Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 75

The bile rose in Cole's throat as her sense settled and she finally saw the stretch of lavender tree trunks in front of her. Dappled sunlight, too bright and pure, rippled across their skin and brought with it a gentle breeze that smelled sweet and lively.

"This is the faerie world," she said, unable to keep the anger and panic out of her voice. "We can't be here! Gethwine will--"

Her voice broke off as she spun on her heel and saw her mother collapsed on the ground. Tanwyn knelt at her head, stroking back her tangled hair to reveal her face blanched to the color of snow.

Cole rushed forward, sliding to a stop on her knees and grabbing her mother's hand. It was cool and dry. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking to Tanwyn as if he had all the answers in the world.

"She way overexerted herself," he replied. "Using magic can drain your energy even more than physical fighting, and she already wasn't in the best shape. What she used... she was drawing deep into her bloodlines. It's energy that should never be used. Life energy."

The hairs on Cole's arms stood up and she fought to swallow the lump that grew in her throat. "She's not... she's not in any danger, is she?" Her grip tightened around her mother's hand, worried now that her skin was too cold to be normal.

Tanwyn slowly raised his shoulders and gave a half shake of his head. "She's in danger, but if it's the kind that she can't recover from... I don't know. Eldritch are taught from childhood not to draw too much of their magic in one go," he replied. "But then again... we have a much higher tolerance when we have our wings and can draw on our natural magic."

Cole bit her lip and exhaled. "You and my mother know so much about both of our worlds. I feel like an infant, stumbling around, trying to learn to walk when everyone else is already flying."

Tanwyn gave a short laugh. "Learning to crawl may be better than having your wings clipped and becoming useless."

Cole leaned forward, reaching for his chin and pushing it upward so his eyes met hers. "You're not useless. You saved my life... my mother's. You're fighting for the Eldritch and humans, despite neither offering you any help."

She felt the scab along his chin from where he'd fallen in the caves, and she remembered the pain in her own jaw when she had been connected to him. She couldn't believe she was thinking it, but she almost missed that tie between them. It had at least always let her know where he was... how he was doing.

"I did it to become someone again. To regain a place in the Eldritch courts. I wanted to undo what my mother lost us. I saw what it was like with no power, and I never wanted to be there again." He started to move away, but Cole held his chin in place.

"But now? Is it still only for yourself?" she asked.

He looked away from her, over her shoulder out toward the strange trees.

Cole looked to her mother. "Let's get her somewhere where we can care for her," she said, releasing Tanwyn's chin and moving to cradle her mother's head.

She felt Tanwyn at her shoulder, felt his hand briefly touch the skin on her arm, and then felt him move away and come around to lift her mother off the ground by her shoulders and knees. "Gethwine will probably be told by Thijs that we disappeared. She'll no doubt have scouts looking around for us in both your world and the Eldritch world," he said, his voice as steady and normal as if he was casually strolling in the woods.

"Why would Thijs tell her where we are?" Cole asked, jogging to catch up with him as he seemed to pick a random direction and begin to walk in it.

"That dagger in Bastian was the one that I gave you. It's tinged with magic, which allowed Thijs to bridge the worlds. He used the residual magic to turn Bastian into... whatever that was. But it was my aunt who linked him to the creatures."

"How?" Cole asked, an uncomfortable shudder running through her chest as she thought of the empty coldness in Bastian's eyes.

"Remember in the caves? The creatures were talking about the hearts of their brothers. I think that Thijs took some of their hearts out and used them, in conjunction with my aunt's powers, to link Bastian to the dark natural magic."

Cole wrinkled her nose. "That's disgusting. How could a heart do that?"

"The heart of a natural being is powerful beyond anything else. It is the root of their lifeblood, which is where their magic flows. Having a heart, even a dead one, can give someone who knows how to use it a terrible power. Gethwine must have fused Bastian's heart with the heart of the creatures, pinning it in place with the dagger. That's why he's linked with the creatures and could rival your mother's powers with his own."

"So now he's linked to the Sparkstone and the creatures, kind of like how you were linked to me?" Cole asked.

Tanwyn nodded his head grimly. "Only, Bastian is more than linked. He is bound, body and soul. He has natural magic now, but he'll be consumed by the darkness of the Sparkstone's power and the creatures' obsession with protecting it."