Chapter 34
Strength
Rionan was thrashing so hard in the bed next to Alianna that he nearly sent her to the ground.
Alianna sprang upwards in bed, her breathing hitched in fright, scanning in the dark for the unseen threat.
She could see nothing.
Hear nothing, except Rionan’s groans.
She wasn’t sure what time it was, or how long they’d been asleep.
But now, she could feel him trembling beside her, his neck straining against something she could not see.
“Rionan?” Alianna shouted, shooting into a kneeling position and shaking his shoulders. He tossed and turned violently, almost pushing her off of him, unresponsive to her interventions.
“Rionan, can you hear me? Rionan!” she shouted, shaking him harder. He hissed out an anguished sound. The sound was one of nothing other than torture and pain.
Alianna had no idea what was going on or what to do.
He continued to fight an invisible force, his body convulsing and writhing on the bed like a male being put through something excruciating. There was nothing Alianna could do to rouse him from this, no matter how hard she tried shaking him, how loudly she shouted his name.
“Thallax!” she shouted, still leaning over Rionan in the bed. She heard no movement around their tent, and remembered the sound shield.
Leaping from their bed as fast as she could, Alianna threw a blanket around herself and ran out of the tent into the night.
“Thallax!” she called out into the darkness, her feet flying across the dirt path as she wound in and out of tents. She could hear movement amongst the tents that she passed, voices groggy.
“Ulreah!”
Alianna raced towards the dying embers of campfires, not knowing where she was running, only that she needed to find Rionan’s friends.
As she made to run around the tent on her left, she found herself colliding with a hulking figure in the dark, slamming into a body made of granite.
Alianna let out a scream as she brought her fist up instinctively, the other hand clutching the blanket around her body, and sent the fist flying towards the unseen person.
They intercepted her punch, catching her hand in mid-air with a large, warm hand.
“Ali,” came a familiar voice. “It’s me. It’s Thallax.”
Thallax panted as if he had been running towards her, and she realised that he was shirtless. She stepped back swiftly, realising he must have been asleep and raced towards the source of the commotion.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
“It’s Rionan.” She grabbed his arm, and pulled him back towards her tent.
***************
Alianna was led to a quiet tent by Ulreah so that she could dress herself.
Rionan had woken up about twenty minutes later.
Absolutely nothing any of them did could rouse him from the night terror that consumed him so badly.
Even the short pulses of electrical energy into his skin by Ulreah did nothing, other than make his muscles strain as he gritted his teeth.
She had refused to leave when he had awoken, despite her having nothing but a blanket wrapped around her, and despite the fact that Thallax and Ulreah both stood in their tent with them, averting their eyes from Alianna; out of respect for her or to avoid an explosive reaction from Rionan, she did not know.
They didn’t blanch at Rionan’s nakedness and simply threw a stray blanket over his lower half to preserve some of his modesty.
When Rionan had awoken, his eyes were wild, frantic, and his hands were balled into fists, clenching the sheets beneath him.
He panted, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead, as he met the eyes of his friends.
Slowly, his face unknotted, his grip on the bedding loosened, and he realised that whatever pained him so greatly in his sleep had now passed.
When Alianna returned to the tent, Rionan was sitting, now clothed, with Thallax and Ulreah.
Korva had been summoned to the tent, sleep gilding his eyes.
From beneath heavy lids, he studied Rionan, while Thallax slowly moved a single hand through the air around Rionan’s face.
Alianna could feel the familiar sensation of power pulsing through the air, while Thallax examined him in a way that she had not yet seen.
Rionan’s face was drawn, stony, and he looked paler than usual. When she stood behind Thallax, Rionan’s eyes remained fixed on the floor.
“What’s he doing?” Alianna whispered to Ulreah, who stood beside her, arms crossed, face hard with concern.
“He’s inspecting his feelings and emotions – both conscious and subconscious. Rionan permitted it, of course. We need to work out exactly what has caused this…occurrence. Has this happened to him before?”
Alianna paused for a moment before nodding hastily, looking between Ulreah and Korva.
“Yes, it has. Back in Porthan – in the human realm. We were in bed, it was before I knew about any of this, any of you. He was having some sort of night terror, and his power was…reacting to it. Things around us were breaking. The flowers in the room were dying. Then blooming again. And dying…on repeat. Like they were going through their lifecycle.”
Rionan looked up upon hearing this, as though the memory of the first time Alianna had seen him for who he truly was, had jarred him into reality.
His eyes were glassy. He wore the expression of a male who had just received terrible news, suffered deep loss, or had been pained in some way.
Alianna resisted the urge to go to him, for fear of interrupting whatever Thallax was doing.
After several minutes of silence, Thallax lowered his hand, standing straight.
“His power is pushing against the limits Rionan has put on it,” Thallax explained quietly, speaking to the rest of the group but facing Rionan. “When you are asleep, and at your most vulnerable, it seeks to break free of its binds. To be returned to Xanthia.”
Rionan drew his chin in to a short nod, his eyes moving between them.
“It makes sense,” Korva offered, quietly, “Xanthia cannot continue without the power, My Lord. Perhaps if you were to release it, to let go – ”
“And give Rannirr the opportunity he needs to advance on our territory again, before you have worked out how I use the artefact which may give us the one chance we have at stopping him?” Rionan snarled.
He rose to his feet as he spoke, his voice echoing in the tent around them like it had been magnified by something unseen.
Alianna shuddered at the sheer malice in his tone.
“Do you think, Korva,” Rionan started, taking a step towards his advisor.
“That it is easy for me to contain everything that I do? I could use my power in the human realm, in small doses, without cause for concern or harm. To do so here could rip everything out of me in a swift blow. I dare not risk it. So, I hold on. I use all of my strength, to hold on.”
Rionan’s words came between pants of anger as he ground his teeth, flexing his fingers. Korva had the good sense to look worried, and his face blanched.
“My Lord – I’m sorry. I did not mean to question you.”
“I am sure you did not,” Rionan continued, “so, may I suggest, Korva, that while your Lord continues to restrain himself for the good of the Realm, you find out how we use that gods damned stone, lest I lose control of myself and hand everything I am over to Rannirr.”
Korva retreated from Rionan, the fury now pulsing off him.
“Yes, My Lord, quite right, I’ll continue my research. My apologies.” Korva stuttered, hands raised, palms up to Rionan, as he retreated from the tent. Alianna slowly looked around at Ulreah and Thallax.
Ulreah wore a quizzical look on his face, not one of fear, but one of slight concern for his friend. His storm-clouded eyes were soft, deep in thought, like he was working out the pieces to a complex puzzle. Thallax, on the other hand, was smiling.
“You didn’t need to flex at him like that, Rionan. Poor guy pretends he isn’t scared of you, but we know he is.” Thallax laughed, clapping Rionan on the shoulder. “You alright?”
“Yes, I am alright. The night terrors, combined with the effort of holding on, are…unpleasant. But I am well. As for Korva,” Rionan paused, his face turning from serious to a half smile, his eyes lighting up mischievously.
“Sometimes it feels good to remind him not to question me quite as often as he does, advisor or not. I will apologise to him in the morning. At least now, I know he is searching for answers.”
Rionan turned to Alianna, who stood, gawking, besides Ulreah. “Thank you, Ali, for going to get Thallax and Ulreah. I know that must have been quite terrifying for you. Are you alright? Did I – ”
Alianna suddenly felt fear stir in her chest and spread out like a deep-rooted sense of cold.
“Did I hurt you?” Rionan finished, eyes already pleading as if he expected her to say that that is exactly what he had done, and why she had sought out his friends.
“No,” Alianna replied without hesitation, and the feeling in her chest was washed away by a sense of relief. “You didn’t. I was worried about you. But you’re fine.” This was an attempt to reassure them both, ignoring the gravity of the situation.
They were relying on Korva to come up with answers, and they needed them fast.
Rionan was pushing his power down into himself, lest it break free and Rannirr come for them. That is what he had been doing since they arrived back in Xanthia. That is why she hadn’t seen him use an ounce of power since the museum. Aside from making the jump here.
What would happen if he were unable to contain it?
What would happen if his power broke free in the night?
How quickly would they all be found by Rionan’s enemies, and what defences stood in their way?
“We’ll figure this out, Ali,” Thallax offered, as though he could sense the fear radiating from her.
“We will be fine. Korva might be a pain in the ass at times, and we might get a kick out of pushing his buttons, but he’s smart.
He’s a good advisor to Rionan. He’ll work out what’s going on.
For now, try to get some more sleep, or at least rest. We’ve got out of tougher binds than this one. ”
Alianna didn’t ask what Thallax meant by getting out of tougher binds than this. She also didn’t ask if he was using his powers to soothe her frantic emotions. She suspected that he was not, as she was unsure how Rionan might react to this. His kind words were soothing, all the same.
She trusted the three men in this room. She had not known two of them for more than twelve hours, yet she knew she was able to trust them, because they were Rionan’s lifelong friends.
Without further conversation, Thallax and Ulreah nodded at Rionan as they turned and left the tent. Rionan pulled Alianna into an embrace, resting his chin upon the top of her head.
“I am strong enough to hold on, Ali,” Rionan whispered to her, and Alianna pretended she did not feel the flicker of doubt run through her. Was that her doubt, or his?
“I know you are,” she replied, speaking into his chest. They held each other wordlessly, the sounds of the now stirring camp outside beginning to creep in. Dawn was not far from breaking, and a new day would be brought in. A day that could hold answers – or hold disaster.
Alianna took in a slow, steadying breath, trying her hardest to memorise Rionan’s comforting scent, the feeling of his body against hers, the sound of his heart beating in his chest.
In the hours that came, she would find out more about what to expect from being in Xanthia.
For now, she would hold on to this moment, in the hope that if she did so forever, the inevitable chaos of the impending war would not find them.