“Bring me a satchel,” The Vulture ordered. “We have to pay my littleaccomplicea visit. Something isn’t adding up here.”
Chapter 11
When the world is ready, the Godlings will be born again.
Unity will be restored.
— The book of Tevye
Taryn
“A Soul of Mind,” Airess muttered, eyes closed. Taryn looked down at her, holding her tight in his arms as he sprinted through the woods.
“What?” he asked, his breath labored. His heart finally ceased thumping in his chest after she massacred those guards.
“Brings forth the Storm.”
Taryn frowned, his dark brows drawn together as he realized she was talking in her sleep. He trekked on for another hour before laying her down gently near a stream, determining he had put enough distance between them and the scene. He sat down with his elbows on his knees, his head hanging low. Exhaustion finally overtook him.
“Mark my words…Arzhel,” Airess muttered, her tone weak, as if she had given up. “I will haunt you… for the rest...”
Taryn’s head shot up. He stared at her. She didn’t make any sense, yet her tone conveyed another story.
He’ll kill me, she had said in the prison.Perhaps the queen, too.
Taryn got to his feet and paced, as much as the chain connecting him to her would allow. He was running out of time. Surely Eryx would be calling him back to the Guild soon enough. He looked back to Airess.
Did she really deserve a fate like his?
He shook his head.No, she didn’t. How could he lead her to the Guild, knowing how badly it has wrecked his own life? After everything he had seen and heard today, he could no longer deny the simple truth he had come to realize.
He was going to let her go when she woke up, no matter what the consequences were.
He crouched down near the stream and started washing the blood away. He ripped some fabric from his sleeve and dipped it into the water, cleaning off Airess’ forehead and neck. He caressed the back of his hand over her cheek, her skin hot against his. Gods, she was burning up.
He pursed his lips as he pressed the damp cloth on her forehead. Never had he known someone else to possess a power so grand as she did. When the whole of her eyes turned a luminescent gold, it was almost as if she disappeared, some other entity taking her over entirely. It was a Magick that could never,shouldnever exist on this continent.
Could she be…?
Taryn shook his head, physically shaking away the thoughts. Perhaps his mind raced to impossible conclusions after not sleeping for a day straight. He let go of the damp cloth, exhausted, and finally lay down to rest.
Why am I doing this? Why am I helping her?
He didn’t have the answers to his own questions. All he knew was that he was falling. Somewhere along the way, a certain silver-headed beauty had pushed him over the edge of the tightrope. He landed in a sea of golden light as sleep overtook him.
Taryn ran after a head full of red locks, dark purple robes flowing behind her as the woman sprinted through open field of salaroses, the onyx flowers decorating the ground. It was dawn, the sky an ombre of oranges and purples. A wall of turquoise energy stood tall in the distance, but Taryn was unable to see where it began and ended. The woman ran to the edge of a cliff beyond him and stood, her back facing him as she stared at the energy wall ahead.
But something wasn’t right.
Taryn stopped running, an awareness taking over him. He observed his surroundings and focused for the first time since he arrived… here, wherever this place was. He tried his best to remember how he came to be here in this field, chasing the woman with hair the color of fyre, but the origins of his travels were unbeknownst to him.
Taryn squinted, noticing the edges of the petals, even the treelines, were a faint blur, as if the image before him was a projection onto a plane he had tapped into. He looked at his hands and gasped, but there was no feeling of air filling his lungs as he gaped at his silver-lined hands. His entire body was translucent, a shimmering ghost of silver.
Taryn wore clothing he didn’t recognize, an emerald formal tunic with sleeves reaching his wrists. He was barefoot with dark pants rolled up above his ankles—a material he didn’t need to feel to know it was something he had never worn. Deep inside his mind he felt an ancient door open, an overwhelming pool of energy settling itself inside him like it had finally found where it belonged. It hit him then, acute awareness coursing through him like ice in his veins.
For the first time in his life, Taryn became lucid in a dream.
The woman stood still as she gazed at the view beyond them. Taryn began to run towards her. He felt drawn to her, and for some inexplicable reason, he knew he could trust her.
