The Bonded: The Allseer Trilogy Book I

by Kaitlyn Rouhier

  There was truth to his words, Kirheen knew that. The situation beyond Sanctuary was entirely unstable. She’d seen it with her own eyes. People like her were dying because they had these powers. It was a situation that would inevitably boil over and it needed to be stopped before it got to that point. Nyson had a plan, a desire for conquest. He’d remedy the situation at the cost of countless lives, at the cost of provoking those without powers to hate and fear them more than they already did.

  The man truly was insane, so bent on power and vengeance that he couldn’t see the very damage he caused around him. “You already tried to create that world and look where we are. You’ve raised us as nothing but pawns, matching us together for power. You stripped us of our childhood; of any choice we ever had all so you could start a war. You need to be stopped!”

  Nyson’s face grew dark, his features a rippling pool of malice. The calm façade was cracking. “A war we could have won. If you had all stood behind me, if you’d all have stayed loyal to my cause, you would have had your precious freedom long ago. My brother corrupted this place long ago, corrupted it with a useless desire to have answers. And now you do the same. You’re senseless actions have caused nothing but death and despair for your fellow Bonded. Their blood is on your hands. And now you’ve come back to act the hero. They’ll spit on your girl, spit on you for the suffering you’ve created.”

  “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you. It’s true, I pushed over your precious tower of lies and it has caused terrible things to happen to people I care about, but I came back to save them and I intend to do just that! Unlike you, I will right my wrongs. I will save them from your corruption.”

  “A shame there is so little left to save,” he said, rising from his chair and stretching to his full height. His black robes blended with the shadows, making him look large and ominous. “Did you know, while unbinding makes a person fully under my control, it also strips them significantly of their powers. I can control only a fraction of the ability they possessed when they were whole. But if you take control of a person when there mind is whole,” he said with a flourish of his hand. Fenir and Tomias raised their heads in unison. “…you get the full extent of their abilities and power. It is more taxing, certainly, but infinitely more enjoyable. They are fully aware of what they are doing, but incapable of stopping their actions. Tell me, Kirheen. What would be more painful for you?”

  The twins turned towards each other, each pulling a dagger from the sash around their waist. They took exaggerated steps towards each other, looking like oversized dolls, their movements awkward and strained. They stopped within arm’s reach, daggers held at their side.

  “Perhaps them hurting each other?”

  It took a moment for the words to sink in. It wasn’t until they both raised their daggers high that she felt her blood go cold. “NO!”

  They struck with their daggers at the same time, slicing each other vertically down the chest with barely a flinch. Blood followed, seeping from their wound. It made Kirheen sick and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sight. This is an illusion. It has to be an illusion.

  “This isn’t real. Allseer tell me this isn’t real.” She forced herself to use her power, to strike at Nyson with all she had. She felt the power leave her, felt it driving through the air between them and then it was gone, like someone flicking a switch in her head. She’d felt it before, a mental wall that wasn’t of her design. She tried to move her hand and realized with sudden terror that she couldn’t move at all. Nyson had her under his control, at least partially. When she opened her mouth to speak, she found herself able to. Perhaps he wanted to be able to hear her scream. “Damn it, Nyson. Stop this. This is insane! What are you trying to prove?”

  “This is power, Kirheen. This is what our kind could do, this is what we could be. We could control the world, a new world just for our kind.”

  “You can’t possibly want that. You can’t.”

  “Perhaps a further demonstration will change your mind. It would really be a shame if your act of heroics ended in their deaths, wouldn’t it? Watching them cut each other to pieces must be terrible to see, but you’ve yet to feel true terror. Terror lies in betrayal, of having those you love turn against you.”

  “Nyson please, stop this!”

  A flick of his hand and the twins turned towards her, daggers dripping crimson onto the floor. They marched towards her, brown eyes haunted. Allseer, they know. They know and they can’t stop. It pained her to realize that all her training, all she’d strived for was useless to her now. She pushed against her bonds, trying desperately to flee but it was pointless. There was nothing she could do. It was as if someone had glued her legs to the floor.

  Her eyes were filling with tears, her jaw clenched tightly together as she watched them approach, step by step. Walking death.

  “Are you afraid, Kirheen?”

  “Stop this, please,” she pleaded but Nyson ignored her. She forced her way into her own mind but found that familiar space tainted; a hazy dream filled with vague shapes she couldn’t comprehend. She tried to branch out her power to Tomias but like her attack on Nyson, her power fizzled out, losing life in the space between them.

  “Tomias, listen to me. Look at what you’re doing. You need to stop! Tomias, please!”

  And he did stop. His feet slowed beneath him, his face contorting with pain as he fought against the power that held him. “I…can’t…” It only halted his advance for a second before he was moving towards her, a white ghost carrying death in his hands. Fenir was only feet away from her, his fingers clenched tight around the hilt of his dagger. He raised the dagger high above his head, ready to strike.

  I’ve been such a fool. Trying to stand against Nyson had been a hopeless task, a death wish. She’d wanted to save her friends and instead she’d gotten them trapped in a terrible nightmare. They would be forced to watch themselves cut her down, would feel her sticky blood on their skin. They’d be lost to her forever. She’d never have another moment with them. That gentle laugh from Tomias, the rare warmth in his twins eyes… All lost.

  There was a swooshing noise in front of her face, a parting of the air as the dagger descended. Pain burst to life across her cheek, the cold steel biting into her flesh with intensity she hadn’t expected. She felt the control over her body release and she stumbled back, raising a hand to her face. When she pulled her hand away, it was slick with blood.

  Terror; pure and primal. Nyson was leaving her just enough control to fight back, to struggle against the death that was sure to come. He wanted to watch her fight for her life, wanted to see her fight against the inevitable. He meant to break her.

  Tomias had fallen further behind, his hands shaking violently as he fought against his own body. His brow was covered in sweat, his eyes wild. A low growl escaped his throat, giving voice to his struggle.

  Fenir launched forward, the dagger cutting through her robe and slicing across her left ribcage. It was a shallow wound. He was toying with her. Nyson meant to drag out her torture, to see her die screaming. The pain on her cheek was a burning flame, the smell of blood in the air making her nauseous.

  Fenir stood over her like a wild cat, his teeth bared. Kirheen saw the dagger sweep towards her again and out of instinct she raised her right arm. The blade bit deep into her forearm at an angle, slicing through skin and muscle as if she were made of cloth. She expected more pain but her body was pumping full of adrenaline. It was a surreal feeling watching him wrench the dagger away. All she could feel was the hammering of her heart, sheer animal terror vibrating in her chest.

  The blow had forced her to the ground and she scrambled back away from Fenir. She collided with the wall behind her and huddled against it, trying to make herself as small as possible. Strong fingers pushed past her shoulder, forcing her hair aside. Those same fingers found her neck and with anger she didn’t know they possessed, she was lifted to her feet and pinned to the wall, a butterfly p
inned to a board.

  He was squeezing the air out of her and a mesh of black and white spots flickered in her vision like insects. She could see his cinnamon colored eyes swimming in her sight, saw the despair hidden there. The dagger slid forward and this time she felt the sickening slip of the blade as it drove through her right side. She thought briefly how lucky she’d be if it missed her innards when the blade was driven forward again, this time aimed at her heart. Forgive me

  Kirheen squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the attack that would spell her doom. A scream from behind Fenir forced her to open them again and she saw a flash of Tomias, faced crazed as he ran forward with his dagger raised. The blade connected with flesh, driving through his brothers neck with enough force to drive his own blade off course. What should have driven straight through her heart collided with the wall behind her as she slipped from his grip and landed on the ground. Her wounds came alive as if she’d suddenly been doused in alcohol.

  But there was a new wound, deeper and more painful than the rest. It tore at her heart and a cry ripped from her chest as she watched Fenir fall to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief. His fingers fumbled at the hilt that jutted from his neck but his brother was at his side a moment later, pushing his hands away. “No, no, no, no,” she heard him mumble. “Brother. Oh, Allseer. I’m so sorry. Brother, please. Don’t do this.”

  Fenir raised a shaky hand and Tomias took it frantically. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched his brother fade before his eyes. “No…no…no…” A cough sent a spray of bloody saliva floating into the air and Fenir was still a moment later. Kirheen winced as Tomias let loose a scream that seemed to tear at his throat, a cry of pain that Kirheen knew she’d never know the weight of. He had just lost a part of himself, his other half, his twin. She couldn’t fathom that pain. Didn’t want to.

  The world was growing dark at the edges of her vision as her own blood seeped out onto the floor. Every wound howled for attention, playing tug-o-war with her mind. Her head pounded, like someone hammering nails into the inside of her skull. It only grew worse as she laid flat on the floor, her chest barely rising and falling as she struggled to stay conscious. It couldn’t end like this; it couldn’t have been all in vain. There was flutter of movement to her right, a streak of red hair. Another cry joined the chorus of sorrow and Kirheen shut her eyes, just wanting to drown out the world that had suddenly fallen apart around her.

  Chapter 39

  Therin stepped into a nightmare. There was a scream as they approached the temple, something inhuman, so filled with pain and rage that he stopped walking. Trista put a hand on his back, listening intently to the sounds coming from the Temple. Therin hesitated for just an instant, hearing the wracking sobs coming from the other side of the door. He burst through a moment later, bow drawn.

  He almost slid through the entrance as his boots came in contact with something dark and sticky. The smell gave it away before his sight did. There was no way to tell who or what had been injured but there were three bodies crowded around the door and all of them were covered in blood. Trista stumbled into the room behind him and her eyes grew wide. She took in the scene for barely a second before she was rushing to the side of one of the three.

  “Fenir,” she screamed, her hands scrabbling over the body lying before her. There was another man by his side that looked just like the man on the floor, his white hair tinged with red blood. He was sobbing, completely inconsolable, rocking back and forth next to the corpse. “Fenir! Wake up, damn you! Wake up! Allseer, please…Tomias, tell me this isn’t real. Tell me….” She sobbed against Fenir, her hands grabbing the folds of his robe as she cried.

  There was movement to his left and he looked over to see Kirheen, a deep gash visible in her arm. She was bleeding heavily but still alive. Lowering his bow, he stepped over to Trista and grabbed the back of her robes. He hoisted her to her feet and ignored her fury as she turned on him.

  “I know your pain right now, but help those that can be helped. Grief can come later. Kirheen needs you.”

  Her lip quivered, tears streaking down her face in tiny rivers. She took a shuddering breath and stepped past him to help Kirheen. With that done, Therin retrieved his bow and turned to face his brother.

  Nyson stood at the end of the hall, his hands calmly clasped behind his back. This was not the man that he remembered. He had grown terribly thin over the years, his features almost skeletal, his eyes a flaming ember of hatred. His lips were curved into a smile, as if he took pride in the work he’d done. It filled Therin with a rage he’d never known.

  “Brother,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “The rebellious sibling comes crawling back to my sanctuary. You’re too late.”

  His fingers curled tightly around his bow, his knuckles going white. “I came here to end this. This, Nyson, this is too much. I’ve seen what you’ve been up to all these years. You’re a heartless fool. Whatever purpose you had, whatever hope you had for saving our kind, you lost it long ago. You’re nothing but an animal now. You need to be put down.”

  Therin notched an arrow and raised his bow, taking a step towards his brother. Nyson regarded him with a cool stare. “You won’t hurt me, brother. Even back then, with the hatred you felt towards me, you couldn’t bring yourself to kill me and be done with it. Instead you fled with your tail between your legs. You even had the indecency to take my bond mate with you, a cruelty that more than just I have felt.”

  “And so you’ve done all this? You knew how she felt. She despised you, despised your desire for revenge. You’ve become the very thing she hated.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore, brother. I’ve become so much more than she could ever imagine. Lower the bow, I know you won’t use it.”

  “You may have changed, brother, but so have I!” He let his fingers slip, felt the familiar thwack of the bow as it snapped the air. The arrow hit his brother in his right shoulder, forcing him back against the wall. His hand flew up to the shaft and he looked up with an expression of pure shock. A second later he retaliated with a blast of energy so powerful it manifested itself in his vision, hurtling towards him as a glowing blue ball. He almost dodged but the blast burnt his hand, ripping the bow away from him and sending it flying across the room where it landed near the others.

  With no physical weapon, it was now mind against mind. He took a breath to steady himself and reinforced his walls. He felt his brother lash out, clawed fingers digging into his skull as he tried to wrench control over him. He pushed back with equal strength, their powers pushing against each other in a deadlock. He kept pushing with all his strength as he forced his feet to carry him forward. Step by step he made his way across the room until he was standing just a few feet in front of Nyson.

  Another ball of energy was hurled at him but he easily side stepped it, feeling a calm wash over him. In their youth, his brother had always been the better of the two when it came to his control of his powers. He’d shown remarkable skill at a young age, able to bend others to his will by the time most people were learning how to block their minds. Despite his strength of mind, his physical strength had always been lacking.

  Therin pressed hard, shoving all he had into taking a few more steps. A solid push and he broke free, lurching forward to grab his brother around the throat. He slammed him against the wall and Nyson winced as it collided with the arrow sticking from his shoulder.

  “You took everything from these children. You stole from them the ability to choose.”

  Nyson smiled. “Are you going to kill me, brother?”

  “No, Nyson. I think it’s time you shared their fate.”

  With his free hand, he locked his fingers against the side of Nyson’s face. There was a moment of panic from him as he realized what was happening but by then it was too late. Therin pushed against his mind, slicing through the delicate threads holding it together.

  There was a shudder and his brother went limp. Therin released his grip, holding h
is brother steady while he swayed, unsteady as a newborn colt. When he raised his head, his eyes were dull, his jaw slack as he stared far off into space.

  Unbinding, a power he had obtained naturally, but one he had kept hidden. Such a power wasn’t meant to exist. It wasn’t meant to be used. This, however, was a special case and as he turned away from his brother, he felt the ripples of the past finally still.

  His rebellion had stripped them of their independence, had forced them to live a lie. Now he would show them the truth and this time, he would be setting them free.

  Chapter 40

  Kirheen watched smoke curl from the funeral pyre, weaving through the blue wraith wood like tiny spirits seeking escape. The world seemed unnaturally still. No wind blew through the trees that night and the people standing near her seemed more like apparitions hovering on the edge of her peripheral, ghostly and silent.

  There was a crackle as the wood caught fire and the dry tinder exploded into blue flame, licking upwards to claim the body that lay over it. She felt her stomach twist with guilt, felt the wounds he’d inflicted burn like the fire raging beneath him. Shame coated her skin like a film of sweat and it was hard not to think that those standing beside her weren’t blaming her for the pain they were now feeling.

  Tomias stood close to the fire, watching the flames with dead eyes. He hadn’t spoken a word since the events in the temple. He was distant, in a world all of his own. Trapped in a prison of pain and there was no saving him from it.

  Trista was nowhere to be seen. The pain was too much and grief drove her apart from them. The healer had allowed Kirheen this moment, a moment to see off a man that had been both mentor and friend. Once it was over, she’d be drugged, forced to sleep until their business in Sanctuary was over. Her wounds needed to heal, both mental and physical. Kirheen would consider herself lucky is Trista didn’t poison her while she was at it.