Page 79 of Fae Unleashed
I expected him to materialize beside me. Perhaps that was too high of an expectation since nothing happened. I waited a moment which only allowed anxiety to catch up with me.
Tal burst around the corner. He caught the wall to make a sharp turn and rushed towards me. On my shoulder, Feri breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, tension still had a tight grip around my heart.
Where was Rhoan?
At the nearest window, I scanned the grounds to see if Rhoan was somehow already at the battlefront. There was no sign of him anywhere, though.
At my side, Tal asked, “What’s your next move? If we don’t figure something out soon, this place is going to fall apart.”
The castle shuddered under our feet. I could feel it’s pain and fear. Beryl’s roots were twisting through the castle’s foundation, searching for every crack to tear open like I had with the curse over Delphine.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. My mind churned with thoughts of Rhoan. Where was he? Had Beryl gotten to him? Had his curse caught up to him?
So, when I looked to Tal, I found myself at a loss for words.
He swallowed audibly. “There’s no sign of Beryl…yet. I highly doubt she’s too far behind, though.”
I couldn’t do this without Rhoan. He’d been at my side since the beginning. Desperate, I plucked Feri off my shoulder and held him aloft.
“If you want to prove yourself to me, then I need you to go find Rhoan.”
Feri scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “That oaf? What do you need him for? He’s clearly good for nothing if he isn’t he—”
I cut him off with a shake. He flopped wildly in my hands. “No sass. He’s my frontline commander. No matter what you think of him, he is necessary for battle.”
Feri didn’t look pleased, but this wasn’t something he could argue with. If this came to a fight, we were going to need him. I set the ferret on the floor and let him take off. He stepped in-between and disappeared halfway down the hallway. All the while, I held my breath.
I didn’t know if I could do this without him. He had my back. There were so many situations I shouldn’t have survived, but he’d somehow carried me through.
Vi and Addie rushed down the hallway. I yearned to see Ness round that corner, too, but I knew she would be home where her husband could protect her. Nonetheless, I opened my arms and let my friends rush into them. They held me close and reminded me that I was safe with them.
I had Lucifer’s daughter and a goddess of death on my side. Together, we could do anything.
Right?
Still, when the castle shook and a distant tower fell, I couldn’t help but think of Rhoan and how I missed him. Where had he gone? I couldn’t believe he’d leave me at a time like this.
Vi and Addie stepped back to stand beside Tal. All three waited for instruction. My mind blanked as I balked at the thought of pushing back against Beryl so soon again. The constant onslaught tired me, but I wasn’t alone. I could do this.
I could be a queen.
“Tal, station the archers on the roof again. Vi, set fire to anything coming near the castle. Addie…” I hesitated. Together, we’d created a dragon from bone and plant. I couldn’t help her hold it together with vines and roots this time, so I didn’t know if what I wanted to ask was possible.
We’d done it out of fear and necessity. I still didn’t know how Addie felt about raising the dead. If I asked her to do it to help me, would that violate some unspoken rule of our friendship?
But Addie grinned and nodded. The blue firelight of her arcana flickered deep within her eyes. She clapped her hands and rubbed them together in eager excitement. “I hear you loud and clear. One fae monstrosity coming up.”
Were there even bones here? In a realm where the soulless crumble and succumb to the winds of time?I didn’t know, but I had faith that Addie could still manage something with her divine ancestry.
I, on the other hand, needed to make sure that the domain wouldn’t fall, and that started with bolstering the castle. As we all parted ways, Addie and Vi gave me one last hug. Once they ran off, I rushed down to the basement, far away from the fight that was to come.
As I descended, I passed rooms still unopened. Beyond those doors were the slumbering fae trapped in Beryl’s nightmares. I paused in a doorway and took in the faces that I’d never given much thought to. I’d been consumed with the idea of running away from all of this.
Before me were ten reasons to stay. Women with pointed ears and glimmering skin slept like stone on their mounds of pillows. Men in leather armor leaned against the walls, their chins against their chests as they slept. I knew they might not like me much when they woke, but I wanted to give them the chance to wake.
We all deserved a life away from fear and nightmares.
I shoved away from the door and rushed onward. The tremble and groan of the floor beneath my feet warned that I had little time left.
