Era of the Moon, page 33
Another cry erupted from his lips, but this was one of pure agony. This cry was followed by another fearful shriek, echoing into the air as it fell from Cerilla’s lips.
“Bash! No!” Cerilla’s voice was tormented, nearly choked out by the sobs tearing through her throat. Her knees hit the grass a second before he did, catching his shoulder in her lap to cushion his fall. Metal snapping against leather bounced around repeatedly in the air as Cerilla opened all the flasks of holy water on her person and dumped them onto her mate’s wounds. Glowing hands hovered over him, pushing the power of the moon into his gaping gut and torn chest.
Callahan snorted, and a second later Cerilla’s venomous glare was upon him. The air around Callahan became wet, suffocating him where he stood. In her state of raw emotion, her power was overflowing, sucking the water from the very air around him until he was cocooned in a liquid coffin.
“If he dies, you die, and if he lives, you still may die. If I wasn’t fighting so hard to heal him, this act would have been your last. I suggest you get far, far away from this battlefield Callahan of the Earth Province.” She spat his title like he was the scum of the earth.
Sebastian chuckled weakly, blood spurting from his lip like a volcanic eruption. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you finally like me.” Cerilla tried to smile down at him, but the best she managed was a grimace. She was firing all her energy into healing him, and it was barely scratching the surface. Between the venom in his blood and the viscera pouring from his open wounds, Sebastian was quickly losing the fight against death. Cerilla dropped the water around Callahan, unwilling to give another ounce of her energy to revenge while her mate needed her – even if she felt the revenge would be just.
Callahan stood still for a moment, with a tormented look in his eye. He couldn’t understand the care one could have for their mate – how it could erase years of history between two beings like it had with Cerilla’s feelings for Callahan. Therefore, he didn’t understand why she was sitting there with her former enemy’s head in her lap, pouring glowing water into his fatal wounds and giving up her own energy to try to save him. Callahan wanted her to pick him, but he finally saw that his desire would not be coming to fruition that day.
Callahan turned on his heel, letting the thorny armor around him shrivel and fall off as he glowered off the battlefield. His clan followed, leaving the Sun and Moon clans to stand in silence, one watching their leader die while the other watched theirs bellow mournful cries in the sky. They could have started fighting, some of them wanted to, but the scene before them had every warrior frozen in horror.
Cerilla paid Callahan no mind as she closed her eyes and scoured through the memories in her brain – trying to remember anything the healing scholars had taught her that may help Sebastian. One voice urged her to reach into his mind and numb his pain as he passed on to the deities’ plane – but she wasn’t ready to give him up yet.
Agony ripped through her body and soul, shaking her muscles and threatening to rip her heart into two. Determination and care for Sebastian were the only things keeping her from letting grief of his nearly departed soul topple her over. She was close to giving into this desire when a voice called to her from the deep recesses of her mind. It was a memory of her mother, from when she was close to death. Cerilla, still a young child, had snuck into her parent’s room to check on her mother – only to find her father hunched over and crying into his wife’s bed. Her father had leaned up for a moment, tears dripping onto his wife’s face as he said, “If only we were soulbound, then I could take your pain away. Then I could heal you.”
Cerilla’s eyes snapped open, like a clairvoyant coming out of a trance. She looked around to see that several of Sebastian’s warriors had gathered around them, including Baylor. Time was not on her side, but to give Sebastian the best chance possible, she knew where they had to go. With every ounce of command she had within her she ordered his clan to do her bidding.
“Take us to the Pool of Pairings!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Weak whimpers of anguish seeped from Sebastian’s lips, and Cerilla found those sounds to be more bone chilling than his previous screams of agony. Because one had to be strong to scream, while any dying creature could whimper.
Everything about him was scaring her. Blue edged the corners of his pale, quivering lips, while his eyes shuddered beneath closed lids. Droplets of sweat beaded across his brow as if he were hot, but his hands were devoid of all heat.
“Baylor, walk faster!” Cerilla ordered. His steps quickened immediately, and Cerilla followed dutifully behind him, eyes trained on the trail of crimson blood that was pouring from her nearly motionless mate as she held healing water to his gaping wounds. The air was thick with the stench of iron, flooding her nose, while the chill of her mate’s skin sent goosebumps up and down her spine. Sebastian’s fleeting lifeforce was consuming all her senses. “Faster!” She cried desperately.
“Yes, Ceri. We’re almost there.” Baylor tried to reassure her, but his voice too held a tinge of panic.
A fleeting sense of relief filled her chest when the right side of Sebastian’s lips lifted. “That’s right, Darling. Order your future subject around.” Sebastian said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Bash,” Cerilla called to him. “Stay awake.” Her hand gently rubbed his cheek in an attempt to keep him stimulated. “As soon as we’re in the water I’m going to start healing you as we begin the ceremony.” Her eyes darted to Baylor before she spoke again. “The ancient ceremony.” Baylor’s cheeks heated at this insinuation. “Alone.” She added just in case it wasn’t obvious.
“What?” Sebastian murmured, eyes closing once again. His confusion was understandable, the ancient ceremony had long ago been retired. Royals and peasants alike trading the primal, private Bonding Rite for a more modern celebration surrounded by friends and family.
The instructions for the Bonding Rite were said to have been given by the goddess herself to the first beings she mated – and seeing how Cerilla was going to use the power of the ritual to heal her dying mate, she wanted to honor the Rite as the goddess had originally intended. It was composed of prayers to the goddess, vows to one another, and then the joining. Hence why Cerilla didn’t want an audience. After the ceremony was completed soulbound mates could share everything, thoughts, emotions, and even their lifeforces.
Cerilla just prayed it’d be enough to save him.
The Pool always had potential to either bring great joy or heartache. Give you a mate or make you leave unbonded. But as they entered the Garden that evening, Cerilla knew the stakes had never been so high. She would either be leaving the Pool with a living mate – or as a husk of the being she had once been.
The Garden opened up before them, alight as always with the glow of a thousand fireflies. Cerilla’s gaze once again fell to the place where she had first locked eyes with Sebastian – where their mate bond had snapped into place.
A primal bond had formed that day, one driven by desire to protect and serve, partnered with a nerve-tingling lust unlike anything they had felt before. But they hadn’t accepted the bond in their hearts that day. Cerilla had begrudgingly aligned herself with Sebastian for survival, with no intentions of ever being a loving mate to him. Sebastian had accepted her immediately but had never let his expectations of their future get too lofty.
Their mating bond had been strong, but not irresistible. It had given them the power to choose. Sure, with an unfulfilled mate bond life would be different – but only once they were soulbound would their world completely turn upside down. They knew that everything would be different if they one day chose to complete the bonding ceremony. At one point, Cerilla swore she’d never complete the bond with him – but then something changed. Somewhere along the way they crawled into one another’s hearts as well as souls. Sebastian with his ever-present gentleness and Cerilla with her unyielding protection of him. Eventually they had chosen one another – and the Rite had become inevitable.
But the Rite was something they had wanted to talk more about, maybe after the Trial when they had time to figure out what their life together could look like. If given the chance they likely would have completed the bonding ceremony with family present, but Sebastian’s injury had changed all that. If Cerilla and he didn’t bond, he would not be walking off the Isle alive – and the only thing that mattered to her was saving his life. She could deal with their families and politics another day. Hells, she had even thrown duty to the wind to save him. For all she knew her clan was being slaughtered as she waded into the cool water of the Moon goddess’ Pool – but she didn’t care. Her mind was focused on him and him alone.
“Place him there.” Cerilla instructed Baylor to lay him in the swallow water beside where she had crouched. Another thrill of satisfaction sailed through her when Sebastian grunted as he was lowered to the ground. The dead can’t feel pain, and the dying don’t care about it – she tried to convince herself of this.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t stay?” Baylor asked, eyeing the tearful Cerilla and shivering Sebastian with reticence. He hadn’t been trained to leave a dying companion on the field alone, especially not his Prince, and never alone with an enemy – but despite her title even Baylor knew she wasn’t that anymore.
“Leave us.” Cerilla didn’t have time for pleasantries or explanations, those would come later. After her mate was saved.
The beings of the Sun clan who had escorted them to the Pool turned immediately, and no sooner than their backs were turned did Cerilla start stripping herself of clothing. She stood, trembling hands undoing the ties and buttons of her own pants as she began to recite a prayer to the goddess she had come to know as Selene.
“Goddess, I beseech you,” She began. “I humbly come before you in this most sacred of places, to ask to be eternally bonded to my fated mate.” Cool air kissed her milky thighs as she kicked her pants to the side and knelt to the ground to remove his. “This male, who sits with me in your oasis, I want him to be mine.” Irony burned through her veins. It hadn’t been long ago that she had besought the goddess for a bond with Sterling, but it felt like lifetimes ago to Cerilla. “I pray for his healing, love in our union, and harmony of the Realm.” Sebastian winced when she exposed his lower half to the water, and she became faint when she saw what looked like organs threatening to slip from the gaping hole in his abdomen.
Something in Sebastian awoke the second he heard her prayer begin, and he had a thousand questions, but he waited until she was done to ask.
“Ceri,” He whispered, voice devoid of all the power and authority Cerilla had come to associate with him. “What are you doing?” With sobering clarity, she realized she hadn’t explained to Sebastian her plan.
“We are being bonded, now.” Kicking one leg over, Cerilla straddled him, the movement fanning water out overtop of them like a rainbow.
“Why are you doing this?” He choked out. She knew he wanted to say more, his mouth dangling open while words escaped him. But he didn’t need to say it for her to know what he was thinking.
“I’m doing this because I refuse to lose you before fully knowing what having you could look like. My heart beats for you now, and I will stop at nothing to save you. We will deal with our families tomorrow, but for now we are doing this so you can live. We are stronger together than apart.” The exhale she released brought tears to her eyes. “You can refuse me. I will not take choice from you even now.” What she didn’t say was how desperately she hoped he would agree.
Sebastian’s eyes searched hers, looking for even a hint of hesitation. He would not sacrifice her happiness for even his own life. And while she watched him contemplate his choices she realized how desperate she was to see fire behind his eyes once again.
Seeing nothing but tenderness and desperation in her eyes, he began to speak. “I, Sebastian, submit my soul to be bonded with Cerilla’s.”
Tears slipped from Cerilla’s eyes as she mimicked his words. "I, Cerilla, submit my soul to be bonded to Sebastian's.” Like a lantern being lit, their bodies hummed to life and began to glow just as they had when they were first mated. The glow a sign of the goddess’ presence and approval of the union. Cerilla looked around, searching the sky for signs of the goddess’ physical form, and though she found none, she knew Selene was watching over them. Cerilla continued her prayers, wishing Selene would bless Sebastian’s healing as well as their union.
Cerilla wondered what he would say next. Traditionally, mates would speak of shared power – but that did not apply as easily when you were being bonded to one from another land.
Sebastian sucked air into his lungs with great effort, his chest heaving with exertion to simply fill his body with air and continue on. His eyes closed for a minute, making Cerilla fear that at any moment they would close and never open again. “Without you I would burn without reprieve.” He improvised this line, combining words to complete a sentence that would speak to how her power complimented his.
Choked sobs muffled every word from Cerilla’s mouth, never before had she been so overcome with emotion. And unless she was confronted with his death in the future, she never would again. “Without you I am only a shadow.”
As if of one mind they said the final line of their unique vows simultaneously. “You complete my celestial existence.”
The glow intensified to such great heights that it briefly blinded Cerilla. Guided by her other senses she felt Sebastian’s hands as they wrapped around her waist and guided her down upon him until he was entirely sheathed within her. Pleasure zinged throughout Cerilla’s body as their Joining took hold of both of them.
“Goddess, give him my lifeforce. Heal him.” Cerilla pled.
Every nerve ending in her body was vibrating with pleasure, while Sebastian’s grew numb and pain floated away from him. His grip tightened on her waist, a desire to rock up into her so instinctual he began to curse his injured body for its inability to move.
Cerilla fought her urges to pulsate above him, and instead directed all her energy into him. With eyes closed and head cast back to the heavens, Cerilla hovered her hands over his injuries. Glow continued to emanate from her skin as she pushed her mind and body past their limits to heal him.
Never before had she felt every emotion all at the same time. Fear he would die. Happiness beyond measure to be bonded. Lust so strong it threatened to knock her unconscious. Jealousy of mates who didn’t have to bond to save the life of the other. Hope for their future.
Tears dripped silently through her still closed eyelids and down her cheeks as she rocked gently against Sebastian, ignoring her own desires or thoughts as she fought to save him. His heartbeat became aware to her, faint and weak and slowing by the second. Pain throbbed on the outskirts of her brain as she pushed her powers to their limit, actively siphoning energy from the moon only to immediately push it out into Sebastian’s failing body.
Sebastian felt at peace, a cold wrapping around him that reminded him of his Moon Princess. He could feel her with him – feel himself inside of her, but that was growing more distant as darkness clouded the edges of his vision. His eyes cracked open, and a weak smile pulled at his lips when he saw his mate above him. Her long hair was cast around her, the moon above shining around her like a halo. And her skin, it was glowing, highlighting her features in the darkness – giving him an unhindered view of his mate. He could feel her internal walls clenching around him, her body pitched with tension unlike anything he had ever felt before. The most intriguing thing of all though, was her face. Every second it would flash with a different emotion, but the tears never stopped flowing even when her face showed happiness or lust. He didn’t want to remember her that way, suffering and sad. So, he closed his eyes again, and imagined a memory of her eclipsed by only pleasure and happiness. Regrettably those moments were few on the Isle, but he thought of one to lament on as his body softened into the ground beneath him.
Sebastian’s movements went from slow to non-existent as he froze beneath her, an extended exhale leaving his lips followed by nothing. Water splashed up on her legs, rippling around Sebastian’s fallen hands, which were floating on the water’s surface.
“Bash,” Cerilla cooed, trying to urge him awake with her words and a slow gyration of her hips. But when he didn’t stir, she too froze. “Bash!” She stood, removing him from her and kneeling by his side in one fluid motion.
Time stood still as she tried to focus her thoughts enough to search for the sensation of his still beating heart. Casting her gaze down she could see nothing but a faint scar where his wound had once been, so she continued praying that she had healed him quickly enough. Praying that he was only resting his eyes.
But his heart was motionless in his chest. Cerilla screamed, an unidentifiable sensation ripping through her chest. Her hands cast upward to the sky, calling down a beam of moonlight to shine upon his chest as she continued to push her own lifeforce into his body.
Power pumped through her at unexperienced levels. Cerilla was hysteric. Words spilled from her mouth, a strange combination of reverent prayers and rage-filled expletives.
“Selene, seven hells you better fecking heal him! Do not give me a mate only to take him away!” Cerilla’s teeth gritted painfully against themselves as she ordered this of the goddess. And though it may seem sacrilegious, it must have worked.
“Never have I heard someone pray and curse in the same sentence.” Sebastian spoke, his voice filled with smokey vibrato once again.
