Element [The Darkling]

Chapter Eighteen

Astrid

It was so bloody cold. The three of us huddled together while we sat on a snow covered log. Flakes of snow were falling all around us. Crossing the Fjerdan border put us further North, into a winter wonderland.

The cold was in my hair. Seeping through my bones. I lit a fire in my palm and held it in front of us. The little flame let off small crackles, and just barely enough heat to stay alive.

"Mal, when we find the stag, I need to be the one to kill it." Alinasaid from the other side of Mal.

"You're a terrible shot, they made you cartographer for a reason." Mal replied, and Alina stared at him in annoyance. "Of course. I'll line it up for you, you take the shot." He said after a moment, while I was busy smothering faint laughter.

"Oh, shut up, you." Alina grumbled.

I wish we didn't have to kill it.

I looked back over my shoulder, imagining the Little Palace behind us.

Aleksander.

A small part of me wondered... if I could save him from himself. If the Fold was an accident, and he did truly care for me... maybe I could stop whatever madness he had planned. Bring back the boy at the fountain, and chase away the Darkling.

Maybe.

I was pulled out of my thoughts and back into their conversation when Mal stood up, walking a few steps forward. "That way." He whispered, grabbing his gun and leading us slowly into the woods.

There was a break in the trees, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as the beautiful creature stepped into my line of sight.

The stag towered over me by at least four heads. A perfect white, with majestic antlers twice the size of me. Clearly the animal had been alive for a very long time. It was so beautiful. Just like in my dreams.

Did we really have to take such a majestic life?

Dread filled my body as Alina took the gun, and Mal lined up the shot.

"Hang on." Alina whispered, and I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. "I need to get closer to it."

"If we keep it alive, how will we-"

"I don't know." Alina cut Mal off. "Kirigan didn't want me to have an amplifier. So he didn't teach me about this."

But the stag... there was a reason it was in our dreams. There had to be. "Maybe there's another way to do this?" I suggested hopefully.

The stag walked towards us slowly and calmly. Alina walked towards it too, meeting it in the middle. She held up her hand, and the stag slowly lowered its muzzle, pressing it against her hand.