“You were in no shape to leave here. What would you have done? You couldn’t use your magic to portal to him, and you might have been killed in the journey.”
“My magic’s been recovered for days now, and you know that,” she snapped. She’d left her weapons inside the cave. If she had them with her, she would’ve put her dagger to Keshel’s throat.
“Yes, I knew. I know everything, Marai,” said Keshel morosely. “His fate is entwined with yours. With all of us. I thought that if I kept you in the dark for as long as possible, I could delay the inevitable. I don’t want my people to die, Marai. I fear for our lives.”
“You never should have kept this from me. It’s my choice what I do.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Keshel said. He never apologized for anything, because no one believed Keshel ever did anything wrong. The others thought him so wise, so above baseless emotions and petty squabbles, but he was half-human, and no different from them. “I’m afraid of what will happen if you join him. I see us dying on a battlefield bathed in blood. I see you in chains.”
Marai didn’t care. Ruenen was alive, and she finally had the strength to reach him.
“That’s one possible outcome. Maybe Ruenen isn’t the end for us, but the beginning. Someone who grants us a new life. By staying here, I could bring about that downfall. Or maybe joining Ruenen is our death, but I don’t care,” Marai said, throat burning. Her breath was difficult to catch. “I’d rather die at his side than abandon him again!”
The words rang out, echoing across the canyon. Frogs stopped their croaking at the riverbank.
Keshel finally looked away from her. “I don’t want you to go, Marai. I knew the moment I told you about the prince, you’d leave, and I selfishly wanted to keep you here.”
Marai strode to the cave, no longer listening to him. She rushed inside, emotions balancing on the tip of a sword. She found a satchel and packed it with a blanket, a loaf of bread, cactus fruit, and a water canteen.
“What’s wrong? Where are you going?” Thora asked.
“Ruenen’s alive,” said Marai, and a hush fell over the room. “Keshel has known for weeks and kept it from me.”
“You’re leaving us?” asked Kadiatu, voice thick and desperate.
Marai halted her packing. They were all gaping at her.
“I must return to him. I swore to protect him, and I’ve already failed once. I need to help him escape for good.”
“Will you return once you’re done?” pressed Thora, coming to Marai’s side. Thora handed her a freshly washed black shirt. It was Marai’s; Thora had patched up the tears and holes.
“I will, though I don’t know when,” Marai promised, and she meant it. She drew Thora into a hug, an act she’d never once initiated in her entire life.
Thora tensed in her arms, then squeezed her back tightly, as a sister would.
Kadiatu, tears in her eyes, wrapped her arms around both of them. “Of course, you must go to him.”
Once the girls disentangled themselves, Raife came to Marai’s side and quickly embraced her, too, in a brotherly hug full of warmth. “One of us should come with you. If you need me, I’ll go.”
Marai put a hand on his lean arm. “No, you’d be in too much danger. I need you all to remain safe here. But thank you for the offer.”
Raife nodded, then stepped away.
“Is your prince really worth this?” asked Aresti. “You’re better off staying away from him. He just brings you trouble.”
“That may be so, but he’s a good man,” Marai said, giving both Aresti and Leif a serious look. “Not all humans deserve to die.”
Aresti shrugged. “Is he at least handsome?”
Marai’s lips twitched. “He’s adequate.” The lie tasted sour on her tongue.
Aresti sensed it, too, and chuckled with a shake of her head.
Leif studied Marai through narrowed eyes. “You’re saying goodbye this time.”
Marai sent him a rude gesture. “Goodbye, asshole.”
Leif snorted, the smirk on his face didn’t disappear.
Marai strapped Dimtoir and her dagger to her belt, then tucked a knife inside her boot. The others followed her outside again where Keshel hadn’t moved from the riverbank. She lifted her arms, aware of the six pairs of anxious eyes. Magic tugged and pulled. It raced through her body, electrifying her. Empowering her. Igniting her.
Take me to Ruenen, she demanded.
The portal appeared, a shuddering, open hole of multi-colored light in the desert.
“Amazing,” whispered Raife, stepping forward for a closer view. “What is this?”
“A portal. It’s how I got here in the first place,” Marai said. She heard the whispered questions from the others, but she couldn’t answer right now. Every second wasted here was a danger to Ruenen.
The other side of the portal showed a forest in the primary stages of rebirth in spring. Leaves budded on the branches, a few green strands of grass poked through the soil. Marai wasn’t sure where this was, but Ruenen had to be close by. She trusted her magic to find him.
Marai turned around one last time. It was harder to leave than she’d thought it would be. They’d brought her back to life. They’d sheltered her, the monster that she was.
“Protect each other. Don’t stop training. Don’t stray outside of Keshel’s barrier. Stay vigilant. There may be more hunters headed this way. I . . . I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said through a constricted throat.
“You don’t need to remind us,” Leif said, and waved her onwards. “Go.”
Keshel stood, aloof, behind them all. He returned her goodbye with a curt nod.
