Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(116)

“Or you could have caught him,” he said.

“Keep looking,” I said.

He nodded against my head.

We floated west first, going to where the mountains began to fold together, the river just emerging between the rocky crags. My eyes caught on rocks, and sticks, the movement of a fish, and every time, my heart leaped.

We turned east, going slower, looking at every inch of the riverbed. As we grew closer to the ocean, Galen pulled away from me to tug his jacket off his shoulders, putting it around me. I frowned up at him.

“You’re shaking,” he said, holding me tight again.

I looked up at his face and saw a sadness etched there. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “That you had to fight your brother.”

“I should have killed him,” he said, but the words lacked fire and instead sounded defeated.

“He’s your brother,” I reminded him.

His throat worked. “Someday, I’ll have to be the one to kill him, Shalia. I need to make peace with that.”

I held his hand tight. “Maybe so. But it’s all right if you haven’t just yet.”

He nodded, kissing my head, and I focused on the river again.

When we reached the ocean, the stone halted, faltering a little. “He’s not here,” I breathed.

“Not finding his body—that could be a good thing,” he told me softly.

“ ‘Body,’ ” I repeated. “I can’t—I can’t lose him, Galen.”

His arms tightened around me. “Let’s check again.”

“Rian will worry.”

“He’s safe. Worrying won’t hurt him.”

I nodded, moving the rock down the river again.





Legend

I didn’t know how much time had passed when I finally gave up. The light was dimming in the sky and I couldn’t feel anymore. I didn’t feel cold, or tired. I couldn’t look at anything anymore. Kairos was gone, and I had lost one more beloved thing, one more piece of me removed that I didn’t know how to survive without.

Galen tucked me deep in his arms as I let the rock rise up.

I didn’t trust myself to walk, so we stayed on the rock and floated into the tunnel. Within moments, the light behind us died and I shut my eyes. My power could feel the rock around me better than I could see it, and I just moved us along.

Rian wasn’t in the tunnel. No one was.

“They’re not here,” I murmured.

Galen brushed my hair back. “They would have gone ahead. We’ve been gone a long while.”

I nodded and kept the rock floating down the passage.

Soon we saw torchlight, and I slowed down. I saw Zeph first, his big body looming even larger in the flickering light.

“Something’s wrong,” Galen murmured, holding my hand as he jumped off the rock. I followed him.

“Zeph?” I called.

Zeph turned, and I saw blood cascading down his arm. “What happened?”

Kata came forward. She looked paler and weak. “He’s wounded. It’s bad. I couldn’t heal it completely.”

Zeph’s uninjured shoulder lifted. “I can’t really move my hand,” he huffed.

“How are you standing?” Galen asked.

He pointed to himself. “Legend,” he said with a heavy sigh, before instantly slumping against the wall. Kata sighed and caught him with her power, lowering him to the ground.

“He’s fine,” Kata told me. “Or he will be.”

“Where’s Kai?” Rian asked, walking around Zeph with a torch in his hand. He let it fall to the ground where it still burned, coming to me, looking around me. “Where is he?”

I covered my mouth. Words didn’t come out—the horrible words, that I couldn’t find him, that he wasn’t there—but tears did, and Rian grabbed me, hugging me hard.

“We didn’t find the body,” Galen murmured. “But—”

“Of course he’s alive,” Rian growled. “You don’t know anything about my brother.”

I pulled back, nodding. “He has to be alive, right? Kairos—Kairos can’t—”

Rian pinched my cheek. “Kairos is the most clever man I’ve ever known. Of course he’s alive.”

“There’s a branch of the river close to here,” Kata said softly. “If I can get to the water, I’ll be able to try again to heal the guard.”

I thought of Theron, and how only a few days ago I wouldn’t have known which guard she meant by that. But now the two men were distinguished by their loyalty, a line I wished I’d never made them cross.

“Then we go,” I told her. “We’re not losing anyone else.”

We walked for most of the night. We reached the river, and Kata waded into the water and out again a moment later as Zeph slumped down onto the ground.

“Zeph?” I called. “Zeph?” I touched his cheek—he was still breathing, but he had passed out. “Kata, please hurry.”

We all waited, watching as she worked on him. Kata looked heartbroken as she said the arm was lost, and she couldn’t heal it, so the men held Zeph down as Galen cut through the rest of it, severing his arm above the elbow. Zeph was so weak he barely fought against the pain, and as it was done, I went to his side, wiping his brow, speaking soft words of comfort to him, trying to protect him from pain as he had always done for me.