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This is it.
Arianne drew in a deep breath. Calathion’s warm hand closed around hers, strong and reassuring.
Murmurs rose in the crowd gathered around them, the voices mostly elvin, but a few human ones could also be heard. The sloping fields and paths that surrounded a portion of the king’s palace, while lovely, were ordinary places. But not today.
No, today it seemed that every elf in the kingdom of Eria stood within this area, which was definitely not ordinary. And what appeared before them was nothing less than wondrous.
A huge wooden door stood before the assembled mass, and inside its richly crafted frame, the mist of the veil sparkled, enticing in its glory. Silvery crystalline glitters seemed to pull her forward, yet she hadn’t moved a foot. The stone path in front of her meandered its way to the veil, as if sending her an open invitation, one she should’ve gladly taken. But it wasn’t that simple.
When she chanced a look at Calathion, he smiled at her but then his gaze flicked back to the veil. A shiver worked its way down her spine. He felt the same draw as she did, which was comforting yet alarming at the same time.
“It is astounding and quite beautiful, is it not?” he asked softly.
“More than I could have ever guessed.” Her words were true but felt wholly insufficient.
He shook his head and finally tore his gaze from the mist to stare at her, bemusement on his face. “To think we’ll have a new life free of war and strife once we enter our new home.”
Her chest constricted at the eagerness and wistfulness in his voice. Such an idyllic place surely couldn’t exist. But she couldn’t crush his hope in that way. Only time would prove one of them right, and she feared who would be the correct one.
She pasted a smile on her face. “I cannot imagine it.” And she couldn’t. Hopefully, though, he’d read only the positive connotation to her words.
He reached out and grazed the curve of her cheek with his fingertips. She sighed, closing her eyes. She loved his touch. It had a way of grounding her to reality while shooting her off to the moon.
All of a sudden, the similarity of this comparison to her current circumstances nearly made her stagger. More waves of trepidation bubbled up. For her, the journey Calathion guided her on was rife with the excitement of soaring through the skies. But instead of acting like a grounding agent, it also plummeted her down into an unknown abyss. What a huge difference.
So did they dare step through when their time came? Or more accurately, did she dare? The new land was for elves, not humans.
However, the king had said all spouses of elves who desired to come should be more than welcome. Supposedly, the bond that tied bonded couples together would allow it. And given that she had the strongest bond possible with Calathion—a complete bond that allowed her to share his lifespan—the veil shouldn’t kick her back to the mortal plane.
Still, the “should” of the whole situation was worrisome. What if she wasn’t granted passage? And if she were, she’d never see her brothers and sisters and their families again. She shored up her courage. All goodbyes had already been said. She couldn’t allow those doubts to creep back in.
She swallowed the heavy lump in her throat. Though she’d miss her family, Calathion was her future—one she was bound to. They shared a complete bond, so they couldn’t be parted unless they wanted to chance insanity and death.
And even if she and Calathion could stay, her siblings and their children would be gone all too soon. It was better to cherish her last image of them as young and hale—and not to see them grow old and sick while she stayed perennially youthful. That, and the guilt it would engender, would be almost more horrible than anything she could imagine.
The crowd around her inched forward, and she stepped forward instinctively, the action yanking her out of her thoughts. Movement? She craned her neck and saw the elves toward the front of the crowd were slowly entering into the mist. Some brought nearly nothing to the new lands, while many others guided horses that pulled carts laden with belongings. Most of her and Calathion’s possessions were loaded onto such a cart, though they each carried a light pack on their shoulders.
Before she knew it, the time for her and Calathion had come. Shouldering the pack more securely, she leaned her side against her bondmate’s. Normally, she wouldn’t be so demonstrative in such a public place, but her legs trembled, and her heart drummed so quickly in her chest, she feared she’d collapse otherwise.
Calathion slipped his arm around her waist, and for a second, she let herself melt against him. Then she stood straighter. She’d embark to their destination with some amount of dignity and wouldn’t be supported like an invalid or, worse, a weak human.
The few yards to the veil seemed to stretch on, yet each step occurred too fast. The steps she had to climb barely registered, but she didn’t stumble. She couldn’t have even stopped if she wanted to, though. She was a moth drawn to the bright light. When they were nearly upon it, she reached out a hand to touch the glittering mist. A soothing coolness wrapped around her fingers. The pull to enter overwhelmed her, and she didn’t try to fight the sensation. Calathion glided forward, closing the last few steps between them and the veil.
As they stepped into the mist, she chanced one look back. The setting sun washed the sky in shades of red, gold, and orange. It was a beautiful sight, one she hoped their new home would have.
Her feet left the ground, taking her up higher into the mist. All thoughts of her previous home fled. Her gaze flew to Calathion, and he pulled her closer, saying, “I don’t know how this can be, but take a step, and it feels like there is solid ground under us.”
She took a tentative step, and indeed, a seemingly solid surface pressed back against her heel. Feeling a little bit surer of herself, she went a few more paces. Calathion shadowed her every move, plastered as she was to his side, which definitely bolstered her courage.
Some of the lights of the veil separated into easily distinguishable pinpricks of white and silver while others remained grouped together. One in front of her zipped around, making a buzzing sound. For some reason, it reminded her of a hummingbird.
Only half-aware she was doing it, she held out a hand, and the tiny light brushed against her knuckles. Energy jolted through her veins. Every nerve in her body went still. If that slight stroke could fill her with such a feeling, what could a much longer touch do? Invigorate forever? Or would such energy be too much for humans and even the nearly immortal bodies of elves? Since she wasn’t eager to find out, she made no other attempts to touch any of the lights.
“Are you well?”
Calathion’s concerned voice drew her back to the moment. “I’m fine. But that little sphere of light was...” She didn’t have the proper words for it. “It had far more power and energy than anything I could’ve imagined. I’d hate to see what a prolonged touch could do.”
“The veil has powers we can only guess at. But it never seeks to hurt.”
The comfort of his words flowed over her, and they continued forward. Oddly enough, the glittering energy, whether in groups or appearing singly, didn’t affect her or Calathion if they went through a stationary light or ten.
Turning toward him, she flashed him a small smile. “I never thought I’d be walking on mist.”
“Me, either.” He shook his head ruefully. “I don’t believe many people have such aspirations. And talking about people, I wonder why none are closer to us?”
She started a bit. Now that he mentioned it, she hadn’t seen any others, though she truly hadn’t looked. Gazing through the iridescent fog, she made out hazy figures in the distance.
Calathion slid his arm from her waist and grabbed her hand. “Let’s see if we can catch up with someone.”
“Do you think we have to walk all the way to our new...home?”
“I do not know. It’s possible”—he gestured around them—“this mist is serving as a bridge or maybe even more of...a cloud carrying us from one dimension to another.”
Even though they walked for minutes, no matter which way she peered, they never seemed to gain any headway. The figures still remained in the distance. The vigor that had previously filled her evaporated, and the tiredness of nerves long stretched seeped into its place. She sagged into his side, knowing he’d gladly take her weight.
He didn’t disappoint. As he settled her more snugly underneath his arm, the warmth of his body radiated against hers. She breathed in his calming scent, a unique mixture of pine, leather, and some indefinable scent she labeled only as his. The tension left her shoulders somewhat. Home was truly wherever he was.
How long they stayed in the mist, she couldn’t venture a guess. Then all of a sudden, the mist started to clear, thinning out and becoming patchy in places. The figures that had appeared so far away seemed much closer.
She glanced sharply at him. “Do you—?”
“Yes,” he cut in, excitement spreading over his face like sunlight. Her heart beat faster with the same emotion. Both she and Calathion quickened their steps.
When they emerged from the mist, crowds of people awaited them. Before them was a glorious sight. Soaring mountains surrounded them on all sides, but the lush valley they stood in offered protection and sustenance among its rolling hills.
A silver-haired elvin male ahead of them bent down to touch the grass cushioning the valley floor and cried, “This land is beautiful beyond all imagining. The energy of the earth is pure and untainted.”
Arianne stiffened. For some reason, those words stuck in her craw. The land was perfect. Too perfect. Maybe her human mind couldn’t conceive of a paradise that people could experience while still alive.
“Ready to start our new life, love?”
She nodded and pushed her forebodings to the furthest reaches of her mind. After all, she was human. What did she know of such things? It was a province better left to the elves.
Slipping from underneath his arm and taking his hand, she smiled. “Let’s go.”
***
It is time to go.
Talion glanced around at the beloved kingdom his forefathers had built and that he’d brought to a coveted prosperity. The setting sun would stay seared into his mind. He lingered, yet most of his people who wanted to make the journey had already entered the veil. He had no reason to stand watch any longer. His most precious Earthly riches had been packed away and were now making their way to the new lands.
This move was for the benefit and continued survival of his people. He might be able to ignore the advice of his nobles, but once the veil had made its intentions known...that was another matter entirely. And even though he had no quarrel with the portion of the human race that behaved themselves, he could see the benefit of removing elvinkind from their reach entirely.
Only a small number of humans would accompany them—those that had been loyal and in his employ and those who were bonded to an elf. To leave human bondmates behind would be a cruel fate to both the human and the elf. In fact, most such elves would refuse to leave Earth without their mate.
But even knowing all this, he still found leaving much harder than he thought it would be. Had he and his people done the right thing by following the dictates of the veil? He shook his head. There wasn’t the time for such thoughts. He had a kingdom to set up and a people to unify. They were shaken from losing their home on Earth.
It was time to go. He couldn’t wait any longer. Anyway, what he waited for—and still longed for—simply wasn’t possible. He’d made his choice a long time ago—he was bound to his fate.
As if to reinforce his previous thoughts, his councilor and best friend strode up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time, my friend, lest we be left behind.”
“Aye, you’re right.” But he still found it hard to tear his gaze from the land that had been his home for many millennia. He squared his shoulders and strode swiftly to the veil, not allowing himself the luxury of glancing back until he has stepped into the mist.
As the veil closed around him, it took his last look of human Earth with it—and any secret hope he had of finding her.