Page 41 of The Pactbound Angel (The Soul Mirror Duet #1)

Cliff Runner

There was no trail. No markers of any kind to let us know we had made it to the right place to begin our ascent. Just a vague idea of direction and a prayer. The incline was not exactly treacherous, but our legs would be very tired by the end of the day and very sore tomorrow.

With the automaton’s voice box having become even more damaged, it’d been quiet lately. Normally, I would’ve welcomed the peace, but not when that peace was brought about by injury or anger. After apologizing to Georgina for my tone, though not my words, the gnome simply nodded and walked away.

“Can M.A.L.C.O.L.M. track the mischief hag, like he tracked the bunyip?” I asked Georgina, who had spoken but a few words to me. She was barely speaking to anyone.

“No, that capability was damaged along with his voice box. The switch broke.” Georgina looked up at M.A.L.C.O.L.M. Worry lines crossed her forehead as she stared at her life’s work that’d developed a listing to one side.

Ramiren opened his mouth to speak but said nothing. He merely pursed his lips.

I couldn’t blame him. What do you say to someone when their proudest accomplishment withers away? When their friend is dying?

I thought about what I’d want someone to say to me in that situation and came up empty.

If I had a charge, and they were dying in front of me while I could do nothing…

That snapped things into perspective for me. My oath and her tinkering were the same thing, equally important to us. But, at least with M.A.L.C.O.L.M., we could do something about it.

I replied finally, “We’ll find her, Georgina, before it’s too late.”

The gnome did not reply. She just reached up and took M.A.L.C.O.L.M.’s metal hand in hers. His one good eye turned a soft green as he looked down at their joined hands, causing the horrific sound of metal grinding on metal. He is far worse off than I thought.

Beep. “LOVE… YOU... G-G-GEORGINA.”

I turned to begin the graduated climb upward.

Our going was rough. The incline became even more pronounced the higher we got.

Raewyn’s whines were thankfully kept to a minimum.

Every so often, I’d check on her, and every time she was smirking at Georgina huffing and puffing her way up the slope.

She was having far too much fun watching the pink-haired gnome suffer, but I didn’t want to draw attention to it and start another war.

M.A.L.C.O.L.M. was not in a fit state to carry the tinkerer, so she had to endure, but I kept an eye on her. When she inevitably tripped with a sharp yelp and began to slide down, I was ready.

Georgina flopped to a boneless rest about twenty feet down in a short dip. She slowly sat up and wiped her nose, sniffling.

I dropped to my hip and slid, causing pebbles and small rocks to tumble down the incline. With my legs and feet, I stopped next to her. “Are you alright?”

She looked up at me. Her enlarged eyes began to flood, and she turned her head. Her voice was steady, though only just, “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. It’s just… I think I twisted my ankle. And I don’t want to have to beg Raewyn again for healing.”

Crawling closer to her, my hands hovered over her legs. “May I?”

When she whimpered and pointed to the one injured, I gently took her ankle in both hands. Though I was careful in removing her boot and sock, Georgina tensed and hissed.

The ankle was already bruised and swollen.

No. This is broken.

I’d occasionally healed myself when it was desperately needed, which didn’t happen often, so I had very little practice with it. But as Georgina took her goggles off, her watery eyes were unable to hide her pain. I had to try.

“I’m going to try to mend your ankle myself. Give me a moment.”

My warm hands wrapped around her warmer ankle as I closed my eyes, recalling the words my father had taught me, in Celestial.

“Vala ashalanore…” I felt something deep within me stir.

Behind me, Raewyn must have figured out what I was doing, because she yelled, “Why are you healing her? I can do that! Wait, Nat, is she actually hurt?”

Though I ignored her, I appreciated the question instead of a snide remark.

“...vasha torino…” The stirring rushed into my chest and out toward my hands.

Georgina gasped. “I feel it!”

“...balinde rodin Tarindar lema.” My hands began to warm, as though cupping the palms close to a candle’s flame.

My eyes opened to see everyone standing around Georgina and me, though I had not heard their approach .

Raewyn looked annoyed. M.A.L.C.O.L.M.’s eye had gone a soft green. Ramiren smiled brightly, his elongated canines showing. He sounded relieved, “I am glad to see you weren’t too injured, Mistress Georgina.”

Georgina smiled shyly at Ramiren. “Thanks.”

I removed my hands from her now pink ankle. “Stand, Georgina. It worked.”

The gnome replaced her sock and boot, then stood, hopping up and down to test her ankle. She almost fell again from the rocky terrain, and I reached out to steady her. Georgina smiled. “Yep, that feels good!”

Looking down at Georgina, I asked, “Will you be alright?”

“I think so,” she muttered. “But I’m not sure if I can walk this.” She pointed up toward the mountain.

I hummed, thinking. “Permission to lift you?”

“What do you mean, lift me?” Georgina boggled at me and placed her goggles back over her eyes. “I guess, but- woah!”

Georgina wheeled her arms as I picked her up, placing her on my shoulders like a parent might a toddler. Raewyn’s jaw dropped in shock. “Nathalia Maxliana Swordhand! What are y-”

I gave my sister a sharp look, cutting off her words.

Impatience leaked into my tone as I pointed a finger at the ground, my other hand holding the gnome’s legs to my chest. “She is part of our group, Raewyn, and she’s struggling.

We need to look out for each other, and Ramiren and I cannot do it alone.

No more requiring her to beg for healing.

Act like petty rivals all you like, but when push comes to shove, I expect you to be there. ”

Raewyn frowned deeply but looked above me to where the tinkerer sat.

“I wouldn’t have withheld healing if it was really needed.

” She gave a long-suffering sigh. "Oh, alright. Fine. Georgina, I’m s-” Her eyes widened, and sudden outrage crossed my sister’s face.

She stumbled backwards, hand on chest, while Ramiren closed his eyes, shaking his head and smirking.

My eyes flickered between my sister and Ramiren, confused. “What happened?”

Raewyn pointed at Georgina accusingly. “She… she just flipped her middle finger at me!”

I slowly exhaled through my nose and muttered, “Glad to see things are back to normal.”

A vicious storm blew in overnight. Though Ramiren’s tent was sound and sturdy, and on the flattest ground we could find, our sleep was fitful due to the wind whipping and howling until daybreak.

At least mine and Ramiren’s was. Georgina passed out within moments, and Raewyn soon followed.

Their gentle snoring was drowned out by the storm outside.

Though we mostly sat in silence, occasionally I or Ramiren would break the interior quiet with a whispered question or a statement about the day’s events.

After discussing the possibility of reaching the hag the next day, Ramiren took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you I’m proud of you.”

My head shifted on the pillow, his words making me wonder what I had done to earn such praise. “For what?”

“Taking care of Georgina. She angered you greatly, and you still treat her with empathy.”

I fidgeted with my thin blanket. “She needed help, and I could provide it. It’d be mean-spirited if I was able but not willing, though thank you for the compliment.”

He extended a hand to touch my hair. He had moved his cot a little closer to the bed this time, close enough for us to touch without reaching. “Nathalia Maxliana Swordhand. Definitely the best of us.”

That first night, where he’d said something similar, seemed so long ago, and I smiled. “I still can’t believe she used my full name.” But, undeniably, his words had filled me with a warm pleasant glow.

“Maxliana? After your father Maxlian, I presume?”

My cheek rubbed against the soft pillow under me as I nodded. “Yes.”

He slid his hand down and curled a lock of my hair in his deft fingers. “And where did you get Nathalia? Ancestor? Family friend?”

“It was the name of the Valisetian priestess who married my parents. My mother said it was a good day, and she always wanted to be reminded of it. What about you? Where did your parents get Ramiren?”

“I honestly have no idea. I never asked them.” Though his facial expression did not change, the sadness in his voice tugged at my heart and made me not want to pry.

But Ramiren what?

There had been a last name on his vial’s tag, but I was so shocked that he had a vial at all I didn’t remember it. ‘O’ something? Or was it ‘A’?

“And your last name?” I inquired finally.

The smile he gave me was a pained one, and he dropped his hand from my hair. “Good night, Nathalia.”

Shit .

An apology hung on my tongue, but something held me back. Instead, I just returned his words, “Good night, Ramiren.”

The second, and I hoped final, day was the worst one.

I continued to carry Georgina on my shoulders, as there was no way for her to stay surefooted on the treacherous, steep and now slick, terrain.

My feet almost slipped several times with the gnome’s weight throwing off my balance.

Raewyn fell twice but was not hurt. Ramiren tripped once, injuring his knee badly enough that Raewyn had to heal him with her prayers .

As we stopped for a mid-day meal of rations and the rest of the seasoned almonds, propping ourselves up on the sturdier-looking rocks and boulders, I spotted a deep shadow up ahead. A cave entrance?

Please, Horyn, let this be it.

I alerted everyone, as quietly as possible. The surge of energy, that we were perhaps finally at our destination, renewed our sore limbs and aching backs.

We approached cautiously, as we had with the first hag, and my head swiveled to catch any movement. But, as with the first hag, there was no sound. No small animals scurrying. And no hag. There was nothing but the dry wind and barren landscape.

I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now.

Pausing at the cave entrance, my nervous eyes darted around to look for traps. A trick. Anything. But, again, there was still nothing. Just the silent dark of the cave lay ahead, beckoning us closer in a mocking dare.

I looked back and whispered, “Everyone ready?”

Raewyn bobbed her head, looking nervous.

Georgina looked excited, clapping her hands together.

Ramiren confirmed with a firm nod. He unsheathed his rapier slowly. No talking. No negotiation with this one. Good.

Beep. “R-R-READY.”

Everyone winced as M.A.L.C.O.L.M.’s voice echoed all around. Down the mountain. In the cave itself.

So much for the element of surprise.

I unsheathed my longsword, lifted my shield high, and walked in.

Everyone followed.