58. AURELIA

Chapter fifty-eight

AURELIA

P atter.

Patter.

Patter.

Something was trickling down my face. It was cold and fresh.

A splat pounded on my face again. I opened my eyes. Lifting my fingers to touch what was dripping on my skin, I found it was water. Above me, a small hole in the tent allowed water to trickle inside, dampening the fabric with each drop.

Wiping my face again, I tried to remember everything that had happened. My mind strained as the memories blurred in and out of focus. The main events were fuzzy.

We went on the mountain. Belle and I flew in the air. Then we were transported. Then I blacked out.

The lunar maxz 1 … The moon's energy transported me.

Was I going mad? Did it actually happen?

The voices of everyone echoed in my head as they conversed outside. My throat was parched and my stomach burned with hunger.

Exiting the tent, I noticed everyone sitting around the dampened fire. The sky was dark. The moon hung high with the sky painted in a charcoal shade, the clouds holding wisps of vapor as the Celestials splattered the universe behind their moving formations.

The chatter silenced the moment I walked out. "Give her space, Luella," Angie reprimanded her. She dropped down, her face hanging low from the scolding. Luella seemed excited to talk to me about what happened today. I rubbed my eyes, unable to think clearly. I settled into the space beside Damian, feeling the warmth of his arm as it encircled my shoulders.

"Is my maxz based on the moon?" I whispered to him, still unbelieving the events of the day.

"Apparently," he whispered back. His deep, onyx-filled eyes glanced at me, smiling–looking at me like he cared.

The wind rushed past his fingers as he raised them to brush the strands of hair out of my eyes, placing his hand on my cheek. "I was about to check on you. I have been worried." I glanced behind us, unable to meet everyone's gazes. "Want to get out of here? Just for a little bit," he said. My mind was spinning with everyone's conversations, and my veins bubbled with anxiety.

"Yes," I gasped out.

His fingers intertwined with mine, pulling me gently into the depths of the woods. The others saw us leaving, merely exchanging glances before returning to their conversations. Clemmy's sly wink met my eyes, causing a rush of warmth to flood my cheeks. I definitely took her advice.

Damian brought me to a small area with an opening, a straight shot to the Celestials, and away from everything and everybody else.

I realized that the area that he brought me to was illuminated with some sort of light. Small sparks of fire outlined the small area we were standing in, flickering between flowers, however, not setting anything aflame. "How?" I mustered out.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Well, the others helped me."

"What did you have to bribe them with?" I wondered.

"Nothing. Turns out they also care for you, Aurelia."

A smile escaped my lips as I saw the tender details he laid out for me. Small flowers poked up out of the dirt that didn't belong in this part of the forest. They matched the pink tint of my hair, their seeds on the inside flourishing with a bright violet that matched the Warped Dial drink I had days ago in the castle. The trunks of the trees were engraved with hearts from the blade of a knife, and logs circled each other, creating seating.

It looked as if he had to ask for help from more than just Angie to make this happen.

"I love it. Thank you."

He cared for me.

"I know I still have a lot I need to make up to you," he said.

I was about to respond when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. Our bodies were touching, my breaths escaping, fluttering quickly out of my mouth. His mouth pulled up into a smirk, my hands not knowing where to go.

I refused to pull away from his eyes. I stared deeply into them, as if looking away would kill us both. He moved my hands to rest on his shoulders, and then he found my hips, holding me tightly. "You were brave to share the dances of your people, so I am going to show the ones of mine." He quickly dropped me in a lift, catching me, my head hanging back, the blood rushing to it. Something inside of me ignited, filling with exhilaration.

I knew the people of the Sardan Kingdom were more romantic with their dances, their songs, everything. But I had never been allowed to travel to experience it for myself.

"I didn't know I would be dancing with a moon goddess," Damian said, his breath wisping across my face.

"Stop it!" I told him.

He got closer, his mouth right next to my ear. "I didn't know how dark you were, my Shadow Queen."

Looking away with embarrassment, I realized that he was right. Angie said that the maxz for the Machmuax 2 breed was based on the rider's connection. Angie told me that the lunar maxz was the use of shadows, light, water, and moon phase manipulation dependent on the moon itself. It was something that felt so dark and so closed off. It didn't feel me. But maybe it was. Maybe Damian was right. Maybe I was darker than I thought.

"Use your fear as the weapon you are." Maybe I was a weapon.

My breath caught in my lungs as he picked me up and led me around the circle of lights he had created for us. His breath was hot and heavy, and I wanted to feel more of it. I wanted his gasps and breaths in my ear. I wanted his lips on my neck and his hands to cover more of my body.

His movements were swift and gentle, yet sexy at the same time. I would never have expected him to be such a wonderful dancer by the looks of his roughness and tattoos.

"You promised to teach me Satas Lerma , correct?" he said, as he gripped my waist, leading me in the dance he was teaching me.

"Should I be worried about what you're wanting me to teach you right now?" I joked, giggling.

"Teach me how to say, ‘I care about you, Aurelia.'" I smiled, squeezing his hand tight.

" Yana 3 wasainalai 4 malmai 5 yata 6 , Aurelia, " I said, pronouncing the syllables so that he could easily repeat.

He repeated it perfectly, swinging me into another dip, eyeing me ferociously, smirking, knowing that he said it exactly as it should be. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"One more," he said, swinging me around his body again.

"Let's hear it."

"How do you say, ‘I want your lips on mine again'?" His voice was unwavering, confidence overtaking his eyes as he stared into my own, gently biting his lip.

I stopped mid-motion in our dance, grabbed his face, and stood up on my tippy-toes.

Reaching above the tattoos scattered on his neck, I whispered, "I'll teach you when you beg on your knees again." He rolled his eyes this time, swinging me further and further through the vast area, but not on his knees.

"You're becoming greedy, my Queen," he said, his eyes concentrated and focused. "That's not our bargain, if you remember correctly." He swooped me low, my hair falling behind me, his hand strong beneath my back.

As he lifted me up, he held the dagger that was in my boot in his hands, twirling the bejeweled hilt between his fingers.

"Hey! Give it back!" I demanded, mesmerized that he took it without me noticing. "I thought you were a skilled assassin, not a thief."

He chuckled. "Sounds like your fault for underestimating me." I snorted, eyeing the blade in his hands. "Then teach me to say it. However, it just got more difficult. Teach me to say, ‘I need your lips on mine again. I need you, Aurelia.'"

His eyes fell on my own. Longingly. Desire. Cruel .

My eyebrows pulled together. The knife that was supposed to be mine hung in his hands as his eyes were preoccupied with my own.

I lifted my boot up against his hip, eyeing it for him to put the knife back. Stubborn as he was, he shook his head as his dimple showed, a slight smile on his lips.

Rolling my eyes, I leaned closer to him. "Yana 7 wasainalai 8 wimeiinaiman 9 uama 10 mash 11 mesmeiin 12 . Aurelia yana wasainalai wimeiinaiman." The dimple that I loved on his cheek grew larger, teeth showing as he smiled. He then pursed his lips together, his eyes growing warm.

His dark eyes not leaving my own, his fingers released the hilt of the dagger, letting it fall into my boot. "Yana wasainalai wimeiinaiman uama mash mesmeiin. Aurelia yana wasainalai wimeiinaiman," he repeated, his smile lingering.

***

We continued to dance for a while until exhaustion filled my bones; the energy depleted. My body ached, desiring for a break.

I felt drunk from my steps and our movements. My fingers tingled in an unnatural way. Then my arms and legs, and then it reached my neck. Stumbling back, my muscles shaking, he caught me. Our gazes intertwined. "Aurelia, you're…"

"Exhausted, yes," I said distractedly, realizing that I wasn't feeling normal.

"No, translucent." He was still holding me and set me down on the logs that were provided for us. I glanced around, watching the small flames still flickering on the outside of the area we were dancing in, circling around us.

"Huh?" I asked, peering down at my hands.

He was right.

My hands were almost see-through, and glowing. I peered up at the moon, which was shining brightly, its power magnifying my body with strength. "What?" I said again, completely dumbfounded. "What's wrong with me?" I couldn't help but ask. Worry creased his brow. He didn't know what was happening to me, either.

"This doesn't make sense."

"What are you thinking?" I begged, needing to know why my skin looked like a poisonous frog.

"Well, this is one of the side effects from the maxz Clemmy told us while you were passed out, but it doesn't make sense because you're not touching Belle…"

"I don't understand."

"I don't, either. Come here, let's go ask everyone."

His strong arms enveloped me, lifting me effortlessly off the ground, cradling me close to his chest. I nestled my face into the fabric of his shirt, feeling the rise and fall of his chest beneath me. The urge to tell him to let me down tugged at my thoughts, yet my weary limbs betrayed me, unable to muster the strength.

The weight of everyone's golden eyes was fixed on us as we passed through the trees.

"She's see-through," Luella said.

"What?" Abner and Angie questioned simultaneously as they approached us, their eyes fixed on me as if I were a creature in a museum. Damian dashed a look so fast at Abner, I knew he couldn't have missed it. There was still tension buzzing between them.

"Belle!" I called out in my mind, needing her now. I heard the rhythmic thud of her wings in the distance, answering my mental plea. I jumped out of Damian's arms and blasted flames upward, charring the trees that encircled us like a dome, making way for her to come down.

"You could've asked us to bring it down," Loker muttered, but I didn't care. I needed her now.

"Belle, what's happening?" I pleaded, feeling like a freak. She joined by my side, flapping down quickly, but not answering, knowing that this wasn't normal.

"Lia, try shadow-wielding," Abner demanded. Damian stepped in protectively, and I glared at him, telling him to stop, wanting to try anything for my skin to go back to normal.

"What? How?"

"Make shadows appear, or make our shadows move," he said, watching me intently. I walked toward Belle to touch her for the maxz to work. "Without Belle," he added.

My skin was turning translucent without touching Belle and using the maxz together.

Wielding my hands and putting imagery in my mind, I thought of a Deathly. Its form came to mind as I drew it out with my fingers, my eyes closed, concentrating.

A black shadow of a Deathly rose from my own shadow, swerving through the small area we lived in. It opened its mouth and looked like the image engraved in my mind, like a forever nightmare. The wings were bat-like with holes—the beady eyes of death. Everything was exactly to the point.

The Deathly I wielded swept its wings into the air, capturing and creating chaos. At first, there were gasps, not understanding that it was created from my shadow. However, the blackness of the shadow matched how it looked in real life. Its claws curled, ready to draw blood with a small scrape of its talon, ready to infect someone with the disease of death itself.

Panic in his eyes, Loker fell over a tree trunk, the object that he had whittled flying over with him. Luella screamed, watching as the shadow-formed Deathly dissipated, flowing down into nothingness, bleeding back into the original shadow of my body.

"Wow," Loker said, choking out the words as he picked himself up, brushing the dirt pellets clinging to his faded clothes.

"I have never seen anything like it," Abner said. Abner had the maxz of shadow work. However, with the lunar maxz , there was a lot more to it than shadows and the moon.

Damian's words rattled through my head, my Shadow Queen .

"Am I going to always be translucent at night?" I cried out, not wanting to look like an iridescent, poisonous frog for the rest of my life.

"No. I think you are just learning to control your abilities; some things will become easier and others more difficult. I think this is the start of you learning how to become invisible under the moon's light. It looks like you picked up shadow-wielding pretty easily though," Clemmy said, comforting my fear.

"I don't understand how she can use her maxz without touching Belle," Angie pointed out, her arms over her chest.

"I don't, either, but they say that the Machmuax breed is always unreliable," Clemmy piped in. I looked over at Belle. She nodded, almost smiling.

"Can she use the maxz as well without me?" I asked, pointing to Belle. "I thought you said we wouldn't be able to use it alone?"

"That's what I was taught growing up," Clemmy said as she huffed green strands of hair out of her face.

Abner's hands went to work, swiftly repairing the tear I scorched through the tops of the trees. The trees knit themselves back together; the vines trailing behind, reclaiming their place above us. My mind was racing so quickly that I couldn't even form an apology.

"So interesting," Loker's voice drifted up from where he remained sprawled on the ground, his attention fixed on the overturned log before him.

"Well, I need to go to bed," Angie abruptly stated, rolling her eyes. "Tomorrow is the day. Everyone else should go get some sleep as well," she muttered, rising to her feet and leaving for the tent that she and Abner shared. She was right. We decided that tomorrow would be the day we confronted Tobias or whoever else was involved with the Deathlies. We had to go to the castle to find the tethered connection.

***

Everyone sauntered to their assigned tents, ready to get some rest for the night. My mind felt heavy and exhilarated, thoughts clouding it. Despite my weary body, I couldn't get myself to lie down. The recent revelation of my Waxmau 13 maxz, concerns about the state of my kingdom in the face of the Deathlies, and the looming question of whether I could fulfill my quest to vanquish them once and for all kept me restless.

Twigs snapped behind me, and warm tattooed arms wrapped themselves around my neck. I looked upward at Damian. "Go ahead and go to bed. I'll be in soon," I said, inviting him to share my tent with me again. Pulling away from his arms, he grasped tighter, releasing a giggle from my mouth. He then loosened his grip and joined me on the log where I was sitting, his hand finding a comforting place on my thigh.

As we watched the dancing flames of the diminishing fire, he broke the silence as he said, "What's on your mind, Moon Goddess?" I didn't think he would ever get over it. Annoyed, I bumped him on the shoulder and he just laughed, with that deep chuckle that I dearly loved.

Listening to the crackle of the flames, I attempted to unravel my thoughts.

"I can't help but feel anxious about everything. Going back to the castle tomorrow, wondering who started this, finding out that my maxz with Belle is the Waxmau maxz , the unknown is eating me on the inside."

My fingers gripped the sides of the log with anxiety. Sighing, I released them, moving my hair behind my ears.

"Want to practice?"

"Practice what?" I glared at him through the slits of my eyes.

In a quick response, he swiftly withdrew the knife from his boot. The second knife that he kept with him. The same one reflected the moon's silvery hue off its sharp blade.

I smirked, realizing that he wanted to spar. Right here. Right now.

"Two can play," I said, more confidently than I felt. Abner said that I had to practice to perfect the maxz . I knew that I could shadow wield. With that in mind, I wanted to perfect that ability.

I was a weapon. I was going to use my fear to fuel the weapon I was.

Damian stood up, bowing as his hand reached for my own, helping me off the log and by his side. He then lunged, and I pulled the shadow from the nearby trees to come between him and me, creating a barrier between the knife and my stomach. The chill of the shadow sent shivers down my spine, causing the fine hairs on my arm to bristle with goosebumps. The shadow was physically solid, forcing Damian to stop in place, unable to move the knife further.

He raised his other hand, and my gaze instinctively darted to the shadow stretching beneath him, cast by the moonlight. Quickly, I used his shadow, lifting it, grabbing his hand. In disbelief, my eyes widened. It physically grabbed him, and was manipulating his body how I wanted it.

Grabbing a shadow from a nearby tree, I pulled it with the mental thread that I connected to it, flicking it our way, knocking the knife out of his hand, making him drop it with a plunk.

The burnt smell from the embers of the fire filled my senses, reminding me that we had put it out hours ago. We had been outside for the majority of the night, and couldn't see the clouds as the trees draped across, but they must've been sad as tears continued to leak through, patting our faces and the material of the tents.

"I'm impressed, my Shadow Queen."

Shocking Damian, I let the shadows loose and grabbed him myself. "Don't call me your Shadow Queen," I uttered, my voice more confident this time.

"What about my Moon Goddess?" he questioned, whispering.

Not removing eye contact, I lifted my leg, grabbing the weight of the dagger Damian had given me, grasping the hilt filled with gems between my fingers. Smirking, I gently tilted his head with my left fingers, the knife held in my right.

The reflection of my golden eyes shimmered in his own. Pausing, the tension was palpable as I lifted the knife in my right hand up to his throat. I was caught by the irony of it: I was holding the exact knife he had held up to my throat before. Power coursed through my fingertips. The stars on my nails glimmering as they matched the sky above.

Power. Control. Freedom.

I was strong, and I accepted my fate as the Shadow Queen. I had come so far and had gone through so much. No one could tell me what I was or what my fate was. I had the power to accept it, to choose it. Whether Scaleborne, scale slum, princess, non-heir, it didn't matter. I would decide my own fate. I would decide what people called me.

I held him close. He smirked as the knife was prickling his soft skin right beneath the facial hair that covered his chin.

"Call me your demon. Call me the one that dragged you to Haxnau 14 . The one that made you taste of death." He couldn't control himself, and all I had on my lips the rest of the night was him and the taste of his sweet tattoos lining his body that I claimed as mine.

1. Maxz (Mahz): Ability

2. Machmuax (Mock-mwah): Connection

3. Yana: Me/Myself/I

4. Wasainalai (Wah-say-naw-lay): Present tense

5. Malmai (Mal-may): Verb to care

6. Yata: Someone else

7. Yana: Me/Myself/I

8. Wasainalai (Wah-say-naw-lay): Present tense

9. Wimeiinaiman (Wim-ee-nay-mawn): The verb to need

10. Uama (Wah-ma): Something to have/Theirs/Yours/His/Hers

11. Mash (Mosh): Lips

12. Mesmeiin (Mehs-meen): Again

13. Waxmau (Wah-maw-ooh): Moon

14. Haxnau (Hah-nah-woo): Hell