Chapter Seventy:

  “Above the Ruin”

  Keira stirred, her body weak, her limbs heavy. She felt movement, warmth beneath her, strong arms carrying her through the temple. She blinked up, her vision swimming, until Leo’s face came into view.

  It struck her again, that same spark of familiarity, the same strange pull she had felt before, with Roland. But sharper now, more defined. Leo looked so familiar, but she couldn’t place why. Like a word perched on the tip of her tongue, a memory hovered just out of reach, taunting her with its closeness.

  She wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come. So she watched him, tracing every line of his face, willing the answer to surface.

  Emily and Evelyn followed close behind, their eyes vigilant, their hands never far from their weapons. Ankit and Lucinda moved in sync behind them. Quiet, solemn. They all knew what had been lost.

  Keira felt it before she fully saw it, the humidity, the absence of cold gnawing at her skin. The world outside was not as she had left it.

  The snow that had blanketed the land was almost entirely gone, reduced to slushy remnants clinging to the roots of the timeworn trees. The suffocating humidity was laced with the scent of damp earth and decay. The unnatural chill had faded, leaving behind something eerily stagnant.

  Waiting just beyond the steps, Amari stood with his spear in hand, his gaze locked onto the entrance as if expecting something else to emerge. Asha stood beside him, arms crossed, watching.

  As the group stepped fully into the open, Asha turned, her expression unreadable.

  "Where are the rest of them?"

  This is the rest of them," Evelyn said, cold, unyielding

  Leo lowered Keira onto one of the only semi-dry patches of land, his movements gentle, care that barely fit his stature. The ground beneath her was damp, but solid enough to hold her weight.

  Keira regained clarity as she looked up. Three ropes dangled above her, swaying slightly in the wind. Beyond them, the sky stretched open, hanging within it was something that shouldn’t exist. A ship, drifting through the clouds, sails billowing. A beast. A leviathan, forged from wood and metal, gliding effortlessly through the heavens

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Ankit and Lucinda moved in around her, their presence forming a peaceful barrier between her and the rest of the world. Lucinda knelt beside her, her touch light against Keira’s arm.

  "I've mended your wounds, but you're still very weak," Lucinda said, her voice soft, soothing. "Do you think you can stand?"

  Keira closed her eyes. Images flashed behind her lids. Chris, exploding into a million blue fragments. Rachel, shattered in violet. That laughter, echoing in her ears. And then Hex, flying, crashing, crying, running.

  Breaking.

  Her fingers dug into the warm damp earth beneath her. She felt the grit under her nails.

  She opened her eyes, staring at the ropes, the ship, the sky.

  "Yeah, I think I can."

  The ropes felt solid beneath her grip, but the moment her fingers wrapped around them, they pulled her upward, weightless, effortless. Her boots pressed firmly against wood, the deck creaking beneath them. The hum of the airship surrounded her, a constant, rhythmic presence beneath her feet.

  Keira sat on one of the deep blue leather couches, her body sinking into the plush cushions as she tried to take it all in at once. The arched windows curved overhead, offering a breathtaking view of the sky stretching endlessly beyond the ship's gilded frame. Radiant light streamed through, spilling warm reflections across polished brass and the intricate machinery woven into the walls.

  The others had gathered around, sprawled across the room in various states of exhaustion and contemplation. The tension of battle still lingered in the air, but they had finally taken a moment to breathe. They had caught each other up, on what had happened inside the Temple of Ash, and what had been lost. The Aetheris' arrival at Emberwood, the Sages sending them to help, and most importantly, what still lay ahead.

  Keira’s eyes drifted toward Leo. He had been looking at her, but the moment their eyes met, he turned away, too quickly, like someone caught doing something they shouldn't. Then, slowly, as if pulling himself together, he met her gaze once more.

  For just a second, nothing else existed, only that strange, unshakable familiarity threading between them, pulling taut. Keira could see it in his face, the way something was held behind his eyes, something unspoken.

  He felt it too.

  Ankit was the first to ask. "So, what do we do now?"

  Amari, without question. "We should head back to Emberwood Village."

  Asha nodded. "I agree. If this Fire Guardian was never in that temple, then..."

  "Where is he?" Evelyn finished, her sharp focus sweeping over the group.

  Amari already heading to the bridge. "That is exactly what I intend to find out."

  Keira barely processed the conversation. The words drifted, important, necessary, but distant. Because out of the corner of her eye, she saw him.

  Leo wasn’t listening either. He was watching her. She could feel it. A presence on the edge of her awareness, unmistakable.

  Staring.