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Fifteen
Kelia
The naked fae in front of me shifted, plum smooth skin morphing to reddish brown hair, face elongating, fangs emerging, body stretching and growing until a massive dire wolf replaced the Callum I knew.
He was a shifter.
Some fae could shift, including the king of the surface, Kane, but they were rare. The magi knew Callum controlled two elements, but none of the council knew he was a shifter.
Callum nudged my hip with his snout. Grabbing his fur, I pulled myself onto his back. Before I could ask him a question, he sprinted off into the darkness and jumped onto one of the broken ruin walls. Holding on tight, I pressed myself against him as he leaped higher and higher, bouncing from one ruin to the next. I couldn’t see anything, and my reserves were low, but I couldn’t stand not seeing where we were going.
Casting a soft glow above us, the light illuminated the current ruin we stood on. The old tower had pieces of its roof missing and one of the spires had been smashed in half. Callum slowed his pace as he maneuvered across the stone. Heights didn’t bother me, though if he slipped, we’d both be in trouble. Could he use his magic while in that form? I’d never heard of a shifter being able to cast while in their animal form, but after meeting Callum, anything was possible.
My stomach did an odd flip, and not from the hole Callum had just jumped over. No, I had done something that I knew was risky and dangerous, which was not unusual for me, yet for some reason my stomach churned. Shaking the nervous sensation from my thoughts, I focused on the task ahead. One step at a time.
Callum backed up, and when I realized what he was about to do, I tugged on his fur. “That is too high and far for you to jump into. We won’t make it.”
He howled and then ran.
We soared through the air and just made the landing. Using the momentum, he continued, the rocky tunnel barely wide enough for us to run through. The ceiling only four feet from the top of my head, forced me to flatten myself to him. The tunnel split in four directions, curving upward into the dark. Callum took the far-left passage, slithering on his belly. The cavern wall closed around us, rocks scraping my shoulder and slicing through the fabric.
I cried as a jagged piece of obsidian tore at my shirt, nicking my skin.
Callum whimpered and I gripped his fur tighter, burying myself into his neck and closing my eyes in hopes I could forget the walls closing around us.
Just like that time back then.
My heart raced; my mind swirled with dark thoughts.
An image of me manifested in my head, curled into a ball with my magic cocooned around me, holding my ears to stop the screams of my family dying and the darkthings tearing them apart. Blood and black ichor splashed the magical bubble, hiding the scene playing out on the summer grass. My father fought bravely, defending me as long as he could, my sisters and mother already gone, their shredded flesh a horror I would never forget. But no matter how much magic my father expended, more of the darkthings came, drawn to the Ironstone power.
My body shook as I held in the tears.
For hours I had stayed in that spot while the darkthings slammed the barrier that kept me safe, screeching and howling and devouring the bodies of my family until flesh disappeared and only skeleton remained. By the time the magi had found me, I had gone into such a state of shock, I didn’t speak for months.
Heaviness pounded against my chest, threatening to take the air from my lungs and drown me in sorrow.
I am strength, solidity, and the quiet within the storm.
I’m Kelia Ironstone.
I am unbreakable.
Over and over, I reminded myself to remove the fear and the pain, to stop the past from haunting my future.I was no longer that scared little girl. I’d proven that I can protect myself, and those beasts would not frighten me ever again.
Callum stopped.
Opening my eyes, I noticed we were high on a cliff wall in a massive cavern. Below us and toward the far left, stood two guards in front of a cave opening with glowing purple runes carved into the surrounding rock.
I slid off the wolf, my heart pounding loud in my ears. Fisting my hands, I focused on breathing in and out slowly.
“That’s them,” Callum whispered, suddenly back in his natural form. “Give me my clothes.”
Keeping my gaze away from his body, I dug into the magical pocket and pulled out his items and handed them all over. Turning my back, I hugged myself, forcing the chill to leave my body.
The memory of that day had haunted me many times, but I’d learned to combat the fear and despair. Today, it was harder. Harder than ever before. Close spaces were the one trigger that sent my head and heart into a tailspin. Normally, I could force my emotions into submission, but not today. Everything in me felt raw and unhinged.
Warm hands grasped my arms, the sensation setting my racing heart at ease.
