Truths in a Rift (The Traveling Rifts Trilogy: Book Two)

The Address

Water dripped down from Aris's clothes and short hair. She shook from head to toe, still in shock of what happened in the sanctuary. The girl sat on a boulder, hunched over her knees. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, and her parched throat begged her to take a drink, but she stayed where she was, staring unseeingly in the distance. In her mind, the events of the night played on a continual loop.

After Astil was shot from Sajen's own bow, from his own hand, he stopped. The battle roared on, even as Kay lay in a pool of her own blood, heaving breaths signaling the slow death that creeped up on her. The shadows that enveloped Lyra dispersed and the mer fell to the soft turf. She glanced up with hate in her eyes. But Sajen didn't take any notice of this. His eyes were riveted to Astil's still form.

"No!" Raven cried, voice ravaged with pain.

The shadow elf ran forward, sliding in the grass and gingerly caressing Astil in his arms. Chrissy softly padded up, nudging her mistress. Raven held his love close, tears trailing down his cheeks. Then he gazed up at his brother, loathing daggers in his black and dark grey eyes.

"You killed her. You killed Astil!"

The banished prince stood. Blood soaked in his shirt from Astil's wound, but he didn't care. He began running forward. The next instance, though, he was swept off his feet by a blast of water sucking him into the lake. Sajen didn't react. He stood like a statue. His soldiers uneasily murmured amongst themselves. Lyra leapt after Raven into the water after he surfaced again, sputtering.

"Come on!" the mer called impatiently.

Shaking herself from her shock, Aris jumped into the lake. Just before they ducked underneath, though, Raven gave out one more revengeful shout, "I will get you for this, brother!"

As she surged through the liquid, Aris heard the distant roaring of Skel in pain and fear struck her heart.

Now, Aris sat in the middle of a forest on Earth, far away from the rift holding the dragons. She clutched her knees tighter, grimacing when feeling the soreness between her legs from riding atop Klovic. After they went through the second entrance, the group traveled on the arbres and Chrissy for hours. Kodi was still too wounded too carry much weight, so the small dragons took turns resting on him – the ones who didn't, flew in the air. Of course, Chrissy was wounded as well, and as a result, she could only carry Raven. Aris, Faril, Taleryn, Hacker, and Lyra all rode on Klovic, while Tilan ran. Though Aris knew she must've already been exhausted from sneaking into the Empire's camp, and then joining the battle, Tilan still ran the whole way, saving Faril from injuring his arrow wound further.

Through the ride, Raven remained in quiet solitude, but his expression and the color of his eyes betrayed what he felt on the inside. Aris could only imagine what he going through: after five years of banishment, he was finally reunited with the love of his life only to have her die in his arms. What pain must his heart feel?

Aris now swept her green eyes over her friends. All of them looked exhausted and worn, injured and broken. The death of Astil was a blow none were ready to take.

Tilan sat panting, perched next to a tree. She had received numerous scratches from the battle, but was otherwise in pretty good shape. Faril stood nearby, keeping watch. Chrissy and Kodi slept next to each other, both utterly exhausted from the long trip. The strain had done a number on their wounds, and Chrissy seemed to still be processing that her mistress would no longer be there for her.

Hacker dozed fitfully by Taleryn, who offered Aris a sad smile through cracked lips. He, too, appeared bruised and cut from the Empire's elves. But hardly anything serious. Klovic, with the whole of small dragons on his back, rested under a tree just to Aris's left. His eyes wearily looked over the scenery before him. The only two not in sight were Raven and Lyra. When they had first set up camp, Aris roughly remembered the two striding in opposite directions, Lyra towards a small body of water nearby, and Raven into the woods where he could be alone. No one had stopped him.