Page 132 of Cry of the Firebird

Anya, Trajan, and Aramis stood at the edge of the forest in the freezing morning mist. Anya had slept poorly, even wrapped in the warmth of Trajan's arms and the glow inside of her from his confession. She had never felt so loved and safe, even with the threat of the breaking gates hanging over her head.

With any luck, the hike through the forest would wear her out and the nervous energy that was streaking through her veins.

"You have two hours, and then I'm coming after you," Trajan told Aramis firmly. His eyes were changing to full red when Anya squeezed his hand. Trajan turned and kissed her cold nose and her lips.

"Be safe," Trajan said softly.

"I will be. This forest is my home, and I'll be back soon. Enjoy the peace and quiet," she joked. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"We'll return soon, Trajan," Aramis promised.

"If anything happens to her, I'll hold you responsible."

"We are leaving now," Anya said to stop another inevitable argument. She stood on tiptoes and kissed Trajan long and hard. Aramis cleared his throat loudly.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Anya let go of Trajan's hand before following Aramis into the forest.

Anya didn't realize how much she had missed her forest until they were under the heavy pine branches. She hadn't explored this eastern side for a long time, and she had missed the berry picking season while she had been away. There wasn't a cloudberry to be seen, and it made her feel sad and nostalgic for her childhood.

Eikki had spent a lot of time with her picking berries, mushrooms, and wildflowers. He named all the types of trees that they passed until Anya knew them by heart. Pine and birch, aspen, and rowan grew wild and thick.

Eikki would sometimes run a callused hand over them and greet them. "Hello, grandfather birch, grow strong old friend," he would say cheerfully. Anya thought this was normal practice until she said good morning to the aspen tree on her first day of school, and a boy had thrown a rock at her.

"Do you know your boyfriend is intense?" Aramis commented, breaking Anya out of the flood of memories. "If I didn't know better, I would say he's insecure."

Anya grinned. "Trajan's not insecure. He just doesn't like you. He's also under the impression that you are going to try to kidnap me."

"Why would I want to kidnap you? You have to close the gates, remember?" Aramis held her hand as he helped her over a slippery tree trunk. Her magic rushed towards him and into him. He smiled a little but didn't mention it.

"Trajan knows that. It's what happens after that he's concerned about," Anya replied and fought to rein her power in.

"One problem at a time, Anya." Aramis reached into his pocket, pulled out a small silver flask, and offered it to her. "Drink some of this. It will dull your magic down and help me shield you when the time comes."

Anya took the flask and sniffed it with a smile. "If these are drugs so you can kidnap me more easily, it won't work."

"What makes you so sure?" Aramis teased.

Anya remembered what he'd said about no one being able to stop him if he wanted to take her, and goosebumps crept up her spine.

"When the Nehemoth took me, Völundr gave me drugs to dull my magic down, and you know what happened? When I saw what they had done to Trajan, it burned straight out of my body."

"Then you really have nothing to fear, do you?" Aramis said, his teasing smile widening and his silver hair tangling in the wind.

He really does look like a silver fairytale knight.

Anya shoved that thought away and took a long swig to show that she wasn't scared of him. It had a most unusual taste like some kind of sweet berry liquor. She tried to identify the flavor, but it kept changing and finally evaporated with a tingle on her tongue. The buzzing under her skin quietened quickly, the drumming in her head fading until it felt like it had never been there.

"Wow, that's some amazing liquor. I wish you would've given me some of that a few days ago. It would have stopped me from hitting the vodka so hard." The absence of her warm flickering power made her feel unusually empty.

"It's not given to humans because it becomes too addictive. Let's keep going. It will wear off soon."

"I have a question," Anya said as they walked. "How are you going to shield our presences from the Darkness if they are hiding in here?"

"Like this," Aramis replied. His silvery magic pulsed between them as he waved his hand over his face and was gone. Anya saw a slight movement in the air, like a heatwave from a road on a hot day. She waved her hand through it and felt the fabric of hisshirt. Fingers touched her face lightly, and Aramis materialized in front of her. She looked down at her feet, and they weren't there.

"Don't panic, you are just under the shield," he said quickly.

Anya did her best to unclench her death grip on his shirt. "It's a shame you couldn't make a car invisible, so we wouldn't have to walk. It would give us a lot more time to find Ilya's knife."

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