Page 65 of Blood of the Fallen
She shook her head, looking lost. “All my medicine burned, and it wouldn’t have helped with this, anyway. It’s just too big.” She pulled at her hair, then glanced up at me, a hint of hope in her eyes. “Bethel?” Her voice trembled with fear both for the witch’s safety and the possibility that Bethel might not be able to help.
“She’s fine,” I said to alleviate her first worry, but the second... no help could come from the witch. “But she’s spent.”
Ila glanced down at the Chieftess’s languid face.
I glanced up at Kall. “Is there anythingwecan do?”
We had been able to heal each other. Couldn’t we lend her some of our power?
He understood my question. I could sense it through the bond. His eyes saddened. His chin dipped.
No, there isn’t anything we can do,he responded gently in my mind.
It wasn’t fair. We had so much we could give to each other so easily, and yet we couldn’t… Tentatively, I kneeled and took my mother’s hand in mine. It was rough, lined with calluses. She had fought defending her pack, but once more, the Academy had stolen precious time from her.
“It’s my fault,” Ila said. “She jumped in front of me to save me. I should be the one—”
“No,” the Chieftess said in a hoarse voice that was barely audible. Her eyes blinked open slowly as if just lifting her eyelids was a tremendous effort.
“Mother!” Ila grabbed the Chieftess’s other hand and leaned forward.
“Y-you… have so much… life a-ahead of you,” the Chieftess said in choppy syllables.
“Mother, please,” Ila pleaded, pressing her forehead to the hand she held.
The Chieftess turned her attention to me, shifting her dark eyes slowly in my direction. “I wish… we’d had more… time. I wish…”
Her breaths became shallower. She fought to keep her eyes open.
A host of emotions whirled in my chest. Like her, I’d hoped we would have more time. I’d hoped we… I squeezed my eyes tightly, fighting against the urge to cry out in rage. Instead, for the first time in her presence, I allowed my more vulnerable feelings to come to the surface. If she didn’t have the strength to say what she wanted to say, I could lend her a bit of mine.
“I wish we’d had more time, too,” I said. “I wish I’d gotten to know you better, to learn from you. Most of all, I wish I’d never been taken from you and Ila. From my father. If only this world was better, I would’ve had a chance to… call you Mother.”
A weak smile stretched her lips. “I… would’ve… liked that.”
Ila sobbed, rocking back and forth on her knees.
A moment passed. Ila and I held our mother’s hands and watched as her eyes closed and her breaths stilled.
With a cry of pain, Ila stood, walked a short distance away, and fell back down to her knees. Holding her head over her legs, she cried, her sobs muffled.
I stayed there, unable to move.
Kall kneeled beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I felt his grief through our bond. It was raw and fierce. The Chieftess had been like a mother to him after he lost his family. A moment later, I sensed Maki and Novuk’s approach. They stood behind us, their grief as fierce as Kall’s.
Slowly, a gentle sense of well-being descended over me. Small visions of what appeared to be memories flashed before my eyes. I saw my mother when she was a young woman, bouncing two young girls on her knees. I sucked in a breath, realizing what the triad, my triad, was doing. They were lending me their memories.
Behind my mother, a tall man with long hair and a strong jaw stood watching, a wide smile gracing his handsome face. His eyes were brown and warm, so much like Ila’s, like mine.
The memory switched, and I was with Ila. We stood in a meadow dotted with wildflowers. We held each other’s hands and twirled in circles, looking up at the blue sky, and giggling with delight.
The tears finally came, rushing down my cheeks and untangling all the emotions that had crowded in my chest. I felt undone, laid bare.
I cried for a long time without care or shame. So much had been taken from me, and yet I had much more than I ever imagined possible.
I had a family, a true family.
But there was a threat, an enemy that would gladly take it all away, but I would not allow that. I would give it all to make sure everyone I cared for was safe.
