Chapter 16
W aves of distress pummeled Rodric with rapidly growing fear. Celina, his Celina , was in danger. That desperate feeling stemmed from her somehow. “Cass! Where is she!? She’s in trouble.”
Cass spun and ran toward the spot they had left Celina.
No. She’s closer. He knew it, could feel it. A hint of movement in one of the tents flickered. There!
Running for her, he slid to a halt when he entered the tent. She was kneeling on the ground, hands on the boy, her face contorted in painful concentration. Color was rapidly fading from Celina’s skin. No, no, no! Not again!
The boy was equally pale. He was on his side, curled in as if to protect himself, but unconscious. Old bruising on his chest looked as if someone had pinned him to the ground with a boot, probably cracking his ribs.
“You found her?” Kneeling opposite Celina, Cass quickly put her fingers on the boy’s neck. “His pulse is weak. I think she’s losing him.”
“No!”
Cass’s penetrating gaze assessed him. “You need to try to pull her out, Rodric.”
“How do I do that?” He dropped to his knees beside Celina, swallowing hard. Was she dying? Leaving him so soon?
“Stars, I hope I’m right about you two,” Cass murmured, the whisper barely reaching his ears. She squeezed his shoulder, pulling his attention. “I know this is going to sound crazy to you, but you need to try to connect with her… spiritually.”
“What?”
“How did I end up being the one explaining this? Couples form bonds, Rodric. Deep bonds that exist on a spiritual, magical level. You’ve heard the term ‘soul-bound’? It’s not just a pretty phrase. You need to reach for her from your soul. Physically moving her won’t break the amount of magic she’s channeling.”
A burst of light flashed in his memory and winked out. “I’m sorry.”
He physically shook off Avery’s haunting voice and focused on Celina, heart racing toward a breaking point all over again. “Celina said that flooding magic is deadly. It drains the healer, kills her.” This can’t be happening again. Not to Celina.
“Yes. She’s not there yet, but she’s approaching the threshold of this becoming dangerous. You need to focus if you’re going to keep her from crossing it.” Her tone was harsh and fast, a commander giving orders. “Reach down to the depths of your soul, Rodric. Sink deep into that place, then imagine the strongest rope you can—a braided rope—and throw it to her. Do it now.”
Cutting Celina off from his sight, he forced his eyes to close and breathed deep. Looking inside himself, he found the sphere of opaque glass at his core—the one that had been impassable for as long as he could remember.
Biting back against the overwhelming wall of fear that confronted him as he got close, he strengthened his resolve. Picturing Celina, he dove through the glass, into the dark, hidden depths. Pain crashed through him in debilitating waves as he crossed through the barrier, licking up his spine and tearing through his heart in shards of devastating debris.
Celina. A flicker of golden light caught his eye, and he stretched toward it. A stronger shimmer captured him, pulling him away from the pain, toward the healing warmth of gold, growing stronger the closer he came. Gathering his strength, he fought to clear his mind for a single purpose. He connected himself to the golden sphere with a braid of light weaving around them both.
Opening his eyes fully, he looked inward at the colors of his own core—shimmering white iced over with bright blue. A soothing swirl of peace. Avery. He didn’t know how, but part of this was Avery.
A starburst of cold erupted in his center, icing over the pain until it was so faint it was hardly detectable. He sucked in the soothing air that calmed his senses.
“Rodric! You came.”
“I’ll always come for you, Celina.”
Golden warmth caressed him, a distinct feeling from the soothing cold at his center, making him tremble at the impression of Celina’s presence inside his soul.
“Help me! I need to save him.”
“Celina, no. You have to stop. You’re draining yourself.”
“Please, I have to! I didn’t save the others.”
Anguish washed over him, the purity of it striking him with incredible force. “I don’t know how.”
A tug through the newly established bond had him reaching for the ethereal hand she held out to him. As soon as he did, a channel flooded open, and he could feel and see everything.
A beautiful golden glow emanated from Celina, enveloping the dimming white light of the child’s soul.
Black marks of injured flesh and bone stood out to him, tugged him with a ferocity he’d never felt. Unleashing the shimmering white, he sent it flooding toward the indicators of wrongness, until they lightened to fine lines like healing scars.
Murky gray spots swirled in the child’s head, and he fell toward them, sucked into the pool of mist. Sparks of icy blue connected to one spot that was darker than the rest. Shadows of men at a campsite appeared in his mind. “Damn Calderrans crawling all over the land… can’t believe we have to take the long way to the ridge… shut the brat up, will you? I’m tired of listening to him…”
Jerking himself back, Rodric sought the clean crystal peace inside himself, cutting the connection between him and the child. Reaching for Celina’s golden warmth, he drew them together, until they swirled around each other, white mist blending with gold in a bright, blinding arc, wrapped together into an icy-blue weave. A caress of love stroked through him, undoing that opaque wall until it cleared translucent.
Again, he moved toward their connection, strengthening it as he flowed through it, dancing around her warm light. A peaceful joy enveloped him for the first time since his world had erupted into flames.
“Come, I’ll lead you back.” The gentle pull of Celina’s voice brought him slowly back to his center.
“Don’t leave me.”
“Never, my love. Trust me.”
With a last caress, the golden light faded through the rope. He forcibly stopped himself from following it. Instead, he took a life-giving breath and retraced his way out of his core and back up into his mind.
His eyes fluttered open to see he was still in the tent. Cass hovered over Celina, where she lay on the ground. Pushing toward her, he found his legs locked completely stiff, stopping his movements.
Strong arms under his shoulders supported his weight and urged him down next to Celina. “Easy, Rodric. She’s okay,” Sev reassured him, always his ballast in the storm.
Cass smiled at him from where she kneeled on the other side of Celina. “You did good, Preddari. Rest now.”
Placing his hand on Celina’s arm so he would know if she moved, he let the darkness take him under. For the first time in a long time, it was tinged with a soothing coolness that promised true rest.
“I told you that you were like me.” Avery’s sweet laugh filled his mind.
R odric woke to bright sunlight and a headache splitting his mind. It took long moments for him to rise, the light a crushing weight on his senses as they fought to come back on.
Soft breathing beside him was a relief. He leaned over to touch Celina’s face, tracing the lines of her brows and cheeks as she slept. Cold air nipped through the open tent flap, tugging at his loose hair. They were alone; the child having been moved somewhere while they recovered.
The smell of roasting meat made his stomach growl, determining his next step. Rousing fully, he pulled on his boots, which someone had kindly removed yesterday, and got up.
Bright light assaulted him as he stepped outside, slowly making his way toward the food. He tried to look around camp but failed as his eyes watered and his head began to pound. Trusting that Cass and Sev could handle pretty much anything that had needed handling after he’d passed out, he gave up and sat to wait out his mind’s adjustment to the sunshine.
“Nice to see you up and about.” Sev moved around the fire, pulling out a chunk of bread and a canteen to go with the cooked meat.
“You’re taking this all in stride.”
Sev’s mouth quirked into a half smile as he handed over the food. “I have my own issues, but none of them revolve around magic.”
“Well, that’s good, considering…” Magic. He had magic. Was one of them. Just like Avery, Damien, and Brenna. How had he not known?
“Hey, don’t talk yourself into a spiral. Eat first.”
“Not bad advice for an old man. How’d you end up catching us, anyway? I never had a chance to ask.”
“After we talked, I decided it would be prudent to keep a closer eye on things in my territory. About a week ago, I got wind of another incident—a child disappearing in the next territory over. Thought I’d track them, see if I could get any other helpful information for you, figure out where they might be holding the taken.”
Rodric’s heart filled with gratitude as his mind caught up with the logistics of Sev tracking another victim. “You were able to follow their tracks easily? None disappeared?”
Sev shook his head. “None. Whatever happened with the group that grabbed Brenna was unusual. They have any ideas?”
“No. Celina has been very forthcoming, and surprisingly, Cass has too. If she knows anything, it’s highly classified and she’s keeping it close. She’s been careful, but so far hasn’t hesitated much to share when it's really needed. I’ll go check their tracks in a bit, see if there are any familiar markers to the group I was trailing before.”
“I caught up to them and tracked them for a few days before crossing your path with no problem. Was surveilling them from a tree when Miss Shadow of Death streaked in, wreaking havoc. I was trying to decide whether to help or just enjoy the show when you joined the fray.”
“You were going to leave Cass to fight alone?”
“Wasn’t sure how to jump in without becoming collateral damage.”
Sev’s eyes wandered to the perimeter, where he assumed Cass had gone since she wasn’t in the camp. “Infatuation hasn’t worn off?”
“Not in the slightest.” Sev grinned at him.
“Good luck, my friend.” He smiled before sobering. “How’s the kid doing?”
“He’s going to make it. Cass has been talking with him whenever he’s awake. He didn’t hear anything useful in pinpointing where they were going, at least not that he can recall. He’s physically recovering but traumatized. Cass thinks he’s blocked most of it out.” Sev flexed his forearms as he looked at his feet. “I’d apologize for killing your information source, but…”
“No argument here. We’ll find them somehow.” He shook off the nightmare images that tried to rise at the thought of Brenna in the same hands as this kid had been. At least they’d rescued the boy from his captors.
“You saved him, Rodric.”
He’d done that, with Celina. And yet… “Doesn’t make it easier to accept.”
“Grief haunts you. We both know that well. But fear? Fear keeps you from moving forward. Don’t lose her over it.”
“Shouldn’t you be telling me to get over it so that I can become whole and grow?”
“Maybe. If I didn’t know you the way I do. You’re much more likely to get over it by doing it for her rather than yourself.” Sev winked, smirking obnoxiously.
Rodric refrained from kicking his friend for his deep and remarkably accurate insights. “Go find my pack, will you? I want to check something.”
Sev took the dismissal in stride, gamely taking off to fetch his pack. Pushing aside the huge, life-changing thoughts, he let his mind and eyes drift quietly around the camp. There was one other tent up, but everything else had been broken down and stored. Not a body was in sight, and fresh earth covered pools of blood from the previous night’s fight. A pile of pilfered gear and supplies was neatly stacked against one of the tents. Cass and Sev had put some work into the camp after he and Celina crashed.
A large group of horses grazed nearby, including his own, who was ruling her enlarged herd. He watched them, embracing the quiet, peaceful moment until Sev returned.
Happy to have a distraction, he smiled conspiratorially as he unrolled the map and stroked his fingers over it. “Take a look at this.”
Sev whistled low in appreciation. “Where can I get one of those?”
“Friend of Celina’s. Incredible, right?”
“I don’t know, Rodric, that seems like reason enough to embrace magic,” Sev teased as took the map. He caressed it with the admiration only hunters had for their maps, the same way warriors were with their weapons.
“We’re heading to the southeast border near Mountainview.” Rodric tapped the town Cass had indicated on the map. “But something happened last night… Made me think they were headed elsewhere. Did you overhear anything as you trailed them?”
“Not specific to location. Another day and they would have had to shift one direction or another.” Sev scratched the short bristles on his chin as he studied the map. “What makes you think they’re not in Mountainview?”
Rodric rubbed at the scar on his hand absently, tracing the white lines. “I don’t know exactly.”
“Something magic,” Sev said pointedly.
“Maybe.”
Sev looked at him, waiting. A silent offer of support when he was ready for it.
“Thank you. But… she deserves to hear it first, after everything.”
A slow smile spread across Sev’s face as he watched Rodric intently. “I told you!”
“What?”
“You caught a leopardess, my friend.”
Stunned silent for a moment, a laugh finally burst free from Rodric’s chest, loosening the tension that had crept in earlier. He wasn’t entirely sure about the leopard analogy, but Celina certainly was his. Sev joined him, and they both laughed until Cass strode into camp, giving them a raised eyebrow as she stalked past.
Sev followed her with his eyes, a hint of undisguised awe on his face.
“Careful, or you’re going to get clawed. She’s fiercer than that mama leopard that chased us out of her territory when you pissed her off,” Rodric gave his friend a friendly warning.
“Eh, that was you, remember?”
“Nope. My leopardess is much sweeter.”
Smacking his friend on the shoulder, he went to check on Celina.
A fter spending some time watching over Celina while she slept, loud voices drew him back outside into the waning light. Cass and Sev stood near the banked fire, animatedly discussing their next step. Sev’s expression was a breath away from a grin, body language relaxed. Apparently, he was getting a rush out of arguing with the fearsome warrior.
“Calling for reinforcements is our best option,” Cass reiterated, glaring at Sev.
“I told you, I can take the boy to a safe place if it’s going to slow you down too much. No one knows what happened here, so he’ll be safe enough with me while you go after Brenna,” Sev argued.
“Stop, both of you.” Rodric waved a hand between them, visually breaking their eye contact as he would with two animals revving up for a fight. Or a mating. He didn’t really want to know which direction these two were headed. “Sev, I appreciate you trying to get us moving as quickly as possible to find Brenna, but if this group is indicative of the ones that took her, I’d rather have you with us. We could use you in a fight.”
“He’s not bad,” Cass allowed.
“But,” Rodric broke in before the two could start up again, “we do need to move quickly. Cass, how do you plan to get reinforcements to us? We can’t wait around forever, and it seems the boy is not up for traveling at the pace we need to go.”
Cass frowned at the surrounding trees. “I might have a way.”
“Let me guess, classified?”
“More like secretive… but yes.” Cass walked away from camp.
Rodric shrugged when Sev looked at him, completely baffled. He was curious to see how she planned to get a message out. She probably had a bird of prey following them, eager to do her bidding.
Coming to a stop at the forest edge, she cupped a hand over her mouth and let out a cross between a caw and a whoop. After a few more vocalizations, little feet scampered through the forest.
“Is that an osa?” Sev asked as a ball of furry brown flew out to greet them.
“Actually, that’s Celina’s osa. With the battle and everything that followed, I forgot about him.” Guilt pulled at him that he hadn’t thought to look for the animal. Celina would be worried if she woke up and the osa was gone.
“Shh!” came from Cass, who knelt in front of the small creature.
She began making the unusual sounds again, communicating in a series of caws and deep-throated sounds. Standing on its back legs, the osa responded animatedly, paws moving as it talked to her in short bursts. She made a few distinct hand movements, signals Rodric didn’t recognize but which had an almost military abruptness to them. After a few more minutes of communication, the osa bounded into the woods, making a high-pitched whooping sound that was its natural call to others of its kind.
Cass stood and turned to face them. “Don’t ask. And don’t try to repeat what I just did. Ever. If anyone could figure out how to duplicate it, it would be a pair of knucklehead hunters. You could seriously screw up something that has taken decades to establish.”
“But how…” Sev trailed off, hand in his hair as he stared into the forest.
Rodric could relate, awe mingled with shock stealing his voice. As veteran hunters, they tended to be the ones with skills and knowledge no one else had, at least when it came to animals and nature. He’d never seen anything like that with an osa or any other wild creature, and judging by the stunned look still on Sev’s face, neither had he. Then again, osas were known to be smart and inquisitive. Add a bit of magic…
“That was amazing. It will relay the message to others and another osa will connect with someone else?” Sev asked.
“Give it a day. If we don’t get a response, we’ll move on to a different plan. Celina will be slow tomorrow anyway, and another day will give the kid a chance to improve before we move him.”
“Does Celina know you’re using her pet as a message carrier?” Rodric asked.
“I thought you were determined to send it back to the forest.”
“You may be changing my mind.”
Cass laughed, shaking her head as she ducked into one of the tents.
Sev turned to his friend, wide-eyed. “Seriously, why aren’t we moving to Calderre? I want one of those.”
“A secret message-relaying osa or a magical shadow warrior?”
“Both. I knew I should have gone with you to Calderre. You’ve beat me on both fronts. And you’ve still got my favorite horse.”