Chapter 10
Ditching the bike completely, I shifted into beast form, then ran down the hill to catch up with Iannis and find out what was behind the explosion.
It felt good to run free, my paws pounding against the pavement on the Firegate Bridge as the wind ruffled my black fur, which helped hide me under the cover of darkness.
Nevertheless, as soon as I was close to the site of the explosion, I shifted back into human form, cloaking myself in the disguise of my pimply teenage boy.
Standing near the airship yard with other gawkers, I watched a group of mages fight a monstrous-looking conflagration that appeared to have already destroyed a number of airships.
The fire had spread to the neighborhoods on either side of the yard, and I suspected that the explosion must have been large enough to jettison flaming debris into those sections of Maintown.
Even through the smoke and gloom stinging my eyes, I managed to pick out Iannis amongst the group of mages fighting the fire.
His hands were lifted skyward, eyes closed, face tight with concentration.
Though I couldn’t be certain, it looked like Iannis and the two mages next to him were standing in some kind of circle.
The air shifted, becoming thick with moisture, and I glanced up as lightning flashed across the sky. To my surprise, huge black clouds had gathered out of nowhere, blocking out the moonlight completely. Thunder boomed just a moment later, then the clouds opened up, sending down a deluge of rain.
“Shit,” I muttered, ducking for cover beneath a tree planted on the sidewalk that had miraculously managed not to catch fire.
But it didn’t help much – I was soaked in seconds, the rain so intense I could barely see through it.
Beneath the roar of the downpour, I heard the hiss of steam as the water snuffed out the fire, and shouts from the mages as well.
Something about treating the wounded and canvassing the neighborhood to assess damage.
I should help, I thought miserably. I should be out there, tending to the wounded and stopping the fire. I might not be well trained, but I have power, and I should be able to use it to help others. But I couldn’t very well go among them, using my magic as a teenage boy.
And why shouldn’t you? a voice in my head murmured, one that sounded suspiciously like Resinah’s. You may not be able to appear to them as Sunaya Baine, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appear at all.
Right. I dredged up an image of a female mage in my mind, then changed my illusion to match it. The rain was beginning to dissipate, now that it had done its job, so I waited until it was gone, then used my magic to dry myself so that I didn’t look like a drowned rat.
Now that the downpour was no longer deafening my ears, I could hear cries and sobs from the neighborhood on my side of the airship yard.
I headed in that direction at a trot, since it would look very out of character for a mage to run at my full speed, and turned left into an alley of brownstones that had seen better days.
Because their structures weren’t made out of wood, the houses had mostly resisted the fire, but yards had been badly burned, and smoke billowed out of broken windows from inside a couple of places.
“Sir,” I called, approaching a family of four huddling outside one of the burning houses. “Are you all right? Is anyone left inside?”
The man I’d addressed turned to me, coughing badly and swaying on his feet. His face was pale and smudged with soot, and he was cradling a child in his arms. “We’ve got everyone out, but Alis is badly hurt,” he rasped. “Do you think you can help her?”
He lifted the child, and it was then that I noticed a bad burn on her right shoulder. She was lolling in his arms, unconscious, which was probably the only reason she wasn’t screaming – second-degree burns were no joke, as I had cause to know.
“Yes, I can help her,” I began, but then the man erupted into a desperate coughing fit.
“Hireld!” his wife cried, grabbing him by the arm to support him, but he was too heavy. Quickly, I stepped in and took the child from his arms before he lost his grip on her and went tumbling to the ground.
“Take her,” I ordered, shoving the girl into her mother’s arms. “I need to see to him first.
“But Alis –”
“Mom.” The son, a boy of about thirteen, spoke firmly. “Dad’s inhaled a lot of smoke. He might die if she doesn’t help him.”
“All right.” The woman took her daughter, and I knelt in the grass, pulling the man’s head into my lap. My fingers against his throat told me he had a pulse, but it was weak and erratic, and I didn’t know how long he would be able to hold on.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.
I had only healed someone once before, under Fenris’s direction, and it hadn’t been a full healing, just enough to revive the man so he could talk to me.
I had no idea if I could actually do this, but I would be damned if I would sit here and let this man die.
Closing my eyes, I placed my hands over the man’s chest, and visualized my magic flowing into him. I tried to think of what Iannis had done when he’d healed my torn fingers, of how he’d formed a sort of circuit between us, drawing my pain into him as he pushed magic into me.
Suddenly, I gasped, my lungs burning, aching, full of toxic smoke.
As the pain grew worse, the flow of magic from my body to his steadily increased, until I became terrified that he would drain me of everything I had.
Heart thundering in my chest, I tried to pull back.
But it was too late. Somehow, the man’s body had latched onto the thread of my magic with a vice-like grip, and it wasn’t letting go.
As I struggled to regain control, a pair of strong hands settled on my shoulders.
I gasped at the sensation of another consciousness inside me – Iannis.
He’d done this once before, when we’d had to defuse the bomb under the bridge, and I’d been too scared and unsure to wield the necessary magic myself.
“Breathe,” I heard Iannis’s steadying voice say, and I exhaled, realizing I’d been holding my breath. “Let me take care of it.”
I took in a slow, steady breath of air, then relaxed and let him guide the magic.
The pain left me, and I realized that he was taking it instead, pulling the man’s wound into him as he pushed life and energy into the hurting body on the ground.
Iannis had told Captain Galling that he was one of the best healers in the country, and I realized that had to mean he had an extraordinary pain threshold.
How much had he already suffered during the times he had brought me back from death’s door?
“Hireld!” the woman cried, a joyous sound, and I opened my eyes to see her standing above us, dark eyes filled with relief as she cradled her child. I looked down to see that Hireld’s eyes were open, the color returned to his face.
“Thank you,” he began, looking up at me, and then his eyes widened in fear. Before I knew what was happening, he had scrambled to his hands and knees, bowing profusely. “My Lord.”
It was only then that I realized the pair of hands on my shoulders was real, and that Iannis was standing behind me. Slowly, I lifted my head to look up at him. His expression was grave, but not unkind, as he surveyed the man and his family.
“Thank you, but it’s quite all right,” he said as the rest of them began to bow, holding up a hand. “I did not come here for that. I came to ensure the residents here were safe and to help anyone who needed assistance.”
“The child,” I said, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded. Iannis let go of my shoulders, and I stiffened my core to keep myself from swaying. Damn, but I was weak as kitten.
“Go,” he told me, using mindspeak. “I’ll take care of the child. And next time, perhaps, don’t attempt dangerous magic without contacting your master first.”
“Sorry,” I snapped, a little annoyed at the scolding. “I’ll make sure to run off and find you the next time I come across a dying man.”
“You could have contacted me mentally,” he observed as he took the child and laid her carefully across the grass. “I was close enough, and you knew it.”
I sighed. “Fine, fine,” I muttered, turning away. I was too tired to argue, and besides, he was right. I could have called him for help. I just hadn’t thought to.
“Be safe, Sunaya,” he told me, his voice softer now, and I felt guilty for snapping at him. He had to be exhausted – I doubted he’d slept since we’d arrived back at Solantha, and here he was, about to heal a little girl with a nasty burn that was going to hurt him like hell.
“You too,” I said, turning the corner, and then I disappeared into the shadows.