Nolan stiffened and inhaled.
“You’ll be okay,” Alec said.
“What if I mess up?”
“Then it won’t be a secret.”
“Nolan!” Emery said. “How are you doing? Alec said you’ve been unwell.”
“I’m doing better, thank you.” This was the truth, for the most part.
“He told me you’ve been having headaches. Hopefully, it has nothing to do with the stones.”
Nolan glared at Alec. What was he trying to pull?
“I hope it isn’t a late symptom of stepping into the light,” Emery continued. “Our whole village will soon be under the stones. I would hate for it to—”
“Oh, no, no,” Nolan said. “It’s probably just being in the sun too much. Alec works me quite hard.”
Emery laughed. “It appears you’re well enough. At least I won’t have to worry when we leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
Emery’s smile left. “I just announced it, Nolan.” Concern laced his emotions. “Flann will be in charge of the village when we’re gone. I told him he could depend on you if he needed anything.”
“Of course,” Nolan said, though he wasn’t sure how much help he’d be.
“Megan sensed the Healing stone near the direction of Faylinn. I’ve organized a group of our most effective Shay users, considering the risk involved. Among them are Garrick, Maska, Hakan, and Megan.” He turned toward Alec. “And Alec. That is, if you’d like to come along.”
“Me?” Alec said, his excitement building.
“There’s none as good with a sword.”
Alec’s excitement wilted slightly. “But Vikas has already asked me to come find the Speed stone.”
“More than likely, you’ll return within a few days,” Emery said. “You’re traveling exclusively with Speed users, so it shouldn’t take very long at all.”
“Then why not have Vikas meet you?”
Apprehension swelled in Emery. He sighed. “Let’s just say I don’t trust him so close to Faylinn. He’d like nothing more than to repay a debt.”
Vikas stood on the platform, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Nolan summoned a bit of Empathy and shuddered. He held more volatile emotions than Alec.
“So you’re afraid he’d attack the Rol’dan?” Alec asked.
“Not specifically,” Emery answered. “But if we were to encounter a situation where hiding would be preferable to fighting, I doubt he’d listen.
“Besides,” he said, “you’re a better fighter than he is—which is saying something of you, my boy. You can meet us in Caldalk after you return from finding the Speed stone. But of course, if you don’t want to—”
“I do,” Alec said, grinning. “Sure, I’ll come along.”
“I’ll come as well,” a girl’s voice said.
Taryn appeared next to them, her violet eyes flicking from one person to another.
Alec choked a laugh.
“And what’s so funny?” Taryn’s eyes flared.
“It’s going to be dangerous,” Emery said.
“I know,” she said. “But if Alec is old enough to go …”
“I’ve made an exception.”
“Then make room for me, as well.”
Megan approached. “She isn’t a bad choice, Emery. We’re still in need of another Healer to help confirm the stone’s location.”
“Surely you can find someone else,” Alec said, casting a nervous glance in Taryn’s direction.
“Of course I could,” Megan said. “But in all honesty, her Shay power is stronger than most others in the village.”
Taryn stuck her chin out like a defiant child.
“All right.” Emery held his palms toward her in mock defeat. “She can go. As long as she’s aware of the consequences.”
Nolan gawked, not believing he’d agreed to this stupidity. “Then I should go too,” Nolan said.
“Nolan, I already told you. I want you here.”
“My power is as strong as Garrick’s, if not stronger.”
“Yes, it is. But he knows the area better than you do. He served with me while in the Rol’dan. I need him with me this time.”
Nolan looked away. He was letting Taryn go? She was just a girl, for Brim’s sake. Nolan tried not to think about how most of the Shay users in the village were not much older.
“So, how’s your father doing?” Emery asked Alec.
“Fine, though he won’t admit it.”
“I’m glad. He doesn’t seem like the type of man to admit to things readily.”
“True.” Alec’s smile left, replaced with a curious expression. “Emery, could you answer a question?”
“Certainly.”
“How did you know my father had the power of Accuracy? I mean, he attended the Tournament of Awakening like everyone else, and he didn’t receive a power then.”
“It’s the light,” Emery said. “Once I stepped into it, it increased my skills—as I’m sure you’ll experience once you get your turn. In the past, I’ve had the ability to sense a Shay if I dig deeply, but only for those who naturally come into one. Now, if I focus hard enough, I can sense it in everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Aye. They do have one, it’s just not as strong as the others who emerged the typical way. Their powers are buried deeper, like your father’s Shay of Accuracy.”
Nolan tried to follow the conversation, but he couldn’t concentrate. Alec could protect himself. But Taryn?
“Ale, sir?” Jared stood next to them, a tray of drinks in his frail hand.
“Thank you, Jared.” Emery helped himself to one of the frothy mugs.
“Remarkable,” Megan said. “So everyone has a Shay?”
“Almost everyone,” Emery said. “I’ve come across one or two in whom I’ve sensed nothing at all.” He cast a purposeful glance in Jared’s direction.
Jared snorted. “Ah, it doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m glad I can help.” His gaze rested on Nolan. “Drink, sir?”
Nolan shook his head, too foul-tempered to speak.
Jared cast Nolan a curious expression and retreated.
“I thought Jared would have a gift,” Emery said. “Maybe he does, and it’s so weak my powers can’t sense it. He has such a good heart. I’d hoped he would receive a Shay as well.” He swished the amber fluid in the mug. “Well, at least my newly acquired skill is useful at other times, such as that incident with your father. And it could have been quite useful with my experience in Alton. Eh, Nolan?”
He smiled at Nolan, but Nolan wasn’t in the mood to talk. Matter of fact, he was about to excuse himself when Emery’s power passed over him.
“Something is bothering you, friend?” Emery asked
Nolan glared at Emery, wondering how—for an Empathy user—he could be so incredibly clueless. Wasn’t it obvious?
Oh come now, Emery. You honestly don’t know?
Emery’s smile dropped. Nolan realized, too late, that he’d shared his thoughts with more than himself.
The corner of Emery’s mouth twitched into a hard line. He stared at Nolan with an expression unlike any he’d ever seen. Even when Kardos had stabbed him, Nolan had never seen him this livid.
“Emery?” Megan said.
Emery didn’t answer. His Empathy pulsed through Nolan, digging like before. Nolan flinched, pain stabbing his skull. Emery wasn’t gentle this time. Nolan inhaled sharply as Emery’s power jerked away.
“Emery? What’s wrong?” Megan asked again.
“Might I have a word with you, Nolan?” Emery said calmly, but Nolan sensed the anger climbing. He grabbed Nolan’s arm and yanked him away.
Megan called after them, but Emery pulled him through the crowd. With his Perception, Nolan heard the blood pumping through Emery’s veins. He pushed Nolan into the smaller room and slammed the door.
The dim room allowed meager light from a small window. But he didn’t need to see much. Emery’s eyes blazed purple
with his Shay.
“I can explain—” Nolan’s words were cut off by a power jabbing inside him, so intense, it took his breath. “What are you doing?”
“Quiet!” Emery snapped as he continued his search.
Nolan squirmed, his breath coming in short pants.
Finally, Emery stopped. He stared, his face turning red. He tightened his grasp on the front of Nolan’s tunic, gripping it into a knot. His Empathy light intensified, and a voice spoke in Nolan’s head. By Brim! You have three Shay powers?
Nolan turned away.
Don’t even try to ignore me. Emery gave his tunic a jerk. I know you can hear me.
Nolan gritted his teeth. He didn’t want this to happen, especially not like this. He summoned Empathy. Yes.
Emery shuddered and loosened his grip. “How long have you been hiding them?” he said. “For Brim’s sake, Nolan, I told Flann he can trust you, and now I discover you’re keeping this kind of secret? I put you in a position of leadership. If I had known back in Alton, I would have left you there. If I would have known—”
“You couldn’t have.”
“Of course not,” Emery hissed. “I couldn’t read you like I can now. Crows! How could I be so foolish? No wonder your Shay is so strong—you have more than one!” His eyes widened and his anger flared more. “Where did Alec get that stone?”
“It wasn’t me. I swear. I didn’t give him the stone. I just received the other two Shay powers.”
Emery’s power relaxed, but only a little. “Then how …” His voice trailed off. Shock and fury spread across his emotions. He tightened his grip on Nolan’s tunic. “What have you done to get these powers, Nolan?”
“It was the lights. The stones. Every time I stood under one, it gave me another power.”
“I did the same, and they gave me no such powers!”
“I know!” Nolan said. “I don’t know why it worked for me.”
Emery glared, the violet light in his eyes intensifying. “Then where is your Strength?”
“I haven’t stood in that light.”
“Then you should have no problem stepping into the light of Strength, to prove what you say is true.”
Nolan swallowed hard. “I do have a problem with it, actually.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want any more powers, and I didn’t react so well the other times. I can barely control what I have.”
“So you refuse?”
“I didn’t say I refused, just that I’d rather not.”
“The lives of everyone in this village are in my hands,” Emery said. “They trust me. I can’t let someone absorb powers from innocent people.”
“What?”
“Will you do it, if I ask you to?” Emery asked. It wasn’t a request. It was an ultimatum.
“I’ll do it, if that’s what you want.”
Emery released his hold. “Would you do it right now?”
A weight fell to his chest. He owed Emery this. He slouched, shoulders curling forward. What else could he do? “Yes.”
Emery pulled a traveling cloak off a peg. “If we leave now, we’ll have time to return before nightfall.”
“If we want to be back by nightfall,” Nolan added, “bring Maska along to carry me home.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
THERE WERE NO MISTS this time. No strange dream. No light-filled warrior. Only agony and enveloping darkness as time crawled on. Empathy had affected Nolan’s mind. Strength now transformed his body. Every muscle. Every bone changed.
He remembered the others at the trials as they thrashed on the ground. He’d always felt sorry for them. And although their suffering was bad, his was far, far worse. His Perception intensified every pulsing muscle, every twitch of his transformation, every spasm of his limbs, making the torment so much more intense.
To keep from going crazy, Nolan slept.
He heard talking, but not from specific people. He could hear heartbeats and breaths, and feel anxiety and worry. Emery visited often; Nolan recognized his thoughts, somehow. Occasionally, Nolan could even hear Emery speak to him, or maybe to his Empathy. Words such as “I’m sorry” would often break through the shadows.
Hours passed. Then days. At long last, night came and went again. Nolan was weak, but finally in control. He pulled himself from the dark protection.
He blinked awake, and a familiar sight greeted him: a cozy fire, a table arranged with flowers, and an army’s worth of weapons arranged on the far wall. Nolan slept in Alec’s home.
“Nolan?”
Nolan turned. Alec sat next to him, smiling as relief and elation oozed from him. “I didn’t think you’d wake this time.”
“How long?” Nolan croaked.
“Five days,” Alec said. “Emery brought you here in quite a state. He’s visited every day. And when he isn’t here, he sends that old man … Jared, I think. Emery believes it’s his own fault, somehow.”
“He should,” Nolan muttered, though he was also to blame. If he had told Emery to begin with, Emery wouldn’t have mistrusted him.
Nolan blinked several times and pushed himself into a sitting position. Moving felt better than he’d expected. Alec talked about what happened while Nolan tuned it out. Too much sound, too much information. Instead, Nolan let his senses roam.
He could hear Kardos in the armory. A warm fire glowed on the hearth. A large iron pot bubbled over the fire, smelling of one of Bonty’s famous stews.
The front door opened, and Nolan glanced over at it, expecting Bonty or Taryn or maybe even Megan. But instead of a human, a gleaming glow preceded a light-filled warrior. Glowing eyes met his.
Nolan bolted upright. His arm swung out, and he hit something solid, but his only thoughts were with the golden warrior before him. Yet when Nolan looked at the door again, the Guardian was gone. He stood on trembling legs as Strength pulsed through him.
“By Brim, Nolan!” Alec said.
His mind cleared. Had he imagined it? He pressed his fingers to his temples.
Alec lay on the remains of a broken dining table, flowers strewn around him. He touched a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His face contorted as he struggled for breath.
Dear Brim. What did I do? “I’m so sorry,” Nolan stammered.
Alec grunted. “It’s okay. You have to get used to it again, eh?”
Crows! How can he joke at a time like this?
Kardos burst into the room, a sword in his hand, and his eyes blazing sapphire blue. He looked at Alec, and with a mad sneer on his face, he stepped toward Nolan.
“Father, wait!” Alec said. “It was an accident.”
Kardos lowered his sword arm. “Did you do this?” he said to Nolan while pointing at Alec with his sword.
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Nolan staggered toward the door, gripped the latch, and then he tore the door from its hinges.
He ran, ignoring Alec yelling at him to wait. He ran past the rest of the village and past the target range where people gathered. His legs felt strange, as if filled with iron rods. He ran as far as he could. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else.
Small trees snapped as he pushed them aside. The branches should’ve shredded his skin, but they didn’t. Those with Strength had skin tougher than leather; the branches didn’t leave a scratch.
Finally, he arrived at the ruins, kicking large rocks aside as he headed to the temple.
The morning light rose, allowing the symbols to take shape on the ground. Nolan lay on the floor in the center under the dome. He breathed slowly, taking large, full breaths. The symbols appeared around him, starting with Accuracy and then with Strength. He closed his eyes. How did a man live this way, without breaking or killing everything he cared about or loved?
He opened his eyes and stared through the open, iron rods of the ceiling. The clouds twisted strangely today. Not the typical puffy mass, but like kittens in the duke’s stables when they crowded over a dish of milk. They squirmed and twisted over e
ach other, trying to get their fill first. Nolan shuddered. Everything was odd.
Why did he keep thinking of Greer, and how did his mind keep making him appear? He rested through the morning until the sun reached its peak. It was then when his Perception heard someone approach the temple. Nolan felt a familiar presence. Emery.
He tried to get up, but a shudder ran through his muscles. He relaxed again, resting his aching head on the cool stones. Nolan inhaled and released it slowly. At least he wouldn’t have to hide from Emery anymore.
“Nolan,” Emery said. “Everyone’s been searching for you.”
“And you found me.”
“Aye, I did. Are you well?”
Nolan hesitated, not answering. “How’s Alec?”
“I left him with Megan,” Emery said. “She’s tending to his injuries.”
How could he have done that to his best friend?
“She’s not aware of your powers,” Emery said. “I thought it best not to tell. It’d be your choice, of course.”
“The fewer people who know the better.”
“I understand.” Emery’s Empathy passed over him. “I’m glad you’re awake. I’ve put off our trip as long as I can. But tomorrow the two groups will set out for the final two stones.
“I’ll tell Flann you’re not well. Considering your incident with Alec, it might be best to give you a few days to control this new ability. He can survive without your help for a while. However, I’m sure a few others will want to stop and say goodbye.”
“I can control it for a minute or two.”
One side of Emery’s mouth rose in a pathetic, half smile. “I can see that. Considering I, of all people, have remained unharmed.” His smile left. “I realize your concerns. We’ll do our best to keep Taryn safe, though I hope you realize everyone is in danger, not just her. Taryn could very well be safer traveling with me than staying here. I suspect it won’t be much longer until our peaceful existence will be destroyed.”
“I’ll keep a watch while you’re gone.”
“Aye, you most certainly can.”
Nolan assumed Emery would leave. Instead, he lay next to Nolan, and they both gazed into the sky, watching the clouds.
Emery’s mood shifted, and guilt oozed from him.
“It’s okay,” Nolan said, reassuring Emery’s thoughts.
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