Page 11 of Of Stars and Lightning (Sun and Shadows #1)
Eight
NO REST FOR THE DEAD
SOL WENT STRAIGHT home. Leo insisted on going into town to scout for necessities she might need on her voyage, but accepting such an offer made it all too real.
Nina also insisted on following Sol around like a puppy, mostly because the Jinn’s magical signature—whatever that meant—still lingered nearby.
Sol protested initially, but eventually decided the woman wasn’t terrible.
Instead of the beach, Sol veered to the farmlands, unable to bring herself there, even for a final farewell.
They walked in silence through the tall, yellowing grass, focusing on the way it swayed as they took the long way to her cottage.
Sawyer and Cas kept a fair distance, both spreading into the land somewhere, scouting or doing whatever it was they did.
She walked beside Nina and Alix, and Sol concluded she didn’t mind Alix either.
He was mostly quiet, offering only small kernels of information about the plant life they passed, or the small critters that ran across the roads.
Nina, with her earth magic, made the small flowers bud into gorgeous blooms, and even went as far as to pick a tiger lily for her.
And who isn't swayed by flowers?
The Wielders returned to the Hound by twilight, this time having to pay the regular guest fare. Lora packed some herbs and salves in Sol’s satchel for her to take, though Sol stared at the things begrudgingly and tried to unpack instead.
She ate the seafood stew her aunt crafted, then retreated to her room before Lora could try to speak of Rimemere or magic or anything else Sol wanted to put on hold.
As she stared at her cracking ceiling, she zipped her necklace back and forth on its chain and sighed.
Surely there was a way out. Surely her mother’s letter couldn’t be true. Surely there were alternatives. Because the reality of there not being any was almost as overbearing as her succeeding.
Sol didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she awoke engulfed in winter.
Sitting up from the comfort of her duvet, she slowly shifted her legs over the edge of the bed.
Her breaths pooled in a mist in front of her face, and her room was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight that seeped through her window.
A harsh series of rumbles sounded beyond her room’s closed door, the vibrations thrumming across the walls like a heartbeat.
Instantly, Sol was on her feet and reaching for her satchel where her knives and Leo’s gifted dagger were. She tore through it and armed herself, then secured the bag across her chest.
The banging continued, making her books and things clatter to the ground with the force. Tears burned behind her eyes as she whispered, “Aunt Lora?”
“Yaaaarooow,” a voice called, one that instantly made Sol’s blood ice over with fear. Slowly, she turned toward her window.
If it hadn’t been for the pair of arms that grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away, Sol might have fainted at the horrible sight beyond the glass.
The Jinn peered into her room, its gray skin decrepit beneath the silver light of the moon. Round eyes were wholly black and focused on her. When she slammed back into the hard body behind her, the Jinn grinned its wicked smile.
Sol fought against the assailant, sure her luck had run out and she would be Jinn food. But they released her, giving her the opportunity to raise her dagger at them.
“Careful.” Cas jumped back, his armored forearm colliding with her knife. “First you bite me, and now you want to stab me?”
Sol tried to steady her breathing as she said, “Maybe you should stop grabbing me without my permission, then.”
Behind her, a tap sounded on her window. She recoiled as she looked over her shoulder to watch the Jinn’s talons scrape against the glass.
“They can smell you more than they can see you,” he remarked in a hushed voice. “You were too close to the window.”
Slowly, Sol turned back to face Cas. “Where’s my Aunt? Why are you here?”
He gestured to the door. “Living room. As soon as you left that Inn, we felt the Jinn around. We came over here to make sure you both are—”
Sol didn’t care to let him finish as she eased past him and threw her door open. It was the sort of chill that penetrated all the way down to the bones, the kind that produced instant shivers. As soon as she stepped into the dark living space, she knew her life was about to change.
Maybe it was the way Lora lifted her head from her hands as she stood in the center of the room. Maybe it was the way Nina had her hand draped over her aunt's shoulders in comfort. Or maybe it was the fact the only thing Sol could see beyond the windows, was Jinn.
Cas closed the door behind them, forcing her to step farther into the freeze.
Tears stained Lora’s face, and she pulled Sol into a desperate embrace. Sol let herself cry too, knowing deep down what came next.
Softly, her Aunt whispered, “I thought we had more time.”
The horrible banging began once again, and Sol could now see it was something pushing against the front door, causing it to shake.
At that moment, Sol wondered why her mother had left these things alive. Why had she chosen to flee from her purpose and leave those creatures to roam Erriadin if she was the one charged with extinguishing them?
“I’ll hold them off,” Cas said, turning to the door. Sawyer and Alix flanked it, both with equally tense expressions.
“It’s no use, child.” Lora caught his arm. “They won’t stop. You can kill these, and new ones will sprout out of the Void itself to get to Sol.” Lora turned to face her. “Now they know you live, they won’t stop until they kill you. All of you must leave.”
Panic rose in Sol’s chest as she gripped Lora harder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You must.”
“I will not—”
A rattle resonated from Sol’s room, tearing the words from her mind. Instantly, a gentle hand eased her closer to the Wielders. Nina smiled sadly at her as she positioned herself between Sol and her room, then Sawyer stepped in to guard their backs.
Everything was wrong.
Too many people were putting themselves in the way of danger for her, and she felt herself begin to unravel at the thought of her being at fault for any negative outcomes.
She couldn't process that again.
“Listen to me, Sol. If you die, if you get hurt, everyone pays. Everyone. It’s not the time to be selfless and try to help or ease people’s pain, it’s time for the opposite.” Lora reached into her pocket and gathered materials she proceeded to drop into Sol’s satchel.
“I give it maybe five minutes before they start gnawing at the walls,” Sawyer muttered, her fingertips sparkling. “Then maybe thirty seconds until they start charging.”
“Sawyer, don’t invoke them,” Nina chastised. “They can hear you.”
In response, a lanky Jinn with a gaping hole in its cheek tapped on the window, smiling from rotting ear to ear.
Sol shuddered. “I’m not leaving you here with these things, Aunt Lora. And Leo—” Leo. Mina.
Sol couldn’t leave her town and everything she loved in the claws of those demons. The people were innocent.
“No offense, dove, but you won't be much use here without your magic.” Lora gave her a long look, as if memorizing her, then retrieved a small dagger from her skirt pocket.
It was delicate but stunning, the kind of craftsmanship that had to be from overseas.
The steel shone in the stray moonlight and the emerald jewels encrusted along its handle winked as Lora sliced the blade along her palm.
Blood dripped onto the wooden floors, and with each drop the pounding on the door increased.
“Yarrroooow,” the things hissed in unison. “Let us innnn.”
“I don’t think the seals will last much longer, Lady Lora,” Nina warned, pointing to the foot of the front door where Alix knelt, inspecting what seemed like glyphs.
He shook his head. “They’re deteriorating.”
“You will leave. You will finish what Irene started.” Lora clasped Sol’s hand and sliced her palm without warning.
Sol winced and watched in wonder as Lora joined their wounded hands together and closed her eyes.
She didn’t know what to say, only knew she felt everything all at once in a debilitating wave as a golden mist illuminated the darkness.
The mist wrapped around their wrists and slid up their arms until Sol felt it melt within her chest with a warm sigh.
It felt as if she were in a dream, floating along muted streams of consciousness.
"What is this,” Sol asked, slightly breathless. “What did you do?”
Nina’s face paled as she beheld their still joined hands. She looked at Lora. “A blood bond.”
Her Aunt nodded. “A very simple bit of Dark Magic so we can be connected while you’re gone.” Lora placed her forehead on Sol’s. “I will not leave the people here unprotected. And I cannot focus on both them and you, dove.”
The front door splintered open with a piercing boom, the sound so violent it shoved Sol back into Nina and Cas.
“Take her. Now!” Lora spun to face the entrance.
Someone grabbed Sol by the waist and ran, taking her away from her family and friends and everything that mattered.
She stared at the Jinn as they poured into her cottage.
Lora stretched her hands in front of her and bellowed a fierce series of chants before she was engulfed in a blinding violet light.
As Sol yearned to see more, to make sure her aunt was alive and okay and this wasn’t history repeating itself, her kidnappers dragged her out the back door and took her away from her home.