Chapter 297 The carry

Chapter 297: Chapter 297 The carry

Kaelen’s POV

The words hung in the air, heavy and desperate.

"I will get you out of here," I whispered. "I promise."

But I did not know how, because I could barely stand, and I could barely breathe. And Talia was burning in my arms.

I had never felt so helpless in my entire life. I had fought enemies, I had survived battles, and I had faced death more times than I could count. But none of that had prepared me for this, for the feeling of holding the woman I loved in my arms while she burned with a fever I could not break, knowing that she had given everything she had to save her mother. And now I was the one who had to carry her out of this land that is filled with death, and darkness.

I looked at her face, that was pale and still. She was so fragile, and so broken. She had given everything to save her mother, and now she was paying the price.

Seraphina looked at me, and I saw the tears on her face.

I saw the fear in her eyes, the same fear that was clawing at my own chest. She had just been freed from fifteen years of captivity, and now she was watching her daughter slip away. I could not imagine what she was feeling, but I knew that I had to be strong for both of them, because if I fell apart, we would all be lost.

Seraphina held my arm. "What do we do?"

"We have to get to the tunnel," I said.

Seraphina frowned. "What tunnel?"

I looked down at Talia’s pale face, and I felt the grief rising in my chest. "The tunnel that Talia found. It is how we got into the dungeon. It leads back outside, past the silver, and past the Ashen Lands."

Seraphina’s eyes widened. "She found the Silvertongue tunnel?"

I nodded. "Her Silvertongue instincts guided her. She placed her hand on the ground, and the earth opened up. She said that the tunnel was built by your ancestors, centuries ago. They built it to escape, and to hide."

Seraphina looked at Talia, and I saw the tears on her face. "My brave girl. Even after everything, she still found a way."

"Your daughter is remarkable," I said, and my voice cracked with emotion. "She never gave up, not once. She crossed mountains, fought through the Ashen Lands, broke through silver with her own blood, and she did it all because she believed you were still alive. She never stopped believing in you, Seraphina. Not for a single moment."

“So we have to get to the tunnel?” Seraphina asked.

"Yes ma. We need to get back to that tunnel," I said. "It is the only way out."

I forced myself to move, even though my body was doing the opposite, and fighting for me to stay down. I pushed myself up from the floor, and my legs shook beneath me. The silver was burning me, but I did not care. I had to get Talia out of this dungeon.

"I will carry her," I said.

Seraphina’s eyes widened. "You can barely stand, child."

"I know that, ma. But I can carry her," I said again.

Seraphina looked at me for a few moments, then she nodded.

I reached for Talia, and I felt her body in my arms. She was light, so light that it scared me. The blood magic had drained her, and I could feel the heat radiating from her skin.

I closed my eyes, and I whispered a prayer to the Moon Goddess.

I had always been a man of action, and someone who believed in his own strength and his own sword. But standing in that dungeon, while holding Talia’s burning body in my arms, I realized that my strength was not enough. I needed something more, something beyond myself, and something that could reach into the darkness and pull us all back into the light.

I had not prayed in years, and I had not believed in anything except my own strength. But now, I needed something more.

"Please," I whispered. "Please give me the strength to get her to the horses. We hid them at the border of the Ashen Lands. If I can just get her there, I can get her home."

I looked down at Talia’s face, and it was the same pale color, and it remained still. "And if we get home safe, I promise I will take better care of her. I will protect her with everything I have, and I will never let her hurt like this again."

I opened my eyes, and I felt a small warmth in my chest.

I did not know if it was the Moon Goddess answering my prayer or just the desperate hope of a man who refused to give up, but I felt something shift inside me. It was not strength, not exactly, but it was the will to keep going, and the determination to put one foot in front of the other until we were safe, and that was all I needed.

It was not much, but it was enough.

I lifted her, and I felt my arms trembling beneath her weight. My legs shook, and I swayed on my feet. But I did not fall, I held on.

Seraphina stood beside me, and her body was weak but steady. "Lead the way."

I looked at the path of the dungeon ahead, and it looked so dark and endless. I did not know where we were going, and I did not know if we would make it out, but I had to try.

I took a step forward, then another. Each step was a struggle, but I did not stop. I could not stop, because we had to get to safety.

Talia’s head lolled against my chest, and I felt the heat of her skin through my shirt. She was still burning, and I could not cool her down.

"Hold on, Talia," I whispered. "Hold on."

Seraphina walked beside me, with her hand on my arm for support. She was weak, but she was moving, and she was free, all thanks to Talia’s powers.

"Kaelen," she said. "Is she going to be okay?"

I looked down at Talia’s face.

Her skin was so pale, and her lips were cracked and dry. She looked so small and fragile, and nothing like the fierce, determined woman who had faced Malachai’s darkness without flinching. I wanted to tell her that I was proud of her, that she had done everything she had set out to do, and that she had saved her mother, and that now it was my turn to save her.

"She will be okay, ma. She has to be." I blinked back tears.

We walked through the darkness, and I felt the silver pressing in on us from all sides. The dungeon path was cold and damp, and I could hear the distant sound of dripping water.

But I did not stop.

"Talia," I whispered again. "Please. Please wake up."

She did not respond. Her body was still, and her breathing was shallow.

I held her closer, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. I had never cried before. Not like this, and not for anyone.

But Talia was not just anyone, she was everything.

She was the reason I had learned to hope again, and the reason I had started to believe that there was more to life than just surviving. She had walked into my world and changed everything, and I could not imagine my life without her. So I would carry her out of this dungeon, I would get her to safety, and I would spend the rest of my life making sure she never had to face anything like this again.

"Just a little further," I said. "Just a little further, and we will be at the tunnel."

The dungeon cold stone floors stretched out before us, dark and endless. I did not know what was waiting for us at the end. But I had to keep going, and I had to get us to the tunnel where we came through.

I just had to get Talia out of here.