{???}

Rayne was crying again.

Nox smelled the salt of her tears, more diluted than the salt of the sea. She stared out at her beach from the strategy room with her back to him, her hair draped over one shoulder. He wondered if she cried outside this mindscape. Did her eyes weep within the Martyr Complex? Did the storms rage on in Enki, or were they reduced to a downpour?

Korac finished describing the end of his relationship with the Prince of Cinder, and Sagan responded in kind.

{Oh, amos.

[SS]: I might be crying for him.

He’s pulling me in for a squeeze and brushing the tears. Comforting me for commiserating with his younger self.

I wanna know if you cried, Rayne. If it reached you, too?

So much compassion in that big heart of yours. Don’t worry, Sagan. The young man in that story is doing just fine.

Yet in that moment, I was lost. My King and my once-lover at odds and mostly as the result of an evil genius’ machinations.}

Although for Nox the relationship between his brother and his best friend had ended eight thousand years ago, the lost promise of Korac’s words today drew from his heart. Even knowing the General found happiness with Sagan in the end, the regret twisted a knot in Nox at how badly Celindria had manipulated them all. But Rayne needn’t pay for this.

Nox lowered a projection of Enki and called to her softly so as not to startle her, “You weep for Korac and Xelan.”

“And you.”

Rayne startled Nox instead. Her words left on a hushed breath, shaking with her emotions. Left exposed from her backless tunic, the tattoo of Elden’s Verse trembled with her quiet tears. It was enough to break his heart.

“Rayne, no better ending awaited our story.” He took a step through the projections toward her. “My brothers are alive and happy, working together to save the Vast Collective from Tritan tyranny. And I’m in a better place than I belong—non-corporeal existence notwithstanding.” By the time he finished speaking, he stood beside her, feeling like a giant. “So why would you cry for me?”

Looking down at her profile, a small smile spread across Rayne’s lips as she said, “When I said, ‘and you,’ I meant you also cry for Korac and Xelan.” Faster than the lightning strike, Rayne reached out and caught a tear falling from Nox’s face. “You appreciated seeing them happy together, and I’m glad that you see them happy now. But it seems, even knowing the present, Korac’s Verse is still worth a tear or two. Even from the most feared Icarus in the galaxy.”

For the first time since his death, Nox found an occasion to smirk, seeing that Rayne caught him in a tangle. She preened proudly beside him as she continued to cry. An idea struck him. “I tire of seeing you in tears, your majesty. Let’s listen to Korac’s Verse while we partake in some mental exercise. Shall we?” He indicated at their right where nothing but emptiness sprawled to the figmented horizon.

Rayne quirked a brow at him, twisting her smile with playful suspicion. She faced the abyss and took a step back. “Be my guest.”

Visualize, build on the foundation of conscience and reason, and the construct will form. Abandon self-conscious notions of doubt; this prevents the formation.

Swells of igneous rock manifested on the edge of Rayne’s ocean. The erupting volcano there found the course and streamed into basins, filling with liquid rock. Some cooled into obstacles for the river, but it flowed downstream where a cliff spilled lava into the ocean further away. The lightning from her construct graced his creation with a formidable greeting.

Facing him with a broad grin, Rayne vibrated with excitement rather than sadness and grief. “Really?!”

At their feet, two skids formed, one for each.

“Yes. Really.” Nox opened his wings and stepped onto the skid. “Are you up to the challenge, your highness?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Gossamer wings spread from her back, twinkling with chips of gold forming a circuit board. Rayne tossed him a hair tie with one in her teeth as she scooped up the black weight of her hair into a quick braid.

When her clothes shifted, Nox looked away to tie his hair back. His shirt confined him, but he wore it for her comfort. The jeans would suit the occasion just fine. He turned back to find Rayne waiting for him with a mischievous smile, wearing the same armor from their battle years ago. Kindly without the gold elements. While he examined her, she climbed onto the skid and strapped her boots in.

“Even though this isn’t real, I’m still nervous.”

“No need. I have a feeling you’ll take to this naturally. Quite in fact. Drop and let the skid skate over the lava without friction.” Nox knelt and checked her straps that didn’t truly exist, while Rayne peered with curiosity at his actions. Her eyes shone brightly from down here, prompting him to stand and return to his skid. “Consider this practice for the real thing.” He strapped himself in before gesturing at the precipice. “I’ll go first to show you how it’s done.”

She stared at the lava without blinking.

“Rayne.”

Snapping to him, she swallowed hard before managing, “Hmm?”

“I have faith in you.”

Nox dropped without waiting to see how she responded. He trusted her to follow. The inertia from the drop dragged him down, so he formed a chute with his wings to buffer him, slowing the descent. He gave a triumphant “woot” when the skid met the magma river’s surface and repelled the friction, as was its way. Every time.

Xelan invented one hell of a sport.

A similar cry sounded behind him, and Nox turned to find Rayne’s skid alighting the lava. Her skin glowed pink in the firelight, and her eyes sparkled with it. Or was that—

Joy.

Rayne looked free, alive, and ready. He could tell by how fast she—

“Getting slow in your old age, Nox.” She stuck her tongue out as she passed him in a crouch on her board.

He chuffed. “Amateur.” Although she managed to find her balance, she swished through the magma rather than glided. “Sloppy!”

Unprecedented, Rayne spun the skid to face Nox as she continued backward down the river. Arms crossed and hip out with all the attitude of an undisciplined god with a martyr complex. “Then show me how it’s done.”

Youth.

Unable to contain the chuckle, Nox crouched and surged inches from her board. “Watch and learn, novice.” With grace—a crucial element in the process—he glided around her without a drop of misplaced lava, opened his wings back until they narrowed into a more aerodynamic approach, and knelt until his hands almost grazed the river of fire.

All the while, Rayne watched and gave him an impressed nod. “Not bad. But I took dance lessons with Tameka. So watch me inject so much needed style into this secret sport of yours.” She swept beside him, much better in form already than before, and smiled before twirling in a pirouette. Impressive, yes, but—

“Rayne!” Nox clutched her shoulders and spun her around his skid to the opposite side in time to miss a protruding boulder in her wake. Searching her wide eyes, he checked, “Are you with me?”

“I’m here. I… thank you. It’s not real, but I don’t have control over your construct. I tried to disappear it, but…”

“You’re quite an impressive sprite, as Korac always says, but let’s both give more attention to the course. It will worsen from here.” Even as Nox said it, their skids gained speed, nearing the cliff. At Rayne’s nod, he realized his hands were still gripping her shoulders and dropped them like they burned.

Because they didn’t. Her shoulders were soft, and they were hers. But she wasn’t his, and Nox didn’t deserve this much of her.

Meanwhile, Korac continued to narrate his life to them.

{It stung that we existed as brothers, but both felt disinclined to confide our lives in this way. Xelan a secret. Celindria a secret. Maybe things would be different if we’d been more frank with each other.

But he was my King, and I was his General. And this is how it was done.}

“Too true,” Nox muttered, while gliding between the rapids.

Rayne overheard him as she concentrated on the oncoming obstacles. “I like that you don’t focus on what could have been. You accept your choices and those consequences, even with your regrets. I admire that about you.”

Unworthy of her admiration, Nox elaborated, “I would change them if given the chance.”

The river flowed faster, and the rocks clustered closer together.

Still, Rayne offered, “As I said, ‘regrets,’ but you focus on how to better the here and now rather than dwell on what wasn’t meant to be.”

Nodding along, Nox understood her now. “One can get lost that way. Try to better the situation you’ve made as you can with what you have at your disposal. I still wish I’d told Korac more. To hear how he responds to it…” Gritting his teeth, Nox ignored the emotion building in his throat and dodged a stalagmite.

“Korac loves you. You were the super cool big brother with all the strength and speed he aspired to have. If he could grow up strong like you, he could fight all his demons, no problem.” Rayne’s insights possessed the ability to choke Nox with his feelings.

Sorrow. Love. Home.

All of it squandered.

Fortunately, the world’s edge fell away closer now. “We approach the lavafall, Rayne. I’ve lingered inside your mind long enough to know that you’ll refuse to quit now, but prepare yourself. This will test you.”

The electric blue of Rayne’s eyes glowed with determination. “I’m ready.”

Nox chuckled. What else could he do? She was so headstrong. “Trust the friction repulsion to take you down the drop. Hold your breath over the edge.”

“I got this.”

When Xelan’s determination came out in her, Nox was inclined to believe her.

Side-by-side, they glided to the lavafall’s edge. Below, the molten rock thundered loud enough to deter them. He constructed it to smell of proper ash and brimstone, and it was most potent where the magma met the ocean. Rayne looked fierce as she hyper-focused on the edge. Five seconds away.

Four.

Three.

Two.