Chapter Eighty-three

“I can’t take him through the mirror like this.” Travion shook his head.

“You must! He can’t stay here, and I’m not going to be able to hold this shield much longer. Please, we need to get him home.” Volencia clung to his shoulders, touching his cheek, and curling her fingers with his. Her white dress was covered in blood.

A young soldier, one she felt like she should be able to recognize, came forward ducking under Travion’s arm. “We’ll get him home.” The young elf said, hunkering down next to the black beast.

“No, we need to wait until he turns back to his normal self.” Travion shook his head, jumping over the side of the stairs. He was tall enough from where they were that it put his head near Volencia’s lap, where she stroked Damion’s brow. “Right now, he’s using so much of his nihility magic, we can’t safely walk him through the mirrors. I know you don’t want to wait, and here is the worst possible spot for him to recover but—”

“Trey, we can’t wait here. We can’t. Within the hour, I won’t be able to keep that shield up. I can’t heal him here. I can also feel the magic of this place sucking the life out of him. If we don’t do something now, we run the risk of loosing him.” Volencia reached over for Travion’s hand. “Please. I can’t risk losing him. And we’re running out of time.” She gripped his blue fingers, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Those mirrors were made from evil for intentions far beyond the desire for faster travel. Can’t you feel it when you’re in there? If we walk Damion through like this, we run the risk of bringing more than him back with us.” His eyes flicked to the tower door, where the others were watching. Claven’s was watching them with large lavander eyes, wearing an anxious smile. “We’ll just be playing into their hands further. I can’t explain it, but I don’t think this is something we should do lightly.”

“Another vision?”

“An old vision. I can’t say this is the exact moment but—”

“Trey, is it so bad that you would let him die here?” Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against his, leaving a bloody handprint on his cheek.

“What if I told you we run the risk of destroying the world?” Trey gripped her hand, like their lives depended on it. “What if thousands would then die in his stead?”

“We don’t know that for sure. Do we?” Volencia’s heart was pounding. She didn’t know what Travion had seen that had him so concerned. But she knew that if he wasn’t terrified, they wouldn’t be having this discussion and he would have taken Damion out of there with her. Something wasn’t right. And she knew it. “Trey, I know you love him. I know you would never abandon him if you didn’t think it was completely necessary. What if the vision doesn’t come to pass though? What are the actual chances? And are we really going to be okay with losing him? What if he really is part of the answer to bringing the world back to balance? What if we’re supposed to go along with the prophecy? Do we really want to take that chance?”

Volencia shuttered, but Damion’s inky eyes opened to look up at his brother. She could tell even now he was struggling. With a rattling shake of his rib cage, he tried for a deeper breath, before spitting up a deep burgundy red. Travion swore, his own eyes welling up with fear for his brother.

“I… I don’t know. I can’t be responsible for it though. If it was anyone else, I would never agree to this. I don’t want to give up on my brother any more than you want to give up on your lover. I just—” Volencia covered his mouth awkwardly with both hands.

“Then don’t.” She frowned, “I’m not losing Damion to a maybe. Go back, and I’ll take full responsibility for whatever may happen.”

“I haven’t even told you what could happen.” Travion’s eyes got wide as he watched her. She could see the very real fear shining in the oceanic depths of his gaze.

Volencia nodded, “It’s fine. I don’t need to know anything about the eventual possibility. Because it won’t make a difference right now. At least if I get him home and healed, we still stand a chance at saving him. The longer we sit here talking though…” the silence that hung in the air was suffocating, but no one wanted to speak those words aloud.

Travion backed away. Sighing, he walked to the bottom of the stairs, slowly moving up toward them. “Let’s start heading back.” Waiving away the soldiers, he knelt down to Volencia’s side, his arms resting on his knees. “You sure you’re ready to take on this responsibility? I can’t promise it won’t hurt you both in the end.”

“At least I’ll still have him. That’s what matters most.” Volencia said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The lizard moved slowly, gently, as he put his arms under the beast. Lifting his large black head first, he placed it over his shoulder, lifting the rest of the body and wrapping it half way around his torso in a strange way. “Now, I don’t know if you remember, but you need to wrap your tail around my leg so you don’t kill us both by tripping me.” Travion stood slowly, adjusting the beast in his arms. The inky black tail obediently wrapped around Trey’s leg numerous times. Though it still looked cumbersome, it was much better than that tail whipping around and ultimately, as Trey had said, tripping them and having them fall back down the stairs or fall over the side. Taking the steps slowly, they made their way back up, the soldiers watching the group suspiciously. “Head on through, I’ve got him, and the princess will be right behind me.”

The soldiers exchanged glances, but it was the one who looked familiar that spoke, “Is that really Damion? And my Princess, are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“It truly is Damion. I can only pray he’ll be alright. And yes, please, listen to Travion. Head back. We’ll be right behind you. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me any more than all of you.” She smiled, trying to make sure they understood that she was being completely honest. The group listened, and the soldier who had spoken was the last to leave. Before stepping through the mirror, he looked back at them with worry. Volencia waved him on, and he turned into the silvery shine, disappearing back into the safety of Thambair.

“Hold onto me as we enter the void. I’m not sure what will happen, but I know we need to stay together. We need to make sure none of us get lost in here.” Travion side glanced at her as best he could, between the large horns over his shoulder.

“I’ll hold on.”

“No matter what happens, we cannot part.”

“I understand.” Volencia grabbed onto Damion’s clawed hand, which dangled at Travion’s side, and the back of his tunic. A shiver ran up her spine. She hated the mirrors. Always had. But this was the moment of truth. Would she regret bringing Damion back before he was ready. Was this as safe as she had convinced herself it would be? What was even worse, was that the closer they got to the mirror, the more Damion seemed to be growling. Was he trying to warn them this was a bad idea?

Stopping in front of the mirror, Travion turned to look at her again. “Are you sure you want to do this?” She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the tremor in his voice as he spoke. Damion let out a slow, sad sounding growl. Volencia stood on her tip-toes to touch the front of him jowls.

“Yes, we have to get him home.”

There wasn’t anymore arguing. Travion took a step forward, into the swirling quicksilver.

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