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Something long and sharp tapped experimentally against my forehead.
“Hoo?”
“Don’t. Unconscious people do not generally like being awakened by other means. They generally seem to be irritable when they wake up.”
“Hoo!” The sharp thing nestled into my hair and tugged sharply.
“I’m awake!” I groaned, raising one of my hands up to rub at my aching temples. My head was pounding, threating to break like an egg if the throbbing in my temples increased any more. Something felt off though. My fingers were way too scratchy against my face and my entire exposed portion of skin felt like it was on fire. My eyes opened to mere slits, coming to see that the entire length of my hands were swathed in thick white bandages and a pair of golden eyes peering at me from upside down from the darkened expanse of the room.
“Hoo!” Stryker trilled, evidently thrilled that his tactics had worked in his favor as he spread his wings and flew over to a wooden perch next to the only window in the room. He was lucky he was cute because otherwise I wanted to spark his feathery butt.
“Easy, you’ll ruin the bandages.” A chair creaked at my side and a hand pulled mine away my eyes, a sharp pain flaring momentarily at the contact but was quickly soothed as a cool sensation spread like refreshing water over my skin, cooling the scalded feel that had my skin feeling crispy and burnt like an overcooked scrap of meat. The bed dipped beside me as a larger frame came to sit at my side, one with green eyes that glowed slightly gold in the gloom. “How are you feeling?” Alec asked.
“Like I was standing under a stampede of horses, got pummeled into goo, and someone shaped me back up into something that might be human.” I remarked dryly and let my head fall back against the pillow. The throbbing seemed to decrease slightly if I didn’t have to focus my eyes on anything. “How long was I out?”
“About three days. There was no horse that trampled over you to my knowledge. Perhaps it is merely an effect of you becoming so exhausted that you fainted.” I could hear the puzzle in his voice as the gears in his brain churned rapidly over the problem. Sarcasm is not easily registered it seems. “The effect was not helped as you managed to exhaust your magical supply by obliterating the one who called himself Angelo. Which is how you resulted in the severe burns to the skin of your hands.”
His hands gently massaged my battered hands as if they were made of glass, but the soothing maneuverers didn’t stop the throbbing that nearly sent my eyes rolling across the floor like marbles when I sat up. “What do you mean? I didn’t kill him.”
The portion of his frame outlined by the light sneaking through the cracked curtains across from my bed shifted as he tilted his head to the side. He stayed silent for the moment, his gaze raking across my features in search of something, maybe to see if I was sturdy enough to hear what he had to say. If only he knew that his continued silence was only making me more nervous than I already was. “It seems that when he was hit through the chest by your arrow, the light magic flowing through the arrow caused the dark magic to warp back onto its user, Angelo himself, and fall under the attack that he had been raising against ourselves and our comrades. He was unable to withstand the onslaught and was whisked away by the dark magic for an unknown location. We have been unable to confirm his location at the present time, or his current status as to whether he is alive or deceased, but we believed that he would be deceased.”
“That should be a good thing, shouldn’t it? Not the unknown location part, but the fact that his dark magic disappeared?” I was confused and the room was starting to spin, I hope that was from the headache and not something else.
“Not particularly, the easiest foe to find is the one that you can always see coming.” He quickly raked his hand through his hair, dislodging some of the shaggy blonde curls from their previously resting position to lay in disarray around his head. “In addition to that, the remains of the kingdom of Althea have also disappeared without a trace. The people, the buildings, the animals. Even the factories that polluted the air and waterways were swept away as well. The only evidence that the kingdom ever existed was the remains of the cobblestone paved streets and the crops still growing in the fields. I have sent scouts to personally investigate the event, but there is no evidence to be found of the kingdom itself.” I
“What about the tunnels? That’s where I found the leader of the Raven’s guild after he had been mutated into one of the beasts by the dark magic. He did attack me and I killed him. That’s how I found out my light magic was so lethal to the darkness.”
He shook his head. “Still no trace except a shocking amount of blood that was painted on the walls.” My stomach rolled with his mention of the word blood, that sickeningly sweet smell of iron coming back full force to assault my senses as I remembered just how disgusting the passageway really was.
“Easy,” Alec allowed me to lean over his arm to relax and hopefully prevent whatever remained in my stomach not to churn upwards. His fingers smoothed through my hair as I buried my face in his shoulder, a relaxation motion that calmed the nausea somewhat as I heaved great rattling breaths that sent the throbbing in my skull to new levels of intense pain. “I was worried about you, you know. Seeing you collapse right after using the greatest amount of magic I’ve ever seen anyone use. It was terrifying.”
“I thought you didn’t get scared.” I whispered.
“I was, it was the worst thing I’ve ever felt in my life. Not known if you were dead or alive. My own injuries became inconsequential till I felt you breathe only for you to stay in that silent state for three days. Whatever this is that we have, my chest ached as I watched you lay there, cold and silent like a doll as you slept. I missed your smile, your quiet observations that cut through the tangled web of my thoughts, and the way you lit up over the smallest things. But now you’re here with me again and I want to tell you one thing.” I leaned upwards to look him in the eye, feeling an entirely new fluttering feeling banging around in my chest like a trapped bird as the pain and agony of the brutal memories retreated to the background of my mind.
One of his hands came to slide gently around my jawline, guiding me forward into a kiss so tender that tears prickled against my eyes. This was not the passionate promise that we had exchanged that night in the library, a desperate affection that had bloomed as neither of us knew if we would live or die that night. No, this was a promise of safety and warmth, a soft feeling that was just as exciting as the fire had been. “I love you.” He whispered so softly against my lips that I thought I had dreamed it at first, but then I knew it.
I loved him too.
A rapid series of knocking banged against the door, only to be quickly followed by a falling tangle of limbs as the door opened by itself and two bodies landed limply on the floor on top of one another. Thorn and Sandra, if my guess was correct by the peals of screeching laughter.
“Why are you all listening in at the door like nosy children?” Alec asked rather blankly, releasing me from his hold to turn and cross his arms over his chest while waiting patiently for their reply.
“Because cousin, we have been waiting on the blade’s edge of worry for our glorious savior to wake up from her well-earned nap and now she’s up. You can’t hog up all her time just because you are her boyfriend now.” Thorn smirked as he helped Sandra up to her feet.
My curly haired friend nearly leaped on the bed in her excitement, sending painful shockwaves all through my body as she landed with a thump that nearly sent Alec skyward. “I’m so glad to see that you’re awake, Kyri! You had us all so worried after you fainted. That was awesome though how you kicked Angelo’s butt! I saw your arrow flying right through the sky, straight as could be! It was so awesome! I just couldn’t believe it was you after all the trouble you’ve had with your magic! But Bam! It was all done in just a few minutes! I thought for sure that I was going to die when that tentacle wrapped around my neck, but you gave him your best shot and now it’s all better. Well, the kingdom disappearing kinda sucks but other than that, it’s got better. I can’t wait for you to see home though, since you loved the forest so much, you’ll absolutely adore Highguard.”
Maybe it was just my mush-muddled brain but I think I missed something. “Uh, what? Where are we at?”
“You didn’t tell her?” I fought the urge to cover my ears as Sandra’s voice raised even higher in excitement. She swatted her hand against Alec’s shoulders, while he never even flinched and continued to observe her bouncing figure with solemn eyes.
“I was waiting for her to awaken and feel like walking around before I revealed that particular information.” He turned towards me and lifted out his hand. “Kyri, do you feel like standing?”
I nodded, the effort causing the room to spin as I did. I lifted the blankets from my body and swung my legs over the side. Alec steadied me with one arm wrapped around my waist. As carefully as if I was made out of glass, he guided me over to the heavily curtained window. With one smooth motion, he flung the curtains aside, revealing a world of lush green and singing birds. Of staircases and homes carved into the massive trees themselves. The birdsong mingled with the laughter of the people as they went about their duties below in the dirt packed street. Some were familiar faces from the campsite, others completely new, but the one thing that stood out the most of all was the magic. The use of magic everywhere.
“Welcome to the royal kingdom of Highguard, my home.” He breathed in my ear.