“It could be Desmond.” There was a pleading looking in her eye, only for a second before she shifted and her gaze turned cold. Calculated. “I need to check.”
“We live in a land of monsters, Commander,” Stone said. “Don’t let hope blind you.”
She hesitated a moment before wriggling free of his grip and drawing her sword from the ground. “There,” she said, “now I’m going out.”
Stone could admit he was smart but he wasn’t necessarily brave and damn, if seeing Aesira march out of the cave, weapon drawn, didn’t bolster his courage.
“You two stay back,” he said to Birdie and Bee. “If you hear anything, head down the ridge.”
“And leave you?” Birdie shook her head. “Fuck off, we’re coming.”
Bee lit a torch and handed it to Stone. “Never let it go dark.” She cast him a smile before she and Birdie took the lead out of the cave.
Vicious gusts pulled at their skin, their clothes. Chimes drifted on the wind, filling his head. Debris flew in the air, but through it he could make out the shape of Aesira near the ridge.
“Commander!” He charged forward, shielding his eyes from the branches and leaves caught in the wind until he reached her side. “Aesira.” He took hold of her shoulder but she was rooted in place, her body stiff. The tip of her black boot slid over the edge of the ridge but he wrapped his arms around her middle before she could fall.
Her head rolled back, her eyes glazed and distant. “Aesira.” He shook her but she didn’t move. He pushed his fingers to her neck, checking her pulse.
She was breathing.
Alive.
Though her eyes were open, she seemed to be rendered unconscious.
“Wake up, Commander,” he said against her ear. The chimes grew louder, more and more wind tore through the ridge, making him lose his balance. He fell backwards, keeping his grip on Aesira’swaist, making sure he took the brunt of the fall. “Wake up, Aesira,” he demanded again but a voice slithered into his mind.
Sleep, it insisted.
The sudden urge to close his eyes was irresistible but he fought against it, keeping them peeled.
Sleep, the voice whispered again and his eyes grew itchy and heavy. The ridge faded, his grip on Aesira’s waist loosening.
Sleep.
Maybe just for a moment, he thought.I’ll close my eyes just for a moment.
Darkness unfurled behind his vision and he could no longer feel Aesira in his arms.
Twenty-Three
Aesira
Salt and decay filled Aesira’s nose and when she opened her eyes a beam of light washed over her.
“Stone?” She glanced to either side of her, but she was alone atop a hill, the warmth of the sun and soft breeze running over her bare arms. Her hand flew to her side where she found her sword missing. As was her armor, she realized.
The gauzy fabric of her dress floated behind her in the breeze as she pulled herself to her feet. “Stone? Birdie?” Another gust of wind drew the scent of decay closer. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Tall flowers swayed in the wind, their petals tickling her arms and fingertips. She knew this meadow. Knew the sounds of the breeze playing between the thin leaves on the sparse trees.
Novaria.
Her pulse hammered in her chest, her mind fuzzy and memories diluted.
She couldn’t be home, could she?
She remembered the ridge.
