Page 43

Across the bridge it was a short walk until daylight greeted us once again.

As soon as I emerged from the mouth of the dungeon, I saw the two RSB soldiers with a figure at their feet.

Sky was still lying there, his eyes closed and his body unmoving.

The moment my gaze found him, my heart sank and tears came to my eyes.

He couldn’t be dead, right? I’d only been gone for a half hour at the most. Surely he had enough strength to hold out for that long.

“Sky!” I jerked forward, but Jeremy’s grip tightened around my arm.

“Easy now,” he muttered, but there was a softness in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

I strained against his hold, desperate to reach Sky. “Let me go to him. Please.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jeremy released me. I stumbled forward, dropping to my knees beside Sky’s motionless form. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, and relief flooded through me. Alive, but barely.

“What did you do to him?” I demanded, glaring up at the two RSB soldiers standing guard.

One of them—a woman with a hard face and harder eyes—shrugged. “Nothing. He’s been like that since you left. Lost too much blood, I reckon.”

My hands hovered over Sky’s wound, fingers trembling. The captain’s blade had cut deep, and the few drops of potion had done barely enough to staunch the bleeding. Without proper healing, he wouldn’t last much longer.

“I need to heal him,” I said, looking back at Jeremy. “Now.”

He exchanged glances with the other soldiers, then nodded. “Do what you need to but be quick about it. And no funny business either.”

I placed my hands over Sky’s wound, calling forth the healing magic that had become second nature to me.

The familiar warm glow emanated from my palms, washing over his torn flesh.

As I worked, I whispered prayers to the Twilight, hoping my newfound patron might lend additional strength to my spell.

“Stay with me,” I murmured, watching as the wound slowly began to close. Sky’s face remained pale, his wolf ears flat against his head. “Please, Sky. Don’t leave me now.”

His eyelids fluttered, and a soft groan escaped his lips. Relief washed through me as his blue eyes opened, focusing hazily on my face .

“Oliver?” His voice was weak, barely audible. “What happened? Where’s?—”

“Shh,” I pressed a finger to his lips, conscious of the RSB soldiers watching our every move. “Don’t try to talk. You’re going to be okay.”

Sky’s gaze sharpened as awareness returned, his eyes darting to the soldiers surrounding us. His body tensed, and I felt him trying to sit up.

“Easy,” I muttered, keeping a hand on his chest to keep his movements slow. The last thing I wanted was for him to get stabbed by one of the soldiers. All of them were standing around with their weapons drawn. “I took Captain Boromia to the skill books,” I said slowly. “In exchange for your life.”

His eyes widened and he glanced down, running his fingers over the healed wound where the captain had stabbed him with his ice spear spell. “O-Oliver…” he said, looking back at me. “You… You shouldn’t have done that…”

I couldn’t help the tears falling down my face. “You say that like I had a choice.”

Sky’s hand found mine, his grip weak but insistent. “There’s always a choice,” he whispered, his blue eyes intense despite his weakness. “Those books... they’re dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“Your life is worth more than some old books,” I said firmly, helping him sit up slowly. His wolf ears twitched, still flat against his head, a sign he was far from recovered.

Jeremy cleared his throat behind us. “We need to move. Captain’s orders are to get you both back to Selas.”

Sky’s eyes narrowed at the soldier, a low growl rumbling in his chest. I squeezed his hand in warning.

“Can you stand?” I asked quietly.

“I think so,” Sky muttered, though his face paled further as I helped him to his feet. He swayed dangerously, and I quickly slipped my arm around his waist to steady him.

“Where are the others?” I asked, looking around for the rest of our party.

The female soldier jerked her head toward a small clearing a few yards away. “Over there. They’ve been... cooperative.”

I could see Mira and Rhia sitting on a fallen log, guarded by two other soldiers.

Kuro wasn’t far behind them, his hands bound behind his back.

He’d been stripped of his weapons too, probably because he tried to fight back.

And Kai sat alone, his face buried in his hands.

Even so, I could feel the utter defeat radiating off of him.

He was our leader and in the past few hours, Sky and I had gone missing, nearly died, and all of us had been captured, tricked by the people we thought were going to help us survive in Cindersea.

“Pack up your shit,” the female soldier called, leading us over to the rest of the group. “We’re going back to Selas.”

“Oliver!” Mira cried. “You’re alright!”

“Oliver?” Kai whispered as he sat up, his eyes bloodshot and swollen. “Are you okay?!”

“No talking!” the soldier closest to Mira said, clipping the back of her head with his spear shaft.

Mira cried out in pain and Rhia was on her feet in an instant, her fists raised, ready to beat the shit out of anyone that hurt her friend. But Mira stood up beside her, taking both her fists and pushing them back down to her sides.

“I’m okay,” she said softly. “Please don’t.”

“Form a line!” another soldier called, pushing Sky and I toward the others. “And shut the fuck up.”

Herded like animals, we were forced to line up before we were tied together with lengths of rope, attaching us waist to waist. Weapons were taken and strapped to Kuro’s back, forcing him to be the pack mule of the group.

He cursed against his gag, unable to do much besides mumble angrily.

Most of the soldiers found it hilarious, although I noticed Jeremy remained quiet.

Finally, they gave us a tug and our party started back through the ruins, heading for the Whispering Woods and Selas on the other side.

Despair seemed to emanate through everyone, my magical senses picking up on their emotions despite our silence.

After everything we’d been through, I was grateful we were still alive.

But as we walked through the fog, I found myself wondering if that was really a good thing.

We’d succeeded in our mission and made a name for ourselves among the RSB.

But the cost was far greater than any of us had ever imagined.