The Last Sídhe

6 - Green and Gold

The mountains were just as damn painful to traverse as I'd expected.

I took a long drink from my water flask, slumping to the base of a tree. Every step I took at this point felt as if a knife was driving deeper and deeper into my leg. And now, as the daylight was ebbing away, my strength was as well. I wasn't having fun.

Aeden paced a metre away, his expression oddly stiff. He'd been quiet for the last few hours—scarily so. I knew he was doing about as well as myself; he hadn't said anything, but pain lined his movements. While he had shifted into his horse form to carry me, he'd only lasted a few hours before needing a break.

But now, when we were finally taking it, he wouldn't stop moving.

"Aeden, please," I finally said, my voice breaking the soft hum of the forest around us. "This is what little time we have to rest."

He jerked his head up, but his eyes remained glazed. "What?"

"Sit down. Watching you is wearing me out."

A strange chuckle slipped past his lips. He dramatically collapsed to the ground, arms and legs flung outward. His eyes remained locked on the dull grey clouds that drifted over the darkening sky. "Happy?"

"I'm never happy." I extended my good foot and poked his side. "According to you, that is."

Nothing. His chest rose and fell in a heavy breath; when he glanced at me, there was no sign of the spark that usually lingered in his eyes. Only a cold, dull darkness remained.

I pressed my lips together, defensive heat curling around my heart. "Are you still upset? I apologised, Aeden. What else can I do about—"

"It's not that." His voice was flat. He didn't look at me.

"Then what?" I asked, leaning closer. That expression was wrong; it wasn't the brief flashes of vulnerability or grief I'd grown used to, but... emptiness. An emptiness that snatched away the boundless life and energy he held. It didn't belong. "Aeden, what's wrong? Is it something that bastard Shayne said to you?"

His lips twitched into a smile—a feeble one, but it wasn't entirely hollow. "Aw. I didn't know you cared so much."

"That's not an answer." I froze, sudden realisation jolting through me. "Was Shayne the one who...?"

"I don't know. The Tremluí that killed my family weren't in human forms." He sighed and closed his eyes. "I appreciate the concern, Mae. I do. But this is... I have to work this out myself. There's a lot..."

Aeden trailed off, his brows pulling together. His eyes snapped open; the slanting evening light drenched them in shadow.

"A lot of what?"

"Nevermind." He sat up, energy blazing through his movements. "We should keep moving. The Tremluí are too close for my liking."

With a soft curse, I pulled myself onto my feet and looked around. We'd made it to the first of the mountains in the range; the ground had grown ever more turbulent, soft earth broken by slabs of stone and gravelly slopes. We were halfway up a cliff at the moment, although its width and the trees around us hid the drop to our left.

I scuffed one boot across the ground, my heart flipping in my chest. The idea of continuing to wander in the dark when my connection with the sun was hardly more than a delicate thread... it wasn't exactly appealing. But Aeden was right: we may have lost the Tremluí, but they'd search through the night. Better to keep as much distance between us and them as we could.

Aeden got up as well. He didn't shift, and I didn't ask him to. I'd found another stick to support myself a few hours ago; I used it to hobble up the thin trail that we were using. I heard Aeden's light footsteps behind me. For once, he didn't rush to stride ahead.