Page 52 of A Song of Death and Desire

“Maybe you can be the distraction,” Raidne suggests.

“Maybeyoucan be the distraction,” Sienna throws back. I sigh and Eagan chuckles. They’ve been at this for a good hour already, throwing ideas back and forth, both determined to be the one that comes up with the plan to fight Vala. With the four of us we think it’s possible to keep Vala distracted long enoughto sever her mark. From there, we just have to hope that my theory is correct in that the connection to the siren song will be destroyed. The plan gets murky after this though. We don’t truly know what magic Vala can wield on her own and we are putting a lot of trust into the idea that she can be injured and killed.

“Okay so I think we need to split into two groups,” Eagan says, interrupting whatever Sienna and Raidne had moved on to talking about. “Sienna and Raidne, you are on raven duty. They are going to attack when they perceive us as a threat, and it will be both your jobs to try and incapacitate them as soon as possible. While you do this, Kairi and I will continue on to Vala.”

“How are you going to get close enough to destroy the mark?” Sienna asks.

“Look, I wouldn’t say that I am amazing in a fight, but I do know how to defend myself, and I remember a few things from the martial arts classes Tom dragged me to a while ago when he was really into it. I’m hoping that if Kairi can get her talking and keep her busy, I might be able to attack quickly and take her by surprise. I was much more docile last time she met me, and she might not be expecting it.”

“You know this whole plan is pretty shit, right?” Raidne says, never one to mince words.

“Do you have anything better to bring to the table?” Eagan spits back.

“Enough, everyone!” I say loudly enough to bring their attention to me. “Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere. Raidne, I know our plan has a lot of holes and uncertainty but it’s all we have to go on. If we are going to do this, we just have to go for it and hope we don’t die.”

“Great pep talk, Kai,” Raidne responds, smiling, and I poke my tongue out at her. “You know we are with you, and we are going to do our best.”

“Thank you, should we do this now? We aren’t going to get any more confident the longer we talk about it.”

On the way back to the apartment after picking up Raidne, Eagan had stopped at a store and returned with four large hunting knives, one for each of us. I have no idea if it will do anything to Vala, but it makes me feel more comfortable knowing that we will all have some way to defend ourselves. At the very least, Sienna and Raidne should be able to use the knives against the ravens. I hope those bastards get what’s coming to them.

Eagan passes each of us our knives. “Please don’t accidentally stab yourselves,” Eagan says warily. A slightly manic laugh escapes me at the thought of injuring myself before we even face the threat.

We’ve dressed in clothes that cover a lot of our skin to try and minimize any damage the birds will cause. I’m glad Sienna and Raidne are handling them because the idea of their beaks and talons slicing through my skin again is enough to make me want to bail on this whole idea. Every touch of clothing against my skin irritates me, and the itching of the healing wounds is driving me crazy.

We hesitantly gather at the door, anxiety pulsing through our group as we avoid taking that final step to leave the safety of the apartment. With an exhale, Eagan takes the lead, and we make our way to Vala’s cave with pulses pounding and stomachs churning.

“So, this is it,” Sienna mutters under her breath, staring at the entrance to the cave.

“How deep is it?” Raidne asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “Both times I have been here it feels like we have walked for ages before coming across Vala. It’s far deeper than I think is physically possible, so I wonder if there’s something magical about it.”

I move to walk towards the entrance, but Eagan grasps my hand and pulls me backwards. He leads me a few steps to the side, away from the others.

He uses his hand to tilt my chin so that I can meet his eyes. “I love you, Kairi. Whatever happens next, I want you to know that I’m thankful for everything that brought you to me.”

“I love you too,” I whisper in return, a warmth growing inside my chest, temporarily blocking out the fear.

Eagan presses his lips to mine in a scorching kiss. He pours everything into it, and I feel his love and his support and his fear and despair that we may not return from this cave. I try to convey everything that has been left unsaid in the way I meet him, lips to lips, tongue to tongue.

The sound of laughing breaks us apart and I turn to see Raidne pretending to vomit while her and Sienna look over at us.

“What are you ten years old?” Eagan says dryly, throwing a disapproving glance their way, causing them to fall back into hysterics. Eagan and I look at each other, our lips turning up in a smirk. As immature as it was, Raidne lightened the mood and I’m certain that was her intention.

“Let’s go,” I say, and the laughter stops, replaced by serious, determined expressions. We all give each other one last look before taking our first steps into the cave.

The overwhelming urge to take my girl and get the hell out of this cave floods me the moment I enter the cave. This isn’t really our problem is it? Why is it up to us to stop Vala? The moment these thoughts cross my mind I immediately discount them. Of course we could let this go. We could leave this cave right now and live the rest of our lives peacefully in ignorance just praying to ourselves that she doesn't take anyone we love. But Kairi can’t do that.Ican’t do that. How do we live with ourselves knowing that people are being needlessly killed thanks to something we have done? Who else would stand any chance at defeating a witch? I mean, our chance is only a slim one, but still more than other humans, right?

We move through the cave, the sunlight from outside dimming before disappearing completely, plunging us into darkness. The pitch black of the cave is made more disturbing due to the earplugs we are donning again. Sienna and I have been plunged into full sensory deprivation as both our sight and hearing have been stripped from us. Fortunately, we came prepared for the darkness this time, Raidne and I clicking on our torches giving us visibility once more. The addition of light significantly reduces my anxiety as I feel better equipped to protect us if I can see the threat coming.

The sensation of flapping wings behind us causes us all to whirl around, and Raidne and Sienna draw their knives in front of them. Raidne uses her torch to scan the cave walls as we look for the ravens. I tense as I locate two piercing yellow eyes staringat me from a crevice in the wall. The others notice the small change in my posture and turn to look at where I am facing.

Raidne nudges me and points deeper into the cave, indicating that we need to go.

I quickly squeeze Sienna’s hand and place a soft touch on Raidne’s shoulder as I move past, Kairi sticking close to my side.

Leaving Sienna behind in this cave of nightmares is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, and it takes all my willpower to continue forward with Kairi. I have to trust that they can handle themselves against the ravens. In theory, they should be relatively easy to kill as there has been no evidence that they hold magical abilities, but being too confident can be dangerous, and we can’t underestimate anything that we face.

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