From Breath and Ruin, page 9
Braelynn ducked under another Neg, but the shadow monster wasn’t really going after her. No, it seemed to have its sights set on Rhodes and…me. So, when Braelynn moved out of the way, the Neg didn’t attack her. I’d never been so grateful for anything, because while I might not know how to fight, Braelynn was even less learned. She was the brilliant one, while I was the decent runner. Though those labels didn’t really mean anything since, apparently, we weren’t in Kansas anymore.
Or even in the human realm anymore.
Emory stood motionless as she watched what was going on around us. I had a feeling whatever had blocked her from seeing the Negs before was no longer a problem while in the Spirit territory.
I swallowed hard, trying to get my bearings as another Neg came at me. I couldn’t duck away in time, but I could run to the side as fast as possible. My legs burned as I made my way to where Rhodes stood over the last of the fallen Negs. He must have used his magic to drown the Negs when I was looking over at Braelynn and Emory because both of the shadows were covered in water, unmoving.
“Rhodes! Behind me!”
I hated the fact that I was bringing more danger to his side, but I had no idea what to do, and he could take care of it. All I could do was run. I didn’t have any magic, no matter what Rhodes might think, and I knew I was so far out of my depth, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see the surface again.
Rhodes looked up at me, his eyes wide with panic as he ran toward me, his arms outstretched, magic pouring off of him in waves as he muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t decipher. That’s when I noticed another Neg out of the corner of my eye—barreling right toward me.
I didn’t think I would be fast enough this time.
Dread crawled over me as I tried to run faster, but it was no use, there was nowhere I could go and be safe.
Then there was a shout, a deep voice I didn’t recognize, but one that Rhodes must have because his eyes narrowed, and a grin covered his face. This wasn’t the time for smiling, so I had no idea what it meant. Then, I saw him.
A man with wide shoulders and long, blond hair tied back in a leather strap. He wore the same leathers that Rhodes did, ones that clung to his body—I still couldn’t get the image of Rhodes in his new clothes out of my mind. And the other man held a sword.
An actual metal sword that sliced through the neck of the Neg that had been coming at me from the side.
Before I could process what I had just seen, Rhodes was by my side, shouting something at the Neg behind me, the shadow so close I could feel the darkness of it, the heat of its void along my skin. Water from a nearby stream I hadn’t noticed slammed into the Neg, and soon, the shadow monster was on the ground, screaming in agony.
The other man came up to us then, slicing out with his sword, ending the Neg before it could scream again and maybe alert any others that were there.
I held back a shudder. I really didn’t want to see any more Negs just then. I hadn’t even gotten a good look at where we were, and I knew we still had a long way to go. Yet the fight had come out of nowhere. As if the creatures were waiting.
And perhaps they had been. Rhodes had mentioned that anything could be waiting on the other side of the entrance, and he’d been right.
“Where’s your sword?” the other man asked Rhodes, putting his weapon away as he glared at the man by my side. “Coming in with just your magic and three Danes? What the hell were you thinking?”
I didn’t know what Danes were, but I had a feeling the term had to do with not being a Wielder.
“Luken,” Rhodes rasped as Emory and Braelynn came to my side, each so close to me that I could feel their bodies shaking. We had no idea what was going on, and I didn’t know if the fight was over or just beginning. “Thanks for the assist.” Then the two clasped forearms and hugged each other as if they hadn’t just killed monsters and almost been killed.
As the two stood next to each other, I couldn’t help but compare them. The guys seemed to be friends, or at least knew each other enough to fight alongside one another and embrace as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. Was this Luken of the Lumière Kingdom, as well? Rhodes had said the Lumière was involved in a constant war with the Obscurité, and that he’d have to hide who he was once we made it to their lands to find Rosamond. With that said, Luken had to be of the Lumière.
I didn’t think he was a Spirit Wielder. In my head, those looked like monks or priestesses with long, flowing robes, all quiet and unassuming. I didn’t know why exactly that was what my brain conjured up, and I could be totally wrong, but from the way Rhodes had talked about them, they seemed even more otherworldly than the actual other world I was currently standing in with dirt on my face.
The two men were about the same height, with Luken maybe an inch taller. And while I had thought Rhodes was wide with muscle, Luken was even more so. Luken’s skin was a pale bronze, as if he spent time out in the sun. In contrast, Rhodes’ was a soft brown that shone in the harsh light that hovered overhead.
Luken’s hair was far longer, his eyes a little more wicked, the same with his mouth, and he looked like he was the kind of guy who could laugh with you even as he cut off the head of a Neg. And since that was what he was doing with Rhodes at the moment, I assumed I was on the right track when it came to him.
If Luken were in this realm, broken as it was, and had called us “Danes,” then that meant he had to be a Wielder, right? If he was from Lumière, then it meant he was either Air or Water, or like Rhodes, a mix of both.
I didn’t know if it was proper to ask those kinds of questions. Like how you didn’t go up to someone and ask their sexuality, you probably didn’t go up to someone and ask about their magic.
I honestly had no idea what was going on.
Nor did I think I was going to figure it out anytime soon.
“Who’s blondie?” Emory asked, her eyes narrowing.
Rhodes turned at her words and once again studied my face. I didn’t get why he did that so often. It was as if he wanted to make sure he knew what I was thinking before he did whatever he planned to do next. Or maybe I was just seeing things. I didn’t know exactly, but there was something…there. I didn’t know what it was, but it was something.
I’d quite possibly hit my head when I rolled away from that Neg.
“Lyric, Emory, Braelynn, this is my best friend and fellow soldier, Luken.” Rhodes pointed at each of us during the introduction, and I didn’t miss the fact that he paused at my name.
Luken gave everyone a nod before staring at me. Just like Rhodes. Okay, his staring didn’t feel exactly like Rhodes’ did, but I was getting a little tired of all the gawking.
“Thanks for the assist,” Emory said, repeating Rhodes’ words and folding her arms over her chest.
Luken raised a brow at her. “From what I saw, you were standing and staring at the Negs while Rhodes and I did all the fighting. But sure, you’re welcome.”
“And you’re an—”
Rhodes took a step forward, holding out his hand. “Enough, you two. We don’t have time for whatever barbs you’re both about to toss at each other. We might have made it into the Spirit territory, but we still have a long way to go until we reach Earth lands, and I don’t really feel comfortable with all of us out in the open like this just shooting the breeze.”
I agreed with him on that since now that my adrenaline from the fight and the initial magic was wearing off, I felt like there were a thousand eyes on us even though, if that had been true, Rhodes would have noticed and said something. At least, I hoped he would.
“Let’s get going,” I said quickly, not wanting Emory to start yelling. And, frankly, I wasn’t comfortable standing around waiting for something to happen. The Negs had been waiting for us, either by design or randomness, and I didn’t want any more of their friends to show up. Not to mention the fact that anyone from any of the territories could show up at any moment and, since my friends and I were Danes as Luken had put it, I didn’t want Rhodes getting into trouble or ending up with a similar fate myself. I wasn’t going to think about the fact that Rhodes thought I had some power, or the idea that Braelynn might have Maison blood in her veins. It was all a little too much right then, and I was in so deep, I knew I’d probably made a mistake somewhere along the way. But I couldn’t go back now, so moving forward was the only way to go, even if I was heading straight into danger.
“Sounds good to me,” Luken said, staring at me again. “And while we’re headed to a place I think we can stay for the night while we figure out what’s next, my buddy Rhodes here can explain to me why there are Danes with him.”
Rhodes whispered something into his friend’s ear, and from the way Luken’s eyes widened when he looked at me, I didn’t think it had anything to do with Rosamond’s kidnapping and everything to do with what Rhodes thought I was…or what he thought I could be.
Wonderful.
Rhodes searched my face before speaking. I didn’t know what that meant, but my heart still raced from before, and I felt like I was in quicksand.
“We’re headed to the Earth territory, which is east of us. The Fire territory is north and east of us.” He pointed in the direction we were headed, then frowned. “And to the west is the Air territory, with the Water one north of that. We aren’t going there, though. Not when we need to find Rosamond.”
“Let’s head out,” Rhodes began. “Luken, you lead. Braelynn and Emory, follow him. Lyric, you’re with me, covering their backs.”
“And you get to spend more time with Lyric, covering our backs.” Emory snorted but didn’t otherwise complain as Luken started off toward the dark mountains that I was just now seeing in the distance. If we had come from the south and were now in the southern Spirit territory, that meant we were heading east, to the Earth territory.
There was still so much I needed to know, and when we got to wherever we were staying for the night, I was going to sit Rhodes down and have him explain more to me. The little bit we’d gotten from him before had been a lot of information at first, but now I knew it had only scraped the surface. I had run headfirst into this new world because I felt guilty about Rosamond’s kidnapping, and something inside me told me to go with Rhodes. Not to mention that he hadn’t wanted me to stay behind where he couldn’t keep an eye on me. But, in the end, I knew I was out of my depth and a liability. Maybe I wasn’t able to fight for myself, not truly, but if I gained as much knowledge as I could, at least I wouldn’t run face-first into danger by accident.
The others started off ahead of us, and I fell in step with Rhodes, keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t know why I was still attracted to him like I was when this was in no way the time or place for that, but I also needed to get my feelings and thoughts in order. Rhodes needed to keep an eye out or whatever he’d been clearly trained for, and I didn’t want to distract him.
And now that I could focus on something other than shadow monsters with large teeth coming at me, I finally took in my surroundings. If I were going to be any help on this journey, I should probably start doing that sooner, but I never said I was a fighter or someone that would be helpful in finding Rosamond. I only knew I had to be here, and Rhodes had agreed.
When Rhodes had called the Spirit territory a barren wasteland, he hadn’t been overexaggerating.
The world looked as if it had a light sepia haze over it, not bright, but not quite in shadow either. I didn’t know if this was what it would be like in all of the territories, or if it was just in the Spirit area. And if the latter was the case, was it because of what had happened when all of the Spirit Wielders left the broken Maison realm to hide in the human one? Or had it always been like this?
“You look confused,” Rhodes whispered as he walked over the desert-like area, stepping over stray rocks and petrified branches and trunks. It looked as though there might have been a forest here at some point, but it was long gone, with only sunlight and pale dirt and sand for as far as the eye could see until you looked far west or east—toward the other territories.
I looked up at him for a brief moment before looking back down at my feet and the area around me so I didn’t end up tripping and causing a scene.
“Of course, I’m confused. I’m still not sure how I ended up here.”
Emory and Braelynn were up ahead of us, not talking to each other or even Luken, who was a couple of feet ahead of them, his destination apparently on his mind because he only looked back every once in a while to help Brae over a fallen log. Emory wouldn’t take any help, and I wasn’t surprised. That was Emory, always fighting against anything that made her feel weak.
Since I didn’t want to fall on my face, I let Rhodes help me over a log that wasn’t easy to walk around especially since it would take much more time and effort to do so. There weren’t too many downed trees around us, but most were large enough that climbing over them was easier than straying from our path.
“You’re here because you need to be. Because you’re braver than you think you are, Lyric. You wanted to help Rosamond, and I’m betting you want to find out more about who you are, too.”
“I’m not brave,” I said quickly, letting go of his hand as soon as I was over the petrified log. I missed the warmth immediately, and berated myself for liking it in the first place.
“You are to me. Bravery doesn’t mean wielding a sword. Or even an element. The fact you’re here is answer enough for that. But back to what I was saying before. You look confused, but not only for the whys of how we’re here.”
I looked up at his face, squinting in the harsh light above him. “You’re far too perceptive it seems.”
Rhodes shrugged, looking around for what I guessed were possible dangers. I was glad he was the one doing it because I honestly had no idea what to look for.
“I have to be. It’s my duty in more ways than one. Now, why don’t you tell me what put that look on your face originally.”
I was the one who shrugged this time. “I don’t know, really. I was just thinking about how barren this place looks. And I wanted to know if all the territories look like this, or if this is how it looked before the war.”
Rhodes tilted his head as we walked, studying me once again. “Each territory looks different and tends to model the element it’s made of. It’s hard to explain unless you’re there and looking at it. As for this territory, it didn’t look like this before, no, though I don’t know what it looked like when people lived here. I’m younger than the war, remember?”
I winced. “Let’s not talk about the age thing. It makes me feel like I’m a baby compared to you.” And I did not like that feeling one bit.
He shook his head and reached out to brush a piece of hair from my face. It was all I could do not to gasp and end up tripping.
“I told you before, you’re about the same age as me if you count in Maison years. Time moves the same way here as it does in the human realm, if that’s what you’re wondering. We’re not going to return to your house with a hundred years passing or anything.”
I hadn’t known that was a worry until just now, and I was a little glad I didn’t because my stomach was already turning.
Rhodes continued, “I’m still young compared to many, so while I might have more years under my belt than you, in how the others see me, I’m a…young adult. Just like you.”
The fact that his words soothed me worried me. I liked how he looked at me, how he was finally speaking to me. But I didn’t know what it all meant.
I didn’t seem to know what any of it meant anymore.
But when he reached out again and gave my hand a squeeze, I put some of my worries out of my head and tried to live in the moment. Because if I worried about everything I didn’t understand and what else we might face as we searched for Rosamond, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to function.
And as it was, I knew I’d need everything I had to make it through.
I didn’t need to be a Wielder to understand that.
Chapter Twelve
We walked for over two hours, my water from my pack drained, and my legs aching and burning by the time Luken stopped us for the night near a copse of trees I’d been staring at for ages. I hoped this would be where we stopped to rest.
I hadn’t been able to see much other than the trees the entire time we walked, as all I’d wanted to do was sit down and find a way to be safe. I wasn’t a warrior, that much was clear since all I’d been able to do during either fight was roll and run away. Rhodes and Luken had done all the actual fighting, the saving. It wasn’t even a balm to my injured pride that Emory and Braelynn hadn’t been much help either. They were just as lost as I was, and yet Rhodes thought I was something special. Something to help their realm? I wasn’t even close.
My friends and I wouldn’t be anything but dead weight when it came to this new place, and now I had a feeling I’d set us up for failure by even trying to demand that I come. The fact that Rhodes had wanted me by his side to keep an eye on me didn’t warm me as much as it should.
“Here should be good for the night,” Luken said once the five of us were situated between two large trees that still had their leaves.
Once we’d reached this grouping of foliage, I realized that we were no longer in the deadlands of the southern Spirit territory anymore. Or, at least it looked that way. Luken and Rhodes hadn’t mentioned that we’d made it to the Earth territory yet, so I didn’t know if we were in a new place or if this was just a different part of the southern Spirit territory.
As I was already out of the loop and behind on so many things, I figured it was time for me to at least try to speak up.
“Where are we?” I asked Rhodes. I didn’t know Luken, and though he seemed to be a nice guy, he didn’t know me either. The fact that I didn’t know Rhodes as well as I thought I had—which hadn’t been much to begin with—wasn’t lost on me.
