The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (12 page)

“I had a lot to do at home and I’ve been
trying to research on how we are going to lift the curse in
Goswin,” he explained with a sigh and brushed a lock of brown hair
from his face.

“Any luck?” she asked hopefully.

He shook his head grimly and motioned vaguely
at the books and crystals. “Not in any of those but there is a
possibility I might find a method in another book. It will take
time to research.” He let out a deep sigh and looked her over with
a frown. “What happened to your arm?” He asked, motioning at the
sleeve of her dress.

Following his gaze Jala looked down at her
own arm and frowned. She had chosen a long sleeved dress to hide
the bandage but apparently that wasn’t going to work with her
friends. “A little cut it’s nothing,” she said in dismissal.

“Why didn’t you just heal it?” He asked with
a raised eyebrow.

Jala stared at him a moment and looked up to
the sky and then back to him. “Because I’m an idiot and I didn’t
even think of healing myself,” she admitted in disgust. “It’s
really no bother though. It’s not a deep cut,”

Sovann looked away with a nod and it was
obvious he was fighting back laughter. “That’s beautiful. You heal
my brother from near death, repair his eye and then forget you can
heal when you yourself get hurt.” He shook his head slowly as he
spoke in obvious amusement.

“So what are we going to work with today?”
she asked in an effort to change the topic.

“I thought we’d try a bit of channeling. I
think you are closer to a weaver than a Channeler but we will see.
Since you can draw off of Barllen, it’s obvious you can channel, so
let’s see what else you can draw from,” he replied with a
smile.

“All right, sounds easy enough. What first?”
Jala asked as she dropped her bag down into the grass and stretched
her shoulders.

“Let’s try something basic at first. Getting
magic from something magical,” he said, producing a mage stone from
his pocket. Tossing it lightly to land in the grass he looked back
at her and smiled. “Typically you hold a mage stone and draw it
into you as it is intended to be used. This time I want you to try
to channel some of the magic out of it. It’s a mage stone you
yourself created so that should make it easier.” With a slight
gesture of his hand, he motioned for her to begin.

Taking a deep breath Jala focused on the
stone and tried to pull magic from it. After a long moment she held
her hand outstretched toward it as she had on the battlefield in
Rivana. Putting her will behind it she pulled again and then
frowned at Sovann. “I’m doing exactly what I did in Rivana,” she
said with a sigh.

He chewed on his lower lip for a moment and
nodded slowly. “You were desperate there,” he said quietly and
seemed deep in thought. “Maybe it was because you didn’t have any
magic at all of your own,” he said after a moment and fished in his
pocket again producing a dull grey stone. “If you don’t mind
filling a mage stone this early, we can see if that is the
difference.” He offered her the stone with a shrug.

Jala nodded slowly and took the stone,
looking down at the rock with dread. Filling stones always left her
a bit light headed and she had a long day ahead of her. “If you let
me keep this stone to recharge before I see Neph this evening, you
have a deal,” she said, looking up at him with a raised
eyebrow.

“As long as you wait a bit before you
reabsorb it there shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t want to flux
your magic from full to empty and then back again too quickly. It
isn’t good for the body,” he warned.

Nodding her agreement, she focused on the
empty stone in her hand and felt her magic pouring into it. When
they had first started doing this two weeks ago the stones she had
filled had been about the size of her little fingernail. This one
was the size of a small bird’s egg. Sovann had said her reservoir
was building quickly and if this stone’s size was any indication he
believed it had grown again. The stone began to pulse in her hand
and turn a dull violet shade, slowly darkening to a deep rich
purple that seemed to glow from the inside. Her head began to spin
as the color darkened and she had second thoughts about spending
half the day in this weakened state. If not for the knowledge that
Marrow and now Emily would be with her the entire day she never
would have agreed to this.

At last, she nodded to Sovann and handed him
back the stone. She could feel only the barest wisps of magic
remaining to her and Sovann had warned her too many times for her
to drain that off as well. To drain all of her magic meant the risk
of what he called burn out, where a mage could no longer access his
magic at all. She had never actually pointed out that she had
already drained her magic completely once before and hadn’t burned
out. She knew him too well. He would simply point out how stupid
she had been to do it at all.

Looking down at the stone in his hand, Sovann
glanced back up at her and nodded. “I had a feeling you had built
it up more. You didn’t drain yourself dry did you?” he asked with a
bit of concern.

“Of course not. I listen to your warnings,”
she replied, her voice faint to her ears. “Give me a minute and
I’ll try again. I’ve got the spinning-head thing right now.” With a
sigh, she leaned back against a tree and waited for her body to
adjust and then stood again, giving Sovann a nod. Stretching her
hand out toward the stone once more, she tried pulling on the magic
she knew it held. “Damn it,” she hissed and refocused herself,
pulling with everything she could. The stone remained untouched,
without so much as a trace of its magic coming to her. Dropping her
hand in frustration, she looked at Sovann. “Why can I draw from
something no one else can but I can’t draw from something everyone
can?” she asked, hoping the frustration she felt didn’t carry into
her voice as well.

Sovann frowned down at the stone and looked
up to her with a slight shake of his head. “I have no idea,” he
admitted and searched the garden, his gaze thoughtful. “Close your
eyes and try channeling. Focus on whatever you can and try to draw
in magic. Maybe it’s that you have no affinity with the stone,
though you should since you are the one that created it,.”

Doubtful that it would work, but still
willing to try, she closed her eyes and focused. She sought magic
with her mind though didn’t focus on a source, simply willing the
magic to come to her. Forcing her will, she tugged roughly and felt
a surge of magic at the same time as she heard a gasp from Sovann.
Eyes flashing open she found the mage kneeling one arm across his
chest breathing heavily. “Are you OK?” she asked frantically,
dropping down beside him and staring at his pale face in fear.

“Yes, just give me a minute,” he said
coughing slightly. Looking up at her, he smiled ruefully. “I really
didn’t expect that and you really don’t have a gentle touch for it.
It was somewhat like being hit in the gut with a club,” he said,
his voice weak yet amused.

“I really didn’t mean to. Are you sure you
are OK? Should I get Neph?” she asked her eyes wide.

Sovann shook his head and smiled at her,
bracing himself on her shoulder as he stood. “No, Neph would just
laugh. Give me a minute to get a bit of my energy back and let’s
try that again. If you can perfect it before classes you can use it
on Neph tonight.” He said the last with a wicked smile and winked
at her. Drawing on his Weaver talents she watched him pull a bit of
energy from the trees, then the grass, and finally the mage stone.
He was gentle with the pull taking care not to damage anything he
touched.

Looking back at her he nodded. “OK, try it
again, only this time focus on me and let’s see what happens. Don’t
worry about hurting me. I have a larger reservoir that you do right
now and even if you fill yourself completely off of my magic you
can’t truly hurt me,” he said, shaking his head at her look of
distress.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked with
obvious hesitation.

“Quite sure, now do as your teacher tells you
to,” he ordered and seemed to brace himself.

“I really wish you didn’t look like I was
about to punch you,” she said dryly and focused herself again. With
a frown she pulled from Sovann and felt magic rush into her like a
tide. She reeled for a moment, her body euphoric with the sensation
and barely noticed Sovann propped against a tree wheezing. “Normal
magic doesn’t feel like this,” she said, her voice faint in her own
ears. “Oh, Fortune this is wonderful.” Her words came out
breathless as the tingles of the stolen magic washed over her,
filling her with renewed energy.

“By the Aspects, Jala, I don’t think we will
do that again, ever,” Sovann gasped, pulling himself upright once
more for another round of weaving. “That wasn’t like a club that
was like a damn wagon falling on me,” he said faintly.

“I’m sorry, Sovann, are you OK?” Jala asked
with concern, though she knew the smile was still on her face and
she doubted it was too reassuring to him.

“Will be fine in just a minute. That’s the
plus side of being a Weaver, never out of energy for long,” he
replied, his voice already regaining some of its former strength.
“So now we have to figure out why you can draw on Barllen and
people but apparently not items intended to have magic drained from
them, though. That isn’t a bad trait, though. If you can draw
energy off of your enemies you are a step ahead.”

“I’d like to drain Cassia down to a more
humble level,” Jala muttered quietly, drawing a dark look from
Sovann.

“If you do, she will have the Justicars down
on you. It’s considered a magical assault and the penalty ranges
from imprisonment to death,” he warned.

“As if anyone actually obeys laws here,
Sovann. Just yesterday I saw Cassia and her brother beating the
hell out of Madren and no one did anything about it. That is
supposed to be a crime punishable by death, too, but no one does
anything about it,” she said back, her voice filled with
disgust.

“Not when it’s Cassia doing it, but I
guarantee if it’s you doing it everyone will say something. They
are looking for a reason to get you in trouble. Don’t give them
one,” Sovann said, his voice firm and his look almost parental.

“I won’t. Besides, I don’t even know if it
would work on anyone else,” she said with a sigh.

“That’s why you are going to try using it on
Neph tonight, to find out if it works on others,” Sovann replied
happily.

“You look far too pleased with that idea,
Sovann. Should I make a memory crystal for you?” she asked with a
raised eyebrow.

Sovann smiled at her and nodded. “Please do.
I will look forward to seeing it tomorrow. For now, though, you had
best be off to your first hour. You arrived late so the session
isn’t what it normally is.”

“I’m sorry about that. I just had a few
things come up. I will be on time tomorrow, I promise,” she said
and picked up her bag with a sigh. Walking over, she gave him a
quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Sovann, you should
go get some sleep. You look like you could use it.”

“I will very soon,” he assured her and moved
to gather his books and crystals as she left the courtyard heading
for class.

“You are going to be thrilled, Emily. My
first hour is basic geography,” Jala said quietly once they were
out of earshot of Sovann. She spoke partially to see if the Blight
was still with her and partially because she expected the class to
drive the child insane. Geography was a topic that interested her a
great deal. Yet the teacher of the class had a way of speaking that
made her nearly fall asleep every day.

“I could probably teach you more about
geography than they can. My mother had been everywhere and I know
everything she knew. Have they told you about the Crystal Spires
yet?” Emily’s voice was a hushed whisper just off to her left.

“What are the Crystal Spires?” Jala asked. It
wasn’t a term she had heard mentioned in any class or read about in
her book. She was three chapters ahead in her reading of what they
were talking about in class discussion.

“It’s in Nerathane. Hundreds of crystal
columns that rise up out of the southern desert. They are every
color - blue and yellow and red, and there is a river that runs
through there that the whole bottom of is filled with little
fragments of the spires that look like a rainbow stones,” Emily
explained, her voice a bit louder than before.

“It sounds beautiful. I didn’t think anyone
was allowed in Southern Nerathane,” Jala replied trying to mentally
picture what the child described.

“My mother was. She went everywhere in
Sanctuary,” Emily said, a bit of pride in her voice as well as
sadness. “I wish I hadn’t hurt her,” she said after a long moment
her voice fainter.

“I lost both of my parents too,” Jala said
quietly, unsure what else to say. Perhaps if Emily knew she could
understand the pang of loss, it would make it a bit easier for her.
Misery did seem to love company.

“She loved me. That’s what makes the
difference between me and the other Blights. Their mothers despised
them and everything they got when they scanned minds was hate and
loathing. I scanned and found love,” Emily said, her voice dropping
back down to a whisper.

Jala nodded thoughtfully and ran a hand
through Marrow’s thick fur, silent for a long moment. “I think
that’s what makes a difference for all of us Emily. There are quite
a few in this world that are not Blights but are still monsters,”
she said quietly as they reached the stairs to the main hall.

Conversation ended as she headed up the
stairs and through the thick double doors. Marrow walked along
behind her silently and she hoped Emily was still close but had no
way of telling. Ignoring the looks from the other students she
headed into the Geography lecture hall and climbed to the top row
of the seating. It was more difficult to hear at these heights but
few other people sat on the top row. She had an advantage, though,
even if she missed something the teacher was saying Marrow wouldn’t
and could tell her what was said. Dropping her bag lightly in the
chair beside her she sat down and looked over the mostly empty
room. It was still several minutes before class and most were still
in the hall gossiping. All of the friends she had were more
advanced in their schooling, though, and she truly had no desire to
gossip with strangers. It would be a safe bet that most of the
gossip in the hall right now was about her, a topic she really
didn’t care to pay attention to.