The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida

Chapter Ten

We made it to another cave, this one much too close to Gremara's stronghold for my comfort. But Dal was losing pieces of himself too fast to make it any further. He shifted to Sidhe, and I caught him as he stumbled.

We had made a short stop for the satchel that Dal left on the muddy hill outside the fortress. He refused to leave it behind since it had the Lion Soul Stone inside it. Now, I was glad that he'd insisted because I didn't want to lay his bleeding body on the dirty cave floor. I propped him against the wall and dug out a pallet, then helped him onto it.

“Give me my amulet,” he murmured.

“Oh, of course! It will help, won't it?” I pulled the Hawk Soul out of my pocket. The clasp was broken so I couldn't fasten it, but I laid it on his chest. His bloody chest.

Dalsharan let out a sigh of relief, but nothing else happened.

“Okay, should I... do you want me to...” I waved a hand at his cock. Thankfully, it was untouched by the rot. “You'll have to remove your spell.”

“It's too late, Ravyn,” he whispered.

“What the fuck are you talking about? I don't care how you look, I can just suck your cock or something.”

Dal smiled wanly. “I won't recover from this. The Fae cannot heal damage caused by wild-rot. I can already feel it entering my brain. I'll be a...” he swallowed hard and started again, “I'll be senseless in a few hours, so I'm asking you now. I need you to—”

“No!” I lurched to my feet. “Fuck, no. I'm not killing you.”

“I'm so sorry, sweetheart. You're going to have to try to find a boat and row home alone. I can't help you. I failed at protecting you.”

“You shut the fuck up, asshole!” I snarled at him.

But he didn't hear me. Dalsharan had passed out from the pain. Frankly, I was amazed that he'd lasted so long. His chest was one big wound and his hands were nothing but bones with sinew holding them together. I wanted to vomit. I wanted to scream. I wanted to bawl like a fucking baby. But then I heard the strangest thing—the cry of a hawk.

I hadn't realized that I was weeping until I looked down at Dal's chest. Among the blood and gore, something glowed gold. I heard a whisper but couldn't make out the words. My hand reached for the Hawk Soul as if someone else were controlling me. I picked it up, its chain dripping blood. Once in my hand and the jewel touched my skin, the voice became clear.

Listen to me carefully, human.

I flinched and nearly dropped it.

Do not drop me!

My hand tightened into a fist.

I can feel your soul, Ravyn Ravellar, and it is pure. It is strong, as is your will. You can survive.

“Survive what?” I whispered.

Do not interrupt me!

“For fuck's sake, you sound like him,” I muttered.

I sound like magic. I'm not really speaking words to you. I'm touching your mind.

“Great. A soul stone is—”

Shut up and listen!

I went silent.

Gather the other stones.

“The other... you mean the Lion and Coyote Souls?”

Yes, of course! Are there other soul stones here?

“You don't have to be so rude,” I grumbled as I went to the satchel and pulled out the Lion Soul. The Coyote was still in my pocket where I'd shoved it hours earlier after taking it from Gremara's treasure room.

Lay the Lion beside me so that our sides touch.

I laid the lion pendant beside the Hawk in my palm. The stones started to glow, and then they adhered together, the gold of their settings melting into one.

Now, the Coyote!

I pulled out the Coyote Soul just as a lion began to roar in my mind. The roar startled me. I fumbled the cloth-wrapped stone and dropped it.

Don't drop it!

I groaned as I bent to pick it up. Something was pressing against my mind. Clawing at it.

Hurry! Place it along the Lion's edge. Form us into a half-moon. Then prepare yourself, Ravyn. You must be strong. Be strong for him or my lord will not survive. Do you understand? Focus on him. Focus on healing him! See him as he was.

I couldn't speak, my teeth were clenched too tightly, but I did what the Hawk Soul ordered me to do. The Coyote Soul Stone melded to the Lion and the three amulets became one, wedged together like half a pie. For a second, nothing happened, nothing but the easing of pressure on my mind. And then light flared from my palm—three shades of gold blending into one. The merged stones pulsed, and my hand closed around them, clenching into a fist. Their chains dangled and clinked together, but that soft sound was lost to the three voices that filled my head, echoing with roars and shrieks and growls. In the primal cacophony I heard music, music so beautiful that I wept.

I reached for that song with my entire being, and it surrounded me. It comforted me. I sank into it. I sang with it. No, it wasn't music, it was magic. And its power was too much for me. I started to burn.

I screamed and fell to my knees as the magic seared through my human cells. I couldn't hear the Hawk anymore, but I latched onto what he'd said. Focus on Dalsharan—that's what he'd told me to do. So, I opened my eyes to look at the Hawk Lord. But the vision of him lying there, rotting and weak, only horrified me. Then I remembered that the Hawk Soul had told me to see Dal as he had been. I shut my eyes again and imagined Dalsharan whole. Healthy. Safe.

I summoned my memory of the Hawk Lord standing before me, shrugging out of his robe just before he shifted. I saw him lying on his side, staring at me with sharp arousal as he stroked himself, and remembered how he laughed, joy brightening his amazing eyes.

The magic inside me went still, like a hound that had caught a scent. The burning eased as the power pulled inward, gathering in my chest. As it condensed there, knowledge came to me. Just popped into my head. I suddenly knew what to do to heal Dal.

I lurched to my feet and pointed my fistful of soul stones at the rotting warlord. That glittering golden glow surged out of my hand and hit the Hawk Lord in his chest, right over his heart. Dalsharan gasped, his back arching, but didn't open his eyes. The light gathered in his chest as it had in mine, but then spread outward. Within its radiance, flesh regrew and rotted filth burned away. The magic swept over Dal's ruined body like water and in the wake of its wave, honey-brown skin appeared over the thick bulge of muscles.

But I wasn't really seeing the healing take place, not with my eyes. My eyes were still closed. It was the magic that saw Dalsharan made whole. The magic of three fae beasts that pounded in my heart with clawed paws and sharp talons, filled my mind with primal cries, and blasted power through my trembling human body. And then that magic showed me his soul.

I didn't think the Hawk Lord could be any more beautiful than he already was, but his soul—that shining, glorious, ethereal being that lived inside his pretty shell—was the most magical, heart-stoppingly handsome thing I have ever beheld. And it reached a sparkling hand out to me as if it could see me too.

I didn't move and yet, I took that hand. I saw a transparent version of my arm lift out of me like a ghost and reach for Dal. I didn't glow as he did, but he still smiled at me as if I were lovely to look at. He took my hand and drew me closer. My body moved with my soul until I was crouching over his body and his soul was lying back inside him, taking mine with it.

For a second, I balked. I needed my soul, didn't I? But he wasn't taking it, he was giving. Part of his sparkling energy flowed into the hand of my soul—my ghostly hand that he had drawn right into his heart. I felt my phantom fingers close around a seed of light, and when I drew my hand back, I took the seed with me. As my soul settled inside my body, the tiny orb of light—that spark of Dal's soul—surged straight into my heart and absorbed the magic of the trinity of soul stones. Then it blossomed. The power that had threatened to burn me earlier now sang to me once again. A song of acceptance and healing. I fell backward, my body trembling violently, and the song rose to a crescendo that exploded in my mind.

“Dalsharan,” I whispered and died.