Chapter Fourteen: Separation

“What?”  I exclaimed, straightening up.  “Why?  And go where?”

“It's...”  Reece ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Regan out of the corner of his eye.  “I'm kind of... being drafted.”

 “Drafted?” Regan shouted, making Reece flinch.  “Is that how you’re going to put it?”

“Asked politely with an insane amount of guilt laid on.  Whatever.”  Reece rolled his eyes and sighed, his shoulders slumping.  He stared at his hands in his lap.

“What is going on?”  I said, standing up.

Reece started to speak, but Regan held her hand up to silence him.  “I need him.  You don’t need to know any of the details.”

“I demand to know the details!”  I straightened and clenched my fists.  My eyes were still burning, tears gathering in my lower lashes.

“You’re not in a position to demand anything-!”  Regan snapped, but Reece clasped her hand.

He stood to his feet, shaking his head.  “I’m not keeping secrets from her.  Let me explain.”

Regan bit her lip and slumped back, looking away.  Reece took both of my hands in his and spoke in a low, solemn voice. 

“The Matriarch of the Lucians was in Moonlight Falls two days ago.  It’s been decades since anyone’s seen her.  She stole…”  Reece paused, swallowing.  “… she stole a Ravendancer Tome.  That’s one of the final ingredients they need… to cast the curse.”

Regan sighed, leaning her head back on the pavilion’s support column and staring at the sky.  “Not sap more magic, not put a witch on steroids, but cast the curse itself.”

I stared down at my hands.  My throat felt dry and my head was swimming.

“You believe they found a way to cast it.”  I whispered.

“We… can’t be sure.”  Reece said, biting his lip.

“It’s too close for comfort.”  Regan said, pushing off and turning around to face me.  “And I can’t let that old witch get away again.”

Reece nodded his head and looked up at me.  “Regan asked me to join the search team.  We’re leaving for Moonlight Falls in the morning.”

I brushed my fingers at the corners of my eyes. “When are you coming back?” 

Reece sighed, hanging his head.

“I don't know.  Maybe never.”  he murmured.

He looked so torn, and so scared.  I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go, but my hands remained limp at my sides. 

“Take me with you.”  I said, the words out before I had much time to think about them.

“What?”  Regan shouted, making a sour face.  She shook her head.  “No!”

“If there is a war that threatens the entire world, then it is my duty as a warrior...” I started, my heart racing.

“No!”  Regan shouted again, shoving Reece off to the side so that she could tower over me.  “That's not your duty.  This isn't your war.  I can’t have some little girl hanging on my brother and slowing us down!”

My face flushed with embarrassment and rage.  “If the threat these Lucians pose is to the whole Earth, then it is as much my war as it is yours.  And I will have you know that I am a warrior!  I have battled and slain the most powerful beasts known to man!  I am Sophia Carol, the dragon slayer!”

Regan just rolled her eyes.  “Well whoop-de-reaping-do for you, but I don’t need a dragon slayer!  I need an alchemist!”

Reece put a hand on her shoulder, “Sis…”

“And are there no other alchemists?” I shouted, my voice shaking. 

“No one I trust!” Regan snapped back, and her voice broke.  I stared back at her, open-mouthed.  She took a shaky breath in, pursing her lips together.    “I need… I need Reece.”

I was silent.  Reece squeezed her shoulder and she stepped back.

“Sophia…”  Reece sighed, shaking his head.  “I want you to come.  Watcher, this would be so much easier if I had you with me…”

He fell silent for a moment.  I wanted him to say more, to tell me what was really in his heart.  I felt as though the center of my chest was freezing into shards of ice.

He bit his lip, and looked up into my eyes.  “But you made yourself depressed and miserable being a warrior the first time you lived.  I'm not going to let you let your obligation to duty get in the way of you trying for your dream this time.”

But you are my dream this time.  I thought.

I felt a warm tear trickle down my cheek.  Reece started, brushing it away with an outstretched hand.

“No... please don't cry...” he murmured.

I clasped my hand against my mouth and shook my head.  Then, to his surprise, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his shoulder.

 “I do not want you to leave.”  I sobbed, clutching him tight and breathing in his earthy scent.

“I… I know.”  Reece sighed, delicately patting my back.  “Sophia… promise me you’ll finish out the term strong and you'll do well at your internship.”  he said, putting his fingers under my chin and tilting my head up to look at him.

He was asking me not to follow him, I realized with a sinking heart.  I averted my eyes from his.

“Promise me.”  Reece repeated.

“I promise.”  I said, but the words felt thick and bitter on my tongue.

Reece nodded, winding his arms around my shoulders and pulling me back into his embrace. “I'm going to miss you.”

“I will miss you more.”  I whispered, closing my eyes.

I came back to the house before sunrise the following morning, hoping I could catch them before they departed.

But they were already gone.  All that was left was a note Reece had left on the table with my name on it.  He asked me to take care of Timber for him, and left me the address of a safe house where I could write to him.

Timber lay by the bedroom door and whined like a lost puppy.  For the first time since the night I had been resurrected, I picked him up.

“I know.  I did not want him to leave me either.”  I said, rubbing my fingers in the space between his horns.

He let out a miserable, dead trill.

Class resumed the following Monday, but I felt miles and miles away.

Nirina sat with me and tried to offer me words of comfort while I wept.

I found myself picking up the phone to call Reece, and then feeling my heart sink when it went to voice mail, and I remembered.

I wrote a number of letters to the address he left me, telling him trivial things like what assignments I was working on, what the weather was like, and what new mischief his little dragon was up to.   I always closed by telling him I hoped he was safe and well, and that I missed him.

I was overjoyed when I found a letter from him in the mailbox one afternoon.  He said nothing of clans, cold wars, or curses.  He only reassured me that he was well and that he hoped I was doing all right in my studies.

I carried it with me everywhere.  I read it to Nirina and Hale at the dorms, and Daria when I went to my internship, all the while skipping with a smile on my face.

I sent dozens more letters than I received replies, but it mattered little to me.  I cherished every single word he sent me.  I clung to those letters like they were the last fragile tether that could keep us together.

A thousand times I drafted the only letter that really mattered, the one that I wanted to say everything that was in my heart.  But in the end, I would crumple it up and throw it away.

I received one final letter from him the day before exams, and then…

Nothing.

The weeks passed, and only bills arrived in my mailbox.  My heart died a little every time I opened it up.  I tried to reassure myself that he was just away from safe house, busy with his mission, and he had no time to send me a new letter.  It did not mean I needed to fear the worst.

But all the same, I feared the worst.