Raelia (The Medoran Chronicles Book 2) (24 page)

“
Trae selve raen de linare
,” Roka said quietly, and their expressions cleared as they all nodded.

Alex might not have understood the words he’d said, but she was fairly confident he’d just told them he would explain later. Unfortunately, she couldn’t offer the same assurances to her friends.

“What happens now?” Alex asked, wanting to move the conversation along to safer topics.

“Now it’s time for you and your friends to go home, Alex,” King Astophe said.

“That’s it?” Jordan asked, disappointed. “We can’t see more of the city?”

“You’ve seen more of Meya than any other mortal has in millennia,” the king said with a trace of amused indulgence. “While your enthusiasm is admirable, you should understand that the last humans to set foot in our city caused a ripple effect unforgotten over the centuries. There are many of our kind who won’t take kindly to learning of your presence here. Not all of the
Garseth
were captured with my son’s banishment, and those who remain hidden won’t hesitate to show their allegiances should a whisper of Aven’s return reach their ears. It’s for your own safety that I ask you to leave.”

Jordan opened his mouth to argue, but Alex interrupted before he could make his opinion known.

“Thank you, King Astophe,” she said. “We’re aware our arrival was an unanticipated surprise, and we’re grateful for the time you’ve given us. Do you mind if I ask what your plans are regarding Aven?”

The king eyed her speculatively, as if he was deciding what to tell her. “I’ll bring the information you shared to the attention of my council, and together we’ll make a decision. What happens after that will depend a great deal on Aven’s next move.”

Alex nodded. It was none of her business, really, and she was surprised that Astophe had answered her. Surprised and pleased. She’d somehow earned the Meyarin ruler’s respect, although she wasn’t certain how she’d managed such a feat.

“Kyia will return you to Raelia,” the king said. “Unless there’s somewhere else you can leave from? Somewhere that doesn’t involve treading upon our sacred Crossroads?”

Alex winced at the hope in his voice. Clearly Raelia was a very important place for them, but there was nothing she could
do about that. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. We can only return using the door we entered through.”

The king sighed in resignation. “So be it.”

Alex bowed to him and her friends followed suit. She looked over at Roka, wondering if she should bow to him as well. He must have seen the question on her face and he laughed quietly, shaking his head at her. She chose to interpret that as a ‘no’, rather than as him thinking her ridiculous. But both options were equally plausible.

“Despite the circumstances of your arrival and the news you’ve brought, it has been a pleasure to speak once more with those of your race,” King Astophe said. “I hope our paths meet again one day.”

Alex wasn’t sure what to say in response so she smiled and nodded her head.

“I enjoyed fighting with you, little human,” Zain told her. “I’ll look forward to a repeat performance in the future.”

Alex didn’t want to be rude to the scary guard by saying “no way in hell”, so she kept her mouth shut and once again nodded with a polite smile plastered to her face. The big Meyarin seemed amused by her noncommittal response, if his grin was anything to go by.

“I have a feeling we’ll see each other again soon, Alex,” Roka said to her. “Until then, stay safe.”

The smile she gave Roka was genuine. “You too. And thanks for… you know… your experiment. And for explaining things to me. I guess you’re not so cryptic after all.”

Roka’s golden eyes sparkled, the warmth in them so different from his brother’s. “Well, I already told you how annoying cryptic-ness can be.”

“And I told
you
that’s not a real word,” Alex returned.

“Goodbye, Alex,” Roka said affectionately, and he followed the king and Zain over to where they had first arrived in the
vaulted room. The three Meyarins disappeared from view when the
Valispath
swept them out of sight.

“Follow me, mortals,” Kyia said, leading Alex and her friends over to the invisible rollercoaster.

The
Valispath
transported them through the palace and continued until they were outside and speeding across the radiant city. The sun was beginning to set behind the cliffs on the horizon and the fading light illuminated the shining Myrox all around them. Mystical trees glinted high above on the Golden Cliffs in the distance; waterfalls sparkled down into the valley like liquefied rays of light; and the river below glistened as if it contained the essence of a thousand stars. The view took Alex’s breath away and she craned her neck to and fro as the
Valispath
moved them towards the top of the cliffs.

She expected the
Valispath
to stop there, but they continued on, speeding through the gold trees as they quickly turned to silver.

“Where are we going?” Alex yelled over the wind.

Kyia turned to look at Alex, one eyebrow quirked. “Raelia, of course. Where else?”

“The
Valispath
can take us straight there? Why didn’t we use it the first time?”

“The Eternal Path can take us anywhere we want,” Kyia told her. “And you wouldn’t have had the chance to enjoy the beauty of Meya properly if you hadn’t first witnessed it from the top of the Golden Cliffs.”

Alex contemplated that as they continued speeding through the Silverwood and offered a meaningful, “Thank you, Kyia.”

The
Meyarin
tilted her head in acknowledgement as the
Valispath
began to slow, soon coming to a smooth stop.

“This is where our journey ends,” Kyia said when Alex and her friends were back on their feet.

“Sorry you didn’t get to shoot one of us,” Jordan said with a smirk.

Kyia mimicked his cocky expression. “There’s still time if you want a demonstration?”

“Ah, no,” he said, his smirk fading. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Let’s go before you say something stupid and end up with an arrow through your spleen,” D.C. said, dragging Jordan and Bear into the mushroom circle.

Alex smiled at Kyia once more and moved to follow her friends, but she paused when the Meyarin reached out to gently grasp her arm.

“Alex,” Kyia said quietly, using her name for the first time. “Be careful. Aven Dalmarta is… He’s the worst of our kind.”

Alex blinked at the Meyarin’s warning, touched by her concern.

“I will,” she promised. “I hope we’ll get a chance to meet again, Kyia.”

“As do I,” Kyia agreed with a slight smile, making her already stunning face even more radiant. With those parting words, she turned and walked away, disappearing into the trees surrounding Raelia.

Alex looked into the woods one last time then stepped over the mushroom boundary and approached her friends.

“Time to see how this return-trip deal works,” Alex said. Her intent acted like a command, prompting a doorway to magically appear before them. With D.C., Jordan and Bear all following close behind her, Alex stepped straight through, willing it to open into the painting-and-tapestry-covered foyer of the Library.

“Home sweet home,” Bear said once the doorway disappeared again behind them.

“What a day!” D.C.’s eyes were comically wide. “I can’t believe we’re still alive.”

“I won’t be for much longer if I don’t eat something,” Jordan said. “I’m starving.”

His stomach rumbled as if to emphasise his words, and Alex realised how hungry she was as well. And tired. Her day had been exhausting, yet it was barely sunset.

“Food, then bed,” she said. But she remembered something else and amended, “Food, Darrius, then bed.”

Jordan pointed to her bleeding wound where Roka’s blade had nicked her arm. “Food,
Fletcher
, Darrius, then bed,” he corrected.

“I can barely feel it,” Alex argued, but she knew he was right and nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like we have a plan,” D.C. concluded, linking her arm through Alex’s and leading the way up and out of the Tower.

Thirteen

Alex was jerked violently from her sleep
that night when a bloodcurdling scream nearly ruptured her eardrums. She was out of bed and crouching in a defensive position before fully waking, frantically searching the darkened corners of the room for any trace of Aven who she feared had somehow broken into the dorm.

She could see nothing out of place, but the screaming continued as D.C. thrashed around in her bed, clawing at her covers and waving her hands wildly.

“Dix?” Alex called, rushing over to her friend. She reached out to restrain D.C.’s arms to keep them from smacking her in the face. “Wake up, Dix!
Wake up!
”

“
Noooo!
” D.C. wailed. The sound was heart-wrenching and it caused chills to trickle down Alex’s spine.

D.C. continued to scream and fight, so Alex roughly shook her. When she finally woke, her demeanour changed almost instantly. One second she was screaming bloody murder, and the next she had her mouth closed and eyes wide open, looking up at Alex in confusion.

“Alex? What are you doing?” D.C. asked groggily, staring at her arms where Alex held them locked in a firm grasp.

“You were having a nightmare,” Alex said, releasing her. “You were screaming and everything.”

D.C. looked bewildered but then her expression cleared. Just as swiftly her eyes shadowed, and she looked away from Alex, swallowing thickly. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Hey, you can’t help what you dream,” Alex said. But then she remembered that sometimes D.C. actually
could
influence what she dreamed. Her friend’s gift enabled her to dream
true
dreams—dreams that showed the future. When D.C. had those dreams, she could choose to relive the visions anytime she wanted to gather more information.

“Dix, was that… Were you dreaming one of your, you know,
dreams
?” Alex asked.

D.C. looked up at Alex with eyes that were calmer than before, but still held a lingering trace of darkness.

“I’m sure it was nothing, Alex.” Despite her confident words, she didn’t sound certain. “I can barely remember it, so I think it was just a regular nightmare. Usually I have much more clarity when I have true dreams.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Alex offered.

“N—no,” D.C. said quickly. Then she cleared her throat as if to cover her abrupt answer. “I mean, it’s late, and I’ll probably have forgotten all about it by morning.”

“You sure?” Alex asked, not wanting to upset D.C. when she looked so vulnerable. “You know I’m here if you want to talk.”

“I’m good, but thanks. And sorry again for waking you.”

Alex told her not to worry about it and made her way back to bed. While D.C. seemed to fall straight back to sleep, Alex had trouble relaxing. Try as she might, she couldn’t get D.C.’s agonised screams out of her mind. But soon enough the events of her day in Meya and the exhaustion from having to relive every moment—except for the ones she promised Roka not to speak of—during her talk with Darrius caught up to her, and she drifted off into a restless sleep.

That was the first night D.C.’s screams woke Alex, but it wasn’t the last.

Every night for the rest of the week Alex was woken by the terrified noises of her thrashing roommate. When confronted, D.C. adamantly refused to speak about her nightmares, continuing to claim they were nothing. And while the night terrors lasted only a few minutes, they were so anxiety-inducing that Alex was rarely able to sleep much afterwards.

Within a few days both girls had dark circles under their eyes, and their lack of proper rest hadn’t gone unnoticed by their friends. But more worrying was that their exhaustion was beginning to cause problems in class.

D.C. was the first to reap the consequences when she failed to answer a question correctly in Medical Science. Professor Luranda ended up giving her a detention when her reply was, “Sorry, Professor. I was so bored that I zoned out for a moment there. Can you repeat the question?”

By the time Friday arrived, Alex was definitely feeling the effects of her barely-awake consciousness. Finn had nearly killed her that morning in PE, and
she
had nearly killed her entire class in Chemistry. Equestrian Skills had also royally sucked because she’d been so out of it during their forest ride that she’d ended up being coat-hangered by a tree. The impact had sent her flying off her horse and onto the ground, resulting in Tayla ordering her to go straight to the Medical Ward where Fletcher had thankfully treated her bruised ribs without comment.

If Alex thought things couldn’t get any worse after that, she was soon proven wrong. While Fletcher had been fixing her up with pain meds and a Regenevator to increase the healing speed of her injury, the heavens had opened up, bringing a downpour of rain across the entire academy.

“Perfect,” Alex groaned as soon as she stepped outside Gen-Sec and saw the liquid bucketing from the sky. Knowing she was
going to end up soaked no matter what, she stepped out into the rain and began to jog over to the Arena for her Combat class. While she ran, her thoughts grumbled about the lack of roofing over the amphitheatre. Sure, she’d had to take the class out in the elements before—rain, hail, snow, shine,
everything
—but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with the added inconvenience after the week she’d had.

Such was her luck that when the class actually started, the rain began falling even harder. Fabulous.

She made it halfway through the lesson before finally losing it.

“Fun, hey?” Brendan called over the violent sound of the downpour.

Alex could barely see him through the barrier of water. She could hardly see
anything
. But since they were supposed to be attacking each other, her lack of vision presented a serious problem.

“
So
much fun,” she returned sarcastically.

The truth was, Alex’s tolerance had reached its limit. But she continued to get the stuffing knocked out of her, knowing the class surely had to end soon. She was wet and miserable, and all she wanted was a long, hot shower and a good night’s sleep. Was that too much to ask?