Chapter 8
Tino
We’d been driving for hours. I’d finally slept with some help from Xarius.
He’d removed my worry and filled my body with comfort and happiness, something I hated to ask for, but had desperately needed for myself to shut down enough to sleep.
Silver had woken me up an hour ago, with the wonderful news that we were closing in on Altair.
“How long?” Wilston asked, standing behind Xarius as he drove.
“Ten minutes, I think,” he answered, looking over at Julie who was dozing beside him. They’d switched back when Silver woke me up, proving just how tired Julie had been.
I still had to wrap my mind around everything. I was Altair’s soulmatch. The thought made me giddy. My light, my Tair, was all mine, no matter what, we were truly meant for one another. Now I just had to find him.
“What?” Xarius muttered, bringing all our attention to the road.
We were closing in on a house that lay further away from other houses, likely where they kept my Tair.
But it wasn’t the house that caused Xarius to mutter, it was the number of dead mages littering the front yard leading up to the house.
“This doesn’t bode well,” Silver grimaced. I felt sick. I didn’t care about the dead bodies, I only thought about my Tair. Was he one of them? Would I have to see the light of my life lying dead on the ground next to these strangers?
I rushed to the bathroom, emptying my stomach as I tried to regain my composure.
I was already reeling with everything and even though I tried to remain strong and in control, I simply couldn’t stop my body from reacting to the sight of dead bodies, and then the fear. I’d never been as afraid as I was now.
“There!” Wilston exclaimed loudly, making me run back to them, hoping it wasn’t a dead Altair he was pointing at.
We’d reached the house and bypassed it some, when several kneeling mages came into view. “What the fuck?” I breathed, not quite trusting what I was seeing. Altair stood in the middle. They were kneeling for him?
Xarius stopped the RV and we all rushed out, Julie too, having woken up from all our excitement. I didn’t care if these mages were dangerous or not, I plowed right through them.
Altair had spotted us as we approached in the RV, but had remained in the circle. I finally reached him and tugged him into my arms, sobbing yet again.
“Tino,” he breathed, then whimpered like he was in pain. I stepped back quickly and noticed he was standing on one foot.
“What happened?” I demanded, kneeling in front of him to take a closer look.
“I broke my ankle,” he admitted, sobbing quietly as I brushed gentle fingers along his swollen ankle.
“How?” I asked, ignoring whatever was going on around us.
“I tried to flee and was chained to the floor.”
“Flee how?” I asked, looking back at the three-story house.
“Out the window,” he muttered.
A woman stepped over to us. “He thought I was going to kill him.”
“In my defense, I’d heard screaming from outside for minutes before you came for me,” Altair explained defensively.
“And I apologize, yet again, for that.”
Xarius and the others stood next to us now, eying the thirty or something kneeling mages. “Okay, please explain what the hell is going on,” Xarius ordered calmly.
She straightened further. “We knew they were lying in wait to capture either Tino or Altair. So we remained close to interfere when the window for rescuing arrived.”
Xarius seemed to know this mage, or at least trust her. I’d learned all about their powers so if Xarius trusted her, I could too.
“Thank you,” my Tair said, giving her and the others a genuine smile.
She smiled back. “Anything for our true leaders.”
I didn’t know we had allies, but it felt nice not being a burden. We did need their help after all.
“What happens now?” I asked, standing protectively against Altair’s side, holding on to him so he didn’t have to hurt himself.
A man stepped forward from the circle. “You’ll join us at our safe location.”
“We will?” Silver asked, seemingly worried. They had been alone through all of this, so I could understand his unease.
He nodded. “We need to protect you as much as possible. As soon as the last pairing has bonded, the leaders will come, or force you to them. We’ve already made our loyalty known when we fought against the mages here today. We will stand by you as you train your magic and secure your thrones.”
“You have a safe location?” Xarius asked, needing more information.
Both the man and woman nodded. “We have taken over a rather big campsite with cabins and facilities here on Sutiner. With our combined magic it has the best wards in place and no one else can enter the area. It will allow you to train and bond safely before you need to fight back.”
“We will of course not disturb you if you wish for peace and each pair gets their own cabin. Complete privacy,” she assured us.
Xarius seemed pleased with this. “Portal?”
She nodded. “Grab what you need from your RV and then we’ll leave.”
Once we’d grabbed everything we needed, the mages had formed a portal for us to travel through.
Fifteen mages came through before us and then the rest would follow behind us.
I had to trust Xarius knew what he was doing as I grabbed Altair tighter and we made our way through the portal together.
I feared I wouldn’t be able to let him go even for a second.
It would make bathroom breaks awkward, but he’d have to deal.
The campsite was huge, filled with wooden cabins and many trees surrounding it.
Each cabin looked to have been built by a different person.
There was no order in their placements and each carried its own unique look.
It was rather cute actually. I breathed easier remembering we would be safe here.
Tair would be safe here. Tair who still kept a firm hold on my arm, needing to touch me as much as I needed to touch him.
We were greeted by twenty other mages as they all came to welcome us and bow. It felt weird being bowed to, but the others just waved and gave them friendly smiles in thanks.
“Call for Grethe,” one of the mages who’d come with us said. “Altair needs healing.”
He stiffened next to me, likely remembering his broken ankle. I was relieved to know they had a healer with them, since it meant Tair wouldn’t be hurting for much longer. I knew Niam had helped ease some of the pain before we went through the portal, but it wouldn’t do long term.
“I’m here!” the healer said, rushing through the gathered mages.
“Stand back everyone, let the poor men breathe.” I couldn’t help my smile.
Grethe seemed like the perfect person to heal Altair, knowing he would be on guard for the next few hours.
I would’ve too if I’d been kidnapped. The sooner he could get healed, the sooner we could eat and retreat to the cabin they promised us.
We needed to talk privately, but he needed food first. I doubted they’d fed him and from the pain he was experiencing, he needed the energy.
I helped Altair sit down on an offered chair that a mage had made so that Grethe could heal him immediately.
I looked behind us to get the others’ attention.
“Food?” Xarius caught my gaze and quickly nodded, seeming to get I meant food for Altair.
They began talking to the mages who went and prepared us all some food.
Xarius and the others came closer while Altair sat still while being healed. “They’re bringing us our food in our cabins so we can rest and eat in private,” Xarius informed us.
“What about me?” Julie asked worriedly. I understood her worry; she wasn’t really one of us and maybe she would be treated as such.
Grethe snorted with a smile, “you’ll get your own cabin next to the others.”
“Oh,” Julie said, surprised. “Thank you.”
“What did you expect? You’re their anchor,” Grethe replied, still keeping her full attention on Altair’s ankle as she spoke.
“I’m what?”
“Their anchor,” Grethe replied, this time meeting her eyes and canting her head. “You didn’t know this?”
Julie shook her head. “Did you?” Julie asked the others, who also shook their heads. It caused Grethe to curse under her breath.
“I hate how sheltered the youth are to the legends, but I’ll explain it to you.
The old leaders of legend had one mage they all trusted besides each other, and that one person was then offered magic too, but not the same elemental magic they carried, but a way to enhance the leaders’ powers and ground them.
An anchor can dispel any magic put on the leaders they’re anchored to, keeping them from harm.
They also have the ability of knowing when something is off, helping them fulfill their purpose and help out their anchored leaders. ”
“So that was why she knew it wasn’t the real Altair?” Silver asked, looking impressed.
“I don’t know what you mean exactly, but if they used glamour, then yes, she would feel the wrongness and be guided instinctively to fix it.”
“That’s so cool!” Xarius exclaimed. “But we didn’t do anything to make her our anchor.”
Grethe shrugged. “You need an anchor so maybe your magic latched onto Julie because you trusted her.”
Silver gasped. “The day I told you I would keep Julie with us, that might be the day everything changed, because we chose her to stay with us!”
There were murmured agreements, but I kept my attention on Altair. He looked so pale and tired. After this I would feed him, then bathe him, and tuck him in. He needed rest. In my arms, of course.
“What does being an anchor mean for me?” Julie asked.
“We’ll teach you all about it tomorrow,” Grethe assured her, then stood. “There you go, Altair. Please don’t walk on it for at least a few hours to allow the healing to continue without issue.” Tair nodded gratefully and took my offered arm.
Two men came over. “Allow us to show you to your cabins, there’s warm food and water ready for each of you. I’m Tane and this is my twin Hane.” We thanked them and followed them through the campsite.
“How much further?” I asked, eying Altair with worry. He was getting weaker and walking wasn’t helping the situation.
“Just down this hill,” Tane replied easily and pointed to the cabins at the end. “We figured you’d need privacy.”
A fucking hill with a healing ankle? Nope. I stepped in front of Altair and guided him onto my back. No way was I letting him walk down a hill like that.
He sighed once he was secured on my back. “Thank you,” he whispered and kissed my neck. I preened inside, glad to be helpful.
“Anything for you, Tair,” I murmured back.