From Breath and Ruin, page 12
“I’ll train you. Luken will too for that matter. Rosamond would be the best, though. So, we’re going to find her.”
I moved forward and put my hand on his back as we walked. “We will. I know we will.”
He didn’t say anything, but then again, he didn’t need to. The reason I’d come into this realm was for Rosamond, and maybe for what I was feeling now, but mostly for Rosamond.
We didn’t have to walk toward the camp for long before Luken burst out of the trees, sword in hand and blood on his face and trailing down his arm.
“Rhodes. The tornado you?”
Rhodes nodded, moving forward. “You okay?”
Luken looked over at me, his eyes widening a fraction, and nodded. “Had to deal with five sentries, but then again, it seems you had your own party to deal with.”
It wasn’t phrased as a question, but Rhodes answered anyway. “They’re dealt with.”
“Braelynn and Emory?” I asked, walking past the two men to look toward the camp. “Are my friends okay?”
Luken nodded. “They’re hidden. I kept them safe, don’t worry, Priestess.”
I whirled on him, glaring. “My name is Lyric.”
He held up one hand in surrender, the other still holding his sword. “Sorry. I just noticed someone has a new power that wasn’t there last night, but don’t mind me. I’m just going to do another check before we head out of this place to somewhere safer. As for your friends, they’re around the bend. I told them to keep quiet, and Braelynn will do it. Emory? I’d hurry, or she’s likely to yell down the whole canyon.”
I started running toward where Luken had pointed, Rhodes right behind me. I needed to make sure my friends were okay. If I thought about them, then I wouldn’t have to think or worry about anything else.
Emory was the first one I saw, her arms folded over her chest as she glared at me. “Where were you?”
“Are you okay?” I asked, ignoring her question. “Braelynn?”
My friend walked out from behind a boulder and nodded. “I’m fine. Luken took care of us. Are you okay, though? You look shaken and really pale.”
Braelynn came forward and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back, my soul settling. I didn’t know why, it just did. Braelynn was my rock, my touchstone. I didn’t know what I’d do without her. That I had been worried about what would happen when we separated for college seemed so long ago, and now we were in a different realm, a power untamed and raw and pulsating inside me scratching to get out.
Luken and Rhodes were near us now, Luken packing things up as Rhodes came closer.
“We should go,” he said. “Now that we’re all together, we need to find another camp before more sentries come looking for their lost teams.”
“How did they find us anyway?” Emory asked. “I thought you said we’d be safe.”
I turned to her, tired and not in the mood to deal with her. I hadn’t been in the mood to deal with her for a while, and I hated myself just a little bit for it.
“You’re breathing, aren’t you?” Luken asked, shrugging when Rhodes gave him a look.
“You know what?” Emory asked, and I had a feeling none of us were going to like what she had to say. “I’m done. We’re leaving, Lyric. We’re going home. This isn’t our world. Isn’t our problem. I knew we shouldn’t have come to begin with, but I wasn’t about to let you get kidnapped by this idiot.”
“I’m not leaving,” I cut in before Rhodes or Luken could say a word. Braelynn stood by my side, giving me strength. “We’re here to find Rosamond. We’re here for her, and for me. At least I’m here for myself. Because something happened, Emory. There’s something inside me that wasn’t there before. And I can’t leave now, especially when I know something is different about me.”
“They’re brainwashing you.”
“Do you think so little of me that I’d let them do that?”
“I think you want to be important and you’ll do anything to make that be true, even if you lie to yourself and everyone else.”
I took a step back as if I’d been slapped. I’d never heard such hatred in Emory’s words before, not directed at me—or anyone else for that matter. What had happened to her that she hated everyone so much? Including me.
“There’s no call for that,” Rhodes added. “If you have a problem, talk it out. Don’t lash out because you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.” Emory lifted her chin. “I’m just not going to be led around by delusional liars.”
I put my hand over my heart, my eyes narrowing at the girl I’d thought I could one day love. “I feel it in here. The difference. Something’s going on, and I have to see this to the end.”
Emory sneered. “Then it will be our ends, too. I’m leaving.”
I took a step forward. “You can’t leave. We can’t waste time going back with you, and the only two people who know the way back need to go and find Rosamond.”
“I can follow our trail. I’m not an idiot. I’m not staying here, and you can’t make me. I’ll scream and fight and make sure everyone around us hears. Because you’re all seeing things that aren’t there. There’s no way this is happening. It’s a bad dream, and once I get out of here, it’ll all be over, and we can go back to normal.”
Emory was the only delusional one here, but I had no idea what I could say to change her mind. She shoved past me, and I tried to grab her to stop her before she did something stupid, but she whirled on me, slapping me hard across the face.
“Don’t touch me, you freak.”
I blinked, holding my hand up to my stinging cheek. “You hit me.”
“And I’ll do it again if you force me to stay.”
“What is wrong with you?” Braelynn asked.
“I’m not a little weakling who needs to stay by perfect Lyric and her perfect boys and their perfect little made-up world like you, Braelynn. Stay if you want, but I’m done.”
“If you go, you’ll probably end up dead,” Luken put in, not sounding like he cared in the least.
Rhodes’ jaw tightened as he moved forward but, thankfully, Emory didn’t try to hit him. “Never hit Lyric again. Do you hear me?”
“And what are you going to do about it?” Emory asked, her voice dark.
“Lyric will take care of you herself, I would imagine. But if she doesn’t want to, I’ll take care of it.” He handed her a pack—shoved it at her actually. “Stay on the path we made. It’ll be visible for another day before the winds take care of it. Move fast, drink water, and keep the sun to your right. You’ll see the break in the realms on this side of the magic line, but you won’t once you move through it since you’re human. Go quickly, and don’t look back. If you do, I don’t know what could find you. The Negs might be out there, Emory. I can’t help you. I need to find my sister, but if you don’t want to be here, I won’t force you to stay. Go. I hope you make it, mainly because it would hurt Lyric if you don’t.”
I moved forward and reached out, but Emory took a step back. Once again, I felt a slap that wasn’t physical.
“Emory. Don’t do this. You’re going to get hurt.”
“I’ll take my chances with the Negs over you.”
Then she turned on her heel and left me behind—left everyone behind. I couldn’t stop her, and I didn’t want to go after her, not when I knew I needed to stay.
Part of my life had just walked out on me, leaving me in the dust. Yet I didn’t go after her.
I stayed in the present. Stayed with those who understood what was going on inside me, way more than I did.
And I didn’t break.
I didn’t cry.
Because there was nothing left to cry about.
Not anymore.
Chapter Sixteen
We moved to the new camp soon after, walking in silence as the depth of what had just happened sank into me. Not only with Emory leaving, but with…everything.
The magic.
The fighting.
The loss of life.
Everything.
Trying to be strong when I honestly didn’t feel like it and when all I wanted to do was find a log to sit on and cry out all of my tension, frustration, and fear was exhausting. I had to keep going. I had to pretend that I was stronger than I was. And I had to figure out what to do when Rhodes came to me and asked me how I was feeling about having one of my powers unlocked.
One of my powers.
As if I had more.
But if part of what he’d said was true, why couldn’t all of it be?
And by thinking that statement, I felt as if I’d just sentenced myself to a future that could wipe out who I was while burying the old Lyric and everything she might have cared about. Emory was already gone.
I couldn’t explain the difference I felt inside of myself from only a few hours ago, the changes from a few days ago, but I knew I needed to—at least to myself.
Luken was off, once again doing patrol. For some reason, though I didn’t know him well or his facial tics, I had a feeling he hadn’t liked the fact that he hadn’t been there for his friend when everything happened. Yes, Luken had been fighting his own set of sentries at the time, but I could tell that he wanted to be everywhere at once, trying to help his prince, in any way he could.
Oh, yeah, that was another thing that tilted my axis off-kilter.
Rhodes was a prince. That meant that Rosamond was a princess. Maybe? I didn’t know the line of succession or royalty rules when it came to the Maisons, nor did I know what it meant for the two separate kingdoms in this realm and their war.
For all I knew, people who could Wield two elements were called princes. I had so many questions for Rhodes, so many things that needed to be answered, and yet I was afraid to start asking the questions.
And I hated being afraid.
“She’ll be okay,” Braelynn said as she came forward, a bladder of water in her hand. “Emory is strong and knows what she’s doing. Most of the time. She’s just stubborn and in her own head, thinking that she’s always right no matter what the actual answer is. She’ll follow the path, and she’ll be home in no time. I know Luken and Rhodes would go with her if they could, but she was being unreasonable. We need to find Rosamond, and Luken isn’t going anywhere without Rhodes. They’re best friends, and he’s Rhodes’ right-hand man.”
I raised a brow as I looked at her, taking the water from her and storing it in her bag. We were in charge of dinner that night, using up the last of the human-realm supplies as the guys put themselves on security. I didn’t care that others might think it was women’s work and that we’d been segregated. Braelynn and I had no idea how to fight, and though I apparently now had a new Air power I didn’t know how to use it.
“You sound like you’ve been talking to Luken more than I thought.”
Braelynn’s cheeks pinked, and she shrugged before opening the final can of stew. “Emory was off muttering to herself about being stranded in a bad dream, and I was keeping Luken company, watching what he was doing so I didn’t feel too useless.”
I winced. “You’re not the only one feeling useless right now.” I picked at a stain on my shirt, wondering when I’d gotten it. Probably from one of the many times I’d hit the ground recently, or just from our hike. Looking clean and like I belonged here wasn’t something that would happen anytime soon, I feared.
“But you’re apparently this super-magic person who has a new power,” Braelynn said with a wink and sat down next to me on the rock. “Are you okay? I mean…how does it feel?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to figure out how to answer that. “I have no idea.” I looked down at my hands, spreading my fingers, palms up. “I feel like I have this…something inside of me. Something that if I just reached down and touched it, I could use. But what can I use it for? What if I hurt someone or myself because I’m so inept at it that I end up screwing everything up before I even really learn it?”
“Lyric. You do well at anything you put your mind to.”
“That’s so not true. I’m average.” That had been drilled into my head long ago.
Braelynn pushed at my shoulder. “You’re not average. Shush, before I kick you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You wouldn’t kick me.”
“I might. I might do a lot of things people don’t expect me to. I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
I turned to face my best friend, reaching out to grip her hand. “I never thought you’d back away. Because that’s what you do. You do anything to help your friends. This might not be something we’d ever thought we’d do…” I paused, and she snorted. “But you never back down. I mean, you threw yourself in front of Emory more than once.”
“Yes, because standing up to a bully equates to hunkering down from the tornado your boyfriend makes.”
“Rhodes isn’t my boyfriend.” Yes, because that’s the important part of what she said. “Plus, he’s a prince. Did you hear that part? A prince.”
Braelynn rolled her eyes, and I could almost believe that we were back in school, talking about our days rather than in a new realm on the verge of something far greater than ourselves with magic and Wielders and powers.
“He’s pretty enough to be a prince.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned on my friend’s shoulder. “I think we need food. Or sleep. Or something that’s not going to make us loopy.”
“I’ll start working on dinner. Why don’t you go talk to Rhodes, who is walking towards us, his eyes only on you to the point where I don’t think he even notices I’m here.”
I was the one to blush this time. “Shush. Go think about Luken or something.”
“Maybe I will. And, Lyric? Don’t think of yourself as average. Anything you put yourself into, really put yourself into, you excel at. You might stumble at first, but once you make a decision, you’re the best person for the job. Don’t forget that. Okay?”
Then she was off, moving toward the fire Rhodes had made, stew in hand, and Rhodes was suddenly in front of me, a curious look on his face.
“What is it? Do you need me for something?”
He murmured something under his breath that I couldn’t hear, and I stood up, wondering what was going on.
“Luken is on patrol. If it’s okay with Braelynn, I’d like to pull you away from dinner duty to see what we can do about starting your training.” He frowned. “I can help you with Air and Water, but when we get to Earth and Fire?” His frowned deepened. “We’ll need to find someone we can trust to help you train in those. And that’s going to be a problem. And don’t even get me started on the Spirit Wielding…though Rosamond might be able to get us a contact for that. Once we find her.”
“I’m fine with making dinner,” Braelynn called out. “Go learn all the things, Lyric.”
I felt like something else was going on beneath the surface. But it wasn’t like I could ask him all of his deepest darkest secrets. I didn’t have the right to those.
“You’re saying the fact that I’ll unlock the rest of the magics is a done deal? That I’m not somehow just an Air Wielder who didn’t know I was?”
Rhodes shook his head, reaching out and gently brushing his finger along my chin. “I know. I just know. And that doesn’t help you at all, does it?”
I let out a soft laugh. “Not so much.”
“Come with me, just over to the clearing so I can show you a little bit of Air Wielding. Nothing too dangerous or powerful, but it’s using the smaller abilities, the idea that you can hold air in your hand and pull it from the oxygen around you, that paves the way for true control and ability.”
“You mean like a mini tornado in my hand?” I asked, following Rhodes to the clearing. I waved at Braelynn, who went back to cooking, and knew that Luken was around, watching over her as much as he was his best friend and me. I didn’t know why I trusted Luken as much as I did so soon, but there was just something about him that told me he’d do anything in his power for the three of us.
Emory, on the other hand…
I pushed her and those thoughts from my mind. The control I would need for what Rhodes wanted to teach me wouldn’t happen if I were thinking about Emory.
When we made it to the clearing, Rhodes turned to face me, and I had to stop from moving forward and brushing his hair from his face. In addition to the pull I felt to this realm, there was a connection between us. And based on the way he looked like he also wanted to move forward, I wasn’t the only one feeling it.
Now probably wasn’t the best time to think about that, however.
He cleared his throat. “Not a tornado. That’s something you’ll learn at the highest level. Not that you will necessarily need to learn it. I mean, if Rosamond’s wishes come true, then you’ll only have to learn the basics for a while, and everyone will come together because of your existence and not because they’re forced into it by war.”
I blinked. “That’s a possibility? I’m still getting used to the idea that I have an elemental power. What do you mean war?”
“We’re already at war, Lyric. We’ve been at war with each other for centuries. And unless something radical changes, we’re going to be at war for a few more centuries at least.”
That didn’t sound disconcerting at all. “And the Spirit Priestess—what I supposedly am—she’s supposed to stop that? How?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t feel like I was out of my depth here. There’s a reason I want to wait for Rosamond to tell you things. There are some things I literally don’t know. No matter how close I am to the crown and the history of it all.”
That gave me the opening I’d been waiting for. “The crown? So, you’re really a prince like the sentry said?”
Rhodes gave me a tight nod. “The King of Lumière is my uncle. My father and mother are the lord and lady, but I get the prince title until my cousin, next in line to the throne, has children. It’s complicated, and I don’t pay much attention to it. I’ll never be the king. That’s not my fate, and I’m fine with that. I’ve trained to be a warrior, just like Luken. We’ve fought and trained alongside each other for most of our lives, even though our bloodlines couldn’t be more different.”
