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No way.
The thought was shot back at him, echoing through his mind loud and clear and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face at the strength and love in the other man’s voice.
“What, do you find this as funny as I do, dragon?” Eidolon spit the words through dripping teeth and they hissed over him, carrying with them a sense of dread that was almost impossible to resist.
“No, but you know what is funny?” Jayce taunted, and he could see his own death reflected in Eidolon’s eyes as he drew near. He cast a glance at Nika through the corner of his eyes, sending the thought to run at the same time but the other man still just resolutely shook his head slightly, but enough for Jayce to see that he wouldn’t abandon him.
“Well,” Eidolon growled, “What is the joke, funny one?”
Jayce thought for a moment, the pensive look out of place amongst the myriad of wounds, slashes, and bruises already making his left eye swell shut. He grinned again as he felt the pull again, starting as a tingle in the pit of his stomach and running up his spine. He had timed it right, he thought in relief. He had hoped Hazel would run, as far and as fast as her legs could take her and minutes before he had felt the telltale singe that had occurred the last time the shift had been forced.
“Come closer and I’ll tell you.” Jayce whispered, barely intelligible.
“What was that, dragon? Oh, is something wrong with your throat?” Eidolon asked, maliciously digging into the bloody gash that had landed right across his throat. A little deeper and it would have slit right across his jugular. But the dark spirit did in fact lean closer and Jayce could barely keep the hard glee out of his eyes.
The pull was so much more intense this time and he fought it for as long as he could, pleading once more with Nika even though he knew it was useless. He would do the same thing if their roles were reversed.
“We will beat you.” Jayce finally growled through teeth gritted at the effort to hold back the change until just the right moment.
“Oh, little dragon, that is very funny.” A peal of laughter shot out from Eidolon’s blood soaked mouth like nauseous gas rising from a cesspit, turning his stomach but at the same time he was celebrating. Nika made a noise like a groan and the dark spirit looked away for a single moment, distracted, his guard down, and that’s when Jayce let go, leaping forward to strike at the same time.
Chapter 21
Hazel sniffed again, swiping grimy hands across swollen eyes as she stared out into the forest. She couldn’t go any further. Her feet and lungs had rested enough that she could have, physically, kept running, but she had reached this spot and felt a tug from deep inside, a lurching feeling that had her halting right where she stood and she couldn’t force herself to move another single step.
Something was wrong. So, so terribly wrong. She couldn’t go back, she couldn’t go forward. Hazel had closed her eyes, sending a desperate prayer up to the goddess to help her, to save her, to save Nika and Jayce. But the goddess hadn’t answered so there Hazel had stood, her feet rooted into the ground like the ancient pine trees surrounding her.
Finally, she gave in. Completely, utterly, giving up the struggle and she collapsed to the mossy green forest floor as everything went out of her in a rush, exhaling every bit of struggle into the air around her. She was finally broken.
There were no more tears to cry, no more screams or tantrums, only the cold harsh reality looming in front of her. She was a coward, she was weak, there was nothing she could do.
That’s not true, a small voice whispered through the shattered wasteland of her mind. Hazel sat up, searching for that voice. What? What can I do?
You can go to them. You can be with them. You don’t have to win, you just have to fight.
The startling thought echoed through her, over and over, gaining strength with every repetition, giving her strength. The strength that she needed to crawl back up to her feet and send them back the way they had come with out even quite realizing what she was doing at first.
But that tiny, quiet voice had struck a chord in her because the fact was, she knew she would never be able to live with herself if she sat back and did nothing. Hazel knew she wasn’t strong, and that was okay. She knew she was afraid, and that was okay too. Because she wasn’t going to let that dictate her actions, dictate the way she lived her life. Or how she died, either. Another, far more cynical voice chimed in.
