Three days until the war

In the darkness, guided only by the light of the moons, I trudged through the woods to the lake. Raydir and I had been making tremendous progress in our clandestine meetings over the last few days.

“Ray?” I whisper-shouted into the night. “You there?”

“I’m here.”

I turned around and smiled as he walked toward me. “Hey. I was beginning to think you bailed.”

“Nah, I just had some trouble sneaking out of the cabin. You know, with Caesaria still staying with me and Izel spending the night—”

“Izel is spending the night now?” I asked. Wow, that was…fast. But I wasn’t one to talk considering I’d started up my relationship with Darius before Ray and I were completely over.

“Yeah, we um…” Raydir trailed off and ran a hand through his hair. “So, training. What do you want to work on tonight?”

“Smooth. Um, since you’re doing well with using your powers on your own, maybe we can use them in tandem with mine. It’s what we’ve been doing in training with Fletcher, but this is a more controlled environment.”

“Rocks and water?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Stop selling yourself short, Ray. You can do more than just lift rocks. But let’s start there for now.”

Raydir moved his hands out in front of him, narrowing his eyes. A few of the rocks on the ground rose up and circled in front of us.

“Good, now keep that momentum.” The wind started to blow around us, whipping my hair around my face. I focused my energy on the water, creating small bubbles. Swiping my hands to the side, the bubble floated toward the rocks, absorbing over the rocks to trap them. I pushed my hands forward, signaling for Raydir to do the same. The bubbles burst and sent a spray of rock dust in all directions.

I smiled. “Well done. Now that’s the kind of action we can take to get us an advantage during the war.”

“Can I try something?” Raydir asked.

I nodded.

Raydir raised his left arm, his gaze focused on a tree that leaned over the lake. He pulled his arm down with his hand in the shape of a fist. A vine protruded from the bark of the tree, swinging out over the lake.

“Nice one. Will it hold?”

“Only one way to find out.”

I wrapped my hands around the vine, tugging at it to test support. When I was satisfied that it would hold, I pulled myself up and pushed off toward the middle of the water. With my hands pointed down toward the surface, small stepping stones appeared in midair. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Raydir standing on the bank, his eyes focused on the stones beneath my feet. I let go of the vine, wobbling slightly in midair. It turned out that when I wasn’t in full control of the stepping stones beneath my feet, my balance was completely thrown off.

Letting out a shriek, I tumbled into the water below. In all fairness, nothing could’ve prevented that from happening.

I emerged from the water, wiping droplets out of my face and ringing out my hair. “Well that was certainly an adventure.”

Raydir covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing. I whisked a spray of water in his direction.

“I totally deserved that,” he said sputtering. The grin on his face warmed my heart. He was acting like his old self, the one who could tease and not worry about anything else going on in the world except for what was happening in that moment.

But the moment didn’t last as long as I would’ve liked.

“Um, listen. We should probably get some sleep. The reverse wolf suppressor will be ready in the morning, and I want to make a jump on testing it out. The healers will then work on making enough of the suppressor for all of the rogues who join our forces in the war.”

“Speaking of, we still don’t know how many rogues Randel convinced to join our efforts,” I said.

“We’ll figure that out,” Raydir assured me. “Although you should be the one to give Randel the reverse suppressor because he trusts you more.”

“I will but you have to come with me. The more interactions he has with the valley before the war, the better things will be in the end. And if he senses distrust from us, he’s not going to want to help.”

“I still can’t forgive him for hurting you, Ar.” A look of regret flashed over his face.

“He wasn’t the one who did it. We don’t know which rogue it was, but Randel didn’t do it.”

We stopped outside of my cabin. The air had cooled down significantly, and I shivered slightly with the breeze.

“Go get a change of clothes,” Raydir instructed. “And meet me at the lake at dawn, okay?”

I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes. There was another electric pull between us; warmth and comfort spread through my body.

“See you in the morning,” I said, pulling away.

He dipped his head in a nod, and I twisted the doorknob to enter the dark cabin. I tiptoed quietly into my bedroom and changed back into my nightgown.

Darius laid sound asleep in the bed, snoring lightly. The sheets were positioned so that they only covered his lower half, leaving his bare chest visible.

I almost felt guilty for sneaking out, although I had told Darius after the first night that it was just to get in some extra combat practice. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. When I told him, he only hummed in thought but didn’t say anything else.

Once I was changed, I slipped into bed next to him, careful not to move too much. He groaned slightly, his fingers feeling for my body. I smiled and rested a hand against his arm as I laid down.

“I love you,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of tapping on my window. Darius was still asleep which was good because I was going to have to figure out a good excuse for why I was sneaking out mere hours after returning from my combat practice.

I hurriedly changed into my combat outfit and tied my hair up before rushing out of the cabin. Raydir greeted me, waving his hands around manically.

“I’ve been waiting long enough, where were you?” he whispered as he walked to the lake.

“Sleeping. And you nearly woke Darius with the incessant tapping. Are you insane?!”

“What?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you saying Mr. Blue Eyes doesn’t know that you’ve been sneaking out?”

I pushed past him. “Darius knows.”

“But he doesn’t know why.” Raydir jogged to keep up with me. “Don’t you think it’s a bit odd you haven’t told him the real reason?”

“And what’s the real reason, Ray? Hmm?” I pushed through the brush. “I agreed to help you with your powers because we connect on an emotional level. We’ve always had that, it’s nothing new. There’s nothing else going on here—no ulterior motive.”

“Right.”

I whirled to face him. “Did you have an ulterior motive? Last time I checked, you had a girlfriend. And Izel is my friend, too. So how do you think she feels about us spending all this time together?”

“Izel doesn’t know.”

“Yes, she does.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Okay, to get up to the top of the falls you have to—”

Raydir flicked his wrist, allowing a cluster of rocks to form a makeshift staircase going up the falls. “I have to do this?”

I smirked. “Show off.” Flicking my own wrist, I cocooned myself in the water to propel a jetstream up to the top. “Do you have the reverse suppressor?”

Raydir nodded and patted his pocket. “Right here.”

“Good.” I called out for Randel, my voice echoing through the woods. If anything, this was going to wake the entire valley before we even got our sites set on him.

Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait very long before Randel bounded forward out of the woods. He still limped on his front left paw.

“Randel.” I brushed my fingers through his fur. He closed his eyes and snorted in approval. “We have the reverse suppressor.”

Raydir stepped forward. “Um, right. So, I don’t quite know how you want to do this since it’s in a bottle. I didn’t quite think all of this through very well.”

“The syringe,” I whispered to Ray, nudging his shoulder.

“Right. Yes.” He fumbled for it in his pocket. “This is the amount we think you’ll need. Now because it’s not an Alignment, there shouldn’t be any adverse effects. We hope.”

“Ray!” I hissed. “Just give him the suppressor.”

He pulled at the top of the syringe and sucked up the liquid. Randel opened his mouth and Raydir squirted the mixture inside. Randel contorted his face, sticking out his tongue and eying the syringe suspiciously.

“Come on, Randel,” I urged. “You have to take the rest of it.”

He whimpered and pleaded with his eyes.

“Do you want to be human again?” I asked. “We’re doing this for you.”

Randel growled, but this one was more stubborn than his other growls. He reluctantly reached forward for more of the suppressor.

Once he’d downed all of the liquid, Randel began to morph back into human form. The transition was faster than it had been on the Alignment, and soon he was standing before us. Dark circles rimmed his under eyes and the skin on his arm was raw from where Darius had shot him. To my surprise, the wound was wrapped in leaves tied off using very thin grasses.

He coughed. “Thank you. But that stuff tastes so nasty.”

“It’s made from pretty much the same ingredients as the regular wolf suppressor, so yeah, I can understand that,” I said. “Do you want some water?”

“Please.” Randel eased himself onto a rock as I scooped some water up from the lake and transferred it to him. He took hold of the bubble, popping it into his mouth.

“How’s your arm?” I asked.

“It’s doing better than it was right after the injury. I have to say—that boyfriend of yours sure has an accurate aim. I have a knack for making healing pastes.”

“Wait a minute, you can control water and you’re a healer?” I asked.

Randel’s expression shifted, as if he realized he said something he wanted to keep secret. “Yeah. I, uh, well, Raydir is a healer and yields power over earth, right? It’s like that.”

I wrinkled my nose. Something pulled at the back of my mind. “No. That’s not what it is. Ray can do both of those things because he’s a chlorovoltae.”

Randel winced as Raydir helped him change the leaf wrap on his arm.

“Stay still,” Raydir instructed. He ran his fingers over the ground and closed his eyes. From the ground emerged witch hazel leaves and tea tree flowers. He used a rock to crush them into a paste which he spread on a new leaf and tied fresh watergrasses around it.

“Impressive,” Randel said, raising his eyebrows. “You’re almost as good as me. And that’s saying something considering I’ve done this for a hundred years.”

I paced around, drowning out the conversation between Randel and Raydir, and wracked my brain for answers. None of the research in Jasper’s journals said anything about Randel’s powers. Did it?

“Traitor,” that voice from my dream whispered again.

I’d replayed that dream over and over in my head a hundred times, but nothing made sense.

Then it hit me.

The library. Caesaria’s cabin. Darius knowing more about the elemental powers than anyone else in the valley. Darius shooting Randel the night on which we had no spare time.

Randel was the key. He’d even said as much to us before. And someone didn’t want us to know that. Someone wanted very much for us to never find out the truth. Someone who had a reason to hate rogues.

“...Arwyn?”

My gaze snapped to attention. “What?”

“Randel was just saying that the rogues have agreed to join the valley’s cause against the dukedoms,” Raydir said, frowning. “Where’d you go just now? Your eyes sort of just glazed over.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. I just…I need to go. Now. Randel, we don’t have much time before the war, so please do whatever you need to get the rogue prepared.”

He nodded. “I will. And the dagger—”

“Cae has it.”

“Good. She’ll need it.” He put out his hand and I took it. Lowering his voice, she continued, “You know.”

I nodded, fighting back the tears that sprung to my eyes.

“Then you know what needs to happen.”

“Arwyn, what is it?” Raydir asked.

“It’s nothing. I have to go.” Wiping the back of my hand against my face, I turned away and ran back to the waterfall. My energy summoned a wave to float me back down. I didn’t stop running until I got back to my cabin, banging the door open.

“Arwyn?” Darius called. He padded into the room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

“You stole the rogue research!” I yelled at him. “You…you’re the one who broke into the library and Caesaria’s cabin. You did all of it!”

Darius put his hands up in defense. “Arwyn, I can explain. You have to know, I never meant for you to get mixed up in—”

Slap. Without even thinking, my hand struck his face as tears stung my eyes.

Darius grunted, stumbling backwards.

“Y-you…you lied to me—about everything!” I hiccuped, gasping for breath. “It all makes sense now. The reason you know so much about the elemental powers—what is the real reason?”

He opened his jaw and winced at the pain from where I slapped him. “Arwyn, I never lied to you about the reason I knew so much about the elemental powers.”

“Tell me the truth! Tell me why you tried to destroy the rogue research.”

Darius lowered himself onto the couch. “Please, come here so I can explain.”

“No. You can explain it from there.”

“Fine. Look, the truth…the truth is that I’ve been looking into the rogue research for quite a long time. The libraries out in Gwyniar only had the general stories we learned in school. But then I found this really old book under the floorboards of the Gwyniar college library. The book had a dedication: Jasper Quinlevan.”

I shook my head. “Then why wait to come out to Darqua? If you knew the book was leading you there?”

“Because I needed a reason.” He reached out to me but I slapped his hand away.

“Don’t, just don’t!” My heart twisted in knots. “You used me to get to that research. Why? Did you ever love me? Was this all just a lie?”

“Arwyn, of course I love you. That’s what made this so difficult,” he said.

“I still don’t understand.” I reluctantly sank next to him. My body longed for his touch but my heart kept me frozen in place. “How did I fit into all of this? I’m not…”

“Most wolves escape to the valley when they first turn. If I left to join after years of hiding my identity in Gwyniar, I was worried I wouldn’t be accepted. But if I came because the girl I’d fallen for was able to figure out her true wolf identity, that had to be enough to get me where I needed to be.”

“So you used me.” The words turned to acid in my mouth.

“I needed to know the truth,” he said. “I needed to know if what I read in Gwyniar had any truth to it.”

“And you had to break into two places to find that?” I stood up again, frustrated that I was still getting nowhere.

“I made the connection between Randel and Caesaria almost immediately. Remember, I knew her when we were young. She’s the reason…she’s the reason I was a wolf by age ten.”

“So, what? This is a revenge story?” I stood up and put as much space between us as I could. “That’s why you showed up on top of the waterfall and shot Randel. You wanted to put an end to him, to the rogues.”

He swallowed, refusing to look me in the eye. “I had to know just how far you were willing to go to protect Randel. Caesaria is your friend, but Randel? You don’t know anything about him.”

“That’s a lie! He’s not a threat. He’s never been a threat.” I shook my head. It pounded with a sharp pain that pierced behind my eyes. “I have to get out of here.”

Without another word, I ran out of the cabin leaving Darius behind.

“Arwyn!”

“Leave me alone, Darius!” I shouted behind me, nearly colliding with another body in my path. “S-sorry.”

“Arwyn.” This time the voice was softer, calmer.

A pair of hands gripped my shoulder and familiar green eyes scanned over my face. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I shook my head, afraid that if I spoke only sobs would come out.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. “Arwyn, we have to go to the front lines.”

I sniffed and pulled away from him. “W-what do you mean? We still have two and a half days left.

Raydir’s expression turned grim. “One of the wolves on patrol alerted Bennett a few minutes ago. Emilia and her troops are about to make a surprise attack.”