De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 43

Hitomi dived down at him, her arms wrapping around his body as she flew away from the zone. He struggled against her, but flames erupted from her grip, scorching him.

“You’re very feisty,” she whispered into his ear. “I hope you don’t lose that trait.”

She flew across the forest until coming to a clearing and flung him toward the ground before landing on top of him. Her foot landed on his chest, pinning him as her nine red tails fanned out behind her, and the wings of Fire Magic vanished.

“Clever,” she said, as she thumbed the collar in her hand. “You were trying to knock this out of my hand into that horrid place. That would have destroyed the collar if you had succeeded.”

Ash pulled his magic into his fingers for a Bolt, only for Hitomi to kneel down and grab his wrist.

“Enough. You lost, Ash,” she said softly to him.

Her tails brushed against his arm as she smiled down at him with her glowing red eye.

“Stop fighting me. We got off to a bad start, but you know I’m right. As things are now, war is unavoidable with humanity,” Hitomi said, reaching out with her hand that held the collar to stroke his cheek. “I know you want to protect your girls, like Selena. Protect the children you will one day have with them. Together, we can make a world where they will be safe. Where they will flourish.”

Ash heard a click as the collar opened in her hand. Hitomi smiled down at him.

“This won’t be bad. One day, when you finally see the truth, I’ll remove it,” she promised.

Before she could close the collar, several balls of Death Magic collided with the fox. Ash recognized the spell instantly. He turned to see Cleo stepping from the forests, a scowl on her face.

“That’s my vassal, Hitomi,” Cleo yelled. “You will not touch him!”

Hitomi stood as Fire Magic rebuilt her body.

“Blackthorn, you’re alive and here?” she said, smiling. “I have so many questions for you.”

Ash stood and aimed a Bolt Cannon at the fox. She didn’t even try to dodge it, letting the spell strike her as it tore an arm and leg away from her body. She rolled several yards before fire sprouted from her wounds, healing them and even restoring her limbs.

“Do you really think you can stop me?” Hitomi asked.

Ash felt Cleo put her arm around his waist.

“No, but I can get him away from you,” she responded before pulling out a silver ball.

Hitomi’s eyes locked on it, and she yelled before everything vanished in a blue flash.

As the world came back into view, Ash realized he was standing in one of the large conference rooms of the Flatiron. The room was packed with people looking around and talking in hushed whispers. He recognized them as people from Castle Markal, and he spotted Selena and Haylee hurrying toward him. He looked back at Cleo, grinning.

“You’re alive!” Ash said as he wrapped her in a hug. “The oni said Piper had killed you.”

He squeezed her tightly, and after a moment, Cleo wrapped her arms around him, returning the embrace.

“I missed you, too,” Cleo said softly.

She broke the embrace when Haylee and Selena arrived at him, along with Rachel and Eva behind them. He turned and hugged both Selena and Haylee.

“How are you here?” he asked, then turned to Cleo. “How did you get to Vas and find me?”

Cleo answered first.

“We haven’t been idle while you’ve been gone. Your mother has led the district in your absence and worked toward bringing you home,” she said. “We created our own silver ball and paired it with the brass anchor you found in District 208. As soon as we had a way to get to Vas, I went to find you.”

Haylee chimed in next.

“She showed up at Castle Markal a day after you and Selena left to find the runesmith. She rifted us here once Selena returned to the castle and told us you were being attacked,” the otterkin said.

Cleo looked him up and down.

“I saw you fighting Hitomi in the air with those blue wings. The spells I saw you casting in that fight,” she said with a curious look. “You’re stronger now, different.”

He smiled.

“A lot has happened to me while on Vas,” he answered.

Not a second later, the door to the conference room burst open as a wolfkin with dark hair and blue eyes rushed through it.

“Ash!” Faylen yelled.

She almost knocked him off his feet when she collided with him. The wolfgirl wraps her arms around him, her lips locking to his. He felt her pull on his clothes as she passionately kissed him. Then he felt her tongue try to enter his mouth, and he broke the kiss.

“I missed you too, Fay, but—” Ash started.

Faylen interrupted him with another passionate kiss.

“I’m glad our daughter found a good mate,” Grace said.

Faylen’s eyes widened as she broke the kiss and looked over to where Grace and Blake stood.

“Mom! Dad!” Faylen exclaimed.

Tears welled in Faylen’s eyes as she turned back to him and gave a final kiss before breaking away to embrace her parents. Ash watched the reunion for a second before Lilly burst into the room and knocked him to the ground.

“I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!” Lilly cried as she buried her face in his chest.

He felt something wrap around his leg as he lay on the carpeted floor and looked up to see Naomi’s tail coiled around it. He squeezed the Lilly as he kissed her neck while sitting up. When he finally managed to pry himself free of the dryad, he stood and embraced Naomi.

Naomi rubbed her face into his chest. He heard a soft sob escape her as he held her tightly. Tears soaked into his shirt as he rubbed his hand on her back.

“I’m home, Naomi,” he whispered to her. “And I’m never leaving you again.”

He held her like that for some time before Naomi finally broke away from him. Her eyes were red, but a smile was on her face.

Faylen walked back over to him, wiping away tears from her eyes as she typed something out on her phone. She hit send, then slipped it back into her pocket before putting her hand on his shoulder and kissing him again.

“Luna and I thought we would never see our parents again,” Faylen said as she broke the kiss. “Thank you, Ash.”

Faylen looked over at Haylee and Selena with a sly smirk as her nose twitched.

“And thank you both for watching after our man,” she said as Selena and Haylee blushed. “Welcome to the family.”

Lilly gasped.

“I knew it!” she said, before turning and looking at the crowd of people. “So, how many of these ladies are you chasing, Ash?”

Faylen glared at the dryad.

“Lilly, only Selena and Haylee had my blessing,” Faylen growled softly.

A mischievous smile graced Lilly’s face.

“You sure? Because those two haven’t taken their eyes off him,” Lilly said, pointing at Eva and Rachel.

Eva blushed and looked away, while Rachel just tilted her head in confusion.

Faylen looked at both of them, and her nose twitched again.

“This is Eva and Rachel,” Ash said with a sigh. “Eva backed me as warchief and is my herald for the Flint Clan. Rachel is… well, the story is complicated.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow.

“Sexy complicated?” she asked.

Faylen sighed as she wrapped an arm around Lilly, covering the dryad's mouth with her hand.

“She’s just acting extra Lilly because she missed you,” Faylen said. “We all did, Ash.”

The door opened again, and Ash saw his mother, Alyndra, and Agent Miller enter the room. His mother looked around at all the people before locking eyes with him.

“Welcome home, Son,” his mother said, giving him a hug.

Agent Miller gave a nod. “Good to have you back, Warchief.”

Alyndra smiled at him as she stuck out her chest.

“Welcome back, District boss,” she purred.

Faylen’s ears went flat as she narrowed her eyes at the drow swordswoman.

“I’m surprised Rory isn’t with you,” Faylen said to the drow.

Alyndra looked at Faylen and shrugged.

“He’s busy cooking some human dish called an Eggplant parmesan,” she answered.

Ash smiled.

“Glad he’s adapting to life on Earth,” he said, then thought for a second. “Isn’t that one of your favorite dishes, Mom?”

Alyndra smirked as his mother nodded.

“To say I’ve been stressed since Cleo departed on her mission to retrieve you would be an understatement. Rory took it upon himself to make me something so I wouldn’t be eating my meals from the vending machine in the Flatiron.

“I know you want to rest after everything you’ve been through, but we have much to discuss,” his mother said, shifting the topic.

Ash nodded.

“A lot has happened to me while I was on Vas, and I imagine much has changed here as well,” Ash said.

He felt a small jolt of lightning escape his scar as Sparky appeared in front of him, lazily stretching like a fat house cat that just got up from a nap.

Everyone stared at the blue cat made of Lightning Magic.

“That’s an elemental!” Alyndra screamed, falling backwards to the ground before she scooted away.

Ash sighed.

“Yeah. Everyone, meet Sparky.”