Golden Lights in a Dark Sky ✔

6. In My Arms

I caught Ash before she hit the floor. Blood and shattered glass were strewn across the floor. Ash weakly clung to me as I scooped her up in my arms. Her fists were bloodied, likely from smashing through the mirror. I cradled her in my arms, tears streaming down my face.

"I thought I'd never be able to hold you again," I said. Ash buried her face in the crook of my neck.

"Me too," she whispered, her breath tickling my skin. I shivered and held her closer to me.

"Don't leave me again," I said, my voice breaking.

"I won't," she said quietly.

For a few minutes, we stayed like that, holding onto each other, neither of us wanting to let go. Eventually, I loosened my grip, but still holding onto her, stood up and carried her out of the parlor. I carried her up to my room, despite her protests about how she could walk on her own.

I kicked open the door to my room and set her on my bed. She reluctantly let go of me and sat on the bed. I placed a kiss on her forehead before going to look through some drawers for some bandages I kept in my room. Once I had everything I needed I sat on my bed beside her, cleaning the wounds on her hand and wrapping with the bandages.

"How did you even figure out how to get back?" I asked as I worked.

"My mother once told me she traveled through a witch mirror to see the past or something," Ash explained. "With a little research and bribery, I figured out how to make a temporary portal with a witch mirror. I likely shattered the one I traveled through, just like I had to shatter a mirror to get here."

I glanced up at her face. She was silent and had a far off look in her eyes. She gave up her friends, her family, her life, just to keep a promise.

"Ash, are you alright?"

Ash blinked and smiled softly at me.

"With you here with me, I'm sure I'll be just fine."

✧ ✧ ✧

Sending out the word that Ash was back caused an uproar, but an excited one. Everyone was glad that she was back, and that she had brought information back with her. My father made his way back to the Night Court immediately to scan her thoughts so he could get as much information out of her brain as possible. That was then quickly spread to all the High Lords and their generals.

Ash told us that Orcus was the most powerful valg king. The eldest brother of the three and the most wicked. Said to be more powerful than both Erawan and Maeve, both of which Ash's parents and their friends had trouble defeating. And Orcus had a fae valg army and the Caldron on his side, and possibly his other brother.

With Ash back, she quickly joined me on my missions around the Night Court and helped me keep my promise of protecting it. We were practically a two female army, especially with Ash's skill rapidly improving. But even with us to help save the court, the valg attacks wouldn't let up.

It had only been two weeks since Ash had returned, but with valg attacking nearly every day, it felt like months. We were being drained of power, resources, and energy. If this kept up, Prythian would fall.

"Are we doomed?" I asked Ash one day after we returned from protecting another village from a valg attack.

Ash looked up at me as she unclasped her armor.

"I don't think we are doomed, per se," she started. "But our chances of survival aren't great. Either way, this war is going to leave a scar on Prythian."

I nodded and let my armor clatter to the floor. I was so tired. Exhausted I ran a hand through my sweaty hair and sighed. Ash watched me from the corner of her eye, taking better care of her armor than I did.

"I'm going to bathe," I said. "Care to join me?" I said that last part, only half-joking. But Ash just shook her head.

"I'm going to clean our armor first," she said. "Then I'll bathe before going to bed."

I nodded and went upstairs to go clean myself of the blood, sweat, and other filth that clung to my body. I smelled like death. I'd much rather smell like roses and bath salts.

After I cleaned myself I made my way downstairs and snacked on something before heading to bed. I stared longingly at the guest room Ash was staying in. She still had her apartment, but since we kept meeting up together to discuss battle strategies and the best ways to protect the Night Court I offered one of the guest rooms to her to make her life easier. She agreed after some persuasion, knowing that less time travels between her apartment and my house would save her energy. But I didn't want to intrude on her space, so I went to go sleep in my own room.

I rested my head on my pillows, taking one in my arms and hugging it tightly. It helped me calm down, when I thought I was hugging my brothers or parents, or even my aunts and uncles. It helped drive the dark thoughts and nightmares away.

I was close to slipping into unconsciousness when I heard my bedroom door click open. I heard the soft padding of bare feet against the floor and turned over to see Ash climbing onto my bed. Her weight made the mattress dip. She had a pillow in her arms which she was holding onto tightly, just like me. She had a haunted look in her eyes, and hesitantly crawled closer to me.

I looked up and down her tiny body and blushed. She was only wearing a long nightshirt and some undershorts. Her hair was tousled and dark circles were under her eyes. But through my vision, she was beautiful.

"I can't sleep," she whispered quietly. "My thoughts are too loud."

She sounded so frightened, and so alone. I stretched out my arms to her, and tiredly whispered "come closer".

She got under my covers, and abandoned her pillow. She wiggles into my arms, resting her head by my neck. I ran my fingers through her hair as she wrapped her arms around me, gripping the back of my shirt tightly. I brought her closer to my chest and tangled my legs with hers as I pulled her closer to me. She breathed sharply, probably surprised at my actions. I bet she was flushed red right now, and even though I was a bit flushed myself I didn't care.

"Sleep, I said softly, trying my best to comfort her. "Everything is okay."

And in that moment, everything was. She was in my arms, and I in hers. It was perfect.

A/N

A bit of fluff for your souls.

..Also, I'm really sorry for like, ditching you all for a couple of months, only to return with a short chapter, half of which was written in June, and the other half today in like 10 minutes. Kinda surprised you guys didn't kill me with that cliffhanger I left you on.

But, I think this story will be wrapping up. Maybe a max of ten more chapters, but we'll see. I'm losing some inspiration for this story, but since I got this far I'll do my best the finish it. So if it ends soon and seems rushed with shorter chapters, my deepest apologies! 

And seriously, thank you for sticking with me. Updates will be random for the time being, but I do hope you continue to read. :)