Page 76 of Shadows and Flames
My queen did not have an answer. We breathed, joined together until the intimacy of our position enticed us to go again. Slower, deeper, and I hoped her crying out my name reached the ears of our goddesses. Far away, back in our realm.
After tucking myself away and watching my seed trickle down the insides of my queen’s thighs, we cleaned our bodies as quickly as possible. The rest of our companions, save Blackwood, were in Tana’s room which was identical to ours. Her window opening had a view of a rainbow amongst the crashing water, though the colors were different. Softer.
Tana’s blonde locks were wet, and her traveling leathers were traded for a flowing dress. The Vyrkos stood sentry beside her, still completely covered to protect him from the sun. But, for all we knew, perhaps the rays in this world would turn him into a murder of crows, exploding into a flurry to peck and pester and shit on all of us.
The air infiltrating my lungs smelled of roses, though no blooms were to be found of my scanning the room. Meline and I took the corner, and I rubbed my fingers between my brows, trying to calm the ache in my mind.
“Glad you could join us,” the Vyrkos muttered, arms crossed and chest high. I remained silent, trying to decide just who he was talking to.
“You’ll get used to it.” My brother waved his hand. “Wait. Why exactly are you here, anyway? What use are you?”
“I can do plenty, you cretin.”
“Really. Let’s pull back that hood and see what good you can do.” Tom faced me and gave that expectant look, demanding I agree with him.
I grunted, and he seemed satisfied. Before the Vyrkos could snap something back at Tomás, I asked Tana, “You said you had some information to share?”
She glanced at the male standing beside her then at me. “Y-Yes. So, as we know, there is no aether here, and judging by the severe reduction in your and Meline’s powers, we can assume we are no longer under the guardianship of the Mother or the Godyxes.”
It was one thing to feel the dimmed Flames within myself, it was another to hear the grim situation laid out so plainly.
“I haven’t actually—um,” Meline cut in, and we all watched her try to release her Death. The familiar black tendrils began to curl in the putrid air. Tom and Fenix flinched while Tana and I remained still, but before the snakes could reach more than a foot in length, Meline’s arm began to shake. She gritted her teeth hard enough for me to hear them creak, but as she labored, the darkness—dissolved.
I could not keep myself from embracing her from behind. Instead of finding solace in the abyss of her, I attempted to provide as much comfort as I could.
“Well. I suppose that confirms it,” she whispered.
Tana twisted her fingers in her lap, wrinkling the gray fabric of her skirt. “I don’t know if this is the whole of their population, but it appears we’re at the top of a very large…tree. Between mountains. I’ve not catalogued many differences, but some of these Folk are winged, some are not. They also enjoy honey and…corpses, apparently. I’m not sure why, but they are disquieted by the words, ‘Thank you’, but not necessarily the sentiment behind the words. We should avoid saying them whilst we’re here. We have our weapons and training at our disposal, but we don’t know what magic they may have attheirdisposal.”
The Vyrkos coughed, and I reluctantly dragged my attention to him. Underneath the cover of his mask, he spoke with hands behind his back. “I haven’t had the chance to try, but they smell…I don’t think I’ll be able to feed from them.”
“Oh,fantastic. Now we have to worry about the lad starving.”
I had not even—I shook my head, trying to clear the forced sluggishness this world was trying to impose. Like every bit of soft light and odorous breath were lulling one into a false state of calm. We all fed before crossing the threshold, and we Lylithans would be fine for another week. The Vyrkos, however… perhaps three days?
“I brought my own reserves, prat. I’ll be fine, so long as we don’t stay here for more than a week. After that, I may just feed from Blackwood.”
“What Fenix istryingto tell you all,” Tana sent him a smile, and though I could not see his face, I watched his posture relax, “is that they are not mortal. Obviously, we do not know with total certainty, but it’s all we have.”
A world of immortals.
Though I was one myself, the thought of a place such as this only stirred the panic I was fighting so hard to quiet. We still had no inkling of where orifFrancie was here. Last night, Meline and Tana had told us more about what they gleaned from the Mind Walker, Grimm, but even that was flimsy. It was not nearly enough to go on when we were somewhere like this. Where danger felt so close yet under a diamond veil.
Would we find a way to go back before Frenzy set in? Blackwood would surely not be able to sustain all of us.
I was lost in my thoughts on the matter, so the cheery knock on the door was more of a surprise than it should have been. Fenix flinched while the rest of us swung our gazes to the door. Tana stood, trying her best to still the wringing of her hands. She took a pointed exhale and twisted the knob, revealing one of thestaff. From what I could see in the corridor, there were others at our rooms, each one holding trays with small vases of fucking flowers and pink cloches.
“The finest spring vegetables in all of Pyrestan, along with fresh baked bread topped with a jam made from our fruit, similar to your strawberries.”
Tana took the tray, murmuring, “We appreciate it,” and the sentiment was met with a shallow bow. The others marched into the room, lining our trays on the sideboard beside Meline and me.
It smelled foul.
The witch was all pleasant grins as the staff left, continuing to give the very specific way to thank them for their hospitality. Once they were gone and out of earshot—hopefully—Tom prowled to the nearest rose-gold cloche and snatched it off.
“Oh fuck,” he covered his nose with a ringed finger, “why does it smell like that?”
I mostly tasted leather as I blocked the stench from entering my body, but from what I could still detect, it was like… rotten fruit. Too sweet.
