Page 21 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
Thirdly, heights aren’t really my thing. While I’m perfectly comfortable flying a helicopter,that’s in a fucking machine. That’s not me as a passenger who is newly prone to seizures glued to a possibly deranged angel that faints on the regular. None of that makes for a winning combination.
Lastly, Eryx smells like a jacked-up cinnamon bun. That sounds great I’m sure, but trust me, it loses its appeal when your face is smushed into the smell of sickly-sweet cinnamon sugar and cream cheese icing for two solid hours. As a result, I’ve been feeling more than a little queasy… a little travel sick… a little ready to-
Yep, there it is. I just hurled all over the forest. I’m pretty sure I got an innocent rabbit too, poor thing. Right on its fuzzy little ass.
“Your friend Ediye is such a blessing, don’t you think? If it wasn’t for her spell, we’d be crashing into the woods right now. The only thing that’s worse than blood is vomit,” Eryx says with a cheerful laugh. It doesn’t fill me with reassurance. I cling a little tighter to the angel in my koala grip and he laughs again. “Don’t worry, I won’t drop you. Besides, we’re almost there.”
It’s only a matter of minutes before Eryx slows and lowers us to a clearing near the shore of the river where it pools beneath the Blue Falls. The sun is just starting to color the clouds with streaks of pink and yellow in anticipation of dawn.
I slip my arms from Eryx and look around us, taking in the smell of the cool water as it falls over the rocks and crashes into the pool below. There’s no wind here, just the songs of birds in the shadows and the peace of time still waiting to pass from dark into light. These are the best moments of the day, if you ask me.
I look at Eryx and his easy smile is already waiting for me. Maybe it’s the flight, or the fact that I just chucked my last meal all over the trees, but I feel a bit lighter when I return his grin.
“Come on,” Eryx says, holding out his hand. I take it and he pulls us toward the water. “The sun is almost ready to break the horizon. It’s the best time for us to travel.”
We walk through the tall grass, the dew clinging to our clothes. When our feet land on the coarse sand of the riverbank, my heart starts to beat a little faster, my head pounds a little harder. I realize for the first time that I never worried about being unworthy of the Shadow Realm, even though I knew I didn’t belong there. I don’t belong in the Realm of Light either, but maybe I’m a bit scared of being unwelcome. My free pass to the domain of the angels doesn’t feel like something I earned, even though I guess I technically did.
Eryx squeezes my hand. It’s only when he does that I realize I’ve been crushing his palm in a death grip. “Don’t worry, Lu. You’ll love it. I promise.”
I focus on the falls ahead and take a deep and cleansing breath before stepping into the water. We wade into the pool toward the cascade, the cool river climbing up my body until it reaches my chest. Its soothing caress is a relief to my hot skin, and before I know it I’m letting go, diving beneath the rippling waves. When I break the surface, I watch Eryx as he swims underwater, his sharp wings cutting through the current. He comes up beside me and smiles, his skin radiant with joy. Before he can wipe the droplets from his eyes I smack the surface and spray him right in the face. His laugh shimmers enough for both of us.
“Siren or angel, place your bets!” Eryx yells and dunks my head beneath the surface. I dive deeper and reach up to jab my finger into his armpit. When I come up for air he’s still laughing. I give him a menacing grin and launch at his head, pushing him under in retaliation. Right when I think I’ve gotten the upper hand, I’m sailing through the air and crashing into the surface of the water, nearly choking on my silent laugh.
We spray flurries of water at one another, we dunk and pull limbs and smile until our cheeks hurt. When we finally realize dawn is casting long shadows through the trees around us we race each other to the waterfall, struggling to climb onto a ledge of rock through our laughter.
“If you thought that was fun, just wait until you see what’s on the other side,” Eryx says as he stands and pulls me to my feet. When he looks down at me I smile, and I realize that this is the first moment of fun I’ve had in a long time. And though he returns my smile, I see a glint of sadness in his eyes. I think he understands just how elusive joy has been during my time in the Shadow Realm. Maybe even longer than that.
Eryx steps beneath the stream of the waterfall and draws me with him, pulling me into his chest. I’m surrounded by the scent of cinnamon, of lilacs in spring. “Hold on tight, Lu. You’re in for a ride.”
Eryx’s wings fold around us, shimmering and lethal, sharp and iridescent. The water cascades across the blades of his feathers. I shield my eyes and look up at a filament of water that shines like liquid gold, as though the yellow warmth of dawn has unspooled to infuse the stream around us with light. My breath catches in awe as the stream of the waterfall slows until every drop is suspended. I reach out and touch a golden tear, grinning as it floats away from my finger and pings against another drop.
The pressure in my head starts to build.Just like diving in deep water, Ashen once said. But before the sadness of memory can burrow into my chest, a rush of color and glittering stars bursts around us as though we’re a bomb that’s detonated time itself.
When the fragments of dawn fall to our feet, we stand in another world.
The Realm of Light.
I step away from Eryx and press a hand to my heart.
No. Fucking. Way.
The space around us is alive with shouts of joy and peels of laughter. There’s a roaring, clattering sound and I look up as a roller coaster cart zooms overhead on a set of blue tracks. A Sky Screamer spins in the distance on the left, a Ferris Wheel looks out over a bright azure bay on the right. I can see figures surfing on the waves that curl into the shore. Roller coasters and water slides snake around us, passing cotton candy vendors and popcorn carts and ice cream stands. A little train bobs along its tracks in front of us, tooting a welcome as children on the cars giggle and wave. There’s music and dancing and churros and arcades, there are dogs that are dogs and not weird tripod crawler souls that hiss in your face. These arehappydogs, wagging their tails and playing with children and snagging stray popcorn from the ground.
There’s a crackle of sound and I look up as fireworks burst through the sky in explosions of pastel light.
It’s like a creamsicle overload. Everything about this place is candy sweet and ridiculous andI FUCKING LOVE IT.
I beam a widening smile of disbelief at Eryx.Is this for real?I whisper.
“Yeah, I mean… the whole place isn’t likethis, exactly, but it’s pretty amazing… right?”
He almost looks unsure, like he’s worried I might think it’s lame. But I don’t think that at all. I mean, it is lame, in the most amazing way. It’s not just amazing.
It’s fuckingepic,I try my best to say.
“Do you feel well enough for a ride or two before we take the portal to Saqqara?”
No. But also YES.
