Deneck's yells blurred in the background as Reth saw the curtain of fire descend on Sianna. He ran toward the emerald flames only briefly wondering why there was no heat and why the smell of wet grass was so prevalent. Deneck and Calera sprinted next to him, one sported a crazed sense of worry while the other was following through with her duty.

Iari.

He was also in those flames. Reth would have to save him too. The thought of anything happening to him set a weight of dread over Reth's shoulders. But why the user wasn't utilizing his own magic against the attack was puzzling. He had shown he was more than capable of taking down an opponent even Reth hadn't been able to damage.

But when the other Rhokin reached the flames, they bounced away as if swatted by an invisible palm. The three slid and stumbled across the ground sprouting baby stalks of green. Panic seized Reth's chest and he couldn't remember how to breathe.

Sianna!

The fire stopped, and Reth inhaled. Everyone was standing, uncharred. But how? He cautiously saw as Sianna scowled at her hands and body. She caught his eyes, silently asking what was going on.

"We're alive." Iari's words were quiet but heard by all.

Lycin frowned. "That's one way to put surviving a dragon breathing on you."

"No!" Iari pointed at his neck which was mended of the wound Kota had inflicted. "I mean we're alive!"

Sianna's hands went to her throat as did Aldermeck and Lycin's to discover the same thing.

"We are." Aldermeck smiled as she rubbed her eyes.

Lycin audibly inhaled and exhaled. "I can breathe!"

"Are you alright, ser?" Reth asked as he approached Sianna.

She nodded. "I just feel a little funny. When I was dead, it was hard for me to feel sensations, and now I feel like everything is spilling over on my skin."

"And everything is so bright to me," Aldermeck said, the heel of her palms still pressed to her eyes.

"Are you going to need me to hold your hand and guide you, Meryl? Like an old lady?" Deneck laughed.

She smacked his head. "Shut up, Deneck."

Reth studied Sianna. Aside from her neck, she didn't look different, but her actions were a bit hesitant like the air itself startled her. When the wind picked up, she recoiled. Though he knew she wasn't in any rational danger, Reth moved closer to her.

"Leave," the wind howled and the dragon in front of them shimmered with waves of color across its scales before it disappeared.

Familiar hills of roots appeared and slithering within them was Vivor. When Kota and Yokir rushed up to them with questions in their eyes, Reth let Iari answer them. The Rhokin was too busy observing his ser. He wanted to make sure she truly was alive and well and no foul magick was involved. He didn't sense anything malicious from her, but his Ayodite experiences left him suspicious.

If anything, he concluded Sianna was tired. The way she sighed with her shoulders drooping into the bend of her back only for her to straighten up a few seconds later was the telltale sign Reth had learned to recognize. One she did plenty during their reading and spelling lessons this journey had interrupted. A small bubble of joy curled the corner of his lips knowing they would soon return to that norm.

"Explain what the hell all that shit was up there," Reth heard his ser say. "That black dragon."

Kota perked up. "It really was there? Did it attack you?"

"Damn right, and our Rhokin were useless," Lycin said, giving Calera a disapproving stare.

The Nayichi's eyes glimmered toward Iari. "Did you fight it?"

He nodded, unphased by how quickly Kota came to that conclusion, and Reth caught Sianna's protest in her tightly crossed arms and clenched jaw. "Elaborate. Now," she ordered Kota.

To Reth and everyone else's surprise, she did. "The black dragon is Death and is the same shadow that we all saw in the sky. And that is what it is. A shadow of Death's power, not fully there. I'm sure you saw Life too?"

Iari nodded. "Et-tune-"

"She told you her name?"

He nodded again. "She said somethin' about this not being her concern anymore."

Kota and Yokir wore identical smiles: knowing but also melancholic.

"Bu' we got it, Kota!" Iari laughed and held out the Eye of Artemis. "You're not banished anymore!"

"No. We're taking that rock back to Dracarr first. I know that's what the wizard and the king want," Lycin said.

"But we're already here."

Kota shook her head. "No, Iari. Even with a hundred eyes I can't return right now. Not until the a new elder to replace the one that passed here is chosen. A complete council must accept me back. It's best to return and help find the necromancer first. I can wait."

Iari turned to Yokir as if he could change what Kota just said. His solemn face deepened Iari's dismay. "Oh."

Reth sighed through his nose, the sight of the young user's sadness almost his own.

Sianna huffed. "It'll be fine, Iari."

"I welcome you to stay at my dwelling. It will be best if you rest there." Yokir said.

"We should return as soon as possible," Lycin said. "I am through with this damned place."

"No, we should rest," Aldermeck stepped up to Yokir. "Take us there."

They left while Kota waited. Yokir had offered her more babbling words of water and a soft caress across down her arm before taking off. When they returned to the Nayichi encampment, the sound of nature swallowed them. This time, however, their presence didn't disturb it. It was like the Nayichi had accepted their existence in their domain, another of their environment.

Yokir stopped in front one of the infinite roots running through the terrain. He placed a hand on it and an arched line appeared. The wood inside of it swirled and pulled into itself before it disappeared. He turned to them and welcomed them into his home. The inside was modest and smaller than Reth thought it would be given the root rivaled the size of a small inn.

Light flooded the room from a window Reth knew was magickal because its placement was illogical. There were padded rolls on the floor, exactly enough for everyone there, and at the end of a room was a pool of water outlined by smooth rocks.

"I've laid out the room for you. The water you see is a healing pool and will mend anything you need. I hope you understand this is the only room I'll allow you to occupy." Yokir smiled.

"Of course. And we thank you for it," Aldermeck said as they all entered.

Reth followed Sianna, close enough that his shoulder bumped into her. She shot him a warning glance before her sigh wiped the hard gleam from her eyes.

"I'm fine, Reth," she said. "Just relax."

He did his signature act of sticking out his chin. "Yes, ser."

Sianna laughed and his chest tightened in a way he now understood. "You're doing the opposite of relaxing," she said.

He lowered his shoulders the tiniest bit, but the hands that pressed down on them almost made him stumble.

"Relax, she said," Deneck said with his own easy-going smile.

Yokir walked to the doorway and gave them all a passing stare. "If there is nothing else you need of me, I shall be returning to Kota."

After he left, the bed cots were claimed. Reth, of course, took the one next to Sianna and was pleased she chose the one closest to the pool so that no one else could sleep on her other side. Reth hoped to wake up before she did so he could enjoy her cuddled up against him for a few minutes.

"I'm so tired," Iari said as he collapsed on his makeshift bed. He fell asleep instantly and Reth figured the immense amount of magick he had used finally caught up with him.

"Well saints be damned," Lycin said. He was kneeling at the edge of the water with his entire arm in it. When he pulled it out, his shredded sleeve was mended and dry. "And the water is still clear."

"What?" Sianna asked. "Did you sense any magick from it, Reth?"

He shook his head once. "No, ser." He didn't sense anything at all, but this area was surrounded by so much magickal energy, it felt as natural as breathing now. Trying to pinpoint something within it all was futile and the fact he couldn't be of use to his ser with such a basic detail weighed heavily on him.

"Fine. Then I'm next." Sianna pushed Lycin aside and stared into the pool before she dove into it, feet first.

"Ser!" Reth stretched an arm toward her as he watched the water swallow her. Droplets spilled in the air like tiny diamonds in bowls of rainbows.

"Ser!" he gripped the stones as he searched for her.

"Don't worry so much. She's fine." Lycin rolled his eyes.

And she was, standing in the neck-high water. The hair on top of her head was dry while her braid waved with underwater ripples. And she was laughing. The sound both elated and worried him. Sianna was acting oddly. First, she reacted with cool tolerance to Iari's magickal display in his fight against the dragon. Then, she smiled at him after he bumped into her. Reth wasn't an idiot. He knew she disliked having him in her space and was mindful of his hovering. And now...

A small furrow winkled the space between his eyebrows as he watched Sianna marvel at her arms. She would tug at the mended dry cloth only to dip them underwater and repeat the process again.

Reth heard Lycin laugh and his scowl deepened.

"Sianna, there is room for me in there. I can check to see if this water indeed healed all your wounds," Lycin said his fingers creating ripples across the pool's surface.

"Not even if I was dying." Sianna gave him her middle finger.

At least she was herself when it came to that infuriating man.

"Out, Sianna. There are others that want to patch their clothes and unache their bones," Aldermeck said and gently bonked Sianna's forehead with her knuckles.

With the help of Aldermeck, Sianna slipped out of the pool, dry as could be. The disruption should've pushed the water past its stone barrier, but instead it recoiled as if sentient and afraid. Everyone took a turn in the bath of magick water, including a sleepy Iari that came refreshed after his dip. Reth admitted he felt lighter as soon as he submerged under its healing waves. He was amazed at how the blood and grime on him swirled for a few seconds inside crystalline waves before it disappeared as withering tendrils. He watched as the threads of his clothes mended like tiny arms and hands latching together.

Sianna's strange behavior still pulled at the back of Reth's mind as they settled in to sleep. She stared at the wooden ceiling with silent thoughtfulness. Reth's eyes followed the adorable arc of her nose and lips. The exposed collar bones and her chest that rose with her breaths. Her stomach flattened by her stretched legs. Reth wanted to touch her and suddenly he understood what Deneck had meant when he asked if he wanted to sleep with his ser. Reth drew his eyes to the ceiling where the warped wooden rings appeared like the curves he had been admiring.

◌-◌-◌

The wind felt nice combing through Reth's hair, but even better than that was riding alone with his ser. Yokir had given then the umal to ride, different ones from before much to Iari's disappointment. That was remedied when one of the creatures nudged his shoulder with its tipped mouth, and he petted its head. The three riders per umal rule had been followed, and with Yokir no longer part of their group-his and Kota's goodbye had left even Reth with a small pang in his throat-Reth and Sianna had paired off alone.

His ser was back to her easily irritable self, evident when she kicked Lycin awake and fumed at Reth when she herself woke up snuggling his arm. But there was still a doubt of something in her eyes, and it was what kept Reth in silent observation. It was comforting, though, simply watching his ser.

They soon arrived at their destination. Another floating island. This one, however, was smaller than the ones from before and hovered closer to the ground. It was made of crystal, the same one that had spread and consumed The Fresh Corpse's ground while they had waited for the Lich King, Reth noticed. Floating gems clustered together, spinning. Some circled the island itself, arching like giant doorways. The most impressive piece was the hill sized crystal that hung far above their heads. It was crowded with crystalline dust like mist.

"There's nothing here," Aldermeck said as she walked around.

"It's here," Kota insisted. "Or rather it will be."

"Will be?"

"Yes. He'll appear here in a day or so, and he'll help us return to Dracarr."

"Another day? This is just absurd," Lycin said. "Why is it so difficult to go back home?"

The smile that slid on Deneck's lips told Reth he was about to say something that was going to leave Lycin annoyed, but Sianna beat him to it.

She said, "We're almost there, so just shut up and fucking wait."

As always, Lycin answered her with a smirk. "How can I wait when I know I'm going to have a special and private conversation with you once we return?"

"No one said it was going to be private."

Reth's jaw tightened. When had that promise of a conversation been arranged? He sighed, drawing a glance from Sianna.

And that's how the time passed. When his thoughts weren't swarming of ways to ask his ser if she was okay without annoying her, Deneck would talk to him, asking a few times if Reth himself was alright. He'd nod but knew his friend could see the truth whenever Reth would stare at Lycin for getting too close to Sianna.

"There are others staring at you too," Deneck said and nodded across the campsite.

Reth caught Calera looking at him. Her eyes widened and turned away only to dart at him again. He didn't understand what she was doing and was further confused by Deneck's snickering. He shook his head and listened to Iari's laughter. The young man's smiling face as he talked to Aldermeck and Sianna filled him with warmth. If only Reth could make his ser beam like that.

"Don't pout like that. Someone might think you can actually display emotions on your face," Deneck said. When Reth didn't answer, he let out a soft hmm before speaking again. "Maybe I shouldn't have had that talk with you about Sianna. It's a heavy realization and even heavier feeling."

"Have you ever loved someone?" Reth asked, still looking at Sianna. He felt the shift in Deneck, an ache similar to what had permanently lodged in Reth's chest.

"Yes. But he did not love me."

"I am sorry."

"I am not." Deneck beamed. "Seeing him smile always made my day."

That Reth understood. "You can see it again when we return."

His sigh was silent. "He is dead."

"I-"

"Don't you find the land her unusually comfortable considering it's made of crystal?" Deneck patted the ground which gave an uncharacteristic spring.

Reth agreed.

A deep purple hazed over the sky, setting the island literally aglow. The giant, glittering stone floating above them opened up like a flower, each petal a jagged gemstone that resembled a moonbeam. Crystalline dust erupted from the center and swirled in the sky like a river of tiny stars. Three hours later, Reth was still staring at the endless fragments that rotated and rotated while everyone around him slept.

Or so he thought.

Sianna stirred a few feet away. She sat up and hauled herself to her feet.

"Ser?" Reth said.

"Come with me." She paused. "If you want."

Of course he wanted to. "Yes, ser."

They walked in silence. The faint gleam around them softened Sianna's face with a light blue glow, but Reth could still read the worry between her brows. He wished to smooth it away with his fingers along with the stress he knew sat on her shoulders.

"This seems fine here," she said and settled on the cold ground. The camp was no longer in sight.

He sat next to her, and he couldn't hold back anymore. "Ser, are you alright?"

She stared ahead. "I'm not sure."

The string of concerned words prepped on his tongue were cut off by the hand Sianna held up.

"We've gone through a lot in this world of magick and saints knows what the hell else, but we're almost at the end of it all. I feel like it's all catching up to me now, and I don't know what I'm feeling." She rested an elbow on her raised knee.

Reth stared at her, waiting.

"I can't stop thinking about that dragon. Et'tune and how she breathed life into us. It was..." Sianna grunted. "Do you remember when we came across that waterfall that was in the middle of the air?"

He also remembered she had asked him to bathe with her.

"It felt the same," she whispered. "Under that dragon's green fire, there was a sense of liberation and peace. I felt the same when that water hit my skin. Did you feel anything when the water had touched you?"

"No, ser. I was only confused as to why you would ask me to undress with you."

She laughed.

"But, ser, that is concerning."

Sianna shook her head, her action as slow as her words. "It didn't feel malicious, but now more than anything, I feel sad."

A cold hand twisted his stomach. No. That's the last thing he wanted Sianna to feel. "Please, ser. Tell me why so I may fix it."

Another laugh. This one half-hearted. "It's silly, really. I feel sad thinking about that damn shadow dragon. Did you notice it hardly roared? I know it was an embodiment of death, but it really did feel empty. It really was a shadow. I feel sorry for it. And it's fucking stupid that I do."

Reth's hand moved faster than his brain. He touched her shoulder which prompted her to face him for the first time since she started talking to him. Her scowl etched deep wrinkles on her face, but he knew it wasn't for him. "I also do not know what to make of the dragons we encountered. They are gods. But even against gods, ser, I can guarantee I shall be by your side."

Her grimace softened but didn't disappear making the small smile on her lips appear out of place. "I know that. Thank you, Reth."

His heart drummed against his ribs.

Sianna chuckled. "I didn't know you could smile like that."

"Is it wrong for me to do so?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that." She threw herself back and stared at the sky. For a moment, her eyes appeared blue from the lights. "Just forget my ramblings. I don't know what I'm saying anymore. I have my body again. It's alive. I'm alive. And I feel like I have to remember how to feel alive again. But at the same time, I'm also remembering how it feels like to be crushed. All this, Reth. All this so that we can maybe save the kingdom."

Reth frowned, his sight caught by the ground. For the first time ever, he couldn't find words for his ser.

She laughed again, and Reth felt a flutter in his stomach at hearing it once more. At how often he was hearing it that night. "Don't look so worried. I just need to get home and give myself a good orgasm."

"I can give that to you." Reth blurted.

She lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He suddenly couldn't stop thinking about the nights when he had heard her pleasuring herself. The same nights he bit his tongue to offer what he did just now. Her tight moans and heavy breathing would fill his head and heat the pit of his stomach. Reth knew sometimes she would have company for the night, and it was during those times he would sleep in the training quarters. But now. Now he had the chance to give her what she wanted, and if he could do that then he'd be happy.

Sianna laughed through her nose. "This reminds me of that night when I very clumsily tried to seduce you after you chased Kota from my room. It was when that skeleton attacked me. Do you remember what you told me then? I think that's when I started to open up to you."

"Ser?"

"Nevermind. Just kiss me."

He slightly drew back in surprise.

"Here." Sianna scooted in front of him. Their knees touched. "If you can't impress me with a simple kiss, how can I trust you to satisfy me with more?"

There was a playful gleam in her stare she reserved for training fresh recruits. Or when eyeing her favorite food. He smiled.

"Are you excited already?" Her gleam was emphasized by her own sly grin. "But if I say to stop, you stop."

Reth nodded. "Of course, ser. I would never want to do anything that would bring you distress."

"I know. But, wait. There is another rule. Call me Sianna. Ser would just kill the mood."

Again he was speechless for a few seconds. "Ser?"

"I know you can say my name. I don't want to sound like Meryl."

He nodded.

Her look was inviting. Daring. A pit swallowed his stomach and his mouth went dry. Reth tried to swallow. What a terrible time for this to happen. He raised a tentative hand to her face, his thumb trailing her cheek. His gloves muted the sensation, but he didn't dare take them off yet. Reth cupped her head between his hands, his fingers stroking her lips, and her breath warmed the fabric against his skin. He had her here in his palms.

Reth kissed her.

A surge of heat erupted in his chest as he inhaled the taste of Sianna. She was the honeysuckle a merchant had allowed them to sample during one of their patrols. The crisp water she shared with him during their training. The biting mint that always lingered on her. And he wanted to taste more.

Reth licked her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to him. He slid his hand to the back of her head and pressed closer as his tongue sought hers. She met him and it was a collision of heat and dominance. Pulling her away with a tug of her hair, Reth kissed her jaw and neck as she panted by his ear. He yanked his gloves off, and hands on her thighs, Reth pulled her on his lap.

Sianna laughed and draped her arms around his shoulders. "Impressive."

And Reth said what he had always wanted to say to her eyes and smile. "Sianna."

She froze, and his heart mimicked her. She licked her lips, gaze cast down.

"Shall I stop, Sianna?" He was fine with stopping; he had enjoyed more from her than he thought he ever could. The fact he said her name twice in her presence was two times more than he believed possible.

"No. I need to know something." She pressed up against him. "Keep going."

He acted before his thoughts caught up with him. Reth kissed her again and untucked her shirt. His hands followed the curve of her back, skin to skin, and in the same movement pulled the shirt over her head. Sianna's loose hair strands fell over her face in slow motion. He reached for her braid, undid it, and combed through her locks. He guided her neck back to his lips, holding her waist tight against his body.

Her quiet gasps and the way she clutched to his shirt had Reth panting. Each of her movements shot a surge of desire through him. It fueled him to hear more of her cries knowing it was from pleasure he was giving her. In one nimble motion, Reth kicked his right leg out and turned Sianna around on it so her back was up against him as she straddled his thigh.

Gripping her chin, Reth turned her head to the side so their breathing rolled over each other's lips. His other hand traced her throat, across her collar bone, and between her breasts. The touch was electric but delicate. Her life beat through his fingertips that dipped with her ragged breaths. He felt the rise of her goosebumps as he stopped at the waist of her pants. It was quick and easy to unlace them, but that's all he did. Reth retraced his path up her chest, relishing the growing heat on her skin.

This time Sianna kissed him.

Reth almost moaned in her mouth, but he understood what she wanted. He always did, and he prided himself in that. With both his hands, he teased her inner thighs and thumbed between her legs before dipping an arm under her knees to carry her off of him.

"I want you to be comfortable. I am sorry I can't provide more than this." Reth took off his shirt and set it on the ground.

"How generous." Sianna lied on it.

Reth clenched his jaw admiring her looking up at him with her chest bare and her pants slipped below her hip bones. He started there. His tongue traced her hip, but Sianna's giggles stopped him.

"That tickles." Her stomach heaved and her breasts flattened against her arm that tried to sustain her laughter.

He smiled at the innocent joy on her face that usually held none. "I won't touch you there then."

"No. It feels good too."

Reth tucked her hair behind her ear. "As you wish."

He dusted kissed around her navel, amused by the tiny giggles she tried to suppress, but when he slipped off her pants and pressed his lips against her thighs, all he coaxed from her were deep gasps. His palm caressed her leg, hooked under her knee, and pushed it up to open her to him.

Reth tasted her and she buckled. Arms around her legs, he held her in place, slipping his tongue deeper inside her. She was wet and intoxicating and his. And he wanted to hear her. Reth alternated between licking and lightly sucking while his fingers enticed what his tongue had stimulated. The fire in his abdomen roared as she gripped his hair between her panting. Her scent gripped him, her hips rolled against him, and her pussy pulsed underneath him.

"Reth." Her whispered moan, her lust choked voice, almost broke him.

He wished to take her. Fuck her, as Sianna had said before. But no. There was a crudeness to that Reth didn't want to associate with her. Instead, he pulled away and nuzzled the inside of her thigh while his thumb pressed and circled on her clit. His lips brushed closer to her only to go to her other thigh. But Sianna didn't let him. She grabbed her head with both hands and brought him back between her legs.

Of course he obliged. Reth pressed and licked while his hands slid along her waist, across her ribs--an adorable giggle from her--and pinched her breasts. He didn't stop. With a jerk of his hair that stung his scalp, Sianna came. Throbbing waves hit his lips that he gently lapped until she pulled away, unable to take the sensation anymore.

He again kissed her below her bellybutton, and in three more kisses, he was by her breasts.

"No." She gave a single chuckle. "You better not kiss my mouth. I don't want to taste myself."

But he could only stare at her. The glow on her face, the satisfied luster in her eyes, the heat on her cheeks. She was perfect. "I love you, Sianna," he said.

It all disappeared. She jerked away from him, shook his head, and gave him back his shirt. He accepted her rejection when he grasped it. Reth knew this moment with her would not be infinite, but the fact he was the one that broke it so soon left a crater in his chest and a violent silence in his head. He swallowed and even her taste was different now.

Reth watched as Sianna gathered her clothes and put them on. "I didn't hear that, Reth. You never said you love me."

He stood at attention. He knew his place. "Yes, ser."

She held his stare before gently hitting his bare chest with the back of her hand. "I didn't say for you to stop calling me Sianna. If you want."

His eyebrows shot up, but he composed himself. "Yes...Sianna."

Eep. This one was difficult to write, but it was a scene I knew was going to happen since almost the beginning of the story. Which scene? Yeah, you know which one I'm talking about. *wiggles eyebrows* There's more going on here than just Reth being a very good Rhokin though.

I don't have much experience or confidence writing smexy scenes of smexy stuff, so PLEASE tell me if anything sounded weird or off. You can also tell me what you think of this chapter overall as well. :D

Tapping that little star also makes my day and encourages me to write some more! Thanks for reading! <3