The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 14

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 14

As the terrible, silent, red lightning faded away, I became more aware of my surroundings. Aware that I was truly here, in the realm where my other half had died. Aware that those wretched, empty things that had killed me lived here.

Here, where I could find them, and rip them to shreds.

Kiera, standing next to me, holding my hand, sensed the dark path my thoughts were falling into. She stepped in front of me, her eyes blazing.

"That is not who and what you are! Don't give in to the Hunger!"

She was so fierce it forced me to see her. To look away from the consuming vision of total revenge. I looked around the room, then. Seeing it through eyes changed by the raw, unrelenting knowledge that I was incomplete, forever.

Dak and Dallin stood across the round room, side by side. Holding weapons ready, their purple eyes flashing with depthless fire amidst the contrast of their pure black skin. Watching me.

"I'm in control. You can relax." I told them.

Neither of them moved.

"Then why are your eyes still so full of hatred they're as red as Melikah's eyes?" Kiera asked.

That surprised me. My eyes were that deep, crimson, primal hue? I took a deep breath and tried to force my mind back towards healthy things. Happy things. Living things.

"That's better." Kiera said softly when I opened my eyes.

"Revenge is a destroyer. It is not your Path."

Daks voice was laced with steel, yet it still held a note of understanding. I knew, then, that he was aware of how incomplete I was. I wondered if he could see it in me. How could someone have their opposite, balanced half die, and it not change, twist, and torment their very countenance?

"I know."

Dak studied me for a moment longer, then he and Dallin sheathed their swords. He nodded at Kiera.

"She grounds you. She reminds you there's more to life than fighting, pain, and suffering."

I looked over at Kiera. The one who had never judged me. The one who had helped me without asking for anything in return.

"She is a Healer through and through." I told him.

Kiera's smile was both a tad bashful, and shining with open happiness. I could tell she liked Dak's description of how she helped me. And the fact that I'd accepted it.

"Now you know why you can step through your Shadow, between your realm and ours." Dak said.

I clenched my jaw as his words brought a new flood of half memories. Yes, he was right. Now I knew why my Shadow was a link. I also knew why I had felt so alone, so empty, so hollow, for the last four years.

And I also knew that feeling, that sense of being incomplete, would ride my every waking moment for the rest of my life.

"You came here for a reason. Let that be your guide. Your purpose. Perhaps fulfilling that will show you your Path."

I nodded at Dak. He was right. I could focus entirely on returning the Shadowfall to its rightful place. And that focus would partially free me from the fangs of bitter knowledge that I had just learned.

"I don't understand what has happened. But I can feel your pain. Let me in. Let me help you." Kiera was gripping my hand so tight it nearly hurt, her body language full of the urge to help and heal.

I knew it would help to talk with her. To explain everything. To finally put to words all that I had felt, and been feeling, ever since I had faced the Draelkin.

But I wasn't ready for it. I wasn't ready to face what I had done. What I had become. How and why half of me had died that day.

"Do not push him. You'll only push him away, and get wounded in the process." Dak said sharply.

Kiera glared at him, but then seemed to accept his advice, nodding slowly, the tension in her shoulders draining away.

"Ok. What next?" She asked, looking from one face to another.

"Let's just go. I've had enough of Melikah." I said quietly.

Chan motioned for us to follow as he walked back out of the round room. Everyone else silently watched us go, with varying expressions. Sadness, curiosity. Worry.

As we walked I considered that tension on Daks face. It was disconcerting to see that worry on the stoic warrior, as he looked at me. Did he think I was marching off to my death?

Kiera glanced over at me. "Dallin seemed sad to see us go."

I heard the question in her voice. She was curious why he would care, seeing as he had only just met us.