CYRANIt doesn't tickle anymore. It doesn't hurt. It lies dormant under my palms, my chest, like a cooling ember, waiting to be called upon.I have no idea what the book did to me, but it seems to have the same effect on Saelyna. She isn't as tentative as she had been minutes ago when I told her what I meant to do. I can almost feel the iden waiting on her call like mine, can see it behind her eyes. Or it's Halden, and the thought of losing our friends. At least this channels the rage.She squats before them, peering and searching through the blue leaves, picking small, pea-sized balls, what we used to call kingpeas. Tiny little buggers, the start of our troubles as well. I recall the weird feeling I'd get when around them back in the glade. It was one of the reasons I opted to be among the "food crew", even though Camille made me less comfortable. At least I was far away from the cursed things.And here we are.I scoff at the voice in my head, as she stands erect. She holds a handful
RONNProbably not a good idea to smash a fist into someone's skull…. especially if it's a fucked up winter wolven.I try flexing the joints in my fingers, but sharp pain lances through my hand. It would take longer than usual to heal then.The stone.I reach inside my coat, closing my palm tightly around the warmness of the stone. I wince at the pain that follows, but it's temporary; the next second, I feel the muscles tighten, the bones lock into place, followed by renewed strength.I flex the fingers again, smiling lightly. 'Well what do you know?' I mutter, 'A healing stone'. 'You really are the white on black,' he mutters.Instinctively, I jump, curling my fist into a ball to strike again, as he rears his head. Now that was fast, even for a wolven; considering the force of the blow he would have a concussion. Or worse.He groans softly, raising his brows when he spots the stone in my hand. 'You really do have it,' he sighs. 'What's it for?' He scoffs, throwing his head backwards w
KEILENHere again.I fall to my knees, replaying the events of the past few minutes. None of it makes sense. The sharp hit of unconsciousness, followed by intermittent flashes of waking awareness before going back under. Thrice in a day, that should be a record. A bad one.'Please,' I mutter, cringing at how pathetic I sound, 'Help me'. There's no reply. Just the crushing web darkness, and that invisible spider hovering above me. 'What the fuck do you want with me?!' I scream suddenly. I'm at my wits end, and I'm very sure I would plunge my already protracted claws at anything, anyone unfortunate enough to show themselves to me.The darkness swirls suddenly, as if I'm answer to my plea and my rage, and I'm on my hands and knees, in a deserted street. A cobblestone path that stretches as far as I can see, winding down between empty, dark houses and curves into the distance.I push to my feet, squinting at the impossibility of it all. I've never been in a city before, but I know enough
CYRANIt is Elwyn. I'd know those brown laughing, eyes anywhere. But not the raggedy look, the torn clothes and the coldness in his gaze. His hair is matted to his skull with sweat, and even from this distance, he smells dirty.I wish I'd known, had believed earlier when Veesa had said so. I'd have shielded Saelyna from the sight on time. But then, it would not have been any good.She's staring, wide-eyed in his direction, not quite as rigid as she had been at Halden. I look over her head, at Quain and he stares back with something akin to ruth. 'I tried to tell you,' he says, 'He killed Allos'.Fareedah is cursing under her breath, while Filen is actually holding Edril back from attacking Elwyn, while he looks on with an amused expression, like he is watching a very entertaining play. Those eyes, the sharpness to hisfeatures…I do not know this man at all.I look to Caivan, but he's staring directly at Pedran, and Ronn, both of whom seem not to notice. I hold my breath as a stone sai
SAELYNAI'm running through the village. My eyes are hot with tears, stinging with the smoke that blocks the air, my throat burns with my brother's name. I stumble on a body; it's an elf, his open dark blue eyes piercingly accusing, hand flung out as if reaching for mine.I gasp as I pick up and continue my deranged search. The screams echo through my very being, I can taste their tears, the blood.Quain stands in front of me, eyes wide with fear. His thick hair falls over his face, and there is no burn on the left side of it. 'Come on!' he yells, reaching for my hand. 'Cyran!' I yell back, 'I have to find my brother!' He gives me one last frantic gaze before disappearing around a corner, fast as a hare.Quain.One second I'm staring at death, the next he's in front of me and his name replaces their screams in my head. Right next to the horrible crack of breaking bone, as he falls to the ground with a thud that sounds so very far away.I barely have time to register the pool of blood
CYRANThe world is a haze of a furious, dark blue, and everyone I see are black shapes within it, claws and all, they are threats to me. I can't stop. I have to get out of here. We have to. Another steps in front of me; mage or wolven, I cannot tell; his eyes glaring a weird violet through the harsh blue. Saelyna throws her arm forward, and hurls a bolt of iden at him, ripping him cleanly in half. We storm forward, through the forest, two unstoppable forces brining anything in our path. Someone calls out my name and hers. I pause, more because it is a roar, loud and reverberating through my bones. We both turn at the sound. A wolven, fully transformed stalks towards us, as tall as Argell but more terrifying. I still can't see properly, and the magic within threatens to burst at the slightest impulse, but I don't need to look any further when I recognize the deep sea green eyes of Veesa. Someones zips at her, a flash of horns and fangs, but she grabs the hybrid out if the air like a
KEILENIt is large, not so large but big enough to cover my entire palm, and warm to the touch. I stare at it closely, at the swirling patterns on its shell, the colours blending within the oval. Beauty in solid form.I can't take my eyes away from it, even though I want to so badly. There is a strange fascination that posseses me, not of my doing, but decidedly eerie. Maybe it's because I'm too disoriented to know a thing. No, that's wrong. At least I know where I am.The void. The name comes quickly, a sharp, instinctive response to an unasked question. But it fits this crushing web of darkness that threatens to be my end, that keeps me trapped as long as the spider wants.I increase the pressure on the stone, and close my eyes. Even that makes no difference, though it's a bit lighter than the bleakness around me.I flip my eyelids open and she's in front of me, her lips part slightly in a wide, wholesome, perfect grin. I yelp, flinging out my claws with surprise, and it catches her
CAIVANThe smell of burning thatch is thick in the air, and it still lingers on my coat if all traces of the inferno have vanished. Barely minutes ago, someone had set flames to Eldad. And I sit here, among the soft grass of the plateau, in the quiet peace of the morning sun, watching the last thick tendrils sail upwards, its black soul tarnishing the tranquil blue of the sky above.The wolf snarls something at me. I scoff quietly but I don't reply. I wouldn't know what to say, being half-wolven and all. The irony tugs at the back of my mind and I want to laugh again. I've been wanting to do so since the chaos that ensued yesterday. Since coming up here and finding the wolves had been killed in their sleep; how, I know not; but one had the sense to flee the attack. And he's been behind me since I found him nursing his wounds behind a particularly giant rewan tree near the creek, on one of many reconnaissance missions.He snarls at me again, and this time, I think he's asking what happ