Page 224 of Between Despair and Hope

I reached out with a fingertip, lifting his lip to confirm the sharpened teeth.

“Boy!” I shouted, turning toward the prince, who sat on the ground with a blank look as he took in the body of his brother. “Oh, gods,” I said to myself, realizing that while I’d saved him from death, he was now coming to terms with a life he never would have expected. He was the last of the Umbroth line if Declan had never named an heir, and now, he would shoulder the burden of his kingdom. Prince no more, the boy with tear tracks running down his face and his hands in his hair was the king of Folterra.

“He’ll be alright,” Elora said, brow wrinkling as she bit her lip. She was as unconvinced by her words as I was.

I stood, crossing my arms as I took in the body before me. “I don’t want to burn him. Not until I have someone look at the body. Using that kind of magick to hide it means…” I shook my head. “I want to know more.”

She nodded and stepped back, and I used my divinity to enclose his body in stone and earth before burying it in the courtyard. With a wave of my arm, I gestured for the dragons who still circled above, all six waiting for my signal. I didn’t yet know how to communicate that I didn’t need all six of them at the moment, so I waited as they landed.

“Your meetings with Shivani?” I asked, turning toward the best thing I’d ever done.

“I wanted to master it before I showed you and Mama,” she replied, cheeks going pink.

“And my mother let you keep that secret? She didn’t want to brag about it?”

“Oh, she does, but I think she feels bad about how she’s acted. So, she does her best to make me happy.”

Her sheepish smile made me chuckle, and I stepped toward her, wanting to embrace her, but hesitated. Just because I felt a certain way toward her, and I suspected she might return my affection, I didn’t want to press my luck. So, I stood there, not even realizing my arm had stretched toward her while the other hung at my side. She eyed me for a moment before she surged toward me. Wrapping her arms around my waist, she buried her face in my chest.

“That was terrifying,” she said with a sniffle.

“I know,” I soothed, running a hand down her back. “I’m sorry I didn’t—my own divinity wasn’t a match for his, and I was afraid to use your mother’s until it was too late. It shouldn’t have come down to you.”

“You helped me though, at the end. I only knew I could do it because of you.”

As I held her tightly, I felt another tug down the bond, this one desperate, and everything in me tightened. With Declan dead and the itzkim gone too, I didn’t know what could be the cause of her urgent need. “We have to go,” I said, before tenderly stepping out of Elora’s embrace and attempting to open a rift. Even in death, Declan’s ward held, and I was further validated in my decision to examine his body. He was far stronger than he had any right to be. When he’d mentioned it, I had assumed he had someone with elf-blood do it, but it had to have been him.

Motioning for the dragons to join us, I laughed as Elora held up her hands, fingertips alight, to prevent Ryo from giving her the wet kiss she anticipated.

“We can’t leave him here,” she said, nodding past me toward Cyran. He sat motionless, with his hands in his lap and his head down.

“I can’t ride with both of you,” I replied, equally uncertain about what to do.

“I’ll ride Ryo, you take Cy.” She paused, blinking rapidly as she eyed me. “I knew you’d catch him. I knew you wouldn’t let him fall. Just like you won’t let me fall.” She hesitated a moment, before rushing out, “I-I love you…Pa. No, that’s not right,” she mumbled, rubbing her face with one hand in an irritated manner. I held my breath as I waited for her to continue, my heart aching with affection. “I don’t—I don’t know what to call you anymore. Rainier doesn’t feel like enough, but Pa or Papa are wrong. What should I call you?”

“Anything you want,” I said, tears in my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You can call me Snoots for all I care.” Her eyes lit up, mischief taking root at the idea. Fear for Em’s safety was the only thing holding me back from tugging my daughter into my arms, but what she’d given me was a gift. “And I love you too, Elora. Until my last breath,” I said. Her eyes watered as she nodded. I treasured the moment, unable to stop smiling even as I boosted the children onto the dragons who waited for us before climbing behind Cyran onto Shika.

The boy shook as we launched into the sky, flying east with the setting sun at our back. Fear and chill and shock probably warred within him, but he didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure when he would, but I didn’t pressure him. When I saw smoke coming from the direction of the dormitory, I tried to stay calm. I knew she’d used her fire, and I could feel her down the bond—however faint. I knew she was alright though. She had to be.

It was hard to see below me between the smoke billowing from the stable and Shika’s shadows which never quite left her, but I could make out a few people in the middle of the clearing; and I knew one of them was Em as her head lifted to the skies.

“Oh, fuck.”

The body of the man she leaned over was my best friend, and, gods, if he was dead, I didn’t know what I would do. Coaxing Shika to obey, I cursed Declan for his gods forsaken wards.

Once Ryo and Shika both landed, I slid down, not even bothering to help Cyran, and ran toward where Em and Nor sat with a bloody Dewalt. Using her divinity, I listened for his heart, and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard it, no matter how slowly it beat. Dewalt’s eyes were closed, and I’d never seen him so pale. Nor had her hands on either side of his head where she held it in her lap, and I noticed the hair she’d cut on the ground beside him. She was singing softly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

There was a pang in my chest at the sight. Seeing my closest friend lying slack on the ground made me want to vomit. The man I’d grown up with, who had supported me through all my shit, and who I’d dragged with me my entire life. The man who was so vibrant—now pale and lifeless. My divinity rumbled the earth, despite my attempt to control it.

“Help me, Rain!” Emma shouted, and I knelt beside her.

“Can you not heal him? What can I do?” I said, and she turned her head to look at me, tears running down over mangled skin. “What the fuck happened?” I said, gently grasping her by the chin to look at her.

“Obsidian. Rain, come on, slide your hand under mine. Now,” she begged, and I obeyed. The divinity hummed inside me, eager to mend. “From the inside out, so we—so we don’t lose him. Start with his heart.” Closing my eyes, I felt her hands press over mine, her divinity guiding us both. She’d had years to know what she was doing, and I’d barely mended scraped knees. Nor’s shaking breath beside me, where she held my best friend’s head in her lap, distracted me, and I did my best to block out all the other sounds.

I lifted my head at the sound of footsteps, and Elora’s feet came into view. She gasped as she saw Dewalt on the ground. “Mama? I—I know Dewalt is hurt, I just…Theo is hurt too. He’s—he’s not really breathing.” When Em said nothing, Elora spoke louder. “Mama! What about Theo?”

“I don’t know if we can save them both, honey. His—Theo’s head is where he’s hurt, and you know how hard those injuries are for me. I had to choose, and Dewalt was closer—iscloser to dying.”

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