Chapter 9 - Raising Hell
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Seconds later
You never know how far you will go until someone pushes you over the edge.
When Gryff vanished through the portal that day, something snapped inside me. My heart went cold with hatred. Reason left me. The world went dark, and I no longer cared what happened to me. Or to anything else. I could only think of two things. Saving Gryff. And killing the Witch.
It did not matter to me which of these happened first. But I suspected the Witch would have to die before Gryff could be saved.
With the Witch’s laughter still echoing in my head, I could keep it inside no longer. I screamed in rage as I succumbed to the fury burning in my heart. Once was not enough, so I screamed again and again, long guttural screams that drowned out the terrible thoughts flashing through my mind and silenced the Witch’s voice.
In the sudden quiet afterwards, a single thought formed in my head. Power! I was going to need all the power I could gather. Throwing caution to the wind, I sprinted towards the towering column of Qi flowing from the mountaintop and stepped inside.
I staggered and had to brace myself as the full force of the energy flow struck me. The extreme heat and electrical charge of the Qi should have killed me within seconds. But I turned the power of the wellspring against itself, using it to erect a formidable shield around me. Such was the cleverness of the spell that the more the Qi flowed over me, the stronger the shield became.
Even with the protective shield, the searing heat was almost unbearable, and I was quickly drenched in sweat that stung my eyes and ran down my arms. I cast my senses out over the mountainside and eventually found what I sought – a frigid mountain spring coursing through caverns deep underground. It was a difficult bind, for the rock there was dense, and there was a great deal of it between me and the spring, making the link tenuous and most inefficient. But I had all the power of the mountain’s Qi to draw upon, so after a few failed attempts, I managed to bind the spring waters to my shield on my third try.
The heat was so great that the cold spring water quickly evaporated into steam, so I bound the water to a summoning spell that kept a steady flow moving through the caverns. It was not a good arrangement. I knew I had to be careful lest the spring ran dry from the intense heat.
With the temperature inside the shield receding to a manageable level, I took a moment to look around. The world around me appeared strangely opaque when seen through the constantly shifting column of energy. Shapes glistened with an outline of golden aura, and I realised I saw the energy signature of every living thing within sight. Not only could I identify it, but I could tell from the colour and strength of the aura how alive each thing was. How powerful it was. And how true its soul.
A sudden movement caught the corner of my eye, and I glanced back. Sara and Aeron were running towards me, their bodies surrounded by a brilliant yellow glow. They shone brighter the closer they were to one another, and I knew then they were well-matched - for the aura does not lie.
They stopped not far from the column of energy, and both started shouting at me, but I could not hear them. The rush of energy surging through my body and past my ears drowned out all other sounds. They motioned with their hands for me to leave. I shook my head. There would be no stopping me.
Never had I had such a massive source of power available to me. I was not sure what I might be capable of with such energy. But I was determined to find out.
I pushed my senses out into my surroundings. Down on the valley floor, John’s army was chasing after the retreating mob of Wulvers. In the skies above them, the Sylphs still fought a courageous battle against vast numbers of Codwarth and Wyvern that attacked in wave after wave of blackened swarms.
Further out, the sprites and their many companions were desperately struggling to prevent the Witch’s armies from reaching the tunnel entrances. The sprites were a formidable opponent, but even with all their magic and clever planning, they could not withstand the relentless forces facing them that day for much longer.
Thoughts of Gryff intruded into my mind, bringing with them a terrible sadness that threatened to crush me. The grief of having lost him shook me to my core, and I came close to succumbing. It was almost more than I could take after what she had done to Ewan and now Gryff. I had lost so much of my life when Ewan had been taken that I was determined not to let the Witch get the better of me again with Gryff.
My mind spun. I grabbed my head in my hands and struggled for several agonising seconds that felt like an eternity while everything hung in the balance. It took everything I had. All the power that surged through me. All the love I had for Gryff and all the strength that his love gave me. Everything that had happened and all we had done together. It all came together inside me until I thought I would lose my mind. I doubled over, paralysed by the thoughts in my head, until gradually, the heartbreak ebbed.
“No, no, no!” I sobbed. “This is not happening again!”
Precious more seconds slipped by as I fought to put myself back together, but eventually, I pushed all thoughts of Gryff deep inside me so that I could visit them later. If there was a later.
Finally, the sadness was gone, and for a few moments, I felt nothing at all. I was empty inside. Devoid of all emotions. There was no love in my heart then. No compassion, no thought of anything at all. Everything that was me was gone. Even my faith had left me.
My heart went cold, and the blood ran like ice in my veins. There was nothing else left in me then but rage.
I planted my feet and spread my arms wide. The ground thundered, and clouds began to circle overhead as I marshalled the full might of the Qi energy to my bidding. Despite the protective shield around me, my skin started to burn from the effects of such massive energy transference. I closed my mind to the pain and raised my hands.
The first spell I cast was a high-level Dominus.* With this, I targeted the Sylphs, bending them to my will and then binding them together so that they moved as one. Later, if they survived, they would not be happy about it. But I was no longer capable of caring.
Far more potent than the more commonly used Enthral spell, the Dominus spell allowed me to see into the minds of the Sylphs, and in this way, I learned the secret of their invisibility. I learned, too, the terrible toll that being invisible took on them, which meant they could only be invisible for short bursts or risk exhaustion or even death.
The spell also linked our minds, and through this link, I commanded the Sylphs to attack the Wulvers, who were still mired in a frantic retreat at the rear of the Witch’s armies. I made the Sylphs cloak themselves in invisibility to wreak the maximum panic within the Wulvers and to continue that way until the Wulvers were wiped from the battlefield. Or until they were dead themselves.
It was a heartless thing to do to the Sylphs. They had proven themselves good and trustworthy companions deserving of a far better fate. Such was my rage that I did it anyway. I did not stop to watch as they vanished into invisibility and began to rip the Wulvers asunder with their Riven spell – though the terrified wails of the Wulvers reached me even over the noise inside the column of energy.
The next spell I cast was an Evocation** spell. This I used to summon the elemental power of thunder and, with it, lightning. Dark, roiling storm clouds appeared seemingly from nowhere, blotting out the sky. A blast of wind began to whip up anything loose as it blew into a sudden gale. I fed the full power of the mountain’s wellspring into the storm until lightning bolts shot from the clouds by the thousands, streaking across the sky as if the heavens were aflame.
To the lightning, I bound a Cascading Fire*** spell. Suddenly, the skies were alight with torrents of molten fire dripping from the lightning bolts like lava. It rained down on the Codwarth and Wyvern, causing the enormous swarms of feathered Codwarth to burst into flames and adding to the hellish firestorm that blazed in the sky. Long, blackened tracks hung in the air behind the creatures as their blazing bodies crashed to earth in a hailstorm of fire and death that ignited dry grasses along the valley floor. Fanned by the storm winds, a growing fire soon raced along the valley towards the mountain, consuming everything in its path.
Though I could not see them directly, in my mind’s eye, my senses revealed that John’s army had become pinned down by the blaze. I identified each of his remaining people by the unique aura signatures they emitted and cast an enormous shield spell, binding it to them individually so that they could move about while protected by the spell that clung to them like a cloak.
I had never tried such a thing before, but the immense power I wielded from the mountain wellspring made many things possible that would otherwise be beyond my ability. I suspected such a widely cast shield would not hold for long. It only had to last long enough for the fire to burn out or for John and his companions to withdraw to a safer place.
With John’s army protected from the fire for the time being and the Codwarth all but wiped from the skies by the molten lava, I turned my attention to the thick clouds of Wyvern that remained. Being a form of dragon, they were harder to kill with fire since their bodies were naturally fire-resistant. For these, I used a dematerialisation spell****. In its typical form, such a spell can be useful for hiding things, for it causes items to be broken down into their essential elements, where they can more easily be hidden beyond most people’s awareness and then rematerialised when needed.
However, that day, I overcharged the spell from the abundance of energy within my command and then used it to rip the Wyverns apart, dispersing their elemental components back into the ether as they vanished from the skies.
I fell to one knee, bent over in pain and utterly spent in body and spirit. The heat from the wellspring and the constant transference of energy through my body had scorched the skin on my hands and arms until they were raw and blistered. In less than a quarter of an hour, I had purged the skies of the Witch’s flying hoards and set the Sylphs loose amongst the Wulvers like the fox amongst the chickens. I had also caused what had quickly grown into a massive fire scouring the valley of all life in its path.
My soul was sickened by what I was doing. In my heart, I felt nothing but an uncontrollable, all-consuming rage that terrified me, and I wondered if I would ever come back from that dark and desperate place.
But it was not the end of the vengeful destruction I was to unleash that day. There were still countless thousands of Wulvers, ogres and other beasts assaulting the mountain in force. They would have to be dealt with soon before they breached the tunnels and found their way into the caverns beneath the mountain.
The wellspring had been drained of much of its power, but I sensed there was enough left to do what needed to be done. Despite the pain and exhaustion threatening to overwhelm me, I struggled to my feet and turned my mind to conjuring a Reanimation spell*****. I was so focused on revenge that I did not summon Spirit first, as the wood sprites who raised me had taught me to do. There would be harsh consequences from Spirit for my rashness – if I lived. I pushed the thought from my mind and worked the spell with all my strength.
Once the spell had started to form, I directed it at the piles of dead Wulvers littering the valley floor. There seemed to be nearly as many dead as remained living, I thought dully.
I watched through the eyes of the Sylphs, who were still bound to me by the Dominus spell. One by one, the Wulvers mangled, bloodied bodies started to stir as the spell woke them from the dead. Their arms and legs twitched in sharp spasms. More and more of them woke, sending a chilling chorus of demented moans and wails across the valley until it was so loud it drowned out the sounds of battle.
I released the Sylphs from my control to focus all my energy on the army of the dead. My strength was fading fast, and the power of the mountain was waning. With the last reserves of both, I recast the Dominus spell on the creatures I had brought back to life. Driven to do my bidding, some crawled back to battle, their bodies too damaged to stand. Others hobbled forward on broken limbs or clung to each other for support as they stepped over their companions in death.
The effect on the living was immediate. Terrified survivors turned and ran as the reanimated army set upon them in a macabre scene, ripping the living limb from limb or devouring them alive in a bloody feast the likes of which I hope never to see again.
Not until they finally turned to flee did the remnants of the Witch’s hoards see the firestorm rushing down the valley towards them. Caught between the fire to their front and the army of undead to their rear, many chose a quick death in the flames rather than face the horror of an army of shadows.
The skies were still alight from molten lava falling from the lightning storm, adding fuel to the fire rushing across the valley. I commanded the wind to blow a tempest. It fanned the flames into an inferno until the dark smoke filling the skies turned orange, and the valley ran red with the blood of the enemy.
My mind began to throb from casting so many spells in rapid succession, made worse by the strain of controlling the mob of Wulvers that had returned to life. I felt a warm trickle on my face and neck as blood oozed from my eyes and ears. My head spun, and I was on the verge of collapse, but there was one last thing I had to do - the fire would have to be stopped before it reached the mountain to prevent the sprites from being consumed by the flames.
I felt my legs trembling as I conjured one final spell, unleashing a massive Dematerialisation spell to break apart the air into its essential elements. It took all the Qi left in the mountain, and if it failed, the sprites would be left without their greatest defence. My hands burned as the spell shot into the valley, the skin bubbling into blisters until the flesh beneath was exposed. I could barely use my damaged right hand as it twitched uncontrollably. But there was no turning back. The column of Qi had been spent. It no longer flowed skyward from the wellspring.
Unable to withstand pain and exhaustion any longer and without the mountain’s energy to sustain me, I collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The fire still roared as it devoured the valley. I lifted my head and listened, waiting for the spell to act and counting the seconds that seemed to last forever. And then, it happened. An enormous boom reverberated over the mountain from out of the valley as the air was separated into its two primary elements. I smiled grimly, knowing what was unfolding in the valley and seeing it play out in my mind's eye. The fire would quickly burn the oxygen off, leaving behind a dense nitrogen gas that would displace any last traces of oxygen remaining in the air. Then, starved of oxygen, the firestorm would die out in less than a minute, leaving behind a valley scorched black beneath dark clouds of soot rising into the air. Any creatures, living or undead, who had somehow managed to stay alive until then would be quickly asphyxiated, their bodies twisted in an agonising death, adding one last horror to the charred and lifeless landscape.
A strange calm came over me as everything went quiet. The fire had burned itself out. The enemy was vanquished. For now. Released from my control, even the wind fell silent as the storms receded and the sky cleared.
I rolled onto my back and looked up into the heavens. The sun peeked out as the clouds dissipated, its warmth causing my burns to sting. My eyes closed, and as I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness, I thought of Gryff and of the devastation I had wrought. Death weighed heavily on me as a single, lonely tear rolled down my bloodstained cheek.
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I awoke sometime later in a darkened room, unsure of where I was and half wishing I was dead as the memories of what had happened flooded in, causing my whole body to break out in a sweat at the thought of what I had done. I could not bear to think of the havoc I had wreaked, the death I had caused. Or of the dull look in Gryff’s eyes as he disappeared through the portal. In a vain effort to wipe the images from my mind, I dug my knuckles into my eyes and rubbed furiously until they ached. But still, the memories remained burned on my inner eye.
Sometimes, they haunt me even now if I close my eyes in quiet moments and do not remember to stop my mind from wandering.
It suddenly occurred to me that my hands had not felt blistered or raw as I rubbed them in my eyes. I held them up to my face to examine them in the dim light and was surprised to see that my hands and arms were healed. I looked further and discovered that my whole body was healed. From the way it felt and the traces of energy that hovered in the room, I suspected I had a Sylph to thank for having healed me - and I marvelled that any of them would still help me after what I had done to them.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stood and gingerly tested my legs. It wasn’t until I stood up that I realised I was naked. The room was cool but not too cold, and there did not seem to be anyone else about, so I slowly worked through some gentle stretches to assess my condition and work the many nagging aches out of my body. I took my time with it and was grateful for the distraction – anything to keep my mind focused on the present.
As I stretched, I let my senses flow through my body until I was satisfied that everything was in working order. There seemed to be no lasting ill effects besides my damaged right hand. It still ached and was very stiff, and several of my fingers tingled as though asleep. I tried shaking it, but the tingling remained.
My senses flowed beyond my body, seeping into the space around me where they revealed something else – I was in the caverns deep within the Sprite mountain.
When I was finished, I faked about in the darkened room until, eventually, I found my clothes draped over the back of a nearby chair. I held them up to examine them and was pleased to discover they had been freshly cleaned and mended. Burying my face in them, I breathed deeply, luxuriating in the smell of soap and was immediately transported back to a memory from my childhood. It wasn’t much. Just a small thing. But having clean clothes for the first time in such a long while – clothes that someone else had cleaned for me – revived some small corner of my heart. It helped me pretend as if nothing had happened, and for a short while, I almost managed to forget that Gryff had been lost to the Witch.
The clothes and the glimmer of warmth in my heart made such a difference that by the time I had finished getting dressed, I felt more like my usual self and even caught myself humming softly. An uplifting tune I did not recognise.
Then, with a jolt, images of the battle and memories of Gryff flashed before my eyes, and the guilt and the sweat returned with a vengeance. My legs wobbled, and the room spun. I had to perch on the end of the bed with my head in my hands until the feeling passed.
As I sat waiting for the world to stop spinning, a narrow beam of light cut across the room as a door opened a crack. I looked up just as a single eye appeared in the opening. The door burst open, and Sara rushed in.
“Niri!” she cried as she ran to my side and flung her arms around me. “You are awake!”
She made it sound as if my being awake was unexpected. Or perhaps it was being alive that surprised her so.
Sara stepped back, holding me at arm's length and looking me up and down. “I see my Aeron has done well putting you back together.”
So, it was the work of a Sylph, I thought as she sat next to me on the bed.
“You seem no worse for wear,” she continued. “How do you feel?”
“The Witch ensnares my husband,” I said, spitting out the word ‘Witch’ with all the venom I could muster. “And I have done such terrible things that I am ashamed and can not bear to think of them. I am frightened even to ask how the others have fared.”
Sara took my hand and gripped it tightly. “No good will come from dwelling on it. You did what had to be done to save the Sprite realm and fulfil your duty. There is no shame in that.”
Tears rolled freely down my face as I began to sob uncontrollably. I tried to hold it in, but I could not stop it.
“Oh, luv!” said Sara as she hugged me to her chest, holding me and gently stroking my hair until I had cried myself out.
When I was spent and could cry no more, she lifted my head and stared into my eyes. “We will find Gryff and kill that bitch, if it is the last thing I do.” Sara placed a hand over my heart. “This, I promise you.”
The door creaked loudly, and we both looked up to find Aeron standing in the opening. His feathers were singed black along his left side, and he had a livid red scar across his cheek.
“Is it okay to come in now?” he asked, his anxious gaze shifting between us.
Sara reached out to him, and Aeron stepped forward to take her hand in his.
His other hand he put on my shoulder. “How is our patient?”
“Ashamed and heartbroken,” I answered without looking him in the eyes. “I am so sorry for using your kind as I did. Can you ever forgive me?”
“The battle is won. All is as well as can be expected. There is nothing to forgive.”
“But what of Angharad? And Rhys?”
Sara’s eyes welled up with tears. Aeron’s voice was barely a whisper as he said, “Rhys fell to the Wulvers. Angharad lives. Though she is inconsolable.”
“She must hate me.”
Aeron thought for some while before he answered with that strange bobbing of the head that I had come to know was a trait of all Sylphs. “Yes. Perhaps, for now, she might hate you, as she hates all the world for taking her Rhys too soon. But in time, she will see the sense in things. What you did was cruel. But it was also effective. You routed our enemy in less time than many take to eat a mid-day meal and saved countless lives in the doing. Because of your courage, today, we celebrate a great victory when it could very easily have gone the other way. Most likely would have, without your decisive attack. Once Angharad remembers these things and has had the proper time to mourn her loss, she will accept your actions.”
I felt miserable and did not feel worthy of being comforted. “I would hate to lose the friendship that had begun to grow between us. Do you think she will ever forgive me?”
Unexpectedly, Aeron laughed, the sound echoing around the still room. “That might be too much to ask. She knows how to bear a grudge, that one. But I believe you will be friends again.”
I took his hand and squeezed it. “If there is anything I can do to make up for what I have done….”
Aeron squeezed back. “I will not hesitate to advise you. Though I believe you have far more pressing matters ahead of you. The Witch will not lick her wounds for long. You would be wise to move quickly to follow up your success in battle before she recovers.”
“Agreed. But I have become far too much in the open at present. I must fade from view if I am to have any chance of defeating the Witch.”
Sara glanced up at Aeron as she perched on the bed beside me. “I have something I would like to ask you.”
It was not easy, but I managed to force a small outward smile. Though I was not smiling on the inside. “Don’t you mean ‘we’?”
She blushed and pulled Aeron closer. “I should have known you would sense something. But, yes, we would very much like to ask if Aeron could accompany us.” She rushed on, blurting out the rest of her words as if afraid to hear my answer. “After all, until we get Gryff back, it is just the two of us. We could use all the help we can get. Aeron has already proven his worth in battle. And as a friend.” Sara cast her eyes down and suddenly spoke very quietly. “As more than a friend to me.” She looked up at him, and I was struck with envy as I saw the love in their eyes.
Though I did not mention it to anyone until much later, something of the mountain’s Qi must have remained within me, for I could still see the aura of every living thing I looked at. As I had noticed before, Aeron and Sara's auras shone a beautiful hue whenever they were close. Despite my misgivings, I could not deny them their happiness. And Sara was right – we could use all the help we could get.
“Yes, of course-,” I started to say, but before I could finish, Sara squealed with delight and hugged me so tightly I thought my eyes might pop out of my head.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she cried joyfully. “You will not regret it, I promise.” She released me, jumping up to grab Aeron and hug him too.
“Then it is settled,” I said with a weak laugh. “We shall start on the morrow. An hour before daylight.”
I stood and tested my legs. They were still unsteady but would have to do. “But before then, I need you to answer me two things.” They both looked at me with questions in their eyes. “What time is it? And where can I get something to eat!”
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It had been all I could do to keep things light with Sara and Aeron. Inside, the rage still burned, and my heart ached with stinging sadness. The pain I felt in my chest from missing Gryff so much made it difficult to breathe.
After leaving them to their own doing, I had found a pub in the caverns beneath the mountain and had eaten my fill of shepherd's pie. Later, I found myself sitting alone in a quiet corner away from the crowds, staring into an untouched tankard of golden ale and feeling sorry for myself.
The tantalising aroma tugged at my memories as I fought with inner demons that urged me to down the lot in one go. Those same demons wanted me to keep on drinking until I could no longer feel the pain in my heart. My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I licked my lips, imagining the taste of the ale on my tongue and wanting so badly to take a drink.
I felt Gryff’s presence close to me, as if he were sitting beside me. His eyes haunted my every thought, and I shivered at the sudden memory of his touch as we made love that night we spent in the swamps. It seemed like another lifetime ago.
Sweat dripped from my brow as the urge to drink grew. My hands slowly opened and closed involuntarily as my inner struggle raged back and forth. Then Gryff’s face appeared before me, as clear as if he were standing there. His eyes shone that special way they did only when he looked at me. But then he faded, and my eyes blurred with tears.
I could stand it no longer. With a frustrated flick of my hands, the tankard flew across the room, narrowly missing a half dozen people before it shattered against the far wall in an explosion of glass and beer. The room fell eerily silent, and though I did not look up, I sensed the heads turning to watch the small drama unfolding in their midst.
“I know how you feel,” said a familiar voice behind me.
I turned to find Rhia standing there with a worried look in her eyes. Her left arm hung limp in a blood-stained sling, and she had a deep blue bruise down the left side of her face.
I grumbled. “Then you will know that I wish to be alone.”
She pulled up a chair from a nearby table and slumped down next to me. “Yes. But I also know that right now, what you want and what you need are two vastly different things.”
Not in the mood for conversation, I could think of no better response than a disagreeable snort.
“You might as well talk to me,” pressed Rhia. “I have nowhere else to be.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
Finding me uninteresting now that I had stopped sending things flying across the room, I was relieved to see the crowds gradually losing interest in me and turning back to their conversations and drinks.
“It is happening again. She took Ewan. Now she takes Gryff.”
Rhia sighed and said bitterly. “Yes, and she took my father as well. But at least your Gryff still lives. So, for you, there is yet a sliver of hope.”
“Oh, my god, no!” I said as the implications of what she said sunk in. “Not Greyleaves?”
She nodded sadly. “I watched it happen. His magic failed him at a critical moment. It was all over before anything could be done to save him.”
I touched her on the arm. “I am so, so sorry for your loss. And for my selfishness. I should know better at my age. We have all paid a price for our victory.”
“Then you should listen to me when I say that this place is not where you need to be right now.”
I looked into her eyes and found her sorrow in them. But I also found a concern for me that was touching.
“You are right,” I said at length. “This is most certainly not where I need to be.” I stood and swayed as my legs adjusted.
“Can I come with you?” she pleaded.
“I am not going far,” I answered, not comprehending what she meant.
Rhia grabbed my arm, and her voice shook as she said, “No! I meant, can I come with you on your quest to kill the Witch? There is nothing left for me here, and I have a score to settle now that cannot be settled by staying put.”
Everyone seemed to want to join my company, I thought suddenly. I would be a fool to turn down the offer of such a trusted companion. “If you can be ready to leave tomorrow before sunup, I would be honoured for your company as we set out to avenge our loved ones.”
Rhia stood and clapped me on the back as she grinned from ear to ear. “I will not let you down,” she said fiercely.
“I have no doubt of that. Now, will you accompany me on a journey of a different sort?”
She seemed puzzled by this vague offer but agreed readily enough.
That is how we both came a short while later to be sitting on a middle pew in a small cavern church. The cavern was still, with not even a breath of air to cause the many candles scattered around the room to flicker.
All my long life, I have always felt comforted in a church and often have gone to them in times of distress just to sit and replenish my soul. Though my heart was grievously wounded, and my faith was shaken to its core, I still felt some small glimmer growing within me just from being in that sacred place.
Rhia and I whispered in hushed tones in the empty church.
“I, too, meant to say I am sorry for your loss,” whispered Rhia. “I have seen you and Gryff together. You are well matched.”
“Thank you,” I whispered in reply. “I take some small solace knowing that he did not betray me of his own free will. The Witch took his mind, and he was forced to do her bidding.”
Rhia paused for a moment. “I had not thought of it that way,” she said, eventually. “I am glad you have that to give you some measure of comfort.”
“I will not be truly comforted or restored until we have killed that Witch and restored my Gryff to his usual, sweet self.”
Rhia again clapped me on the shoulder. “Then let us pledge this day that we will kill the Witch and rescue Gryff. Or give our lives in the trying.”
“This I pledge. Though I will not hold you to that last part.”
After that, there seemed little else to say, so we sat in silence for many hours long into the night, soaking up the positive energy in that space and restoring a little of our usual selves.
We would need it far more than we could then imagine, for if we thought our last battle had tested us dearly, we were soon to discover our next would push us to the very brink.
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