Chapter Ten

Idris had honestly thought he’d been about to die. It had been hard to think about anything else as the orc had bore down on him, its gnarled branch of a club blocking out the sun as it was swung into position, ready to strike. It had been rather underwhelming: a sudden moment of brutal clarity that this was it rather than any grand montage of his life flashing before his eyes. He was about to die, and all he could think was: shit, I was going to adopt a dog.

He almost didn’t realise that Tam had called a stop to the fighting- time had tunnelled as the orc prepared to strike, and it took him a moment to realise that the reason why he was still breathing wasn’t to do with time having slowed, but rather to do with the fact that everyone had frozen where they stood, Tam’s words halting them in their tracks.

“I yield,” Tam said again, and this time Idris had the sense to scramble back away from the orc. He stood up and saw that Tam had thrown his sword to the ground, his hands in the air and his chin held high.

So this was it.

“Hold the others,” one of the goblins screeched, and several of the Unseelie moved to stand behind Arlyn, Yuli and George, holding blades to their throats.

“You will not trick us again,” another goblin told Idris, using their sword to force him into backing up to where Tam was standing.

No , Idris thought glumly, we won’t. They were out of ideas.

“I’m sorry,” he said to Tam, wishing he could reach out and take his hand one final time.

“As am I,” Tam said softly.

They watched as one of the red hatted goblins picked up a stone, muttering into it before throwing it into the river. Idris didn’t even have it in him to wonder what that meant- it didn’t matter, not now.

A minute passed in awful silence, then two, the only sounds the whispering of the trees and the soft, broken sobs coming from Yuli. Idris wanted to say something to Tam, wanted to comfort him, to reassure him, but he couldn’t find the words. Everything he thought of saying seemed hollow in the face of what was ahead. Of what they’d come so close to having.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence the water rippled, and Idris turned to see one of the Queen’s attendants rise up from the river, the water pouring off her skin and making the turquoise scales on her arms sparkle like jewels. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she took in the carnage around her.

“You are not the Queen,” one of the goblins said dumbly. “I thought we were to summon her .”

The woman inclined her head in acknowledgement. “I am Nene,” she said. “The Queen does not care to see such… disorder, and so I will bear witness to both the breaking of the vows and the swearing in of Tamriel to the Hunt.”

“And gold?” an orc asked, its voice low and sluggish.

Nene’s lips twisted. “You shall have it after the bond is broken.”

Idris swore that each Unseelie blade moved closer to the throats of their captives at those words, a silent threat that he and Tam had best end things swiftly.

Tam sighed, and slowly reached into one of his tiny belt pockets, bringing out the paper clip ring Idris had given him all those years ago. He held it out towards Idris, laying it flat in his palm.

“I hereby break our bond,” he intoned. “I renege my promise and return to you your token of our marriage.” Tam’s eyes were glazed over, as if he’d retreated deep inside himself in an attempt to shield himself from what was happening. Idris felt his heart breaking.

“Take it,” the goblin behind Idris hissed.

Idris startled, but reached out to take the paper clip ring. The second it left Tam’s skin it began to twist around itself in Idris’s hand, folding and turning over and over, smaller and smaller until it blinked out of existence. It was like it had never existed.

“Now you,” the goblin prompted.

Feeling as though he were in a dream, Idris’s fingers moved to his pocket, picking out the grass ring and holding it out to Tam. He choked out the words to renounce Tam’s love, trying his best to repeat exactly what Tam had said. Would it count if he didn’t truly believe it? If his words were hollow?

Idris’s question was answered when Tam took the ring from him, the grass withering away to nothing the moment it was held in Tam’s hand. The rings were gone, and so was their bond.

“It is done,” Tam said dully. He turned away from Idris, towards Nene. “Now let my family go.”

“Gold first,” the orc from earlier said.

Nene’s mouth was pressed into a thin line, but she reached into the folds of her dress and withdrew a large velvet pouch; she tossed the money over to the red hatted goblin who had summoned her.

“You may return to your King and tell him that his debt has been settled. The loss of so many of his subjects is… unfortunate, but perhaps appropriate considering the Seelie blood your kind spilt centuries ago.”

The goblin shrugged, too busy counting their money to care much about their fallen comrades. “Fewer to share with,” they said after a while, attaching the money pouch to their belt. They clicked their fingers and the rest of the Unseelie sheathed their weapons, stepping back from Arlyn and Yuli and George and regrouping around their leader.

Nene nodded, a courtesy that wasn’t reflected in her eyes, and the Unseelie were off, dashing back across the river with whoops and cackles. Arlyn and Yuli rushed over to Tam the instant they were gone, throwing their arms around him; Idris wasn’t sure what to do with himself, so he took a few steps back, giving Tam time with his sisters. Yuli’s knuckles were white as she gripped onto Tam’s middle with all her strength, and Idris found he had to turn his head away: it seemed too intensely private for him to witness.

“Venali Hunter: I trust you will see to it that Tamriel does not run from his fate,” Nene said, regarding the scene before with a bored expression. “He is not sworn to you yet.”

“I will hold him to his word,” Venali replied. Idris’s heart sank: he knew it was a foolish hope, but after Venali had joined them in battle he had hoped that he would stay on their side.

But that was the way of faeries, he supposed. Bound by endless unspoken laws and beholden to their word, no matter how wrong that was.

Idris was suddenly struck with an idea.

“Before you make Tam join the Hunt, could- may I have a final few minutes with him?” he asked Venali. Something approaching a smile flickered across Venali’s face.

“We should not delay any longer,” Nene snapped. “I am tired of this farce.”

Venali held up his hand to her and she closed her mouth, glowering at him.

“What do a few minutes matter in the face of an eternity?” Venali said. “Let the men have their final moment together.”

Tam’s head lifted up from where it had been resting on Arlyn’s shoulder to look at Idris. His eyes were clouded, the skin around them looking bruised and tired, and Idris felt nauseous. What if Tam refused to talk to him?

“I would like that,” Tam said softly, and Idris breathed a sigh of relief.

Tam extracted himself from his sisters and walked over to join Idris. Idris motioned for Tam to follow him, and tried to move them a little way away from the others, where they would not easily be overheard.

Nene’s eyes narrowed. “Do not-”

“If they attempt to run, I shall easily catch them,” Venali interrupted smoothly.

“I have reverted back to despising you,” Arlyn muttered to Venali. He looked amused by that.

Tam was silent as they walked, their footsteps falling in sync with each other until Idris brought them to a stop. They were far enough away from the others that they shouldn’t be heard, but they could still be seen, and so Idris made sure to angle himself so that his back was to the others.

Tam swallowed. “Idris, I-“

“Shhh. We only have a few minutes.” Idris said. He cleared his throat. “Tam- Tamriel. In these last few days you’ve come to mean more to me than I could ever dream. You’re patient and brave and funny and you don’t mind when I end up cuddling you in bed. You like it. Your heart overflows with a kindness that this world is not worthy of and I... I can barely say how happy I am that you have chosen me to be the focus of your love.”

He took a breath. “Tamriel of the fair folk, will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

Tam’s eyes widened. “But I-“

“You promised to break our bond, and you did- you said nothing about swearing off making a new one.”

Tam’s face broke into a grin. “You are brilliant.”

“I am, but we have to hurry. Will you marry me?” Idris hastily grabbed at the necklace around Tam’s neck, his fingers shaking as he untied it and shook the two rings off the cord and into the palm of his hand. He picked up the ring of silver thorns and held it out to Tam, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Tam,” he prompted, for Tam was still looking at Idris with a stunned look of adoration.

“I will. I accept this ring as a token of our bond.” Tam shook himself and took the ring from Idris, the metal somehow expanding in his fingers as he slipped it onto his middle finger. It fit perfectly.

“And you, Idris of the lands beyond, would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”

“Yes,” Idris said, unable to stop the urgency creeping into his voice. “Now give me a ring.”

Tam laughed, and took the rose ring from Idris’s hand, offering it back to him. Just like with the other, the ring grew in Idris’s hand as he moved it towards his ring finger. He paused, realising that Tam had placed his on his middle finger as they had when they were children, and slid the ring onto his own middle finger to match. A finger for a Faerie wedding, he thought. Perhaps one day they would get rings for their ring fingers too.

“Is that it?” Idris asked. “Is that enough?”

“I believe so,” Tam said, a smile on his face as he traced the band of his ring with his thumb. “But we will have to hurry after. Venali will not stop us, and though Nene can do little on her own she will report back to the Queen.”

“Then we’ll hurry.” Idris promised. On impulse, he took Tam’s face in his hands and brought him in for a long, deep kiss. He could taste salt, whether from tears or sweat he didn’t know, but also a distant trace of honey from the night before. Tam tasted like relief and release and the promise of things to come and a kiss shouldn’t taste like that, Idris knew, but it was Tam and somehow it made sense.

“Enough of this!” Nene snapped, her voice the echo of a wave breaking over the bow of a ship.

“Yes,” Tam murmured, his grey eyes shining as he looked at Idris’s own. “Enough.”

He turned away from Idris and walked back to where the others were waiting, and Idris followed on his heels.

“I will not join the Hunt,” Tam announced to Nene. “And unless you have bribed more Unseelie to sneak into our lands then there is nothing you can do to stop me.” He held up his hand to her, showing off the ring, and Idris felt a swell of pride at the sight.

“Oh,” Yuli said softly, her eyes wide as she looked up at Tam.

“Oh,” Arlyn said, sounding faintly impressed.

“No.” Nene’s voice was cold, and she shook her head at Tam’s words. “No, I will not allow it. Venali Hunter, you will not allow it. Strike Idris down where he stands, and take the girl next. If Tamriel is stubborn enough to outlive both of his sisters then take his life too and be done with it all.”

To Idris’s surprise Venali began to laugh, a great booming sound that sounded like distant rockfall, the sound of tectonic plates crashing together, echoing in the rustling of the trees around them.. “I can do nothing,” he told Nene. “I said I would hold Tamriel to his word, and his word is that he has once again pledged his life to another. I must honour that.”

“But that was not what you meant,” Nene hissed. “Not when you said it.”

“Was it not?” Venali raised an eyebrow. “I dare say I know my own intentions better than you could ever guess.”

“The Queen will hear about this,” Nene said. “When she hears about what you have done she will bring her anger down upon you like none have ever felt before. The Hunt will not be welcome in her Court, and no more shall you fill your ranks with Seelie forces.”

“If the Queen thinks that then she is a fool,” Venali said dismissively. “All of the Seelie land shall suffer if she interferes with the Wild Hunt, and she knows it.”

Nene spat at his feet, her eyes flashing. “Traitor.”

Venali’s face darkened at her words, and he crossed the distance between them in three great strides. His arm snapped out, his hand coming to rest around her throat, lifting her clean off the ground. Nene gasped for air, her own hands coming up to clutch at Venali’s as her feet kicked feebly in the air.

“Your work here is done,” he told her, his voice rumbling. “Go crawling back to your Queen, and tell her she has played the Hunt for the last time. We are not a party to be toyed with.”

The sky seemed to darken around them as Venali spoke, and Idris found himself moving closer to Tam as a chill swept in from the river. It lasted only an instant, vanishing as soon as it appeared as Venali threw Nene into the river, her body collapsing gracelessly into the water. She glared at him, her eyes piercing sapphires as she slowly sank below the surface.

“You should not have let her go,” Tam said, breaking away from Idris. “She will only tell the Queen what has happened here.”

“Good,” Venali said simply.

“But she’ll try and stop us from leaving,” Idris added, cold fear once again forming in his stomach.

“Then you must travel swiftly.”

Venali whistled, and Idris heard the sound of hooves rushing over ground growing nearer and nearer. In an instant both Grey and Velvet Night were stood before them on the beach, their heads bowed slightly as Venali strode over to them. Venali took Grey’s head between his hands and said something in a low voice that made the horse’s head snap back up, his eyes alert. Idris couldn’t make out the words, but it seemed as though Venali was having an in-depth conversation with Grey, the horse nodding along as though he were truly listening.

“What’s he doing?” Idris whispered to Tam as they watched Venali move across to Velvet.

“I wish I knew,” Tam replied.

Just like Grey, Velvet seemed to nod as Venali murmured to her. She tossed her mane as he moved away, her eyes briefly flashing as golden as Arlyn’s before returning to their normal colour.

“What did you do to my horse?” Arlyn demanded. She had a long cut down one arm and a shallow one across her brow, but she didn’t seem to notice either as she glared at Venali.

“I have granted your mounts the swiftness of the Wild Hunt, the better for you to escape the confines of this kingdom. The Queen will expect you to pass through on land: avoid her by taking to the skies.”

“You’ve made the horses able to fly ?” Idris couldn’t quite believe it. Venali nodded, and Yuli gasped in excitement.

“Why are you helping us? The Wild Hunt does not take sides,” Tam asked. He seemed cautious- understandably so, in Idris’s opinion.

“For centuries the Hunt has taken those that both Seelie and Unseelie have found undesirable, as the Queen had intended for you. They have called on me time and time again to leave my work and travel to their Courts more times than I can rightly recall, and as such I am owed a due. Giving you aid against the Queen goes some way to repaying that debt.”

“I doubt she will see it that way,” Arlyn remarked.

“Perhaps not,” Venali agreed. “But there is little she can do, and by then it shall be too late for her to interfere in your lives.”

“This will aide us greatly,” Tam said solemnly.

“Yeah, thanks,” Idris added. Venali seemed bemused by the thanks, but nodded in acknowledgement. He turned to Tam and nodded again, a deeper gesture that time, more akin to a bow.

“You would have made a great hunter, Tamriel, but I cannot rightly say I am sorry you will not be joining our ranks. The Wild Hunt is torturous for some and freeing for others, but it is only you who can decide what it will be. For you to join us under these circumstances… I fear it would not have been fitting.”

Tam nodded his thanks to Venali, who gave him a rare smile and turned to Idris.

“You would also have found honour in the Hunt I feel,” he said. “If you ever tire of the mortal world and wish for something more we would be honoured to have you join us.”

“Always nice to have options,” Idris said lightly.

Venali studied him for a moment, as though unsure what to make of him, before saying: “You must go now, but Arlyn, I would have some final words with you as well before you depart.”

Idris rather got the impression that Arlyn was being called in to the head teacher’s office to be given detention: she had spent a good part of the last half hour shouting and swearing at Venali with varying degrees of aggression, and if Idris had learnt one thing about Faeries during his week with Tam it was that insults weren’t forgotten lightly.

“If you must,” Arlyn sighed dramatically. “Though I shall warn you if I do not like your words I will not be as easily cowed as Nene.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Venali said, inclining his head towards her.

Arlyn nudged Yuli to go and stand by Tam, then walked over towards Venali. Just as when Venali had enchanted the horses, Idris couldn’t make out what he said to her, but when she came back to them she was smiling slyly to herself.

“What did he say?” Tam asked her.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Arlyn smirked, and set about lifting Yuli up onto Velvet Night’s back before Tam could push her further.

“And what of you, kelpie?” Venali turned his attention to George, who until that point had been busying himself exploring the bodies of the dead Unseelie with his teeth. Idris was glad he wasn’t squeamish about blood, as when George lifted his head to look their way his mouth was stained with blood and viscera.

“I will stay here,” George said. “Though the bodies of the fallen are not as fresh as those of the living I think I shall still enjoy consuming them.”

Idris was more than a little relieved- part of him was beginning to worry that George would be coming with them as they fled back to the human world.

“You do not wish to join the Hunt?” Venali asked.

“I very much do not wish to fly,” George said. “But should the Hunt ever take to the rivers I shall join your ranks in a heartbeat.”

“Very well.” Venali smiled, and George licked his lips before turning back to the orc at his feet.

“Farewell to you all, then,” Venali said, and Idris fought against the odd urge to salute, or bow. “If we should meet again I can only hope it is under circumstances more favourable than these.”

“Farewell, Venali Hunter,” Tam said, and Idris hurried to echo his words. Yuli shouted her own goodbyes to him and waved, and Arlyn merely nodded in his direction as she mounted Velvet Night behind Yuli.

Venali made no effort to move away as Idris and Tam mounted Grey, and did not even so much as raise his hand in farewell as Tam clicked his tongue and set Grey off on a trot away from the river.

Idris wrapped his arms loosely around Tam as Grey picked up the speed to a gallop, well used to travelling on horseback by now, but his stomach gave an unexpected lurch as Grey suddenly lifted into the air, each step taking them higher and higher into the sky.

“Hold on tight,” Tam called over his shoulder to Idris. “I will not lose you now, not after so much.”

Idris grinned and tightened his grip on Tam, his pulse hammering and his heart soaring as the ground dropped away beneath them. He couldn’t help it: he laughed aloud, the cold air of the sky rushing into his lungs and filling him with ice. It shocked him to his core, sparking through his body and making him feel alive. He could feel Tam’s own answering laugh rumbling through his chest where they were pressed together, warming him against the chill.

They were untouchable, soaring high above the land of Faerie on a wind born of a magic Idris no longer cared to try and understand. Why did it matter how things worked, why did any of it matter at all?

Yuli let out a whoop of joy beside them, the noise almost lost to the wind. Arlyn was silent, but she had a wide grin on her face, a smile that only grew wider as she looked across at Tam and nodded once before digging her heels into Velvet Night’s sides and urging her onwards, faster than before.

They were racing now, Grey and Velvet hurtling through the sky without any effort on their parts at all, each horse breathing as easily as though they were only walking. Yuli was cheering, urging Velvet on, and Idris couldn’t help but smile as Tam bent forward over Grey, straining as he tried to gain an edge over his sisters. The ground was a blur of green below them, the sky free of all clouds and stretching out before them in a blanket of blue, and Idris forced his eyes to stay open against the stinging wind so that he could enjoy every second as much as he could.

To his disappointment their flight barely lasted ten minutes, their horses making short work of traversing the skies of Faerie before heading back down towards the woods. He had thought they would fly all the way back to his realm, had hoped that they would never need to touch the ground again.

“I do not know the way to your world through the skies,” Tam explained as Grey’s hooves struck the ground.

They were still hurtling forward at a great pace, as fast as Idris had ever ridden. Trees flashed by them, rows of flowers lining their path and Idris suddenly realised that he knew this path: it was the one he and Tam had walked along when he’d first entered Faerie. They were close now, he could feel it, the pull of the portal- of home - growing stronger every second.

Something felt off, though, a vague sense of unease that something wasn’t right that Idris couldn’t put his finger on until he saw it: the flowers were all drooping, their petals wilting on the ground, the grass around them withering and drying up in larger and larger patches.

“Tam,” he said, trying to draw his attention. “Something’s wrong.”

“We are so close now, Idris,” Tam replied, “we should not stop.”

“There’s definitely something-“

Idris’s words were lost to the air as both he and Tam were suddenly flung from Grey’s back, an invisible force tearing them from the horse and bringing them crashing to the ground. Idris’s head was throbbing, his entire body aching from the fall, and he looked around in desperation as he struggled to his feet, thankful that none of his bones seemed to have broken.

Arlyn and Yuli managed to pull up safely behind them, whatever strange blow that had hit Grey leaving them be, but Arlyn’s mouth had fallen open in shock and Yuli looked on the verge of tears again.

“Tam,” Idris said desperately, “Tam, what happened?”

“She happened,” Tam replied, his voice grim. Like Idris, he was by luck little more than bruised by the fall, but his face had fallen and his eyes were dark as he looked at a spot over Idris’s shoulder.

Idris had expected to see The Queen when he turned around, but he had not expected such a sight of pure unbridled fury. The cool composure he had last seen her show was gone, replaced by a harsh anger that seemed to radiate out from her: the grass and flowers around her had shrivelled away to leave dead, barren earth behind, the smell of sulphur and charcoal heavy in the air. Her eyes were black, her hair woven through with ropes of thorns, and the whole forest shook as she took a single step forward.

“You,” she said, her voice resonating through Idris’s bones as she raised a hand and pointed an elegant finger at Tam.

“You could not just fall into line, could you,” the Queen said, her face contorting into a terrible grimace. “You had to disobey me at every little step, undermining me, undermining the natural order of things.”

“So why not just let him go? He’s just one person, why not let him be?” Idris found himself saying, his mouth not quite yet caught up to the fear in his heart.

The Queen laughed, a harsh and terrible sound that set every hair on Idris’s body on edge. “You truly do not understand how things work here, do you, mortal? You have spent a week here and yet learnt so little. I suppose I cannot expect someone as insignificant as yourself to understand power. To know what it takes to hold on to it.

“It is never ‘just one person’. Look around you. Look . First Tamriel disobeys me, then his sisters, then the leader of the Wild Hunt himself. If I allow one person to act against me then I allow the entire kingdom to begin to think they can challenge me.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “You wish to truly understand power? To see what it is that I must try so hard to cling on to?”

Idris didn’t reply, and the Queen narrowed her eyes.

“Take Tamriel in your arms,” she demanded. “ Take him . If you are still holding him at the end then you may have him. You may flee to your miserable little world and what has happened here will never be spoken of again.”

“And if I’m not holding on?” Idris asked, a pit forming in his stomach.

“Then I will deal with you both, once and for all, whether you comply or not.” The Queen lifted her hands in the air, her fingertips beginning to crackle with sparks of a vibrant black energy.

“Take him, Idris,” Arlyn cried out, and Idris realised that Tam had begun to crackle with the same black sparks.

He pulled Tam towards him, wrapping him into as tight an embrace as he could. The Queen laughed, and Idris could feel static in the air, on his skin.

“I will not harm you,” Tam said, his voice oddly serene despite everything that was happening. “But I will not blame you for letting go.”

Idris brought one hand up to cradle the back of Tam’s head, bringing him in as close as he could. He could feel Tam’s heart pound in his chest, Idris’s own heart echoing the beat as he tried to ready himself for what was to come.

“I’m not letting go,” Idris whispered, burying his face into the crook of Tam’s neck. For one brief, wonderful second it was almost like the two of them were alone in the world, untouchable and eternal so long as they had each other.

Then Tam vanished.

Idris was dimly aware of Yuli screaming, of Arlyn’s sharp intake of breath, but what he was most aware of was that the spot where Tam had been was now occupied by a large, grey snake. The snake hissed, its body coiling and spiralling along Idris’s arms, squeezing them together- Idris would have dropped it were it not for the snake’s own determined efforts to twine itself around Idris’s body, and once the first shock had vanished Idris redoubled his efforts to hold on. It was still Tam, he told himself. He couldn’t let go.

No sooner had he grown comfortable holding the snake then the same black energy from before surged again, sparking along the length of the snake until suddenly, the snake was replaced by a silvery squid. Idris closed his eyes. He hated sea creatures, hated their wet, slippery skin and their bulbous eyes. The squid - Tam - writhed in his arms, the suckers on its tentacles catching on Idris’s hands and making his skin crawl with the sensation. Idris was thankful he was still wearing his jacket- he couldn’t bear the thought of those tentacles on his bare arms, and he had to suppress a shudder at even the thought.

He didn’t see the crackle of energy this time, but when the slippery touch of the squid disappeared to be replaced by soft, heavy fur Idris opened his eyes again. Tam was now a bear. The bear roared, and angrily tried to swat one huge paw at the Queen, the motion almost pulling him free from Idris’s hold completely.

“Hold on, Idris!” Arlyn called from the side, fear and hope and pain written clear across her face, her normally guarded expressions long forgotten.

The Queen cursed as bear-Tam swiped at her again, and raised her hands once more just as Idris tangled his fingers in the bear’s fur in an attempt to hold on.

This time Tam shrank in Idris’s hands, the black sparks surrounding him quickly replaced by flickers of red and gold as he burnt up. Idris’s heart pounded in his chest as Tam caught fire, all semblance of form leaving him as he collapsed into a burning coal. Idris’s hands were burning, flames licking up to his elbows as the coal in his hands seemed to blaze hotter and hotter. He dimly registered that his hands stayed untouched, seemingly unaffected by the fire spreading across them, but the pain , the pain was like nothing he had ever felt before in his life.

The fire consumed Idris’s every sense, its light burning his eyes just as the heat scorched his nerves, the roar of the flames drowning out all other noise. Idris couldn’t hold on much longer, he couldn’t, there was no way-

“The pond!” A voice pierced through the crackling of the fire, strong and sharp. Arlyn.

Idris struggled to make her out through the smoke, her face nothing but a blur around him as smoke shaded his eyes.

“You must take him through the portal, to the pond.” Arlyn appeared at Idris’s side, her hands blissfully cool as she placed them over his own, tightening his grip on the flaming coal. “ Now , Idris.”

She tugged him after her, pulling him along to the portal, Yuli’s smaller hands soon joining to push at Idris’s back, spurring him on. The Queen was screeching from somewhere in the distance, her voice becoming more and more shrill but Idris barely heard her. His vision tunnelled, the world turning to ash and silence all around him as he was guided forwards by the hands of Tam’s sisters.

Every step was agony, his lungs filling with a smoke that wasn’t entirely there and yet made him gag and cough, his breathing laboured as he tried to focus on placing one foot in front of the other over and over. He heard the sound of hooves behind him, felt a rush of wind as their horses rushed past them and vanished into nothing. They must be close, they must be, he couldn’t see anything-

A wash of cold came crashing over Idris, a blissful, blessed ice that soothed the burning pain in his hands. He could breathe again, his lungs free of smoke and he gasped, gulping in the sweet night air. A laugh of relief came from inside him, piercing through his surprise, and Idris blinked away the last of his tears to see that he was standing by the side of the pond portal. He was home.

“Tam,” he said, feeling a sudden stab of panic as he realised his hands were empty.

“Here,” came a faint reply, and Idris looked down to see Tam lying on his back on the ground, back to himself. His face was smudged with soot and his fingertips were white with ash but he was Tam and he was alive and they’d done it.

As a burst of fireworks shot through the sky above them Idris sank to his knees beside Tam, tears streaming down his face and laughter bubbling up from his chest as he let out a long breath of relief.

They were free.