Page 27 of Shadows of Air and Earth
A soft encouraging laugh, "Well done, terrella." The anthousai cooed, sitting up, her legs regenerating before me. I looked up at her, sudden clarity of what I had done hitting me in a torrent of panic before her scent engulfed me again, pulling me back under her seductive spell. "Your power doesn't work here sweet, beautiful Xi Chin and now you are mine."
"You—you healed yourself," I slurred, fighting the haze pulling me under. My tone more reverent than accusing.
Crushing me into her lush green skin, the contact sent warm tingling throughout my entire body, the brush of her fingers to draw back my hair searing me with her sadistic love. "Oh beautiful Xi, of course I can heal. Now I am going to take you away from here. Keep you safe, make sure you are loved and cared for. Wouldn’t you like that, my sweet, sweet terrella?" She stroked my head, pulling me easily to my feet, and lacing our fingers intimately together.
"But—"
Her lips pressed against mine, swallowing my protesting words, and I fell into her touch. It didn’t matter any more, not when her lips, smooth and hard, like polished wood nuzzled mine. A long tongue licked along the seam of my mouth and I inhaled again, desperately eager for more of her floral scent that would spiral me into exhilarating pleasure. I craved to reciprocate, to give back what she has so selflessly gifted me, my need bordering on desperation.
Lunging for her mouth I met her seeking tongue with my own, pressing myself closer to this bewitching creature who I needed more of—so badly needed more of.
I whimpered when she pulled away but she simply laughed, walking backwards, naked hips swaying, drawing me into the mist where others waited. As one they began to dance around us, laughing and twirling, circling like the sirens of the woods that they were.
"Oh how lovely, Clarissa," one crooned.
"She's perfect, worth the loss of our sister to obtain," giggled another and I groaned, veering into her stroking touch.
Ineededmore.
"Please," I whispered, not knowing what I was begging for but knowing only they could give it to me.
"And ever so willing," purred another, "You were right Elaie, this one is perfect for us. Won't you dance with us, my love?"
Different hands pulled me, touching me everywhere. Guiding me into a sway and then a heady rhythm. My body burned, sweat soaked my skin, and my core throbbed, wanting more than just seductive touches and sweet whispers. Laughter rang in my ears and the last bit of warning in the back of my mind disappeared as I threw my head back and joined their taunting giggles.
Expelled from my mind, the last of my inhibitions disappeared like the precious air that I no longer needed, forgetting why it was so very precious to begin with.
Chapter 18
The severed cord fellin slow motion through the fog, swaying to brush softly against my leg and it was everything my nightmares were made of. Pure terror and heart stopping loss had me lunging straight into the mist with nothing but desperate fear. My outstretched arms quivered, futile in theirsearch through the vacant air, suddenly a reflection of the vacuous chasm that my heart was falling into.
"They took her," I roared, wildly sweeping through the fog, stumbling blindly in a circle, restricted by the taut leather cord that still connected me to Remnant. Seized in a chokehold, horror rippled through my body when the white mist began to withdraw with no Xi in sight—not a whisper of her remained in the clearing of the dark, dense jungle.
Remnant’s head snapped up from her query, her lips pulled back in a viscous snarl. Still holding a slain nymph in her arms, she threw the sadistic creature to the side, her dagger sliding from its body in a sickening yet satisfying spray of blood. The gore dripped down the front of her bare chest but she paid it no heed, instead, she grabbed my arm in a rush, chasing after the quickly retreating mist. "Come on Ri," she cried, dragging my stunned, grief-stricken frame. "We need to follow the mist or we will lose her forever!"
Half stumbling, half running I stared blindly at her bloodied hand wrapped around my arm pulling me along.
Lose her forever…
"Fucking Faerie," Remnant spat at the retreating mist that seemed to disappear faster than we could run.
Lose her forever…
Crashing to a halt, the last deposit of the ghostly fog disappeared, leaving us surrounded by nothing but tropical greens, suspicious looking flowers, and hot, stagnant air.
Releasing a slew of curses, Remnant sliced the cord between us and I winced, the leather swaying just like its twin moments ago when Xi was lost. Pacing, the jungle floor crunched beneath the general’s stomping feet while she ripped her tight ponytail from its tie with another round of colorful swearing. Tugging her fingers through her long strands, I could see the dark, wet, shine of nymph blood soiling her silky locks.
Xi hated it when blood got in her hair. It stained her luscious white hair pink for weeks and she would complain non-stop until it was finally purged from those pure strands that I loved to tuck behind her ear.
I swallowed hard, wondering if I would ever feel it between my fingers again.
"We need to find a Faerie ring," the shadow fae muttered, studying the trees in front of her, the dark, dormant shadows, returning since the mist had retreated, rapidly flickering around her body. "But how are we going to know which one is the right one?"
Like the echo from the end of a tunnel, her muttered pondering blurred to an indistinct hum. Blinking long and slow, my world came crashing down around me, and I stared into the endless green, a bottomless pit of never-ending despair.
"Shit, Ri," emerald eyes blazed only inches from mine, Remnant’s dark brows scrunched together with alarm. How long had she been standing there? "We are going to figure this out," she said softly, her blood-stained hand reaching up to cup my face, "I need you to focus though. Can you do that for me, Dragoon? Now is not the time to shut down. We need to act quickly, time is fickle in the Faerie rings."
Time is fickle.
