a distant voice. “Don’t forget about that! Hmmm. Need me to step in, do you? Very well, then-”

  “Don’t Ardetto! It might be your power that’s sacrificed instead, and we can’t let that happen! Aura, the Song!”

  The Song of Healing? That’s right. But if I don’t sing it, Nyte’s stamina won’t be sacrificed.

  A voice in my head contradicted me: What happened to making the decision that was best for everyone? What happens the next time someone you love gets a life-threatening wound? Without your Song, you won’t be able to do anything!

  But Nyte . . .

  What if it was Nyte with a sword through his heart? What if you had to watch him die and were unable to heal him? Imagine what that would be like!

  That was it. That thought was all it took to spark the Song of Healing. Ancient words escaped me, wind formed from nothing, and my blue light, fueled by Nyte’s coursing warmth, lit the air around us.

  “ . . . AEL . . .”

  And then it was done.

  But I wasn’t.

  GIVE ALL OF IT TO ME! I WANT IT ALL!

  No . . . Stop . . .

  THIS TIME I’LL STEAL WHAT I COULDN’T BEFORE! THIS TIME, HIS SOUL IS MINE!

  Please . . . Don’t . . .

  I’LL CONSUME EVERY PIECE OF HIM, AND WE’LL FINALLY BE ONE!

  Finally one?

  Finally.

  Finally.

  Finally.

  Finally, Nyte will be mine.

  Chapter 17: The Hill

  When I opened my eyes, there was no sign of the moon.

  What happened?

  The answer to that was simple: I’d kept sucking long after the spell was through. Fortunately, Ardette and Darch had been able to wrench me from Nyte before I could cause him any real damage. I hadn’t stolen his soul. I hadn’t consumed him. I hadn’t done what I’d longed to do.

  Nonetheless, that warmth had been enough to return me to blackness.

  I was just now waking from it.

  “Good morning, sweet cherry.”

  “Ardette?”

  He was crouched over me.

  “Where are we? Where’s Nyte?”

  “Your boy’s sleeping. Seems that Song did a real number on him. His spirit’s not what it used to be, you know. I’m afraid he’s starting to show signs of his old age.”

  “Shut up.” I sat up and rubbed my dizzy head. “Where is this?”

  It looked like we were in the night-lit woods, but we were on a very steep decline, and everything had a strange purple glow to it. The air tasted thick, but it smelled good. Like lavender. If it weren’t for a purple-hued boulder directly in front of us, we’d have toppled down the slope.

  Ardette put his arm around me. “I’m not sure where we are. Darchy doesn’t know either. Seems like another transitional plane. A return to our world. I’ll miss this, though.”

  “Miss what?” I was still trying to gather what was going on.

  “Having you feel affection for me every now and again.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. You know I’ll always feel ‘affection’ for you. Just not the kind of affection you’d like.”

  He leaned his head on my shoulder.

  “You can’t do that,” I said, stiffening.

  “What? Why not?” He looked up at me. “Oh. You’re feeling it right now?”

  I nodded. My nails were digging into my thighs.

  “Sorry.” He sat up. “I’m just trying to enjoy this before it’s gone. Once this is all over, your boy will take you away, and I won’t get to see you anymore. There won’t be any moments like these.”

  The small something kicked. I wasn’t very good at differentiating between the feelings from my two lives, but I could tell now that all of me was sad. There wouldn’t be moments like these? I’d miss them, too. But I’d have Nyte. Forever, it would be Nyte with his arm around me. That was good enough for me. But even if I never experience intimacy with Ardette again, I’d still want to see him. He was my friend, and I’d miss just being around him. Just because I’d chosen Nyte, that didn’t mean that the normal part of my relationship with Ardette had to stop.

  “Well, we’re still going to be friends when this is all over,” I said. “It’s not like I’ll go into hiding within the Elven Kingdom or something. So we can always be friends, right?”

  “Friends,” said Ardette, staring at the ground. “Yes.”

  “So where is he?”

  “Over there with Darch.” Without looking, Ardette threw a lazy point over his shoulder. Darch was crouched over Nyte’s body behind another boulder. I wouldn’t be able to climb up this steep of a slope without something to hold onto. I’d have to wait until Nyte awoke and came down to me. That was disappointing.

  “Is he . . . going to be okay?” I asked. It was coming back to me. The repercussions of what he’d done. How extreme would they be?

  Ardette curled his lip in distaste. “He might be a little more nocturnal now, and he won’t be able to run for days on end, heaven forbid, but I’m sure he’ll be just as much of a show-off as he’s always been. In short, he’ll be fine.”

  “Really?” Even though it might’ve been a lie, it still made me feel better. “Thanks, Ardette.”

  “For?”

  “Making me feel better. Especially when it comes to him.”

  “What are friends for?”

  “You don’t have to be so sarcastic.”

  “I’m not.” He sighed and set his head down again. “I love you so much.” I stiffened again, so he hastily added, “Like a brother, of course.”

  “Right. Like a brother. A brother that wants to . . .” I couldn’t finish because the small something rammed against my ribcage.

  Knock it off!

  Ardette laughed. “What? Go on, say it, why don’t you? Too shy? Maybe a brother that wants to do this?”

  He pushed the hair from my shoulder and slid his face to the base of my neck.

  I rammed him in the jaw with my shoulder. “You’re on dangerous ground.”

  “I know. I’m only teasing you. It’s just a little harmless fun. What? Can’t handle it?”

  “Harmless. Uh-huh. Okay, Ardette.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “You’re over here for a reason. Darch let you over my unconscious body alone for a reason. What is it you’re supposed to tell me? Is it about what happened between us in our first life? Because if it is, I’d be wholly open to full disclosure.”

  He frowned. “Oh? Perceptive, are we? Yes, it’s true there’s something. But . . . it isn’t something that I can tell you. Part of the deal, you know. There is, however, one loophole. There was never a rule made that said I couldn’t show you.”

  “Show me?” I asked, shifting my shoulders to face him.

  With red eyes of intensity, he swallowed and brought a thumb to my chin. “Do you trust me, my cherry pit?”

  “Yeah.” It was getting hard to breathe, much like it became whenever I was like this with Nyte. “Of course I do.”

  “Then . . .” He swallowed again, tilted his head, and leaned forward.

  “Nyte’s awake!” yelled Darch.

  Ardette stopped to scowl. “Damn it, Darch!”

  We’d almost kissed. AGAIN. How could I keep letting this happen?! I hadn’t even resisted or anything this time! But . . . it had been to ‘show me’ something, so was it okay?

  The line was becoming too gray. It wasn’t safe.

  “Nyte?” I cranked my neck to catch sight of him, but that meddlesome boulder was in the way. “Darch, can you get him down here?”

  “Easy, Nytie. How do you feel? We’re within a high concentration of the moon’s light, so you should feel pretty normal. The way I understand it, it’s just during the day or under the eastern moon’s cycle that you’ll notice a difference.”

  “I am fine,” came a faint, unlike-Nyte reply.

  Nyte, you don’t sound ‘fine’!

  Darch didn’t see
m to notice. “Well, that’s just great!” he said. “Can you stand?”

  “Yes. Where is she? Where is Aura?”

  “Nyte! I’m here!” I called.

  “She’s a-okay! She’s right down there with Ardetto.”

  “Thank the Creator,” said Nyte. There was a scraping noise, and a moment later, he pushed himself up and peeked over the side of the boulder. “Miss Havoc,” – a beam lit his face – “what trouble have you gotten us into this time? Can you not refrain from leading us into such abnormal places?”

  Thank the Creator, indeed. He didn’t look frail or anything. In fact, he looked pretty normal.

  Beaming in a similar manner, I teased, “Why don’t you get come down here and dish it out to my face.”

  “I will be glad to do so. However, your face is of great importance to me, so I shall surely be gentle.”

  “Blegh.” Ardette hid his mouth in his sleeve.

  “Well, you heard her!” sang Darch. “Let’s get down there! Here’s how we do it!’

  Holding on to the boulder, Darch inched around its smooth side. While still clinging tightly to the edge, he eased himself onto his bottom and scooted out a ways. Then, without a shout of warning, he let go and slid perilously down the hill at full speed.

  “Whoo!” he cried.

  But my cry was something else entirely – “Waaaah!” – because he was coming right for us.

  Having witnessed several of these tumbles before, Ardette knew what to expect, and he pulled me to the side, out of Darch’s direct path. That was fine for Ardette and me, but it looked like the speeding Magir would barrel into our boulder at crushing extent. If he kept on like that, he’d definitely be broken.

  “Ardette! Do something!” I yelled.

  At the last minute, however, Darch dug his heels hard into the ground and slowed his fall enough to keep from serious injury. Even so, he managed to smack into the boulder pretty hard.

  Smiling brightly, he rubbed the side of his face. “See?”

  “THAT’S how you guys do it?!”

  Ardette helped Darch straighten himself out. “Correction: that’s how Darch does it. I, on the other hand, do it like this.”

  He shuffled in his pack, and pulled out two wooden pegs that had been whittled into points. He handed them to me.

  “Hold these, would you?”

  “You had time to whittle something?” I asked. “Just how long was I out?”

  “A spell.” He removed his cloak, revealing a rare glimpse of the frilly shirt underneath. Without his covering, he really did look like some sort of pirate.

  “Will you say, ‘Arrr’?” I asked on impulse.

  The corners of his mouth flinched. “What?”

  “Never mind.” I held back a laugh.

  Very properly, and while eyeing me quizzically, Ardette rolled up his sleeves and returned his pack to his back.

  “Now then.” He pulled the whittled pegs from my hands, leaned around the side of the boulder, and pointed. “I’ll aim for that rock there.”

  Still leaning out to the side, he stabbed the pegs deep into the earth. First one, then the other. Holding tight to them, he kicked his legs around the side of the boulder, and used the planted pegs to hold himself up, dangling, by his hands.

  “See, my pit? Like so.”

  He removed his right hand peg, lowered it a foot or so, and stabbed it into the ground again with a forceful blow. He proceeded to move down the side of the hill like that, lowering himself a bit with each new stab. He stopped to rest only when he reached the boulder he’d set as his goal.

  “Well?” he called, wiping his forehead. “Which method do you prefer?”

  “Can’t you just flicker yourself to shadow or something?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be easier?”

  “Excuse me, ‘flicker’? Is that what you call it? Cute. No, as I’ve explained before – if you would listen to a word I say – it’s difficult the pass through things that aren’t flesh. Possible, yes, but if I wasted all of my energy on that, I’d probably collapse before reaching the next tier.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’ve left a pair of these,” – he held up the whittled things – “with Darch for you. Otherwise, you can follow that imbecile’s example, and I’ll catch you at the end. Just be certain your aim is on, would you? We wouldn’t want you tumbling to your demise.”

  Uh . . .

  Nyte, who’d been observing all of this, suddenly spoke up. “No, we would not want that.” He eyed the purple ravine below, smirking, and then brought his attention back to me. “Well, Miss Havoc? What will it be? The Daem would like to know which you prefer.” His voice held a hidden laugh.

  “What?” I asked. “Why are you so amused?”

  Ardette narrowed his eyes. “Yes, boy, do share.”

  “I simply think that it would be amusing to witness Aura attempting either of these methods.” This time, he openly laughed.

  “Hey!”

  “My love, I apologize, but that is just how it is. Ardette?”

  “You do have a point.”

  “Hey! Not you too!”

  Ardette sighed. “Well then, what would you suggest? I imagine you’ve got some sort of plan to be acting so smugly?”

  As it turns out, the ‘smug’ Nyte did have a plan.

  “Miss Havoc, stand aside.”

  “Stand asi-”

  But I was cut off when Nyte made a running start off the side of the boulder and started free falling toward Darch and me. He landed one foot on the side of the hill, pushed off against it, and continued to soar at us before landing in a crouch next to Darch.

  “Impressive, Nytie!”

  “The method most suiting for our fearless leader,” he said, bending low to reach my eye level, “would be for her to merely close her eyes.”

  He didn’t wait for me to close them, though, before scooping me into his arms and performing the fall again, this time while holding me close to his chest. He landed in another crouch next to Ardette.

  “Ugh. You’re lucky we’re within the moon’s influence, Elf. Indulge. You won’t be able to act so flamboyantly during the daytime anymore.”

  Wearing an impish smirk, Nyte shrugged and set me down.

  “Just how bad will it be during the day?” I asked, afraid to know the answer.

  “It matters not, Aura. All that is important is that in this moment I can help you reach safety.”

  “Guys?” Darch was the only one still above us. “Before we start talking about ‘safety’, you might wanna look over there.” He sounded more than a little anxious.

  “Oh, wonderful,” said Ardette. “Spotted something fun, have you? Well, where is-? Oh.” His eyes fell on the thing Darch had been pointing to, and it made him reach for his saber. “Damn. I suppose it’s to be expected. They do collect in these sorts of places, don’t they? Not that I’ve ever actually seen one before.”

  “What?” I said, taking a step back. “What is it?

  Nyte drew his sword. “Behind me, Aura.”

  “What do you see?! Tell me!”

  He shot a sideways glance at Ardette before answering,

  “Suckles.”

  That’s when I finally found what they were looking at. There, just off to the left, was a pair of glowing purple eyes within the center of a tree. The tree below it had a similar pair, and another was contained within the tree below that.

  There were dozens.

  “Well, the witch did say it wouldn’t be easy, didn’t she?” said Ardette. “Darch, get down here.”

  Obeying the command, Darch made another wild leap into a slide, but this time Nyte caught him, completely eliminating any threat of a tumble-induced injury.

  “Are you sure those are suckles?” I asked. “I don’t hear any chiming, do you? And don’t they need chime trees?”

  Ardette stared at a pair of purple glows. “Who knows? We’d best be on our guard, though. You fought them before, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,”
said Nyte. “At the grove called Wanzyr. Were they to chime, an Elven barrier would block it and so as well would Aura’s song.”

  “But if there is no chime?” asked Ardette.

  “Then they’re no threat, right?” I said.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Darch.

  “Why not? They won’t leave the trees, so as long as we don’t go near them, we should be fine, right?”

  “Hmm.” Darch tapped his chin. “Is that how the suckles at Wanzyr behaved? They lured people in via sound?”

  “Yes,” said Nyte.

  “Well, as I understand it, suckles will form a relationship with anything they happen to dwell around. I would be careful. Even though it might not be through sound, it’s possible they’ve got a different means of luring us in.”

  “Like what?”

  But as soon as the words left my mouth, something happened, revealing just what other way the suckles might try.

  Unbeknownst to us, a snake-like root had been sneaking its way down the hill, undetected and filled with ill intent. With a whipping slip, the devious thing coiled itself around Darch’s middle and yanked him to the edge of the ledge.

  Darch grabbed at the coil. “Whoa! Uh, guys?! Can I get a little help, here?”

  “Darch?!” I started forward, but Ardette held me back with an outstretched arm. “What is that?!”

  “Cease movement!” Nyte readied his sword for a freeing cut, but the coiling root gave another hard tug and pulled Darch completely off of the boulder and into the steep side of the hill. It was going to pull him to the suckles.

  “Whaaa!” Feet kicking, Darch frantically pulled at the plant wound around his waist.

  “Stop, you idiot!” yelled Ardette. “Stop squirming, would you?! If the thing becomes loose, you’ll fall, and there aren’t any safe places directly below for you to land!”

  “Ardetto! Help!”

  “Just stop wiggling!” Ardette pulled out his steaks for another scaling endeavor. His intention was to climb out to retrieve Darch.

  “Hold off!” said Nyte. He studied the root. “Why has it ceased?”

  It was true; the vine hadn’t pulled Darch to the suckles. It was simply holding him there against the side of the hill. It didn’t make any sense.