Flames And Starlight

Chapter 31

I didn't think. I couldn't think. I just lifted Kyan's limp body, struggling at the pure mass of him, and did what I had to do. Because I knew if I thought about it too hard, if I thought about the sheer impossibility of what was happening, I might fall from the sky.

I used my wind to help propel us but it was my focus on every beat of these new wings that sent us flying. Flying. I was flying.

I was also scared. Horrified was the more accurate word. Terrified worked too. But I was more scared of losing Kyan so I focused on his face and the sound of his breathing instead of the sight of that mountain looming above us.

Kyan's dark hair was dripping either sweat or blood. I hadn't realized until now that there was a cut in the side of his forehead, probably from the fall into the forest, which dropped blood. His eyelids were heavy, those thick lashes resting on his tear stained cheek. I couldn't help but be horrified that I might never see those violet eyes ever again.

"Stay with me, Kyan," I begged him. I begged the person that didn't hear me.

Just in case those attackers were still nearby, I formed a shield of wind around us. I was good at wind. It always came naturally and now it might be our saving grace. The last thing we needed was to be shot down again.

This mountain had never seemed so big. It had never seemed so impossible to climb. Of course from the ground it towered above us looming shadows over miles of land. But it had never ever seemed so endless. So eternal. But I had to fight. I would make it possible. I would not take no for an answer.

I couldn't give up. And I wouldn't.

So every beat of my heart was another beat of those mighty wings. My words were a steady whisper for both of us. I don't even remember what I was saying, couldn't comprehend the sounds. I might not have even been speaking any literate words.

I was so close. Just yards away from the top.

"I can do it, I can do it, I can do it," I cried over and over again like a fight song.

And I did. With one last push, we had climbed the mountain and were right outside the front door. I banged on it hard but the chances of anyone hearing were slim.

That door had magic to keep people out. But I had magic in me too. And I wanted in.

I blasted my magic as I kicked it. The door flew open, wood shattering into splinters. I immediately screamed.

"Help!" My throat was raw after all the crying but I still screamed. I screamed until there was no breath left in my lungs. I tasted blood. I coughed blood. "Someone help us!"

I was so incredibly weak. The weakest I have ever felt in my entire life. My body ached.

I collapsed to the ground— we both did. I continued to scream for help but I couldn't stand. Not with those wings weighing me down. And I tried too. Tried to get my feet under me and stand. But I just couldn't.

So I crawled. My blood soaked hands slipped on the marble floors, crimson smeared upon black and white. I dragged his body. Every inch more painful that the last, my muscles threatening to snap, my body threatening to collapse even more than it already had. A trail of blood was left behind us.

"Help me!" I cried again, a broke sob. I hadn't been calling to anyone in the house this time. No, this one was a prayer. Begging the gods to have mercy on me. On him. On us.

I don't know who found us first. I don't know who's voice it was that called to me. I don't know who's blood curdling scream echoed throughout the whole house.