Chapter Nine

The sun began to set on the western horizon as we reached the top of the hill to make camp for the night. I looked back at Sasha for the millionth time since leaving the Forgotten Forest. Her demeanor has not improved much at all.

Everyone could sense the change in her. The worry over what she had done, or rather, not done, in the forest.

She had shut down after revealing what the creatures were. She had stayed frozen in my arms and hadn't moved a muscle to fight. Completely out of character for her. She hadn't even fought me when I took charge and led us further away from the forest.

Even now, she stared off into the distance, completely detached from the rest of us. I could see Aurora becoming more and more concerned with her cousin. At first, she attempted to distract her cousin, then turning ultimately to question her about what exactly had happened in the forest. Though Sasha seemed to resist answering.

"Baer," I said as I leaned towards the other man. "Go ahead and get everything set up for camp. I can feel a small pond nearby that has fish in it. You and Aurora should be able to catch us some dinner there."

He looked at Sasha, then at me a few times before nodding. I watched as he retrieved his mate from her cousin's side, Aurora resisting at first before Baer whispered in her ear and she looked back at me.

Finally, the two wandered off towards the pond and I made my move towards Sasha.

"Come with me," I said, her eyes widening as she looked over at me, startled. "Now." I quickly added as a precaution to her resisting me.

I took her hand and began to drag her away from our camp, a small patch of trees shielding us from view as I turned back to look her in the eyes.

"What the hell happened back in the forest, Rigel?" I asked, her eyes dropping down to her clasped hands as she fiddled with her nails. "Listen, I get it. You have that whole prophecy that says that someday we will be enemies, but the fact of the matter is, we are on the same side here. And if we are going to go up against some big, bad, darkness together, I have to know that you have my back. And I'm sorry, but the way you froze up back there, I'm having some doubts."

She gasped, her eyes shooting up at me. "I told you how to kill them!"

"Yeah, about that. How did you know what those things even were? Let alone the way to kill them? And let's not get it twisted. That was the only way you helped in that situation. You didn't so much as shift a single nail during that fight. You and I both know that you are more than just brains and looks."

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," she said, her eyes dropping again as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

I raked my hands through my hair and scoffed. "Have a look around, Rigel. We aren't exactly in a very believable place right now. And let's not forget, this isn't even the first time someone in my family has been to this world. So, I think it's safe to say that my reach of belief is pretty widespread by now."

She looked up and around us. The trees above us sparkled as they had in the forest while a golden swan swam along the small lake beyond the trees. We could see Baer and Aurora attempting to fish at the far end from us, though it looked more like they had begun to play in the water together.

I shook my head and chuckled at the sight.

"I don't think we should be expecting dinner tonight after all," I commented.

I looked back at Sasha and saw her eyes sparkling with unshed tears then, my finger reaching out before I even knew what I was doing. I caught a single tear that escaped and wiped it away from her cheek as she looked back at me.

"You can tell me, Sasha," I said softly. "After all, the most unbelievable thing about all of this, is the fact that you and I are actually working together on the same side for once. So, if we can manage that, then I can manage to understand whatever it is that's going on with you."

She choked on a laugh as she wiped the rest of the now falling tears from her cheeks. "I don't know. I doubt that anyone will believe me."

"Come on, just tell me, Sasha. I promise you that I won't judge you. I just have to know that you are okay to keep going. That you aren't going to lock up again like that when danger arises. And most of all, I gotta know if you are keeping anything from us about the Forgotten Realm."

She let out a breath and shook her head. "No, I'm saying that I don't know. I don't know how I knew what those things were. A voice in my head just popped up and told me what to do to keep them off of me. Told me what they were and said that if one came near me, I just had to stab it through its head, and it would disappear. But I don't know where the voice came from or why it warned me." She physically shivered at the mention of the voice. "I didn't mean to freeze up when you all needed me. I just couldn't shake off the voice. It was so eerie and out of place in my mind. Even my wolf was shaken by its presence."

My wolf let out a low growl in my mind, my brows drawn together. "Can you place the voice at all?"

She shook her head. "No, it almost seems familiar, but it's as if I can't grab hold of the memory it stirs. I can't even pinpoint if the voice is male or female. And it's constantly there now, buzzing in the back of my skull like old radio static."

"Is it there now?" I asked her, my thumb tracing circles over her hand as I held it.

She shook her head. "No, I don't hear it now anyway."

"Good," I said. "Then, that means you can think clearly right now. You can get yourself ready for that voice if it comes back and then you will not be so afraid of it when it does."

She looked up at me with drawn brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that you aren't some pansy, little damsel in distress, Rigel. And you are damn sure not going to let yourself be made one by some radio static in your head. So, let's practice what you are going to do if that voice comes back."

I poked my finger against her forehead, her teeth peeling back into a snarl as she growled back at me.

"That's it. That's the attitude you need to have with this strange voice in your head. Not shutting down and forgetting who you are."

She scoffed at me. "And who the hell do you think I am, Fairchild?"

My hand moved to cup her cheek, forcing her to look me in the eyes. I could see her gaze softening as I did, my own eyes looking back at her with a softness of my own.

"You are the strongest woman I have ever met. The only woman who has ever given me a run for my money when it comes to fighting, both physically and magically. You're a god damned warrior princess, Rigel. Nothing in this world can stand toe to toe with you." I smirked. "Well, with the exception of myself."

She snorted and gave me a shove, though I could tell that her full strength wasn't behind it. A smile replaced the look of terror and uncertainty in her gaze as she looked back at me, and I could see a change in her breathing.

There was still a fear in her eyes over whatever it was that was haunting her mind, but I could now see more of the woman I knew her to be. The powerful fighter who feared nothing and no one. The future leader of her people and protector of all those she cares for.

I could see Sasha Rigel-Chios shining back at me in her eyes, and a fresh determination to not be held back by anyone or anything.

"You got this, Rigel," I assured her with a smile. "Don't let me catch you forgetting that again."

She laughed and stepped back from me, the sound of Aurora calling her name taking her attention. She turned and looked before giving me a smile that had never been graced upon me from her before. The kind of smile I had always seen her give to her family and friends and secretly longed to see its glow cast upon me.

"Thank you, Ayden," she said. "I don't know how you managed to silence that voice in my head, to give me that pep talk, but I appreciate it so much. Now, get back to camp and rest up. Because we're leaving at dawn."

She strolled away from me then, my eyes gazing along the curve and sway of her body. I smirked as I knew she was exaggerating the movement, but I didn't turn away from the show.

I stayed in the trees and watched her disappear into the camp with Aurora, their voices faded by the breeze blowing against my back. My lips were curled up into a smile, pride filling my chest as I knew that I had helped her overcome whatever had been plaguing her in that moment. That she would be back to normal and ready to jump into any other danger we might come across on this journey through the unknown.

"I'm glad I could help you, Sasha," I whispered into the wind.

‘She still needs us,'my wolf said. ‘It would be better if she were marked. The sooner the better.'

I shook my head. ‘Never going to happen, Buddy.'

‘Never say never, human.'

I shrugged off his comment, giving the view one last gaze before following the path that Sasha had taken back to camp. When I arrived, the others were gathered around the fire, a giant fish roasting over the flames as Baer turned it slowly to ensure an even cook.

I laughed as I clapped his shoulder and congratulated him on his catch. I had been sure they wouldn't catch even a minnow with all the splashing and laughing they had been doing along the shoreline before.

My gaze then moved to Sasha. Her face brightened to its normal glow as she chatted with Aurora and laughed as she had before the wisp's attack. She turned to look at me; her smile brightening as our eyes met and my heart skipped a beat at the sight.

‘I would tear down all the stars in the sky and place them back in her image just to see her smile like that at me one more time,'I thought to myself.

‘Tell her,'my wolf insisted.

I smirked and looked away from her as I found my way over to my tent and slipped inside.

‘Not a chance in hell, wolf,'I said. ‘She would take all those stars in the sky and toss me into their fiery cores just for showing her that kind of weakness. Don't let tonight fool you. She will never accept us. Even now, we're only destined enemies in her eyes.'

‘I think you are over thinking this. She needs us. She knows that even more now especially after you helped her where her cousin could not.'

I shook my head. ‘Like I said, never going to happen.'

‘And like I said, bud. Never say never.'