Why hadIled us here?
If they were…
This was my fault.
A tremor ran through me. My magic was slowly replenishing, and it thrummed in my veins once more, but I did not heed its call. Instead, I tightened my grip around Xander’s hand as we waited for the Fortune Elf to return from the silver planes.
Minutes passed with agonizing slowness, and the silver remained in Maiela’s eyes.
“Is this normal?” I asked. The twins were the only Fortune Elves I knew, but this seemed… unnatural.
Shaking her head, Kysha looked up.
“It never takes this long,” the halfling whispered, her face pale despite the black blood splattered on her features. “Mai is powerful. She’s never gone for more than a minute or two at a time.”
My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat. Beside me, Xander was as still as the rocks surrounding us as he listened to the dead city.
Anything? I whispered through the bond.
He turned to me with wide eyes. He shook his head, the movement so small that it was barely visible, but it rocked me to my core. My legs trembled.
Where were they?
Maiela coughed, and we hurried to her side. Dropping to my knees, I held Xander’s hand as the magic cleared from her gaze. Apprehension thickened the air like soup as we all looked at the Fortune Elf expectantly.
“Well?” Kysha asked, helping her wife sit up.
“I don’t know.” The Fortune Elf’s eyes were wide, and her fists clenched the fabric of her tunic. Back and forth, she shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know.”
She kept repeating the words, burying her face in her hands. A strangled sound came from Xander. He stared at Maiela with growing horror, matching the twisting, churning bitterness coming through the bond.
Kysha gently cupped her wife’s cheek. “What do you mean, Mai?”
A choked sob escaped the Fortune Elf. “I can’t See them.” She gasped, pressing her hand against her heart. “I can’t See much of anything.”
I opened my mouth, but no words formed. What could I say?
Maiela’s tear-filled eyes met mine. Her voice cracked, and her words were little more than a whisper as she said, “I think…” Her mouth opened and closed, as though she couldn’t believe what she was saying. “I think they’re dead.”
Dead,dead, dead. The words echoed through the hollow mountain.
How could they be dead? They were here fighting with us. I saw Ryllae’s magic.
My stomach sank and my heart galloped like wild horses. “What?” I breathed.
“How?” Xander demanded gruffly.
“I don’t know.” Tears flowed freely down Maiela’s cheeks, and she took in a shuddering breath. “I just… I don’t See themat all.”
Maiela cried out, turning and burying her face in Kysha’s cloak. Her shoulders shook and sobs filled the air.
Nowthis gods-damned place was not silent. It was not quiet, nor was it still. Echoes of grief were all around us. Each sob was deep. Heart-wrenching. Aching. Devastating. Pain and agony and horror packed each sob, slowly cleaving my heart in two.
I wished that horrible silence was back. Anything would be better than this. I hadn’t known grief could be like this. Hadn’t known that it could be so encompassing, so overwhelming. So… much. Hadn’t known that it would feel like my heart was being ripped from my chest.
We had found a family in this group of elves, and now they were gone? Taken away from us in the blink of an eye.
When High King Edgar had stolen Xander from me, the agony I’d experienced was different. It had started in my chest, radiating to my extremities like a slow burn.