The Darkness

Unknown

For the second time in days, I felt familiar lips brush over my forehead. This time though, there was a coldness about them that I couldn't shake.

"I'm almost out of time, your Highness." His voice swirled around me, pulling me out of the darkness of my sleep and into a shadowy version of the tent I fell asleep in. I could see the destination in my mind's eye, closer than I had ever felt. I couldn't tell if I was awake or sleeping as Paeris' foggy face danced inches from mine. I could almost feel his breath on my face as Jonas rolled in his sleep and pulled his thick quilt tighter around him.

Sweat dripped down my spine as I stood, trying to focus on Paeris' mouth, silent words falling through his lips. I didn't know how long I had stood there, trying to make sense of his directions before my feet lead me out of the tent and off in an unknown direction.

My heart was pounding and I couldn't shake the unease that sat at the pit of my stomach. I knew if I didn't him now, I would never do it.

I held on to his voice like a lifeline, letting it lead me through the blowing dust. Despite the static noise of death around me, his voice was calm and soothing.

"Don't let the darkness try and control you, Ray." His words were barely a whisper in my mind, but they surrounded me like a warm blanket as they soothed the screaming alarm bells in my head. "You are in control, darling. You know what to do."

"I don't know if I can do this.."

Something was different in the air around me. It felt heavier than usual and my lungs burned as I tried to gulp down air. The hair on my arms stood on end as I wrapped them around myself.

I couldn't make out my surroundings as I blindly wandered in the direction the ghost of my love lead me in, but with each step the air around me seemed to crackle with dark lightning. I could no longer tell if I was dreaming or awake as the image of Paeris danced in front of me.

The alarm I was feeling wasn't necessarily immediate danger, but more like anxiety about what Paeris may have become in the time it took to learn how to save him. I swallowed and my tongue felt heavy, my eyes clouded with dust as I came to the clearing in my dream. It felt more real now, unlike before when it felt more like a hazy memory. I didn't know how long I had been walking through the dust and dark, but the sky above me looked a touch lighter as I walked into the small clearing surrounded by dead trees.

This place was the exact opposite of Spiris. There, I could feel the hum of Earth magic all around me, the life that filled every part of the city.

This place was death.

Dark tendrils of darkness danced around my feet and the trees took on a skeleton-like appearance, almost as if they could reach out and grab me. It was unnaturally silent and dark. My head began to thump with pain as I moved further into the shadows.

My heart broke for Paeris and Allie more as I continued along the dark trail.

"Ray, wait!" Cage called from behind me. I hadn't even realized how fast I was walking until I turned to see him running to catch up to me. He panted as he finally caught up, shaking his head with a small frown. As he looked up to me, his face changed to worry. "What's wrong? What happened? Why did you take off? Everyone is looking for you!"

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt hot tears running down my cheeks.

He placed his hand on my cheek, brushing away tears and shushing me in a way only Cage could. He had always been the best at soothing me. My memories flashed back to the day in the forest just months before when he had held me while I cried about my life falling to pieces. I started to cry harder, wishing my problems were still as simple as leaving the Enclave.

His dark eyes clouded with worry that I didn't deserve, his sweet words felt like torture as he pulled me closer.

Traitor. Cheater. My brain chanted over and over again. The fog of my brain rushed all the emotions over, all of the guilt and anger and fear poured from me into the air around me.

"Cage, I'm so sorry." I sobbed, pushing him away by his chest, my hands curling in his dirty shirt. "I'm so sorry." He seemed confused by my words, trying to pull me back to him even as I continued to push him away. "I can't pretend like this is okay."

"What do you mean? I thought.."

"I can't do this with you." I blurted, hands covering my face in horror. "I love Paeris. I have to save him. I know it's not right... I know Demi-"

"I know."

I stared at him in silence for a long time, my tears drying on my face and betraying the confusion and disappointment in myself.

"What?" I asked slowly as he shrugged.

"I know. I have known." He said softly, pulling me back to his warm embrace. "It's okay."

"No, no it's not." I fought, pulling back to look at him. He was much too wonderful to me. I was horrible, a traitor.

"Yes, it is. Ray, I love you. I love you with every fiber of my being. And you love him. I understand." He sighed, brushing my hair back and kissing my forehead. The anxiety and darkness inside of me seemed to settle slightly. "Why do you think I have been so intent on helping you? Helping them?"

"Because I asked you to."

"No, because you need him. And Allie needs you."

"You shouldn't have followed me up here. You were supposed to carry on with your rounds."

"You're my Queen, right? You will always be my Queen, no matter where you were born, no matter who you marry." He sighed. "Ray, I'm supposed to protect you no matter what. That's what I will do. Not as your mate, or because you are Queen, but because you're my friend."

I nodded slowly in understanding. "What are we going to do?"

"You are going to save Paeris, and your sister, and then discuss the details later." He kissed my forehead then, the action easing the pain a fraction in my head as the static in my ears lessened. "You don't have to do this alone. You should have told us where you were going. If not me, at least Jonas."

I felt, for the first time months, like myself. Not the public, ever-dutiful Alaray that I showed the people I ruled over, but the person I had kept carefully hidden beneath.

"I have to do this on my own, Cage."

"I know. Dax said he may call to you."

I nodded slowly, remembering how much time Dax and Cage had spent pouring over books and talking in hushed whispers while Delphine and I took time away to work.

"How do you know it isn't a trap? He could be luring you just like Lorelei did, Ray."

Paeris' soft whisper filled my head again then, sounding more urgent than before. I couldn't explain my feeling of knowing to Cage, but my magic called to me, pushing me forward. A calmness fell over the hazy forest.

"I don't know how to explain it, Cage. I just know." He nodded then, though the worried look on his face told me he wasn't about to leave me alone in this forest.

He followed behind me as I walked further into the dense forest, silence falling between us as the darkness seemed to repel from me as we walked closer to a small clearing with dirty water.

As I sunk my hands into the murkiness, I felt a shiver run down my spine. It drew me in, intoxicating me with its hum of darkness, pulling me further into the cold. The darkness was repelled as I submerged myself into its slimy depths. I could feel Paeris' energy calling to me, as if the world around me was disappearing. I could hear Cage's muffled voice as fingers wrapped around my ankles, pulling me below the surface.

He was too strong and managed to haul most of me under again as I fought to the surface, enough so that I wasn't in total danger of being pulled under again without warning.

"Stop fighting me!" Paeris said, trying to pull on the arm he held.

He was in a terrible position, treading water as he tried to lean over far enough to get me and actually hold onto me.

"Let go of me!" I yelled back, focusing on restraining him with the power of Fluvis, but the darkness pushed me down.

In that moment before he grabbed me, I had contemplated my death. I'd come to terms with it and accepted it, knowing that I would be an empty shell of a person if I couldn't save him. I had known Paeris would fight me, but I hadn't been prepared to fight him this way.

A tendril of light surrounded us as he pulled me under again, his fingernails digging into my skin as we both went under. I closed my eyes and reached for it, adrenaline pushing through my veins as I tried to grab on to the strand of light. I silently called for my magic, willing it to vibrate through me and give me strength. The water around me came to life as the elements danced across my fingers, giving me the strength to pull on the strand with full force. I could feel the life force of my magic, my soul, splitting into two. My power danced in the air around me, flowing through the string of light and flowing into Paeris forcefully. The world around me faded away as my power coursed into his body. The string seemed to tighten in my hand like it would snap, but instead, it seemed to come to life between us.

Trust your instincts.

Delphine's words echoed in my mind as the power built in my core, a surge of light filtering out the shadows and darkness surrounding Paeris. My power called to me as it danced between us, as if it wasn't sure where to go. As if finally deciding on direction, it surrounded Paeris' body and I felt a sharp stab of pain race through me and into him. His eyes sparkled with a light I had never seen before as the darkness seemed to slowly push away from him, as if my magic were eating away at the negative hold it had on him.

I fought to break the surface of the water and stretched my arm out to him, gasping as the electricity danced between our hands as they clasped together.

As the light around us dimmed and absorbed into our skin much like it had when I practiced with Delphine, something in the air felt different.

Not wrong. Not dangerous.

The energy that crackled around us was peaceful. I swallowed, my eyelids feeling heavy.

I could feel my magic flowing through the both of us, like we were one vessel. My magic was drawn to him, encasing him in with light. There as something about the light I gave Paeris that made us closer than ever. For once in my life, I was completely open and vulnerable to someone.

"Ray.."

I coughed harshly as he pulled me with him from the sticky water, my lungs burning as it pushed the fluid out. I molded myself against him as he took deep breaths, holding me as if I would disappear at any moment.

Paeris breathed, pulling me impossibly closer to him. Had he said my name out loud? I felt the air around us crackle with electricity, but my bones were achy. My tongue tasted metallic. He didn't look impressed, with his hair matted to his forehead and a thin film of grime covering us both.

"You-"

I didn't let him finish the words, forcing my lips to his hungrily, as if he would disappear again in an instant. I would never let him go again, and damn the consequences. His arms moved around me, pulling me against him as if he needed to feel me close to him as much as I did.

He laughed as he pulled away and I yanked him back to me again, feeling the life flow through myself and into him as he deepened the kiss. The way his soft lips felt on mine was like nothing I had ever felt before. The darkness in me sunk back to the recesses of my mind, light shining around us as we continued to hold on to one another.

I felt my heart stutter at his touch, knowing that his own fluttered the same way. There was a knowing in his eyes, as if everything and nothing would change.

"I thought you died!"

"Me too, honestly. I'm really glad that didn't stick."

Cage's voice filled my ears as he ran toward us. I felt myself fall into his Paeris as consciousness left me, the smell of mint and sandalwood filling my senses again for the first time in months as he held me, our hearts beating the same rhythm.