Page 57 of Skyshade
She crashed against the leathery skin, and then against someone—Grim. Wraith had caught them both, and folded into himself, shielding them from the metal that had already marked them everywhere. Cocooning them in his wings that didn’t work any longer, as they fell. Fell.
They crashed like a shooting star, and then, there was only darkness.
She gasped, coughing up water. Her throat burned with salt. Her eyes stung as she fought to open them, as she gripped anything she could—
Only to find herself on land.
Grim was in front of her, holding her hair back as she retched seawater. “What—”
“My power returned just before we hit the ground. I portaled us to the sea for the impact, and then back here.” She turned to see they were on an unfamiliar cliffside. It was freezing, a cold she felt in her bones. A layer of snow frosted everything.
Her chest was still burning.
Wraith.
Her knees nearly buckled as she tried to stand, stumbling away from Grim’s help, looking around frantically, only to find Wraith on his side, a few feet away. She rushed toward him, dragging herself forward, everything sore.
She pressed a palm against him, tears already blurring her vision.
“He’s injured, but alive,” Grim murmured. His voice was pained.
His wings. They were torn up and bloody, shredded from the scraps of metal flying through the sky, some still imbedded into his leathery skin. There was a starlike mark on his neck, where the lightning had struck.
It must have hurt immensely. Still, he had shielded them. Wrapped his wings around them, even as he was falling toward the ground. He had sacrificed himself to save them, without any hesitation.
Tears swept down her cheeks. This was her fault. It was her fault they were even in the storm in the first place. She should have listened to Grim—should have let him turn them around.
It was all for nothing. The ring was lost. They could search for it, but they’d been so high up...it could be anywhere.
She looked to the sky. The storm had moved on. She could barely see it now, though she narrowed her eyes, searching for another pair of wings. “The creature—”
“Is gone. The storm cleared...and with it...everything.”
Isla’s knees finally buckled, and the snow was cold against her legs as she buried down into it.
She blinked, and they were back in the stables. Wraith was groaning, breathing in a way that sounded like it hurt.
“Where’s the remaining healing elixir?” she demanded. The vials in the castle were gone, but there had to be more.
“If there’s anything left, it’s with the Wildlings.”
“Get it. Heal him,” she said, knowing he would. They had bonded. She could see the worry clear on his face.
She wanted to stay with the dragon, take each piece of metal out of Wraith’s wings herself—but there was something she needed to do first.
Grim eyed the dozens of tears in her previously impenetrable clothing. The blood that stained it. “Let me help you first,” he said, stepping toward her.
He was going to portal her to her room. Help wrap her injuries. Help her into new clothes.
The room that Oro was currently standing in.
“No,” she said, so loudly, he stilled. “Please—please go with Wraith. I—I feel so guilty.” It was true. He would be able to feel that guilt now, mixed with undeniable panic. “Portal me to your room, please. I’ll get the starstick, fix myself up and meet you at the Wildling keep.”
She wasn’t breathing as she watched him watch her—studying her closer than she cared for at that moment.
He could ignore her wishes and help her anyway, portal them both right now. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done that before.
Slowly, he reached his hand toward her.
