𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Forty-Five

Rhysand

She'd be fine. She could do it.

    My thoughts were a whirling array of mush as I stood at the edge of the clearing, watching as she climbed up the pale steps of the cottage. Her movements were fluid like the wind. So sure and silent, I swore, If I didn't see her with my own eyes, she might have never been there at all.

I knew I shouldn't linger. That I was risking discovery by even standing a few yards from the cottage, but I just had to know she at least made it inside. The bond between us revealed nothing like she had closed me off entirely.

I wouldn't be surprised if she had.

    Her power...I'd never seen anything like it. Never even sensed anything remotely similar. She'd shut me out of her head that day in the library, slammed me out, and threw me into a steaming pile of humbleness. Me. Shed truly shut me out. I still couldn't believe the fact. If only because I'd never met anyone who rivaled my own power.

    I knew it made me sound like a prick—which I was, but I hadn't been expecting it.

    With a last look as Danika wandered into the Weaver's domain, I winnowed away and into the forest.

    A chill slithered along my spine. It was as though even time was afraid to venture into this forest. Even now, it felt like every creature sat idly by waiting for a chance to pounce.

I wondered if this mission was a mistake. If I shouldn't have even suggested it in the first place. But it had to be done. We had to know if Danika possessed the power the Bone Carver had hinted toward. If not...Hybern might very well destroy us all.

    I stood in a large tree not as close to the cottage as I would have preferred, but any closer would have been a risk I wasn't willing to take. Through the tangle of branches, I could just barely see the slanted roof.

    I tried my best not to think about what was going on inside the house at that moment. I laid down on one of the large branches that stemmed from the tree. I tried not to think about the thin layer of dust that had gathered on the branch getting on my leathers, but I suppose now wasn't the right time to be picky.

    Seconds turned to minutes as I waited.

    I'd closed my eyes purely out of boredom after time had gotten too tight a grip on my mind. Worry crested through me after nearly ten minutes. She should have been in and out. We should have been home by now.

    I tried to banish those thoughts before they grew too much and I stormed into the cottage after her. She likely would have bitten my head off if I did that anyway.

    It was fine. Everything was fine.

    I settled back into the branch, letting the soothing sound of booming thunder chase away all my thoughts. My limbs went taught as I covered my eyes with my arm, letting the looming storm that seemed to be raging in the skies center me.

    And for a moment I felt calm.

    That was until the ear-splitting sound of an explosion rang through the forest and my eyes snapped open faster than lightning.

    Maybe it wasn't fine.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

    I winnowed to the edge of the clearing, panic clouding my senses as I frantically searched for the source of the loud sound. I looked for a fire, mayhem, chaos, anything. And yet the cottage was still intact.

    My eyes frantically roved across the clearing, what I found gave me pause.

    I stopped, near positive my jaw had dropped to the floor as my ears finally processed the Weaver's screams through the storm above us. I sat wide-eyed, staring at the scene in front of me, barely processing what I was seeing.

    Light Danika's hands as undiluted, blinding electricity flowed through the clearing, encasing the Weaver in an inescapable cage of power. I didn't know what I was seeing, didn't process it. All I knew was that it might have been the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.

    The Weaver's screams were nothing short of enraged as she tried to get past the buzzing bars that trapped her. My eyes never roamed from Danika.

    Suddenly her eyes snapped to mine, and in a barely perceptible second, she was sprinting toward me. Closer and closer she came, the only sound in the forest was of the Weaver's screams.

    I met her halfway and I didn't waste a second before I winnowed us back to Velaris.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: You all do not understand how unbelievably hard this chapter was to writeee. It was soo hard getting in Rhys's head cause he's like the most complicated character ever.

(Also, keep in mind this is my first Rhys POV---yes there will be more---so this might be absolute rubbish.)