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forty-two

Rune Kalygorn

The night bled around me, the shadows thick as tar, yet I couldn’t get ahold of them as well as I should have still. Every step felt like dragging my body out of a grave.

The wound in my side throbbed in time with my heartbeat. It slowed me down, but it wouldn’t stop me.

Nothing would stop me now.

The giant had been vicious. Had it not been for the lava of the Hollow, I’d have never been able to kill him in the state I was in. Guess the stars were to thank for the timing—but then they would be to blame for my ending up in the Hollow in the first place.

A tricky situation. Blame or thank?

The stars or…Lyall?

I was tempted to smile now when I thought of how he’d orchestrated the whole thing.

Nobody would even suspect that he’d ordered me down there for no other reason than to put me in the Hollow.

His soldiers had orders to push me down, and they did.

I should have known the moment Cheris, the commentator of the game, looked at me with raw fear flashing in her eyes when she saw me.

Technical difficulty. He had me believing that one of the shields of the Hollow was experiencing interruption and the circle couldn’t close as it should for the game to begin.

And like a damn fool, I’d believed him. Like a damn fool, I hadn’t thought him capable of trying to get rid of me so easily. So quickly.

But now, as my hand clenched around the chain of bones, I wanted to thank him, too.

The moment I realized that I was not going to make it out of the Hollow without a fight hadn’t been so horrible. Not when I’d seen the chain around the giant’s hips made of bones.

Dragon bones. The only thing filled with more magic than any kind of gemstone dug out of the soil of Verenthia. The only thing fae couldn’t get their hands on.

It wasn’t a known fact. According to Raja, it was erased from history, this knowledge, because of how many fae had lost their lives trying to make it to the dragon mountains, to kill dragons, to steal their bones.

That was something I definitely thanked the stars for.

I’d planned to simply steal and hide the bones from the giant, but things had gone as things had gone, and now the creature was dead, and I’d barely made it out alive.

With the bones.

For that, I thanked my magic.

For that, I thanked my Wildcat because I was going to remain alive until I made sure she was safe no matter what. Nothing else truly mattered.

The bird I sent for her knew its way. My magic was drawn to her, no matter what that meant.

I hadn’t needed to think, simply gave wings to the light and willed it to find her, and it had.

In one of the towers where they kept prisoners—which I was sure was Lyall’s doing for one reason or another.

But as long as they were bound, he wouldn’t hurt her. For now, I could count on that.

But the time had come. I was no longer willing to count on anything or anyone else because it wasn’t about me any longer. It was about her—and for Nilah, I would only count on myself.

I heard the sound of the horse approaching me long before I saw the golden light. My instinct was to hide, to call for the shadows, to shield myself, but I didn’t.

The sun had yet to rise, and I only had a little time. I couldn’t trust most people I knew because of what I was and because I knew what they truly felt toward me. None would ever take me seriously because of where I came from, and I’d had no trouble dealing with it before Nilah.

I’d had no trouble with pretending to live while I went through the days before Nilah, either.

Things were different now, and I actually knew what it meant to be alive. What a strange revelation it had been. I had decided even before the Hollow collapsed that I was going to have to rely on others one last time before this was over, simply because I had no other choice.

So, I waited by a tree, refused to reach out and hold onto it, refused to look weak, even if I felt it, and I didn’t even think about who it was that was coming toward me on that horse. If I had been betrayed, so be it. I’d figure it out. If not…

The horse’s galloping slowed down. I kept my eyes forward, the colors vivid despite being under the cloak of the night. I didn’t allow myself to fear—or to feel the relief after. Things are as things are, my mother used to say. By accepting everything that came, I took control the best way I could.

Delias’s eyes were wide open, and he was most definitely afraid, and then relieved to find me there, right where I told him I would be.

I’d sent him a beacon with my magic, something we used to do when he was a boy still, hoping to become a royal guard, weaker than all his peers—and I trained him most nights.

I’d send him my shadows, and he’d show up, and we’d spar until dawn for months, until he became better than all his peers.

I thought he’d show up when I called for him. He’d become a good man through the years, which was a rare thing to see in the Seelie Court.

I hadn’t known whether he’d be followed, though. Or made to tell who was calling for him, if anybody was around to see the message.

But by the looks of it, Delias was alone.

“Rune.”

Even his voice carried the relief he felt when he saw me, and his white horse stopped. He jumped off without ever looking away from me, and the closer he came, the more he looked like he was seeing a ghost.

Which, I supposed, to him would be very close.

“By Reme, how ?” he said, his armor making that annoying noise as he came closer, the gold-painted plaques rubbing against one another.

“Are you alone?” I asked, and I sounded worse than I expected. Completely spent.

“I am,” Delias said. “I got your message. I thought you were dead, Rune.”

He said it like an accusation.

“Only halfway,” I said, and it wasn’t even meant as a joke. “I need two things from you, Delias. ”

He came even closer, shook his head, then the small golden lights he’d put off when he saw me came alive again on the palm of his hand and rose over our heads. I understood that he wanted to see me better, to make sure it was me. Summer fae couldn’t see in the dark.

“What the hell happened? How did you slip into the Hollow? How did you survive, Rune?” He sounded equally terrified and curious about his question, like he didn’t want to know, but he also couldn’t help himself.

I switched my weight from my right leg, which had become somewhat numb, and my body leaned to the side as if I were about to collapse.

Delias caught me by the shoulders and pulled me to the other side, rested me against the tree.

“I’m fine,” I said, raising a hand to tell him to take his off me. I didn’t much like to be touched.

“You can barely stand,” he pointed out.

“But I’m standing.” And I was not going to fall out of sheer stubbornness. “I need you to tell me if the Lifebound is okay, and I need you to lend me your horse.” I held up a finger. “Oh. Three things. I need three things, it seems. The third is your discretion.”

Delias continued to shake his head, to look down at my body in disbelief.

“The Lifebound, Delias. Is Nilah safe?”

Now he nodded, and I had no idea I’d been holding my breath the way I had until that second. “I think so. I haven’t heard of anything happening to her, good or bad.”

Other than being locked in a jail cell— but that was okay. Lyall wouldn’t leave her there for long. All that mattered was that she was alive.

“And your horse,” I said, and he nodded, waved back at the animal, chewing on the grass blades near the tree trunks.

“Have at it. I can walk back,” Delias said. “Tell me what happened, Rune. How did you make it out? Is that…is that the giant’s chains?”

I looked down at my hand where I clutched the dragon bones tightly. I hadn’t bothered to hide them, but I doubted Delias had any idea what they were. Even if he went back and told the queen and Lyall about me now, I would be long gone.

“It is. I took it to have something to protect myself with,” I lied. “Thank you for coming, Delias. But I need to know I can count on your silence, and I need to leave.”

“No thanks needed,” he said. “I would like to escort you to wherever you’re going.”

“No.”

“You don’t look well. You can barely stand. You’re losing your balance.”

“And I’ve been worse.” I’d still survived.

“ Where are you going? And why don't you want me to tell the prince? He’s your friend. He’s?—”

“I won’t be telling you why, my friend, but maybe someday. For now, I’ll just thank you for your help,” I said, and I started to move around him to get to the horse. “And your silence.”

“Of course,” he said with a nod because he had no idea what else to say. He hesitated to help me mount the horse until he saw that I was having trouble pulling myself up. Just a push was all I really needed, and then I was on the saddle, the reins secure in my fists together with the dragon bones.

“Rune,” said Delias, and the silence that followed asked the question he didn’t know how to ask .

“I’ll see you soon, Delias,” I answered for him. “I’ll be back. Until then…”

I thought he looked relieved. I thought he wanted to say more when I guided the horse forward. He didn’t.

And I was on my way.

The image that Raja had projected into my mind in the chaos of shadows that occupied a part of it at all times wasn’t very clear, but my magic could still guide me.

She’d been on her way since the moment I called for her, and we were to meet in Mysthaven, which wasn’t very smart of either of us.

But considering the circumstances, we didn’t have much of a choice.

I couldn’t make it all the way to Blackwater—it was too far.

I was in no condition, and most importantly, I didn’t have the time.

More than that—there was a part of me that was terrified I would change my mind if I gave myself enough time to think through my plan.

Raja was my family.