“Is this now?” Ilyan asked, his voice raised above the constant noise that filled the chamber.
“The time is now, My Lord,” The Drak said together. “You alone will be brave enough to fight him. Where others will lose their lives, you will prevail.”
More sights flashed before us as the Drak continued to mumble. Ilyan and I looked at the pillar as images of him fighting against unknown foes were replaced by his stripped body strung up on a tree as he was beaten, and then it returned to a sight of Ilyan victorious against at least ten men. I looked to Ilyan curiously, surprised to see his shoulders squared and jaw set, almost as if he was ready to plunge into battle at any moment.
Looking at him right then, I could understand why he always fought; why he relished battle. It wasn’t a thirst for blood as Edmund would have me believe, though. It was a pure desire to help, to be good, and to protect. It was light.
“In a time far ahead, near the end of the world…” Flashes of war after war, all raged by man, filled the pillar of Black Water. I ached at seeing all the destruction humans had waged in such a raw way.
“…in a time when everything is changing and everything is new…”
The water showed us visions of my time and I watched Ilyan’s eyes bug out of his head at the sights of high-rise buildings, cars, and the everyday modern life he was being shown.
“…there will come a child.”
The same sight from my own vision flashed on the water; that of my mother being handed an infant, me. My heart beat rapidly, my mouth had gone dry.
“A child, an infant, a child that we see. We see her when she’s born. We see her when she’s grown. We see her now, and we see her then.”
Visions of my childhood flashed through the water in quick succession, I recognized moments of triumph sprinkled through the many images of loss, pain, and anger that made up me. Ilyan clutched his heart, his sadness at my life evident. I had to look away as the images continued, each heartbreaking memory hurting more. Then they began to change. I was smiling more. I was laughing. And I knew why. Each of these sights were when I had been with Ryland. Even though he was never shown, I knew without a doubt he was there. My spirits soared thinking about him as he used to be; before the pain of his insistence that I break the Zȇlství had crushed my joy.
“She is of The Chosen. Marked by the sign of the creature of fire, she has smoke in her eyes.”
More visions flashed, showing us snippets of when I received my mark, my eyes before and after, and of how I had tried to hide the mark over the years. I reached up and covered my neck, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
“A Chosen just for you.” Their voices reverberated through my head as the pillar showed a sight of Ilyan and me. His arms were entwined around me, his body soft against mine, his lips pressed firmly against my own.
“No,” I gasped silently. My stomach turning at what I was seeing. I had known from the beginning what was going to happen, but I refused to believe it. I didn’t want to accept what Cail and Ryland had said as truth.
The vision continued and I looked toward Ilyan, his hand extended longingly toward the passionate kiss we shared. I could see all the longing in his eyes. He had waited so long. This wasn’t supposed to happen, it couldn’t happen. Yet I still found that knot in my stomach turning to an ache.
“For in this child is power, power beyond belief.”
The sight of our kiss faded to an image of me, strong magic flowing as I fought several Trpaslíks at the same time. I was shocked to see that I was winning.
“She is the most powerful. She will be The Silnỳ, the one who protects us all.”
The sights continued—one after another—of me fighting, my power prevailing. More often than not, Ilyan was by my side, his magic battling right beside me. The visions continued before ending with Ilyan defeating an unseen assailant, his arm wrapped around me securely. I recognized that one because it had already happened. It was from the night we had fled the LaRues’ mansion, the night we had failed to rescue Ryland.
“Her life is nothing other than misery, for everything she touches is ash and in her heart is only pain.”
More images of my childhood. My heartbreak as my father left. My pain as I was bullied through every year of school. My misery at finding my mother dead, only to be thrown out of a window. I gasped as I saw my fall, the impact never shown, though the pain on my face was heartbreaking.
“Only you can help her and fill her heart with love.”
They spoke as more sights flew through the water. I looked, expecting to see some startling way that Ilyan would make me love him, but all of these had already happened. I felt my heart loosening toward him in that moment just as it had then. They showed Ilyan caring for me, holding me as I lay dying, tenderly making shoes for me, and holding me every night as I cried. Seeing it from this angle—watching his actions as I slept and screamed—changed my perspective. I saw the tears I never knew he had shed over me, and the love he had kept hidden.
“Only you can save her and keep her for her true purpose.”
A sight formed again, this time of Ilyan gently laying me on the bed in the attic, his finger running along my jaw as I fell asleep. It showed him then lean down to kiss me. A forbidden kiss; a kiss I had never felt. I gasped as I saw the action. I was angry that he had kissed me, and yet... and yet...
“For you were born and you were bred only to protect her.”
More images of Ilyan and I floated past, his arms always around me, protecting me from those who would hurt me. Some I had lived through and some I had yet to experience.
“It is your future, Ilyan. Now is your time to see her. Then your place will be near her. It is your purpose to protect her. But beware, even as your heart longs for her, she will love another.”
My heart clenched as the sight replayed my first kiss with Ryland, our magic exploding as Ryland sealed himself to me, completing the Zȇlství. This time it was not my turn for heartbreak. Ilyan reached longingly out, his voice calling out in disbelief. I could hear his heart break and it fractured something inside of me. I shook my head, basking in the memory of the kiss instead of the trauma I had been facing.
“Your heart will long for her, but she may not be yours to take.”
More sights of Ilyan; more visions of secret kisses, intimate moments when we sat with our arms around each other, as we laughed and joked. Finally, when he had attempted to teach me to Salsa dance. I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. Even though I didn’t want to accept all that was being shown, I couldn’t keep out the joy that tried to seep its way into me.
“You must find your strength to protect her—to be near her—for it is only by your side that she can find her true purpose; that she will find the strength to kill those that would end the magic of the world.”
The images in the water changed again, this time to show Ilyan standing by me as I fought, his presence strong as he supported me from a distance. I could tell what was happening. I was using his magic. The knowledge of that rocked through me and my jaw dropped. There were only two ways in which that could happen, through a bonding, or through the Štít. I clutched my hand to my shoulder. He had known.
I understood the look now, the look he gave me when he spoke of the Štít for the first time. It was heartbreak. His heart had broken because he had known that he could never have me and that the Štít was the only way he could be close to me. Then, when I had held his magic, all of it, he knew that a bonding truly was possible, but also that it would never happen.
I had come to love Ilyan, maybe more than I could ever fully accept. I felt my soul rent with the realization of his pain and heartbreak. I longed to help him—to protect him, to make it okay—yet I knew I couldn’t. I was bonded to Ryland, and Ryland had protected me, too. Ryland loved me, too. And even though Ryland’s protection might end by a severing of our bond, I didn’t know if I could ever move beyond that.
“It is only when she is with you that sh
e will be able to accomplish all that she must. It is your place to protect her until the day that she passes from this world and into the next.”
“No.” Ilyan and I said together at the vision of him holding my body, his arms wrapped tightly around me as he howled and cried in agony, explosions filling the space surrounding us.
“This child is power.” Sain spoke alone, his voice loud and powerful. “Power that is strong enough for you.”
More flashes of my ability raced across the pillar. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them. I couldn’t comprehend that I could be so strong.
“For you,” the Drak repeated together, “for you, for you.”
Their voices reverberated eerily as image after image of Ilyan and I together filled the space. Sights of intimate kisses, intertwined bodies, beach houses, and children flashed one right after another. They came faster and faster until they were a blur and the water went black, the pillar falling into the pool again. I ran to it, gasping at the smooth surface and the reflection of myself that was now staring back at me.
“You will love her,” Sain said with the deep, deadpan voice of a sight. I looked up to him, unsurprised to see him standing, his eyes covered with blackness and lit only by the glowing embers the Black Water gave him.
“But you cannot have her.” The Drak spoke as one, each of their eyes also covered. They stared out, unseeing, the glossy blackness calling to me.
“You will protect her,” Sain said.
“But you will fail,” the Drak continued, their voices coming in quick succession.
“The one bred to change the world of magic,” Sain lifted his hands as if he was seeing something, but the hall stayed still.
“The one bred to die.” I froze at the words of the Drak.
“What?” I said aloud to the empty space, even though I knew no one could hear me.
“She is the only one who will come to this world,” they continued together, “the only one your heart can hold.”
“The only one?” Ilyan asked, my insides tightening to hear how defeated he sounded.
“She is here,” Sain announced, his voice deep and reverent.
“Do you feel her?” They all spoke together again, the addition of Sain’s voice doubling their intensity. “Do you see her?”
“I do.” Ilyan’s voice was right in my ear right before his arms came around from behind me and pulled me into his newly scarred chest.
Ninety-Nine
Joclyn
My heart thumped, my soul screamed, confusion and shock and wonderment blended together as I stood against Ilyan, his arms wrapped around me.
Ilyan’s arms tightened as he pressed his cheek softly against mine. I didn’t lean into his touch, but I didn’t shy away either. I froze, my heart aching for Ryland, my soul rejoicing at Ilyan.
It only added to the confusion.
“Do not be afraid, mi lasko.” I relaxed at Ilyan’s voice, so soft and familiar in my ear. “I know you have seen everything, and I know you are scared, but do not be. I can feel you inside of me; I can feel your soul inside of mine. Know that I am here to protect you, to save you, and to love you. Even if you will never love me, I will still be here, right by your side.”
He turned me gently in his arms so that I could face him, his arms still held me against him. I looked up to him; he was so different, and yet so much the same.
“You’re beautiful.” He sighed the words like a prayer, his fingers coming up to trace the lines of my face. “I promise to always keep you safe.”
He leaned down and my heart froze, but instead of kissing my lips, he pressed his lips against the Vilỳ’s kiss on my neck, his lips soft and gentle.
The touch of his lips against my mark sent a jolt through my whole body. I had only felt that electric response to Ryland before; the jolt that preceded bonding. Ilyan sighed as the jolt ran through him, his body relaxing at feeling something he had been longing for.
I, however, was working myself into a panic.
“I love you.” He said softly, his words true and honest. I could tell he meant what he said, but I didn’t shy away from it, either—not as much as I should have—and it scared me.
“I… I love… No!” I yelled out in a panic. My voice echoed around the great stone chamber as I pushed my hands against Ilyan’s chest, pushing myself out of the memory and into my usual chair in the cave.
It was obvious that a whole day had passed; the light from the skylights in the ceiling was coming from an angle that suggested it was already night. Thom’s partially eaten lunch still lay on his couch, but neither Thom nor Dramin were anywhere to be seen. Even though I had done nothing but sit all day, I could feel the exhaustion of a full day dragging me down.
I exhaled deeply, my chest shaking before I reluctantly looked toward where Ilyan lay. I was glad Thom and Dramin had left me to myself. I needed the time. To think. To feel. Dramin must have known, too. After all, he had known from the beginning all that had been said; all that had been seen.
Ilyan had known, too.
Ilyan had known for eight hundred years about me; he had known my face, known some semblance of a future. And yet, he had said nothing. Even when I had struggled and pined for Ryland—even as he had trained me—he’d said nothing of the future he longed to have; the future he dreamed of with me. He had never tried to talk me out of it. He had never tried to place himself in a better position. He had let me do what I had longed for. He supported me in every way that I needed.
Suddenly, the look that Ilyan had possessed the very first day I had seen him standing against the wall in English class made sense; his intense gaze, his look of frightening awe. After eight hundred years of waiting, I had been sitting right before him. I cannot imagine the heartbreak he must have felt, or how the knowledge of what he could never have must have eaten him up inside.
I stood to face him, still and calm on the bunk, his long hair falling gently over the side. I couldn’t decide if I was angry with him, agreed with him, or accepted what he had done. Everything lay numbly inside of me as I stood staring at him.
My Protector.
He had been born to protect me—born with magic strong enough to do so—and yet, too strong to give him companionship. He had borne it willingly, his actions showing his strength. Although he loved me more than he could ever love any other, he had held his tongue and let me follow my own path.
He was truly a better man than I would have guessed. How could he ever worry that I would hate him? I shook my head before walking toward him, my steps slow and controlled. Thom’s words of his imminent awakening sounded in my head. I had wanted him to wake up, now I needed him to sleep. I needed to process.
I had been born to defeat Edmund—born to usher in a new age of magic— while Ilyan had been born to protect me and bring me to serve my true purpose, even if it ended with my death. An image of him from the pillar, his heartbreak as he held my dead body, entered my mind and I stopped a few steps away from him.
I clutched my hand to my chest as the pressure in it built. I knew the second heartbreak Dramin had predicted was coming and I knew why. I had fallen in love with Ilyan.
I loved Ilyan, but it was a different love than with Ryland. Ryland was passion and a history of friendship. Ilyan’s love was built on something else... something deeper.
It scared me.
“I’m sorry, Ilyan,” I whispered to his sleeping body, my voice catching on my tears, “but I can’t give you what you want.”
I turned and ran before I had finished speaking. My feet stumbled as I tore across the large space in tears, only to lunge myself into my bunk. I covered myself with as many of the large furs as I could, hoping to dampen my sobs before they escaped my lips.
The sight had said that everything that I touched would turn to ash, and this seemed to be no exception. I was in love with and bonded to my best friend. A boy who had been tortured by his father for loving me, who may or may not remember me, and whose very bond with me te
rrorized my waking and non-waking existence. Ryland meant the world to me, and yet he desired to break our bond. Even thinking about his words, about his promise to sever the Zȇlství, brought more heartache.
Nothing about my bond with Ryland brought joy, and that in itself was painful for me. I longed for him while, at the same time, I was scared of him.
I howled at the loss of him, which only opened up a deeper chasm in my heart. It rent open the feelings I had been hiding even from myself. The feelings I now knew Ilyan shared.
Everything around me was crumbling again, the weight on my shoulders too much to bear. Bred to die, born to fight, raised to be broken, and always the cause of pain for those I cared about most in the world.
“I’m sorry Ilyan,” I said between my tears, wishing he was here. I needed his strength, his song. I needed the reminder that it was all going to be okay.
He was the one my heart called to. I don’t know if it was because he was the only one that was left or because he was the only one I wanted. He was my Protector, and right then, that was what I needed.
“Ilyan!” His name mixed with my tears, my sobs becoming an uncontrollable monster inside my chest. It clenched, and clawed, and burrowed into me, increasing my howls and my pain.
I writhed in the foolish hope of getting rid of the pain, but it didn’t help. I could find no comfort. The blankets of security I had placed around me had become a prison.
I had not even felt the covers lift when long, sinewy arms I knew all too well wrapped around me, a strong chest coming to rest against my back.
I turned in his arms, my tears changing from those of despair to some of hope. Ilyan lay right next to me, his arms wrapped around me tightly, his magic flaring as he calmed me. I looked into his bright eyes, my heart beating much faster than it had ever done before.
He smiled as he moved my tangled hair out of my face, his eyes never leaving mine. They had that look I had seen during the sight; a burning love that incapacitated me.
Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery Page 73