The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 33

Death Bringer and I were perched on the ledge of a cliff with our feet dangling over the edge, our thighs only inches apart. Hundreds of feet below roared the angry waves of the ocean smacking against the bottom of the cliff. The night sky was covered in twinkling stars, lighting up his face in the pale glow. His jaw was sharp and his eyes peaceful as he stared out into the distance, One-Eye Rock miles and miles away.

"I wish I knew your name. I want to taste it on my tomgue," I groaned, my drunkenness anchoring me downward as my back fell to the hard ground behind me.

"You know my name," Death Bringer reminded me with little amusement.

I rolled my eyes, my hand fiddling with the tips of his fingers on his splayed hand he was using to brace himself as he angled his head down toward me slightly.

"You know what I mean. I want to know you. Even the parts of yourself that you killed off long ago."

He shook his head, "There are things I am... not ready to tell you."

"Why? Don't you trust me?" I bit my lip, averting my gaze.

Death Bringer sighed. "Of course I do. I..." he swallowed, "I am ashamed of my past. I am not ready for you to look at me differently. I rather like how you look at me now."

I frowned. "Is it real to look at you this way if I do not know exactly who I am looking at?"

His hand pulled away from my touch and tucked itself in between his thighs, interlocking with his other hand. "I hope so..." His head fell, his hair dangling in his face enough to shadow his shut eyes.

Pushing myself upright, I scooted closer to him. "Hey... Nothing you have done could change," I hesitated, "how I feel."

His eyes were soft and gentle as he glanced to where our thighs were now touching then they averted up to my gaze. It was as if he were plucked from my dreams and materialized into thin air. He was everything I could have ever imagined and more. I had never regarded someone so highly.

"How do you feel?" Death Bringer raised a brow, his lips pursed with anticipation.

I smiled at the strangeness of my heart clenching. I was beginning to grow familiar with this sick, nauseating feeling he always knew how to make me feel. How much control he had over my bodies reactions. "I feel like I am falling."

"And do you believe yet that I will catch you?" He whispered.

I felt the warmth of the liquid courage still tingling in my stomach as I arose to my feet, my legs wobbly and unbalanced. The ledge was higher up than I had ever been, even more anxiety-inducing than peering down from a crow's nest of a ship at a crowd of angry pirates or dangling from Onyx's arms in the clouds. I was never truly spooked by heights, but even this was enough to cause my poor heart to pick up pace again.

"What are you doing?" Death Bringer began to push himself up frantically as I turned my back to the ledge, straightened out my arms as if I were about to be strung up for a crime, then shut my eyes and let my body fall back. "Helena!" Death Bringer screamed in a panicked frenzy.

His figure grew smaller and smaller as gravity yanked at my body, tugging me closer and closer to the jagged rocks below. My arms remained outright, breaking some of the pressure of the air pushing against me. I relaxed my muscles, waiting for Death Bringer to rescue me like he always did. I wasn't afraid. He would catch me.

My limbs went limp when the large shadow formed from above, the body of a beast splaying its wings like a shadow of death between me and the bright stars. He was magnificent and horrifying and even more marvelous than I had imagined. I had met dragons before. I had heard stories about their shifting form but never had I ever seen one shift. Never had I ever seen a creature so vast and so deadly and so breathtaking. The sound of beating wings began to radiate through the air between us as the space separating us dwindled. I could hear the crashing waves more vividly now, could almost feel the splash of water droplets against my back when the beast above reared back and dangled down a sharp talon. He plucked me from the sky like an apple from a tree with little effort. Claws encased me like a coffin and tightened around me with enough give to prevent any injury.