MANON
"Come with me," I practically beg her - which I don't do. I'm Manon fucking Blackbeak, Wing leader and heir to the Blackbeak clan. I don't beg people for anything, I take what I want no matter how much blood I have to spill to get it. But for some reason, I can't hold back with Elide. She said "no" to my offer, and instead of ripping out her throat, I...begged. Gods, she makes me so emotional. She shouldn't be able to do that. "It won't be the same if you don't."
She bites her lip and draws her arms around herself. "I really can't, Manon. I...Aelin needs me here. I can't abandon everything that's given me hope; I can't abandon my country that my mother died for."
I open my mouth to plead, to say anything to get Elide to stay, but nothing comes out. How could I take that away from her? That hopeful gleam in her clear, brown eyes. How could I live with myself if I were the one to put that hopeful light out?
"Okay. So you stay here - for now. You help with the revolution, you stand by your queen. But once you're no longer needed, you come straight home, you hear? You're a Blackbeak, Elide. We won't be the same without you."
The look in her eyes makes it worth it, having to say goodbye. "Manon…" She embraces me, and I'm shocked. I've never been embraced before; physical and verbal affection were never things we witches felt was necessary. But I hug her back, our souls melding and intertwining; this feels like something I never knew I was missing. Something that now that I've tasted, I never want to lose it.
Elide pulls away but her hands remain on my back. I wish she'd never let me go. Gods, what is this half-witch doing to me? She's tearing up and I feel no joy from her pain. "Maanon, of course I'll come back. I'll come back home."
I try to pull myself together, to shove my newfound emotions back down before Elide can detect them. I stand still, but my body threatens to deflate as her hands move down to rest on my forearms. "You better be careful, Elide Lochan Blackbeak, or I swear to the holy Goddess I will kill you myself."
She laughs and hugs me again. Oh gods, what have I agreed to? How am I supposed to survive without her?
five months later
ELIDE
The blood, running blue, spills from my side. Through the pain, I try to cover up the color. Only Aelin knows about my true heritage, and I'm not too keen on the others finding out yet. I grunt while pulling myself out of the line of fire. From behind one of the pillars I peer at my deepening wound. My hands are stained blue.
Aedion and Chaol shout something to Aelin before running for the stairs. I can barely even hear the clashing of swords anymore. Aelin and the Valg prince come into view again, still enthralled in battle, but I can't hear them. I reach for my ars to check what's wrong, discovering more thick, blue blood. "Oh, gods," I sigh.
The Valg prince lunges at Aelin but she dodges his attack. She drops her sword which inaudibly falls to the floor, and she unleashes her fire on him. I look away from the brightness of her flame, not wanting to dull my eyesight along with my hearing. The fire stops and the prince drops dead. Aelin grabs her sword and follows to where Aedion and Chaol ran off.
She doesn't even glance my way.
I'm going to die, I can feel it. The blow was too much for my weak body to handle. Oh gods - Oh Three-Faced Goddess, save me. Save me so I might spare a moment to see my witch clan again. To see Manon and thank her for everything.
The silence is comforting, somehow; it promises a painless death/ The blood is soaking me now, a deep blue covering me from head to toe, marking me a witch. A Blackbeak without any iron in her nor a taste for human blood. A half-witch. Half-breed. Not fully human but not fully witch, either. Tears slide down my face and mix with my blood. I guess I've never had a place in this world. Even though Aelin accepted me and so might her friends, Terrasen never would be able to.
But Manon...she had accepted me, given me a home with her Blackbeak clan. And I'll never see her again.
I know there's a healer camp nearby, and if only I could get there I might survive. To tell Manon how much she means to me. But my gods-damned leg holds me in place behind the pillar, slowly bleeding out. My hearing returns, flowing in and out with the sounds of the battle outside.
I close my eyes, preparing for the pass into the Underworld, when a sudden warmth encompasses me. Arms wrap around me and scoop me up into that warmth, making my wounds groan. I open my eyes to see my rescuer, my savior.
Golden eyes, white hair, and a red hood. Manon. My Manon.
She's carrying me away, out the front entrance. Her iron nails have been filed to sharp points; her iron teeth are gleaming. I don't know what keeps me from speaking, the pain from my abdomen or the stunning fact that Manon is in Terrasen.
Anyone who comes in her path with even a slightly aggressive expression earns a growl and flash of iron teeth from Manon. Her hold on me tightens protectively as she carries my towards the healers' camp.
"How are you holding up?" Her voice is gentle with me although she snarls at a charging soldier. The people of Terrasen are frightened and angry at the presence of an Ironteeth Witch in their homeland.
"Not so well," I manage to murmur.
My response seems to send Manon to push faster through the raging battle. If she weren't so fiercely badass looking, I bet half these soldier would be trying to kill her.
The cut on my stomach oozes blood as it worsens with every step. Even with Manon's inhuman speed, I fear we won't reach the camp in time. I have to ask her, just in case I don't make it another minute. "Why did you come to Terrasen?"
That witchly fierceness in her solid gold eyes softens. "Because I missed you."
MANON
I don't know what drew me to Terrasen. Elide being away for months pulled me here, but in that urge hid something more. Like I knew she was in danger. The moment that sniveling man told me where she was, what she was involved in, I knew I should've tried harder to get her to come with me to the Wastes. I should've dragged her there if nothing else worked.
With her poor leg and soft heart, even her quick wit and perceptiveness couldn't keep her alive in battle. When the healer finishes tending Elide's wounds - when not if, which isn't even an option to me - she, Abraxos, and I are going straight to the Wastes.
Her blood, a sparkling witch blue, stains my hands. Forget leaving immediately - once I know she's okay, I'm going to give whatever bastard that did this to her one hell of a slow and painful death. My teeth nash together with my anger. There's a rustle within the tent where Elide is, so I retract my iron teeth. I don't need to frighten the healers anymore than I already did when I first arrived here, all iron and blue blood.
The healer emerges from the tent and goes into an explanation of Elide's wounds, which just feeds my bloodlust ever more. My impatience nags at me, causing me to bite on my lower lip - thank the gods I retracted my iron teeth - and tao my nails against the stoney ground.
"I healed her to the best of my abilities," the healer continues. I get on my feet and stare into the healer's eyes, willing him to speak faster. If he doesn't give me positive updates, I swear to Shiba I'll slaughter him right now. "And she's recovering steadily, although she shouldn't walk for at least a few hours. Her lame leg, however...I tried, but nothing can be done. I'm sorry."
The healer looks scared I'll rip his head clean off at that news, but I couldn't care less about him now. "Can I see here?"
He nods and I rush past him into the tent. Elide is lying on a cot with a large bandage wrapped around her torso. She tugs the blanket up to cover her bare breasts at my presence; a red blush floats up under her freckled cheeks. I run to her side and kneel so our gazes are level.
"Elide? Are you okay?"
A shy smile sneaks up onto her face. "Much better," she says dryly before clearing her throat. "I...I've missed you."
I find myself petting her hair. Tears of relief fall from my eyes. She's alive, she's alive. My Elide, my Good Witch. I plant a kiss on her forehead, and before leaning back, I whisper, "I missed you so much Elide Lochan Blackbeak. But we won't have to miss each other anymore; we're going to the Wastes. Together."
I lean away and tuck a stray dark hair out of Elide's eyes and behind her ear. A moment passes in complete quiet serenity with us just looking at each other and me stroking her cheek.
"Manon," Elide breaks the silence but the serenity remains. Her voice is silky sweet, like fresh honey or fine wine. "I would like that very much. To escape the battles here and go to the Wastes. With you."
And suddenly I do something I've had to irrational urge to do ever since I discovered a sad looking maid in my chambers in Morath. I place my moon-white hands on her freckled cheeks and I kiss her. I kiss her with the force of a thousand wyverns. I kiss her with all the want I've had building up inside of me for the past year I've known her. I kiss her with all the power of the hundred-year-old witch in me.
Elide Lochan Blackbeak, the Good Witch, kisses me back.