Page 184 of Lady of Starfire

She bit off another piece of meat, and her gaze fell to the Source Mark on her forearm. She brushed her fingers over it, chewing slowly. So many Marks on her skin, but none as important as the one she was about to give herself.

Her knees beginning to tremble told her she was pushing herself too much, and she made her way back to the packs, lowering back to the ground. She dug through Razik’s items she’d dumped all over the place, finding a grey tunic that she managed to get on after a few minutes of hissing and cursing. Taking another drink of water, she let fire flare in her palm, calling forth an item from a pocket realm.

A black ashwood scion.

The end turned bright red as she heated it. She wished she had some alcohol to steady herself. She’d like to say it was from the trauma of the past few days, but she knew it wasn’t. It was nerves and anxiousness at what she was about to do.

Propping her left hand atop a stack of various items, she bent forward and began to work. At least her Earth ties were good for something, allowing her to be able to bestow the Markings of the Fae. And when she was done, sitting back and letting out the breath she’d been holding, the Mark swirled along the back of her hand and down her thumb. She’d given that Mark to only three other people. She’d never expected to ever be Marking her own skin with it.

Taking the Mark without a companion mark was a risk. It wasn’t lost on her that nearly a year ago she’d been arguing with Sorin about this exact thing when they’d stood in the back room of a tavern in Baylorin, the Fire Prince demanding she give him this Mark. She’d told him he was an idiot for doing this.

That about summed up this plan, she supposed. Complete idiocy.

Sucking in another shuddering breath, she murmured the Claiming Rite. The Mark flared brightly, and then her breath caught in her throat as she felt Razik’s anguish down the twin flame bond. Physical pain, yes, but so much more. Anguish about…so many things. His father. His past. Her.

Razik.

Something stirred down that bridge between their souls, but until he had the Mark, it wouldn’t be complete. It wouldn’t initiate the Trials. But it had to do something. Sorin had found Scarlett this way, so it clearly worked.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on that stirring.

Raz, give me something to find you.

Cave.

Godsdamnit. Fucking cave? That’s all he was going to give her?

We’re in the mountains, Razik. I need more than that. Something useful.

River.

She tipped her head back in frustration. If they were near the Tana, then they had a Traveler with them. There was no way they could have made it down the mountainside otherwise.

She was so fucked.

And she needed at least another day. Without a Healer, the shirastone wound wouldn’t heal properly. Her magic would never get to its full strength. She’d need to be strategic about how she fought when she found them. More weapons than magic, which meant taking out as many as she could before they realized she was there.

Eliza rotated her shoulder, trying to keep it from getting too stiff, eyeing two vials she’d set off to the side. They were two tonics she was saving, but gods, taking one of them was really godsdamn tempting right now. The tonic was a powerful, pain-numbing potion. It was usually given to someone to help them sleep while healing. She was saving it to take when she started out to find Razik.

Tomorrow.

One more day of rest, or it would all be pointless.

Curling up beside her small fire, she whispered down the bond,I’m coming.

* * *

“Fucking son of Silas,” Eliza muttered as she slid down an embankment. She caught herself before her face hit the rocky ground. She wouldn’t have felt it. Just like she couldn’t feel the pain from her shoulder that should be crippling her at the moment, but she was certainly going to be feeling it when the tonic wore off. She prayed to Anala she wasn’t doing irreparable damage.

When she’d woken up, the sun had just crested the horizon. She’d slept nearly another entire day, but an early morning start was perfect. She’d sent a few things to a pocket realm before she’d taken the tonic. Once it had taken effect, she quickly donned clothing that actually fit her, along with her leathers. She had a number of weapons strategically strapped to her, but not as many as usual. She didn’t want to be weighed down by them as she traversed the mountainous terrain. Some weapons she sent to the pocket realm, but she didn’t trust that in case she got hit with shirastone again and was unable to access them.

She’d tried to reach Razik down the twin flame bond again, but there’d been nothing this time. She knew he still breathed, but that was about it. So she’d started down the mountain, feeling the tug of the bond guiding her as she went. At this rate, it was going to take her three days to reach the Tana River at the base.

It was mid-afternoon when the bond began to hum a little more violently in her chest, as if it sensed Razik nearby. But that couldn’t be right. She wasn’t even halfway down the mountainside. What if she’d been reading this stupid bond all wrong? Had she just completely fucked this all up?

The sound of voices had her scrambling behind some larger rocks, ducking behind them as two seraphs came into view. They’d been with Varlis. Not the one with wind gifts, though. She didn’t know what kind of magic these two seraphs possessed.

“Where is the backup that was promised to us two fucking days ago?” one grumbled. “I cannot keep the dragon out much longer.”

---