Too Late
Serafine POV
It’s been a few days since I had Eyrx, I’m feeling more able to move today, and I want to go outside. I want fresh air, not an opened window or door. I want to be able to see the sun, the trees, everything.
Pulling the coat onto Eyrx I step out of the room, the Silvermane Hound bounds out of the door and waits at the treeline for me.
“Are you going out?” Helena steps toward me.
“Just to the trees, not far. I want to sit outside, read the journals.” I hold them up with my free hand.
“I’ll come, that way if you need anything you’re not alone.” She smiles at me and we walk out. Getting into the trees, I find the usual fallen tree and sit on the trunk of it.
For a while things are silent, then she shifts to look at me. “Did you find it?”
My head shakes. “No, I’m not sure where it is, and I’m wondering, if the book shows me what’s written, can it keep things hidden?”
Helena looks at me. “Interesting theory.”
“Well, when I asked question it tells me often it can’t answer them until the right time. What if that’s the same for the parts already written? What if each page showed me just what I was ready to see?”
She considers it and nods. “Have you tried going back and reading older pages?”
No, I hadn’t. I only just had the thought but maybe it’s worth the shot? Flipping to the front, I begin reading, for a few pages everything is the exact same.
“Nothing looks new,” I whisper as I keep going. Maybe I was wrong? just as I’m convinced I’m wasting time, I go to turn the page and stop. Turning back I stare.
“This is new,” I whisper and hold Eryx tighter as I lean in and begin to read.
“Most Veyrathi are born from a Threadborn bloodline.”
So it’s not something that just chose me?
“Well, that’s interesting we assumed that this was random. So, it’s your bloodline?” Helena tilts her head.
“Likely my mother’s side, as my father’s side were known to be cruel and not follow werewolf laws,” I mumble.
Successfully unlocked!
“So, your fear that having a baby was against the natural process was unneeded, if it’s awakened through the bloodline having a child makes no difference.”
1/4
Too Late
She says that but I feel like she’s wrong. “What if it’s real though? Maybe Veyrathi shouldn’t have children, which is why the other one died soon after birth. The bloodline can continue with other siblings,” I mumble.
“You’re the only daughter or even child. How can it continue without you having a baby‘
She’s right there. I look down at Eryx. “He’s a baby and shouldn’t be burdened with having to do this.”
“You’re assuming he has to do something,” Helena whispers.
“Your telling me, we’re given something unique, something powerful and not expected to do anything? No, we’re here for something, if only one of us can be born at once, then there’s a reason.”
I wish I knew what but the journals say nothing.
“Your mother died young, right?” Helena looks at me and I nod. “Was she Veyrathi?”
“How could she be? I learnt that it’s been hundreds of years since the last one.”
“Since the last one, or the last powerful one?” She shifts. “I’m beginning to think we’re surrounded by Veyrathi, but they are normal, only some, like yourself awkaken fully, and it’s rare. The others don’t bond to the Threadborns, the guardians don’t feel compelled to them, only that one, who unlocks everything.”
She could be right. I’m not about to argue that she’s wrong.
The scream that rips from my throat doesn’t sound human. It’s not just my voice, it’s my entire chest, my ribs, my lungs, every part of me tearing open under the pressure of pain that isn’t mine alone. Something burns through my chest.
The moment the Hollowfang Raven drops from the sky, I know something is wrong.
I feel it like someone drove a blade straight through my chest that’s on fire. My body curls around the baby, instinct more than thought. He cries out, his body shaking.
My breath hitches as I look up and see the black feathers tumbling down like ash. The sound the raven makes when it hits the forest floor is muffled and sickening. My stomach turns. The pain comes again, sharper this time, radiating from my ribs and spreading through my body, like I’ve taken the fall with it.
My scream echoes through the trees.
The Silvermane Hound, had at some point lurched up. Its glowing shackles lift, hovering in the air like they’re responding to something unseen. I can’t see anything.
It doesn’t roar or charge. It simply steps in front of me and lowers its body, trembling. It‘
s trying to shield us behind it even as its legs give out. One step, then another, it gets in position, like it’s ready to lunge for someone.
2/4
Too Late
try to rise, but the pain drags me back down. My arms give out. My body slams against the damp forest floor, and my breath knocks clean out of me.
My grip becoming tighter and the baby in my arms wails louder now, a raw, panicked sound. I clutch him with both arms, my teeth clenching against the sound of my own gasping sobs.
There’s another shot, and this time, it’s worse.
The air cracks with the sound of it, and I don’t see where it lands. All I do know is that my body seizes up, and my screams erupt instantly, the baby wailing more. My side burns, and I curl over the baby trying to protect him with whatever strength I have left.
I see the Silvermane Hound fall to the floor and the blood slowly pooling under it.
“NO!” I scream, my hand reaching out to touch it. It can’t die, they can’t die!
I hear Helena yell, the desperation in her voice slices through the ringing in my ears.
The Silvermane Hound doesn’t move at all. It lies still, legs stretched out unnaturally, sides barely rising with breath. Please be okay, I plead as I cry and try to regain strength to stand but the pain stays, it burns through me like venom is seeping through my blood and burning me to ash from the inside.
“Serafine!” Helena’s voice is close now. She’s crouched beside me, her hands fumbling for the baby. “I have him, come on, I need to get him out of here now, come on-”
“I can’t-” My voice breaks. My whole body’s shaking. My hands are numb. “Take him,” I whisper, pushing her away.
I see the shapes moving through the trees now, it’s too late, I know it is.
Figures begin to step out of the undergrowth, slow and purposeful. They’re dressed in grey and black. I can see they are armed, and being careful, closing a circle around us.
Helena begins to back up keeping Eryx clutched to her chest as he wails, and I fight back the sobs. It hurts too damn much.
There’s nowhere for her to go, we’re surrounded.
My ears ring with the sound of the baby’s cries, sharp and piercing, and I feel something begin to burn hotter.
It starts on my chest and begins to worsen I cry out, twisting, and the pain flares brighter. It’s like it’s branding me from the inside out.
My vision blurs and Helena drops to her knees beside me, one arm around the baby, the other gripping my wrist. I stare at the Hollowfang Raven and feel the thread snapping. Screaming the pain becomes worse.
It’s died.
“Stay with me–Serafine, look at me–stay awake-” she pleads.
3/4
Too Late
I’m trying.
God, I’m trying.
I blink away the tears and see him.
Through the blur, through the pain, through the tremble of my lashes and the blood roaring in my ears, I can see him.
He moves, and steps out from between the trees with the same smile. The same one I saw from my childhood and life as a prisoner under his power. Calm. Satisifed. Deadly.
Gideon.
My father.
His coat is pristine, like he hasn’t been walking through the forest. His hands are clasped behind his back like this is formality and not a trap, not a murder scene. His boots don’t make a sound as he approaches, like even the forest knows better than to get in his way.
“Serafine,” he says softly, like he’s greeting an old friend. It’s fake, he’s never soft with me, never kind. His eyes slide over Helena, who’s trembling, still cradling Eryx. His gaze flicks to the Silvermane Hound’s still body, then back to me. “It’s time to come home.”
My head shakes slowly, and it takes too much strength. Every muscle in my body is locked in place.
“You’ve done very well,” he continues. “You lasted longer than I expected, you actually became stronger than I thought. But it’s over now. You see that, don’t you?”
Helena stands between us, her breath sharp, but Gideon doesn’t even glance at her. His eyes stay on me, steady and cold. I don’t want to go back there. I look at Helena, and then around us. Maybe she can run with Eyrx?
“You’ve got something that belongs to me,” he says, and his voice lowers. “Two things, actually.”
I don’t speak because I can’t. I can feel Eryx’s cries vibrate through my chest, and the pain doesn’t fade.
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