Page 20 of Shadows of Air and Earth
"Your next job, Dragoon.” She slapped my shoulder, her white teeth flashing in the dark, “Time to get to work. I can't touch them but obviously your air can, place a sphere of air around those bastards and let’s get the goddess out of here! I'd rather not go down in history as the shadow fae that asphyxiated on troll farts in a collapsed tunnel."
"No, no, no," Xi said, turning towards me, her bright singular eye pleading with me to find another way.
Remnant’s tone was sympathetic, "I'm sorry Xi, we played it your way, now it's time to play mine. This tunnel will not last."
Pulling the shadows around her, they began to swirl in a dark cyclone, and she pressed her lips into a thin line looking up at the ceiling. Mesmerized by the darkness, I jumped back when suddenly her sentient ones popped in front of me, from the goddess only knew where, and then circled a thin veil of shadow around us. Shielding us from what their master was about to do next.
Xi sighed sadly next to me
“Here goes nothing,” I murmured, gritting my teeth against the sorrow I felt coming from my partner and refocusing on the air I used to brace the tunnel around the trolls, encapsulatingthem inside. Roaring and fighting, they rolled and tumbled, striving to reach us but unable to break the barrier around them.
The tunnel began to quake, slabs of stone falling in rapid succession, crumbling around both bubbled shields of air and shadow while great sprays of water broke through, filling the tunnel rapidly with the cold enchanted waters of Lac Asrai.
“No!” Xi cursed within our shadow bubble, her body trembling violently, still keeping her hold on the tunnel to prevent its total destruction.
"Let go Xi!" Remnant screamed, throwing shadow around herself before her darkness blasted upwards, swallowing the quartz, the soft earth, the lakebed, and the water itself. A beam of darkness shooting straight into the welcomed sight of cobalt skies, devouring everything in its path.
Sweat poured down Xi's temple, her hair falling over her face once more. Her uncovered eye wide, she shook harder with exertion. She still had yet to let go of her element and was single handedly holding the tunnel intact against the collapsing earth, against an entire damn body of water. The immensity of her power was fearsomely beautiful—but so was the fae wielding it. A tear fell down the side of her face, mingling with the sweat, and I knew if I pulled her hair back, I'd see the mirror image on the other side.
Remnant had no way of knowing…no way of understanding that this, at one time, was Xi's sanctuary. The tunnels she built were an escape. The way she had freed herself from the abuse of her home, the cruelty of her parents. A young faeling…living deep beneath the earth, burying her pain with each layer of stone, healing and becoming stronger all by herself. Alone in this world—my secrets had only made her feel that forsakenness all over again.
Reaching out, I tilted her chin upwards so that she looked into my eyes, wiping the lone tear away. "Let go, my terrella.If you’ll have me, one day we will build it again, this time together, and it will be in love, not in pain, not in fear but in pure everlasting love. The strongest thing this world has to offer, better than any stone."
"Ri," she whispered brokenly.
I leaned in, pausing just before my lips touched hers, waiting for permission, waiting to see if she would accept me in all her anger, confusion and distrust. "Let go Xi." I whispered against her quivering mouth.
Her grey eye searched mine, but she knew as much as we all did. Fae did not lie. This was the closest I had ever come to telling her just how much I goddess damn loved her and she could see it on my face, the sweet whisper from my lips, the way my hand held firm on her trembling body.
She nodded, closing her eyes, lashes fluttering against the pained expression on her face before she pressed her lips into mine and the tunnel caved. A sob tore from her soul and I swallowed it down. Crushing her to me, I held her grieving body, and latched onto the bubble of air the trolls were encased in while Remnant blasted us out of the sudden roaring rush of water and earth.
Flying momentarily into the air like the spray from a goddess damn geyser, we crashed onto the reedy shores of the lake, covered with thick roots and large leafy palms.
The shadows broke upon impact, sending us careening in a tumbled mess over each other. Contorting my body, I rolled, holding Xi tight as my exposed back scraped harshly along mud, reeds, and small trees. Bouncing like a fucking ball as I came to a firm stop, Xi still secure atop of me.
Just beyond I dropped the trolls in their bubble of air into the lake. Groaning, I stared up into Xi's face, hovering just inches from mine.
Laughing shakily, I reached up, brushing back her hair to gaze at her stunning beauty that stole even my own fucking air, leaving me defenseless. For this…for her, I would gratefully suffocate. Smiling softly, I whispered huskily with what remaining breath I had, "Hey you."
She inhaled, then her lips crashed into mine again, and this time I groaned for a whole different reason. Hands threading through my hair, her tongue swept into my mouth and I opened for her. She tasted of ambrosia and the fresh chilling wind, and it consumed all of me. Her dominant claim of my body made me desperate for more and I relished every second of it before her sensibilities came back to her and she remembered that I was a monster. A greedy one. For if she chose to keep me, to still love me…I would drown in that feeling for all of time, even if it left me bereft and weak.
Stiffening, as if she felt my words, she ripped her mouth away from mine. Straddling my body with fury, she inhaled deeply, and when the breath left her swollen lips, the harsh whisper was a shot through my heart. “No.”
Scrambling to stand, she replicated the physical distance that her refusal of me had created.
Unable to look at her broken expression, I closed my eyes painfully, the last of my confidence in being able to explain my power escaping me just as quickly as she did from my arms.
Chapter 13
Istood awkwardly onthe lapping shores of Lac Asrai staring at tussling trolls encased in a bubble of air floating along the soft waves. Their roars had been drowned out by the tightly sealed air of Riley's impressive power, but even so, a herd of camphor nearby danced away from the water's edge,enraptured by the comical scene but wary of what it may mean. I shared their wariness having never seen a creature repel shadow like the trolls did in that cave. The fact that the air elemental power worked on them and still held them prisoner was quite admirable, but confused me even more.
When moans and gasps were heard behind me, I grinned, giving the elemental twins space and walking away closer to the waters edge. I was fairly certain I wouldn't be invited to this particular party and there were no hard feelings there. If I was blessed to love someone the way those two loved one another, there would be no goddess damn way I’d share them with someone else.
Pacing the lac's shores, I focused back on the strange red light in the troll's eyes. Pondering again on what kind of power could repel mine.
Seemingly unperturbed by this, the shadows themselves floated lazily beside me, their cloud of darkness shimmering from the reflected light on the tranquil surface of the lac. I bit my lip as I stared up into the sun, somehow always finding its brightness both calling and mocking. As if I was born to bask in some sort of light even if all of me was darkness and shadows.
These past hundred years had been full of trials. First, I was abandoned by my family following the vows I made to serve the throne. Then, Deirdre's cold withdrawal from what was once an intimate love was enough to throw me off balance. I had foolishly thought I could rebuild Faerie and still fall in love with her dangerous silver beauty, but it was becoming more and more apparent that there was very little love left in her heart…even if I did think at one time, mine would have been enough to see us through. But I was never enough, not enough for her, and not even enough for my own family. The sting from their abandonment even sharper the further Deirdre drew away.
