“We are dimsai.”
With a wrenching transition, he was Jason again, the melding of his consciousness and the dimsai over. He was stunned at what he had experienced. He had seen the beginning of the Altered! That long-ago combining of human and dimsai had also granted sentience to dimsai. The implications were mind boggling. Could he convince the dimsai to ignore the Altered? Could they understand the concept of good and evil? Decide which “desires of the callers” should be granted, and which ones should be ignored? Nothing in his brief experience with them suggested that those concepts were part of the dimsai’s understanding. But he had to try.
Before he could say anything, another light appeared, larger and brighter than the others. The sparkles and flickers of color became more energetic, darting back and forth. The chorus of voices became softer, but more intense, filling the void with a whispering buzz of noise. He was only able to catch occasional remarks as the agitated voices whispered to one another.
“It is another way.”
“It is not for us.”
“It is for this one.”
“It is the way for this one.”
“Not like before.”
“With the other.”
“It goes elsewhere.”
“Only this one can go.”
“It is not for us.”
Were they talking about him? “What do you mean, another way? Another way where?”
They didn’t answer, just moved away from the larger light. At least he thought they were moving away from it. As he watched their motion, he realized they weren’t moving. He was. He was drifting toward the bright light, its size and intensity growing as he approached.
Wait a second! What was this? What was going on? Why was he moving toward this light? He tried to stop his motion, felt like he succeeded in slowing his progress, but he continued approaching the ever-growing radiance. Now he could see shapes in the circle of light, but couldn’t make out what they were. Just as the light was about to engulf him, his forward motion stopped.
“Ah, ah, ah. You’ll not be gettin’ away that easy, boy.”
Then a sensation like a rush of motion, and the light shrank to a pinpoint and disappeared. It was as if the owner of the new voice had jerked him away, hurling him back into a starless midnight sky. The glimmers and sparkles were gone now, leaving him in a place of absolute blackness, with nothing to break the endless void.
“What happened? What did you do?” He thought he shouted it into the black emptiness, but could have just as easily only said it in his mind. At this point, he didn’t know if he was awake, asleep, alive, or dead. All he was sure of was that he knew this voice. The knowledge filled him with foreboding.
“It’s not your time to go yet, laddie,” the voice said. “Soon. Oh yes, soon, but not yet. You and I, we have unfinished business.”
Without understanding how, he sensed that the owner of the voice had withdrawn. He was alone in the void. Then all conscious thought left him as well.
*****
Seryn knelt on the ground beside Jason’s lifeless body, her hand still resting on his chest. Its stillness served as a harsh reminder of her failure. She had no strength or desire to move from her position. All she could think of was the sensation of Jason’s life slipping away despite her best efforts to save him. He was not the first patient she had lost; it was impossible to save every single one. But his loss, if there were parts of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled, would have far-reaching consequences for all of Teleria.
Meryl had done well, but the power eating away at Jason was more than she could contend with. It was similar to the power that had been placed in Lenai; Seryn had been able to tell that easily. But this power was darker, more intense, more focused. Where the power within Lenai had lashed out indiscriminately, striking anything and anyone that touched it, the power attacking Jason ignored everything except Jason, clearly its intended target. Seryn had healed the internal organs as quickly as she could, even as the dark power inflicted more and more damage. And as she worked, she could feel the spark that was Jason’s life essence fading, dwindling, becoming little more than an ember.
Still, she had fought. She sensed the dark power was being expended; hoped she could keep up with it until it finally drained away. At the end, she thought she had won. All of the damage had been repaired, and, although his heart had stopped, there was still a tiny glimmer of life remaining in the battleground of his body. All that was left was to restart the rhythm of his life and force air into empty lungs to fan the ember back into a flame. But the final vestiges of the dark power encased his heart like a shell, rebuffing all of her efforts to start it again, until at last, the flickering ember of life faded away, leaving her drained of all power and hope.
“Delani? Delani, where are you going?” Borin’s voice brought her out of herself for a moment. She looked up in time to see the Amethyst Loremaster stalk out of the room, a look she could only think of as rage on her face. Delani did not answer as she disappeared into the hallway.
Seryn glanced over at Reyga, lying next to the wall with other Diamond students tending to him. Now, after she had repaired the damage to Reyga’s body, pulled him back from the brink of death, now she would have to tell him that he had been the killing instrument in Regor’s hand. Reyga would not deal with such knowledge easily. Although the elder Loremaster had never had children, Seryn was certain he had begun thinking of Jason as a son he had never known. To learn that he had been the vessel used to kill Jason might be more than he could bear.
Although, for all of her efforts, Reyga still might not survive. Backlash was a dangerous and unpredictable force. Even those who lived usually did not awaken for several days. Some held on for a time and then passed. Once the damage to the body was repaired, all the healers could do was wait and see if the patient would wake up, or take their wisdom with them into the next world, whatever that may be. They had yet to determine why, even once the damage was healed and the patient out of danger, many still died. She pushed the thought away. Jason’s death was too fresh. She could not bear to think about another one.
She slowly became aware of the silence surrounding her. She raised her head to see everyone in the room looking at her or at Jason. Their faces reflected combinations of confusion, dismay, and grief. On the other side of Jason, Lenai hunched over, her arms wrapped tightly around her trembling body as she dealt with whatever the remaining bondmate must endure when the other dies. Seryn had heard about what happens in such instances, but, as the bond had always before been between two Shanthi, she had never been able to see it firsthand. As she watched sweat, or possibly tears, drop to the floor beneath Lenai’s bowed head, she realized that here was yet another she would be unable to help. Whatever torment the Shanthi dealt with was beyond the ability of any healer to remedy. She closed her eyes and bowed her head once more. The sting of failure had never been this sharp, and she had never felt so helpless.
Her head jerked up as she heard a sharp intake of breath and felt Jason’s chest rise under her hand. Her gaze leapt to Jason’s body as the chest continued moving up and down, breathing in, breathing out. She could even feel a heartbeat under her fingers. How was this possible? There had been no life left just a few short moments ago. All of her years of training as a healer screamed that this should not, could not, be. She sent her senses into his body, verifying with dimsai what she was seeing. There was no trace of the dark power remaining. Had he done this himself? Or had something else intervened? Perhaps one of the Altered? She could think of no reason Regor or Airam would aid Jason, and if it were Nyala or Nivek, why were they not here?
She looked over at Lenai, but the Shanthi girl seemed as stunned as she was. Lenai was staring wide-eyed at Jason. Although he was breathing, and his heart was beating, he was not showing any signs of waking. Lenai crept closer to his side, hesitantly putting her hand on his chest beside Seryn’s, as if afraid her touch might deny what her eyes were telling her. Seryn saw her shoulders v
isibly relax as Jason’s breathing continued under her hand. Then Lenai looked up at Seryn.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You have saved more than you know.”
Seryn shook her head. “I wish I could take credit for this, but it was not my doing. All that I know tells me he should be dead. How or why he lives is beyond me.”
Lenai frowned, but did not answer as she turned her attention back to Jason. Seryn waited as she felt his chest rise and fall one more time, then she rubbed her eyes and stood, looking back and forth from Jason to Reyga. When Jason woke up…If he wakes up…maybe he could tell her what happened. Until then, they would just have to wait.
*****
Regor tapped one finger against the arm of his throne as he considered the events of the past few days. He was sitting in the great hall of his subterranean keep, shaped out of the basalt beneath the highest peak of the Cauldron mountain range. A pulsing reddish glow, coming from a large window in the wall behind his throne, filled most of the hall. On the other side of the opening, magma pushed and surged against the barrier of dimsai holding the molten rock in check. Only the far end of the hall was beyond the reach of the crimson light.
The ebb and flow of the light went unnoticed as he considered his position. The situation, as it currently stood, was simply unacceptable. But so long as Nyala, Nivek, and the boy all stood between him and Teleria, there was little that could change it. As much as it galled him to acknowledge, they had the upper hand. At least for now. The three of them, combined, were clearly stronger than he and Airam together. Something had to change.
He had already put one plan into motion. It was just a matter of time before that foolish old Loremaster found his way to Jason Bennett. Then, one obstacle would be removed. But if for some reason that didn’t happen, it was always best to have other options. Of the two Altered defending the Circle, Nyala was almost as strong as he was. Almost, but not quite. Still, she could be unpredictable. Nivek, on the other hand, was not nearly as strong, and was much more easily manipulated. If Nyala had no allies to support her, she would be much easier to deal with. His one-time son would be the most obvious target, should Reyga fail. Or, maybe even if the old man succeeded. Regor raised his head. Speaking of which…
A smile crossed his face as he felt his power return to him. The trap has been sprung. One small irritation out of the way. Now, all that remained was to go see the results of his handiwork and begin the process of resuming the place denied to him by Nyala and the boy. But should I go now, or should I wait and let them dwell on the full impact of his death? His smile widened, and he couldn’t hold back a short bark of laughter as he imagined the looks on the Loremasters’ faces thinking about what the future would bring now that their precious Jason Bennett was no longer a part of it. And Nyala. Oh, Nyala. Maybe now she would realize that opposing him was a foolish waste of effort. If not? Well, it was just a matter of time. And time was suddenly now on his side.
“You seem very pleased with yourself.” The voice coming from the shadows at the back of the hall jerked him out of his reverie. He rose from his seat and saw an auburn-haired woman in a purple robe emerge from the darkness. She looked familiar. He thought a moment, and then he had it. She was one of the Loremasters. Delani. The defiant one with ideas.
“Well, well,” he said. “I won’t bother to ask how you got here. I’m sure Nyala had something to do with it. So, instead of wasting time, I’ll simply ask why you’re here. I’d advise you to answer quickly before I grow annoyed at being interrupted.”
“Your little trick with Jason Bennett almost worked. Luckily for you, it failed.”
“Failed? Impossible. Not even he could withstand the power I sent against him. And I know counteracting it is beyond your healers. In what way could it have failed?”
She spread her arms innocently. “Perhaps incompetence on your part?”
His eyes narrowed. He was not about to tolerate insolence from the likes of these, especially not in his own home. “For a Loremaster, you seem to have a short memory. Clearly you’ve forgotten our last encounter. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about your faulty memory for long. Your life is about to match it.” He wrapped a dark stream of dimsai around her, smiling as she threw her head back under its pressure. His smile faded and his eyebrows drew down as he heard her chuckling. He increased his power, frowning in confusion as her laughter grew. Then he watched, unbelieving, as she calmly stepped out of its embrace.
He took an involuntary step toward her before jerking to a stop. “Nyala!” he shouted. “Show yourself! She could not stand against me without help.”
Delani gave him a fierce grin. “She is not here.”
“Then who? Who aids you and is yet too much of a coward to show themselves?”
“I dinna take kindly to bein’ called a coward,” a familiar voice said from behind. “I was just havin’ a wee bit o’ fun.”
Regor turned to see Bodann, a mocking smile on his face, standing behind him, silhouetted against the crimson light. “So,” he said, “you did survive your encounter with Jason Bennett after all. Have you been hiding all this time?”
Bodann chuckled. “Not quite. I’ve been watching, thinking. Planning my next moves.”
“Your next moves?” Regor frowned inside his shadowy disguise. Bodann’s behavior was puzzling. He wasn’t groveling as much as Regor liked. In fact, he wasn’t groveling at all. Regor definitely didn’t like that. He decided to see what the man had in mind before reminding him of his place. “And what next moves do you think you’re going to make?”
“Well, first of all, I think we need to have a different understanding between us.”
“A different understanding. Such as what?”
“Such as I’ll be the one giving the orders from now on.”
“You?” Regor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “And what makes you think I’m going to take orders from the likes of you?”
The smile vanished from Bodann’s face. “The likes of me? Y’know, that’s twice now that you’ve insulted me. I’m thinkin’ you should choose your words more carefully.”
“Or what?”
“Or this.” Regor’s body exploded into agony. Each nerve felt like it was being dragged over white-hot coals. The intense pain locked his throat, preventing even the tiniest whisper from coming out. Every muscle and sinew was clenched too tightly to move, or even to breathe. How was this possible? Where did Bodann get such power? He tried calling up his own power, but nothing responded. The sound of his own grinding teeth filled his head as his face stretched into a rictus of pain.
He collapsed to the ground as the torture stopped, leaving him gasping for air. Although the pain had ceased, all he could do for the moment was lay there, beads of sweat running down his face, as his muscles twitched uncontrollably. In the back of his mind, he realized his shadowy guise was gone, but was too shaken to care.
“So, there’s naught but a man behind the shadows after all,” Bodann said.
Regor bit off his first response. Instead, he forced his trembling arms to move, and pushed himself to his feet. “Where did you get that kind of power?”
“I’m not the same man I was before,” Bodann answered. “You’d do well to remember that.”
“Trust me, it will be foremost in my thoughts.”
Bodann and Delani laughed. “Good. One more thing: I’d advise you to put aside any ideas you might have of tryin’ to run away and hide. What you saw was just part of my power. There’s no place you can go where I canna find you. Are we clear?”
“What is the Loremaster’s role in all this? Why is she here?”
“I’ll let her answer that question.”
Delani moved to stand beside Bodann. “I am reunited with my love, Bodann. I will stand proudly at his side as he remakes Teleria into what it should be.” She gave Bodann an adoring look. “With him, I am complete.”
Bodann smiled. “Truly touching words, love.” He turned back to Regor. “So
, shall I assume you understand our new arrangement then? Or do you need another demonstration?”
Regor shook his head. “No. I think I understand it fairly well.”
“And if I happen to tell you to kiss my boots,” another surge of power threw Regor back to the ground at Bodann’s feet, “you’ll be happy to oblige. Aye?”
A rage that he knew to be impotent rose up inside him. He could hear the Loremaster laughing again. I will figure out how you’re doing this, and then I will see to it that you both choke on your laughter. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he said, “Whatever you say.” For now.
“Good. Get up,” Bodann ordered. Once Regor was on his feet again, he went on. “Now, back to what the lovely Loremaster was saying about Jason Bennett. If your little plan had worked, I would have been very upset, and as badly as you think the day has gone for you so far, it’d be nothin’ compared to what would have happened to you. From now on, you’ll not be harming so much as a hair on the lad’s fair head, or the Circle either.”
“What? Why not?”
“I have a personal score to settle with them. My plans were cut short last time. That will not happen again. They belong to me, especially the lad. I have special plans for him.”
Reliving the Past
Tal stared out the window at the pre-dawn sky, oblivious to the chill in the air. The pale harbingers of the coming day were just beginning their slow journey over the distant hills. Sleep had stayed far from him this night. He had kept vigil throughout the dark hours, with only the indifferent stars for company and only one thought filling his mind: Elam is alive! All these years, and his son still lived! How could he have given up looking? According to Jason, Elam had been living with nasaiken all this time. Nasaiken? They thought they had abolished that dreadful practice. Clearly, they had assumed too much. But why had Elam never sent word?
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