Golden Lights in a Dark Sky ✔

2. What Happens If She Doesn't Come Back?

When I woke the next morning I couldn't find anyone awake in the house. So I flew up to the House of Wind. There in the kitchen, I found my siblings and Auntie Mor, Uncle Cassian, and Uncle Azriel. They were all eating a healthy breakfast composed of eggs and pancakes, both of which were drowning in syrup. A fresh bowl of fruit sat on the side and was nearly empty. I helped myself to a strawberry as I sat next to Uncle Cassian.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked. Auntie Mor shrugged and took another bite of eggs.

"We're just all exhausted," Uncle Azriel said. "We were up for hours last night trying to reach the other courts so we could have a meeting as soon as possible."

"And has anyone seen Ash this morning?" I asked hopefully.

Kai shook his head. "Orion and I visited her apartment this morning. No one was home and it didn't look like she had been there in hours."

"You broke into her apartment?" I asked, somewhat surprised. That didn't sound like something Kai of all people would do.

"No, the door was unlocked," Orion said. "We let ourselves in after knocking."

I went silent. Ash always locked her door if she wasn't home or if she was sleeping. That meant she likely wasn't back from Terrasen yet. And if she wasn't back yet, then, then what? Do we wait? Wait for how long? Why not just try to find her?

"When is this meeting, if you guys managed to set a date?" I asked Uncle Azriel.

"We're hoping to meet tonight, but we still need to get through to the Autumn, Spring, and Dawn courts."

"Speaking of which we should probably wake your parents up so we can get a move on," Uncles Cassian said.

Mor sighed and set down her fork. "I'll go get Amren," she said as she stood.

I stayed silent for a moment. "I'm going to go to the portal," I said. Everyone looked at me in surprise. "Ash isn't back yet and it's nearly nine in the morning," I said. "I'm going to go wait for her, and if she isn't back in another hour I'm going to go look for her."

"Why not just wait here for an hour?" Leo asked.

"Because I want to be there when she comes through," I said. "Who knows what happened, or if that magic surge affected her last night. I want to make sure she's okay."

Uncle Cassian sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "I get it kiddo," he said. "But if it's approaching twelve and she's not back and you can't find her then we need you back here. You're an excellent fighter and losing you would be a terrible mistake."

I nodded in agreement. "I promise I'll find her. I'll be back no matter what."

"Eat something first though," Cap said, sliding a plate of food towards me. "You barely ate anything at dinner last night."

I rolled my eyes but took the plate of food. Slowly everyone trickled out of the kitchen as I scarfed down my food. Kai stayed behind, slowly doing dishes. When I finished I handed my dishes off to him. He took them and met my eyes. He gave me a silent said smile.

"I know you love her, but please, for all our sakes, stay safe," he said softly. I gave him a smile back.

"I will," I said.

I walked out of the house out onto the terrace. I unfurled my wings and jumped into the sky. I flew towards the forest outside of the city. It was time to wait for Ash.

✧ ✧ ✧

I crashed into the balcony that led into my room. I threw open the door and ran into my room then out into the hall. I didn't know where I was going let alone what I was going to do. Tears were streaming down my face and I felt empty inside, broken. I came downstairs and ran straight into the first person I saw. I wrapped my arms around him as I cried. He stroked the top of my head, not saying a word.

"Kai," I sobbed. "Ash isn't coming back."

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"The portal is gone," I croaked, my voice hoarse. I hiccuped and continued to sob.

"I'm sorry."

I don't know how long Kai held me in his arms. Eventually, he told me to go lie down while he told everyone else. I went up to my room and sat on the floor in a puddle of sunlight. I hated how much my emotions were getting to me, especially with this new threat, but something inside of me felt broken.

I stared at my hands. I watched the sunlight weave through my fingertips. There was so much I wanted to tell her. I wanted to show her how I can weave sunlight. Show her how I glow when I'm excited. Show her how I can shapeshift and grow wings. Explore Pythian with her, show her my favorite spots. Visit Terrasen and Erilea and see her favorite spots in her world.

But all of that is impossible now. I remember asking Amren how the portal works and she said if the portal was ever broken the opening to their world would be sealed for good. We had that one chance to keep the portal open. But now we can't ever open a portal to their world because of their protections against world walkers.

We had one chance, and someone blew it.

The question was, who?

Surely not someone from the Night Court, or our allies. Perhaps the new enemy did but. But how would you know we have a portal in the woods. Most people didn't know unless you were close to the High Lord of your court. They're really the only ones that know.

Plus what advantage would you gain from closing the portal? We have little communication with the people on the other side, and we've had peace for years. Who would disturb that peace now? Who would bother to destroy access to a powerful ally?

Who other than someone wanting to betray us. To ruin our chances in this new war. Who other than someone who knows what enemy we are facing and went in for backup?

"No, she wouldn't," I whispered aloud. Ash wouldn't do something like that. But who would?

I clutched my head and groaned. All of this thinking was giving me a massive headache. This was too complicated for me to think about right now.

I laid on the floor, my head laying in the puddle of sunlight. I closed my eyes, feeling my face warm up. I just needed to relax.

A/N

Hheheheeeheheh
I hoped you liked this update.

I've made a couple of new covers for the book, but I can't decide on one. I'm not sure if I like any of them honestly. But if you guys are interested I can post them on a new page and we can have a vote. Just let me know. :D