Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Kelvar
Icouldn’t help but stare, watching Alyx’s shoulder rise and fall as she breathed deeply in sleep. It was so slight and delicate, that I couldn’t even conceive how such power was packed into such a tiny frame.
Sometimes, my own body felt too small to contain the vastness of the desert that pulsed within me.
When I opened myself up to the rush of life and death, the awareness of the landscape around me pounded at the inside of my skull as if trying to break free.
But I must weigh twice as much as Alyx, and she seemed to contain the power with ease.
The tales whispered around campfires claimed that I carried the most power ever seen in the desert, and while I had my misgivings, Lord Deryn encouraged this gossip.
But now my doubts solidified. I had thought there must have been another Clan Lord in history who could match me, but I had never expected to find it in such a form.
A snuffle drew my attention, and I tore my gaze from Alyx’s sleeping form to check on Dileas.
Disbelief still coursed through me as I watched her stand, picking at the tough desert grass that grew in the softer ground around the oasis.
She didn’t even favor her injured leg. I wouldn’t believe it had been broken at all if the image wasn’t seared into my memory in horrific detail.
My gaze darted back to Alyx’s sleeping form, and my sense of wonder returned, laced with worry. She had slept like the dead since she collapsed at Dileas’s side, not stirring at all when I set up camp and moved her close to the fire, even bundling her in my own robe.
I couldn’t fathom the toll such healing would have taken on her. In fact, I couldn’t fathom how it had been done at all. Fire and lightning and destruction flew to my fingertips without a second thought, but never had I been able to heal even the smallest cut.
As I thought about it, the three long scratches across my shoulder where the caracal’s claws had raked me pulsed with pain. Such skills would be useful. Perhaps more useful than the ones I had been given.
I shook myself. The desert had already granted me so much—more than I deserved. I would simply use the powers I had to keep Alyx safe while she slept. I could manage that much at least.
Worry gnawed at my bones like a scavenging hyena as the sun neared its zenith. Alyx still hadn’t woken, even when I moved her into the lean-to I had constructed against one of the larger rock formations to protect her from the searing sun.
I wanted to hunt for fresh meat—surely she would be famished when she awoke—but I was wary of leaving her and Dileas unprotected.
The memory of the rider of Clan Tibel grabbing her by the hair also jumped to mind, and a lump of molten iron formed in my throat.
As we had learned yesterday, many creatures of the desert gathered at water sources, and not all of them took kindly to sharing.
Thinking of water, I furrowed my brow. Alyx hadn’t drunk any water in over twelve hours either, a dangerous proposition in the Ballan Desert.
While the nights were cold, the days burned hot and dry enough to sap moisture from you fast enough to leave you dizzy on the ground if you didn’t pay attention.
Alyx needed to wake, if only to eat and drink something.
I stood from my seat on a flat rock near the edge of the pool, making sure I had my water skin before ducking into the small lean-to. It was low enough that I had to crawl on my hands and knees to reach Alyx.
I hesitated, watching her sleep for just a moment. Her delicate lashes brushed against her high cheekbones, and my heart stuttered. I had known she was beautiful the night I stole her from Clan Padra’s encampment, but I hadn’t known the strength she held.
I hadn’t even considered the way that strength might be a calming presence against my own, drawing me from my storm and soothing me into the gentle patter of desert rain. The stutter in my chest turned into an ache, and I gritted my teeth.
I wasn’t supposed to want.
I reached out toward Alyx and brushed my hand over her brow, just like I had the first night I saw her.
Although this time, instead of wishing her oblivion, I let a spark of the frenetic energy that always paced in my mind dance into her own.
It happened shockingly easily, and she gasped, full lips parting.
Her eyes fluttered gently open, her gaze clear and present. A knot in my belly loosened in relief. Then she smiled, and the ache in my chest increased tenfold.