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A few minutes later Dusk found himself at the lip of the volcano, the stone lift cracking into place. He ran off the platform and through the shattered obsidian archway to Lex, the panic causing him to forget about the uneasiness the platform usually inflicted on him. Skidding to a halt he bent down beside Lord d'Ronja, placing a hand on Lex’s shoulder. It was still too dark to make out Lex’s breathing.
“Is he okay?” Dusk asked, worry filling his words.
“He’s still breathing,” Lex’s father replied. He kept his head hung low. “But he keeps coughing up more blood. His lungs are punctured.” He turned to look up into Dusk’s eyes, his cheeks stained with tears. “At this rate he’s not going to make it through the night.”
Dusk felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. After everything they’d been through and all the danger they faced along the way, he was going to lose Lex at the place they’d felt the most safe in months. It was cruel. The pain was almost too great to bear and threatened to tear him asunder. He’d never felt anything so great and terrible in his life. Nedarya’s words echoed through his mind, asking him if he really wanted to watch Lex die. Maybe she’d been right. It was more than he ever wanted to deal with.
“Don’t give up yet,” Selussa said, kneeling down beside them. “We still have Lyra. She may be able to help.”
Dusk felt a small flutter of hope at that reminder. If Lyra was anything like Tephyss, she might have the power to save Lex. As if on cue he heard the flapping of massive wings and glanced out over the side of the plateau. There, reflecting in the moonlight, were Lyra’s shining scales as she banked southward and came barreling towards them. She was coming in faster than seemed wise. One of her wings was moving awkwardly and her back leg was still damaged and glowing green from the magic that she’d been struck with. As soon as Dusk realized her landing was going to be a bad one he threw himself over Lex to shield him. The other’s threw arms up in front of their eyes as Lyra smashed into the plateau and skid across its surface, breaking through another one of the obsidian sheets before she finally came to a halt with a groan.
The dust cleared and Dusk looked back up to see Lyra lying on her side, chest heaving out of fatigue or pain, he assumed both. One of her wings was bent off at an odd angle and her legs were stretched out awkwardly. Selussa pushed herself to her feet and ran over to Lyra, cradling the large snout in her arms.
“Lyra!” Selussa called to her. “Are you alright?”
“I am... fine child,” she responded, her voice weak. “These wounds won’t kill me.”
Dusk turned back towards her, still keeping a hand on Lex. “You said you would help him! What do we do?” he asked, ignoring the pain she was in.
Lyra turned towards him. “I won’t be able to use any magic. Not in this state,” she whimpered, trying to turn herself further to face him.
“Then use the heart!” Dusk cried. “He’s going to die!”
“I can’t use the heart,” Lyra sighed, letting her muzzle rest on the ground. “After Tephyss created the eye he never wanted that mistake to be repeated. He sealed it off from all of the dragons long before Nozzera was even a thought.” Her violet eyes rested on Dusk’s. “It will take all the magic I have to survive these wounds.But, there is another way that may save him.”
“What is it? Tell me!”
“The heart bestowed some of its own power on this mountain, where it has been kept for so long.” She gestured towards a large mound of obsidian, darker than all the rest, that sat out in the middle of the plateau away from the other sheets of glass. “From its resting place its power has seeped into the earth. If Mirinda sent you, you already know the story of the Raven King.” She lifted a weary claw and pointed towards the patch of lilies that Dusk and Lex had been sitting next to, staring up at the stars. “Brew the golden flowers into a tea and hopefully it will be enough to save him. I’m sorry I can’t do more.”
With that, her head fell to the ground and she was still, her chest still rising and falling slowly. She was out cold. Selussa looked concerned about Lyra, but Dusk only had one person on his mind. Lex. He ran to the edge of the volcano and tore three of the lily’s heads from their stems, thrusting them into his pack.
“Can you carry him?” Dusk called to Lord d'Ronja.
He nodded.
“Come with me. We’re going to save him.”
***
It was a long night and well into the morning before Dusk finally fell asleep. After brewing the flowers as quickly as he could, he spent the night giving Lex drop after drop, wrung out of a damp cloth to stop him from choking. He remained unconscious, but eventually Dusk noticed his coughing had stopped and his breathing began to grow easier. Lord d'Ronja fell asleep at the side of the bed, one elbow tucked under his head and the other hand on top of Lex’s. Dusk sat with his back against the wall withLex’s head resting in his lap, still ignoring the aching wound in his own chest. He stared and stared, using every ounce of willpower to bring Lex back from the edge of death. Once the concoction was gone and the rattling noise from his lungs ceased, Dusk felt his own eyelids growing heavy, hoping the worst had passed. He fought it with all his might, but eventually he could no longer resist and sleep enveloped him like a velvet curtain.
He didn’t dream, but distinctly remembered feeling a soft touch on his cheek while he was lost in the dark void of sleep. It felt nice and he leaned into it, feeling the fingers against his skin. It brought memories flooding back to him of those nights spent in Lex’s embrace, both of them trying to keep warm against the elements. It seemed like so long ago that they’d been camping on the plains as the snow began to fall, or cuddled in a hammock as they made their way across the ocean on Captain Duillearga’s ship. During those times his world had been rife with stress and concern about the future, but looking back he saw all the peaceful moments shining through like the stars that spilled across the sky. For a long time he stayed there, enjoying the sensation. But eventually the touch slipped away from his cheek. He reached out for it again instinctually, opening his eyes. Looking down he saw a pair of sea-blue eyes staring back at him, glimmering in the firelight.
“Lex?” he whispered, barely believing what he was seeing.
“W-water,” he managed to croak out, a hand tangled in Dusk’s shirt.
Lex’s head was still resting on his lap and he didn’t want to jostle him too much. Contorting himself over the side of the bed he managed to snag his waterskin that was leaning against it without forcing him to move. He pulled it up and took off the cap, holding it down near Lex’s mouth.
“Go slow, okay?” he said, gently pouring a miniscule amount of water into Lex’s mouth.
Lex sputtered a little on the first try, but within a couple of minutes had managed to take a few mouthfuls of water. Dusk pulled the flask away and put it off to the side.
“A-are... you okay?” Lex managed to say, lifting his hand once more and placing it on Dusk’s cheek.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Dusk smiled, lifting his own hand up to cover Lex’s. “You just focus on yourself for a while.”
“B-but...” He pointed to the wound on Dusk’s chest where the crystal had been. “You’re h-hurt. T-the eye...”
“It’s fine,” he hummed. “She didn’t get it.”
Just then Lord d'Ronja began to stir, the sound of voices pulling him from his sleep. He lifted his head and Dusk watched as a wave of relief spread over him. His hand reached out and took Lex’s, careful not to disturb him too much.
“You’re alive,” he whispered, tears coming to his eyes. “I was so sure I’d lost you again.”
Lex seemed to try to pull away, but Dusk stopped him. “No, it’s okay. I promise.” Lex looked up at him, a confused look in his eyes. He was too weak to fight it much. “Once you’re better we’re going to figure it all out, but you can trust him for now.” He turned and looked at Lord d'Ronja. “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, of course! I would never imagine hurting my own son.”
“Good.”
Dusk lifted Lex’s head and slipped off the bed before replacing it back on a small mound of furs.
“I need to go check on Lyra. You stay here and get some rest, okay?”
Lex gave a small nod, his eyes already beginning to droop once more from the exhaustion.
“Your father is going to take very good care of you.” Dusk turned and let his gaze burrow deep into Lord d'Ronja’s dark brown eyes. “Because if he doesn’t he’ll find himself strung up outside so the ravens can eat him alive. I hear they favor this mountain.”
Lord d'Ronja swallowed hard, but nodded his head in understanding. “I’ll take care of him.”
Dusk gave him a stern look before he turned back to Lex. He was already asleep. His father reached up and took his hand once more, continuing to stare at him with an earnestness that Dusk had never seen from anyone before. With a soft hum of approval, Dusk turned and stepped through the door. Outside was a small tray of food and water left by one of the caretakers. He let the door stand open so that it was in plain view and headed up the tunnel. After sidestepping some of the damaged pathway in the volcano’s interior he took the platform to the top of the mountain, igniting the rune that he was thankful still worked even without the eye.
The first thing he noticed as he stepped off the platform were the piles of shattered obsidian glass everywhere. The razor-sharp shards littered the ground in all directions and he wondered how anyone had managed to get back into the mountain with an intact pair of boots the night before. A thin path had been made by sweeping them aside, most likely by the caretakers that were caring for Lyra in her wounded state. Beyond the glass he could make out her form, slowly rising and falling with her breath. As he walked through he lifted his eyes to the sky. The once-clear night had shifted into a dreary and overcast day. The wind carried the scent of rain on the way. Glancing out to the west he could see darker clouds on the horizon. He hoped it wasn’t a thunderstorm for Lyra’s sake.
Coming around the corner, Lyra came into full view. Her wings had been adjusted so that they rested at more natural angles. One of them was coated in bandages above the shoulder joint, but it didn’t look to be broken. The thin membranes were punctured with holes, most likely from arrows and bolts, but looked as if they’d heal quickly. The rest of her body was covered in a smattering of cuts, bruises, and scorch marks which Dusk assumed was from magical blasts. However, as he made his way around he saw Selussa standing at her hindquarters, a large bowl full of some sort of green plant sludge that she was smearing over the wound.
“That hurts!” Lyra hissed, baring her teeth in Selussa’s general direction.
“Deal with it,” Selussa snapped back, slapping another glob of paste on the wound. “This needs to be cared for properly, I don’t care how much you want to just rub dirt in it like an animal and call it good. Show a little backbone and drop the prideful act.”
“That’s quite a thing to say coming from one so small,” Lyra groaned, still clenching her teeth.
“You don’t scare me one bit. You may have been alive for a few thousand years, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped you from acting like a child when you need tending to.”
“Everything okay?” Dusk asked, stepping around Lyra’s massive form so that he was in full view.
Selussa slapped another handful of mush onto Lyra’s leg, causing her to cry out, smoke curling from her nostrils.
“She’ll be fine. She’s just having a tantrum.”
“I am not,” Lyra snapped, her violet eyes flaring at Selussa who continued to ignore her. “How is Lex?” she asked, turning to Dusk.
“He’s alive and much better already.” He felt a small tinge of shame from yelling at her the night before. “Thank you.”
“The flowers will bring him back from the edge of death fast, but he’ll still need lots of time to recover from his wounds.” Her eyes broke contact with his. “I... I don’t know if he’ll ever regain full use of everything that was damaged. The flowers only work partial miracles.”
“I’m just happy he’s okay.” Dusk reached out to place a hand on her neck and winced, gritting his teeth as the wound in his chest split. He looked down as blood began to flow from it once more. “Fuck.”
“By the gods,” Selussa exclaimed, sitting the bowl down near Lyra’s foot. “Can’t any of you take care of yourself in the slightest?”
“I f-forgot,” Dusk stammered, hand now clutched to his chest, wet with blood. “I was s-so worried about L-Lex. Fuck that hurts.”
“Yeah yeah, very noble. Sit down.”
Selussa forced him to take a seat on the ground where she’d cleared the glass shards away. She brought over a small pack and began to mix up some sort of herbal paste from the plants inside it. Once it was finished she reached up without warning and smeared it on the wound. Dusk cried out at the stinging sensation and heard Lyra give a deep chuckle in her throat.
“If it hurts, it’s working,” Selussa grumbled, ignoring his pain.
She made him remove his soiled shirt so she could wrap his chest in linen bandages. Pulling them tight she knotted it off on his back, causing him to wince once more. Before Lyra could laugh again at his discomfort, Selussa was back at her leg, slathering the goo over her wound once more.
“D-did Nedarya... get the... eye?” Lyra managed to squeak out between Selussa’s handfuls of paste. “I didn’t really... see what happened before I... passed out.”
“No. I don’t really understand what happened to be honest. She took it from me and looked like she’d get away, but it got really bright and then exploded,” Dusk replied, pulling his cloak back on. “It blew her hand right off and broke her power over you. She seemed to think I had something to do with it. When she saw you getting up she ran.” He paused, a realization dawning on him he hadn’t thought of till that moment. “And Tara followed her...”
“I saw.”
Dusk shook his head. He’d have time to think about that later.
“The eye should still be here somewhere,” he said, pushing himself to his feet.
Without another word he began to search the plateau. At first he stayed near Lyra and Selussa, sifting through the piles of obsidian carefully to look for the aquamarine crystal. He knew it would stick out against the black glass, but he couldn’t seem to find it. Taking a series of wider and wider circles, he moved around the plateau, working his way out. He made sure to check around the darkest mound of obsidian where the other half of the heart lay concealed, but the ground was mostly clear there.
He went back to Lyra, knowing if the crystal had gone any further, it was lost in the forest below. As he kicked aside some of the volcanic glass in frustration, he noticed a piece of completely transparent crystal catch the light. Carefully he reached his hand in and pulled it out, avoiding the sharp edges of the other shards. The stone was almost flat and the edges were faceted. The interior wasn’t clear like he first thought, but streaked with wisps of light blue, like tiny clouds caught in the stone. He recognized it as the crystal eye, but all of its color seemed to have drained away.
Taking off his glove he placed it in the palm of his hand. It was cold and it refused to warm at his touch. He cupped it between his hands and leaned his eye down to peer inside the small dark space they created. There was nothing. Not even the faintest hint of a glow met his gaze. Growing worried he gripped it tightly in his hand and closed his eyes. Reaching out with his thoughts he searched for the thread of magic that was always there.
But there was nothing. No voice, no runes, and no magic.
He opened his eyes once more to see Lyra staring back at him from a few yards away. A few drops of rain began to fall, one of them splashing across the crystal’s surface.
“It’s dead,” he muttered.