The vine Ivy was petting nudged her hand. Like a dog asking for more affection, Ivy thought sadly. She didn’t want to continue, but she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t suggest it.
“So, you don’t die with the void,” Ivy whispered.
Vale answered just as she expected. “No. The void has been with me since the beginning. I will not?—”
He went silent. His head snapped up, his glowing eyes darting around the trees.
Ivy sat up, alarmed. “What is it?”
Vale shook his head. He pulled his softening cock out of her, and Ivy gasped at the impossible slide. A flurry of emotions blurred through her until she couldn’t tell which was hers and which was the void’s: panic, pain, deep desire.
The forest shook.
Ivy braced herself against the nest, yanking her dress back into place over her sweaty skin. “What is it?”
“The pool,” Vale growled.
He yanked on his robes. Then he grabbed her and slung her onto his shoulder. Ivy grabbed his antlers, and Vale took off for the silver pool. Foliage shuddered and tried to bend out of the way, but always a moment too late. Ivy covered her face as sharp sticks caught her arms and tore her dress.
The ground went white under their feet. Vale stumbled, his claws sticking in the cracks. The poison had spread so much further than they thought.
Vale came to a stop, panting.
Ivy lowered her scratched arms and gasped.
The silver pool was empty.
Fourteen
Vale sat at the edge of the remnants of the silver pool, and his heart filled with dread.
Ivy sat beside him, gnawing her lip. “There’ssomewater in it. Look there, down at the bottom.”
She pointed. A thin layer of white sludge sat in the shallow depths of the hole. It stunk of poison and rot. If Vale stepped in it, the puddle would not even cover his toes, let alone transport him to another realm.
They were stuck in the wilderness void. Nobody could get in or out.
“Your Circle will be disappointed when they cannot get inside,” Vale said.
“We were told the portal wouldweaken. Not… stop working,” Ivy replied, peering into the useless hole miserably. Then she sat back, hugging her knees. “How do you feel?”
Vale resented the question. He was going to wither and die here, helpless. His lone companion would surely follow suit. Even without the bodily effects of the poison, how could he possibly feel anything but terrible?
“I am fine,” he lied.
Ivy gave him a piteous look. She even reached out like she was going to touch his arm. Vale hoped she would. Vale hoped she would not. Before he could decide, her hand faltered and dropped back to her side.
“So, this is happening faster now,” Ivy said, looking around them at the white, cracked ground that had spread so far around the pool. “We need to find some way out of this.”
“Out of the void? There is none. Even if my brother tried to open a portal, he could not. The door is locked.”
“No, I mean a way out of this situation.” Ivy stood, curling her bare toes in the cracks the poison left behind. Her face twisted with regret, and Vale waited for her eyes to well. Then she took a deep breath, and her face smoothed out with determination.
“There is magic here,” she started. “That evenyoudon’t understand. Right?”
She said it timidly, like he was worried he would be angry. But she still said it.
“I suppose,” Vale said slowly. “But none that would allow us out of this void. Even if we found a way, where would we go? Our brothers do not know how to help. Your uncle insists there is no antidote.”
