Mine {h.s.}

Chapter Thirty Nine.

We continued up the mountainside, stopping every once in a while so that I could catch my breath. When we get back, I thought to myself, I need to tell Harry to up the intensity of our training. This is just a hike, and I'm breathing like I just ran a marathon.

But it's also six thousand feet up in the air, my subconscious reminds me, and I feel slightly better about myself. Then, I look around at the others that are standing around, waiting for me to catch my breath still, and I feel guilty yet again.

"Okay," I say. "I'm good, sorry about that," I push myself up off of the large rock I was sitting on and start to walk again on the path up the mountain.

"There's no need to be sorry," Harry says, startling me at his close proximity to me. The sparks that erupted all over my skin when he was touching me seem to be even more intense than they were before. I would assume that is because of the new mark that was on my neck.

"No," I say. "I hold you guys down; I'm human, and I'm not as strong as you guys."

"There's no reason to be sorry," he repeats in a low voice. "You have every right to be here just as everyone else does, and it is my fault for making you feel like you shouldn't be here. If anyone needs to be sorry, it's me."

Harry comes up beside me, as well as he could on the narrow trail, and links his fingers in mine. I found myself slightly less short of breath, and the pain in my legs lessen a little. I suppose when they said you could gain strength from your tairi, they weren't kidding.

Suddenly, just like before, my head starts to hurt again, and I squeeze Harry's hand to let him know, but he's already clutching his own head from my own pain. Instead of fighting the pain like I did the last time, I give into it, and quickly place myself on the ground. Harry kneels beside me, one hand still latched onto my own and another on my shoulder. His voice was the last thing I heard, and his chest rising and falling was the last thing I felt before I slipped into darkness once again.

I'm no longer on the mountainside, but I'm not in the air either. I'm inside a cave, probably within the actually mountain itself. It's dark, and it smells like a basement. There are cobwebs on on the jagged faces of each wall face, and I look around, knowing already that this is only in my mind, for a way out, but I can't see any holes anywhere. Sunlight is filtering in through cracks, but the cracks seem to come from every direction, even from below, so it is hard to tell if it is even sunlight.

I sit down in the middle of the room, and I start to breath in and out slowly to reduce my heart rate. That seemed to help get me out of the last trial, so I figured that it could be the same for this trial as well.

I open my eyes after a few minutes, and nothing has changed. I'm still in the dark, and I'm still in the dank, musty cavern. Maybe it is a symbol? Maybe it is a sign? There must be something I'm missing.

A loud noise pops me out of my thoughts and into the present. It's Harry. I smile, thankful that I'm no longer in the trials alone. I'm about to reach out for him, but the second I do, the walls start closing in. The jagged walls start to come inward, and I rush over to Harry. A hole large enough for one person opens up at the far end of the room.

"Quick, Harry, to the wall," I say hurriedly.

"There's only space for one person," he says animatedly. "You need to go; I won't be able to live with myself if you die because of me, and I survive."

"Harry," I say, my eyes tearing up and my voice cracking. "I wouldn't be able to live without you, okay?" I pull him close to me, all thoughts of the trials gone. This is real; he is real; he is living, breathing, real, and human. There is no way I can mistake this now.

"Harry," I say as the walls are closing on in us. "I know I haven't been the best mate to you, and I am so sorry, and I just want you to know that I care about you so much.

"I love you, Harry,"  I whisper to him before pressing my lips onto his. He loses focus for a second, and I let myself get lost in him before using his lack of focus to push him through the hole to save him.

He looks at me with anguish in his eyes, and he calls out for me, but I close my eyes and let the sound of my blood rushing within me to drown out his voice. I feel the jagged edges of the wall touch my shoulders and everything fades away.

"Em?" I hear Harry's voice, and I wonder how I can be hearing his voice. He couldn't possibly have shoved himself back through the cave to try and save me. Are we both in heaven together?

"Em?" I hear his voice again, and I manage to pry my eyes open. I'm back on the mountainside, and I sigh out of relief. I launch myself onto Harry and kiss him and kiss him until I am out of breath.

"Woah woah woah," Harry says, falling backward and chuckling. "As much as I enjoy this, what did I do to earn it?"

"Just shut up and let me kiss you," I say, locking my lips with his yet again. I feel a hand touch my shoulder, and I growl at them, pulling Harry close to me possessively.

"Mine," I say, my sight turning red as I stare at the person who is trying to take what is mine away from me. Ariadne. I stop myself quickly and blush.

"Sorry," I mumble, hiding myself in Harry's chest.

"Looks like you got yourself a keeper there, Harry," she says, and I can hear the smirk in her voice.

"Yeah," Harry says, looking down at me, giving me his charming smile just like always. "Yeah, it looks like I do."

---

hey i'm back!! i have some essays due this week which is why i've been absent the past couple of days and i might not be able to publish another chapter before thursday, but i am going to try my hardest to get one out to you this week!

thank you for being so supportive everyone:)

if you enjoyed this chapter (i know i loved writing this one!) then make sure to comment and vote!

xx winter