Page 39 of What Sleeps Within the Cove

CALDRIS

The music of the Hunt rocked through me, calling me from the depths of sleep. I woke, opening my eyes and moving to sit. My body was lighter than normal, my form moving with ease as I met Holt’s stare. He stopped playing the song, not wanting to risk summoning any of the others within Tar Mesa to join us on this night, particularly not when it would risk exposing my location.

I stood, staring down at my body where it slumbered peacefully. It was only my soul that moved freely in the room, the weight of my physical form discarded like a cloak.

We wasted no time making our way out of the secret chamber, and I followed Holt and the other members of the Wild Hunt through the halls of Mab’s palace. Most of the palace slept or had retired to their beds for the night at least, only the posted guards lingering as we ascended the steps from the dungeon and emerged into the main hall. My feet never touched the ground beneath me, gliding over the surface as the members of the Wild Hunt surrounded me and hidme from view for any who might have looked a little too closely and caught sight of my shade.

It wasn’t every Fae who could see the spirits who left their body or the spectral form of the dead who lingered, only those with an affinity for the magics of death, but the Shadow Court possessed more of those Fae than any other place.

Their magic was just minimal if they were not Gods. Diluted as their blood became more distant from the Primordials who had birthed the first of us.

Holt did not stop once on his way out of the hallowed halls of Tar Mesa, ignoring the screams that came from the throne room. The Huntswoman at my side winced at the sharp, shrill sound of suffering, her face conveying exactly what she thought of what had become of us.

Enslaved to a tyrant Queen, we would all die out soon enough. She had no respect for life or harmony, not even caring if she ruled over nothing but ashes when this was all done.

The skeletal horses of the Wild Hunt waited for us at the castle gates, and I immediately missed Azra. Riding him would be impossible, even if Mab was clueless to my departure for the time being. The snake around my heart could not alert her to something changing within me, not when my physical form merely slept. No one but me ever rode my horse, and it would only alert the guards watching as I stepped up beside Holt’s horse and put the creature between me and the watchful eyes. Holt mounted his horse, not speaking a word as one without a rider took up place beside him.

Reserved for the next member of the Wild Hunt who could join at any moment, choosing a life of hunting over the peace of the Meadows of Folkvangr.

We walked away from Tar Mesa, going slowly enough that I could keep up with the horse’s gait until we crossed over one of the sandy hills. When the guards could no longer see us, I lifted myself into the saddle.

And the Wild Hunt rode.

We rode at a pace that no human could sustain, stepping into the Shadow Walk as a unit. It carried us to Nothrek, taking a mere hourto travel a distance that might have otherwise taken us days. The Wild Hunt would need to travel back the slow way for fear of losing humans to the shadow realm, but there was nothing to stop us on our journey.

We all knew the consequences that waited if we wandered off the path. The creatures who waited to collect us and feast on us for an eternity. The power of a soul was valuable to the shadows.

Even a human’s.

We emerged on the cliffside I recognized from my memory of the first night I’d laid eyes on my mate. I dismounted the horse, patting the side of his neck as I made my way to the narrow path that led down to the water.

Holt followed behind me, leaving the others to wait on top of the cliff.

We walked in silence until I stopped on the shore, watching the water lap against the sand and mud. Estrella had once thrown herself into these waters, not knowing the dangers and the passage that lingered in the distance of the chasm. Holt stopped at my side, pointing into the distance.

A ways out, just before the horizon faded into the mists that surrounded the human realm, a tree grew out of the water. It was massive, its trunk twisted and gnarled. The roots stuck out from the water, the very tiny hint of land beneath it that formed a bridge over the water.

“There,” he said simply, allowing me to step into the freezing waters. They lapped at my ankles, chilling even me as I made my way out to waist-deep. My magic seeped out of my soul without a body to contain it, freezing the water behind me as I made my way.

My hands trailed over the surface, turning to face Holt in what we both knew could very well be a final goodbye.

“Staying in Tartarus for too long will have disastrous consequences. You are a shade, the undead, and therefore you are susceptible to the pull of the Five Rivers. Make sure you return before Tartarus traps you forever,” he said.

I nodded as I felt him release the call of the Wild Hunt, letting me wander freely. I was too far from my body to return in spite of the lack of call, pushing my way through the water until it lapped against my throat.

“I’ll return,” I said, reassuring him with words that neither of us knew if we could believe.

“I’m coming with you,” Holt said.

“No,” I argued, shaking my head. As much as I appreciated the thought, it did not make sense for him to risk everything to make this journey with me. Not when there were others here who needed his help far more than me. “Someone has to transport the souls to the Void in my absence. Don’t let them suffer because I’ve gone.”

Holt nodded, his jaw clenching as he acknowledged the truth in those words. Estrella would have me to help her, and I would have her to watch out for me. The souls that needed help passing had no one with me gone. “Be safe,” he said instead of arguing, and neither of us spoke of the other reason he could not come. The Wild Hunt may not have been dead, but they were not truly alive either. Who knew how they would be susceptible to the prison of Tartarus in this form?

I lay my body out, swimming as quickly as I could toward the bridge formed by the tree.

As I came closer, the pit of darkness between the tree came into view. The water rushed toward it, forming almost a river within the sea as the current picked up, catching me within it.

Even if I’d wanted to, I wouldn’t have had time to catch myself on the tree roots before the current sucked me beneath the surface.

---