She hadn’t been able to keep her eyes open when it happened. The brightness and heat was too much. The air was so stifling it was hard to breathe, and her skin felt as though it was on fire. She wasn’t, of course. But she had quickly realized that the others were. The smell instantly made her feel nauseous and when she opened her eyes again, she didn’t care to look at the bodies that lay around her, or think of the screams that had barely had time to escape before they had become enveloped with flame. Instead she stared at the wall of fire that had appeared around them. Each tree burning with a fierceness she had never seen before. Despite standing before her on fire, nothing truly burned. As though the fire was simply wrapping itself around the trees, no leaves fell, no bark was singed. Slowly, bit by bit the flames reduced and eventually winked out, and took all of the light with it. The darkness had not crept in on her but rather pounced. Darkness so dark, so void of anything that it sent a chill through her as she stared out at Elek, the only thing in the darkness still flickering, still burning. She turned but nothing else around her was illuminated, nothing around her was still here, except it was. She could feel the crunch of snow beneath her feet if she focused enough, and she could smell that rotten smell of burnt human flesh, but when she spun only darkness met her. She imagined this is what it was like to be so far beneath the ocean’s surface that you could no longer tell which way was up or down. Until you drown so deep into the darkness you lose everything, including yourself. But as she turned and turned, her eyes found Elek again and again, each time a little dimmer. And when he eventually disappeared into the darkness, the last of his flame burning out, the darkness fell and left her eyes burning with the light once again.
The flames had left no trace of their power behind to scar the forest, except for the males who laid in the snow, their faces no longer recognizable. Everything was just as it had been before the males had appeared. For a long while Elek did not turn to her, he did not move and neither did she. She didn’t know if it was fear of the flame that kept her frozen or fear of the way that Elek’s chest heaved up and down erratically. It was the first time since meeting him that he looked actually shaken by something, and she was unsure of what to do with that. For just a split second he looked human in the expression that rattled his face, and then just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. His shoulders stayed tense and he had blood dripping from his arm where a dagger had nicked him.
When he finally went to move she took a step forward but quickly stepped back when her foot met what was left of the body of the silver haired male. When Elek stopped just before her, and his eyes met hers, she flinched at the way they stormed with something but all he grumbled was, “Stay close.”
***
She had followed after him for hours. The sun had grown a purple hue and the birds had stopped their chirping. He said nothing and she said nothing in return. She was unsure of what to say if she had gotten the courage to speak. The snow had started to fall aggressively about an hour back, and she wrapped her furs around her shoulders, the cold seeping into her bones. A true cold, she had realized rather quickly after they had started on their trek again. Frost clung to her eyelashes and she was overly aware of the shaking in her shoulders when he abruptly stopped and turned to her.
She shuddered as the cold seeped into her bones, making it hard to keep going. But she refused to let him see weakness, so she wrapped her furs tighter around her shoulders and trudged on, trying to match his pace. When he suddenly stopped and turned to face her, Finnley held her breath, waiting for him to finally break the silence.
But instead of speaking, he just stared at her with a frown etched on his face. She could see how the cold had affected him as well - his nose and lips were red and chapped, and his hands were shaking like hers.
“What?” She asked, trying to ignore the way her teeth were starting to chatter.
He grunted something under his breath before turning away again, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow. Finnley reached out a freezing hand towards him but quickly pulled back when he glared at her.
“What do you want to say?” She snapped, annoyed at his dismissive attitude.
He growled back at her, “Oh, I have nothing to say.” But as she continued to stare at him with frustration, he finally added with a cock of his head, “But it seems like you have plenty to say.”
Finnley bit back a retort at his words - she did have plenty to say. Too many questions and no answers. But instead of speaking her mind, instead of telling him that she was freaking out internally with each step she took, she simply stated the obvious: “You’re cold.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her, a hint of something dangerous in his expression. “Being cold is better than being dead because you think nothing can hurt you.”
She blinked in confusion and shook the snow off her lashes as she tried to understand what he meant. “That was hardly my fault.”
He let out a deep, bitter laugh. “Hardly your fault? If you had just listened and stayed close to me, we wouldn’t be freezing our asses off right now.”
Finnley’s hands flew out of her pockets as she gestured wildly,“You heard them, someone sent them to follow us! That is not my fault!”
“You are cold and I am cold because I had to do what was needed to protect you and I wouldn’t have had to have gone that deep into my power.” He countered, his voice growing louder with anger, “If you had just listened and stuck by my side, I wouldn’t have had to go that far.”
“I didn’t ask for you to burn them alive!” She shot back, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes. “I didn’t ask for any of that back there to happen.”
“I killed them because they would have stopped at nothing to get you off this mountain, and I would have been dead and you would have wished for death at the hands of those willing to give those bastards a payday.”
“Why couldn’t you just let them take me?” Finnley asked in frustration. “It would have been so much easier for everyone involved!”
His eyes flashed then, “You want that, don’t you? To give up like you did on Midgard? To just let death take you without a fight?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She spit out, but she knew exactly what he was referring to - she didn’t know how he knew or if he was just guessing based on what he had seen of her, but she knew he was right even if she couldn’t admit it. She had given up, she had tried with all of her might to just give up and somehow she was always dragged back and she hadn’t been brave enough to just do it. Instead she had searched for it, wished for it to find her.
“Sure you do.” He laughs harshly, stepping closer, “The drinking, the pills, the constant longing to finally get the guts to do it. That’s the same longing that followed you here, and even changing everything about you couldn’t make it go away. You let that darkness inside you win, you let it control you without even knowing it.You gave up.”
His words slice through her.
“I did not give up.” She exclaims, “You know nothing about anything! None of this is my fault, you are the one that brought me here!”
“What are you not understanding, Finnley?” he growled, his eyes blazing with frustration. “This whole thing-you did this! We are here because of you. It doesn’t matter if you can remember it or not.”
Finnley didn’t have a response to his accusation. She could feel the weight of his words crushing her as he continued. “I brought you back to make a difference, to change something. But if you can barely make it past this mountain range, then I should just leave you here.” Elek’s voice shook, “Because if you can’t face the fact that there are people relying on what you do, that your people have been waiting for your return whether you can remember it or not, then I would be doing us all a favor by taking you back to your miserable existence in the mortal realm.”
“If I die because you are not able to follow instructions so that I am able to get you back safe to your home, then I hope to haunt you for the rest of your long miserable life.”
“Well, if you don’t make it out of this alive, I most certainly won’t.” The laugh that escapes her is to cover whatever sound would have escaped from the sob in her chest.
He stared at her for a long time then and she could see his mind working, analyzing her, scrutinizing her but she said nothing as he did so.
“Then we better get some rest to ensure we both make it off this mountain.”
Without another word he turns from her.
The wooden cabin materialized out of nothing but a lone spark that jumped from his palm. Before them had laid nothing but a dense forest so clogged with fog she could barely see 50 feet ahead. Now, the door to the cabin slams loudly behind Elek, echoing around her just loud enough to make her jump.
She stood outside the cabin, her breathing coming heavier and heavier as Elek’s words sliced through her mind. The sky around her, growing darker and darker. Darkest night, she realizes and with a deep sigh, her borrowed boots heavy against the wooden step of the door.
“What is this place?” The question escapes her before she can think better of it.
Her face tingles as she closes the door behind her. The fire that rages in the corner casts dark shadows around the room, and a heat sweeps over her so heavenly she lets out a sigh. Elek gives her no response as he pulls the wet, cold, ripped shirt from his shoulders. Through the shadows she’s only able to make out the difference between the golden shimmer of his skin and the dark swirls and marks of those tattoos that decorate his upper body. Her eyes linger over the familiar pattern across his ribs but heat rushes to her cheeks when he turns slightly and his side is marred with burns and a large open wound wraps its way around his torso. “What is this place?” She asks once more.
He glances up at her for a split second before his hand casts over the small table and the single thin candle that adorns it, is lit aflame. “Get warm.” He commands, jerking his chin to the small bed that appears in the corner. Furs of every color and blankets of every weave imaginable are piled high on the thin mattress. She hesitates for a moment before glancing down at her soaked clothing.
“Get rid of it.” He grumbles, pulling thin daggers from his pockets and laying them out on the table before her.
“Excuse me?” Finnley looks at him questioningly as he leans over to inspect his injuries. “Why do I need to get undressed?”
“Because I need my strength for other things,” he grunts as he prods at the flesh on his torso, gesturing to the bed. “Like making sure you’re protected tonight, not saving you from the edge of death because your human body can’t handle the elements…”
Throwing him a glare, because she knows he’s right, she pulls off her coat. Her ankle throbs with a searing pain as she yanks off the borrowed boots, wincing at the dampness that has soaked through her socks. She hastily strips off her pants and catches a glimpse of Elek stripping down to his cotton underclothes by the fire. Mimicking his actions, she lays out her wet garments in front of the flames, silently praying for them to dry before they continue on their journey.
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“If I had given up, I wouldn’t be here.” She swallows when his eyes glance over to her, “If I had truly given up you wouldn’t have found anything when you came looking for me. But…if it was death that I experienced or anything close to it before I woke up, I don’t want to ever go back to that place.”
His amber eyes soften just slightly, and somewhere in that power that stems from inside of him, she sees a flicker of flame pass over his gaze. “You remember it?”
Glancing down at where her hands play with the bottom of her shirt, she shakes her head, “But I remember the feeling and I would do a lot of things to never feel that way again.”
Moving towards her, he reaches for the dagger on the table. Its crimson handle flickering in the firelight. “Take off your shirt.”
She tilts her head slightly, but thinks back to his previous words before pulling the shirt from her shoulders leaving her in the strip of cloth beneath. His eyes flicker over the white ink that is littered across her rib cage. The same as the one that takes on a dark hue on his skin.
He doesn’t meet her gaze as he presses the tip of the dagger into his wrist. She bites her lip to keep the question from leaking past her lips as he sets down the dagger and slides his fingers through the black tinged blood.
“When an oath binds two people, it allows for runes to be transferred from one to another.” He mutters, meeting her eyes quickly before tracing a finger down the side of her bare arm.
She jumps at the feel of it, “What are you doing?”
“The power within my blood will allow for my power to protect you without you or anyone else knowing. It will allow the protection runes to activate no matter how far away we are from one another.” He explains as he traces the blood around her arm, down the side of her ribs, jumping over the place her tattoo lays, down and around her belly button. The runes a never ending design across her body, covering her scars and freckles. Her eyes track his work, her mouth slightly agape as she watches intently as he paints across her body, as it sinks into her skin, and disappears, leaving nothing in its wake.
His gaze meets her as his warm finger finally lifts from her skin and she watches as the runes around her ankle shimmers slightly before sinking into her skin. He says nothing as he rises from kneeling before her.
The gleam of the dagger flickers in the firelight as he flips the hilt to her, “The Dagger of Blood.” He palms the blade, placing the hilt in her hand, “For you.”
Grasping the handle, she pulls the small dagger into her line of sight, mesmerized by the way the rubies in the handle glisten and the odd curving foreign lettering across the blade. She had never seen a weapon more beautiful, except for maybe the similar sword of gold and ruby that Elek kept at his side.
“Why?”
“There will come a time when you’ll need it more than I.” He simply states as though it’s a well known fact.
“It’s beautiful.” She mutters, unsure of how to thank someone for a weapon tthat comes with a warning you that you’ll need to use it.
“It’s said to have been the dagger of the original Fae queen.” He laughs as though his tale is too far fetched to be anything but true. “So don’t loose it, will ya?”
“I promise,” She vows, “I’ll keep it safe.”
His gaze hard on the dagger she now grasps. Something flickers in his eyes when he says, “No ruler is innocent, not even the Gods.” His eyes flash down to the flames, his eyelashes creating a shadow on his cheeks. “And that Kingdom that your about to walk into is anything but innocent. No one will be on you’re side. They will see you as a threat to what they’ve built since your father died. You’ll be faced with the decision to stand beside them in this war or to contest so that you can lead your people in a different way. You won’t be safe until you do, and even then I’m afraid it won’t be the end of the realms battles.”
Her guttural instinct is to defend this place she doesn’t know, to convince him he’s wrong, to slay the words that came out of his mouth but she can’t. “And if I decide not to do either?”
“That’s not an option they’ll afford you.” She opens her mouth to tell him she will afford herself whatever option she must, but he continues, “You will be asked to stand by the side of the current King or you will be force to stand against them, your other option is not one you can allow to happen. The Astrophel line almost died out once already.”
“And what of the King that rules now?”
“A false King is not the same as a true ruler.” He bites his lip slightly as he watches her hold the dagger within both hands. “Our lands long for the true ruler to take the throne. To make the Guardians lands safe and right once more. That is the only way that our world will stand a chance at survival.”
“And will the people accept a coward who ran from the realm in the first place and became a human who can’t remember anything about this place or about them?”
“You will make them accept you.” He smirks slightly before turning from her, “Goodnight.”
But before he can take a step her hand darts out to his arm. His eyes question her as she takes a small step forward, her eyes falling to his chest. Her hand followed suit, feeling no discomfort in the way his skin warms beneath her palm, seeing as he had just painted her bare skin. Her fingers dance over the ink that swirls in the same intercity that is pressed into his skin. Like a story she can’t decipher.
“They really are identical.” She mutters, slightly shocked at how cold his skin is.
His lips are tight but still he says, “They are one oath. Mirrors of one another.”
Like a constellation of stars the pattern weaves its way across his ribs, up into his chest and interlocks with the other tattoo that blends into his neck. His cheeks warm redden slightly when she hesitates right below the tattoo, at a thick white scar that seemed to effortlessly weave into his skin. He had many of them she noted. Some wrapped around his shoulders while others were scattered throughout his chest, much like the stars in the sky. Much like the tattoos that littered his body.
And she knows that if time had been kinder to her, she knows she would have stood there for hours. Asking over each one, asking for the story that was carved into his skin but time was not kind, life was not kind and she no longer understood the differences between cruel and kind. At this point they all seemed the same and so she lifted her fingertips from his chilled skin.
He makes his way to the lone chair that sits beside the dwindling fire and she says nothing as she notices the way he limps ever so slightly on his left leg, and she forces herself not to comment on how his wound was still open, and lightly dripping blood. But she did sigh as she placed weight on her left leg and for the first time in a long time, her breath did not catch in pain. She tossed one of the furs towards him as she slid under the blankets on the bed. “Wouldn’t want you getting cold.” She smiles slightly at the surprised look that passes across his face before closing her eyes.
***
The wind had picked up overnight, howling outside the small cabin nested in the snow-covered mountains. Finnley had closed her eyes and allowed herself to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the crackling fire and the wind slamming into the side of the cabin, and she had not awoken until the next morning when the rustling of Elek dressing had pulled her from her dreamless sleep. No nightmares had plagued her, nothing but the darkness of her sleep had rolled through her mind.
Her clothes had dried through and for a moment she lingered before the fire, willing herself to absorb more heat before they carried on. They had slept in the warmth of the fire, not as cold as the chill outside by any means but it was nowhere as close to the warmth that she had felt from Elek prior. But just as quickly as she had welcomed the warmth, it had left her once again as they both stepped back out into the elements. The warmth had disappeared just as quickly as the cabin behind them did, as though it had never existed, it left nothing in it’s wake. She took note of the slight shake of Elek’shands and his slowed steps as they made their way down the rocky and snow packed terrain. The bitter cold seeped through her clothes, soaking her feet and tangling her hair into knots.
The sounds of rushing water fills her ears as they approached a wide and fast river. On the opposite side lay a forest line of thick trees with no trace of snow on the ground. Elek motions for her to follow as he starts across the narrow wooden bridge. She squints against the bright reflection of sunlight off the snow that covers the bridge. As they reached the middle point, she can feel the ice beneath her feet start to melt, dripping through the wooden slats. Slowly the snow clears from the bridge, as though a line had been drawn through it, and all traces of ice vanish. Taking a deep breath, Finnley steps onto solid wood.
“This is Star Valley Forest,” Elek says with a small grin.
Elek releases her hand and sets off at a brisk pace while Finnley takes a deep inhale. A sense of relief washing over her. Gone is the pain of the elevation and icy wind; instead a warm breeze brushes against her skin and the fresh smell of pine fills the air around her.
She can’t help but smile as she gazes over the side of the bridge at schools of brightly colored fish swimming under its icy surface. Catching up to Elek, she noticed he was already mapping their route in his head while scanning the trees ahead. She giggles to herself as Elek starts to take off his fur coat, having overheated quickly in the sunlight, cuffing the sleeves of his white tunic that had repaired itself of holes overnight- she had a suspicion his power was to thank for that in the same way it was to thank for the open wound on his stomach that had practically stitched itself back in his sleep.
Suddenly, Elek’s voice breaks through the calm, the caution in his voice hindered by the fear that laces it.
“Don’t move.” Was all the warning she had before it happened.
Before wind slammed into her, before she stumbled from the impact. The massive muscular beast landed on all six legs in front of her. As though it had appeared from the ground it appears in the space between Elek and Finnley. The ground shaking beneath her. It’s long brown coat sprinkled with forest debris, blending in with the forest around it. It’s long fur with pointed ears resemble a hybrid of a mountain cat and wolf, she thinkso. The beast stares down at her with its endless black eyes for so long her lungs ache for air, and when she finally allows herself to inhale, the creature leans its head slowly down to her…and sniffs her.
It’s not the closeness that frightens her but the swiftness of the large beast as it quickly bounds back, its head turning towards Elek in some kind of silent question.
Frozen in place, Elek meets its gaze and raises his hand from his sword in a gesture of peace. “I come in the liege of Princess Astrophel, securing her safety to the Kingdom.”
The beast seems unfazed by his words, instead turning its attention back to Finnley. Without warning, it steps towards her once more, causing the ground to shake once more beneath its massive paws. It looms over her as it considers something. Finnley can feel her heart racing as she tries to remain still under its gaze.
“We come bearing no ill will, Ground Keeper.” Elek hisses through his teeth to the beast but it’s large endlessly dark eyes simply stare at her and the beastly expression falls from his face, left with what appears to be curiosity.
Elek takes a step forward but the beast senses the movement before he can complete his stride and Finnley is instantly struck with the smell of the beasts breath as it releases a low growl in warning. Elek instantly freezes as the sound echoes through the trees.
The beast doesn’t pay Elek a glance, confident in its fierce voice and his eyes stay on Finnley, analyzing her in some way she can’t understand, as though it could see through her, as though it could see the blood pump through her very veins. But it’s not fear that causes her heart to pound so fiercely but something of excitement at the beast that stands before her. Massive and magnificent, unlike anything she had ever seen. Three times the size of her, if not more. Larger then any bear she had ever seen, with an intelligence behind its grand eyes that said everything it could not.
The beast shifts and leans its body forward and lands on its hunches, Finnley doesn’t know why but she’s sure that whomever this creature is, it knows her. Face to face with the beast, it’s massive face fills her vision, and its head lowers, in a bow of sorts. When she reaches her hand out, Elek protests but she ignores his words, and lowers her hand to the beasts great mane, like fresh silk it’s mane is collected with dripping foliage.
“Hello.” She whispers as her hands run through the silk of its jowls, and before her or Elek can fully comprehend what had occurred, the beast stands and bounds away leaving nothing in its wake, not a hair, not a clip of the trees, or a soft indent of where it’s paws landed in the soft dirt along the riverbank. Just as the cabin had housed them over night and disappeared, this beast faded into the trees as though it did not exist.
“What was that?” She exhales, looking towards Elek.
He furrowed his brow, studying her face as if seeing her for the first time. Then, he seemed to have a question flicker across his tongue but held it in with a frown, remembering that she wouldn’t be able to remember whatever it was that he was curious about.
“What?” She questions, reaching for her coat and feeling a rush of warmth overwhelming her.
He clears his throat, his fingers nervously running through his curly hair. “That was a Grounds Keeper. They work with the Star Guard of Noctarae in protecting the Kingdom’s borders.”
“A Grounds Keeper,” she repeats, her smile fading as she gazes out at where the mysterious beast had disappeared.
“It probably knew you, once.” He frowns, “They’re not usually that friendly,” he comments, reaching for her coat and tucking it into his the pack that suddenly appears to his call. Her sarcastic remark about traveling with a Princess falls flat as his warm eyes meet hers. “He’ll report your arrival back to the King. We should get moving. We’ll make it by darkest nightfall.”
The realization hits her like a wave crashing against rocks. This journey, this adventure, is leading her back to this place that Elek claims to be her home. Back to the place she ran from, the place she can’t even remember- the place her past self apologized for sending her back to. And for a moment, as she watches Elek disappear into the dense forest of her homeland, she feels torn between wanting to continue on and wanting to turn back to the snowy unknown mountainside but she starts after him, parting the thick low hanging branches and she feels a tingle run through her as she passes into the territory, into whatever magic lived in this land and for a long moment she wondered what Ravi was doing, and if she would ever see him again.