afflicted

39

"I know it'll likely be quite a while until you're ready to forgive me, but we, unfortunately, don't have quite a while to defeat Maeve. I can't be certain because I haven't been there in some time apart from grabbing the two of you, but I believe Prythian's on its last leg. I don't estimate we have longer than a couple of weeks before the land becomes unsalvageable," Rhysand sighed as he, Callie, and Az walked down a path marked through the woods. He'd figured it might be easier to be honest if they weren't staring one another directly in the eyes. Callie, at least, was grateful for it. Azriel just looked like he would rather stab himself in the foot than have this conversation.

"How can you tell?" Callie questioned, tucking her hair behind her ear as they walked side-by-side. She'd figured it a good idea to keep Azriel and Rhysand a distance away from one another for the time being.

"My magic is tied to the land," Rhysand said solemnly. "It's been dwindling since the beginning of the war. I could feel myself losing power by the day, which is the only reason my mind was ever open to alternative-"

"Alternative," Azriel snorted, rolling his eyes and looking off into the distance, gritting his teeth like he was holding back a massive unleashing of anger. Callie winced. Azriel wasn't an angry person. This side of him was entirely new to her. She supposed it was on her behalf, so she couldn't be too upset with him for it.

"-means of winning. In those last few weeks in the House, Callie and I had been having strategy meetings because she was concerned for you-"

"Bullshit," Azriel scoffed. "You think it makes it better to know both of you were lying to me even longer than I'd thought?" This was going downhill, and quickly. Callie chewed her lip and tried to understand where they were both coming from to help them find any middle ground at all.

"If you would give me a fucking second-" Rhys growled, stopping to face Azriel on the dirt path. Their chests were both heaving, and they looked seconds from beating the shit out of each other. Callie stepped into the middle of them, putting her hand on Azriel's chest gently and slowly moving him back a few steps.

He looked over her shoulder at Rhysand, positively fuming. Callie placed her hand on his cheek and forced his eyes to meet hers. When they did, they immediately softened, which Callie recognized was not fair at all to his brother.

"Az, please just listen to him," she said softly. "You can't punish him over something we both did while acting like I had no part in it. It's unfair, and you know it. All you have to do is listen. I'm not asking you to forgive or forget. But let him say what he needs to say to you." Azriel stared at her for a long moment before his shoulders relaxed from the defensive and he nodded, moving to keep walking forward.

"Callie found something none of the rest of us had been able to," Rhysand began again, looking sidelong at Callie with blooming appreciation in those violet eyes. "She found hope. All of us were so drained and empty by that point. She was the only one still looking for a solution instead of attempting to make plans for the end of it. She had Amren show her around the library, helping her find our oldest available texts and anything specializing in interdimensional travel and body jacking." Of course, Callie remembered none of it, but it definitely seemed in character for her. When in doubt, she'd always found comfort in books.

"And dammit if she didn't find something within a week. I was bitter, honestly, because I had spent so much time looking, and I'd entirely overlooked what she had clearly seen. She discovered an archaic text that I helped her translate from an old fae language my father had shoved down my throat before he died, and I had to read it ten times before it fully registered with me what she'd found. It was a book of stories from so long ago that the dust was nearly a hardened coating on its spine. To anyone not really looking, it looked to be filled with children's stories. Once translated, it told the story of the rise of a young Queen and how she sacrificed and fought to save her world from darkness. The young Queen's enemies wore collars of wyrdstone and bled black. They called them Valg. The creatures were parasites installed into fae and witch bodies, invading and stealing their minds and bending their wills until they were nothing more than a nonparticipating host."

Azriel was listening quietly as Callie watched him from the corner of her eyes. Rhysand had given her bits and pieces of the story to calm her down when she'd first arrived, but this was also her first time hearing it all. She had no idea what the truth would do to her relationship with Azriel.

"The Queen had baited and trapped the gods, using wydrstone to permanently seal the entrance to their realm. Trapped with nowhere to run, she and her court defeated the Valg. But it was only with the aid of a powerful healer that the Queen had finally banished the Valg King, destroying him forever. The healer had been able to sever the soul tie from the Valg King to its host, ridding themselves of the darkness for good. The healer belonged to a sister kingdom, and before her departure, she had made a gift for the Queen, hopeful that she'd never need it. It was a stone that looked like molten fire, holding the ability to banish any darkness, were it ever to manifest again. The healer wanted the Queen to be able to live in peace, without fear. The stone finally gave the Queen the peace of mind she'd needed to move on and raise a family with her mate, continuing their line and protecting their kingdom." Rhysand said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Azriel was silent. Callie wanted to know what he was thinking or feeling. He gave her no indication, just walking along the path in silence. Rhys was quiet for a moment before he continued.

"Callie had said she'd recognized the stone from an alternate text, one that told no story of a young Queen, but instead, of a mysterious artifact. They'd never known its origin, or where to find it, but a photo in the book showed where it was hidden. Callie recognized the cave immediately. She wouldn't tell me where, only that she would return with it. I argued, but she agreed to take you, which eased my anxiety about it all. Sure enough, she returned with it." Azriel stopped dead in his tracks like he'd been so lost in thought he'd forgotten to tell himself to take another step forward.

"Wait," Azriel said, staring at the dirt path for a moment before his eyes snapped up to Callie's. "A cave?" He looked like he was waiting for an answer from her, but she didn't have one.

"I have no idea how I knew about the cave," she admitted. "Or where I found it." Something like pain registered on Azriel's face and he had to look away. He started walking again, a bit ahead of them like he couldn't look at her. She didn't understand why it upset him so much that she'd known where the cave was.

"To be blunt and skip the rest of the theatrics, we have the stone but had no clue how to use it. Callie had it with her when she was taken by Maeve and brought it back to me the night she was intended to kill me. She bought us time and safety, which is why we're all still here." Rhysand said, like he was daring Azriel to argue.

"But we still don't know how to use it, do we?" Callie asked, quite unsure of what Rhysand was getting at.

"We do," he sighed. "We just don't have the resources we need to make it work." Callie's heart sank. So, there was no plan. Wonderful.

"What do you need?" Azriel asked, his voice hoarse.

"We lost Madja on the battlefield. That was the unwritten requirement to wield the stone. It had to be a healer who used it. Of which we have absolutely zero." Rhysand said, shoulders sagging. Callie and Azriel slowly looked up at each other, the same horrified thoughts echoing across their features.

Rhysand stopped, looking between the two of them, confused. "What am I missing here? Why do you both look like you've seen a ghost?" Azriel's lips parted like he was going to answer but no sound came out. Callie couldn't look away, the two voicing their panic to each other without even speaking.

"Because I'm a healer."