Skye's Arrival

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Dawn,” I cry as I roll over to her. I touch her face as I look at her. I push her black hair out of her face, and see her chest moving up and down. Relief sweeps through me at that moment. Feeling my exhaustion more than ever, I let my head rest on the sand.

“Skye, are you two okay,” Gerrickson asks, touching my shoulder.

“Just tired,” I say with a small croak in my voice. “It looks like Dawn is in the same boat.”

Gerrickson leans over me and touches Dawn’s pulse on her neck. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

“Is everyone okay,” Rafi shouts, making us look up. A deep blush goes through my entire body when I see him. He’s completely naked and I have a direct view of what he’s packing. My eyes follow his treasure trail while my heart picks up pace.

Gerrickson’s hand covers my eyes immediately and turns my head away. “We were until a moment ago. Cover up, man.”

I hear Rafi’s voice go up several octaves when he speaks, “Oh! She’s awake.”

“Yes, you moron. Now cover up that thing.” Gerrickson says as he gets to his feet. I immediately close my eyes. I’m not mad about what I saw, but it was awkward.

“How was I to know,” Rafi says quickly while I hear him fumbling around for his bag. “What even happened?”

“Skye killed Adam, right after he tossed Dawn in the lake. Dawn’s exhausted, Skye’s right behind her, and then you showed up with that log hanging out. Now put on your pants.”

“I’ve got her,” Gerrickson tells me before lifting Dawn. It’s an odd experience being on this side. Usually, I’m the unconscious one. “You’re clear by the way.”

I open my eyes and get to my feet. I follow behind Gerrickson and avoid eye contact with Rafi as much as I can. Gerrickson lays Dawn on his bedroll, so I kneel next to her there. I push the hair from her face and hold her hand, desperate for her to open her eyes. It’s agonizing to not feel her, to know what she’s thinking, or if she’s even dreaming. I don’t know how to fix her. I’ve never felt so helpless before.

“Are you okay,” Rafi asks, coming to sit next to me.

“I’m just worried about her,” I tell him, still not taking my eyes off her. “She’s so still, and I’m at a loss of what to do.”

“What happened,” he asks, touching my thigh.

“She punched Adam, and he punched her back. She was so weak, she made it pretty far into the lake.”

“Did you pull her out?”

“I did. The second Gerrickson put that sword through Adam I killed him and went after her, so she wasn’t in the water very long. I think she just did too much.”

“Too much?”

“When we vanquished Alona, she touched me and put in her strength to give me more support. Combined with my blood loss from the totoalin, venom, and nearly drowning, it put her through a lot.”

“She shared her energy?”

“She’s still a part of me,” I tell him, unclear what they don’t understand about this.

“I get that, but I didn’t know she could help you vanquish someone,” Rafi says, making me look at him. He tenses and removes his hand quickly. “Did-did you?”

I shake my head and drop my gaze back to Dawn. “No, I didn’t. We’re still learning this.” I give a heavy sigh. “I should have been here.”

“You’re the only reason we survived this,” Rafi tells me with assurance in his voice. “We were all still asleep when they showed up. Koan attacked Dawn first, thinking she was you. Dawn crying out for help is what woke us. Then Alona attacked me, nearly ripped out my damn throat, and Gerrickson got jumped. He was trying to help me and then…well you saw.”

I raise my eyebrow, “Dawn needed help?”

“Well, Koan is a pretty hard demon to fight.”

“Still…” I trail off, watching her sleep.

“Where did you go anyway?”

“To get the next ingredient.” I rub my face. “I was hoping if I did this early enough, we’d beat Koan’s attack. I fully agreed with you. That totoalin attack was intentional.”

“Wait, you agreed with me? I didn’t know you were capable of that.”

I playfully nudge him. “Hand me my bag will you,” I ask, remembering what I have tucked in my shirt. I still need to do it while it’s fresh.

Rafi gets up and grabs my bag, bringing it to me then jotting off to help Gerrickson pack up the camp. I dig through my bag and pull out a thin small coin purse. I make sure it’s empty then take a knife from my pack. I take off my shirt and rip off a piece of the still-wet black fabric. I grab the stone fish’s stomach from my top and slice it down the middle. Carefully I dump the white stone powder onto the damp black cloth, roll it up, and then put it in the coin purse. I put it with the rest of the ingredients then return to Dawn’s side.

Rafi looks over to check on me while I dig through my bag. I know this because I suddenly hear him shout, “Whoa.”

I look down and I’m still wearing my brassiere. It’s black and is cinched around my breasts, held in place by a delicate string. It does smell like fish after what I just stuffed in it, but it’s fine otherwise. I look up to give Rafi a questioning look. He’s blushing and is covering his eyes as he turns around. He’s seen me in way more compromising positions than this before.

Deciding to make things easier, I grab my bag and walk into the forest. Quickly, I change into black leggings and a grey and white corset top. I toss my pack over my shoulder and walk back to the camp.

When I get into view of the camp, Dawn is sitting up on Gerrickson’s bedroll. I squeal and race toward her. Within seconds my arms are around her and I knock her back to the ground. “You’re okay!” I cry into her neck, squeezing her tightly.

“Of course I am,” she tells me, pulling me away from her. “Are you okay?” she demands, looking me over.

“Forget about me,” I tell her, checking her seafoam eyes for any sign of distress. “I’m not the one that fainted this time, and that’s largely due to you.” I playfully shove her. “What were you thinking?”

She blushes as she looks me over. “I just didn’t want to see you all lifeless again. It’s distressing.”

I nod, “I’ll say.” I then shudder. “I wasn’t at all prepared to see you like this. Why were you so tired?”

“You know why,” she tells me, not making eye contact.

“Which is what I told the boys, but you should have had more strength. Now, what is going on?”

Dawn looks down, trying to avoid eye contact. “I haven’t been sleeping. I’ve been listening for you. I’ve been afraid to sleep in case I miss another call from you.”

I frown, “For how long?”

“Since that first ambush.”

“Are you kidding me?” I hiss, then touch her leg. “Dawn you need sleep. You’re not physically inside me anymore. You have to sleep and recuperate when energy is lost. You can’t just live off of mine anymore.”

She rubs her face. “But I can’t hear you when I’m asleep.”

“Then don’t go into the stone. I’d love for you to stay out and hang out.”

Her eyes widen with a carefully hidden hint of excitement. “I don’t know if the boys would like that.”

I scoff, “why?”

“Because they’re scared of me.”

I snort, “Rafi likes having someone to tease and argue with. You and Gerrickson don’t even know each other.”

“But what about your strength?”

I wave her off. “I’ll be fine. I lose more strength when you come out or go into the stone. When you’re out, it doesn’t seem to affect me that much.”

Dawn purses her lips as she watches in amusement while I nearly bounce up and down in excitement. “Alright.”

“Yes! “ I squeal as I hug her. “I’m so excited.”

“Still weak darling,” she tells me, patting my back.

I jump to my feet and help her to hers. I grin at Rafi. “Dawn is going to hang out with us,” I tell him with a smile on my face. “Careful though. He likes to flash.” I wink at him when he reddens and skip off to clean up my bedroll.

After I have packed up Fidda I walk over to Dawn. “I forgot to ask, how was your reunion with Koan?”

Dawn shudders and folds her arms. “I was nearly asleep when I felt a bite on my neck.” She moves her hair slightly and shows a nearly healed bite mark. “His bite didn’t even stall me, but he wasn’t gentle about it. I yelled for help since I didn’t want you showing up with that slab of meat around. I thought they could have helped get rid of them before you came back. Then I stabbed him while I rolled over. He was more in shock about seeing me. I got a few licks on him, but…he’s stronger than I anticipated.”

“He is the Demon Prince,” I tell her, watching the boys finish saddling the horses. “There is a reason why he’s been the only one to ever beat Adam.”

Dawn shudders. “That man packed a harder punch than Koan.”

“And a stronger bite,” I grimace. “He bit me once before he was banished, and before Koan. That bite stung worse than hellfire. The haze I got was not at all colorful. It was black and white with bits of red. No colors other than those.”

Dawn looks at me in surprise. “You get a different experience from someone else’s bite?”

I nod. “It’s weird. You’ve seen Koan’s. It’s just colors. Heathe’s you feel cold and it’s like you’re watching the snowfall.”

Rafi looks over while Dawn gives a small smirk. “And Rafi’s?”

I blush but I notice Rafi attempting to appear busy, but it’s very apparent that he’s listening. “Honestly, my eyes rolled to the back of my head. It felt so good. The colors were softer. Koan’s is always so harsh looking. The shapes are jagged. Rafi’s colors were like a soft glow and kind of blended together. I’ve never had such a calming experience from a bite before. It was like I was being wrapped in a big hug and my pain vanished.”

Rafi’s face slips into deep thought after that while Dawn looks at me. “You know, it might be that you’re compatible with Rafi.”

I nod as I steel myself. I’m not oblivious to his actions recently, but I’m also worried about the repercussions he’ll face if I even entertain them. “It’s something I’ve considered, but I don’t know if it’s the best time to investigate that theory.”

Dawn nods, “I can understand that. Where are we going next anyway?”

“Floren,” I tell her as I grab her arm and lead her toward Fidda.