Scorched Treachery (28 page)

“Mi lasko! Snap out of it! Get out of there!” I could feel her, somewhere deep inside. I could still feel that thread, the clarity of it shining at me like a golden ribbon.

Joclyn’s heartbeat increased inside of me, the sound of my voice increasing the tempo for only a moment before she relaxed again. At least, I hoped it was my voice she was reacting to.
Please let her hear me.
I said the words to myself, a silent prayer to a silent deity.

“Joclyn! Come back to me!” My tears flowed unbidden as I looked at her still body and felt the slow ache when her heartbeat did not respond. “Joclyn
!”

I could feel the bridge that the water had created between us leaving, the strength of the connection moving
away from me. I couldn’t stop my movement as I pressed my hands to her face, the angry burn on my hand pressing itself against the soft skin of her cheek.

The strong pulse of her magic surged through the raw skin of my hand at the touch. It rocked through me and my spine straightened, the power rough and violent as it filled me.

I could feel the warmth of her body, the silky texture of her skin, but more than that, I could feel her again. I could feel
her
inside of me. Somehow the water had bridged me to her, connected my body with hers.

“Dramin!” I yelled his name, knowing he wouldn’t know what this was, or how to keep it. But he would have water, and perhaps the water could strengthen the connection again. The water had brought the clarity
; I needed the water to keep the clarity strong. “Dramin! Bring the water!”

Dramin ran into the room before I could even finish talking, his face calm for a moment before he saw me kneeling over Joclyn and the tears on my face. I could only imagine how I must have looked, how desperate I must have seemed, because I felt it inside me. I could feel the pain,
the anguish, the desperation. I looked at him with all of my weaknesses on my face, no façade, just me. He looked at me for one minute before the realization hit him and his own panic took over his face.

“What in land’s name is going on here?”

“Ovailia has returned. It was just as Joclyn said… Ryland’s here.” I tried to keep the emotion out of my voice, tried to regain my composure, but it didn’t seem to be working. It didn’t want to take. “He’s awake.”

“What do you mean he is
awake?” I could hear the confusion on his voice, and it made sense. Joclyn was sleeping, so Ryland should be too.

“Joclyn!” I yelled, “Ovailia brought him. He is fine. But the bond, Edmund broke it weeks ago.”

My voice bounced around the room before I looked back at Dramin, hoping that he would understand me by the desperation in my eyes. He only stared at me, his heart breaking. I didn’t want to think about what that look could mean, what that pain was for.

This could not be allowed to happen. It was not the end. I had seen my path, and my path was her. I had seen the end, seen my love for her and hers for me. I had seen everything. It was her. She was my everything. I would wait a thousand more years to experience those sights, but they would come to pass. They could not just be another of the
zlomený. I wouldn’t allow it.

“But, she is still sleeping… She’s been sleeping for two weeks…” My eyes looked away from Dramin
; I couldn’t stand to try to explain something that I didn’t understand. “How can she be…”

Dramin came to stand next to me, his hand moving to lay against Joclyn’s face. His touch was soft against her cheek as he filled her with his magic. My eyes moved to glare into him as I felt his magic surge, the power of it right up against mine. I had never felt Dramin’s magic so strongly. It wasn’t the same deep magic of the Drak I was used to feeling
; this was bright and strong. It almost felt powerful.

Dramin looked at me in wonder, the gleam in his eyes making it clear that he had found my new connection to
Joclyn. He had known what the Black Water would do inside my veins after all. I turned my hand toward him, showing him the angry welt that covered my palm. My face cringed as I let the pain show through my eyes, my chest still locking the rest of my pain inside.

Dramin’s eyes went wide as they stared at my hand in silence. With one
nod, he pushed more of his magic into her, the flow wide and strong. The burn on my hand had obviously opened up something inside me. It was more than the connection with Joclyn; I could feel the hidden strength of a Drak now. Our magic was able to work together for one minute before the connection changed.

Suddenly, I felt it inside of me, even though I knew it was inside of her. The repressive force of the heavy black mark that had hidden the thin strand of fine gold ribbon that her mind had followed to enter the Tȍuha.

I found it.

I found
her.

“It’s a Vymȁzat.”

“What?” Dramin’s hand pulled away from Joclyn’s face, the mug in his other hand mug dropping to the floor in surprise. “How did you miss that? You tried everything…”

“I didn’t miss it. It was hidden,” I said as I pushed my magic into her, feeling it move through her as it would in me. My awareness of her body swelled within me. I felt everything. I felt the thick ridge of the curse inside the hollow cavity of her mind. The curse had spread like spider webs over her skull, so thin and fine, it was no wonder I had missed it. Whatever Edmund had done to her, he had hidden it well. But not well enough.

I kept pushing my magic into her, my body beginning to feel weak and heavy as my power smothered her. I pushed as I worked to reverse the Vymȁzat, to remove it from inside her.

“Ilyan, you can’t possibly be saying what I think you are saying…” Dramin’s voice just washed over me, my mind focused on the mountain of work before me.

I pushed into her, laying my magic over the curse repressively as I attacked it. I surged my magic violently through it until the thick strands of my father’s curse began to break loose, the bands loosening away from her spinal column. It was there, with the sensation of her within me, that I felt her mind coming back.

Joclyn’s mind, her soul, was clicking back into place as the Vymȁzat loosened its grip on her. Her mind moved back into her, like a child playing with dominos – one piece falling after another as they moved into place. I could feel the heavy threads of her thoughts, the increased panic of her breathing, the elevated rate of her heart, and her hand against my shoulder.

I
could feel her hand on my shoulder.

I almost lost contact with her at the touch. It felt so real and yet she still lay unmoving below me. I could feel the touch of her skin against mine, the energy of her magic surging at the contact. It was her. My head spun toward the soft touch, my eyes widening at the broken disheveled girl that stood beside me.

It was Joclyn, I could see it in the silver of her eyes and the angles of her face, but everything else was foreign. Her hair, once long and straight, was matted in long tangled masses. Bloodied bits of scalp peeked through the large bald patches where the hair had been pulled out. I scanned her body as my brain slowly began to register what I was seeing, as I began to understand the things that had happened to her. Her clothes were ripped and torn, the tattered fragments covered with dirt and blood as they hung from her emaciated body. Her skin was covered with bruises, cuts, and burns. I looked away from the horrific sight only to come back to the same beautiful face on the couch below me.

I looked back to the battered girl. My soul felt like it was being ripped in two by seeing her
there; the giant rent began in my toes and moved through me in an earthquake of regret and fear, ripping my heart into pieces.

She looked at me with her silver eyes, the confidence I had watched her develop over the last few months so weak I could barely see it. Her power had been beaten out of her. As I watched her, I could see a shadow of that power return, the strength of her gaze growing as I stared into her, as I felt her memory click fully back into place.

My eyes darted back and forth from the girl I sat over to the ghostly apparition in front of me, my heart unwilling to accept the horrors I was seeing. My eyes had only returned to hers for a moment before I felt the shadow girl’s hands hard against my chest, pushing me off the living girl’s body. I fell to the floor, just as the hands of both girls rose in preparation to attack.

I yelled at the same time as Joclyn’s broken body, her mouth moving as she spoke to someone that my vision would not allow me to see. No sound escaped her lips, even though I knew she was speaking. Her strength seeped back into her eyes as she screamed at whoever had been attacking her, as once again, she prepared to fight back.

There was barely a warning before Joclyn’s hands exploded with energy, the magic soaring into the physical realm from the hands of the girl who lay sleeping on the faded upholstery.

My magic wrapped her in a heavy shield, her attack impacting with it, my soul acting on its own in response to her need. The attack disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving us in silence once again. I watched for only a minute, waiting to see if more was to come, watching as both girls dropped their hands. I was up in an instant, my heart fighting over which Joclyn to run to, yelling at me to find a way to bring the battered Joclyn home.

I had only made it a few steps before her weak voice met my ears, the sweet sound sending my heart into a frantic strum.

“Goodbye.”

“No!” It was then I knew who I was running to, who needed me more. I ran to Joclyn’s ghostly body, wrapping my arms around her as I surged my magic into both of them through the Štít. The shadow of her body was so cold, so small, compared to what she really was. I could feel her, the same way I had when the sight was first given to me. I could feel her gritty skin, the grease on her hair. Somehow, she was right there in my arms.

The Black Water had bridged the gap between us again, but this time I knew how to use that magic to bring her back. I could still feel the water burning through my veins
, and hers, and even though I didn’t want to, I forced its movement through me, through the Štít, and right to my heart. I felt the water burn alongside my magic, Joclyn’s magic coming to the edge of the Štít as my power called to her. It was there that our magic mingled for the second time. The deep strength of it rocked through me with such an impact I was sure I would never be able to let her go again.

Her strong magic raged through me, my muscles tensed at the tingling ecstasy that washed over my nerve endings. The water continued its blissful movement, until it began to pull away. Her magic seeped back into her –bringing her with it.

Without even knowing how, I felt her arms around me, warm and whole. I felt her presence leave mine, her mind whole again.

I pulled away from the warmth of her arms, scared about what I would see, my heart swelling at the unscathed, healthy face looking back at me.

“Ilyan.” Her voice moved through me with the strength of a tidal wave. It crashed into my soul and took the breath out of my chest.

I looked into the silver sheen of her eyes, my soul undeniably lost to her, my heart belonging to her more than it ever had. Just as her sight had said. She wrapped her hands around my neck and brought my forehead down onto hers, the contact of her skin igniting my blood. I could feel the fire of the Black Water speed up in my veins, its burn deep and yet so pleasant.

I would have gladly stayed there for hours, staring into her eyes, her skin against mine, but I could feel them coming. My magic had been so focused on Joclyn that I didn’t feel their pulses until they were right on top of us.

I turned toward them as the door opened, stepping away from her in a panic, unsure as to how Joclyn would react at seeing Ryland.

He was the first one in the door, his blue eyes blazing as he searched for her. I looked toward Joclyn, expecting to see the heart-stopping joy I had seen light up her face before, but it was not there. The look of pain and fear that I had seen on the haggard girl’s face had taken over Joclyn’s beautiful features. Panic and fear ravaged her before her hands raised toward him, a pulse shooting through the air with more power than even I could conjure.

The glowing mass exploded from her hands with enough energy that the air rippled behind it, the deep earth magic reacting to Joclyn and strengthening the attack.

Time slowed as I watched the flame burn through the air, everyone slowly registering what was happening. Joclyn’s response to seeing Ryland was the exact opposite of what I had been expecting to happen.

Ryland pulled up his shield as a reflex reaction, although his confused face opened in a plea I barely heard above the panicked noise that had filled my suite.

I shielded Ryland quickly, knowing that even with both of our barriers her energy pulse would burn right through. The mass barreled toward Ryland’s chest faster than a bullet. I could tell by the look on Joclyn’s face that this wouldn’t be the last attack. She was angry and terrified. Her eyes held more hatred then I had ever seen. I surged my magic through the Štít and into her tense and frantic body, my magic soothing her mind to sleep as quickly as I could, just as Joclyn’s attack made contact.

I expected the impact. I had yelled out against it, but it never hit Ryland. It hit Dramin.

I watched him as he moved in front of Ryland, his eyes hooded and sad. He was not panicked at what was about to collide with him, he was accepting. Dramin looked at Joclyn as her magic hit him, his face full of pity before he collapsed to the ground. Everything froze in place as I felt Joclyn fall into sleep beside me, my magic removing her alert state and plunging her into a deep dreamless sleep.

Joclyn’s body sagged as Dramin’s did, but it was Dramin’s body that held my attention this time.
The dull clunk of his head against the wood echoed through the quiet room, and through my heart. I could feel the surprise at what had just happened pulse through each of us for one breath before Thom’s yell broke the stunned reverence we had been trapped in.

Thom yelled as he collapsed to the ground by his friend, his hands shaking as he reached for him, plunging his magic into him. His voice was the deep lolling of a keel, the sound of one lost to the deep pieties of the world. The sound of heartbreak.

All other thoughts left me as I dropped to Thom’s side as he howled, my own yells joining his as he held onto his friend. My friend. All the times I had hidden him, protected him, and now he was just another one to fall.

“Dramin,” I gasped, my voice inaudible above Thom’s moans. “No… No… Dramin!”

I placed my shaking hands against Dramin’s face, my magic moving into him in an attempt to find some evidence of life inside him, to find anything that would give me some hope.

I let my magic surge, my panic making it hard for me to regulate the amount that I plunged into him. I explored every inch of his body, my power covering him in my desperation to find something.

If it wasn’t for the deep tick of the Black Water that would forever flow through me, I may not have felt the small spark that was hidden in his heart.

“He’s not dead,” I said firmly, the regality coming back into my voice as I fought the hopelessness that Dramin’s injury had filled me with.

“What?” Ovailia’s surprise mirrored my own, but the bitter sound within her voice was stronger than usual.

I grabbed Thom’s magic that now snaked through Dramin’s body to direct him to the spark of energy that I had found.

“Focus on that,” I instructed him before pulling away.

My magic left him as I brought it back inside of myself, my heart thumping against my chest at what I was about to do.

“Please don’t let me kill him,” I spoke more to myself than anyone else, but I knew that everyone had heard me, that everyone knew what I was going to do. It was what I had tried to do to my friend, Sarin, before I killed him a thousand years before. It was what I needed to do now in order to save Dramin’s life.

My hands rested against Dramin’s face, the skin contact warm and threatening. I breathed in, bringing my magic right to the surface, before breathing out and surging it into him. I let in just enough to jumpstart his entire body and hopefully
, ignite his magic, but not enough to kill him – or so I hoped.

I looked up at Thom expectantly, hoping to see him looking at me, but his focus stayed on Dramin. The spark had obviously not
ignited; his magic was still not strong enough to sustain his life.

I needed to perform the
ozdobit třásněmi one more time.

I repeated the process, careful to keep my magic at just the right ca
liber inside of his body. This time, a small groan escaped Dramin’s lips, his hand twitching in response to my jolt. My heart froze for one terrible moment before I gently pushed my magic back into his body, stretching it right to the small spark I had found, pleased to now find a fire.

I exhaled once I had felt the life inside of him, the knot in my back loosening. I looked up to Thom, his eyes meeting mine.

“He’s alive?” he asked in awe, his voice a heavy rumble over Ryland’s constantly mumbling voice behind us.

“
Stačí nyní.” I answered Thom, careful to keep my voice low. Even though Ovailia was now standing next to Ryland and Joclyn, I knew she was listening.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” I gasped through the tense feeling in my shoulders.

“Me either,” Thom said, his voice awed. “Even when we sparred back in the cave, after she gained full use of her power, she was never able to produce something that strong.”

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, forgetting that I had already cut off the long strands.

“Try to keep him alive, Thom,” I pleaded, trying to make it plain that I needed his help.

“I will, but there is only so much I can do. With his magic so weak…” Thom’s voice drifted off as he placed his hands against the skin of Dramin’s face, his head shaking in worry. “Why did she attack Ryland like that in the first place? I thought she loved him.”

“She did. She does,” I corrected myself, ignoring the heavy thumping in my chest. I looked toward Ryland quickly, thankful to see both him and Ovailia absorbed in the sleeping girl before them. I needed to get over there.

“Something must have happened in the Tȍuha,” I continued, bringing my focus back to Thom. “He must have been attacking her somehow.”

“Ryland was attacking her?” Thom asked, the alarm in his voice mirroring the anxiety that already burned through me, igniting the heavy Black Water inside of me again. I cringed against the burn, trying not to show the exhaustion the pain was cursing me with.

“I believe so.”

“Is Ryland even safe to have here?” Thom’s eyes darted over to where Ovailia hovered beside Ryland.