“Come lay next to me, my lovely Kyrsu. We’ll shift to stone and sleep side by side until we’re both healed.”
“You’re still in danger.” But denying him was so very hard.
“Am I?”
His words confused her until she examined the minds closest to them.
The others feared her.
As they should.
Hmmm. But she detected no hostility toward Obsidian.
That was strange. There’d been a definite threat before, but now it was gone.
It had to be a trap or a trick. That was the only reason.
“It was an accident.”
“No. What I felt and what they did to you was no accident.”
“It was part of the test,” he assured her. “After it was over, I heard Rook yelling at Reaver and the others about their terrible aim. They were supposed to cause a flesh wound at most. I think Rook did it because he wanted to see this side of you.”
His words made sense when compared with what she felt in the others’ minds. But there had been some threat. She’d felt it. Sighing she gave herself a little shake, her fear and adrenaline slowly melted away.
She would listen to her Rasoren but only so far.
Concentrating, she summoned more magic and formed it into a powerful weaving. A moment later a protective dome surrounded them. Safe now, she curled up next to him and nosed at his wound.
Removing the packing placed there to slow the bleeding, she started to lap at the wound. Even as the healing compound in her saliva started on the surface, her magic worked its way into his body, finding the deepest point of the puncture wound.
The spear had bitten deep, perforating his liver. She summoned another wave of magic and sent it deep.
He hissed in pain.
But healing him was helping her to calm, so she continued.
“It serves you right for drinking something that would cripple your ability to summon your magic. Don’t do that ever again, you great dolt!”
“Don’t think I will.”
“Good. It was very foolish.”
“How are you feeling?” He asked, already sounding stronger from her healing.
What a strange question for him to ask her.
“I’m fine. You’re the one who got his ass kicked up and down the arena floor and then used your liver to catch a spear.”
“You’re back with me?”
“Back from where? You delirious? Where the hell did you think I’d be when you’re hurt?”
He gestured above them.
Anna spotted a shimmering dome of power. It smelled of her magic, and she had a foggy recollection of creating it. Outside was chaos, the sky black with gargoyle wings.
Then she noticed the bodies littering the arena floor.
“Oh, god. I went berserker, didn’t I?” She knew she had because, while she could remember the events, they were blurry and dull, like she’d witnessed them through a dirty window.
“It’s not your fault.”
“The fuck it’s not.”
“No. The blame can be firmly placed on Rook’s shoulders. This was his idea. He has wanted to witness your berserker nature for quite some time. Goddess only knows why he chose now to do it, in front of so many and with everything that’s been going on.”
“What the bloody hell did he think would happen?”
“Something like this I’d imagine? But on a smaller scale maybe. I don’t know.” Obsidian sounded exhausted.
She snuggled closer to him and glanced around once more.
“Do you need a healer?” she asked just to be certain, but it looked like her magic had sealed his wound, and his other injuries were gone. “I didn’t even know I could heal like that.”
“I didn’t either, but it’s good one of us does. We tend to get into a lot of trouble.” He gave his side a cautious poke. “I don’t think a healer can do any more for me than you already have.”
“Good.”
“Now all I need is my Kyrsu.” He yawned and wrapped an arm around her waist.
She glanced around. First at the dome and then everyone on the outside. The dome’s magic was impressive and damn near impenetrable. No one would be getting past it anytime soon. Not unless she allowed it and right at this moment she wasn’t feeling very magnanimous. They could just sit out there on their collective asses until she and Obsidian were healed and rested.
Besides, it looked like most of the bodies on the ground were picking themselves up or being helped up by others.
She’d likely feel guilty later, but now all she felt was numb. Emotionally empty.
Briefly, she wondered if the emotional numbness of a berserker was a little like being a psychopath. That the thought didn’t inspire fear probably should have scared her.
But she couldn’t even feel fear.
Yawning, she curled closer to Obsidian and then with a silent command and a wave of power, she ordered both their bodies to shift to their stone forms to recover.
Chapter 43
Obsidian yawned and stretched, feeling a little tender where the spear had thrust deep, but his injuries were healed, and the drug the elders had given him had been purged from his body. All in all, he felt good, physically. Mentally? That was another matter altogether.
But there was only so much Anna and the healers could do. Restoring his peace of mind wasn’t one of them.
He’d woken from his stone sleep before Anna and found that Thayn, with the aid of Lord Draydrak, had been able to undo the spell his Kyrsu had hastily raised to protect them while they healed.
The elder had brought them to the healer’s quarters, where he remained.
Obsidian’s body was on the mend, but his mind was restless, thoughts and theories about why Rook had sabotaged the test churned endlessly.
If the elder had merely wanted to test Anna’s tolerance to threats directed at her Rasoren, the elder could have set something up during regular practice. It wasn’t necessary to do it in front of everyone or was that the point?
Did Rook want the entire gargoyle legion to see what he and Anna were capable of before it was unleashed on the battlefield? That still seemed a poor excuse for such a spectacular risk. Others had been harmed. Rook was lucky there hadn’t been any deaths. Anna in berserker mode wasn’t known for mercy.
Perhaps she’d managed to retain enough of ‘Anna’ to reason that the legion gargoyles weren’t a threat.
As for Rook, he could have done a series of smaller demonstrations throughout their training sessions. But the elder hadn’t exercised caution. Now, in the blink of an eye, all Anna’s hard work to gain the legion’s trust had been undone. Could she ever regain their people’s confidence, or would they judge her a threat?
A soft grunt drew his gaze down to Anna. His restless thoughts must have disturbed her sleep, for she’d still been stone up until a moment ago. The shimmer of magic even now danced along her skin, before being swallowed back.
Her eyes blinked open to stare at him.
Or at least she tried. Dawn’s light angled in and struck her right in the eyes. Groaning, she rolled over onto her belly, shielding her face.
“Oh my god. What the fuck did I drink? Fuck, I don’t care what it’s called. Just don’t let me drink it ever again.”
“You’re not drunk.”
“Obviously. I’m all too sober now.”
“It’s a reaction from calling more magic than your body is trained to handle.”
“Ugh. Remind me to go easy next time, will you?”
“I don’t think you were in a receptive mood to listen to reason.”
“Meh.” She rested her face in her hands. “Stop talking. My head is going to explode.”
“Stop whining and come here,” he said with a grin.
When she didn’t move, he sat cross-legged on the bench and then dragged her unresisting body closer to him until he could roll her over and position her head in his lap.
She groaned dramatically.
&
nbsp; Calling a tiny bit of his shadow magic to the tips of his fingers, he gently worked them between the rows of her braids. He wasn’t a natural healer like Anna or some of the dryads, but he’d learned this trick from Maradryn. The smallest trace of the tingling magic could sooth headaches.
“Oh, you’re a god. Thank you.” Anna’s unguarded expression made him smile, but it wasn’t likely to last. As soon as she remembered what she’d done, doubt and self-loathing would replace it.
Which was why he was in no hurry to have this rare peaceful moment end.
But eventually he’d rubbed away the worst of the pain, and her eyes opened and spotted the ceiling of the healers’ quarters.
Her brows drew together in thought and then her earlier blissful expression became shuttered. She compressed her lips.
“I fucked up, didn’t I?”
Following her progress along their link, he witnessed when she recalled all that had happened. Much of it would be blurry and hazy, but there was enough for her to piece together events.
“I flipped and hulked out on everyone when you were hurt, didn’t I?”
He wasn’t familiar with the term, but its meaning was clear enough in her mind. “Yes. Though, this wasn’t your fault. You were just reacting to what you perceived as a danger to me.”
Obsidian explained what he’d been theorizing about while she’d slept.
“So, you see, I think this was exactly what Rook wanted to happen—at least your going berserker part. Though I don’t think he expected it to be quite so violent. At least I hope he didn’t.”
“Well, I for one am going to go ask him myself. Just as soon as I can stand up without the room spinning.”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough for that,” he said, and he gently brushed away some sand that was sticking to her temples.
If only his other worries were as easily brushed away.
Chapter 44
The day after Obsidian’s Adept Trial, Anna found herself high up on the slopes of the eastern peak picking berries with a group of novices and journeymen. It was a mundane task, which was why the mentors had assigned it to her. Secretly, she was happy to do it because it got her away from most of the stares and whispers.
Reasonable, quiet, and unassuming had been her modus operandi since yesterday morning when she’d awoken in the healers’ quarters with a splitting headache. Later she and Obsidian had confronted the elders.
Rook had admitted his plan had gone afoul. Thayn clarified by adding that when Anna had tossed up her first shield, it caused the spear—which was supposed to miss—to change its trajectory.
The spear was only supposed to have clipped him, causing a flesh wound.
They’d wanted something that would cause a threat response in Anna, but nothing so dangerous to trigger a full berserker event.
Well, because Fate loved fucking with her, Rook and everyone else got to see the full package. Which was why she had been trying so hard to be quiet, unassuming and mostly invisible today.
It didn’t help that Obsidian had been sent off to a remote island for some traditional mumbo-jumbo where he was supposed to meditate on the duties that would now come with his new title of Adept.
While she was pleased that he’d completed the trial with flying colors and earned his title before everything had gone sideways, she preferred him near. Her gargoyle nature was still edgy. Since there were no reported dangers, it had to be the new fear and hostility some of the legion felt toward her after the berserker event.
She kept telling her gargoyle nature to sit down, shut up, and don’t cause a stir. Obsidian didn’t need his Kyrsu making any more of a ruckus.
Probably no one was buying her docile, good girl routine. Though, no one had organized a torch and pitchfork-carrying mob either, so she supposed she wasn’t about to get lynched.
But that wasn’t even her most significant concern.
The more she thought about it, the more she was sure Rook, that cagey bastard, had wanted her to go berserker for some reason other than to study her threat responses. But she didn’t have proof. Sighing in frustration, she turned her attention back to her present task, for now.
Anna glowered unhappily at the berry bush she was presently picking bare of ripe fruit. Truth had laughed at her earlier when she popped a couple in her mouth and promptly spat them back out. He’d then informed her they were only used in cooking with honey to sweeten them. The jerk.
“By the way, how much longer do we have to do this?” Anna called to him where he was working on filling his basket farther up the slope.
He glanced in her direction, looking unhappier than picking a few hundred berries should merit.
Hmm…something was up.
“You.” She glared at him. “What’s that look about?”
Truth sighed and set down his woven basket. “We already have twice the berries we need. Obsidian wanted me to keep you busy today.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. He wouldn’t go into detail, only that he had a task to complete that required solitude.”
“That’s what he told me as well.” Anna’s fingers strummed her thigh. “I thought it was some traditional ritual after becoming an Adept.”
“There is no tradition,” Truth confirmed.
“Damn it! Why didn’t I smell a lie?”
“He likely never told a lie, just didn’t correct your false assumption.”
“Fuck!” Anna abandoned her berry bushes and the baskets, half running up the slope toward a bare patch of rock where she had room to shift to gargoyle form.
She might be overreacting, but she couldn’t ignore the fact the elders might be setting up a test of some sort to see if Obsidian was like her.
“Where are you going? Anna!” Truth called her name as he came running up behind her.
“I’m going after Obsidian. I don’t know what the Masters have planned this time, but their last plan didn’t go so well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I got my powers from Obsidian. I’m not the only berserker.” She said in a rush. “As a child, Shadowlight had that trait, too. Milder, but I can only imagine the breathtaking scope of Obsidian’s rage if they manage to trigger it, now, as an adult.”
“That makes no sense. If it were the mentors, he would simply have told me that. Though I see why the elders might not want you there.” Truth paused, and then said more softly. “It might not be the mentors.”
“Who else?” But then Anna knew. Reaver and the other gargoyles who might have turned hostile toward her and her Rasoren.
Anna reached the flat stretch of rocky ground and shifted. Moments later her wings were unfurling as she launched herself off the steep slope and into the air. Truth continued to shout after her as she climbed higher into the air.
Rounding the mountain’s peak, she spotted him beating his wings hard to catch up. She didn’t wait for him and headed out to sea, using her link to Obsidian to pinpoint his location.
“Obsidian are you alright? Can you hear me?” No answering words or thoughts echoed back along their link.
He was about eighty miles out. Easy distance for their link, but he didn’t respond, and she couldn’t touch his mind. How was that possible? Even if he was stone, she could still feel his mind.
Fear sped her wings, and she swiftly out distanced Truth.
“I can’t feel Obsidian. Can you?” she asked Truth along a private path.
“No. His mind is closed off to me.” Concern tinted the gargoyle’s thoughts. “I don’t like this.”
“I can’t wait for you. Keep up as best you can.”
“Go, go. I’m calling our friends. We’ll meet you there as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter 45
Below, the ocean waves churned. They’d been growing larger the closer Anna got to Obsidian’s distant little island. A high black wall of clouds billowed out across the sky from the same general area.
Unfortunately, she feared the storm wasn’t natural, but fueled by uncontrolled magic. Obsidian’s magic. The taste was heavy and familiar in the humid air. She didn’t know what was being done to him, but her terror kept her wings beating at top speed even after fifty miles.
“Be at ease, young Kyrsu,” Death’s compelling voice was suddenly filling her head. “While your Rasoren is experiencing something he finds greatly distressing, he is in no physical danger.”
His reassurance fell short of actually reassuring her. “Why is he in distress?”
“Because there is a djinn within the Magic Realm and you no longer have the time needed to seal your powerful bond slowly, over time, as I would have preferred. But there was a faster way to see it molded into its potential. Obsidian is now undergoing the ordeal.”
“What is it? And was he willing?”
Death sighed out a long, sad note in her mind. “Your most traumatic memories. He’s reliving them. When it’s over, you’ll have no reason to keep a shield up around your mind. Once it’s done, he will understand as he never could have before, and you will be there to share in his pain and comfort him.”
Her heart felt like it seized in her chest. Obsidian was never supposed to see those. Never. She shuddered and swooped lower. Realizing the danger, she beat her wings harder and arrowed back higher into the sky.
“He was never supposed to see those. Why would he do this?”
Why would he do this to me? I trusted him.
“Your Rasoren can’t do anything that he’d see as harming you. He’s not physically capable. And he viewed what I asked him to do as a type of mind-rape. He’s a noble soul. But we don’t have time for noble. I forced him to take the memories.”
So, Death had done this to Obsidian.
Her rising rage had a target at least.
“Yes, I am the one who made a hard choice so neither of you would have to. Remember that before you decide to hate me forever.” Draydrak’s voice was filled with sadness. “Go to your Rasoren. He needs you now. Remember what you felt after the trauma and how all you wanted was to be comforted by your beloved? Obsidian will shortly find himself in the same emotional hell, but unlike the first time, you will be there to comfort him. Out of this shared pain and self-forgiveness, your magic will forge an unparalleled soul bond. One strong enough to rival what the Avatars share, and they began as one soul.”
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