The Fall
The training grounds were nearly empty when Riona finally stumbled off the course breathless and aching. The sky had turned to deep violet as the last light of day clung stubbornly to the horizon but she hardly noticed. Sweat dripped from her brow, her muscles trembling with exhaustion.
Another failure.
Zara had pushed her harder than ever demanding more, expecting more, and Riona had given everything she had. But it still wasn’t enough. It never felt like enough.
Kael had told her she needed this, needed more time with Zara. “You have the potential, Riona. You just need to unlock it.”
Unlock it. What a joke.
Riona groaned, rubbing at her sore arms. The course had been brutal. Every time she found her footing, Zara changed the game. Fire. Water. Shifting ground beneath her feet. Illusions twisting the terrain. She had barely managed to counter any of it. She’d tripped, stumbled, hesitated too long and just didn’t have endurance. She bit her lip in frustration the anger growing hotter by the second.
The fire in the hearth had burned low by the time Riona returned. She let the door fall shut behind her, barely registering the cold creeping into the room by the dying embers. Her legs carried her to the small desk by the window, her body moving before her mind could catch up. The book was still there tucked away in her satchel. She dropped into the chair, her hands running through her hair as she exhaled, trying to shake the day’s failures from her mind. But they clung to her like ghosts.
You’ll never be strong enough. Not for them. Not for the Circle. Not even for the people you love.
Her fingers twitched as she slowly she reached for the book. The leather was cool beneath her fingertips, the edges of the pages worn but sturdy. Her hands began to tremble with its weight in her hands. No, not just the weight, but with the decision she had made. If she had been stronger, she could have saved Emry. If she had been better, she could have fought harder, moved faster, done anything to stop him from leaving her. Riona traced the cover, her breaths hiccuping. Her heart began to sputter as she began to lose control of the tears building. Each tear felt like losing a piece of Emry. The room blurred and became hazy.
She would never lose another person again. If she could use the book for good, if she could wield whatever power it held for the sake of the Circle, for the realm, for the people who still lived… then wasn’t that worth it? Wasn’t that the kind of sacrifice a warrior was meant to make if it was for the greater good?
Magic demanded a price and she needed to pay the cost, no matter the price.Riona grabbed her satchel and tucked the book inside while also strapping her daggers; then she opened the door and stepped into the night.
The dark stretched wide and endless, the trees arching their skeletal branches toward the moonlight. The cold bit at her skin, but she paid no mind. As a child, Riona walked these woods many times, possibly hundreds of times. She spent long nights tracking in the thick of winter, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. This was just another hunt she reminder herself but doubt crept in. A sinking feeling that this was wrong. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger, as she exhaled slow and steady.
Her eyes froze on a shimmering light. Just beyond the tree line was a large deer with antlers similar to tree adorning its head like a crown. It was as white as fresh fallen snow and it was watching her. The way its glacier touched eyes locked onto hers, sent a strange chill through her. It didn’t run, not so much as a twitch as it stood there. Her hands were trembling slightly now as sweat loosenedher grip. She approached the deer as it watched her. Then to her shock, it laid down, exposing its chest to her. Riona raised the dagger and paused. The magnificent creature was beyond beautiful. It was as if it was dipped in starlight, its antlers looked as old as the ancient yew trees in Lumora. A single tear dropped onto the deer fur as she whispered, “I’m sorry.” The blade found its mark driving deep into its heart. The deer exhaled a soft shuddering sound as it left the world. She sank to her knees, fumbling for the book as she flipped it open, its pages illuminated beneath the glow of the moon. The words twisted and shifted, reshaping themselves into words she could understand. Her breath came fast and shallow as she quickly moved. She pressed her bloodstained fingers to the parchment and spoke the words. The air crackled as the clearing darkened, shadows stretching unnaturally, creeping closer, curling around her wrists, her ankles, her throat. Power slammed into her. Cold fire pouring into her veins, filling every corner of her being. She screamed as her runes twisted and changed.Afaint, pulsing red spread through the markings on her skin, curling around her arms, her hands, her collarbone.
The pain dulled and a sensation took over that was intoxicating, unlike anything she had ever felt.
Fluttering of wings struggling against the cold air, the whisper of voices, fires crackling. So many sounds all at once, so clear, overloaded her senses. She could smell iron in the air mix with spices and flowers from the town miles behind her. It was all overwhelming.
Riona rolled her shoulders as she stood, flexing her fingers as the power settled beneath her skin. Everything was loud and intense but the wave has passed just as quickly as it came. She heard the soft crunch of snow and whirled around for her eyes to meet fire.
Vaelric watched from the tree line, his figure carved from shadow, as if he had always belonged to the dark. The space between them melted away, each step drawing her deeper into his gaze.
Riona hadn’t noticed she crossed the final stretch of distance between them before she stood in front of him,her body pressing against his. Calloused fingertips grabbed her chin as his thumb caressed her jaw, lifting her gaze to his. It was her undoing. Her lips trailing down the curve of his neck, nipping at the skin just above his collarbone before dragging her mouth back up.
Vaelric inhaled, his body tensing beneath her touch. She felt the shift, the subtle change in his breath. The way his grip on her waist tightened for a moment before relaxing again, she took that as an invitation and bit his lip hard. Hard enough to break skin. She watched as single drop of crimson welled up and slid down the curve of his mouth. The red stark against the pale glow of his skin beneath the moonlight. Riona stood still as she watched it, watched the way it caught the silver light, how it stood out like ink against his lips. Vaelric’s eyes burned into hers. But it wasn’t pain or anger, it was hunger.
Slowly he lifted a hand and ran his fingers along his lower lip, smearing the blood before licking it away. Riona’s stomach fluttered.
She didn’t know what she had expected, surprise, hesitation, even the possibility that he’d pull away. But he didn’t, instead he matched her, his lips curling into a smile.
“Careful, Riona.” His voice was deep, smooth as silk, dark as the night pressing in around them. “You might start something you’re not ready to finish.”
The magic burned too hot, and standing there, staring at him, she felt alive.
A thrill shot through her, wicked and delightful, as she smirked, running a hand up his chest.
“I never start something I don’t intend to finish,” she whispered.
Vaelric’s eyes sparked red, his head tilting slightly.
The tension between them was suffocating and when he finally spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Then finish it.”
The world around them blurred. The trees, the silver streaked sky, the ground beneath their feet, it allfaded into nothing but heat and the tension crackling between them. Riona barely noticed how Vaelric moved, how he twisted them with effortless strength. One moment, she had him caged against the tree. The next, he had her. Her back hit the bark, rough and unyielding, the shock of it sending a shiver down her spine. She gasped, her fingers tightening against his tunic, her body arching instinctively. The pressure of him was everywhere, his weight, his heat, the solid press of his hips against hers, pinning her in place.
