Chapter 18
I floated on my sense of knowing, which meant I could still see what was happening.
“Rory!” Fellisse scooped me up from where I’d collapsed.
Vergis came running, Charles right behind him. “Is he okay?”
Fellisse leaned over me so he could hear my breath with all the commotion going on. “He lives.”
And Vergis…Vergis looked sort of mad, his eyes wide, the hard lines of his mouth smoother, uncertain what to do now that he wasn’t glaring at all.
“Muffin! I need you! We have to leave now.” Kinnek waved Vergis over, and Charles turned to the Raikengana, calling them and beckoning them forward.
Vergis and Kinnek both pulled their conduit knives out once everyone was back at the Stone to get us home. In the commotion, before they hopped veils, Kinnek stared at Aragis as if he barely recognized him. Aragis wasn’t looking anywhere, wasn’t moving. Inkiri had to carry him.
Then Inkiri saw me in Fellisse’s arms. “Sadir!” He came over and put Aragis down. “Let me hold him, Lisse.”
Without a word, Fellisse put me in Inkiri’s arms and held up Aragis instead. Aragis started trembling, the light behind his eyes coming on again. His lips moved, but he made no sound at all.
It was then that I realized I wasn’t even fully out yet, but it was close. With titanic effort, I opened my eyes.
“Ink.”
He clicked and looked at me.
“Sadir, my brave mate.”
“Stone.” I pointed.
“Fuck, he’s still awake?” Vergis looked furious. “Could’ve said something, Princess.”
Hove shouted in Lugarra. There was so much movement. My eyes hurt.
“Stone,” I said again, and this time, Inkiri moved me toward it.
I reached until I could touch it then looked at Vergis. “I’ll help.”
Vergis nodded and put his knife away, and so did Kinnek. Lissir had taken charge of the shaking Aragis, and Hove was checking everyone was where they should be. Some were bloody, but none were severely hurt. I’d made sure of that.
I gave myself a headache when I allowed my attention to be pulled to the outside again.
Some of the beasts were howling. The Koa Esher had brought even more with them, but wild ones were approaching too.
I was pretty sure they could feel it, that they knew they were cut off from their world, and that I had done that.
The Koa Esher were retreating too. Good to know throwing lightning at them made them go away.
Many of the humans were dead or wounded. Vergis had done the brunt of the damage, that was for certain, but in more than one case, I saw arrows sticking out of people, knife or sword marks too, where they had gotten too close to the Raikengana.
The knowing reared its head. The dead weren’t all of the human mages.
There were a few left alive, back at the church, hurriedly gathering things.
There was a book there, something old and desiccated that had the looks of an eerie prop in a stage production of The Necronomicon run by a drag queen. Really, that thing was over the top.
“Ready?” Kinnek asked, and I forced myself to be a good magic dispenser. I checked everyone who had come here with us was there now, everyone plus Aragis, and I made double sure they’d all hop the veils with us. We weren’t leaving anyone behind. Speaking would have hurt, so I just nodded.
Vergis and Kinnek did their magic. Helping with that magic wasn’t a terrible drain, but it still made me lose consciousness for a few minutes at least.
When I came to, we were back at Trinity College. The bright construction light hurt my eyes.
I heard Sonyo’s voice. “Rory!” He sounded shocked and scared. He’d come right up to Inkiri and me and tugged on my sleeve. The kid was clicking away. “Rory…”
Damn, I was scaring him, and I didn’t mean to.
Children are very precious, the land said. It sounded smug about that, joyful too. Maybe it wanted to celebrate with a few sunflowers or something. That thought made it go, Mmh… in the way only disembodied voices in your head could.
Children like flowers, it went on after I drifted off for just a few more seconds. Some of the anointed had children, and the children would sit in the summer grass and weave flowers into crowns.
Yeah, children are good. Sonyo’s a good kid. I came to and realized Sonyo was holding my hand and saying my name.
Fellisse had joined us too now and was saying something to Sonyo, but I was doing maximum adulting and pulling myself together so I could have one more extensive conversation.
“I’m fine, Sonyo, thanks. All good.” I raised two fingers in a victory sign.
He looked at me, his eyes wide with joy.
Inkiri adjusted his grip on me. “Sadir, I am taking you to rest now. I know that’s what you need.”
Fellisse nodded. “Tell me if he needs anything else.”
Inkiri nodded. “I will. See to the others.”
The others… I tried to see what was happening.
There was a hustle and bustle. I didn’t have the strength to focus on any one person, it was just too much.
My outside awareness was still sort of turned on, and I knew that while the Raikengana were taking stock, the rest of the college grounds around us were quiet but for the odd cat or small animal.
In a tree one courtyard over, an howl hooted.
I wondered how Aragis had managed to follow us, but it didn’t matter. He’d gotten something back when he’d killed the celadon, and good riddance.
Right before I could fully push all the magical awareness away from me, I felt the land stir.
There will be flowers here tomorrow, it said, smug all over again. For the children.
Well, the land’s priorities were something, but I didn’t feel up to arguing with it.
If this place was going to be a new Raiken, then there would be lots of bagu kids in copper robes, maybe even some human ones.
I could see this being a good place for all of them.
Welcoming them with flowers was all right with me.