by D. D. Miers
My thoughts were shattered the moment Aedan returned with an armful of tree branches that tumbled loudly onto the rocky shore beside me. Curious at his methods, I sat up just in time to see the bundle of brush in his palm burst into a sudden curling flame. Setting that down, it took him no time at all to stack the remaining wood up, drawing forth a fire from which I felt a welcoming warmth.
“Thank you,” I murmured as I held my hands out before the flames for a moment before yanking my soaking boots free. Water poured out from within them, and while I still shivered from the chill that had settled deep within, I could feel it thawing second by agonizing second.
I stared into the fire, mesmerized by the curls of heat that licked at the stacks of wood. For a moment, I even felt like I was back home, at the encampment. Probably by now, they all thought I was dead, along with Killion. Hopefully Freda wouldn’t blame herself for being unable to stop me.
“Why was Killion at Nuxvar Pass?” I asked quietly as I edged as close to the fire as I could without injury.
“I wish I knew,” Aedan said before a lengthy sigh slipped from his lips. “My best guess is he went to investigate, to try and find a better way for us to pass through. I never would have allowed him to go alone had I known.”
“Did the two of you talk a lot about your lives?”
Though he stared into the fire, his smile warmed my heart. “We focused on training as much as possible, but what he spoke most about was you.”
I hoped behind the glow of firelight the flush of my cheeks would remain entirely obscured. Hopefully my brother hadn’t chosen my most embarrassing moments to share. “And all that time, I never knew. I never had a clue he was leading some…double life.” With a Fae lover and all.
“He didn’t want you involved. He didn’t want you to risk your life if he had the option to keep you safe.”
Those words made me smile. I could imagine hearing exactly that argument spill from Killion’s lips. It did sound just like him.
We dipped into silence, simply soaking up the warmth of the flame enough to thaw our fingers and toes and ensure hypothermia wasn’t close behind. At some point, Ronen and Darius joined us, huddling close in toward the fire without a word. Silence did seem the best course, and while I did not desire to be closer to them, I understood the importance of them not drowning or freezing to death either.
Eventually, when the light of day just began to peek above the far horizon, I found myself the one breaking the almost-tense quiet. “We should get going.”
The only response I received was when everyone jumped to their feet and kicked what remained of the smoldering fire out.
“Ronen?” I asked faintly, drawing his hesitant gaze upward.
“Yes?”
“How far could we travel on foot, before getting back in the water?”
“Here.” He handed me the rune, leaving me a bit puzzled as to why. “Put it in your pack. It shouldn’t be too far now, and I’ve got the map right up here.” He tapped the side of his temple with his finger, leaving me snorting as I shoved the rune into my bag, making it twice as heavy around my already-weighted shoulders.
Darius and Ronen trudged ahead, taking up the lead. At least this time, I wasn’t being pushed back into the water.
We traveled up the shore as far as we could, and it was a good thing indeed we’d chosen land over water. The farther upstream we went, the more challenging the river had become, dotted with rapids that only grew larger and deeper.
“Well, that would have been a bitch,” Darius said with a chuckle, while I found no humor remaining in me for him or his familiar.
Ahead, the sound of crashing water grew louder, until into view drew the most spectacular waterfall I’d ever seen. From the cliffs high above, water poured over the edge in a massive rush that fed the entirety of the great river. It would have been gorgeous, and I would have stared in awe longer, had I not heard Darius’s next words.
“There’s an open cave behind the falls. We need to swim to it.”
I couldn’t help the desperate cackle that left me. “You want us to swim under that waterfall? That’s suicide.”
“No.” Ronen’s head shook. “Not if you swim deep enough. Swim too shallow, though, and you’re right, the water will pummel you. So, ready?”
I heard the challenge in his voice, and just for safe measure, I tightened the strap of my pack, which held the two runes we’d already recovered. “Ready.”
We raced into the water, the cold far worse this time around as I had to endure it one body part at a time rather than simply plunging into the icy depths all at once. That, and up here, closer to the source, the water felt even colder. My breath escaped in tiny gasps as all I could hope for was to acclimate, but I knew that would never happen.
In, then out, that was all we needed. Get in there, get the rune, then leave.
Ronen and Darius vanished beneath the surface before I could take a solid breath. I inhaled deep, readying myself just as Aedan took a firm hold of my hand and pulled me beneath the waves. We swam down, my eyes barely able to adjust to the enveloping darkness, and my body aching immediately from the intense chill. Hard as I could, I kicked against the current, allowing him to judge the depth as we swam beneath a turbulent storm of rushing water.
He yanked me up, pushing me to the surface before he’d even breached for air. I gasped, the entire swim having taken far longer than I’d expected. Then, there was the sudden darkness of the cave within which we treaded water. More than anything I imagined something swimming beneath the depths, and my fears weren’t alleviated when Darius’s blade flickered with a rush of flame that allowed us at least a small amount of light.
What looked like algae and moss hung from the low ceilings above, and it appeared there was nowhere to go, save for grabbing onto the uneven crags of the walls like Ronen and Darius had done.
“Okay…” I warily looked to Ronen. “What now?”
“The cave goes underwater. It’s not that far. Go on ahead.”
“Oh, no, no.” I could barely believe my ears. “Don’t let me take the lead now. By all means, show us the way.”
Ronen scoffed. “I can’t. This one, only you can retrieve. Hand over the runes while you go.”
19
“What?”
My breath came out in a nasty hiss. I couldn’t help it, though. Everything about this felt entirely wrong. There was no way I was going to just hand over the runes and go on ahead without them.
Did they think I was stupid?
“Why?”
“Why what?” Ronen asked.
“Why am I the one who has to go?” I waved my hands in the air. “And how do you even know that? For all we know, you could be the only who can grab it.”
Ronen crossed his arms and looked down on me. “Caitrín.”
“Caitrín what?” I matched his posture. “She said only I could get it?”
“Yes, basically.” He smirked. “She had a vision that only someone of purity could claim the final stone.”
“Someone of purity?” I repeated.
For hell, were they talking about a virgin?
A blush crept up my neck when I glanced over to see Aedan watching me.
“Look…” Darius sighed. “Even if Caitrín hadn’t had this vision, it doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a tunnel. Would you prefer the four of us swim down together and end up stuck somehow? It’ll be far quicker for you to get in and get out, then we can all be done with this and go home.”
Darius may have had a slight point, but it did nothing to alleviate my massive concerns. They had still turned on us, and nearly caused severe harm, all in the name of a rune that had been blank.
“No,” I finally snapped. “Just no. I’m not just going to hand over these runes to you to—”
“Sloane,” Aedan interrupted, his tone firm enough to silence my objections. “They just lost friends back there. They’d been working together for years, so we’re all just on edge right no
w.”
“They attacked me!” I shoved his chest, pushing him away from me in the small cave. Even though the light of Darius’s flame and the rising sun were dim and filtered through the rushing wall of the waterfall, it was easy to see the look of hurt on Aedan’s face. Immediately, I regretted my outburst, even if I still believed it justified.
“Would you prefer an apology?” Ronen asked, drawing my utmost anger in his direction. “Because if that’s what it takes to get this ball rolling so we can be done here…”
This was all bullshit, but I was outnumbered and outmatched. If Ronen and Darius decided to lose their shit again, I would be of little help to Aedan.
“No, you know what? Fine.” It made zero sense to send the girl without a lick of magic into the dark watery grave. “I’ll go. You assholes just sit tight.”
Ronen’s laugh sent irritation coursing through me, setting my teeth on edge as I tried to psych myself up for what seemed like a nightmare come true. Enclosed spaces filled with water were never a favorite thing.
“Hand the runes over,” Ronen said with an outstretched hand. “We’ll hold them for you, so they don’t weigh you down.”
I wanted to protest, to shout and scream against all of it. I had no faith left they’d legitimately wait, but did they still need the third rune if they wanted to complete our mission entirely, so what did I truly have to lose?
“Here,” I said in a huff as I shrugged the straps off and handed my weighted pack over. It had been a bit heavy and cumbersome to drag around with the two runes in it, and I felt more buoyant without it.
“Well then, are we ready?” Aedan asked, drawing my brow into a tight pinch.
“We?”
“You really didn’t think I’d let you go down there alone, did you?”
Any protests lay dead on my tongue. There would be no convincing Aedan otherwise. In that moment, I hated to admit having him with me would at least slightly ease my growing fear.
“We’ll be waiting,” Darius said, a bit too singsong for my tastes.
“You better,” I muttered, too quietly for my voice to lift above the raging sounds of the waterfall. With one last glance at Aedan, I took in a deep breath, hopeful it wouldn’t be my last, before plunging beneath the icy surface.
I’d never been great at seeing underwater. Killion had been born with the skill, while I struggled to keep my eyes open because of the discomfort it caused. It was no different this time, and the sharp chill that swept across my forced-open eyes only made them ache more.
I kicked down, plummeting farther away from the surface, into darker and darker depths of the water. It was nearly impossible to see, so I had to feel ahead with my outstretched arms to find where rock began and my path ended. My hands bumped into something, and the surprise of it left my heart racing in my chest. My fingers danced across the rocky surface, realizing it was the sheer cave wall racing downward. If I found no light down here, I would never find my way.
A muffled scream bubbled from my lips as something wrapped around my arm. It took a panic-filled moment before I realized it was only Aedan. We swept farther into the depths, my lungs already aching for a sweet rush of air. Ignoring my body’s instinct, I increased my stroke and aimed for a glimmer of light ahead.
It wasn’t daylight, that was for certain, but the moment I broke through the surface, I was grateful just to still be alive. Air rushed back into my lungs in a heavy, prolonged breath that left dots dancing within my vision. There was nothing around me to cling to, no outcroppings beneath to stand upon or craggy holds to grasp to give my limbs a moment’s respite.
It was a mere pocket of air, a small dome of a lid that offered just enough space for the pair of us to float. Clinging to the roof was an unfamiliar plant, which covered like a thin moss and glowed as if inset with thousands of tiny sapphires.
“Are you all right?” Aedan asked the moment my breath had settled.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I had no newfound injuries, I was breathing, and I convinced myself the rune was now close by. “I just want to get this over with.”
“Stay here. I’ll get the rune.”
“No.” I was far more steadfast than even I had expected. Yet, for some reason, it felt very personal. “We’ve got to almost be there. I feel like I have to do this.”
He nodded and made no efforts to change my mind. “Touch your palms to the ceiling. You’ll need light if we’re going to find this thing.”
I pressed a palm to the damp rock ceiling. The crystalline glow transferred, remaining on my skin even as I dipped my hand beneath the surface of the water.
“Okay, that’s…not a normal plant.” I pressed my other palm upward, the faint bit of light a huge step up from none. At least now I would see if I were swimming farther into a cave or into the mouth of some nasty beast.
“All right, ready now?”
I laughed nervously. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
We dipped beneath the surface, my hands outstretched as beacons to lead my search. The tunnel narrowed, setting in a fear of becoming stuck and drowning with no escape. It was all an overreaction, though, because I slipped easily through the pinched opening that stretched into another vast underwater room.
The dim light from my hands illuminated the far stretch of wall. It lay caked in thick vegetation that swayed in what little current pulled through. I saw no more openings; the rune had to be in here.
I swam frantically across the space, my hands diving into every nook and cranny of rock, and beneath every mounting clump of weeds that threatened to hide my prize. The muffled silence that enveloped me suddenly felt deafening. I feared I would never find it, nor make it out alive.
Finally, I saw it.
More desperate than ever, my limbs shoved hard through the dark water toward the last and final rune. It nestled within a bed of vibrant plants that seemed ill-placed in the dark, watery grave. Snatching up the heavy rune, I kicked off from the solid ground and torpedoed in search of air with utter desperation.
I already knew I wouldn’t make it.
Though it weighed me down, I clung to the rune as I tried my hardest to ignore the overwhelming urge to breathe. All it would take was one single breath to fill my lungs with water, and I’d be lost here forever.
Suddenly, I was lost, uncertain which of the branching tunnels we’d come down. I wanted to cry out, to scream and let the tears fall, but it was futile. The water was too pressing, too engrossing, and all too chillingly cold for me to fight it.
My chest tightened, my eyes widening in absolute fear. I could fight it no more; I would die here.
20
Aedan’s arms swept me up, but I was too out of it to comprehend. My head bobbed in the churning water, and the vision of him blurred more by the second.
I grasped blindly with my free hand, my panicked grip weak in its attempts to convey I needed a miracle. He fought against me, washing me in confusion when he took a firm hold of both sides of my face.
Then, his lips were on mine.
They were soft and urgent, and my confused brain tried to make sense of why he’d taken this last moment of my life to kiss me. His amber eyes stared back at mine, the urgency within them not born of lust, but of life.
In a forceful rush, my lungs refilled, my chest blooming in ecstasy I couldn’t imagine would ever be replicated. A single questioning look from Aedan had me pulling back, overwhelming me with an odd sense of loss. However, we had a long way to go and weren’t free of danger yet. With a solid push, Aedan guided me up the correct winding path.
Now certain I’d survive, I hurried past the small outcropped bubble that had offered me a breath on the journey down. We had the last rune, we had survived, and we would make it home.
I broke through the surface, gasping for breath just as urgently as I had with Aedan’s lips covering mine. He appeared beside me, but my frantic search for the others was left empty-handed.
“Aedan,” I cried out. “Aedan, they’ve left us
!” I nearly dropped the last rune in my quick spins to find them, only for Aedan to grasp my shoulders.
“Sloane, calm down. They’re right outside the waterfall.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they shouted back when you said they’d left us.”
It was enough to have my head drop slightly, but not enough to satiate the curiosity that burned within. “Did you… Was that your magic? Did you just kiss air into me?”
His faltered laughter was short-lived, the press of his fingers beneath my chin lifting my gaze. “Sort of,” he answered without releasing me. “Before we go back out there, are you all right?”
My breath caught as I stared at him, but it wasn’t for lack of oxygen. My head bobbed, and I gently pushed his hands away. “I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
He smiled. The light caught his eyes, creating a beautiful reflection of the water. “It wouldn’t have worked without you. Without your willingness.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “The air? Or the kiss?”
“Your heart listened to our bond, and in turn, your soul trusted me enough to absorb the magic I offered to you. I didn’t so much ‘kiss air’ into you as I shared my magic with you. You’re the one who turned it into air; I simply guided you with the motion.”
“I turned your kiss into air?”
He nodded, “Yes.”
“If that’s true, I’m not even sure how I did it.”
“It is true.” A chuckle came from him as he circled his arms in the water. “You wanted desperately to breathe. When you absorbed my magic, you changed the breath I offered you into breathable air. Enough air to last you for as long as necessary.”
“Can everyone do that?”
“No, most can’t. It appears in our bond, you can manipulate my magic.”
“Then how did you know it would work? That you’d be able to help me?”
