But that version of me was dead. I was no longer that Ryllae. Now, I knew what it meant to love and be loved. I knew the strength that came from having another person who stood by your side, no matter what. I knew what it was like to have someone ready to defend and fight for you every day.
And I knew I was stronger than this.
Closing my eyes, I pictured Daegal’s face. His dark, rugged, perfect face. His eyes, shining with love. His lips, saying my name. He was mine, and I refused to let him go.
Tracing his features in my mind, I forced myself to breathe until my heart was no longer racing out of my chest. Tightening my grip on the sharp rock, I opened my eyes and held on tight as I extracted several threads of power from the well within me. Weaving them with my free hand, I worked ribbons of Death Elf power until they formed a long rope.
Holding it in my teeth, I pulled up even more magic, fashioning a hook out of the malleable ribbons. As soon as the hook was secure in the rocks, I pulled as much as I could out of my well. Feeding the magic into my rope, I let go of the rock.
My hand burned, and the tears returned, but I ignored the pain as I carefully lowered myself into the dark abyss. Guided by the glowing red light of my rope, I inched down. Slow, slow, slow. It was the only speed I knew, but right now, it felt more important than ever. I forbid myself from thinking about anything except my descent. I couldn’t take the time to worry about where the others were. About where Daegal was. Not right now.
Old magic—dangerous magic—was at play. It was the type of power that was whispered about in the corners of taverns and by nursemaids late at night. It was of the Ancients, the kind of magic my father would have killed to call his own. He probably did.
My muscles burned as I slipped down the rope. Soon, streaks of blood covered it, and every movement was more agonizing than the last. My heart pounded and my lungs tightened. Nevertheless, I lowered myself down. One hand under the other. Again, and again, and again.
When my toe brushed against something hard, I nearly sobbed. The moment my foot flattened against the solid surface, I almost cried out. Letting go of the rope, my feet squelched as I released my weight, and a foul odor reached my nostrils. Covering my nose with one hand, I pulled on my magic, dissolving it. As soon as it disappeared, the ground shook. My legs shook, and I stumbled, grabbing onto the wall.
This was not a safe place. As soon as I caught my breath, I drew on even more power, forming twin red spheres. Thank the gods, I felt firmer in my use of magic now than I had when we first began this quest.
“I am strong.” I repeated the mantra until it drowned out all the other thoughts in my mind.
Whatever this was, I could defeat it. For Daegal, I would do anything. At that moment, my reasons for living started and ended with him.
Steadying myself on the shaky, soft ground, I tightened my grip on the red spheres as the wall in front of me turned into dust. It cleared, revealing a hidden passageway. A rumbling came from above. Rocks fell from the sky. At first, they were small, but I didn’t want to stick around and wait for them to grow.
Hoping I was making the right decision, I rushed into the tunnel. I barely made it three feet in before something crashed behind me. Dust billowed like a gray cloud, and I coughed violently. When I caught my breath, I dared to glance over my shoulder. Massive boulders filled the spot where I had stood moments before.
Cursing, I ran as fast as I could. The last thing I wanted was to get stuck in a cave. Taking my spheres, I twisted them together into a glowing staff. It illuminated the walls, shining light on critters as they crawled along the gray shale. One of them, a large black spider with spindly legs, caught my eye. It stared at me from where it sat on its web, its eyes full of life.
My magic hummed at the spider’s presence, urging me forward.
“Hello,” I said nervously, wondering what I was doing speaking to an insect. Although was it an insect? I wasn’t certain. Something told me that spiders were not insects, though I could not remember what it was, otherwise. Others in the Four Kingdoms devoted time to academics, but science had never been my forte.
Either way, this was one of the strangest things I’d ever done in my life. Insect or not, the spider seemed to dip its head, as though it understood me.
“Can you… show me how to get out?” I asked, feeling ridiculous.
My heart thudded in my chest and for a moment, I thought I had truly lost all my senses. After all, speaking to spiders was a new low, even for me. And that said a lot, considering I had once gone an entire year in prison without talking at all. But then the spider made a strange chirping sound and nodded, turning.
“Alright,” I murmured. “Here I go. Talking to a spider. Well done, Ryllae.”
If this got me back to my bonded mate, it was worth it. I kept picturing Daegal’s face in my mind as my new friend—I named her Sylvi—led me through the tunnels.
For a long time, there was nothing. The tunnel simply continued on its lengthy, winding path. My red staff brought me light. Sylvi stayed at the very edge of the glow, moving swiftly.
My throat dried, and every time I breathed in dust, it served as a reminder that I hadn’t had a drink in far too long. Whatever was happening, wherever I was, I had to get out of here soon.
Every so often, Sylvi stopped and allowed me to catch my breath. Each time, I pulled up the sleeve of my tunic and traced the mating mark. Those red and silver lines gave me strength. Daegal was alive—I knew it in my soul. We might have only been bonded for a short while, but our connection was deep.
I had to return to him.
And so I kept going.
* * *
Eventually,the steadydrip, drip, dripof water reached my ears. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. An hour? Half a day? In this passageway, time had little consequence. Sylvi seemed to recognize where we were, and she made that chirping sound again. Her front legs came together in a strange clap before she hurried away once more.
“Either you’ve really lost it now, Ryllae,” I muttered as I tightened my grip on the staff, “or that spider is saving your life.”