The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 16

16

“Accept the void… Release and become wind. No, channel the wind. The darkness.” I let out an exasperated sigh. I’d been at it for so long, the words were all getting tangled up and turning into nonsense. “I’ve said darkness so many times, it just sounds weird and meaningless. Darkness. Daaaaarkness. Darkness. Dark. Ness. Darkness. D to the arkness.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re losing focus again,” Ryoko reprimanded gently, squatting down in a weird way. Her body folded down until she was doing a strange balanced hover.

“How are you doing that?” I gestured to her position. “When I sit down like that, I just fall over.”

“You have to distribute your weight evenly.” She rested her arms on her knees. “Like this.”

“I’ve never seen anyone do it like that.”

“It’s a Dragon squat.” She shrugged, gesturing to me. “You’re changing the subject. You need to focus on your wings.”

I groaned. “It’s not working.”

“What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know… The only time it worked was with Var and his method is just… So sketchy. But I’m not sure if we have another option.”

Ryoko tipped her head to the side, the curiosity passing over her face. “So, what’s that then?”

I looked at her, my resolve wavering. What I was about to ask her could completely ruin the fragile relationship between us. But I had to get to the Veil, to save them all. They all sacrificed so much for me and I needed to repay everyone for their help and hard work.

But what I was about to ask…

As I looked at Ryoko’s beautiful face, my resolve strengthened.

I was doing this for her, so she could get out of this bunker.

“You could slap me?” I voiced, earning a strange look.

“What?”

A lump formed in my throat, but I cleared it away. “When I was in the Forest of Illusions, Var hurt me. I didn’t understand it was his way of helping me, but the anger that I felt, the pain… It was excruciating. It drove me to the edge and when he threatened Hyde, I let go of all my inhibitions and that brought out my wings.”

Shock and pity crossed through Ryoko’s eyes and her mouth fell open into a perfect round. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I don’t know what else to do… I need a strong emotion, something that helps me let go of everything I know.”

Ryoko cleared her throat as she took a step forward. “A strong emotion? Could it be… positive too?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. They only teach Valkyrie students in the second year how to do it.”

She took another step closer. “When Dragons go into the Veil, we think of duty and love. That dedication to the world of both the dead and the living, it fuels us. Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“If you don’t mind, I want to try something.”

“O-Okay,” I squeaked. She was suddenly standing so close, I could smell the summer on her skin and feel the gentle glow from her invisible scales. It was a sensation I never expected to feel so deep underground, but she shone bright like the sun.

Her lips curled into a smile, one that awoke a single butterfly in my stomach. “Close your eyes.”

I had so many questions, but I decided not to ask when she could show me. I trusted her and if she had an idea, I might as well try.

I let my eyelids fall shut, relinquishing the idea of sight. The darkness was sudden, but familiar. A welcome guest with the only downfall that I couldn’t see Ryoko anymore. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy other facets of her.

Her comforting smell, the way she drew breath, the clacking of her shoes on the steel floor as she approached.

I didn’t know what she was up to, but the anticipation hammered through my chest. My breathing shallow, I waited for her to do something. Anything.

Two soft hands fell on my hips, the heat a pleasant greeting. “Keep your eyes closed.”

Her whisper tickled my ear and my heart fluttered. She had to be standing really close to me now and I had to resist the urge to wrap my arms around her.

Her hands travelled up my sides, along the length of my arms and along my tense shoulders until they found my face. One of her palms was a little rougher than the other, which had to be where I drew blood for the ritual earlier.

She brushed some of my hair behind my ears, prolonging the tension and teasing my expectations. Her fingers caressing my skin erased everything about the world, everything except her.

My arms acted on their own and my hands sought out her waist. Her breath hitched as I touched her and for a moment, I thought I made the wrong decision. I was convinced I ruined everything, but before the dread could overtake me, lips brushed past my cheek.

I took a sharp breath, freezing in the moment.

“Are your eyes still closed?” she whispered, her voice a little hoarser than before.

“Yes and I’m having the best dream,” I murmured back, hoping that my admittal wouldn’t scare her away.

Instead, the softest of kisses landed on my jaw.

Terrified I’d scare her away, I stayed stock-still. My heart pounded through my veins, the excitement building. With every passing second, the coil in my stomach wound tighter until I feared I was ready to explode.

Ryoko’s lips planted another kiss, just on the corner of my mouth. “This is not a dream.”

“Then it’s the best kind of reality.”

I didn’t know where these answers were coming from, but I meant every word of it.

With the intimacy between us brewing, it was hard to deny what was shimmering under the surface. A connection neither of us understood, but both desperate to explore.

The longer I stood there with her hands on my face, the more I was drawn to her. A part of me wanted to speed it along, while another part of me wished I could be in this moment forever.

“Ylva…”

My chest tightened even more. There was something about the way she said my name, it was unlike anyone else.

“Ryoko?” I echoed, almost too scared to breathe.

I waited with caged breath, the anticipation grown so strong it was hard to think of anything else than her lips so close to mine.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, she released me from her spell and put an entirely different one on me. She captured me in a soft kiss, one so gentle and tender it almost wasn’t a kiss and yet, the intensity raged between our bodies like an untamed storm.

My grip on her tightened as I pulled her closer, desperate for more. Every part of my body rejoiced as I fell into her, into the kiss. There was electricity in her touch and magic between our lips.

And just like that, everything fell into place. She made me feel like spring, with flowers in my chest and sunshine in my heart. In her presence, in her arms, I was safe.

Captured in her kiss, I was the eye of the storm. Calm and wild at the same time, circling around the most important thing in the world. Her.

My wind magic sizzled and sparked as it raced through my veins and collected in the pit of my stomach. The tension built and built, until it was unbearable.

The power within me surged along my spine, following the natural curve of something hidden deep inside of me. What was previously awoken by pain was now activated by a much stronger emotion, one that didn’t erase who I was. Instead, it embraced my essence and encouraged it to grow, further and wider until I filled the room with my own dark wings.