“The only proven way to finish them is fire.”
“Then jackpot.” I take heart. “You’re the King of Flames.”
“Yes, jackpot, but there’s a catch. They are highly flammable, and as the flames spread like wildfire among them, the chapel will be in danger of burning, too. If the chapel burns down, we’ll lose our access to the Firestone. So we have to find a way to take down the creatures without fire.” He stops, his eyebrows knitted as he ponders. “One other way might be...” He stands, facing me in full. “Draining the energy of their spirits from them.”
I nod, understanding where he’s going. “I could drain them the way I draw energy from the elements to replenish my clients’ tanks.”
“Yes. But at this point it’s just a theory. It’s how I think that your particular kind of magic could work on them. But you’ve never done it before, it could be dangerous, and backfire. Which is why we need to train you.”
Xerxes
CERYS IS MORE RESILIENT than I thought. She plows through the forests, plains and villages towards the hill without protest, refusing my help when I offer it. She carries Nazarean on her shoulder, as well as the items she felt she’d need in a small ragbag.
We make it to the bottom of the hill in only two nights, but we end up spending more time here than I foresaw. My power is draining from me by the minute, but I’m determined not to show it. Cerys needs to feel like she can rely on me now, and I can’t show any weakness, but my body looks more and more human by the hour, my veins losing their fiery hue, and turning reddish, like embers. I hitched a leather jacket from a tavern on our road, just so I could cover more of my body so she doesn’t notice.
When we reach the hill I build a tent, providing it with the basics to keep Cerys and Nazarean comfortable, such as blankets to cover the floor, and a harmless fire in the middle of the tent. I keep the fire alive with embers.
“It’s so pleasant,” Cerys whispers as she takes off the ermine-lined coat I hitched for her in the same village where I got my jacket.
She reaches out and rubs her hands together close to the fire. I sit by the exit, giving her space. This way I can watch her without her really being aware of it. The sound of me sharpening my blades gets drowned in the fire’s rustling. The fire casts a golden glow on Cerys’ bright white skin that makes her seem warmer, somehow more approachable.
“Here we’re safe from prying eyes,” I tell her. “We can move on in the morning.” We’re in the middle of a forest that surrounds this hill, few people ever venture in these parts. “We’re gonna need to capture some of the creatures beyond the barrier, though, and we can only do it at night. You need some semblance of real-life experience.”
“Capturing them,” she repeats, her golden eyes fixed on the fire. “I’m not sure I want to treat any creature as a dummy for trying out my new skills on.”
“You can’t walk into that Cemetery with no experience at all.”
She doesn’t respond. I set the finished blade on the cloth in front of me, and draw another hunting dagger from the holster strapped to my thigh. It will take a while until I have all of my blades lined up, which gives me the opportunity to watch her without looking like a creep. On the other hand, judging by what I’ve come to know of her by now, re-stating my violent nature by occupying myself with blades isn’t going to make me any more lovable to her.
I wish I could do something nice for her, something that she will really like. I want to give her something that will put a sparkle in those pretty eyes of hers that I use every chance to glance at, but I have no idea what.
“The blood oath,” she breaks the silence, her eyes still lost in the fire. “I just realized we never finished talking about that. How do you plan to make it without someone to sanctify it?”
I don’t answer at first, but sharpen my blade more purposefully, the metallic sound filling the air between us. She pretends she doesn’t notice the change, but I can hear the sound of her heartbeat picking up. She swallows hard as she feels my intense gaze on her.
When the tension between us is thick enough that I feel she’s suffered enough for not trusting me, I speak.
“What do you know about the blood oath Lysander made to Arielle?”
I shrug. “I only know that’s how things started between them.”
“It’s not. Things started between the King of Frost and the Sea Queen long before he made a blood oath to her. But the blood oath did turn them into fated mates.”
Cerys steals glances at me, and I grin. I feel this is a good point to show her more of who I really am, make sure she dislikes me even more. Maybe that way she’ll do something to help me dislike her, too, because I’m desperate to stop feeling the way I do about her. Claws emerge from my hands, and Cerys’ jaw drops.
“I need you to see me in my true form so you understand what you’re getting yourself into,” I continue as shadow flows from my body, the rivulets of fire lighting up and cracking my skin, even in their weakened reddish hue of ember. If I keep going, within minutes I’ll be a monster of rock-like flesh and shadow, riddled with red lines like ugly cuts, and with the claws and the fangs of a beast. “Because the blood oath will bind me to the promises I make to you—that I’ll let you go when this is over, and that I’ll never take you away again against your will. But it will also bind us in mysterious ways. You might feel me under your skin long after I’ve set you free, even forever, and this is what you’ll feel and see in your nightmares at night.” I motion to myself demonstratively.
“As long as you keep your promise,” she whispers, but her voice shakes. “But we don’t have anyone to sanctify—”
“Arielle and Lysander didn’t either, or so they thought.”
“What do you mean so they thought?”
“I was there. Even if I was Lysander’s enemy, and I wanted to kill him back then. But I was also a force of nature. And forces of nature can sanctify a blood oath. You command them as well.”
“Not by far like you or Lysander, or Arielle,” she breathes, leaning away from me as I approach. I crouch down in front of her, by now riddled with rivulets of fire, so many of them and so bright that I cast a reddish glow on her perfectly milky skin.
“The day you replenished their energy tanks when they came to you, you called forth a mighty storm.”
“But that was their energy, not mine. It was their source, just like the volcano under Arthur’s Seat was yours. I couldn’t have reached deep and drawn its power without you present.”
“Well, I am present now.” I run my claw across my palm and slash it, a gash opening, and blood swelling from it.
“High realms,” she breathes as I bring my palm under her chin. She leans back on her ankles. Nazarean climbs onto her lap, and from there up to her chest as if wanting to protect her. He hisses, but it’s a low and gentle hiss, as if he’s asking me to be gentle about this.
“Drink my blood, and with it my promise—After we’ve gotten the Firestone, and my core has been restored, you will be free to go, and I won’t stop you. I’ll never claim you again in any way against your will, nor will I force you to follow me or remain by my side.” I train my eyes on her honey-golden irises that reflect the fire in mine. “If I ever go against this promise, you’ll be able to use my blood and force me to my knees.”