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“Thank you for saving me,” he says through trembling teeth before he gets up and staggers back to his group.
Elias ends the class after a few more rounds with other students, but wraps his arm around my shoulder so I don’t leave. I try not to think about what Edgar is doing while he’s skipping classes. He hasn’t shown up since the night on the bridge.
“I want to show you something today,” Elias says quietly, keeping his eyes on Alkrose. I look to the third floor where he’s staring and find Emerai watching us like a statue. His face is impassive, calculating.
Somehow, I manage to break the headmaster’s dreadful gaze and glance back toward the lake. “Show me what?”
Elias throws his white hood on and starts walking back to the castle. He extends his hand to his side for me without looking back and I can’t help but smile as I trot to catch up to him. I weave my fingers through his and look up at his sculpted jawline. His gray eyes flick down to me.
“I really shouldn’t be showing you this, but consider me a fool.”
A fool he is.
“Elias—”
“Shh,” he silences me as we come out the end of a portal. It’s dark and the air stings my nose with sulfur and ash. My eyes burn and my throat itches.
Where the hell did he bring us?
Amser is on high alert inside my veins, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Elias remains tense and quiet for a few minutes as he scans the area before he visibly relaxes and kneels beside me.
“This is the battlefront in our pursuit to win Whales of Tauh,” he says coldly. His eyes are red from the sting the air brings but it doesn’t seem to bother him. White strands of his hair get swept up in a gust of wind and his hood flies back.
“What? Why would you bring me here?” I ask, fear trickling through me like poison. Explosions rumble in the distance but the dust and dark keep visibility low.
Elias looks at me with dread. “I want to show you firsthand what is happening while we are at Alkrose. You see that wall?” He points south and I follow with my gaze.
Above the dark, cloudy dust is a wall ten times the size of Barkovah’s. The sky is auburn, muddied and dim with smoke and death. People are standing on the top of the wall, so far up they’re nothing more than specks moving about.
Elias grips my jaw and guides my attention back to him as I swallow thickly. “I’m sent here every day after class to try and get inside that godsforsaken city. Do you know what happens when I get inside?”
I nod grimly. So this is where he’s been…
He keeps his expressionless face smooth and says, “Exactly. Skyfell, Void, whatever Heirahians are calling it. The fucking last city of Heirah will fall.”
“I don’t understand, Elias. Why did you bring me here?” I whisper as a handful of footsteps run by us, ignorant of our presence.
His eyes soften on me and he lets his shoulders fall. Despair and regret mingle across his flexed jaw. “Because I think they’re going to send you here with me after the exam. The Blood Crowns is an extermination, and they want the Novas to be broken and whole, ready to deploy. With the two of us here, I won’t need to be in the city for the Void to reach the inhabitants inside. Our Shadows together will be enough to clear the entire city from this side of the wall.”
The sounds of fighting and shooting fade away as I stare into Elias’s gray eyes. “I don’t understand, Elias.” I shift to put distance between us, but he grabs my arm and stops me.
“I want you to be strong enough to stop me before they send us here.”
My eyes widen. Another gust of wind berates us, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. “How would I be able to do that?” I bite the inside of my cheek to quell the trembling.
“How else? If it comes to that, I want you to kill me.” The corner of his lip kicks up in a tired grin.
Bile crawls up the back of my throat and I shake my head. “I won’t?—”
“You’ll have to or the world will perish. This is the last stand for humanity, Terra.” Elias doesn’t look the least bit scared for his life to end. In fact, he looks pretty at peace with it.
“What are the other options? What if I can’t?” I grit my teeth and look away so he won’t see my tears building.
He laughs sarcastically and says, “If you can overthrow the headmaster and empress of Fernestia, then that’s a great start. Oh, and Dr. Cein, the master of the Shadows. Him too.”
It all sounds so impossible when looking at the big picture, but what if we took a few steps back? An idea sparks to life in my head and I look up at Elias so quickly he flinches.
“What if I can get your heart back? You wouldn’t have to obey them anymore.” I hate how despairing and in denial I sound, but if there is hope for Raine, why can’t there be a small flame for Elias too?
