“Only those lakeside, for some reason,” I said. “Something about the moisture, aetheric density, and the types of sediment, if I recall correctly. But unfortunately, most of them are gone now. They were fully excavated and mined for resources decades ago. According to my father, this is one of the few still standing.”
A sliver of ache, the tiny pulse of a memory I’d buried deep, attempted to make itself known again. I swallowed hard, forcing it back down.
“That’s such a shame,” Arken sighed wistfully.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Yeah, it is. Though I suppose I don’t need to informyou,of all people, about the properties that make astral quartz such a precious resource.”
“Scoring high in both hardness and tenacity, astral quartz is resistant to scratches, cracks, and chipping,” Arken rattled off, as if she were reading from a textbook. “It is alchemically inert, with a vitreous luster and a high refractive index, making the crystals particularly useful as arcane amplifiers, storing latent spellwork in abnormally large quantities per cubic inch. When ground into a fine dust, astral quartz becomes arcane powder, a critical component in many rare elixirs, tinctures, and potions.”
“You aresucha fucking bookwyrm.”
She grinned. “We’ve been over this, Vistarii.”
I chuckled, taking several steps toward her. Eyes glittering, Arken attempted to take a step backward, only to find her back against the smooth stone behind her, my arms bracketing her on either side. As I leaned down to kiss her, soft and slow, I felt the peaks of her bare nipples brush against my chest, urging me to crush myself against this soft, perfect body…but no. Not yet. Not here.
Eventually, I forced myself to pull back, a particularly heroic effort when she leaned forward, her mouth attempting to draw me back in, but I managed. My stiffening cock ached and twitched in protest, but still I managed.
I had gone far too long without being inside her today, but we were almost there.
I would take her soon enough.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ARKEN
Ishot daggers at the back of Kieran’s head as he led me deeper into the crystal-laced caverns.
“I can feel you glaring at me, you know,” he teased.
“Is that another Shadow arcana thing?” I huffed, though my irritation with his self-restraint was quickly fading. I could hear the rush of falling water in the distance, and I was practically dancing on my toes with excitement.
I’d never seen a waterfall before. There weren’t any in the Brindlewoods, we didn’t have the geography for it, though I’d seen etchings and depictions of the massive, streaming wonders that graced the mountains of Vindyrst in books and paintings.
“More like a spymaster thing,” Kieran said, smirking over his shoulder.
He paused, allowing me to catch up and take his hand once more as we continued onward. Within another five minutes or so of winding paths and casual conversation, I tasted mist in the air as the waterfall Kieran had promised me finally came into view.
“Fates,” I exclaimed, a childish peal of bewildered laughter escaping my mouth before I could contain it.
A curtain of silver cascaded from the thin but wide opening in the ceiling of the cavern, which allowed sunlight to stream through the roaring flow as water tumbled like diamonds, like pure aether slipping from the skies.
I took several steps closer, entranced by the violent majesty of it all, the way inertia kept the frothing flow heavy, but not unbroken. Streaks of water were parted by outcroppings of jagged rock and stone, revealing shadows behind the curtain, but the power of the aether stored within them was palpable—wild and untamed.
The scent of damp earth and stone filled my senses as I watched that aether-laced veil crash into the pool below, where the water churned and bubbled beneath its relentless torrent.
I jolted when Kieran walked up beside me, placing his hand on the small of my bare back. In the hours we’d spent swimming and exploring, I had nearly forgotten we weren’t wearing clothes. The warmth of his calloused hands was a welcome contrast to the air in this chamber of the cavern, which felt much cooler thanks to the shimmering swirls that misted from this secret wonder.
“C’mon,” Kieran said, tugging at my hand and jerking his head forward, and to the left. “There’s more.”
My eyes followed the motion until I could see the footpath he was nodding toward, one that appeared to cut into the stone walls just enough to lead us…behindthe waterfall?
Gods, I love our adventures.
I tore my gaze away from the falls long enough to notice that even more veins of astral quartz ran through the stone here, carving out space in a way that seemed to guide us forward, humming with ancient power—latent potential stored within their crystalline memories.
And if I thought the waterfall had been stunning from the front, the view I took in once Kieran helped me climb down a few jagged, damp ledges was nothing short of breathtaking.
We had entered a realm shrouded in Shadow and mist, the darkness framing the other side of the cascading waters like some kind of magick portal. One I might step through and find myself transported to another world entirely.