Rejected

Rejected
DASTAN

I look back at the glowing stones resting in the statue’s hands. They pulse softly, each beat matching the movement of the water in the pool.

Jakko is the first to move. He steps toward the edge of the pool, his eyes fixed on the water. “Then we can still follow them.”

Em keeps her eyes on the glowing stones, her breathing growing quicker. “No.”

I whirl back to look at her. “What do you mean? You said the portal is open, why can’t we follow them?”

She steps closer to the statue, reaching out without quite touching one of the glowing stones. “Not everyone can pass through the portal. It will only remain open for so long.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice shakes. “It depends on how many people went through with Elysia. Every single body depletes more of the power.”

If there is a chance that I can cross and follow Elysia into the realm, I have to take it. I have to get to her. “I’m going after her.”

Zumir’s voice stops me. “You don’t know what’s waiting for you.”

His jaw is tight, his hand still wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

“I don’t care,” I say shaking my head.

“I can go with you,” James argues, taking a step closer.

I glare at him, staring him down. He would be the last person I would want to take, the last person I would want around Elysia.

Em folds her hands together. “The portal exists to return Ravens to Mortuorum.”

My eyes narrow.

“It wasn’t created so anyone could travel between realms whenever they wished.”

“So Dastan would be the only person able to cross?” James frowns, stepping even closer to the pool.

Em nods. “You would only be able to cross if Dastan takes you, and if there is enough power left in the pool.”

Her voice shakes, a terrible, broken sound. It’s as if she’s struggling to keep down bile threatening to rise to her mouth. She drops her eyes to the water, looking away in disgust as she presses a hand to her stomach.

I eye the water, finding nothing odd with it. “Em?”

She looks at me, her face pale.

“What’s wrong?”

She swallows. “The power, it would only be possible by spilling Elysia’s blood.”

For a moment, I don’t understand. Then my eyes drop to the water, to the glow deep inside. Drifting over to the edges where blood coats the stones.

I step to the edge of the pool, staring into it. Ice crawls over the stone beneath my boots, racing toward the water before stopping at its edge.

“How much?” My voice barely sounds like my own.

Em closes her eyes. “I don’t know. But considering the stones are still glowing, it was a lot.”

My hands curl into fists.

Jakko turns away. “Fuck.”

He drags both hands through his hair, pacing once before planting them on his hips. “I should’ve killed him. I had him and I let him take her.”

My jaw tightens. “So did I, but don’t worry. I’m going to kill him.”

I unfasten the clasp beneath my throat and pull my cloak from my shoulders. It falls into a dark heap beside the pool. I remove the thick leather bracer strapped over my forearm.

I leave my sword where it belongs, at my hip, and my dagger stays tucked inside my boot.

I don’t know what waits for me on the other side of that portal. I won’t arrive defenseless.

James watches me in silence before finally speaking. “So you’re going alone?”

I don’t look at him, just nod.

I roll my shoulders, testing the freedom of movement without the weight of the armor. The cuts along my ribs protest, but they’re nothing compared to what Elysia has endured.

Em steps toward me. “The crossing isn’t like swimming.”

I glance at her.

“The current will pull you wherever it wants.”

I nod once and take one step closer to the pool.

I hear Jakko inhale sharply. “Wait.”

I stop, glancing back at him.

He’s staring at me with an expression I haven’t seen before. “If…. when you find her...tell her I helped you.”

I give him no answer, not saying anything as I turn back toward the water. One more step and I’ll be with her.

As soon as my toes touch the water, agony explodes through my body.

It’s not heat. It’s not cold. It’s both at the same time. The pool rejects me with a violence I never saw coming. My feet leave the stone, and the world spins. I slam into the cavern wall hard enough to crack the rock behind me.

Air tears from my lungs, and I hit the ground on my side, coughing violently. Blood splatters out of my lips, leaving me breathless. “What the—”

James reaches me first, hauling me up to my feet by my elbow.

My ears ring and everything hurts. I force my knees to strengthen, to hold myself up without James’ help.

“What happened?” I rasp.

Em stands frozen beside the statue, one hand covering her mouth. “I don’t—I don’t know. It should have taken you.”

I stare at the water, and it doesn’t even ripple. As though I were never meant to touch it. My chest burns.

“Why would it reject you?”

I step toward the water again.

“I don’t think you should try that again,” Zumir interjects, stepping between me and the water.

I sneer at him. “Let me through.”

Blood dribbles down my chin, and Zumir looks disgusted by it, but he doesn’t move. I shove him aside, pain radiating through me.

The instant my boot touches the water, pain rips through me again.

This time I’m ready for it but the force still throws me backward. Ice erupts from beneath my feet, racing wildly across the cavern floor as I lose control of my magic.

Sharp crystals spear from the stone before shattering around me. I crash through them, but they slow me down enough to where I’m not slamming into the wall.

“No!” I cry, desperate for the water to take me.

I slam my fists against the wall, frustration and anger bubbling up inside me. The stones are still glowing. Elysia is just beyond them, and I cannot get to her.

“What are you doing?”

James’s voice sounds angry, edged with panic. When I lift my head to look at him, he is fixed on something behind me.

I turn, finding Jakko. He stands motionless at the edge of the pool, looking down a the water as if it has him mesmerized. As if it has been calling to him.

“What are you doing?” James repeats.

He doesn’t answer. He kneels, trailing his fingers from the damp dirt to the surface of the glowing water. The pool brightens, the glowing almost blinding.

The stones in the statue’s hands pulse along with the pool, and the entire cavern begins to hum.

“No,” Em whispers. “That can’t...”

Jakko looks back at us, confusion filling his face. Flames burst under the water. They spiral around his arm. He doesn’t react as if they’re burning him.

I stare, unable to move. Unable to understand.

Jakko slowly turns toward me, opening his palm and letting the fire concentrate there. He moves his fingers, the flames dancing across his skin.

Zumir and James are watching with eyes wide and lips parted.

I vaguely remember the way lit candles reacted in Jakko’s presence, but even I wasn’t expecting this amount of power coming from him.

I straighten my spine, forcing myself to face him head on.

Em looks at me, eyes apologetic and sad.

“No.” The word tears itself from my chest.

She inhales, shaking her head. “The portal is choosing him.”

“No.”

Jakko looks between the pool and me. “I can bring her back.”

I cross the cavern in three strides and shove him hard in the chest. He doesn’t fight back. “I said no.”

He says nothing, observing the expression on my face.

“You don’t deserve to save her.”

Pain flashes across his face. “I know.”

“You don’t deserve another second near her.”

“I know.”

His agreement only fuels my anger. Ice races across the floor between us. “I promised her.”

His voice is quiet when he responds. “So did I.”

The fire gathered in his palm flickers once before dying away. It doesn’t disappear completely. It retreats beneath his skin, faint veins of amber glowing beneath the back of his hand.

“If the portal chose me, I have to go,” he says steadily.

The anger inside me bubbles, my fists tightening with every second. He tightens the belt around his waist, making sure the blade sits securely against his hip.

He checks the dagger strapped to his thigh.

“I’ll bring her home.” His voice is rough.

I stare at him, every part of me wanting to stop him. To drag him away from the water. To find another way.

But Elysia is all that matters. My jaw tightens.

He turns away, his boots carrying him toward the pool. The deeper he gets, the brighter the water becomes. Flames bloom beneath the surface, curling around his legs. The surface doesn’t reject him like it did me.

It parts, welcoming him.

He never looks back, not even as the light swallows him whole.

When the light fades, Jakko is gone.

And I’m left behind.