Page 2 of Maleen

“Rav,” Nero croaks. “Get his eyeballs,” he growls.

I need no more encouragement—I pull on the lingering shadows and snap towards him, but before I can reach him he flings a blade at Talyn, his grin dripping with malice, and the realm seems to slow.

No. Please don’t take him from me. Please, I beg to the Fates, as I redirect my shadows to try to snatch the blade from mid-air, but it’s too slow, I won’t make it!

A small form flies in front of him and crumbles to the ground.

“Millie!” Talyn shouts, his voice breaking with a pain I heard in my own voice not even an hour ago.

The need to run to him courses through me but I need to kill Craven first. I reach out for my shadows and lash out again toward the evil bastard, but he doesn’t move. Just a slimy grin stretches across his face, a grin that promises nothing but pain and destruction before a disturbance in the shadows seeps through and a male appears, grabbing Lord Craven and whisking him away.

“No! You motherfucker! Come back here and fight!” I scream.

Nothing but silence and Talyn’s cries answer me. The sound pulls me back to the present and I rush toward him.

He’s sitting on the ground, cradling the brownie in his arms rocking back and forth as he tries to stop the bleeding. “Millie. Please,” he begs. “Don’t die on me. Don’t let him take you from me too.”

My knees crack against the cold stone as I kneel in front of Talyn, and I feel Jesper and Killian behind me standing guard in case this isn’t over just yet.

The blade meant for Talyn lays impaling her small form and she shakes, blood dribbling from her mouth. “I told you not to come here,” Millie croaks. “But I suppose you never were good at doing what you’re told.” She gasps in agony and whispers. “This is my choice… Not… your… fault.” She breathes out the last word and her tiny hand drops from his face. His cries pierce my heart as he clutches her close.

“Tal,” I whisper. “We need to go, we need—” my own breath hitches in my throat as I remember Mel, lying ashen in the foliage. “We need to tend to the injured and gather Mel…” Her name tastes like ash on my tongue, like it still can’t be true, yet I know it is.

Nero nuzzles my cheek, silent though his own pain is just as strong within our bond.

Aemon’s voice seeps through our connection. “Your mother is safe. We need to go; I’m heading back down to retrieve you.” That’s all the warning I get before the shadows pulse and my mate appears. His face is stoic yet soft and full of pain as he takes in the scene before us.

Jesper kisses the top of my head quickly before addressing him. “Craven vanished. There’s someone from Vathia working with him.”

Killian growls. “Not here, Jesper. We don’t know if he left any listening ears. We need to leave. Now.” He steps around me and hoists Talyn up and onto his feet as he clutches Millie to his chest. “Are you injured or do you need me to carry you?”

Talyn gently removes himself from Killian’s grip. “I can walk. Let’s go. I won’t have Millie stay here any longer.” His golden eyes meet mine, and behind the grief there’s worry. “You should lock me up when we get back. Something isn’t right.” He spins and heads towards the tunnel leading back up to the cabin to where the others are waiting for us and we follow.

My friends, I realize. Nero’s wings spread as he jumps off my shoulder as I take off, running towards the others waiting outside for us. I need to know they are safe, that no one got to them while we were down here.

I hear Killian curse as they rush to keep up with me.

My boots hitting the flattened earth become one with the anxiety that is my beating heart. The fear of something else going wrong tonight pierces my gut. We lost Mel, we couldn’t get the Soul Stone, and Talyn…

I shake my head. One thing at a time. As I breach the door, the first thing to greet me is the crisp mountain air of the Gratandi Mountains, and the next is a slightly taller yet slim body slamming into me.

Ember’s arms wrap around me, and then Roz’s. “She’s really gone.” Her voice cracks and I see Lennox lying beside the corpse of his twin.

I stumble out of their grasp and stagger towards Lennox, dropping beside him and wrapping him up in my arms. “I’m so sorry,” I gasp, squeezing him tighter.

His body shakes with grief. “I feel like half my soul has been ripped out of my chest.” His whisper is one of shattered breath.

Sometimes with death all you can do is be there, because words will never be enough to ease the crushing pain. So I sit there with him, holding him, and feel Ember and Roz wrap around us.

A rustle causes my eyes to draw to Mel. Someone has closed her eyes, though that isn’t what caused me to look. It’s the sound of the foliage now growing through the snow. Bright green vines, with blooming blue flowers that match Lennox’s hair ,wrap around her, cocooning her in Mel’s favourite element.

My eyes meet Talyn’s again and grief beyond his years, pain and regret are relayed with just a momentary expression before he pulls his hand away from the ground and lays Millie next to Mel before doing the same for her body.

“Little Dream,” Aemon whispers through our bond. “Don’t be alarmed, but I’m going to blink us back to the encampment. Our dragons are losing their minds, and I don’t think we can keep them at bay any longer. Also Vasari is demanding you open your mind to her.”

I wince, not realizing that with everything I blocked her out, not wanting her to feel our failure or my pain and come burning the thick forest down to get to me. Opening the bond, I feel the rush of her awareness.

“I would not have burned it down, but being able to comfort my rider is something I could have done,” she states, sounding worried and hurt. “I’m sorry for your loss, Lost One, but she is with the Fates now, cradled in their loving arms. You will see her again one day.”