The Darkness

Darkness

I had hurried back to my room, sighing in relief as I saw the outfit laying across my bed. Laurel had thought of everything, laying out just the right outfit for me before coming to collect me from Paeris' room. I knew I didn't have enough time to bathe, my head pounding painfully as I pulled on the fleece pants and large warm shirt. I quickly tied up my knee high boots and tugged my messy hair up into a pony tail before I heard Paeris knock softly on my doorframe.

"Ready, set, go?" He asked with a small smile, his eyes hungrily looking me over.

"If you keep looking at me like that, your father is going to know something happened." I sighed, smoothing my hair again and tugging my sweater tighter around me before taking off. I assumed Jonas was off training with my own father today, since it was what he had been spending the majority of his time doing lately.

Our footsteps crunched in the snow as we trekked through the trails by the forest, headed to the training field. The air around us felt thicker than usual, but neither of us mentioned it. The further away from the wall we got, the closer Paeris walked to me until finally his fingers entwined with mine. I sighed, enjoying the feeling of his warm hand in mine.

"So, I may have lied to you a little." My eyes shot up to study his face, letting his words sink in as we walked. "That thing about being okay with just a piece of you..."

I squeezed his hand. "Pae, we will figure it out. Let's just get to the other Regions and figure everything else out."

"What if I want to make us the priority? It's always 'we have to do this whole list of things then we can maybe be together'." He complained, pulling me against him, wrapping his arms tightly around me. "I want to be the priority. Just this once. Just let us have this one little thing."

My ears perked as I heard branches breaking in the woods behind us, the sound of someone running toward us pulling my attention away from his words as he continued to speak.

"Paeris, hush for a second."

"What? No, we need to talk about last night. We-"

"Just shut up for a second, okay?"

The frown on his face disappeared as we both heard a crunch in the tree line just behind us. He attempted to pull me behind him protectively, but I was already gone, dashing into the trees and running head first into danger.

I heard Paeris calling after me frantically as I ran, but my mind was singularly caught up in the scent in my nose.

Allie.

As I ran through the trees, dodging and studying my surroundings, I finally found her.

Her blond hair was pulled up off her neck and small tendrils of hair whipped in the wind. Despite the cold, her hair was plastered to her forehead from sweat.

There were cuts all over her arms and legs as if she had been running through branches for hours. All of the elegance Allie normally had was now gone, her face mirroring the horror that was probably all over my own. She hid behind a tree, looking like a scared child as I walked closer to her.

I held my hand out to her despite my better judgement, coaxing her away from the tree line and further into the light.

"I don't want to hurt you!" She screamed, wrapping her arms around her body in a protective hug. Or maybe she was trying to keep her power contained. "I can't control it!"

"Allie, you won't hurt me. I know you won't." I pleaded, using the softest tone I could muster past my fear. "Please, let me help you." I begged.

I tried to hide my fear and confusion, knowing she was a complete wild card at this point. She looked like she was losing her mind, but surprisingly like the Allie I knew from months ago. While her eyes were still a shade darker than originally, she reminded me more of Paeris now than my mother. My eyes darted the area, searching for any sign of Lorelei but we were alone.

The woods groaned in agony as they swayed, darkness buzzing above our heads. I knew I was in danger. Everything felt wrong - dangerous.

Finally, my sister crawled into my arms, sobbing. I shushed her and pushed the hair out of her face to the best of my ability. "I'm sorry, Allie, I'm so sorry. You're my sister! Please, let me help you!" I begged, holding her frail body tight to mine.

I could feel the darkness seeping into my pores.

"Ray... I'm so sorry, I'm trying to fight it..."

Some of the tension slipped from my shoulders as I felt Paeris rip through the trees, stopping in stunned silence as he looked at us, but Allie continued to vibrate in fear in my arms.

"Paeris. I can't leave her. What do we do?" I said loudly enough for him to hear, but not loud enough to frighten Allie any further.

"I don't know..." he gasped as darkness started settling over us and all of the sounds of the forest stopped. "Ray, you have to get away from her." He begged as Allie clutched onto me tighter.

"I can't leave her again, Paeris!"

"You have to!"

I gasped as darkness oozed from my sister, tendrils of sparking energy ripping from her body. As her face turned up to look at me, I saw my horror reflected in her eyes.

"Help me..." she begged, looking straight through me. It was as if she had no idea it was me that she was clinging to. "I don't want to go dark again, please. It's suffocating me! I can't breathe!"

"Allie, I don't know how to help you... tell me what I need to do!" I pleaded, moving away from her slowly as the darkness seemed to fill my lungs.

I thought I was going to suffocate as Paeris tugged me away from Allie. I looked down at my shaking hands, darkness staining my skin as my sister backed away into the shadows of the forest with horrible screams and sobs.

"Allie!" I called into the forest after her, but was held back by Paeris' strong arms. "I can't just let her go! She... her eyes! She wasn't dark! She's fighting it, Paeris!"

"We can't help her if we're dead, Ray!"

I nodded, exhaustion and crushing worry for my sister raced through my head. Where was she going to go? How was she able to break free from the darkness? Why was she here?

Where was Lorelei?

I was shaking from the cold, but his warm body kept me from shivering in the whipping breeze.

The caress of his hands and warm breath on my skin; his feather light kisses made me feel safe. Paeris had always made me feel at home when I didn't belong and gave me the keys to his heart.

He ran his hands through his disheveled hair, bags beginning to form under his eyes. It was almost as if for the first time in months, he was back to his gushy old self, caring about me and worrying.

"We need to get you somewhere safe. Merith will want to know about this."

Something was off. There was a strangeness in the air as even more darkness seemed to gather around us. Even as Allie receded into the tree line, the wisps of inky darkness seemed to suck into Paeris.

"Ray.."

The hairs on my arm stood on end at Paeris' voice, the strangeness of the way he sounded.

Turning, I shook my head as warm tears fell down my cheeks. I tried to scream, but couldn't, the sound failing as it passed my lips. The green eyes I loved so much were now pools of obsidian. The darkness seemed to pulsate behind his eyes, threatening to spill over. He pushed a stray hair from my face, a softness flowing from him as his eyes began to turn back to normal.

"I'm so sorry," he chanted, kissing me over and over again. "I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want you to see me like this."

Before I could stop myself, I closed the space between us and hugged him tightly. I had to comfort him, to show him that the sadness he felt was not lost on me. I felt wetness pool in my eyes for the man I loved.

"Pae, I love you. I love you so much." I kissed him softly, wondering if it would be the last time I would feel his lips on mine. "When I see my future, it's with you."

Sparks danced between us as we embraced. I couldn't deny the bond we had, even as the darkness fell from around me and I backed away to leave him in the chaotic energy that grew around him. I knew he was too exhausted to fight it anymore and Allie had awoken something inside of him that hovered just below the surface for months.

I knew I had to save them both, but I had to be alive to do that.

"I've been fighting it. I won't hurt you." He cried, even as his eyes slowly started to fill with darkness again and dark lightning crackled behind us.

"Don't follow me. I'll come back for you." I choked out, fighting the need to hold him in my arms as I turned and ran away.

___________________________________

"When do we leave?"

"You have to be in charge while I am away."

"What?" Laurel nearly screamed, a wild look of fear and confusion crossing her normally delicate features. "I can't be Queen! I do match-making! And flirt with people! I am in no way qualified to be in charge for any period of time!" Laurel's face looked wild with fear.

After retreating from the forest, I had fallen into Jonas' arms, sobbing and explained to him what had happened. He had been terrified for his son and what he was clearly becoming, but he had agreed that my decision to find him was a good one. My safety was the most important thing at the moment. He had decided that, if we were going to find answers on how to help him and Allie, we would need the help of the other Regions. He held me as I cried, shushing me to calmly comfort me and tell me things would be okay. We planned to take a trip to the other Regions to discuss the next Head of Spiris and peace treaties to bring us back to the way things once were, but we hadn't imagined we would leave so quickly. Paeris was always been a part of my plans, but now it was out of the question for him to come along. Cage would take his place as security detail and no one would know that Paeris wasn't making the trip with us. Jonas was positive we would find answers. I had hope. I just hoped Paeris could hold on until we could find answers.

"You are the only one I trust to oversee things. The Council will still ultimately be in charge as usual." My fingers entwined with hers. "If anything happens while I'm gone, I know you can reach me in my dreams. We will debrief after every Council meeting and any time I have new information." I promised.

She shook her head again, wrapping her housecoat around her tighter. She hadn't been prepared for any of this, but even in her robe, she was still breathtakingly perfect. "What about Merith? He will freak out if he knows you're gone. He scares the crap out of me."

I laughed softly. While Merith was a bit terrifying and quick to anger, he had proven to be the pessimistic word of reason lately. He was a bit terrifying, but overall, he just cared about my safety.

"Jonas will be escorting us. Cage will come with us and be in charge of our security. Merith and my father will be in charge of protection of the High Wall and scouting for Paeris and Allie. The Council knows we are leaving under the guise of reconnecting with the other regions but only Merith knows that Paeris won't be with us. He will be relaying information to you for me and keeping Paeris and Allie at bay until we know how to help them."

"And Lorelei? What about her?"

"I think..." I started, sighing softly. "I think she may be dead."

Despite the fact that I hadn't been sleeping well lately, I hadn't had nightmares of my biological mother in weeks. I didn't believe that if she were alive, she would be happy with only having one twin on her side. She would have come for me by now if she had the chance. I also had contemplated on how Allie was able to get away from her if she still had a dark bond with our mother.

"I can give you three weeks. Four, tops." She said finally, as if the confidence she normally had was deflated. "You will check in at least once a week even if there are no updates so I know you're safe."

The smile I offered was sincere, despite the way my anxiety rose at her agreement. "Basically, I need you to be my inside man. I can try to commit to once a week. The next Council meeting is in three days, which should be around the time we reach Spiris." She nodded solemnly.

"Please be careful." Laurel shook her head, her blonde hair bouncing. "I can't believe they are letting you leave."

"Well, technically, no one is letting me leave." I pointed out. "I am on a 'peace mission', officially."

She huffed in a way that was very Laurel. "And the other regions are expecting you? I don't even remember Meara actually going to these places."

"I sent gifts before me and letters asking for training and information. I can't wait for a response, so I'm hoping Jonas can help with the communication part of all this."

"Don't you dare get yourself killed, Ray." She hugged me tightly. It took a moment for the shock to wear off before I returned the squeeze. "You've grown on me. Us girls have to stick together."