"Never again," he whispered through gritted teeth. Scowling, he clenched his hands and turned back to where we came, following the giggling sound of our daughter's laughter, his large form disappearing around the corner.
I exhaled shakily, looking at the silver metal. Two green fiery pools of emerald looked back at me with my own whisperings from the past.
May you always accept who you are in your reflection.
Did I? Was that why I sacrificed myself always first? Could I live with the shadows’ deaths on my hands?
Reaching up, I touched my lips where they still seared from Emon's passionate kiss. The cut from his fangs had healed but the swelling had not.
Something about it felt odd…and a tingling sense of dread overcame me. I did not like unknowns and even more so unknown feelings. It was unlike Emon to succumb to anger so quickly, even if he was goddess damn right.
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I looked back at myself again, as if my mirror image had the answers I sought, but there was nothing there—nothing but the pieces of me that Emon coveted.
Sighing, I shook my head. I was overthinking this.
Pulling the casted shadows dancing from the rolling stormy skies, I twirled them around the blade, and wrenched it out of the ship, slipping it back into my boot.
Emon watched me as I returned and the fire he had left coldly behind roared back to life under his gaze. I stared back, my chin tilted high, my body swaying to the gentle waves of the rocking ship with each stride, shadows dancing up my arms where they belonged, and a sudden wind blew the loose strands of my dark hair across my face.
Emon's eyes glittered in those grays, his nostrils flared, unable to stop himself, his hands flexed at his sides…I smirked.
Lir chuckled. "Aye Fi, she is the beauty o' death."
Startled, Emon and I looked at the crazed sea king but Riella seemed unperturbed, nodding as if she agreed with the insane words.
He grinned, "Mah daughter, that was her wind, she thinks ye make death bonnie."
I bit my lip, "Oh well, thank you Fi." The wind twirled around me and the shadows on my arms flickered upwards into its playful swirl, guiding them in a series of dancing pirouettes.
Riella giggled, her hand covering her mouth. "She says she's shadow fae now."
Lir smiled with a wistful sigh, tears glistening in his eyes while he twisted a piece of his beard. "Mah sweet Fi always did love t’ dance." The shadows fell and wind swirled around the old sea king. He batted at it playfully, laughing again. "Ach lassie, be off with' ye now, pay no heed t’ yer old da."
Watching him laugh lovingly at his daughter's singing winds, I glanced back at Emon, a deep seated fear suddenly spreading.
Reading my mind, he was in front of me before I could blink. Brushing back my hair with his cold wraith hand, like before, it left a searing heat that lingered on my skin."I won't let anything happen to our daughter, little umbra."
"Nothing is guaranteed when the world is at stake Emon."
"Faerie is only worth saving as long as you and Riella are in it. Ever since you dropped me to my knees, this has always been about you…never this world, and now it's about Riella too."
"How can you say that shifter? It was you who convinced me Faerie was worth saving in the first place."
His voice was low and breathy inside my mind."Because you love Faerie…all of her creatures, fae and beasts alike. To watch it die around us at the expense of our survival will never be in your nature, just as it is not in mine to watch you be torn apart at the expense of the world."
"How do you do that?"I whisper through our bond.
His mouth twitched."Do what, my love?"
"Cure me, love me, constantly taking my breath away,"I breathed.
He chuckled and the sound of it washed over me, chasing away my fears and doubts. It was warm and rich and I clung to it, my lifeline for what was to come.
"I've learned by example, little umbra, for it is you that first took mine."
The sky flashed brightly, a deep vibrating thunder shook our bodies and rattled the ship. Riella jumped to our side with her spirit guide still attached to her shoulder, its rabbit ears twitching.Tucking her into us simultaneously, our faces turned up to watch more lightning crackle against the tremulous skies.
Riella gasped as one white hot bolt thrust downwards into the waters ahead of us, breaking open the realm, splitting both skies and water into a dark cavernous hole, revealing secrets deep within.
