VISION ✔️ || The Keepers of Astraela #1

15.2 || Of Betrayal and Shattered Barriers

EVA

HAVENWOOD ZIPPED BENEATH THEM at a nauseating speed. Lights shattered as they soared past, and when she peered up at the wider landscape, they flickered for miles in every direction. The streets swirled and doubled in her vision. Bile crept up her throat, and she prayed that some poor citizen wouldn't have to clean vomit spewed from four stories up. Swallowing the rising sickness, she instead turned to Emrys in hope that her misery would make him descend to a more reasonable height—preferably one where her feet touched the ground.

Eva restrained a gasp when her eyes landed on the ruffled black hair and sharper facial features of his Phoenix form. With Bobbi held tight against his other side, his eyes bore straight ahead, their glow dimming by the second.

Large, black wings protruded from Emrys' shoulder blades, ripping straight through his t-shirt and flannel jacket. Made of pure ash, their solidity seemed physically impossible. Their main support came from hardened, bone-like structures that shaped each wing, with a canvas of soot stretched taut between them. Sparks lit the edges of his wings and embers flurried into the distance, where they were snuffed out by the deluge before they could dust the ground. Spanning ten feet on either side, their fast beat was enough to spray raindrops in every direction, until they straightened out for him to glide swiftly near the park.

"Hang in there, guys," he said, swiveling his head to check their surroundings. "We're coming in for a landing."

When the streets rose steadily to meet them, Eva slammed her eyes shut. Emrys brought them to the pavement gently, keeping a firm arm around Eva's waist until she stopped wobbling and obtained the courage to open her eyes.

Bobbi wasn't in much better shape. She leaned against the brick wall of a local flower shop, cowering just inside the dark alleyway they'd landed in front of. Her trembling legs nearly brought her to her knees. Sobs racked her body, and even glaring at Emrys through bloodshot eyes seemed to take most of her energy.

"What have you done?" Her voice was so meek, so quiet that it hardly even sounded like her. "You... you destroyed everything."

While a Phoenix should have been a feared, unstoppable force, the brokenness in Emrys' sidewalk-bound gaze had reduced him to a lesser threat than a wounded puppy. His wings drooped. They cracked at the edges and split their skeletal bonds, crumbling to ash on the cement. Their remnants drifted away in the wind, leaving behind the hollow shell of a guilty man.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, a whisper above the rain. "Kali would've killed you both. Hellfire won't hold her long, but it's the only thing I know will slow her down."

Bobbi turned away to swipe a sopping wet sleeve across her eyes.

In all the years Eva had known her best friend, she had never seen her in such a state. Drenched and shivering, even her lively curls matted in limp formation, and the sparkle that always brightened her eyes had been snuffed out.

Eva wanted to rush to Bobbi's side and reassure her that everything would be all right. They could rebuild the coffee shop one brick at a time. Become roommates for as long as she needed. Head to the cabin together and escape their upside down world.

But when she stepped forward, the Emrys' hand on her shoulder stopped her from muttering empty promises—ones that would be impossible to fulfill with magical beings on their tail.

Clearly sensing her distress, Emrys took her hand with a tight, reassuring squeeze.

"We have to go," he said. "If we stay here, Kali will hunt Eva down like an animal, but she isn't powerful enough to break through the Barrier on her own. It may be our only chance of escaping her." He cast a pained glance at them. "Do either of you have my amulet?"