“Nyssa—wait!”
Her horse gave a great whinny and rose up on its hind legs, but Nyssa didn't fall. She held onto its neck as she held onto her fear.
Her eagle.
Fire.
Ashes.
Evaporating in smoke.
A ringing filled her ears. Her vision blurred. She wavered in her saddle.
Back and forth.
She wasn’t sure of the words emitting from her mouth. Her brother’s voice was an echo in the distance. The world turned upside down, and the canopy of the trees began to spin. They swirled over her like water down a drain. Down. Down. Down—
“NYSSA!”
Reality jolted her.
She was on the ground, knees hugged into her chest. Dorian had knelt before her. A silver glisten tugged at the corners of his eyes. His hands trembled against her face—or perhaps it was her body that was shaking. She couldn’t tell the difference.
“Breathe,” he told her slowly.
Her hands clasped to his wrists as she forced a jagged breath into her lungs.
“One,” he said as he inhaled with her. His audible exhale matched hers, and she watched his shoulders relax.
“One,” she managed.
Dorian sighed heavily, and his forehead sank against her temple, hand coming around to clasp the back of her neck. “I thought I was losing you.”
Embarrassment filled her as she sank into her brother's grasp. Corbin went back to the horses to try to get Nyssa’s to calm down. Lex didn’t move. She stood over Dorian’s shoulder as he held and rocked her. As though letting her go was not an option. And after a few minutes, her heartbeat returned to normal.
“I need to tell you something,” she whispered to Dorian.
Dorian pulled back, brows stern over his eyes. He nodded and looked up to Lex.
“Can you give us a minute?” he asked her.
Lex appeared pained, but she nodded nonetheless before turning and leaving their sides.
Nyssa sat back from him and wiped her face hard to rid herself of the drying wet on her cheeks. She could feel the heat creeping up her chest as the anxiety of admitting to him what she’d done coursed through her.
She didn’t speak until she was sure Lex couldn’t hear as Nyssa wasn’t ready to see Lex’s look of disappointment when she found out what Nyssa had done.
“You can’t hear them, can you?”
Nyssa’s eyes narrowed, heart sinking into her stomach as Dorian spoke the words aloud that she wasn’t even sure she could say. “How—”
“You were screaming last night,” he cut her off. “You kept saying ‘come back’ while I was holding you. And your eagle was having a fit. I thought he would skin me alive.”
Her eagle.
“Where is he?” she asked as she sat up.
“Just above us,” he promised, his hand stroking the side of her face. “He’s here.”
