A Ballad of Flame & Shadow | Azriel

seven

Nesta loved the classical music we played her the best.

She tapped her foot along to the thumping club music.

And she covered her ears and scowled at the death metal.

Azriel had laughed at it though. His head thrown back, exposing the strong column of his tan throat and his low laugh was just audible over the screaming, raging vocals. I almost paused the song just to hear Azriel's laugh – almost.

He seemed to like the club music as well. I smiled at the idea of Azriel meeting Ruhn and his idiot friends, and him becoming a certified member of the frat boys. That smile faded quickly though, at the reminder of Ruhn, of Flynn and Dec. And Ithan, the newest member.

A pack. That's what Ithan had said to me before we left for Pangera.

That we were his new pack.

I didn't smile again for a long while after that.

We were walking in silence again, past carving after carving, the dichotomy between good and evil swapping so regularly that after a while I stopped looking at the walls around me. I just stared down at the debris and stones crunching under my boots, or ahead to the darkness that never seemed to end.

Bryce's star pulsed in her chest. And we followed it. Tunnel after tunnel.

I saw how her face tightened with each new pulse, saw the weariness and doubt grow in her amber eyes. Like an infection. She was scared of where this would lead us if it would lead us anywhere at all. I felt that fear too, that we had left Hunt and Ruhn behind, left everyone we loved behind for nothing.

Maybe we were here with no Gods to call our own. Maybe Urd hadn't led us here and we were just two reckless, naïve girls playing soldiers in a war we didn't understand. Maybe we would spend the rest of our immortal existences stuck here while the people we love die back home.

Maybe we wouldn't save anyone.

My throat tightened. So tight that it was hard to get down enough air. And this tunnel seemed smaller, so much smaller than it had a second ago. And that darkness wasn't ending, it went on and on and I couldn't keep going –

"Here," I blinked and saw a scarred hand wreathed in shadows before me. Holding a water canteen out to me.

I blinked again and my lips parted as a great whoosh of air slipped in, satiating my burning lungs. My gaze lifted to the male beside me, hazel eyes watching intently and as I took another breath, the tunnel walls opened up around me.

"Drink," Was all Azriel said. A command but it was gentle, as were his hands as he placed the canteen between my stiff fingers. His throat worked as he nodded down to the bottle, and said again, a shade quieter. "Drink, Alexis."

After a few seconds, the bottle began to lift and I didn't need to look down to know the shadows pushed at me, bringing it to my lips. My eyes fluttered as I took a small sip, and the cold water ran down my parched throat and washed away the burning ache in my chest.

Those eyes didn't once leave my face and he seemed to calm beside me as I took sip after sip.

"Thank you," I murmured, wiping the water from my mouth before handing Azriel back the canteen. He dipped his head, eyes locked onto mine and as he took the bottle from my fingers, his hand brushed against me.

Just for a second. But a second was all it took for that feeling to spark.

I pulled my hand back the same moment he did. And I watched as the shadows gathered around the canteen, we both held, shot out at each side to coil both our wrists. Like a string connecting me to him. Him to me.