Page 33 of Promised to the Nightmare Realm
“A falling star!” The elf yells at the top of his lungs. “And it’s a big one!”
Guests rise to their feet, leaving their food and the dancefloor, to rush for the door. Even the musician puts away her instrument, and the beautiful melody that set mine and Tristan’s bodies in motion cuts off suddenly, leaving me adrift.
Chapter 11
Nate
Tristan’s hand is big, and warm, and when he pulls on mine, my feet move without any prompting. The elves shout and call for their friends, some even break into song just as he leads the way onto the open porch in front of the tavern. The vivacious melody soon has several people rocking their bodies to its tune, but as I step out of the dusky interior bathed in the glow of the green fire, the brightness of the moon has me shielding my eyes.
I look to a point Tristan indicates, but with so many people crowding around me and pointing at the sky, I only see flashes of a silver sparkler progressing through the dark blue canopy above.
I get to my toes with a frown. “I can’t see. Is it there?”
“I’ve got an idea,” Tristan says, and turns me to face him. His arms slide around my waist, and the massive wings appear out of nowhere, already unfolded halfway.
One of the patrons hisses, rubbing his cheekbone where Tristan accidentally flicked him, but then my feet lift off theground, and we’re casting a shadow on the excited congregation of elves. With the void under me, I wrap my arms around his neck. His grip tightens, so steady and secure, and I’m instantly taken back to the moment of sheer relief and terror when he plucked me from the cold waves.
I was dying, and he caught me.
Saved me.
And now, he won’t let me fall.
He’s already fought for me twice, and maybe it’s crazy, but I trust him.
We might have left the tavern to see a falling star, but it can’t possibly rival the beauty of Tristan’s golden eyes, so why would I look away?
Lightning bugs dance in my stomach as he carries me ever higher, arms locked around me so firmly there’s no room for fear. I’ve never been held this way. We’re now high in the air, and I could let go with full certainty that he’d sooner die than drop me.
Could this night get more magical? I’ve stepped into a fantastical world inhabited by unicorns, elves, and a giant moon that bathes us in warm light. And now I’mflyingon the wings of the elven prince of my dreams.
I can only hope this isn’t an illusion.
“How are you doing this?” I rasp, resting my chin on the crab print in the middle of his new hoodie. The modern clothing is spoiling my fantasy a little, but its presence makes this moment more real. I am living out my own story, and it will be perfect, whatever happens.
“Shadowcraft,” he says simply, but his eyes aren’t on me anymore. Which I appreciate, since he is the one keeping me from dropping to my death from—
I squeeze his shoulders when my gaze settles on the ever-shrinking people below. When did we even get so high?
The tavern’s built at the foot of a massive cliff, and as Tristan turns us so I face the jagged rock, my eyes find an irregularity close to the top. A large cave opens its jaws, stalactites hanging at the entry like fangs. With the moon casting deep shadows onto the formations, it looks just like the skull of a long dead dragon, and we land right inside its mouth, on a tongue of soft moss.
There’s so much to take in my head whips around as my body gets used to being back on steady ground. The walls are covered in mushrooms, and colorful minerals glow with soft, fluorescent light. The soothing warmth of this place hits me as soon as Tristan takes a step back.
“How about this for a view?” he asks with a grin. At first I think he means the cave, but he spreads out his arm, and breath catches in my throat as I turn.
The night landscape opens in front of me like a storybook brought to life by forces beyond my comprehension.
We are so high up the tavern is reminiscent of a small animal tucked into the cliff at our feet, its golden lights nothing in comparison to the moon and stars above. The voices and song that so recently welcomed me with their warmth are now barely a whisper.
From up here, all the buildings we’ve passed since arriving in the Nightmare Realm look like wooden toys, dwarfed by the sheer magnificence of the forest stretching toward the horizon like an emerald ocean.
And above it, the sky shimmers like an ever-turning kaleidoscope, full of stars gathered around the enormous moon like royal attendants. Silvery light spills over the ancient landscape below in luminous streams, and just as I’m about to forget why Tristan brought me here in the first place, my gaze spots a falling star on the edge of the heavens.
I always thought I wasn’t fit to be a poet, yet look at me now. Maybe I really do have a book in me?
“Is that it?” I rasp, glancing over my shoulder as I point out the meteorite. It burns its way to the ground with sparkling ferocity. I’ve never seen anything like it. Any falling star I’ve ever spotted has been a blip barely long enough to— “Make a wish,” I whisper and squeeze Tristan’s hand.
“Hm?”
