by Devri Walls
Drustan grunted, pushing them higher. The air was thinning, and between the exertion and the altitude, he was gasping for breath.
“Just a little more,” Kiora encouraged him, glancing back down at the Shadow.
It had stopped, rippling against an invisible barrier. Niall was right—it could only go so high. Kiora threw up a bubble. Another scream issued from the Shadow, one of blood-boiling anger. Drustan leveled out—not losing height, but allowing the three passengers to release their aching fingers.
The scream below them faded, replaced by a voice that echoed across the sky. “I will find you,” it seethed. “It is only a matter of time.”
Those words sent shards of ice through Kiora’s veins. In a moment of sickening clarity, she understood exactly how it kept finding them.
The Shadow folded in on itself and vanished.
“What now?” Drustan asked, flapping as little as he could to keep them in one place.
“We camp back where we were,” Kiora said.
***
DRUSTAN LOOKED DISTASTEFULLY AT the tiny stretch of rock. “I suppose I still need to sleep in this form.”
“Not if I don’t sleep.” Kiora sighed.
“What are you talking about?” Alcander asked, summoning dead branches from the wood below.
Kiora flopped onto a stone. “Each time we were found, it was after I had a dream about Jasmine.”
“I don’t see how that can possibly be related.” Alcander broke a branch over his knee.
“Each time I dream of Jasmine, something happens. The dream stops. It goes dark, and then I see two green eyes. They see me—but not in the dream. It’s like…” Kiora looked up, needing them to believe her. “Somehow, those eyes find me.”
Alcander still looked skeptical.
“You can’t not sleep,” Emane said.
Drustan rested his head on his claws. “It does explain how the Shadow found us.”
Kiora rubbed her temples. Her eyes were burning and her head was already pounding from lack of sleep. “That’s how they found the camp in the canyon,” she said, realizing it as she spoke. “I dreamed of Jasmine there, too.”
Alcander stood up, brushing his hands on his pants. “Emane is right—you can’t not sleep. And if what you are saying is true…” He paused, trying to reconcile it all. “If the Shadow is actually finding you in your dreams, we are safe nowhere.”
“There has to be something we can do.” Emane looked from Drustan to Alcander.
Kiora reached into the neck of her shirt, pulling out the blue pendant the Guardians had given her.
Drustan perked up. “Call them! Maybe Eleana can help.”
Kiora eyed the pendant. If this didn’t work, she had no idea where else to turn before she fell asleep involuntarily. And how many times could they meet the Shadow before their luck ran out?
She pulled herself to her feet. “I’ll be back.”
“I will go with you,” Alcander and Emane both said at the same time. Emane’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked over his shoulder at Alcander, who would not meet his gaze.
“No,” Kiora said gently. “I’d like to go by myself.” Giving them both a weak smile, she left the barrier in a bubble.
Making her way down the side of the rocks, she walked until she found a flat one that suited her purposes. Sitting down, she leaned back, wrapping her fist around the pendant. “Eleana,” she whispered. “I need you now.”
Eleana had said the farther away she was, the longer it would take for help to arrive. Kiora prayed it would be soon—her eyes already felt like they were full of sand.
CHAPTER THREE
Minds Collide
UNSURE HOW LONG IT would take, Kiora erected a small boundary around herself. She had grown so proficient at them as of late that it barely took any thought at all. She tried to sort through the events she saw in her dreams with Belen and Jasmine and the Creators, but it was useless. Her mind was covered in fog and nothing fit together.
Desperate to stay awake, she paced around the rock, trying to figure out what she was going to say to Emane. She snorted. She couldn’t even explain it to herself—how was she going to explain it to him?
A tiny ball of light appeared in front of her with no thread and no warning. Kiora scuttled backwards. The ball of light continued to grow rapidly until a shimmering image of Eleana stood in front of her.
“Eleana? Why can’t I feel your thread?”
“You were so far away, but you said you needed me now.” Her voice sounded muffled, like she was underwater. Her image flickered. “This was the best I could do.” She held out her arms apologetically.
Kiora explained her dreams and what happened each time the eyes appeared in them. “It’s like they can actually see me, like they’re looking for me.”
Eleana frowned.
“Is that even possible?” Kiora asked.
“Technically, yes. But the amount of magic it would take to perform something like that . . .”
“How much?”
“If you are correct in your assumption, the Shadow is scrying for you. In order to do that, everyone’s dreams would need to be monitored.”
“Everyone’s?” Kiora’s breath caught in her throat at the enormity of it.
“Yes. That would be quite a feat in Meros, but here…” Eleana gestured. “It is almost incomprehensible.”
Kiora swallowed, letting that sink in. “I don’t know what to do. I have to sleep.”
“We could block your visions.”
“No! We can’t. Whatever they are trying to tell me is important. But I need more time and information to figure this out. ”
Eleana sighed. “There was one other way, but …”
“What? Please. There has to be something.”
“We do not have what is required,” Eleana said simply.
“What?”
“There is a way to join your mind with another’s. When you dream, the person scrying for you will be led to the blank mind of the one you have joined with, and nothing else. But we need a willing participant.”
“Emane can—”
“No, Kiora,” Eleana said firmly. “You don’t understand. You need a mind that is closed, hard to penetrate. Human minds are the most open of any species I have encountered. He would do little to block magic as powerful as this. Drustan is a better choice, but still not acceptable. His strengths lie elsewhere.”
Kiora bit her lip, staring at the rock for a while before looking back to Eleana. “What about you?”
“You do not know the true magnitude of what you are asking, and yet, I would willingly do that for you, Kiora.” Eleana smiled sadly. “But it will take me a couple of days to get to you. Even with materializing, I cannot cover that great of a distance. I fear you will not be able to keep yourself awake that long.”
Kiora’s head dropped.
“Perhaps Lomay?”
Kiora shook her head. “There was an attack on the camp. Lomay took the people and left. I don’t know where he has hidden them.”
“He left you alone?” Eleana’s glowing shape flared as she stepped forward.
“We had to get Emane. Dralazar had taken him, and—” Kiora stopped at Eleana’s sharp intake of breath.
“Dralazar is here?”
Kiora swallowed, gripping the sides of her pants as she looked away from Eleana’s gaze. “He was. Dralazar is . . . is…dead.” She was met with silence and stumbled to fill it. “I—I—it was…” All she needed to add was one word: me. It was me. But she couldn’t. She looked to Eleana, hoping the answer was evident in her eyes.
Eleana bowed her head for a moment, clasping her hands in front of her. “It was always your destiny.”
“I am sorry,” Kiora choked out.
There was a tear on Eleana’s cheek. She couldn’t remember seeing Eleana cry before. It made it worse.
“I am the one who should be sorry. Maybe if I had been stronger, it wouldn’t have been your destiny.” She smiled weakl
y. “But no matter how bad, Dralazar was still my brother.”
Kiora understood that all too well. “Layla is dead too.”
“Did Dralazar . . . ”
“Yes. No.” She shook her head. “He gave me a choice: protect Emane or Layla. I chose Emane.”
“I am—”
“Please,” Kiora said, holding up her hand. “Please don’t apologize. I did this. I made the choice.”
“No.” Eleana’s voice was so gentle it demanded attention. “You ended this. And although we are both hurting for loss of family, you have saved many others who will not need to grieve at their hands.” Eleana stood straighter, placing her composure back over her like a new dress. “Is Emane all right?”
“Yes. He’s fine now.” Kiora rubbed at her burning eyes. “Eleana, would a Tavean work? For the spell.”
Eleana looked mildly surprised. “Well, yes. A Tavean would be ideal, but…”
“I’ll be right back.” Kiora sighed and headed down to camp.
Stepping back through the boundary, Kiora wearily scanned the men. “Alcander, can you come with me?”
Alcander looked surprised, but stood at her request. Kiora couldn’t tell if Emane was confused or hurt. Or maybe neither. She couldn’t feel his emotions anymore.
I’m sorry, Emane, she called. It’s something you can’t help with. I will explain later.
Alcander followed her silently back to where Eleana stood, waiting. As they stepped through the boundary, Eleana started in surprise and then leaned forward as if she had seen a ghost. “Adair?”
Alcander looked uncomfortable. “No, I’m sorry. That was my grandfather.”
“The resemblance is remarkable.”
“I have been told that.”
“Alcander, this is Eleana,” Kiora said.
“I have heard much about you.” Alcander gave a shallow bow.
“Prince Alcander, has Kiora told you what we are requesting?”
Alcander looked at Kiora, who was intently studying her feet. “No, she has told me nothing.”
“Kiora has told you her theory of how the Shadow is finding you?”
“She has.”
“I believe she is right. I think the Shadow is scrying for images of Jasmine. It explains the problems Lomay had with the Wings, as well as how you have been found three times in such a short period.”
“But that would mean . . .” Alcander trailed off.
“Yes. It is scrying through every dream or vision there is.”
Alcander went pale. “The amount of magic that would take would be—”
“Very large, yes.” Eleana nodded. “Alcander, I need to ask you a question. When the gates were sealed to Meros, one of the Lights had been taken by the Shadow. How many does it have now?”
Alcander raised an eyebrow. “Epona does not know?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t know anything that happened after the gate shut. The magic we used to lock ourselves away also kept the Wings from receiving visions of anything outside Meros.”
“The Shadow has them all.”
Eleana’s eyes closed for a moment. “That would easily supply enough magic to do what we are suggesting.”
Alcander inclined his chin. “What do you need from me?”
“I need you to join minds with Kiora.” Eleana looked apologetic.
Alcander jolted and looked to Kiora. “Is this what you want?” Turning back to Eleana, he demanded, “Have you told her what that entails?”
Eleana evaluated Alcander. “I was more worried about your acceptance than hers.”
Alcander scowled. Stepping toward Kiora, he set his hand gently on her arm. The magic flowed between them. Kiora looked into his eyes. “Kiora,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. Her stomach leaped. “I know you’re confused, but you need to understand. If you do this—if we do this—it will make the bond even stronger than it was. You will understand me in a way no one else does.” He swallowed, his voice rough. “And I you.”
Kiora bit her lip, trying to tear her gaze from Alcander’s searching eyes. “I don’t think we have a choice.”
Alcander’s fingers tightened around her arm before relaxing. “There is always a choice,” he said. “We can find another to stand in my place. We can find Lomay.”
“But when?” She put her hand over his. “What if I fall asleep? What if next time, we don’t get away from the Shadow?”
He looked intently at her. “I will do this for you. I am willing. And you know why. But I need you to understand the implications of this. The bond we have—” Kiora looked shyly away. “It will only grow stronger. You will not be able to hide it.”
Kiora gulped. From Emane. That was what Alcander had meant, but not said. “I understand.”
The turmoil raging inside Kiora swelled into an all-encompassing storm. The magic coming from Alcander was different as he touched her this time, softer. It was blissful, and she was carried away in it. She could feel her magic flowing to him in return. Emane would be crushed, but this had to be done.
And underneath the logic of the choice, a desire flickered. She wanted to understand Alcander, to see behind all his walls. He must have seen the desire in her eyes as she looked at him because his gaze grew tender and the magic flowed even stronger.
“Very well.” Alcander pulled away. She immediately ached at the absence.
Alcander turned back to Eleana, whose eyes were politely averted. But Kiora could tell by the surprised look on her face that she had heard the conversation.
“What do we need to do?” Alcander asked.
“Kiora, summon the Creators’ Book. You will need to say the incantation. I believe your magic has become strong enough to support the spell.”
Kiora summoned the book. She had already used it to sever her connection with Emane—now she was creating a new one with Alcander. Her hands trembled as she thumbed through the pages, each second dragging on. Finally landing on the correct spell, she turned toward Alcander. He gave her a weak smile. She recited the words and felt her magic drain.
As soon as the final word of the incantation flowed off her tongue, Kiora felt a pulling unlike any vision she’d ever had. Pictures and faces danced through her brain that she had never seen. A beautiful Tavean woman and a man who looked very much like Alcander. Little Tavean girls dancing and playing, their laughter splitting the air like the peal of bells. Kiora felt such joy watching them. Suddenly she understood what she was seeing: Alcander’s mind. His memories, his joys.
Standing at the top of a soaring tower, she looked out over a land that was lush, surrounded by rolling hills that were as green as the valley floor. Next to him was his father, telling him that the kingdom would someday be his and that he would control the staff and all the power it brought. She felt Alcander’s pride and sense of responsibility swell.
Then, much to her horror, she witnessed firsthand the night Alcander had described to her already: The death of his entire family as viewed by a little boy shoved underneath his bed. His mother locked eyes with him as the attackers brutalized her, and she mouthed the words “I love you” before she died.
She saw Lomay taking him away, and she felt his grief. She saw villages burn, camps fall. Felt his desire, his longing for a way to save his people. His guilt for not being able to. His guilt for having lived. She had been right, what she had said before—he cared too much. While it made her burst into tears, she understood with utter clarity the hard shell he wrapped around him like a blanket.
***
ALCANDER THOUGHT HE UNDERSTOOD, in a way, what Kiora felt. But as he tapped into her mind, he was completely unprepared for the intensity of feelings that came with her memories. They were crippling. He watched her as a child, lying in the road, pleading for her parents to stay. Her anguish as her sister dragged her out of the way for the wagon to pass. He felt her pain watching crimes of evil in the Wings of Arian. That those things would cause her so much pain was foreign to him. The things she saw wer
e part of his everyday existence, things that barely made him flinch. And yet the horror and the pain he felt through her were unlike anything he had ever felt, even on that one horrific night.
His heart threatened to split in two. And as memories and emotions continued to flow, he understood. All the pain was because of her innocence. That childhood he had envied made her what she was. Even as her innocence was fading, the pain and her acute awareness of evil were not.
And then he saw the one thing he was dreading: Emane. The relationship had started with dislike, but blossomed into love. He saw the touches, the kisses, the courtship unfolding. He felt her fear of love, despite reciprocating it. And then, most unexpectedly, he felt her feeling Emane’s love for her. Pain ripped through him. Not Kiora’s this time, but his own.
***
EMANE PACED BACK AND forth in the camp. “Why would she need him and not me?”
Drustan grunted, his head on the ground, eyes closed, tail snaking very close to the fire. “Emane, go to sleep. I beg of you.”
“Would you like to tell me what is going on?” Emane demanded.
One yellow eye flicked open. “What are you talking about?”
“Ever since you rescued me, Kiora has been acting strangely.” Emane’s fingers itched to grab a sword, or a dagger, or something.
Drustan rolled his head in Emane’s direction. “To be fair,” he said dryly, “since we rescued you, we have been chased, and almost killed, by the most deadly thing in the land. Twice. There has not been much time for chitchat.”
“I know that!” Emane snapped. “But she has barely looked at me, talked to me, or touched me. Something’s different.”
Alcander stumbled into the barrier, clutching Kiora in his arms. His head was down, his white hair obscuring his face.
Emane ran to him. “What did you do to her?”
Alcander just grunted, taking a few more steps before falling to his knees.
“Alcander! Here, give her to me.” Emane knelt down to take Kiora out of his arms.