Inferno [Incomplete]

10] Goodbye to Clan and Kin

I watch Jasper pile the last of his books into a small box. Niether of us have spoken much, other than a few words of encouragement and comfort here and there. The evening is dying and soon night will fall.

Truthfully, I've gone a little numb; between terror of what might lie before us in the Realm and grief for what we're leaving behind, it's a lot to process. So I've gone back to old tactics and shoved it all down, to be dealt with later.

Eito lays over my shoulders, tail flicking and ears fluttering with each small movement within the room. He brings me a lot of comfort, though I'm not 100% sure if that's due to my link with Kalan, or just my own feelings. When it comes to the things we share in common, our emotions, and occassionally our memories, tend to blend.

The house has become depressingly bare. Only a handful of months out of what was supposed to be the start of our eternity and it's empty again, perhaps forever. It might never see a pair of tiny hands, or feel the patter of small feet over its wooden cradle. The tree we decided to build a life around will now be left in silence, alone, no longer privvy to laughter and music.

Over all, as must be obvious, I'm feeling quite meloncholic.

"All done?"

Jasper appears by my side on the balcony, hands gripping the railing. I lean into his side automatically, inhaling his scent. It soothes my aches, though not physical anymore, their affect has not lessened; and neither has his ability to make me feel better.

"Yeah. 'Zara's gonna bring the boxes through with some guards tomorrow, apparently shifting this stuff is different than people going through the portals."

"How soon will we be leaving?"

I sigh. "Not long. Twenty minutes, maybe. Tritan is gathering our friends by the lake...so we can say goodbye."

"Never realised we had so many people to say goodbye to."

"No," I say with a laugh, "neither did I. Guess we're more popular than we thought, huh?"

Jasper chuckles, wrapping an arm around my waist as he kisses my forehead. "More like you're that amazing everyone adores you."

We allow ourselves this small moment, his hand coming to rest on my stomach. A tiny bump has appeared, hinting at the life growing inside me. The thought of being a mother doesn't scare me, especially with Jasper by my side. He's the only person I can imagine bringing a child into the world with. But it's the world we're bringing them into I worry about...the war is definite now; how am I supposed to protect anybody, let alone a baby?

A hand strokes along my arm, helping to calm my racing thoughts. "You know, I think we are going to be alright, darlin'. All three of us."

I turn my head to face him. "How do you know?"

He looks deeply into my eyes with a soft smile shaping his lips. "Because we're a team, you and I. I have faith in you and in myself, in us. Whatever it is that awaits us on the otherside of these portals, we'll deal with it together, like we always do. So stop worrying."

Smiling hesitantly, I try to find the lie in his words, that he's only saying these things to make me feel better; but there's nothing. He really believes this. "You're that sure?"

Jasper flashes a crooked grin, hair falling to one side of his face. "We're soulmates, remember? Destined. Nothing can change that. Not a werewolf, not space or time, and certainly not some pesky, evil faerie. You're going to go through here, cough into your hand and turn them all to dust, then we'll come back and live a fairtale. Sound good?"

"Yeah...yeah that does, actually."

***

Once everyone was gathered by the lakeshore, Azhara gave me a call, and we picked up our small rucksacks and left the treehouse. It could have been my imagination, but the brook by the edge of the clearing sounded sorrowful as we passed over the stones.