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The Prince going first had made it a bit easier. The trail of squashed grass, weeds, and broken twigs was no trouble to follow. Jari started to sweat after a bit while he tried to steel himself for what he’d see. If, by some slim chance, the Prince was still alive, Jari would hang back and try to not be seen. Aurelius would likely be mad if he came since he wanted Jari to remember him as alive and as whole as possible.
He held back tears as he tromped along and almost regretted coming to Nova in the first place. If he’d fucking gone somewhere else, he wouldn’t have to know. By fucking Elira, he wouldn’t have to feel this loss, and being alone wouldn’t hurt so bad. It had never bothered him before when all he cared about was working and having a fuck buddy for a night or maybe a few.
He drank from his waterskin as he walked. The plant life here was lush. It wouldn’t be if the volcano exploded and spit liquid fire everywhere. Jari didn’t know much about how volcanoesworked, but he was pretty sure nothing would survive on the island.
When he spotted a clearing ahead, he stopped and scanned the area. It seemed empty, and he crept closer. He could tell where Aurelius had chopped at smaller branches and dragged them away. When he came to the edge, nothing live was there. A pile of branches showed the woodpile Aurelius had made but not entirely used. Some scorched stones must have been where he’d melted the items in a big bonfire.
Not a speck of gold remained except for a stray hair of Aurelius's that gleamed brightly against the soot-blackened stones. Maybe Jari would cut a little piece of his hair and keep it in the locket along with his Grandmother’s. He wouldn’t mind that.
The locket was warm against his chest as he looked around and eyed the cave. Aurelius could have buried the items in there. He’d probably stay in there to end it too. He didn’t see any trail leading elsewhere except for where Aurelius had walked to get wood.
If the body wasn’t there, he’d look elsewhere just in case he’d missed a trail.
Footsteps in the dirt led in, and Jari had to take out his lantern. How many other caves were in this volcano?
The tunnel had some turns and seemed too neat, almost as if something had made it. Maybe Elira had done it in the beginning, or Ymir did. Either might have planned this place to be for something else and changed their minds. After all, a thing on an island that spewed liquid fire was pretty fucking useless in Jari’s opinion.
So much for being the birthplace of dragons. A dragon wouldn’t even fit in the damn tunnel. Jari went slow as he held the lantern out to see. The last thing he wanted was to trip over Aurelius’s body.
All was quiet except for his breathing and footsteps. At least it was cooler. After a bit, he saw light ahead and stopped to squint. A body with gold hair flew by. Seconds later, something massive and gold suddenly slammed down.
Chapter Seventeen
Aurelius’s first instinct was to turn the dragon, but when he tried, nothing happened. Mammon bared his teeth again before he turned to Gullveig who was staring like a simpleton.
“Two Princes,” Mammon rumbled in a deep voice as smoke escaped his nostrils. He straightened up on his hind legs and stretched his wings. Sunlight refracted off the angles, and Aurelius wondered if he could fly. It seemed impossible…the weight.
And why couldn’t he fucking gild him? He tried to gild Gullveig, making him kneel, or something, but nothing happened. How had Mammon taken his abilities so easily when he needed them most?
Mammon yawned and released more smoke before scratching his belly as if the two Princes gawping at him were hardly worthy of attention.
Then again, they must have seemed so pitiful to a Prince of Hell.
Gullveig suddenly bolted for the melted items. He grabbed it and slipped on the coins as he let out a grunt like he was in pain before collapsing to his knees. They must have still worked. Aurelius had been right in thinking to bury them, except he’d probably never get a chance now.
“Fuck-” Gullveig dropped the gold, but it was already too late. He let out an inhuman noise as he crouched and tried to bear the weight of all four items at once piling in his brain.
Mammon’s busted soul must have only needed to be close to the body, and it had enabled him to put himself back together in a way. Aurelius didn’t get to finish the thought. Mammon’s wing lashed out with such force that Gullveig went flying across theroom. He landed in a heap on the floor and smacked into a lower portion of the heap where he lay still. His head was cocked at an odd angle, and his eyes were blank.
Aurelius was about to run for the entrance when the mass of the dragon suddenly shrank down into a blackened thing that twisted in the air like tainted light. It vanished, and a man stood on the heap.
“What year is it?”
Aurelius bolted for the entry. This wasn’t how he wanted to go. With Mammon free and alive, no one in the realm was safe, and Elira wasn’t here to save them anymore.
A massive foot, nearly as big as Aurelius, stomped in front of the entry. Aurelius skidded to stop with the dragon blocking his way out, and he backed up. Mammon lowered his head and breathed out so hard, Aurelius’s hair blew back.
“I asked you what year it is, fairy.”
“It’s-it’s 1693.” He wasn’t even ashamed that his voice shook. Dear Elira, he’d be dead in a minute, probably with his head smashed into a pile of gold or his neck snapped. Jari, Este, and everyone on the ship would be next. Mammon would fly across the ocean to the mainland and-
Mammon snorted before he shifted again. As a man, his skin had a gold tint, and a pair of leathery wings the same color were folded against his back. His face wasn’t exactly normal since it was elongated and rather dragonish with eyes of the same color.
The rest of him was pretty normal like any fairy, and he wore some sort of wrap that covered his hips, nearly came to his knees, and was split at the sides.
“What?” Mammon asked, showing fangs. “You act like you’ve never seen a Prince of Hell before. Tell me, are my cousins, the Fallen, still around?”
Aurelius swallowed as he tried not to look at the pile. He’d noticed a couple of swords. “They still live in their realm, and they’re still at war as far as I know.”
