I reached down into my hoodie to pull out the ruby necklace Ryland had given me, knowing I needed to go visit him. As I pulled the necklace free, my finger rubbed against the scar that rested over my heart, the skin raised and jagged.
I hated that scar as much as I hated the mark below my ear, each one a painful reminder of what I had lost. But sadly, I could handle my mark better. The mark had just appeared there, it hadn’t been carved into my skin by someone I loved. Whether or not he was in his right mind at the time, it was still Ryland’s body, his face, that I saw hurt me. I sighed and moved my hand away, my fingers shaking slightly as I looked down at the glistening ruby in my hands. It had continued to be as dead as the day I passed out over a plate of bacon, no warmth, no heartbeat, nothing. The stone remained quiet, even though I used the connection every day.
Ilyan was sure that Edmund was not using the necklace to hinder the connection between us, but he had still taught me to place a weak shield in between the stone and myself.
I filled the necklace, my only connection to Ryland, with my magic. My body grew warm and filled me with the heat of Ryland’s power as his latent magic that lived inside of me awakened, the connection that allowed us to track each other. It was the same comforting warmth I had grown up with, the same feeling my body constantly craved. I wished I could feel the sensation all the time, but the magic wasn’t mine and Ryland was too far away. Besides, his magic was used for other purposes now. It was a miracle Edmund hadn’t been able to fully break the bond between us in the first place, so I would have to accept the fragments I was left with.
My magic pulsed and grew alongside Ryland’s as I pushed more and more of it into the beautiful stone. Even though I loved the sensation Ryland’s magic gave me, even though I longed to see him, I still dreaded going into the T?uha. Every time I saw Ryland inside, it was the equivalent of seeing someone through glass, never being able to truly touch them. Never knowing if you would ever be able to break the glass and get them back. It was painful, but I had to go. If I didn’t my body would waste away to nothing again.
My eyes closed and I wandered into the colorful world that lived beyond my eyelids. I had spent every morning of the last few months coming in here and coloring with Ryland, sharing our dreams, talking about stories and making up our own.
It was a place where we created new memories while our old ones lay forgotten.
Well, at least his did.
“Jossy!” I turned at his voice, a wide smile spreading across my face at his appearance. Ry bolted across the space toward me, running headlong into me so that we both fell backwards onto the hard floor.
Ryland sat up from where we landed, his pointy elbows digging into my stomach. He smiled his large grin that I loved so much, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Hey Ry, did you miss me?” I asked, pushing his long black curls out of his eyes.
“You know I did, Jossy, you’re so funny.” He chuckled and rolled off of me.
“Funny ha ha, or funny hee hee?”
“Definitely hee hee.” he said, as he continued to giggle.
“You sure about that?” I asked, poking him in the ribs.
He could hear the mischief in my voice so he jumped up and away from me before I could grab and tickle him.
“Don’t, Jossy,” Ryland squealed.
“Why not?” I asked, moving up on all fours in an attempt to look like I was going to lunge at him.
“Because if you do, I can’t show you my new drawing,”
“A new one?” I asked, my curiosity peaking.
For some reason Ryland had never been able to leave our shared space, not since his memory was erased. So he spent all of his time coloring new masterpieces to fill the white void. Every time I came he had a new drawing to share or a new story that he wanted to tell me.
He grabbed my hand and towed me behind him toward the swimming pool. I willingly followed; his joy at sharing his new creation infectious.
“Just wait until you see it,” he called back to me, “I want to play ‘Princess and the Dragon of Delagn’ after you see it, kay? It looks just like a dragon.”
“Okay, but can I be the dragon this time? I am tired of being the... princess,” I stammered, as Ryland signaled toward the wall where he had drawn his masterpiece. I froze, my head flopping curiously to the side.
On the wall before me Ryland had drawn a giant cage, it stood as tall as I did and was drawn with heavy black lines. Inside the cage unintelligible figures were drawn in hundreds of colors, the door to the cage stood open, Ryland standing next to it. And on his finger perched Ryland’s ‘dragon’. It was small and scaled like a dragon or a dinosaur, but it wasn’t a dragon at all. Its scales were a bright jewel blue and on his back were large feathered wings. The face of the creature was somewhat feminine, but distorted somehow. Its cheek bones were high, eyes large and wide, it nose was almost nonexistent. Even though I had only fleetingly seen one before, I knew what it was immediately.