Ruler of Shadows

Chapter 7 - Damon

I looked down at Ariah in horror. She was my best friend, my commander, and the one person who believed in me. Without her, I would be dead. Or worse.

She gave all of us a purpose in life. She didn't make anyone fight, just took in people. We began to think of ourselves as one of her Shadows.  We were a part of her, and vice versa.

I tried to fly without moving too much, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Thank the gods she's unconscious. Neither of us really believed in the Cauldron as a "god". It was just a very powerful hunk of metal that gave Hybern the ability to kill us. But the old gods definitely existed. And we believed that they could hear us.  Which was why we tried to be extra careful when cursing them for our shitty luck.

I looked over to Gavin, who was carrying Kaz's body in his arms.  We didn't really have a chance to say goodbye to the boy that we three had raised.  When I looked at his body, I saw the smiling little boy, running around and flapping his beautiful Illyrian wings. 

Some of the legion had wings and some didn't.  Due to that, Ariah made an aerial army, and a land one.  We trained them separately and together.  Each of the warriors on the ground had someone in the air looking after them, and if they needed to be moved, the soldier in the air would move them.  So far, it worked pretty well. 

But some of them were slaughtered.   Thankfully, Ariah made sure to never let anyone know our true numbers.  Most of the army was traveling somewhere else.  Only a little bit was left over to protect the camp.  But Hybern thought we were all wiped out.  Ha!  He wished.

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We traveled through the night, even though we were tired.  We needed to be far away before we could even think of resting.

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I touched down in a forest.  I was fairly positive that this forest was the one that housed the Weaver, but Ariah wanted to be here.  She had just woken up to tell me to land here, before promptly passing out. 

She had a sickly sheen to her skin, and I was fairly postive her skin was tinted green.  She looked like death, which was surprising, since I had never seen her not looking perfect. There was a strong possibility she'd kill me for seeing her with a weakness. All I could think about was how vulnerable she looked.

I had always loved Ariah. But I had long since accepted that she could never love me. She trusted me, and thought of me as a brother. But she still couldn't tell me who she loved. For centuries, she was hung up on the same male. If he was alive, I'd kill him, so she wouldn't be in pain anymore.  And because of jealousy. Yeah, that too.

I gently put her down, turning to face Gavin as he lovingly brushed Kaz's face, and closed his eyes. I looked away as Gavin whispered something to him, kissed his forehead, and stood up. He cleared his throat.

"How is she doing?"  He asked, gesturing to Ariah. I shook my head.

"Still unconscious. She doesn't look too good."  We shared a worried glance. If she was dead, than Hybern had already won. We had debated the few weeks leading up to the attack whether or not to help the Night Court fight. We knew that they needed us. They just didn't know it yet.

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We stayed in a cave near the forest. Many creatures cane sniffing around, but none stayed. One of us stood guard over Ariah all the time, in case she woke up.

6 days after our escape, Ariah woke.

She blinked warily, not adjusted to the sunlight. She tried moving, but winced in pain. Of course, she tried to hide her pain, but I knew her well, and knew most of her tells.

"How are you doing?" Gavin asked worriedly. She shook her head and opened her mouth.

"P-poison."  She stammered. She moved her mouth and cleared her throat. I snapped out of my shock. She had been in a coma for days. And now she tells us that she's poisoned. Ariah raised a shaking hand and snapped at the canteen of water.

"Of course!"  I said, rushing towards the water.  "Sorry, I forgot about the water."  She rolled her eyes as she took a few careful sips, making sure not to waste any.

"So. Poison. Do you know what type?" Gavin asked. She shook her head. Shit. It's bad enough she's poison, but we don't know what type of damn poison they used. Fuck.

"But, I do know a way to find out." She said, glancing between us. "We should do it now. While I'm still conscious."

"Do what?" I asked in confusion. I narrowed my eyes at her guilty expression. "Is it dangerous?"

"Eh, kind of. It depends." She said, shaking her head. She still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Well, then that means that you are not coming." I said as I got up.

"I mostly certainly am!" She said indignantly. I raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is so. You don't even know what we have to do. And I'm the only one he'll talk to at this point. He can be picky."

"Who can be picky?" Gavin hissed. He usually didn't get mad, but Ariah could get under any males skin.

"Why the Suriel of course." She said in a duh tone. As I opened my mouth to lecture her on why that was not a good idea, she rolled her eyes.

"Oh get over yourself! I'm coming, and that's final!" She barked. I once again opened my mouth to argue, she hissed, "And that's an order." I could feel a tug on our bond.

When we swore fealty, we had a bond. She usually didn't order us through the bond, but she did. She was truly desperate. And when Ariah's desperate, then the world is ending.

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1022 words.