Aurelie came to in a darkened room. Warm light shone through the window but was not nearly enough to reveal anything. She felt pressure on her chest and tried to shake whatever it was off herself before realizing that they were hands that held her around the waist. Breathing hurt and so did the movement. She gasped in pain and felt the hands stroke her back in
This was meant to create comfort but instead caused her more pain as each time the hand came up in the circle that it made, it moved the material of her dress closer to her wound.
"Kirin?" she said, remembering that he had used his portal. She shivered but she was not cold. Her teeth chattered and her tongue felt raw on both sides.
"No, I'm Peter."
Cold shivers ran down Aurelie's spine. She fought against the grip he had on her, pushing her arms out to relieve the tightness. He locked his arms tighter and swung side to side as more shivers took hold of her body, this time from her injuries and not the fright he had caused.
"He told me to comfort you. So that's what I'm doing."
"I think," Aurelie used more force to try and push him away but his arms remained locked just as tightly, "I'll feel more comfortable if you let go of me."
"For the mercy of the wretched gods, child," he called out dramatically. "You were dead just a minute ago."
"You need to rest. You've undone all the healing with your jumping," Peter said.
"The vial . . . did you see it?" Hoping that the vial had maybe gotten caught in her cloak, Aurelie clasped the strings around her neck, trying to loosen it. Her energy was depleted. Half way through untying the knot around her neck, Aurelie had to rest her tired arm. The strings were tied too tightly and there was no room to lift the cloak off her head.
"What vial? Aurelie, you were dreaming. Perhaps, that's where you saw it?" he answered, trying to calm her down.
"No, the Keeper gave me a vial," she said. Her mouth was dry. The back of her throat clung together when she spoke.
The room was gradually getting brighter. She could see the outlines of the furniture hiding in all corners of the room. There was a couch to the right and left of her, pressed against the wall.
"Did you say the Keeper?" Peter asked wide eyed and released his grip. "No, I'm not getting involved in that."
His hair was black, with gray patches near his temples, and his eyes had a purple glow around the rim. He looked young at first, Kaiden's age, but the deep lines around his eyes gave away his maturity.
Aurelie felt around for the vile, lifting her cloak and searching the ground with her eyes.
Aurelie gave him a sharp look and put a half-steady hand on his shoulder, lifting herself up. "By God, you'll help me, old man. I may not have much strength, but I'll burn this whole cabin down with you in it."
The man shook her hand off his shoulder and scrambled to his feet, shaking his head like a fearful toddler. "No, no! She'll know! She'll punish me." He picked up a book titled, Alysia, held it to his chest, and ran out of the room. "No. No. No."
"Wait!" she called out after him and grunted.
Books and tools were on chairs, tables, and the floor. Kirin lay in a pool of sweat, bleak and unconscious. A force was pulling her to his side, but Aurelie knew the vial was more important for now. She couldn't help Kirin if she died.
Aurelie shook out her cloak and looked in every pocket. There was nothing on the floor or the around the couches. She stood up to look between the pillows, and doubled up in pain, letting out a shallow screech. She heard the tear of her wound before she felt it. It was a wet sound and could have been mistaken for a loud smooch. Stars sparkled around her. She bent over, holding her breath, and sat down on the couch. Blood ran slowly down her stomach and seeped into her dress.
The top of Peter's head popped out sideways from the doorway.
Aurelie's hands grew weak, and her eyes blurred. "I don't have much time," she told him, only to see his head disappear. With one hand on her wound, she searched between the couch pillows. There was nothing.
Aurelie had almost died so many times that it no longer scared her. It was the taunting of the in-between that got her. Would she? Wouldn't she? Maybe the Keeper just forgot to transfer the vial from the Dream Realm.
Turning on to her side, Aurelie panted and tried to keep from crying. It hurt but she wanted to see Kirin, in case, this time, she really did die. His breathing was low and his skin pale.
She wondered how he'd react if she didn't recover after the massive risk that he took trying to save her. Sasha once told her that he carried them all on his back. The irony of him physically having to do that last night wasn't lost on her.
She hoped that Daerious and Orken came to their senses and found a cabin in the wood away from the King, the war and her.
The couch and Kirin melted into each other in a blur of black and brown. She felt a wave of heat run through her. The muscles in her stomach convulsed. Aurelie blinked to regain the focus that her eyes had lost, but instead her stomach dropped, and she felt as if she was falling. The room grew smaller around the sides and rocked from left to right. There was a thud to her left. A figure ran past her. He came to a halt by her side and dropped to his knees. Aurelie felt her arm lift and then a light pressure moving around her wound.
"Peter!" the man called. She couldn't quite make out his features. He had no hair, or very little, and a thin sculpted face. That's all she could tell. Everything else was a blur. "Peter, what have you done?"
The room was pulsing. The walls tightened and expanded.
"I need the vial," Aurelie whispered. The portraits on the wall stretched. The paint cracked and melted. Aurelie rubbed her eyes. "I need the vial!"
The figure turned. "I don't see a vial," he said, and bent down, placing his head on her chest to listen to her heart. "What did he do to you?"
Aurelie grunted and closed her eyes to keep her head from spinning. Little did it help! Her head spun faster. Reaching the couch cushion for support, Aurelie rolled onto her stomach.
"Are you alright?" he asked, patting her gently.
Aurelie chuckled grimly. "Neverâbeen," she gasped for air, and clutched her wound, "better." His face was still a blur, though she could make out his muscular build. "Who are you?"
The man picked her up and lifted her off his lap. "I'm going to get a healer."
"That won't help me." She was shivering; her hands were heavy, as were her eyelids. Blood had seeped into the carpet beside her to create a permanent stain. It was a nice carpet too, really soft and engraved with a large crown.
"Well, it's the best I can do." He stopped by the door. "Just . . . hold on, okay?"
She turned onto her back, holding her breath, and put pressure on her wound with the palm of her hand. Her eyes caught the sight of a fire burning behind the foot of Kirin's couch.
"That candle is going to damage the wood," she whispered, barely breathing.
"What candle?"
"Under there." Aurelie made an attempt to gesture toward the couch with her head.
The man fell flat on his stomach and reached for the fire. It glowed in his hand. He hissed and stretched his sweater, dropping the fire onto the material.
"Is this it?" he asked. "Hey! Is this the vial?"
Aurelie blinked, and he was beside her. It was the vial. She took it from his sweater, feeling for what must have been the first time in her life, the heat emanating from it. In an orange line, the liquid inside dripped into her mouth. Her tongue burned. She pulled it back on instinct and then swallowed, feeling the liquid burn her insides as it traveled down to her stomach.
The pain had stopped. For a second, Aurelie thought that she had her old self back, before the battle. Undamaged and alive . . . then she screamed.
It was as if she had swallowed boiling water, but instead of swallowing she kept it in her mouth, and there was so much of it that it filled her whole, and melted her insides. Aurelie shot up. The old man stood in the doorway once again, motionless with his wide purple eyes full of shock.
"Water!" she ordered. "Please!" The room flashed from orange to white and back again. Aurelie traced her fingers over her wound. The surface was smooth. She sighed in relief.
Peter gave her one look at disappeared again. He didn't go far though. She heard three loud footsteps and then silence.
"Water!" she shouted at the stranger.
Her shout seemed like it had awoken him from a sudden dream, his head doubled back and he blinked before rushing off toward the kitchen. He came back seconds later, pale in the face and visibly flustered.
Aurelie grabbed the cup. Water spilled over her fingers. She gulped it down and passed him the cup so that he could get her some more. The water seemed to work. A hint of heat remained, but the burning stopped.
Aurelie panted and hoped that the worst had passed. When he came back with the second cup, she took it less wildly and sipped slowly, savoring the cool drink in her mouth.
"Who are you?"
No man like him had ever crossed her path. He spoke, but her mind blocked out his words and studied his face. Aurelie nodded, trying to seem aware. His eyes were specks of blue and green. It was like looking at an evergreen tree and seeing a clear sky peek through the gaps of leaves. He had a straight nose which hooked, almost unnoticeably, at the tip, a thick bottom lip and a thin, white scar running across his right eye. His skin was the color of melted sugar. He was tall and lean but not too much of either.
There was no doubt in her mind that they were no longer anywhere near the town or city for that matter.
"And you, miss?"
"I..." She started, wondering what question he had asked. "I'm so sorry. I didn't get a word of what you said. My mind," she smiled, "is quite foggy." There was absolutely nothing wrong with her mind. Everything became clear as soon as she drank from the vial.
He lifted his hands up as if to surrender, and shook his head. "Of course!" He sat down on the couch, his cloak landing on a stain of her blood. "I'm Nick. I'm a patrol officer. I believe in Highfire, it's called a..." he winced trying to come up with the right word, "guardian?"
Aurelie looked toward the window as if a giant sign would suddenly appear, telling her where they were. "Where are we?"
"Peter Donahue's cabin, in Kolaria."
Aurelie's lips parted. "As in Redayrah?"
Nick shifted in his place, his head turning sideways. "You don't remember your â
"Wait," Aurelie cut in, "did you say Donahue?"
A sudden flutter of heat traveled through her. She ignored it at first but then came back. One by one her ribs felt like they were moving as if someone had pressed them like a piano. Nick asked another question, and she could only tell so by his tone. She put out her arm to silence him. "Something's wrong."
Aurelie's pulse quickened. The heat was pulsing within her. Nick jumped up and hurried to her side. Something was moving beneath her flesh where her wound had been, something sharp.
"Ahh. I think I broke my ribs," Aurelie said. It poked her and bulged under her skin. "Help me to theâ She gasped.
Nick complied and supported her under her waist. His wide eyed expression was back.
Her skin rose higher. The poke she felt got stronger and began to feel more like a stab and then a cut. Aurelie's flesh parted, and the sharp edges of the bones pierced through, covering the skin beneath them. Aurelie opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. It was agonizing. She gasped for air between attempts to scream. The bones emerged quicker and spread.
Were they bones? She found the courage to look down. They were dark, rough and crawled over her skin, climbing on top of each other to close any gap that would reveal flesh, until the entire surface of her old wound was covered.
"Those aren't bones," he said and moved his hand away as if he had just stuck it into a spider's nest. "Princess, those are scales."