Skye's Arrival

Chapter Thirty-Two

I groan, fully realizing what has been happening. My brain is still horribly confused; jarred by my memories still correcting themselves. Rafi and I are sitting silently along the lake, fully realizing what happened.

Rafi puts his hand next to mine, and I slowly pull mine away. “I really don’t want to be touched right now.”

“This…is a lot to take in,” Rafi agrees, pulling his hand away.

“Why did he do all of this?” I ask Rafi. “He didn’t have to go to this extreme. If he had just mated Esmeralda, he would have had the same opportunity.”

“Like Koan said; he wanted the best,” he answers, his voice indignant.

“She was more than willing to be with him. He was the prince, and with Esmeralda as his bledded one, he’d have access to the gates.”

“If he wanted to permanently open them, he wouldn’t,” Rafi answers, fully realizing something. “Koan has always been drawn to power. Anything weaker than him wasn’t worth his time. I’m betting that even if Esmeralda wasn’t dethroned, he would have still gone after you. The fact that he had found your mate, made it possible.”

I flinch, one of my most cherished memories with Koan replaced with Rafi’s face. “Our entire relationship was a lie,” I mumble, this realization clicking into place for the first time. Painful aching begins in my heart. “None of it was real.” I grab my chest, sobbing into my other hand.

Rafi grabs my shoulder and leans me into him. He wraps his arms around me, comforting me as I cry over the phantom relationship his brother had created. All the pain, all the mind-destroying anguish, was for nothing. He used me, and I’m left crying over him. I am nothing more to him than a means to his end.

I cry until my chest trembles and shakes, my eyes nearly running out of tears. Rafi kisses the top of my head; his body is slightly tense under me. He’s trying to force himself to relax, but I can still feel his pain and his anger. He starts humming for me, making me cry harder. He wrote that song when I was severely injured and was having flashbacks thanks to a torrential rainstorm. Ever since then, he hums it or sings it to me, to help me relax.

The amount of time I spent crying is lost to me. I’m grieving a relationship that was designed to make me fall in love with a monster. A power-hungry, asinine, unforgiving, delusional monster.

I hadn’t realized I fell asleep until I woke to Rafi picking me up. He just shushes me and keeps walking. Even in my dreams, I cannot escape the reality of what Koan has done to me. His face blurs between his and Rafi’s, making my rollercoaster of emotions unrelenting. Not all of my memories are Rafi. The ones after our bleddening ceremony are real. I could have loved this man if he had just dropped his abuse. At the time, I hadn’t fully realized that Rafi was my mate. Males feel their mate connections stronger than females. It’s how they know to begin their courtship. Females know it’s their mates when they learn who they are. This helps the female avoid a toxic mate. No wonder he had to take over my memories of Rafi. I had always thought Koan to be an entitled prick. Getting to know him didn’t help.

When I wake, I’m lying next to Dawn; between Rafi and me. I don’t know whose idea it was, but either way, I’m grateful. For the first time in a long time, I’m not sore, or tired when I stand up. My guess is that Rafi used Tetra Lake to help clear me of Koan’s venom. It’s barely morning, and I sense hell beginning to rise. Koan is moving his plan forward.

To me, that means he’s coming for me. There is one thing he needs from me to move his plan forward. My blood, and my power. Dawn is no longer tied to my power, however, we still share the same bloodline. Koan is smart. He’s going to figure out what I have done. Once he realizes that, all he needs to do is a separation spell on my blood, removing Dawn’s from mine. As I said, it’s going to stall him.

I get dressed in a leathered armor top and leather pants. I line my boots with knives, preparing for any hell Koan can send my way. He tried to force me to be bledded with him the last time we met. If he found out Rafi freed me from his carefully woven illusioned past, there is no chance he will be as gentle with me as he has been. I pin my hair back, then pull it into a half ponytail. It’s time for war.

I go to my bag and grab my ingredients. Silently, I walk away, leaving the still-sleeping camp. I walk a half mile away from them, making sure I have absolute privacy. I sit cross-legged and then lay out the ingredients before me. Gabbin bones, raw pearl, digested shale, the bloodied brick of stirum, and the blood of the strongest demon. One final ingredient is needed.

I take one of my blades and slice along the palm of my hand, then squeeze my hand to raise my blood. While I speak my spell, I drip my blood onto the blood-covered brick. “Caelestem proferte sanguinem. Caelestis daemonis sanguinem linque. sangui- nem soli Caelestis ostende mihi.”

I keep repeating my chant, watching my glowing blood drip onto the brick of stirum. Koan’s blood begins to smoke, mixing with mine. My magic is beginning to transfer to the brick of stirum.

My voice grows another layer, and my eyes begin to glow in a bright blue. “Igne Deorum, eris mihi. Exite in electa mea forma justitiae, aculeum ad malum incorruptibile perducturus. Ad eum solum pertinent qui hoc vocat. Dii retributionis, vestra potestas mea est ad regendum. Desiderium meum da mihi, et liberabo te peccatores tuos. Igne Deorum, electa mihi forma eris!”

My head bends forward while I line the raw pearl in the handle, placing the gabbin bones on either side. I lay the final remaining bones for the hilt on the blade. I remain chanting, dipping my bloody finger in the digested shale.

I start my final words, while I scrawl the runes from “The Telling” with my shale and bloodied finger. “Liberatio. Retributionem. Ultima destinatione. Trutina. Pax. Finem habebis verbis meis. Cum invenerit sanguis meus in ense meo, retribuetur in verbis meis retributio. Hic ultimus finis est.”

I rub my hand in the bloodied shale, allowing magic to pull from me, using my strength and energy. The brick is melting into my desired shape. The brick extends to a thirty-inch blade, melting into a bubbling crimson and pearl-colored blade. I raise my eyebrow. My last pearl blade did not look like this. The handle is smooth from the pearls, and the bones have melted to look exactly like the pearl, but it gives it a better grip.

Taking the final step, I grab the handle, gasping as every ounce of my Celestial energy is filtered through the blade. I force myself to stand, still holding the blade. I cannot show myself as weak. The spell will fail if it finds a weakness in me. The blade is searching my memories, trying to find any sign of malicious intent in me.

Like a fresh new breath, my body reabsorbs my strength; making me gasp while my legs straighten. The blade glows, brightening with each heartbeat, just before settling down. A strong rune line appears on the inside of my bicep; permanently binding it to me.

Breathing heavily, I wipe the sweat from my brow. A small smirk forms on my face. “You did it, Skye,” I tell myself; pride very easily noted in my voice. Now I have a chance to defeat Koan. I can send him further than Purgatory this time. I can deliver him his final death. He won’t be coming back this time. I will make sure of it.

My walk back to camp is a bit harder than the walk here. My feet are sluggish, and I have reached my limit today. I have done something that has only been done once. The only way you can form the pearl blade is through the purity of your heart, strength, and knowing true pain. I guess I should thank Koan. Due to my deranged ex-husband, I know pain deeper than most. Now I suppose I should return the favor.

“Skye,” I hear someone calling for me. I know it’s Rafi, but I have no desire to answer him. My feelings are still muddled, confused by the warped hell I’ve been through. I know what he’s supposed to be to me, but I still can’t see past Koan’s face in those memories. They’ve been tainted for me, and I don’t know if I can get the feelings I once held for Rafi back.

“Skye!” Dawn yells when I enter the camp, spotting me almost instantly. “Where were you?”

I hold up the pearl blade in way of answer. All three of them stop in their tracks, staring at me while I approach them. Rafi can see my steps are heavy and doesn’t hesitate to run over to help me.

I shake my head at him, stopping him after three steps. As long as I’m holding this blade, I have to be strong. He watches me as I walk towards the camp, my head held high; my face hiding any sign of exhaustion.

When I get to my bedroll, I kneel next to it and lay the bed to rest on it. This blade deserves great care and respect. If I show any neglect, it will not hesitate to break and render it useless. This blade is a gift that is bound to me. I need to care for it as I would for my own body…maybe a little bit better.

Dawn comes and sits next to me. “This is the pearl blade?”

I nod. “Yes, though the blade is different. It is not solid white like a pearl should be.”

Dawn hovers her hand over it, closing her eyes to concentrate on it. “This blade has been forged in this world, unlike the last one. It was created from stronger magic, and a pain so deep that is felt through all realms. It gives off such strong energy that reminds me solely of you. This is truly your blade Skye.”

Gerrickson kneels next to me. “How-how did you do this?”

I shake my head. “I truly cannot tell you Gerrickson. The only person I can tell how to make this blade is the one who is chosen to take over my position; just like the one before me.”

“It’s beautiful,” he says, reaching for the blade.

I smack his hand away. “Careful. If this blade deems you as a threat, it will not hesitate to destroy you.”

“It can kill me, without you?” Gerrickson demands; seeming slightly alarmed by this revelation.

“It’s rare, but it does happen,” I answer while watching him from the corner of my eye. “This blade has been given powers stronger than what any Celestial can hold. Believe me, when I tell you, it’s best not to chance it. Especially because you are mortal.”

Rafi isn’t watching the pearl blade; he’s watching me while the others coo over my creation. I know what he’s thinking. He’s worried about me, and he’s worried I did too much. I already know I did, but I’m glad to do it. This means I can justifiably die trying when I have a full-strength battle with Koan. It will take a few days to recover from this, and I will have to pray to every being out there that I will be given that time.

“Skye,” Rafi starts, squatting down in front of me, “where did you get the final ingredients to make this blade?”

I give him a mischievous look while a small smile plays on my lips. “A bloody brick and a strong Celestial.”

“Celestial?”

I hold up my palm, showing him my slightly puckered scar, which is almost healed. “Celestial.”

His eyes narrow. “You-you cut yourself?”

“It was easier than biting,” I huff, slightly annoyed.

“Why isn’t it fully healed?”

I motion to the blade lying before me, feeling more drained than before. “Does this answer your question?”

His eyes narrow in on my new markings. “What is that?”

I lock my eyes with his, speaking with strong assurance in my voice, “As the creator of the blade, I have been marked by it. It will only answer to the one who bares its name.”

He reads it out loud. “Skyeliera’s Dawning.”