Finally, I saw her.
She ran as fast as she could, but it was no use.
Ur’gels descended on her, taunting her as they shoved her back and forth in the circle they’d formed around her.
I kept him turned away, so he wouldn’t have to witness their cruelty as his daughter cried out for her mother.
As her cries halted abruptly with a single knife to her stomach, Beru pulled out of my sheltering arms. Vivi looked in our direction and reached a hand out, mouthing one last word. “Daddy.”
She slumped lifelessly to the ground. As she landed, he lost his strength and fell as well, saying her name in a broken voice.
He wept as he let go of my hands, but I followed him down. I had to maintain our link to get us back to the island or we could be stuck forever.
I tapped into his pain, the most powerful form of energy, and in an instant we were back on the island, in the forest clearing where I’d contacted Runa.
Beru sobbed and clung to me, unaware we’d returned.
I held him back, paralyzed at what I’d witnessed. Had I known what we’d see, I wouldn’t have put him through it.
Even for the sake of remembering he was the key.
What had I done to my friend?
I had done the unimaginable. I had broken the unbreakable Beru.
Chapter 25
Beru had lapsed into sleep since our return.
Priestess Lunla graciously allowed us to remain, designating a small house for our use while I stayed by his side day and night.
I prayed once his hurt subsided, he would come back to us.
“How is he?” Sade entered the room with a pitcher of water, pouring it into the wash pan beside me.
“The same.” I forced a tired smile, rubbing my face in a vain attempt to remove some of my fatigue and guilt.
“Have you done any healing sessions today?” She refilled my glass, pushing it into my hand.
“This morning. He’s hidden himself very deep in his mind.” I took a sip, then placed the glass beside me and dipped the washcloth into the cold water to wipe his face.
“You want a break?” She offered as she sat beside me, patting my leg.
“No. I can’t seem to leave his side. I can’t let him be alone.” I held back tears as the memories of his family being murdered in front of him intruded.
“It’s okay to step away. I’ll stay here so he won’t be alone.” She leaned against my side, taking my hand in hers. “We’re all worried about you, as well.”
“Well, you should be worried about him,” I snapped, snatching my hand away as rage filled me.
“We are worried about him, too. But I know he’ll get through this, when he’s ready.”
No one understood.
They all said they did, but they hadn’t done this to him.
I had.
They hadn’t seen how much he’d loved his family or watched his heart die as they were cut down in front of him. It was my fault he was unconscious and in pain.
Sade pulled out a wrapped piece of cheese from her pocket. “Here, I saved this for you. They have a crazy breakfast menu here, and I figured you wouldn’t want the bird’s feet.”
I ignored her offering, my attention focused solely on Beru and on wiping down his arms and chest.
“His skin is going to be raw if you keep rubbing him like that.” She ate the cheese after I pushed it away again.
I threw the cloth down and stalked to the open door, using the frame to hold me up.
Birds merrily dunked themselves in the birdbath as she got up from the bed. The peaceful ordinariness broke my last wall down, and I began to sob. “I can hear their screams every time it’s silent.”
She wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so sorry you had to see that,” she whispered, rocking me back and forth. “I wish I could take it all away.”
We didn’t speak for a long while as she held me.
The sun shone brightly into the yard and the birds fluttered playfully in the garden, oblivious to the pain of those inside the house. When I was able to compose myself at last, I pulled away and returned to his side.
If he woke, I wanted to be the first one he saw.
“Captain Rose wants to speak with you. Iri will sit with him, if you’d like.”
“I’m not leaving. She can talk to me here.” My words were soft but firm as I brushed back his hair.
“You want to tell her that?” She grimaced jokingly.
I ignored her attempt at levity, laying my hands on his forehead and arm I closed my eyes, forcing energy into him. When I finally opened my eyes, he was still asleep. My shoulders crumpled at another failure. I’d try again later, when my energy recovered.
I only realized she wasn’t beside me when I heard her discussing me with Iri in the hall outside.
They were concerned about me.
I hadn’t left him since our return, and I wasn’t looking after myself.
They didn’t understand.
I didn’t deserve to eat, sleep, or be happy while Beru was trapped in his mind. All of those things could wait until he was back. I could handle his anger or hatred, but not this.
“Aria?” Iri called softly.
I wiped a tear from my cheek. “Yes?”
“May I come in?” He didn’t wait for me to respond and stepped into the room quietly.
“Yes, of course.” I got up from my place beside Beru to make room.
“Captain Rose is here to speak with you.” He sat on the chair next to Beru. “I’ll stay here with him. I promise to let you know if anything changes.”
I watched as he leaned over Beru.
“I’m here for you whenever you’re ready.” He patted the blanket covering Beru, then looked at me with concern. “She’s got urgent news for you, but he shouldn’t hear it.”
“Okay.” I smoothed down my clothes, uncomfortably aware I hadn’t bathed in a while.
When I found her, she was sitting in the garden with Sade. They were laughing as if it was any other day.
I crossed my arms as I watched. I was in no mood to gossip and laugh, and wanted nothing more than to go inside to check on Beru.
“Aria, over here!” Sade waved me over, standing and gesturing to her chair.
“Captain Rose.” I sat down, avoiding eye contact.
“It’s good to see you. No change in Beru?” She raised an eyebrow, pushing a tray of fruit over to me.
I held a hand up, refusing the food. “No. He’s still catatonic.” I looked away again, uncomfortable with being near anyone right now.
“I’m afraid I have more bad news.” She glanced at Sade, and I knew she’d already shared her news with the others.
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve picked up on some reports about more ur’gels on the loose.”
I wasn’t surprised. Nothing had happened to stop them. I wasn’t sure why she thought telling me would do anything. They weren’t my problem now. Beru was.
“If it’s on the mainland, why do you care?”
Even as I said it, I knew it was insensitive. Ever since I’d pulled Beru back, I felt cut off.
Runa had tried to dream-meet me several times, but I’d ignored her.
Iri and Sade had even tried to get me to look after myself, and I could smell how well that was working.
“Where’s the Aria I met when you arrived?” She pulled her chair close to mine, so close our knees touched.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I backed up, trying to regain my personal space.
“You’re hidden deep inside. How can you be there for anyone with so much hatred in your soul?”
I turned on her, my anger spilling over. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see innocent people murdered. They killed everyone because of him.”
“You haven’t killed? You haven’t gone to battle?” She lifted an eyebrow, tilting her head as she waited for me to answer.
“Yes, but…” I halted, unsure how to differentiate between the injustice I’d s
een and those I’d killed.
“War happens every day. We need to pick a side and carry on. Right now, innocent people are being attacked by Widow, her spiders, and ur’gels who’ve escaped from the prison you broke.” She sat back in her chair, shaking her head sadly. “Forty-five reports of villages decimated because of these monsters. You need to come back to the land of the living. People are counting on you.”
I leaned against the table, putting my elbows on it, and rubbed my temples. She was right. I’d abandoned everyone since the attacks. I’d let my feelings for Beru affect my judgment. I wasn’t sure how to turn this around, or if I had the strength to even start.
“What should we do?” Sade looked at Captain Rose.
“We have to stop them. Have you discussed how to bring down the walls of the prison?”
“Beru is the key. We needed to break him, and we did it. I did it.” I crossed my arms. I wanted to fix the prison so I never had to go back there and I could banish it from my mind.
“When he wakes up, maybe he’ll know what to do,” Sade cut in.
“And if he doesn’t? We still have to stop this killing.” Captain Rose pushed, pointing out what I had been trying to avoid.
“Could we pay them off?”
“We’d have to speak with Widow. She’s probably figured out you aren’t working with her and I doubt she’ll be open to it.” Sade waved for Iri to join us.
I whirled around. “Who’s with Beru?”
“He’s sleeping.” He walked over and sat down at the last empty chair. “He’ll be fine, Aria. We’re right here.”
I fought the urge to run back to his room.
Iri was right. The chances of him waking while we spoke were slim, if he ever woke up at all.
“We were just discussing the raids happening on the mainland,” Sade filled him in.
“Should we leave? We can’t let them kill our people. Especially since we know how scared they were when we left.” Iri was right.
These were people we knew and helped, knowing Widow would be right behind us.
“I have some contacts. Maybe I can find someone to help with reinforcements,” Captain Rose offered.
“That’s good. Aria, can you speak with Runa? Get a better idea of how many ur’gels have escaped so far?”
I nodded as he began to organize a plan in response to the attacks. I was happy to see him step up because I knew I was useless right now. I’d agreed to contacting Runa, but I was still avoiding her at all costs right now.
“I’m going to sit with Beru. Just let me know what you want me to do.” I got up without waiting for anyone to answer and walked back to the house.
“Hey,” Sade called as she jogged to catch up with me. “I’m worried about you.”
“I know. I’ll kick myself out of this soon. I promise. I just need a little more time.”
“We don’t have time. We have to fight back before we lose more people. Where is that fighting spirit I know you’ve got inside of you?” She tapped on my chest.
“She’s still here. She’ll be back soon.” I allowed her to hug me, hoping it would convince her.
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and spun me to face the view. “He’ll come back to us. But until he does, we need a plan. We have to stop the ur’gels, or we’ll be screwed if Dag’draath escapes.” She squeezed my shoulder, taking some of the edge off her words.
She was right.
I needed to get back to myself now. I had to be ready to be strong when he came back to us because he would need me. I closed my eyes and soaked in the energy from the land around me. I felt the hard knot of anger begin to loosen, just a little.
We stood overlooking the view above the clouds. It was so peaceful and inviting, for a moment I almost forgot the horror we had been living through. And it was just the beginning. With more ur’gels escaping, it would only be a matter of time before Dag’draath got out. For all we knew, he could be roaming our world right now.
“We won’t be able to hide here forever.” She shook her head.
“I know. But we need this for now. For Beru. When he’s better … I’ll figure out what to do next.”
“Well, you’d both better hurry up. The world can’t wait forever.”
Continue reading this series, Legends of the Fallen, with book 3, Soul Healer
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About the Author
J.A. Culican is a USA Today Bestselling author of the middle grade fantasy series Keeper of Dragons. Her first novel in the fictional series catapulted a trajectory of titles and awards, including top selling author on the USA Today bestsellers list and Amazon, and a rightfully earned spot as an international best seller. Additional accolades include Best Fantasy Book of 2016, Runner-up in Reality Bites Book Awards, and 1st place for Best Coming of Age Book from the Indie Book Awards.
J.A. Culican holds a master's degree in Special Education from Niagara University, in which she has been teaching special education for over 13 years. She is also the president of the autism awareness non-profit Puzzle Peace United. J.A. Culican resides in southern New Jersey with her husband and four young children.
For more information about J.A. Culican, visit her website at: www.jaculican.com.
About the Author
H. M. Gooden has been scribbling on everything since she first learned how to hold a pencil. While often told that her handwriting was atrocious, she persisted, and upon discovering computers and learning how to type, she realized that she was no longer limited by her (admittedly) messy writing.
Unfortunately, life and work and family have conspired to make it only possible to write in the wee hours or at coffee shops, so most of her love of reading and writing are indulged at times when only vampires and insomniacs abound.
Beginning in October of 2017, her love of writing and the characters in the world she has created burst into public view in her first book, Dream of Darkness, which follows the adventures of a group of girls fighting evil with abilities that H. M. Gooden would love to have.
As a result, 4 am has become even busier trying to find out what will happen to her paranormal buddies in the future, and book six, seven and eight are in the works.
Acknowledgments
Editor: Frankie Blooding
Cover Artist: Christian Bentulan
Formatting: Dragon Realm Press
Spell Breaker Page 19
