YARIS

I really am doing my best not to panic like an inexperienced soldier on the frontline, but all I feel is dread and trepidation. It is in my limbs, seeping into my organs, and then into my heart and mind. I should not fret so much, but I am alone in the woods with no idea of where my mate is or our supplies or Shatterjaw or Magnum, and damn it all, I even worry about my sister. This is a disaster.

I double over in the darkness, the sound of my desperate gasps filling the forest as I put my head between my knees and try to gather myself. Fuck. Fuck. Why am I so bothered? This is not like last time when he laid a trap.

It is not as if I am going to see everyone I care about cut to ribbons and then get stabbed in the heart… right? Right?

Fuck.

I need to get myself together. We do not have the time for a meltdown from me or anyone else. I need to find the others. I need to find Ruin.

My breaths are evening out. My father is not here. His honor guard is not here. They cannot hurt us. Not now. Not yet.

My shaking subsides and I straighten, breathing a little too quickly as I stretch out my senses and try to feel something other than the suffocating darkness around me. This wood is full of life, but there is an insipid slowness to it—a tainted measure that sends shivers up my spine. I try to feel past that and when I do, I can almost taste another Sunbeam close by. It must be Bandit. I would rather look for Ruin, but this is a start.

I move forward, trying to be as silent as possible, my hand on the hilt of my rapier. I try to fight it, but my mind slips back into the past, unbidden.

"Oh, Yarrowboy!" Monkshood sings into the corridor, his sword scraping on the floor, echoing the oncoming storm. The palace is in shambles. My doing. We fought until only I was left and now I drag myself, blood smearing underneath me in worrying amounts, towards the Veil room. I need to get out and I have no other way. I have to regroup, I have to regroup, I have to—

"—Yarrowboy!"

Monk steps into the doorway and looks around at the corpses of the honor guard. Bacchus' honor guard. He grins slowly, his purple eyes sickening. His hair is black like Mother's and his skin darker than white, but paler than mine. His horns are more silver than they are black and the protection runes are ablaze, just as I am sure mine are.

"Well, little brother," he gloats, brandishing his sword. "I've always wanted to stab you. Just a little. And look at the goddess awful mess you made. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk."

His words are pure venom and confirms every interaction I have ever had with him.

I am not going to die laying down, so I pull myself to my feet, ignoring all protests from my broken, bleeding body.

"Well. At least you are honest," I pant, gathering myself. "Maybe I will kill you before I go and then we can be done with one another."

Monkshood laughs, the sound grating as shit.

"It's so cute when the little ones think they can do anything of substance," he says, stepping over another body. "You're doing to die here, boy, and your stupid, pathetic, antiquated rebellion will end with your blood."

"It ends," I grit out, fury building inside me at the thought of so many dead Fae, because of my decisions, my desires, my fucking choices that have not helped anyone. This is not Bacchus' fault—it is mine and that… that infuriates me more than any poisonous words he could spew at me. "When Bacchus is a fucking cold corpse at my feet! "

I fly at him, the clash that meets me bone jarring and—

"Yaris?"

I am brought forward to the present and spin around, confused. I think that was—

"—Bandit?" I ask as she comes forward, nodding.

"Yes," she says simply and looks me over warily. "Are you… all right? You're quite pale."

I swallow.

"I need Ruin," I say, unable to think on the past for even half a moment longer. "Have you seen him?"

"No," she sighs and shakes her head. "It's just like last time. But I guess when it's more than one person, it scatters us all."

I nod vaguely, unable to relax until Ruin is in my arms again.

"Have you seen any of our horses? All our supplies…"

She shrugs.

"We have the wood. It will care for us when all this is over."

I wrap my arms around myself and just shrug, not really sure what to say. Monk's words are ringing in my ears, and it is hard to look at her without thinking of… all of them.

"Yaris?" She approaches me like I am a spooked horse, and I do not particularly mind. "Are you okay? You seem… off."

I shake my head.

"I need Ruin," I say, and her pink eyes look at me carefully before nodding.

"Yes. We'll find him. He's probably not far. I was never sent too far when I tried before."

I grunt and nod, blindly moving forward, not sure which way to go.

"Yaris?" She touches my elbow, gently, but I startle anyway and look at her, eyes wide. "I sense something this way."

She points west. I had been headed south.

"Right. Okay. "

I trudge forward, in misery because of the silence, of the forest, of memories, of… her, so close to me that it makes my skin crawl. I honestly am surprised she has not tried murdering me yet as all my other family members have. Well. Maybe not all. Most?

Fuck, I do not have time for this.

"Yaris?" Bandit prompts after a few minutes.

"Y-yes?" I manage, grimacing a bit at my tone.

She smiles patiently.

"When all this is over, I have some questions for you, if that's alright."

My stomach twists.

"Uh… I suppose. I… would not mind a few… questions in… private," I manage, grimacing some more and she laughs, but it is light, not at all mocking.

"It's like pulling teeth with you," she says with a smile. "It's all right. You could always say ‘no.'"

Could I?

"Well—" I start, but there is movement to our left and I stiffen immediately and Bandit pulls up a ball of water with enviable ease.

"Who—" she starts but is quickly cut off.

"—Yaris!"

Ruin rushes me with abandon and throws himself into my arms. My anxiety uncoils as I catch and hold him tightly, breathing in his fiery scent. Thank the goddesses.

"Ruin, you are well?" I look him over, pulling away though I do not wish to. My eyes are drawn to his hands. They obviously bleed at some point—now scabs are forming. "Your hands, Ruin, I—"

"—shh, my prince," he smiles, and it is radiant. "It's all right. Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

I touch his face, just to ground myself. He has never really been able to grow a beard, but his faint stubble greets me, and I find comfort in it. I look into his guileless green eyes and feel a wave of affection for him .

"That is… quite the promise for someone whose name is Ruin," I finally blurt and promptly hate myself because I do not know what in the hells is wrong with me.

But Ruin is laughing, just like the others.

"That's mean, Yaris!" He snaps, no venom in his tone. "I can't help that's what eight year-old me liked!"

"Yes, well, you try gaining comfort from someone whose name is Ruin!" I huff, embarrassed and blushing.

He kisses me tenderly on the mouth and my worries melt away like ice in the spring.

"Come on. Let's find Shatterjaw. Then we'll kick this barrier's ass and stop the blood magic."

"Yeah," Magnum nods. "We only have to do it four times after that. Up and at ‘em."

"Do not remind me," I groan. "I cannot handle any more dread. I am full up."

"Sorry," Magnum grimaces. "I meant it as a joke but, really, it's just depressing to think about."

We find Shatterjaw a quarter of an hour later. Or, rather, she finds us. I am relieved to see her unharmed and so is Ruin, but, as usual, she is all business.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too," she says dismissively as Ruin tries to hug her. He manages a small squeeze before she shakes him off, shuddering. "Let's get going before that necromancy-blood magic combo kills someone."

"What about the horses?" Ruin asks, pulling away and worrying his lip. "They must be scared."

Shatterjaw huffs.

"You know what's really scary?"

Ruin scowls.

"You're about to be mean," he asserts and she nods.

"The end of the fucking world is scary."

"Fine," Ruin grouches. "We'll find the damn horses later. Probably after they've been eaten by some creature from the hells."

"Hey!" Magnum says indignantly and Ruin blushes .

"Sorry, I-I don't mean… that is to say…"

"I'm just fucking with you," Magnum grins and nudges him. "There are some nasty creatures down there, but they rarely come onto this realm. We aren't interesting enough for them."

"Oh," Ruin blinks. "Good?"

"Yeah," Magnum nods. "Good."

"Right," Ruin's hand clasps mine tightly and he pulls me north. "Let's get going then."

It is easy to stay present with Ruin tugging at me as we move through the forest. My stomach is in knots again, but I feel better to have him near. My dragon rider thinks he isn't particularly special or smart, but I know that to be a lie, because when he is close, everything else melts away and I am left in his radiance.

We are closer to the barrier than I thought, and it is only a matter of minutes before we are back where we started. Ruin kisses my cheek, and I squeeze his hand before releasing it. He then hurries up to the barrier, completely focused and an utterly unstoppable force. He is so persistent for a human. I would ask if he wants his hands healed—that is one good thing Bandit can do—but I know he would just brush me off. He wants to get his over with.

I cannot see what he is doing, and Magnum summons a floating orb to illuminate our little party. It offers some reprieve from this damn forest, and I watch as Ruin sits in front of the faint magic that I feel and gets to work.

Almost immediately, his hands start to bleed, but he does not seem to care or notice. I stiffen, wanting to help, but knowing that this is all him. He murmurs things to himself, repeatedly, completely engrossed. I hear words, but I do not recognize the language, and I look at Shatterjaw, confused. She shrugs.

"He must be from the Niskan region of Ordesh," she says. "News to me, though."

That is along the northeastern coast, if memory serves and it is a culture unto itself. I will ask him about it later. I wonder if he left there as a child after… whatever happened with his parents and Sparks.

"I'm almost there," Ruin says. "And step back. This is probably going to collapse in on itself."

I worry my lip and do not move.

"What about you?" I ask, resisting the urge to reach for him and pull him back.

He grins.

"I'm a dragon rider, Yaris. Dismantling Fae magic is what I'm made for."

Bandit pulls me gently back and just in time. I do not hear anything—more like feel. There is a mighty whoosh and the barrier falls before us like a wall, losing its grip on the forest and the fields holding the pillar. Where there was darkness, there is now shimmering, bright light and the forest that seemed so intimidating is revealed to be bursting with life and beautiful poisonous flowers that start to reach for the sun. Before us is a plain of grass and wildflowers, untilled and untouched for the past thousand years. It reminds me so much of the Fae gardens that the greens, yellows, pinks, blues, whites, and purples make me pause. It is… beautiful as the sun shines down unbidden and everything thrives with life.

But as we step forward, that is when I notice it—visually, it is stunning, but… there is no wind or strong flower scents, no buzzing of flies or bees, and no gentle stomping of any animals.

It is utterly still and my heckles are rising.

"Well," Ruin stands and looks over the idyllic plain as Bandit absently heals his hands. "That's a pretty damn good glamour."

Right. Of course Bacchus glamoured it and of course I did not recognize it at first—it has been too long since I felt his magic, saw the diseased perfection that is it, and smelled the nothingness of it.

"I am shocked it has lasted this long," I blurt, and Bandit shakes her head. It looks like we have to scale a hill to get to a stone table that is off in the distance and Ruin cocks his head, considering.

"I'm not surprised," Bandit says softly. "Trickery is our father's pastime."

Ruin takes back his hands and nods.

"There's necromancy alright," he says and points. "The core of it is coming from that table… thing. I'd say whatever it is can be stopped if we head there."

"It's also where Father killed Oleander and his honor guard," Bandit says quietly, and I suddenly notice how pale she is. "I… hope it isn't him."

She does not mean… oh, wait. Father might have made an undead of his son. Well, in that case, fat chance of us not running into him. At least, if my father had a say in it, his crown failure of a prince is probably cursed to guard the pillar.

His cruelty knows no bounds.

"If it is, we'll stop him," Ruin says and steps forward like ten thousand men are behind him when really, it is just us. Desperate, pathetic us. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"