The Other Side of the Lie (EDITING, ON HOLD)

Twenty-one-Swift

Somehow, he felt it. A fiery pain shot through Swift as a phantom blade sank into his back.

He was in King Triton's largest arena, where for the past day he'd been made to fight with barely a pause between fights. His opponent took advantage of his distraction and landed a blow on his shoulder. The water grew pink with diluted blood. With the deadly efficiency trained into him by Vulture, Swift ended the fight, pinning the fighter to the ground by his neck and bringing his fangs to the fey's neck.

"I yield!" The fey gasped desperately.

Swift let him up and swam to an applauding King Triton.

"You did well, bloodsucker." Swift clenched his jaw at the insult but did nothing further. He was about to ask a huge favor, and the already low chance it would be granted would be null if he angered the Sea fey king.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Swift said, amazed that his voice remained steady. "I..."

"Out with it boy!" King Triton ordered. "There are at least a half dozen more waiting to challenge you tonight, and I would like you to finish before dawn. Make it quick."

"Your Highness, I humbly ask that you let me go help my friends until the trouble in the Sky fey territories is dealt with, at which time I swear on my life to come back and finish my sentence." It came out in a rush and Swift felt a wash of true, paralyzing fear when the king said nothing for a long minute. "Your Highness?" he prompted tentatively.

A loud roar of laughter came from King Triton, who doubled over as he shook with mirth. "About time, boy. I was starting to think I'd have to threaten the little werewolf's life to make you see reason."

Swift stared at the Sea fey, bewildered. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I've been waiting for you to realize your idiotic mistake. Your friends have no chance at getting rid of Raven without you." King Triton straightened. "We have a saying, you know. 'We are stronger than the sum of our parts.' "

"You are... letting me go?" Swift could hardly believe his ears.

The king rolled his eyes. "Of course, you idiot. Have my soldiers hit your head so many times that you can't think straight? Besides, I have some preparations to make and if I have to stay and keep an eye on your fights I won't have time to do what I need done." With a wave of his hand he called a Sea fey soldier forward. "Take him to get proper clothes and weapons. The boy has a war to win."

Swift had refused the armor, and was glad of it. He only carried a bow, a full if light quiver, and two small knives, and the little extra weight that gave him slowed him much more than he wanted.

Icy fear and worry was an ocean, and he was drowning in it. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that Mist was the one to have been stabbed in the back. The blood bond was wearing off, but it wasn't gone entirely yet. He must still have had some of her blood in his system.

The river flew by as he raced along its banks, a blur of motion against the nighttime landscape. It took him only fifteen minutes to travel the enormous distance from Coral Lake to Montflame, but that short time felt like an eternity.

He found Mist on a balcony, lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood. She was not dead, but she was dying. Swift was glad of what she thought of as her curse, as if it wasn't for her rapid healing she would have died before he could get to her.

He examined the wound, noting that it should have pierced her heart. Listening, he could hear it beat, sluggish and irregular. The outside of her wound had not begun healing at all, and Swift was nearly sick when he realized that it meant her heart had been pierced, and her body had focused all its energy in healing her heart.