I backed away from the minister, but she just looked confused—and embarrassed.
“Please don’t let it alarm you,” she pleaded. “The rune is ancient history, the symbol of the Acolytes. They were an old cult that worshiped a mythical entity—they used to be heavily aligned with this kingdom.”
“An old cult?” I asked sharply.
“Yes, of course, they haven’t been in existence for a long time. Not for centuries.”
“I’ve seen this symbol recently,” I replied.
The minister looked genuinely shocked.
“That’s impossible!” she said. “It must have been a similar rune.”
I shook my head. “I know what I saw—it was the same one. If this is a symbol of the Acolytes, then they’re very much active. How powerful were they, before they allegedly disbanded?” I asked.
The minister lowered her gaze to the floor, clasping her hands tightly in front of her.
“Very,” she whispered.
Tejus
It was the middle of the night when I woke. I must have drifted off; the ice fires still blazed in the forests beyond, but far less violently now. I hoped that the end was in sight. The fire we’d built had gone out, and Hazel was sleeping next to me, her head resting against my arm. The feathers behind us were cold. I pressed the palm of my hand against Aria’s chest. Her heart must have stopped beating a while ago.
Gently, careful not to wake her, I picked Hazel up and moved her away from the bird before placing her on the ground, still wrapped in my robe. She groaned, but didn’t wake. I watched her sleep for a few moments, unable to draw myself away from her peaceful expression in the cold light of the fires. On seeing her pale skin and fragile beauty, I could finally see and believe her connection to vampires—or what I’d heard of them in stories as a child.
I moved away from her, attending to Aria. I closed the bird’s eyes and stroked the soft feathers of her forehead for the last time. She had been a good creature—brave. Brave and trusting. When we were flying over the cove, the pain had been so bad the bird had wished to dive into the inferno and end her misery. But she hadn’t, flying on till she could get us to safety, holding on for moments longer to warm the woman I loved. A job I couldn’t do.
“Thank you, Aria. Rest now, be free.” I whispered my short eulogy, realizing that I would need to burn her body—but it would have to wait until I could lower the barriers.
Hazel murmured in her sleep. I moved toward her as quietly as I could, curious as to what she might say in her dreams…if she was ever haunted by me as I was by her.
“No,” she moaned, “not…Tejus, leave him alone…Tejus, don’t let me go…”
What did that mean? I couldn’t quite work out if I was hero or villain in whatever scenario was playing out in her head. I deliberated waking her; the moans were becoming more agitated, a frown appearing on her brow.
“No!” she cried out suddenly, sitting upright and looking around her wildly.
“Hazel—Hazel, it’s me, you’re safe.”
I took hold of her forearms, forcing her to look at me. A second later, I saw the fog of the nightmare fade, and she exhaled in relief.
“Tejus, I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I think…I was having a nightmare.”
“It’s all right now,” I replied gently.
She looked around at the forest and Aria at the opposite end of the boundary. Her forehead creased in confusion.
“Why can’t I sleep next to the bird…Aria?” she asked.
“She passed away in the night. She was in a lot of pain—it’s better this way.”
“Oh.” Hazel took a moment to process the information, her eyes becoming tear-filled as she glanced over at the body.
“I’m so sorry, Tejus.”
I nodded. Bereavement wasn’t really something I felt able to share with others, and I felt uncomfortable under her sympathetic gaze.
“I will always be grateful that she saved me from the Ghouls’ Ridge drop,” she murmured, looking over in the direction of the deep caverns. “Even though riding on her scared the life out of me.”
I smiled, recalling the first time that Hazel had ridden her. She’d clung on for dear life, every single muscle and sinew in her body tensed to breaking point. I remembered the first time I’d flown Aria—I had spent hours dipping and diving through the clouds, finally feeling free, never wanting to come back to land.
“What now?” Hazel asked.
“We wait.” I shrugged. “We can’t be reached by any other creature till the fires have died down. It shouldn’t be much longer.”