‘That doesn’t mean we’re no longer in danger,’ Kai said.
‘I know,’ Sloane agreed. When she and Kai had set out to find the Oblivion Stone, it was so they could close the rift and separate them from the humans forever. That still seemed like the only permanent solution, but at the moment it wasn’t an option. Not unless Kai had a breakthrough. At least the humans were on the side of the Unfaih—for now.
‘I’ve actually been hoping to talk to you about the stone,’ Kai said.
‘You have?’ Sloane straightened in her seat.
Kai nodded and a hint more enthusiasm formed in his tired eyes. He picked up the Oblivion Stone from where it sat on the table before him and passed it to Sloane. She took the stone in one hand, and her skin began to tingle the moment it made contact. She’d felt a similar sensation the first time she’d touched the object, but it seemed much stronger now, and it was more difficult to ignore the buzzing that jolted through her as she held onto it.
‘I wanted to talk to you about your interaction with the stone during the battle,’ Kai started.
Sloane pulled her gaze from the glowing green rock to look at Kai. She found it hard to stay focused on her friend, however, and the stone continually seemed to draw her attention.
‘Okay…’ Sloane said, a slight frown creasing her forehead. Everything had happened so fast during her battle with the humans. She hoped that she’d be able to give Kai the answers he needed.
‘We both saw how the stone was able to absorb energy and stop it from harming our bodies,’ Kai continued. ‘It didn’t matter whether it was an explosion or bullets from the human guns; the stone used the host as a channel to gather the energy.’
‘Yeah,’ Sloane agreed. ‘It was pretty impressive.’
‘I saw you fighting that day,’ Kai continued. ‘I saw bullets bounce off your body. You walked away from the fight with barely a scratch.’
Sloane nodded, her throat feeling dry as Kai continued to speak. The stone’s power had been extraordinary that day, but it still pained her to recall the experience and remember the battle.
‘However, what interests me the most is what happened while you were fighting. Every punch you threw seemed stronger than normal; every clash of your sword was more powerful.’ Kai’s excitement was building as he spoke, and he was no longer looking at Sloane but staring at his hands as if the memory was drawn out on his palms.
‘It was adrenaline,’ Sloane said, with a shake of her head. ‘I always find a bit of extra strength for a fight.’
‘Are you sure?’ Kai said, looking back up at her. ‘Because it seemed like the Oblivion Stone wasn’t just absorbing energy, but also aiding you in fighting back.’
Sloane glanced down at the stone again as she reconsidered the battle. Her memory felt blurry, but now that she thought about it, she wondered if maybe Kai was right. She had felt more powerful than normal when she was fighting. Some of her strikes had downed men in one blow, and she remembered how Ash had recoiled when she brought her sword down on his.
‘So you think that the Oblivion Stone can give its host energy as well as absorb it?’ Sloane asked.
‘That’s what I’m trying to figure out,’ he replied. ‘I’m wondering if once the Oblivion Stone had absorbed the energy from the explosions and bullets, you were able to harness that power and release it in your attacks.’
Sloane’s brow creased slightly. ‘I don’t know for sure, but I think you may be onto something,’ she replied. ‘During my fight with Ash, I remember feeling like the stone was nullifying his strikes, but then every blow I made with my sword rocked him.’
‘Well, there’s nothing about that in here,’ Kai said, flicking his fingers through the pages of Joran’s book. ‘And I’ve tried to use it myself to that end, but I’ve had no luck.’
He suddenly leapt from his chair and rose to his feet. Looking down at the stone in Sloane’s hand, his eyes grew thoughtful, and he beckoned for her to stand as well.
‘I wonder if you might indulge me for a moment,’ he said. ‘I’d like to try something.’
‘Okay,’ Sloane replied. Her answer came out slowly and filled with uncertainty as she cautiously started to stand.
He paced over to the other side of the room and took a dagger from on top of one of the tables near the fireplace. ‘Take this,’ he said, holding the weapon out to Sloane as he approached.
She took the dagger and turned it over in her hand. While she focused on it, Kai dragged one of the heavy wooden chairs from around the table across the room and pushed it up against a wall.
‘Now, put the Oblivion Stone on the table and stand on the opposite side of the room to the chair,’ Kai said.
Sloane frowned at his direction, but placed the stone down and went to stand where Kai had indicated.
‘Like this?’ she asked, when her back was butted up against the icy wall on the far side of the room.
Kai nodded and took a few steps to the side. ‘Now, I want you to throw the dagger as hard as you can at the chair,’ he said. ‘Make sure it sticks.’
Sloane flipped the weapon in one hand and smiled. That was hardly even a challenge at her current distance. It was a simple task to lodge the blade in the wood, but she didn’t need telling twice. She lifted the dagger with one hand and focused on the thick strip of wood that made up the back of the chair. She locked her eyes onto a darkened spot in the natural grain of the wood, and with one swift movement she flung her arm forwards, sending the dagger flying across the room.
It struck the wood with a pleasing thud, and Sloane grinned when she saw she’d hit her target precisely.
Kai walked straight over to the chair with a journal in his hand and started scribbling down some notes.
‘What are you writing?’ Sloane asked, moving to join him.
‘I’m recording the depth of the dagger’s penetration in the wood,’ he replied, not lifting his gaze from his book. When he finished his note taking, he nodded at the dagger. ‘Let’s try this again, but this time I want you to hold the stone at the same time.’
Sloane pulled the dagger out of the chair and retrieved the stone from the table without asking any questions. She wasn’t quite sure what Kai was testing, but she was intrigued to see what he was getting at.
‘I want you to try and use some of the energy from the stone to put more power into your throw.’
‘How do I do that?’ Sloane asked, shrugging her shoulders in confusion.
‘I’m not really sure,’ Kai replied. ‘But I believe you may have somehow done just that during the battle with the humans. The energy is in the stone. Just try and draw it out, and channel it into your throw.’
Sloane shrugged again, still unsure as to what Kai expected her to do, but she reluctantly turned to face the chair once more. She could feel the Oblivion Stone buzzing in one hand, and she raised the dagger in the other. She felt awkward as she tried to will the energy from the stone. If she had done it during the battle, it had been unintentional. But she knew Kai was counting on her, and she wanted to give it her best shot.
This time, as she lined up her throw, she split her concentration. Her eyes still watched the chair and the dagger in her hand, but the rest of her body focused on the buzzing feeling of the Oblivion Stone grasped in her other palm.
She tried to imagine channelling the charge of energy from the hand that held the stone, to the hand that held the blade. She gasped and almost dropped the rock when she felt the energy flow up her arm from where her hand touched the Oblivion Stone like a surge of electricity. She could feel it pulsing beneath her skin. It felt alive and gave her a strange tingling sensation that made the hairs on her arms stand on end.
She didn’t really know what to do next, but she willed the energy towards the dagger she held out before her. She imagined it flowing through her body, down her arm, into her hand and onto the dagger to give her the strength she needed to hit the chair with more power.
She took a deep breath and cle
nched her teeth as she let the dagger loose again. The energy within her surged from her skin and into the blade as it left her hand. The weapon flew across the room in a blur, and it hit the chair with a loud crack that sent splinters of wood flying into the air.
Sloane’s mouth dropped open with surprise, and she stayed frozen to the spot as she stared across the room. Kai slowly approached the chair and leaned in to take a close look at the damage the dagger had done. When he turned to face Sloane, his eyes were wide with shock, but a satisfied grin crossed his face.
He beckoned her over, and she cautiously stepped towards the far wall. When she got close enough, she could see that the blade had completely shattered the wood and was embedded right up to the hilt in the icy wall behind the chair.
Sloane didn’t need Kai to explain. The evidence of the Oblivion Stone’s power was clear for her to see, and she had felt it thrumming through her veins. Kai’s theory was right.
She could still feel the fragment of the Oblivion Stone pulsing in her hand as she gripped it in a closed fist. The power within it suddenly felt more intimidating to her than it had been before. She walked back across the room and gently placed the stone on the table.
‘So the stone can both absorb and give off energy,’ Sloane said, her soft voice sounding loud against the silence of the room. She turned to face Kai. He was scribbling notes in his journal again, but looked up at her and nodded before striding back to the table.
‘It appears so,’ he said.
‘What does this mean for us?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know yet,’ Kai responded. ‘But it helps us to understand the way the stone works.’
‘I suppose,’ Sloane responded. She let out a breath and frowned as she stared at the stone. The bright green glow was duller now than when Kai had first handed it to her, but she still felt slightly nervous about the power she knew it contained.
She felt so strange after experiencing the energy from the stone rushing through her, and she didn’t know what to make of the feeling. While she could see that Kai was radiating with excitement after proving his theory right, something about the new discovery made her uneasy.
Sloane stayed for a while longer and allowed Kai to question her about what she had felt during the experiment, but as soon as possible she made her excuses and left.
She had felt wary of the stone after the battle with the humans, and now that she had experienced the stone’s energy flowing within her once again, she knew just how powerful it was. There was still so much they didn’t know about the stone, and it still held secrets that needed to be uncovered. It could be the key to protecting both the humans and the Unfaih from the Brakys, but if used the wrong way, Sloane feared it could also be their undoing.
Chapter Fourteen
Rhyn let out a frustrated breath as he paced the perimeter of the courtyard. The suns were barely up in the sky, but the loud clang of metal rang through the air as his warriors sparred against one another.
Days had passed since the truce with the humans had been established, with no signs of the Brakys in the World of the Woods. That didn’t stop Rhyn from worrying though. The creatures hadn’t managed to take any humans when they attacked the other night. They hadn’t got what they were after, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they returned to the human settlement to complete the task.
To make matters worse, his warriors were not pleased to be guarding their enemy’s camp. Rhyn had received many dirty looks from his fighters as they passed him in the castellum corridors and in the training yard, but he didn’t blame them for feeling that way. The thought of protecting the people who had tried to destroy his world and his way of life left a sour taste in his mouth too.
The peace between his people and the humans was uneasy but necessary. It was in all of their best interests to protect the humans from being captured and turned into Brakys. More humans were on the way, and that gave the Unfaih a real chance at destroying the Brakys once and for all if they worked together. However, it also gave the creatures a chance to expand their army to such great numbers that the Unfaih would be overwhelmed themselves.
Rhyn had been meeting with Captain Denton to try and come up with a plan of action. They had yet to decide on a final strategy though and were still debating if attacking the Brakys’ lair was the best option and when would be the ideal time to strike. Denton was reluctant to leave the settlement until his reinforcements arrived, and preferred to rebuild his camp’s defences and stay behind the relative safety of the wall. Rhyn wanted to defeat the creatures quickly but understood the benefits of waiting for more soldiers to arrive in the Woods on the extra human ships.
In the meantime, Rhyn had agreed to help set up adequate defences for the human camp. They had come a long way in just a few days, and he felt confident the fortifications would help repel the Brakys if they attacked again. Although, after seeing how many of the creatures dwelled in the Brakys’ lair, Rhyn dreaded the thought of them returning to the World of the Woods in their full numbers.
Rhyn had considered taking a force of Unfaih fighters to the rift near the creatures’ lair following the attack on Allirie and her warriors but decided against it. He couldn’t spare the numbers when he needed to protect both the castellum and the human camp, and he was relying on scouts he had watching the area to bring news of any movement from the Brakys.
Rhyn stopped his pacing to watch his fighters as they went through a series of drills. There were far fewer warriors training than normal. Some were still recovering from injuries sustained in the battle against the humans, while others were in the World of the Woods protecting the settlement.
It saddened him to see how the size of his legion had diminished. So many of the empty spaces marked the absence of a warrior who had spent many years training to defend the castellum and the Unfaih people. There was no way to make up for their loss, and Rhyn could still see the toll of the battle in the eyes of every Unfaih who fought for him. He too could sense each missing soul in his heart, and he knew that he would feel them there for the rest of his days.
As he watched over his warriors practising, his gaze kept drifting to the white blonde hair that glinted in the early-morning sun on the far side of the courtyard. Sloane had started training with his fighters again. They might have once complained at her presence, but each warrior thoroughly embraced her now. She had fought for them and beside them in the battle against the humans. There was no questioning her loyalty. She was one of them, and without her help, they would have lost many more fighters in the battle.
She was in the middle of perfecting offensive sword manoeuvres with Elyx, and Rhyn was mesmerised by the sight of her as she fought. She had been growing stronger every day and was at the point now where she was truly impressive, even for an Unfaih. Even Allirie at her best would have struggled to match Sloane’s strength and speed. A part of Rhyn believed that Sloane was so talented because she had trained so thoroughly before she drank the Liftsal. She had pushed herself beyond any human restraints that hindered her until she could hold her own against the Brakys. She had been extraordinary for a human, but now she was a sight to behold.
Rhyn started to walk towards where Sloane was fighting, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of her with his hand resting on his sword at his side. Once Sloane and Elyx noticed him standing there, the two of them stepped back and lowered their weapons.
‘You’re looking good,’ Rhyn said to Sloane, causing her to glare at him. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the sight. There was something about the way she always scowled at him that made his heart beat faster.
‘I’m doing better than good,’ she responded.
He laughed out loud. Sloane was right; she was doing better than he had let on, but he didn’t want her to get too confident.
‘Prove it then,’ he said, his hands tapping on the hilt of his sword. ‘I think it’s about time you faced a real challenge. Elyx has been going soft on you.’
&nbs
p; Elyx threw his hands up in the air and turned as he started stalking back towards the other fighters. ‘I’m too old for this,’ he grumbled as he strode away, and Rhyn tried not to laugh at his second in command.
‘Well?’ Rhyn asked, turning his attention back to Sloane.
She folded her arms across her chest, a knowing smile playing at the corner of her lips. ‘I wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of all your men,’ she said. ‘With all the meetings you’ve had with Denton, you haven’t been training very much, and you’re starting to look a little tubby. Are you sure you even remember how to fight?’
Rhyn's brows pinched together with confusion. ‘Tubby?’
Sloane laughed and tapped on her stomach. ‘You know, a little bigger around the middle.’
His eyes narrowed with understanding, and he didn’t miss a beat as he pulled his shirt from his back and took a step towards her. Sloane’s gaze dipped to look at his stomach, and for a moment she looked like she’d forgotten how to breathe. He could feel the heat in her eyes, and her hand gripped her sword a little bit tighter.
Rhyn took another few steps towards her until he towered over her, but she didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by his proximity.
‘Are you sure about that?’ he murmured, his stomach tightening at their closeness. She was wearing human clothes; one of her fitted, black outfits that Rhyn noticed seemed to cling to her every curve.
For a moment, Rhyn wished that the warriors in the courtyard could disappear. But he wasn’t sure what would happen if they were alone and she continued to stare at him like she was. They had flirted and toyed with each other for so long, but he knew that they both felt the same magnetism towards one another. He would do anything for Sloane, and the intensity of his feelings towards her both scared him and satisfied him beyond measure.
‘Pretty sure,’ Sloane replied, taking a quick step back and grinning up at him with a knowing smile. It took a moment for him to clear his mind, and in that moment he realised she’d been playing with him as much as he’d been playing with her.
The Rift War (The Liftsal Guardians Book 4) Page 16