Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The world around him came to a halt. And even though he was still conscious, still fully aware of what he just did and what was happening to him, Jai couldn't comprehend what he saw next. The pain from the venom scorching through him was secondary to what he felt as soon as he spotted the distortion in the air to his right, then a ward bubbled around him, freezing everyone's approach.

Then the two people who jumped out, boots thumping against the ground before they paused, then a straggled cry as the female rushed for him.

And that face as she leaned over him, her tears already streaming...gods, Jai thought he was staring at Lyv at first. The same shaped face, same bowed lips, nose, and upturned eyes. But it was the color of her eyes she'd gotten from Jai, the same sapphire blue. And his ears and the dark brown color of his hair, save for the Deverell silver streak. Just as Lyv said before, she was the absolute perfect combination of the two of them.

Dessa. His Dessa.

She immediately knew when he recognized her, saw his tears welling up and spilling down the sides of his face into his hair. "Hi, Daddy."

He tried to speak, tried to say her name as he managed to reach up and brush his fingers along her cheek.

Dessa reached up and grasped his hand, holding it in both of hers as she kissed his knuckles. "It's all right. We're going to be all right," she told him.

The pain made him let out a cry as his tears continued falling. Dessa shifted forward, looking everywhere she could, and was trying to figure out a way to help him. She saw the frozen forms of their family as they ran for him, then looked back down at him. "I...I don't have healing magic like Momma does. I can't...I don't know how to make it better, make it easier. I'm sorry. So sorry, Daddy."

Another tremor of pain wracked though his body.

Dessa looked up at the second person who had come with her. "Why can't we do anything? Go back before they attack...?"

A deep, smooth male voice answered her as he knelt down on Jai's other side. "You know we can't, Des. We only have a few moments, just like we did with Lyv."

"But..."

"Des."

Jai managed to take a breath, having not realized he hadn't.

Then that other person...Jai stared at the male who was just as big as he himself was.

Gods above.

The dark olive complexion, the scars along the side of his face, the dark hair styled in the way Destan used to have his...and those mismatched blue eyes that met Jai's the following second.

Elys.

"Hey, you old male," he choked out as Jai reached up his other hand toward him. Just as Dessa did, Elys grabbed it with both of his, holding tight. "You know, she's probably going to hit me for making her come here. Just like with Lyv at the Keep, she'd only heard the stories."

Dessa choked out a sob, which made Jai shift focus back to her. "Why?" she asked Elys. "Why did you make me come here right after you made me see Momma in that godsforsaken dungeon?"

Elys's jaw clenched. "Because, just as with her, they always told you the same story. And the promise you'd made in the letter you're going to leave at the portal to Laria, even though you haven't even written it yet."

At that, shock crossed her face. "I promised to come see him. I promised we would come see him before he went."

Jai nodded, mind shifting past the pain of both the scorching venom and of knowing this was the one and only time he'd get to see them, remembering what her letter said in absolute detail.