Beyond the Mountain

by Lily Archer

  “I can’t take that.”

  “It is mine to give.” She fastens it around my neck. “Wear it well, and remember me.” She presses her forehead to mine then backs away and begins to shine, her gryphon form emerging as she disappears in a bright flash of white.

  I stroke the stone and swallow my tears for Delantis. She’s right. I will see her again. I can feel it in my heart. But right now, I have work to do.

  I square my shoulders and face the magic. “Tell me how to get back. Do I just climb the rope?”

  It stops dancing and motions me closer. “Come here, winter queen, and I’ll tell you a secret about the child of many worlds.”

  I lean toward it, and the magic cups its hands next to my ear and whispers.

  18

  Leander

  I hold her.

  The walls quake with the ice of my fury and loss.

  I hold her.

  The ceiling cracks and falls in chunks, obliterating soldiers as my Phalanx jumps out of the way.

  I hold her.

  “Leander.” Beth rushes to my side, her wide eyes focused on my beloved. “She isn’t … Is she? Is she dead?” She takes Taylor’s hand and moans, her eyes filling with tears.

  “We have to get out of here.” Valen wakes, his voice weak. “The mountain top is caving in.” He casts a glance up the stairs. “Shathinor is dead. It’s time to go.”

  “Go.” I stroke Taylor’s cheek, wiping away the last of her tears.

  “Leander, come—”

  “Go, I said.” I don’t raise my voice. I don’t move to leave. I don’t do anything, except …

  I hold her.

  My love, my mate, my heart, my soul. Her end is also mine. I will go to the Ancestors with her. It’s not a road she should walk alone.

  Gareth runs up, bloodied and battered, but alive. “Leander, if we stay here, we die.”

  I look up at him, my hollow heart beating a funeral march. “Don’t you see? I’m already dead.”

  “No.” He holds his hand out for me.

  I don’t take it. “All of you go, leave this place now before it’s too late.”

  Brannon and Thorn walk up the steps, both of them covered in gore with an injured Gray held between them. “We’re not leaving—”

  “I command you as your king to leave me here. Go back to the winter realm. Choose a new king.”

  “No.” Gareth reaches for me again. “You are not going to die here.”

  “Did you not hear me, old friend?” I shake my head, and my loss is reflected in his barren face. “I’m already dead. Now, go. I command it. Your oath to me demands obedience.”

  Beth wails and hugs Taylor tight, her heaving sobs telling of a loss almost as great as my own. And I suppose losing the only friend you ever had can break you almost as badly as losing a mate.

  Gareth struggles to my side and sits on the stair next to me. “Go, friends. I will see our king to the Ancestors.”

  “No, you won’t.” I jerk my chin at Beth. “This one needs your protection. Take her with you.”

  “What will you do?” Gray asks as a hunk of ceiling shatters behind them, the mountain top shaking more violently.

  I stroke Taylor’s face. “I will hold her. Now go. I demand it as your king, and I call on your sacred oaths to obey me.”

  The tang of magic coats the air, and the oath takes hold. Gareth grits his teeth, but he rises, a trickle of blood flowing from his nose as he tries to fight his promise. But it’s too strong. The old magic binds us, enforcing his vow no matter how he wants to disobey.

  “Leander.” His anguish should move me. It would have, before. But now? I can feel nothing but her loss, sense nothing but emptiness, and care for nothing but seeing her again in the Glowing Lands.

  He takes a knee before me as do the others, all of them bowing their heads.

  “My friends, it has been my honor to serve with you. No king has had a more loyal court.” I pull Taylor closer as Beth releases her hold. “I will see you all again on the other side. Long may you live in this world.”

  “My king.” Their voices meld into one as they rise.

  “Beth.” Gareth holds out his hand, and she takes it.

  “When you see her, tell her I love her.” Beth sniffs. “And that I’m still mad about not getting to watch the mating.” Her small laugh turns to tears, and Gareth pulls her to his chest.

  “Shhh, changeling.” He kisses the crown of her head.

  A landslide of rock takes out the right side of the throne room, burying our former cage in boulders and shards of sharp stone.

  “Hurry,” I urge.

  They turn, their shoulders low, their hearts heavy. But again, I can’t feel anything. She took my soul with her. I am empty.

  Gareth gives me one more long look, and I know he wants to say more, to convince me to come with him. But the oath forces him to turn his back on me, because above all, Gareth is honorable. He and the others disappear into the corridor as more stone falls, crushing the bodies left behind, a few of the undead moaning.

  I return my gaze to my beautiful mate. “I thought we would have more time.” I kiss her forehead. “Centuries of learning each other. Children.” I choke up at that, thinking of a babe with her wild blue eyes and my dark hair.

  More stone falls revealing the night sky, the stars close enough to touch.

  “I know so much about you but not enough.” I rock her gently. “But I will see you soon, and we can be together. Just not here.”

  The mountain trembles and cracks as I send my ice deep into its core, breaking the stone and ending my suffering.

  19

  Taylor

  My chest hurts. Bad. The next time I stab myself, I’m definitely not doing it through the heart. Sheesh.

  Leander’s strong arms hold me close as my eyes open, and I inhale his winter scent. He’s singing again, the same song he serenaded me with as I slept in his arms at the Vundi stronghold. I love the sound of his voice. But the sound of the throne room crumbling around us? Not so much.

  “Leannnrr.” I speak against his chest and push back.

  He jumps, his song ending as he stares down at me with wide, haunted eyes.

  “Taylor?” He says it so softly, as if afraid I might disappear if he speaks too loud.

  “It’s me.”

  “How?” He shakes his head.

  “The bond. Just like Delantis said. Our bond saved me.”

  “I don’t understand. But I don’t care.” With a yank, he pulls me to his lips and crushes me in a kiss that sets my soul on fire, the bond surging to life. I hold onto it tight, determined to never let it go again.

  I wrap my arms around him, tears coating my cheeks as I breathe him in. My love. My everything. He runs his hands down my wings, and I shiver. Then he pulls back and inspects my chest.

  “Healed?” He runs his fingers along the spot where the obsidian blade pierced me. “Completely healed.”

  “Magic.” I wiggle my fingers and green appears.

  “You have healing magic?”

  “A little gift straight from the otherworld.”

  The mountain rumbles, the back of the room collapsing and blocking the corridor.

  “What happened?” I look around at the destruction, all of it coated with frost.

  He cups my face in his palms. “You died.”

  I glance at the veins of ice that run through the floor, cracking the dark gray stone. “So you brought the mountain down?”

  He shrugs and kisses me again, his need for me overwhelming and comforting all at once. I share the same desire. The same elation at being able to be with him again.

  “What did you have to give for this?” He presses his palm to my heart to feel it beat and peers at the soulstone necklace.

  “Doesn’t matter.” I try to get to my feet, but he stands and lifts me in his arms.

  “It does matter, and you will tell me. But first, I have to get you to safety. I’m not letting you out of my sig
ht ever again.”

  “I’m grounded?”

  “Yes.” He kisses my forehead then frowns at the blocked corridor. “I need to find another way out.”

  “I think I have an idea.” I kick my legs. “Put me down.”

  “No.”

  “Leander.” I smack his chest. “Put me down.”

  He growls low but sets me on my feet.

  I spread my wings. “I’m our escape plan.”

  “I’m far too heavy for you to carry.”

  “Maybe. But we fly together, or we die together. I’m never leaving you again.”

  He smiles, the worry draining from him bit by bit. “My mate.” He cups the back of my neck and pulls my mouth to his.

  I push him back. “Focus.”

  His eyes narrow. “Yes. To safety.”

  I spread my wings again. “Okay, if I can get enough of a running start, then I—” I scream as a bolt of darkness pierces my wing, and Shathinor rises from his spot next to the shattered throne.

  I curl my injured wing inward.

  Leander snatches the obsidian blade from the steps and turns, throwing the sword with vicious efficiency. It catches Shathinor in the chest, piercing his rotten heart.

  He grabs it but can’t wrench it free.

  Leander takes my hand and keeps me behind him as he climbs the stairs, wrath tangible in each of his heavy steps.

  Staggering back, Shathinor holds out a hand, as if it can ward off the fury of Leander, the vengeance of the heart of winter.

  Leander surges forward and grabs the blade, twisting it and lifting Shathinor’s ruined body off its feet.

  Shathinor screams, the sound cloaked in death and darkness, and I cover my ears. Leander doesn’t flinch as he slams my father to the ground, rips the blade free, and beheads him with one vicious stroke.

  The mountain shudders.

  He turns to me and inspects my wing.

  “Wait.” I step to my father’s corpse, his black eyes still open. “I’m not letting his evil come back. Never again.” I hold out my hand and black flames shoot from my palm. They envelope his body, burning him in the flames of death, destroying him so thoroughly that only a black outline of soot remains when the fire finally abates.

  Leander spits on the ashes then takes me by the shoulders. “Fly, little one. Save yourself.”

  “No. We’re not dying today.” I hold my hand out and pull forth the healing magic. My wing heals, the skin knitting back together and the black feathers fluffing over the wound.

  A huge chunk of stone falls and shatters so close that Leander grabs me and races away from the impact.

  “Hold onto me.” I reach down deep, dragging up every bit of magic I have left. Blackness infuses me, my wings spreading wide as a shadow encases them.

  Leander grips my waist and presses his lips to my neck. “If you fly us out of here, the moment we land, I intend to worship this body as it deserves.”

  I shiver, my dark magic shimmering as I wrap my legs around him. “Shh. I need to concentrate.”

  He kisses his mark on my shoulder and holds on tighter.

  I push my magic down, imagining the darkness working like jet thrusters. At first it simply pools beneath our feet.

  “Hmm.” I push it harder, trying to get some lift.

  Leander kisses along my jaw. “Allow me.”

  With a swell of power, he creates a pedestal of ice that grows so fast it acts like a launcher, shooting us through one of the many openings in the crumbling mountaintop.

  We surge into the night sky. It’s exhilarating to see the ruined stone beneath us, my father’s work caving in on itself.

  But then the ice stops.

  “Fly,” he whispers, his mouth at my ear.

  My wings stretch, the darkness still coating them with power, and I flap them hard. They ache, pain ripping down my back as I struggle to surge upward and away from the rock below.

  I can feel what little magic Leander has left pushing through the bond, adding to my stores as I flap my wings, gaining a bit of distance between us and the mountain. The pain in my back is like razor blades skating down my flesh, but I power through it.

  Leander peers down at the ruined cavern. “If you need to leave me—”

  “Never.” I push harder, every muscle in my body straining as I finally get enough lift away from the peak that I can stretch out and glide. “But you weigh a ton.”

  The fires are still burning in the valley, so I bank hard away from them until I can see nothing but darkness below.

  “We should land there.” He points to a black area just like all the other black areas.

  “What’s there?” I aim toward the spot nestled at the base of the mountain. Rocks still slide down its sides, the top now fully collapsed.

  “Friends.” He peppers kisses along my chest, spending extra time on the spot where the obsidian blade pierced me.

  “Distracting fae.” I grit out as I let my wings catch the wind and float toward the ground.

  He nibbles my ear lobe. “What did you promise the magic?”

  “I can’t hear you.” I point to my ear and shake my head. “The wind is super loud.”

  He glares but doesn’t ask again. Instead, he contents himself with running his hands along my sides and nipping at my throat as I glide lower, the stony ground beckoning and my back begging for relief.

  When we’re close, he lets go. I screech as he hits the ground and rolls, ending up on his feet as the pain in my back eases, though I land a little harder than intended.

  He wraps his arms around me before I fall and pulls me against him. Our bond ignites, the light between us burning brighter than the stars. I feel his love, his fear, his need for me.

  Turning, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he kisses me with a fervor that sends heat to every extremity … some more than others.

  “I love you.” He cups my face and kisses my nose, my forehead, my chin. “I love you so much, little one.”

  “I love you, too.” I smile. “More than I ever thought possible.”

  He claims my mouth, his tongue expertly stroking mine as he grabs my ass and lifts me to his height. I run my fingers through his dark hair and relish his touch, his scent, the sparks that flow between us through the bond.

  “I waited with the horses while you brought the mountain down.”

  Leander spins me to his back and draws the obsidian blade, then quickly stows it when Ravella appears from the darkness.

  “And now you have wings?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “What else did I miss? Everything?” She glares. “I missed everything, didn’t I?”

  “You got to spend a little time with me. Worth it, right?” Phinellas appears from the gloom, his usual Catcher outfit gone, replaced with a simple black tunic and pants.

  Ravella holds her hand up and closes it in a ‘shut up’ motion at him.

  Someone grunts nearby, and all three of them draw their weapons and push me behind them.

  “Guys.” I snap my fingers and a black starburst appears in my palm. “I’m death incarnate. Remember? You should be behind me.”

  Ravella’s eyes widen. “Whoa.”

  Another grunt, then Gareth’s voice calling for Ravella.

  “It’s the Phalanx.” Leander relaxes and takes my hand, leading me to the horses and his bloody, bruised, but still-alive Phalanx.

  Gareth stills, his eyes on Leander. Then he whoops loudly and rushes to his friend. Their embrace almost bowls me over. Then, when Beth runs to me, I give in and let her tackle me to the ground.

  “I thought you were dead!” She wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes so hard I see stars. “Wait, you were dead. What happened? Did Leander bring you back? Was there more mating? What in the Spires is going on?”

  “I can explain.” I laugh as she kisses me on the cheek. “Stop mauling me.”

  “No way.” She kisses the other cheek then sobers a little, her eyebrows drawing together. “And you were a bitch, too. I
’m glad you’re back to the old Taylor.”

  “I’m not.” We sit up. “I’m different. A little old. A little new. A lot to learn.”

  Valen limps up with Cecile and the other me, both of them scratched and dirty, but still alive.

  I climb to my feet. “I also have a lot to make up for.” When I step toward Cecile and the other me, they flinch. I can’t blame them. “I’m sorry.” I take a deep breath as Leander stands at my side. “I was out of control. My feral is sort of …”

  “Evil?” Cecile crosses her thin arms. “A lunatic? A homicidal maniac?”

  I hold my hand up and waggle it in a “kind of” motion. “But I have it under control.”

  Neither of them look particularly convinced.

  “Okay, I mean, not under control. It’s a part of me, and we are one, and—” I pin my lips together, then try again. “I still have that darkness inside me. But I will never use it against my friends again. I’m sorry for what I’ve done to both of you, and I promise I will work to earn your forgiveness.” The sizzle of magic reinforces my promise, and Cecile finally uncoils, then wraps her arm around the other me. “Come on, let’s pick the best horse.” They turn and walk past Brannon, Thorn, and Gray, all of them looking much the worse for wear.

  When they gather in front of Leander and me, they all take a knee and bow their heads.

  “Rise, my friends.” Leander tucks me under his arm, and I lean into him. “It is time for us to return home.”

  “Wonderful. I’m way past due for some relaxation.” Selene skitters into view, a makeshift bag thrown over her shoulder, human bones sticking out of the top. “Especially now that I’m the high witch of the winter realm.”

  “You survived.” I would hug her. But, eww human bones.

  “I’m obsidian.” She grins. “I don’t break.”

  “And wait, high witch of the winter realm?” I cock my head to the side.

  “I made a bargain.” She tweaks my nose. “Your king wanted to know where you were. I wanted all the gristle I can eat and a nice title.”

  “You aren’t bringing that to High Mountain.” Gareth grimaces at her pack of blood and bone.