Chapter 34

KNOX JERKED AWAKE TOthe sound of beeps. Krys stood over him pushing gems on the side of Eirwyn"s glass coffin.

Knox pushed to his knees, every muscle screaming at him as he grunted. Krys didn"t take his eyes off his work, his fingers flying as he said, "Something"s wrong. She"s not coming out of the Beyond."

Knox" chest burned, his hand–now covered in small scales–on the glass. "What can we do?" His voice was raspy, and he needed a drink of water.

"I want to make sure we"re not missing something, so we"re going to hack into the mansion to see if we can replay the memories."

Knox looked at him dumbfounded and blinked. "What the hells does that mean?"

Behind him, a scraping sound came from the open door. Ashur carried a mirror that was nearly four feet tall and barely fit in the corridor. He stood it up against the metal wall as Flint came in behind them.

Slate and Stone connected metal tubes to either side of the mirror"s frame, then connected it to a cylindrical metal stick similar in size to the glow sticks and flame blade.

Then they handed him the stick. "Hold this," one of them said.

Knox wrapped his hand around it, then Krys pushed buttons on the side of the mirror. The stick became warm in his hand as the gems on either end lit up. The glow from the gems traveled down the tube to the mirror"s frame, making it light up.

Ashur"s eyes widened. "Is this one of the king"s spy mirrors? I"ve heard of these."

Krys scowled. "No, that technology was stolen from us long ago. This is an original and safe from him. It"s a memory mirror."

The mirror flashed a brilliant blue light, then he saw himself running through the hallway of the mansion. He watched as they fell through the glass door to the ballroom then again inside the ballroom. He saw Eirwyn lift in his hands and grab the apple.

He felt his cheeks heat as the dwarves saw him stick his nose between her legs. Krys sighed but the others snickered.

Ashur whistled low. "About damn time."

Then he saw Eirwyn eat the apple and fall. Knox" stomach dropped and twisted, guilt clawing at him. A ringing began to pound into his head, and he rubbed his temples with his free hand.

Krys pressed some gems and the memory in the mirror slowed. Krys clicked something to stop the image. He clicked on the mirror and zoomed in on the background. A wall of portraits hung of varying sizes, but one was not a portrait at all.

No, it was a mirror.

The telltale shimmer of magic showed a man in royal finery, the man"s hand outstretched as he shot a beam of magic to the dragon skeleton. Krys slowly let the image play.

A flash of light shot out when she bit into the apple, and Krys cursed. "By the beards of Avalon, what was that?"

Krys stepped away from the mirror and back to the coffin. Knox frowned in worry. If Krys was confused, then they were well and truly doomed. The dwarf always had an answer to any problem.

He turned the stick over to one twin while the other powered it off.

"What does it mean?" Knox asked, rubbing his forehead. His hands were clammy, and his body shivered in the cold, metal room as he stood in pants and boots.

"That was the king. He was tracking her and is still trying to kill her. We need to keep her in stasis for a few days to see if she"ll heal. It will also help hide her from the king."

Knox shook his head, his thoughts fuzzy. "If he knows Eirwyn is alive, that means Red is in danger. She might"ve failed in her mission to give him a false heart."

Ashur sighed and stepped toward the coffin. "Actually, that"s why I"m here. I came looking for you because Scarlet has been captured."

Knox" blood ran cold even as his rage began to simmer. He"d failed Eirwyn and now Scarlet too. Was there anyone he could protect? Some king of the forest when he couldn"t even protect two little women.

The words overwhelmed him as he stared down at Eirwyn. The pressure on his chest increased, threatening to bury him in an avalanche of emotions. It wasn"t fair. If they couldn"t bring her back from the Beyond, then she would die.

It was his job to protect her, love her, mate her.

A ringing in his head began to grow. It was a feeling, a pressure, an idea that wouldn"t let go. It sank into his mind and before he could think about it too much, he leaned over and kissed her red lips.

He saw green swirls of light mix with blue. A jolt of energy shot through him like lightning, then he slumped into darkness.

****

Knox drifted throughthe clouds and blinked rapidly. His eyesight was better than it"d ever been. He could see for miles. Hells, he could even see the deer in the field below him as it frolicked with its mother.

He took a deep breath of the crisp, clean mountain air.

He looked down, his eyes widening as his breathing turned shallow. He glanced to the side. He had wings, great, giant wings. They shone iridescent green and brown in the sunlight.

A slow pump of his glorious wings, and the wind sliced around him, almost causing him to fall. He turned this way and that, slowly writhing through the air and learning how to maneuver this huge body.

A glance down, and he saw his hands and feet were now four sharp scaly claws. He snorted, and green gas shot out of his nostrils, sinking through the air and dissipating in the clouds.

He circled the mountains, dipping low and learning how to shoot high in the air. The freedom and joy that came from flying was unlike anything he"d ever felt before.

No, that wasn"t true.

He"d felt this same intense feeling when he was with Eirwyn.

He sucked in a quick breath, his heart racing with a stab of worry. Where was Eirwyn?

At the thought, his head turned to the south to the foot of the mountains. It was like she was a beacon of light. He knew exactly where she was as if he were staring at the wayfinder and zooming in on her location.

He flew over the forest, his mind racing as he saw her signal from the dwarves" lodge. His body twisted and pain shot through his side. He was being ripped in two. His claws spasmed, and he screamed as he fell.

Water went up his nose, making him jerk. A hand shoved his head into a horse trough. His tail went up, but something grabbed it.

The hand on the back of his head lifted, and he came up for air, gasping. He blinked and looked around. Several dwarves held tightly to his tail, sitting on it to keep it from stabbing someone.

Ashur backed away, his hands raised and water dripping down his forearms. He frowned but there was relief in his eyes.

"Easy, mate. We figured it was worth a shot," he said.

Knox sat back on his haunches, and the dwarves scrambled off of him. He looked around. He wasn"t in the metal cave anymore. Now he was in the stables area of the workshop.

"Eirwyn–" His voice was hoarse as he stood, shaking his head.

Ashur and Krys exchanged a look, and it made Knox" heart race. He ran through the still open door and down the narrow hallway. He found Eirwyn back in the coffin, the glass covering her and the blue mist surrounding her inside.

He laid his hands on the glass. "Eirwyn," he whispered.

Krys" voice sounded far away even though he stood at Knox" elbow. "We"ve done all we could. Your kiss changed her vitals, though."

"For the worse?" Knox croaked, afraid that his poisonous breath would kill her faster. It felt like a knife was stabbing him in the stomach over and over.

Krys shook his head. "Not necessarily. Her body is trying to fight the Beyond now."

"She–she"s alive?" Knox asked, the pressure on his chest tightening.

Krys nodded. "For now, yes."

"How long can she stay in here and fight the Beyond? Has anyone ever come out of it safely?" he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

He"d heard the warnings all his life from Olive. The Beyond was dangerous, more so than even the deadliest parts of the forest.

Krys paused, then rubbed his large stomach and sighed. "The stasis chamber was made for dwarves. With the different biology and cell structure–"

"How long?" Knox demanded. The tone was sharp, the one he used with the Robins when they were training in how to survive in the forest.

The silence in the room was heavy, and it pressed on him. His eyes stung, and he felt like he couldn"t breathe.

"Three days," Krys said softly. "If she"s not awake in three days..."

Knox leaned his head on the coffin and closed his eyes. He"d failed her. They wouldn"t have the chance to argue over where to live or for him to convince her to stay by his side forever.

A single tear rolled onto the coffin, the blue smoke inside following the liquid as it slid down the side.

"Open the coffin," his voice was rough with emotion.

The dwarves murmured behind him that it was a stasis chamber, not a coffin, but Knox ignored them as Krys pressed keys on the side. The glass slid over, and the blue gas dissipated.

Knox brushed her hair back from her face, the knot in his throat making him swallow hard. He leaned closer and whispered, "I"m sorry, Eirwyn."

Then he pressed his lips to hers once more. Her lips were soft, and he wondered how they"d mated multiple times but had never kissed before arriving at the dwarves stronghold. Tears and water from the trough dripped onto her, and he pulled away.

She wouldn"t like the dirty horse water. He cleaned her face as the pressure built, his eyes blurring.

Pain seared through his chest, and he wanted to scream.

He held it in, let the pressure build. His hands lengthened, aching. He straightened and turned away, tilting his head up high. He didn"t meet the gaze of anyone as he walked out of the lodge and into the forest.

It took all night for him to regain control of his emotions. His body burned in pain, his skin and scales shifting. He grew massive claws, then they went back to hands, then claws again.

He hunted deer and rabbits, bringing each carcass back to the lodge before going back out. He took his axe and chopped down dead trees.

But he couldn"t bring himself to start another sapling in its place. All he saw was death and destruction, not new life. The shadows enveloped him in the night, reminding him of Eirwyn. His cheeks turned cold in the frigid night air, the storm bringing a cold front that suited his icy, empty heart.