Page 75 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

Riven

Hard, cold wind whips Riven’s black hair, whining through the high peaks of the mountains around them. Slick icy rain batters their skins, their clothes long soaked through, their breaths coming in clouds.

Ronin’s leaning against the stone, a little sheltered from the weather, his amber eyes closed—the witcher’s probably meditating. Riven just stands there and looks into the curtain of relentless rain, glad that Kyrith went in the opposite direction, or he would have to listen to his constant grumbling.

He’s nervous. On edge. There is no denying that he has been since Melody disappeared two days ago. They never found the demon, only eyewitnesses claimed to have seen them flying over Avander, Caryan’s harbor town. A dragon, they whispered.

Abyss, when Riven directed Melody down to their den, he assumed the demons were out hunting and guarding the Fortress and she, astute as she is, would find the one way out through the tunnels where the sacred spring ran through. The underground river would have taken her directly to Niavara. It was the only direct way out of the Fortress. Never had he dreamed Melody would encounter Caryan’s Trochetian horses or he would never have sent her there. They were utterly deadly.

But to learn that Melody and the witch had not been killed but that Melody instead bonded with one of Caryan’s monsters …

The green demon told Caryan what happened.

Riven briefly closes his eyes, baring his teeth against the cold. When Caryan told them about it, Riven expected that Melody and Blair would fly west and then up to Avandal, crossing the Emerald Forest. But they must have gone north instead. The Abyss, how did they manage to tear through Caryan’s wards?

Hells, Riven never deemed it possible Melody could just break through that wall.

And what lies beyond it… the fae gap. The Black Forest. Palisandre. None of the options sound good. And now she is Abyss knows where. And he doesn’t even want to think about the murderous witch she freed. And what that meant.

His fault. All of it.

His only hope is that Blair spoke true—that with or without Melody in tow, she could not return to her coven. But Riven fears the day he learns the witches have Melody.

Or that Palisandre has her.

Or—

He doesn’t allow himself to think it—the last possibility. That they are, indeed, already dead. No, she is not, or he would feel it. She would not die. Fate would not allow that.

Riven tilts his head back and lets the rain pelt his face, the water run under his clothes as lightning cracks above, splitting the air. Black lightning, followed by thunder that threatens to crush this world. Caryan’s magic, raging.

He takes a deep breath. What has he done?

What had he been thinking when he let her go that night? But he hadn’t been thinking. All he saw were her bruised lips, her winter-white skin ashen, her feral stare. The scent of utter despair on her. An intrinsic part of Riven has just snapped at the remnants of what Caryan must have done to her.

But his hands were tied. Telling her how to escape had been the only way.

But he doomed her nonetheless.

He hasn’t spoken to Caryan since that night. He can’t without going for Caryan’s throat. He takes another long breath, massaging his temples to let the fury and tension ebb out of him. A futile endeavor. He hasn’t slept the last two nights. Hasn’t so much as touched a glass of water or food.

The witcher opens one eye, throwing him a long, knowing look.

Riven ignores him and studies the entrance of the cave before him. The halls of the grand oracle, leading right down to the chasm. Into the very core of raw magic that holds this world together.

A couple of minutes ago, Caryan walked between the two slabs of rock that mark the entrance to the most powerful oracle the fae world has ever known. And disappeared.

They are on an island, shielded from the rest of the world. Only a handful have ever made it here in the last decades. The dense fogs on and around the island are murderous, tongues whisper. Part of a territory that’s believed to belong to the dead and the kings of the underworld, their sentinels hunting all the living souls.

The remaining, lucky ones who made it here alive barely survived receiving their prophecies after that. Consulting the great oracle is dangerous, as Kalleandara is known to be moody.

But the oracle is the only way to find out whether Melody is still alive.

Riven casts Ronin another glance before he decides to walk in. The witcher has been expecting his decision, and has probably read it in him with a talent similar to Melody’s, yet he doesn’t try to stop Riven.

He must go. He needs to know. And—whatever horrors await Caryan, Riven is going share them with him, too. To whatever end , Riven swore the day he accepted the blood oath. Or… maybe Caryan would just kill him for what he did. For the betrayal.

And maybe Riven deserves it.

He follows a narrow path that winds through the darkness. Stalagmites and shimmering crystals sprout out of the ground, some so tall they stretch like columns up to the top. Then the path gives way to a platform tiled with ancient, polished stone, a black abyss beckoning to his left and right .

The Chasm. Never-ending darkness, a room between worlds, between space and time. Something Caryan could step in and out of.

Riven walks on, fighting his growing unease as an unfamiliar power starts to vibrate through his bones, pushing up against his magic, as if to examine him. When he spots the raw blue column of light that flows like a waterfall from the top of the cave down to the Abyss, he stops. The platform ends right there.

A naked woman seems to float in the stream of rushing magic. Her hair is spread wide as if she is underwater. The same raw magic fills her eyes, making them blaze. In front of her stands Caryan. Riven pauses in the shadows. He can’t help but shiver at the column of light so strong that ancient tongues called it soul-eater. No one survives touching it, and Riven watches with icy horror as the woman seems to float closer to Caryan.

“Caryan,” she says. “My fallen angel. What an honor to see you again.”

“Oracle,” Caryan retorts coldly.

“Tell me, why are you here once more, wanderer of worlds? What is your desire to know?”

“You know very well why I am here,” Caryan says, his voice close to a snarl. Riven stills. No one speaks like that to any oracle—and lives.

But Kalleandara only scrutinizes him. “Yes, I do. I can sense the rage in you—this is interesting.”

“ Interesting ? You dared to shackle me with a bond.”

A bond? What bond? Riven freezes inwardly.

“It was never meant to shackle you, Caryan.”

“Spare me your lies. Angels have no mates. Never had. How dare you bind me to another creature like some fettered animal?”

“They have now,” the oracle retorts unperturbed.

Riven holds his breath, his heartbeat strangely fast. Melody… Caryan’s mate?

“Break the bond!”

“I cannot. You made that decision yourself, Caryan. A long while back. When you gave a promise to Meanara of Avandal. When you swore a blood oath to never harm her unborn child. You bound yourself to that child.”

“That child died ,” Caryan growls. “My oath died along with it.”

“No, it did not. She ceased to exist before she lived. In that world, in that time, back then. But her life and that oath you gave her are still written in the stars, even if she was not born by her true mother, but by another woman years later, Caryan. You brought this upon yourself, by your choice.”

“It was a dirty trick you played on me.”

“Not a trick. You gave that oath, Caryan. It is now written in the stars too.”

“I never asked for the bond!”

“And yet I see that you forged it.”

Caryan lets out a snarl. The walls shake with his dark power in response, yet the oracle doesn’t retreat an inch. It’s terrifying to watch. And riveting to witness a stand-off between two of the most powerful creatures this world has ever seen.

“Do not challenge me. You forced me to forge it. Just another of your ploys.” Caryan’s voice has lost all its warmth, laced with nothing but disdain and a lethal promise.

Riven braces himself again. Hells, no one has ever dared to speak to an oracle like this. Or survived if they have.

But again the oracle just cocks her head, the river of her hair flowing all around her in undulating waves. “No, Caryan, I did not do that either. Again, it was your decision not to sacrifice her. It was your decision to give her your blood and seal what has always been there.”

“That is a barefaced lie. You knew I wouldn’t let her die.”

“It is no lie. Yes, I knew, but it was still always up to you. I gave you a choice and you chose.”

“I never chose a mating bond!”

“And yet she still lives. You could have severed that bond, Caryan, instead of just damaging it. ”

Riven clenches his teeth against the relief swamping him, despite everything he just learned. She lives . She is still alive. For some reason, it is all that matters. The news is enough that he can breathe again.

Caryan seethes, “She still lives because I still need her. But if you think you turned me into a fae by having me enslaved by another creature, you are wrong. I am not fae and will never be. A mating bond is not going to change that fact.”

Again, the walls shake at every word, stones falling into the nothingness. There’s no sound when they hit the ground because the caverns are endless, and depthless. Those who stumble are doomed to forever fall through never-ending layers of darkness.

“Only time will show.”

“Do not be delusional, old woman. Time is going to prove that I will end her once I get what I need. That you and your prophecies signify nothing because you have long since lost your power. I have altered the course of fate a million times before, and this time it will be no different, even if you think you gained the upper hand with your little gimmick.”

The oracle steps closer, one long, slender leg out of the blue, rushing column of pure, undiluted light. Her body is half made of pure, blue light herself, part insubstantial, part solid, but enough for Riven to watch how she leans even further out and puts a hand on Caryan’s cheek.

Riven freezes, holding his breath for what is inevitably going to come next. But… nothing happens when she touches Caryan.

Caryan’s skin is miraculously unharmed. “Oh, my dear fallen angel, so full of ancient rage. You still deem me cruel. You still think this is a power play. It is interesting that you cannot see that I tried to do you a favor when I weaved in that bond with her.”

Riven stills by the words. As a part of him, in him, fractures. So it is true, all of it. Melody is Caryan’s mate, and he forged the bond already. Riven feels as if the ground has been pulled from under his feet, as if part of his soul has just been shattered thoroughly .

The laugh that works up Caryan’s throat holds nothing human. No warmth. No life.

It is as empty as the look in his eyes.

“You’ve always had a bizarre idea of favors and an even more grotesque idea of cruelty.”

“Maybe you just believe me a monster, unwilling to see that I am not.”

“A monster recognizes another when it sees it. Shackling a half-mortal girl to someone like me is a callous thing to do, even for you.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But letting you live on without any feelings at all, angel—wouldn’t that have been just another testimony of my alleged cruelty? I can only imagine how dull everything must be without any emotions at all. I felt your world-weariness, your lethargy. And I merely answered your wish—I gave you a way to end your blighted existence if you wish, or let you live, truly live, for one.”

Riven frowns at the change of her tone. At the sudden sadness in her face, the gentleness in her eyes. What is going on between them? Caryan must have known her for a long, long while then. But nothing Riven sees makes sense.

“Truly live ?” Caryan makes a vicious hissing sound as he pulls out of her grasp, his own eyes hard and cold like star-flecked onyx. Shadows have gathered all around him, swirling all around the column of light. “All I’ve felt is her pain and despair since the day she was born.”

“For now, sadly. Yes. But that made you want to find her all the more. How many days did you try to track her down? How many nights did you spend with her so she would not be all alone?”

Caryan’s hand shoots out, curling around the oracle’s throat. “In her dreams, because you would not let me find her in reality ,” he spits. “You would not tell me where she was. Before you cut me off from her entirely for years. She was still a child, alone with that monster.”

What are they talking about? Caryan... visiting Melody in her dreams? But the oracle just frowns down at him, her voice soft and tinged by compassion. “I know it drove you out of your mind to feel her misery, her despair, day after day, night after night, Caryan. I swear, I could not prevent that. I would have, if I could. But giving her another fate would have required powers even beyond my ken. Lyrian shielded her from you and not even I could do anything against it.”

“Liar!”

“It’s no lie, Caryan. But despite it all, haven’t you felt more alive than ever before?”

“Where is she?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“ Where is she? ” Caryan’s response is an animalistic, primal groan full of pain and fury. His teeth are bared, his eyes as blazing as the oracle’s.

Riven watches with horror as the energy starts to peel away the skin of Caryan’s hand, bit by bit, until bare bone shimmers through. It reaches a point where Riven thinks he’s going to hurl the contents of his stomach up, but Caryan still doesn’t let go of her.

The oracle just shakes her head, regret limning her otherworldly features. “You will find her when the time is ripe. Now let go, you’re only hurting yourself.”

“I will accept that,” Caryan grunts. “Tell me.”

The halls start to shake and rumble, the very stone they are hewn out of cracking open like split skin, and Caryan’s power erupts. For a second, everything is dipped in absolute darkness before her light rips through it, blasting the cloud of darkness away like a sun, so bright it burns Riven’s eyes. Caryan’s magic lashes back and, for a second, the two forces swirl around each other in a deadly tornado, the two of them still in the middle. Untouched. Unruffled.

“Do not fight me, Caryan. For I am fate, and you have been fighting me all your life. It’s time that you accept that not even you can erase fate from this world.” The oracle’s voice is still soft, despite the violent collision of their magic ravaging the halls and shaking its fundaments .

“Do not tempt me, Kalleandara. I might just prove you wrong and end you once and for all. Now tell me where she is!”

“I cannot. You made her run from you.”

“Do not chide me, old woman. Tell me where she is!”

“You tell me—why did you fight so hard against her when you finally found her, Caryan?”

“How dare you ask that, since it was you who planned it this way all along? She’s going to be my weakness. A ridiculous half-mortal you chose, not even a full fae. But I’m not going to be your puppet. Never was, never will be. She won’t change a thing.”

“I never expected you to be, Caryan. But there has to be a balance in the world. All things need a balance, even you. Someone breakable for someone unbreakable.”

With these words she grabs his hand, prying open his grasp with impossible strength. At the same time, her blueish light flares, extinguishing the blackness like a blanket thrown over flames.

“You aren’t stronger than me, Caryan. Not even you. Not here, so close to the source of all creation. And now stop.” She’s still holding his hand—only bones now, attached to an arm, Caryan’s limb held together by magic alone—and no matter how Caryan fights against her, she is stronger.

She twists his hand effortlessly, and out of the column of light; his skin immediately starting to knit itself back together.

“I will make you pay for this,” Caryan growls, still fighting the oracle’s tight grip with all his force. Teeth bared and clenched, he says, “You made me—you created an abomination and now you are afraid of it.”

“Not afraid, Caryan. Yes, I made you, angel. But I could never be afraid, because I love you, regardless of what you are. I always have, and I will until the very end, whatever this might be.”

“Then you’re an abomination too.”

“I am and I am not. The same way I am alive and not. But tell me one last thing—what sort of monster does it make you, that you decided to give her some of your power so she will stand a chance in your world?”

“I did it because she would be even more of a hindrance without it.”

“We always know the truth, Caryan, even if we keep telling ourselves lies. Find your other half, angel, and heal that wound inside you. Because a broken bond is a wound, and this is what weakens you, as well as her. Until next time, my angel.”

With that, she steps back into the column and just disappears.

Riven resists the impulse to run when Caryan turns and spots him standing there. He stands his ground when Caryan slowly walks toward him, eyes black again, shadows teeming everywhere around him, crawling up the walls.

“You saw that. Witnessed that.”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t return,” Riven answers truthfully, trying as hard as he can to swallow the lump of roiling dread and pain as Caryan stops in front of him. “She was— is —your… mate.” The words tumble out of him.

Caryan’s voice is calm when he says, “I know you thought that she was your mate, Riven. You still think she is.”

Riven doesn’t know how to respond. To the truth that shatters his heart all over, the pain in every fiber, livid.

“How long have you known?” He barely forces the words out.

“I suspected it the day she was born. I knew it the first time I tasted her blood.”

“Why did you never tell me?”

“Maybe I wanted it to be you, Riven.” With that, Caryan passes him, but Riven catches his arm and holds him back.

Caryan angles his head, a snarl on his lips.

“You love her,” Riven says, tired of lies. Tired of holding back. But it is true. All this time, he thought that Caryan had changed. The gold in Caryan’s eyes. It all makes sense now.

“Do not mistake a mating bond for love.”

Riven shakes his head. “You keep telling yourself that, but it’s not true! I know you have feelings for her beyond that bond.”

“Let go, Riven, or you’ll see how little I care about any of you.”

Talons form on Riven’s fingers, digging deep into Caryan’s arm. His voice has dropped to a growl. “You gave her your power. You decided to do that. I thought it just happened by accident, but you… the oracle said you did that out of your own free will, so she’d have a chance.”

“Let go!”

“No.”

Caryan stares at him, snapping his teeth. Then he says, his voice low and lethal, “Don’t believe everything an oracle says. I did so to give her some power in this world so she could find those relics for me. I hurt her in the process, as badly as Gatilla hurt me when she gave those runes to me, and I did not care. I would have gone on and on if she hadn’t wounded me.”

“She is your mate. You wouldn’t.”

“I don’t care what she is other than a liability.”

Riven shakes his head. “I know what you are. I know that you care, Caryan. I know you.”

He doesn’t see Caryan’s punch coming. It shatters his ribs, piercing his lungs. Riven lets go and crouches into a ball, hissing against the devastating pain.

Caryan just looks down at him coldly. “If you knew me indeed, you would know that I do not forgive betrayal.”

“I did not betray you, Caryan,” Riven hisses between clenched teeth.

“Did you not? I do not need to slice open your veins and look into your blood to know that you let her go. That you told her to go to the demons.”

Riven says nothing, because he can’t. He can’t even breathe with his ribs shattered. Caryan might just end him here.

And it is alright.

But eventually, Caryan lifts his eyes and strides toward the cave’s mouth.