Page 63 of A Land So Wide

I t was a scream strong enough to shake apart a mountain.

A scream loud enough to bury a mine, bury a court, bury its queen.

As Greer’s voice ripped across the cavern, great crumbling rocks fell upon the Gathered, covering them with iron ore.

The air turned foul with it, scorching and blistering everything it touched.

She could hear other screams blend with hers: Elowen and her swarming court, and the horde of unseen Bright-Eyeds hidden throughout the caves.

Their screams filled the mine, filled the tunnels, filled the entire mountain, until there was nothing but a storm of sound, a great crashing wave of noise and chaos, an old world shattering apart as a new one rose.

Greer had intended for the scream to bury her as well. She had accepted the certainty of her death, knowing her sacrifice would ensure that the Bright-Eyeds never left the Severing Mountains, never made it into the wider world.

But, impossibly, she had not died.

When her scream finally came to an end, Greer found herself in a painful heap at the edge of the forest, small and human once more, and staring down a wall of stones and debris.

She remembered being thrown through the tumult, pushed by the force of her voice.

It had torn apart the tunnels, felling walls and timbers with ease, but the waves of sound had pushed the destruction away from her, leaving her safe and out of the mine.

Another thundering blast roared from the remains of the tunnel, spewing out a shower of shale and dust, as more rocks shifted, tumbling down to seal the entrance forever.

Greer scrambled to avoid the falling chips of stone, and then collapsed in the forest’s undergrowth.

She lay on her back, letting the snow numb the worst of her pains as whatever remained of Ailie’s blood began to heal her, knitting together broken bones, mending gashes, healing bruises.

She stared up at the gray sky, watching it lighten by degrees. Sunrise wasn’t far off. Impossibly, she’d lived through the night.

But Finn…

Her hands balled into fists, clutching at his frayed ribbon.

They’d been so close to leaving together, to surviving it all.

She didn’t know what would have come next, how they would have carried on, but to have had the chance ripped away like that, right at the end…

Finn had remained faithful to her mother for so many years, had watched after Greer, had gotten her here, and helped her succeed. And for what? What had been the point of his journey? What consolation could she take hold of?

Greer relaxed her fists, studying the intricate designs embroidered across the ribbon she held. These stitches were here even though her mother was not. They remained when all the other pieces of Ailie—her schemes, her cloak, Finn’s devotion—were gone.

Almost gone, Greer mentally amended, the power of her scream still echoing in her ears.

“I’m the last of the Bright-Eyeds,” she said aloud, and her voice was so small against the vast wilds surrounding her.

She thought of what the hunters in Laird had said, how the Bright-Eyeds had disrupted the rhythm of the land, devouring everything they came across, hunting life to near extinction.

Now she was all that remained of that insatiable appetite.

“That blood will die with me,” she whispered; she tied the ribbon around her wrist as she made this promise to the land.

Only the wind responded, howling out a keening pitch that made her insides ache with an icy loneliness.

She rubbed her hands over her goose-bumped arms, cold for the first time since the night she’d drunk Finn’s blood.

She needed to stand, needed to warm herself with movement and purpose, but couldn’t seem to stir to action.

Greer kept her gaze fixed on the sky instead, watching and waiting for the approaching sun.

After a time, footsteps stirred her from the haze. Though the worst of her injuries had passed, her head still reeled from the force of the scream, and it was difficult to focus on the figure making his way through the trees.

He cupped his hands over his mouth and called out her name.

“I’m here,” Greer gasped, unable to raise her voice above a whisper. “Ellis, I’m here.”

He was beside her in a flash, his kisses falling on her as soft as snowflakes, as tender as the first shoots of spring.

He held her close, her pounding head heavy on his chest, vowing he’d never walk away from her again.

They spoke in low, quiet tones, telling the stories of how they’d gotten here, of leaving Mistaken and venturing into the unknown, of Ailie’s secrets and all of Greer’s changes.

It wasn’t until the sun was well over the tree line, spreading its cold winter beams, that Ellis noticed the bracelet now tied around her wrist.

“I remember this,” he said, bringing it up for closer inspection. “I haven’t seen it in years.”

“Finn had it.” Her eyes darted toward the impenetrable wall of rocks now piled up at the start of the mine.

Ellis’s gaze followed hers, understanding.

He hesitated before speaking. “He took me down the mountain, down into a little clearing with old carts and broken tracks, and said I’d be safe.

” He let out a sigh Greer couldn’t read.

“He said he was going to get you. He said he’d bring you back.

But he didn’t…and then I heard that horrible rumbling…

it sounded like the mountain was splitting in two, and I couldn’t stay put. I needed to find you.”

“He’s gone,” she whispered, pushing aside the heartache, grounding herself in the truths of the here and now. She’d done what she set out to do. She’d found Ellis. She’d saved him and the whole world beyond. “They all are.”

“Except you,” he noted, and Greer’s heart clunked heavily, missing a beat.

“Yes.”

A long moment of silence passed between them. Greer longed to fill it with explanations and sworn oaths she wasn’t sure she could keep, declarations of love and good intentions, promises that she still was herself, no matter how much of her mother now raced through her veins.

Ellis trailed his thumb over the bracelet thoughtfully before taking her hand in his, silencing the flood of words that were ready to pour from her. His simple gesture said all that was needed.

“What do we do now?” Ellis asked, lacing their fingers together into an unbreakable knot. “Where do we go?”

Greer squeezed his hand as her blood quickened with the familiar stir of wanderlust. Her lips parted into a faint smile, revealing a row of small and even teeth. “Anywhere we want.”