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“No.”
The room stirred with a tension so thick my very breath seemed to smother my chest. The man above me rubbed his face wearily. “Why not?”
“Because I’m the one who gained the trust of those soldiers. My people have placed their faith in me, and I will not hand this responsibility off to someone else.” I raised my chin defiantly, daring any one of them to argue. My glare slithered to my side, where an exasperated Azriel stood with his arms crossed. “Especially not tohim,” I added, just to dig the knife a little deeper.
“That’s well and noble, Arya, but this is a job for a watcher. You’ll never survive the journey to the Starry Sea,” Grandmaster said in a breathless voice.
“Can you even fly with wet wings? If the temple is underwater, how will a feathered creature retrieve them? No, this is a job for a mortal, a Chosen, a huntress, if you will. But I willallowyou to tag along, Watcher, and I will not discuss this any further.” My voice was steady as I challenged a man who was not used to being challenged. His irritation with me was obvious in the tight muscles of his jaw. But my gaze on him grew in force, making sure he understood who was really in control of the room, who really held the power.
I then turned to Azriel, who had not spoken a word this entire time. “I’m going to prepare for the journey, so meet me on the landing pad when you’re ready.”
I turned sharply on my heels and left the hearing, neither caring nor concerned I had just pissed off thirteen immortal, powerful beyond my understanding, godlike creatures. The only apprehension that gripped me was from the fact I would be crossing the realm, once again, in the arms of the last man I wanted to be around.
I rubbed my face despairingly—this was going to be a long mission.
9
I satcross-legged on the landing pad as I waited, watching the two moons and stars around them float still in the night. It was like the scene was painted across a canvas of darkness, so constant and unchanging it hardly seemed real. The moonlight beamed an eerie glow on the land below, desaturating a thousand miles of landscape and muting the wonder of a world once celebrated.
I fumbled with the straps of the bag on my back, packed lightly with food and refreshments for the miles ahead. I had no plans on being carried the whole way, no aspiration to let a watcher do the work entrusted to me. The Dark Army would take days to reach the sea; I would take half the time running at my comfortable pace and resting for a night. The only thing I needed Azriel for was to watch for vampyres and possibly help me across the ocean. Living under a mountain gave little opportunity to become adept in swimming, but there were opportunities nonetheless, thanks to the natural springs.
“Last chance, Arya.” A voice like velvet purred behind me. My fists balled in reaction to the sound, nails piercing their own crescent moons into my palms.
“I’ll tell you what I told Loren. I’m going, and that’s final. Don’t try to change my mind.” I stood and adjusted my leathers to make them sit more comfortably on my frame. Azriel watched me with a pained look on his face. He was wearing a long-sleeved, thin shirt with the hem tucked loosely into those damned leather pants.
“What if something happens on the way and the map dies with you?”
“Then you better make sure you keep a watchful eye over me,” I replied. “Now, bring me to the ground and we can be on our way.”
“Must you also insist on running the entire way? Can we not compromise on this?” His wings drooped in disappointment, making him appear utterly crestfallen. “It would be so much faster if we flew.”
“We might have been able to compromise before you showed your true feathers this morning.” I stepped closer to him, my face only inches from his chin as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “But I refuse to let you have your fun with me any longer, Azriel. Now,fly!”
He pushed off the landing pad abruptly without warning, sending a rush of air jerking me back toward the floating city and tearing my arms from his body. I grunted and squeezed him tighter, pulling myself against the force of our ascension. He touched me as little as possible as we flew back toward the earth, his hands only gripping me when necessary, and my legs dangled awkwardly between his with nothing to latch themselves around. I was very appreciative when we found the ground a time later, and I tore myself from his loose embrace as soon as my feet touched the earth. He dropped his hands equally as quickly, as if touching me was causing him great pain.
I flipped over my wrist to assess the compass built into the leather glove, set my direction based on the starting location Azriel gave me, and started to warm my stiff muscles in preparation for the run. It was going to be my longest distance yet, but I wouldn’t falter. I wouldn’t let him see me struggle, no matter how difficult it got. I would make it there and back on my own accord. I would retrieve those stones by my own power, or I wouldn’t. There was no other option, because my pride was guiding all my decisions at this point.
I prepared my mind like I warmed my muscles. Running was more of a mental challenge than it was physical. It took a great deal of psychological endurance to push a body to its max for hours at a time. The involuntary side of my brain took over, endorphins surging and numbing the negative thoughts I harbored in my heart. Once I found the threshold, once my body settled into a natural rhythm and maintained the steady state of exertion I forced it to accept, I was unstoppable. And I really liked feeling unstoppable.
“All right, so the first leg will be about twenty-two miles that way, southeast of this point. From there, I’ll take the road wrapping around to Vasseri. But when it starts to curve east, I’ll run off road another twelve or so miles south. Unless I’m still feeling good, in which case, I’ll continue on as long as I can.” I rambled, discussing the game plan I’d just created moments before. Azriel shrugged, clearly indifferent about my strategies.
“Fine. You’ll know where to find me,” he grumbled. I nodded and he opened his silver wings abruptly to take off without me, leaving me alone in the dust covered valley surrounded by worn hillsides.
It felt good to run again, to feel my legs burn with pleasure and my heart race with purpose. It was what I was bred for, what I lived for, and why I needed to run like I needed to breathe. I fell into the rhythm effortlessly, letting the crunch of my steps become a melody and my breathing pattern become its song. Running itself was a dance that took years of practice to join seamlessly to this music, and I was the composer, the instrument, and the ballad all in one.
Above me, a dark figure crossed the expanse of the moon, its silhouette only obvious for a heartbeat before disappearing against the black sky once more. It was strangely comforting, running under his watchful eye. It was also very satisfying to know he had to look at me for hours, never allowing his attention to turn from my form our entire journey together.
The first leg flew by, as usual, and I trotted to a stop as my feet found the paved road leading to one of the lower kingdoms. I briefly refreshed my body with the necessary fuel I packed before realizing something dreadful, a pressure forming between my legs as I ran a quick assessment over my body.
I needed to piss.
It was every runner’s worst nightmare, having to use the bathroom out on the open road. The simple bother of being a woman, lacking the appendage to quickly and easily relieve myself without undressing from the waist down, only exacerbated the inconvenience. I looked around, but there was no underbrush in sight. Just a few trees staggered along the road, their limbs bare of any decent coverage from the man circling above me. Fortunately, predators like vampyres weren’t attracted to smells of piss and waste, but it wasn’t vampyres I was worried about catching me.
“Shit,” I whispered, resolving myself to the fact Azriel was going to have to see a different pair of moons below him. My face flushed at the thought as I ran a hand nervously across my forehead.
But my bladder was filling faster than my reasoning, and I knew I had little choice in the matter. The sooner I did this, the sooner it would be over, and I could continue on. I staggered off path a short distance, hastily found a tree off the side of the road, thrust my pants down and squatted. I prayed to every dead god my watchful protector had focused on something else for those brief seconds. Judging by the rush of wind that joined me, he didn’t.
“You strayed from the path. Are you okay—”
