48. Sono

Ididn't know what Leodos gave Sorcha, but we were finally able to start walking again shortly after she finished the drink. Everyone was furious with Oris, but I wasn't. I wished I had thought of telling her to shift to sober up first. Neptis did, too. We talked about it after they left. Neptis would have been fine with either of us taking her because Neptis and Sorcha would have had to go to the ocean.

The Tarks were the only group out of all of us who couldn't easily shift and get away if they were drinking. That was why they mostly avoided doing it. Neptis only did it if he was safely in our camps. Yeah, I think everyone was pissed except Terros, Neptis, and me.

Terros wanted Oris to mate with her so he could force the marriage, but I knew Oris. If he had, he would never admit to it without her permission. Oris was my competition, but he was also one of my best friends. I also knew that even if shifting didn't sober us up, Oris never would have taken advantage of a woman while she was drunk.

I told her no the second time, and I explained why. It wasn't because I didn't want to. She was hard to resist, so if Oris went there, could I even be mad at him? I had. I certainly wasn't mad at her.

We expected our women to marry the first man they mated with after they had their first Senso. If they lost their husbands, an unattached male would step in when she had her Senso. Sorcha was acting like every single male tribe member our age who hadn't been wed yet. Most of us wanted to mate with everyone. So did she.

Honestly, why should she be held to a different standard? I didn't particularly want to think about her screwing her way through all the Farkhi, but her affection seemed to be limited to Oris, Neptis, and me.

And I didn't know why, but I was okay with that.

We were back to the endless walking when Voxis flew down to tell us the door to Inanos was just over the giant sand dune hidden in the side of the cliff.

I caught up with Sorcha to tell her Inanos was just up ahead and she may get her answers soon. She looked uncomfortable, not happy. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it because I knew why.

"Hey, no matter what he did before, he wouldn't have told you to come here if you could die here again."

Sorcha blew out a breath.

"Thanks."

She was nervous, and I got it. Most of us were pretty sure everything Belisarus had done was because he kidnapped the Spirus to keep her safe and then it hit him she was just a baby and his granddaughter to boot. He couldn't live forever, so he reluctantly sent her home.

When we finally made it through the clearing, I could tell that Voxis and Ventis had spent the last few days clearing vines from the large door that was carved into the side of the mountain.

"This is Inanos!" Volaris called. "Sorcha might be the only one who can open these doors as Belisarus never gave her a key to anything. Everyone needs to stay back if this requires her fire."

I watched her approach the door. The door was at least thirty feet high and carved into the stone in the mountain. She looked so small next to this huge door.

"I think your lessons are how she will get the door open," Volaris told Esylle.

"What if it harms her? You all said she died here before."

"You've watched her heal herself," Volaris said. "Belisarus was many things, but I don't think he would hurt the Spirus, even if she wasn't his grandchild.

Sorcha placed both of her hands on the door and that was when everything went to shit. She didn't seem to be able to remove her hands from the door. Transforming wasn't painful. The air vibrated, and it just happened.

It took two to three men from all the tribes to hold Oris, Neptis, Leodos, and me back when Sorcha began to panic and try to remove her hands from the doors. Her hands exploded in a shower of blood as claws forced their way out of her fingers. Oris always said his were like a sheath and he didn't feel it when they came and went. This was pretty graphic and looked painful.

Her back seemed to be mutating before our eyes as it began to bubble up. Sorcha was crying out in pain and we were all fighting with the men holding us back as two large, white wings ripped out of her back. They were covered with blood and he could tell it was hurting her. They tore their way out and I could see her mangled flesh on the feathers.

Esylle was screaming at someone to go get her. The other three kings must have said something to Joron and filled him in on all the legends while he sat back and let the new relationships play out with Leodos, Esylle, and Sorcha. I didn't know about the whole taking fire thing with Tempris until I saw it, but Joron had a death grip on Esylle's arm. I was guessing that was what he was doing, so she didn't explode and incinerate us all.

Slits appeared on Sorcha's neck like fish gills and she began to gulp for air like she couldn't breathe. Esylle was in a full-blown panic, screaming for someone to stop this. Two more Farkhi men had to join in to hold Leodos back as he was screaming this was killing her. Everyone was looking on in horror, but only Leodos, Oris, Neptis, and I were trying to stop this.

I didn't care who she was, she was being tortured. And maybe she could heal the injuries to her hands and back but she very much couldn't breathe right now and that could kill her. I nearly dislocated my shoulders breaking away from the Farkhi holding me. I ran toward her. I didn't know how I was going to stop this, but I was getting her away from those doors. If I had to carry her to the ocean so she could breathe, I would.

I was blown onto my back as Sorcha burst into flames, but unlike before, I could see her skin blistering like any of the non-Tempris tribe members would do if we got too close to her when she was upset. Should we let Esylle and Joron help her or would this fire burn them, too? If it did, Esylle didn't heal like Sorcha.

I watched in horror as the wings burned off her back and the gills on her neck blistered off. The flame reached as high as the top of the door, then she collapsed in a heap on the sand in front of the door.

Was she dead?