Chapter Four
Tal pressed both hands against the storax tree and tuned out his surroundings. Activating his Mystic receptors, he sifted through countless energy strands, some old and faded, others vibrant and new. Pulsing with a unique imprint, each thread was as individual as the person who’d passed this way. Searching, scanning, it took all his concentration to single out E’Lanna’s familiar rhythm. He latched on to her strand and absorbed it into his being.
E’Lanna and Echo had been conceived during the ceremony which bound his soul with Charlotte’s. E’Lanna’s Mystic potential had revealed itself almost from birth. Her prophetic dreams began at five cycles. At eleven, she’d been embraced by the Farseers’ guild. She was only halfway through her formal training, and already her mentor struggled to find exercises that challenged her.
Father, I can feel you. She responded immediately to his gentle touch.
Have you learned any more about your situation? He shielded his emotions with meticulous care, unwilling to compound her anxiety. Every detail is important. Leave nothing out.
We’re in the Shadow Maze. I still have no idea where that is. I thought we were being held by Rodytes because of our captor’s appearance, but everyone else I’ve seen looks Ontarian.
Focus on my signal, he instructed. I’m going to do my best to come to you.
I’m at full strength now. I’ve felt a gradual leeching of my energy ever since I arrived.
Locking on to her strand, Tal let his instincts guide him. Easy, smooth, he floated across the metaphysical plane. Shields were often designed to increase at the first sign of struggle. He must insinuate himself past the distortion.
Closer.
Heat flared along the link. Tal paused, calming himself until the temperature stabilized. He must detach himself from all emotion if he hoped to reach her. Slowly, gently, he slipped back into the flow. Her fear tormented him. Despite his soul-deep need to comfort her, he couldn’t react.
Faint crimson light erupted in the distance. E’Lanna’s signal flowed directly into the light. Mist surrounded him, obscured his vision, then drifted away. A silhouette appeared. E’Lanna’s image separated itself from the darkness. She knelt in the center of a stone cubicle that was encrusted with firestones. Her hands rested in her lap, her mind open and still.
I’m here, leyanti. He used the familiar endearment to soothe her and keep her calm. He’d found her. Now he had to reverse the pulse and determine her location. I must expand the scope of our link. Don’t be afraid.
I understand.
He retreated by painstaking degrees. Aching to clasp her more tightly, surround her with his warmth, he had no choice but to ease away. He broadened his focus, releasing his hold on her. Fear slashed across their telepathic link. He ignored the emotion and his instinctive reaction to it.
A barren corridor stretched beyond the stone cubicle. He already knew this much. The Shadow Maze was a vast underground fortress, secrecy its most valuable defense. Wider, higher he climbed.
Her signal bent, fragmented, and dispersed. No! He would not lose control. He was too close. His fingers dug into the bark as he refocused his mind.
Pouring energy into the link only sped the deterioration. Distorted. Shattered. Her strand multiplied and twisted over and over again until he could no longer tell where the true signal began.
As if reviewing a vidfile in high speed reverse, the images receded. The corridor, the cubicle, and finally the light were sucked back into the darkness. Tal watched it happen in helpless misery.
Father, are you still there?
Yes, sweetheart.
It didn’t work, did it? I felt something shift.
We will find you, E’Lanna. Do not give up hope. We will not rest until we find you.
Royal Obsession (Shadow Assassins 1) Page 9