A Shaper's Birthright

by Karen MacRae

  “Don’t lose heart, Anna, this is important information,” said Finn. “We just have to make sure Nystrieth doesn’t notice you pinning it to his aura.”

  “Just?” asked the assassin.

  Finn laughed. “Have faith, Seleste. It’s a start.”

  Later, long after snores had descended on the darkened dormitory, Anna paused in yet another failed attempt to find her oath. It had just dawned on her what was wrong with Seleste: absolutely nothing. The assassin wasn’t being changed or Shaped by her exposure to white energy, she was being Healed. Things that didn’t belong were being burned away, just like they were when Anna Healed herself. Seleste’s once unreadable grey aura had become a silver version of her twin brother’s dancing bronze. Anna was sure it was exactly what Seleste’s aura was supposed to look like. It also explained why the others hadn’t been affected in the same way. They weren’t hiding behind a mask.

  Anna felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She hadn’t hurt her friend. She’d Healed her. Not that Seleste would necessarily see it that way. But that was a conversation for another time. For now, she was going to have one more go at the oath.

  Belatedly remembering Lady Braxton’s advice to stop forcing her gift, to simply trust it to do what was needed, she stopped trying to direct it to the minuscule mark over her heart. She relaxed and emptied her mind until it felt like she was floating, at peace and feeling well for the first time in days. Though she didn’t call it, energy flew to her from the crystals by her bed and under the ground. Her body sizzled with life. She didn’t try to use the power. Instead she luxuriated in it. What seemed like hours passed but was really only minutes. And, there, in the centre of her being, she sensed a patch that didn’t vibrate with quite the same frequency. As she focused in on it, it began to jar against the rest, becoming less and less… right. She told it to be gone and it was. So simple. She didn’t notice the grief triggered by its loss. She had no space left for emotion. The power was all-consuming.

  Seleste woke her from her trance. The room was dark or she might not have: the Shaper’s aura was grey and there was no golden oath. “Anna, wake up,” she shouted as she tried to rouse the girl. “There’s been an accident. You’re needed.” She shook her friend again. “Anna, wake up for light’s sake. People are dying!”

  The Shaper woke slowly, unsure why she should be concerned about people dying. The ambivalence dragged on, but she forced herself to sit up and give an acceptable answer. “Where?”

  “A mudslide. About ten miles away. Spider’s saddling Hope for you. Come on!”

  It was lucky the moon was full, but the scene was something from a nightmare. An entire hillside had collapsed, slewing an ocean of mud and rocks across the road and for miles beyond. A caravan of supply carts had been buried about a hundred yards in from the edge of the disaster zone. The first rescuers to arrive were covered from head to toe in thick red mud as they dug with their hands to look for survivors. No sooner did they make a hole in the sludge than it oozed back in. Those lucky enough to have been spared live burial were a mess of broken bones and lacerations. They’d been carried well clear of the muck and laid on blankets.

  Anna was back in charge of her mind, but she was feeling worse than ever. Regardless, she went straight over, leaving the others to join the rescue attempt. A frazzled Healer was working on a woman with a serious head injury. “I’ll take over,” she told him. “You’d be more help over there. You might be able to sense where the living are buried.”

  The man looked up from his patient to see who was daring to interrupt his work. His face whitened when he saw the birthmark. It was the Shaper the guards had been whispering about. News of her exploits at Alsham Castle had already reached beyond Alscombe. He reminded himself she was on their side. Thank the light.

  “Good idea,” he muttered before running off, his fear of the girl overcoming his need to Heal.

  Anna laid her lantern close to the woman’s head and her hand on the woman’s shoulder. The wound was severe, but it was a quick fix for a Healer Shaper with an ocean of crystal below her feet. Anna visualised the blackness thinning and the woman’s pinkish peach aura shining through then sent the black into the raw crystal pendant. She’d expected the new pendant to work as well as her dagger, but the Healing had left her with a stabbing headache. She drew power from the ground and flushed the pain away.

  The next mud-covered patient had sharp, white bones sticking up through his thigh. Anna looked around for someone to pull the leg straight while she Healed it. She scowled after the Healer. Trust him to rush off so quickly. He should have known it would take two. She looked over at the sea of dark, red mud. There was no one to spare. She considered the line of patients. One was unconscious, but otherwise healthy. She ignored the pleas of help from the others and bent to touch him first. Within seconds, he was awake and feeling fine.

  “Up, grab this man’s leg and pull as hard as you can,” she ordered. She found herself getting annoyed by his slow response. “I said, up and pull!”

  He looked aghast. “Pull it? It’s broken!”

  “I know that, you idiot. I’m going to Heal it, but he’ll limp forever if you don’t pull as hard as you can.”

  “But he’s awake,” the man argued. “The pain will kill him!”

  Anna pushed the aura of the man with the broken leg and his screams stopped abruptly. “And now he isn’t. Any more complaints?” she growled.

  The astonished patient shook his head. Who the light was this girl?

  CHAPTER 11

  F inn and the Lieutenant who’d arrived with them had taken charge of the first rescuers to arrive. Those who were digging unsuccessfully were diverted to salvage wood from carts that had escaped the mudslide. Not only could they use it to slow the mud from oozing back into their excavations, walking on planks would spread their weight on the swampy surface, reducing the chance of it sucking in one of the rescuers. While the guards dismantled the carts, Spider used his gift to identify where survivors were buried. Sy ploughed a path wherever Spider pointed, his gift ensuring he stepped only where it was sound. The Healer was right behind Sy. A shake of his head meant no sign of life and the trio moved on. A wave meant a team should bring planks to secure Sy’s path and start digging. It was slow going, but they were making progress. So far, four men, two women and a baby boy had been pulled out alive.

  “Everyone off. Now!” Spider suddenly yelled.

  Confused, tired faces looked up.

  “Now! Get off the mud!”

  Men started to run and stagger along the web of wooden pathways as best they could. Spider, Sy and the Healer were furthest from safety. The rumbling started before they were halfway. Sy immediately made a detour, back towards the thickest part of the mud. Spider automatically followed, trusting his partner, but the Healer stopped in confusion. Sy and Spider grabbed him and pulled him with them.

  “Trust me. You weren’t going to make it,” shouted Sy, his words almost lost in the noise coming from the hillside. Second later, tons of rock began to slide down the slippery slope.

  All but these three men made it off the mud before the rocks fell. The others watched in horror as huge boulders crashed down onto carts they’d been carefully excavating. Spider, Sy and the Healer disappeared from view just before everything was buried in a sea of rock. An enormous cloud of shingle and dust enveloped the area.

  Everyone but Anna went to look for their friends as soon as the dust had settled. The mood was tense, but hopeful. If anyone could survive, it was Sy. The problem was identifying exactly where he was. They reached the place they’d last seen the trio but had no idea where they’d gone next.

  “It’s crystal!” Malik exclaimed, pointing at the nearest rock. “It’s just like the stuff we dug up in Alscombe. It’s all crystal. Anna, can you use it to find them?” The Mastran looked around for the Shaper. “Anna?”

  She was nowhere to be seen.

  “I think she’s over with the wounded. I’ll get her,
” Beitris shouted over her shoulder as she ran back to the safe zone. She found Anna lying sleeping next to her patients. She tried speaking her name and then shaking the girl, but she wouldn’t wake. In the end, Beitris had to slap her.

  “Are you all right?” the guard asked anxiously as the girl finally opened her eyes. “I couldn’t wake you.”

  “I’d be fine with a bit more sleep,” the Shaper lied, sitting up reluctantly.

  “We can’t find Sy. Spider and the Healer too. They were together. They’re trapped under crystal somewhere out there. Do you think you can help to find them? Use the crystal somehow?”

  Anna felt irritated that, yet again, they expected her to come to the rescue. “I don’t know,” she grumbled. “I’ve never done anything like it. I suppose I could try.”

  Beitris half-pulled the girl back over to the search party. At the others’ urging, Anna closed her eyes and tried to find the sense of peace she’d been rudely awaken from. When her mind finally cleared, the solution seemed obvious. Against her aura, her oath had popped out like the splash of a fish jumping in a pool of still water. This field of crystal also contained energy that didn’t belong: her friends’ auras. She just had to find it. She filled her mind’s eye with Spider’s whirling bronze and let her gift go.

  The others watched as Anna’s face became deathly still and she began to sway. Beitris and Malik caught her and held her upright. In her worry for Spider and Sy, Seleste didn’t realise that the Shaper’s aura was a step removed from its normal pure white and the King’s Oath was gone. She watched as the girl’s aura grew larger and larger until it filled her vision. Then, ever so subtly, she saw it begin to darken and, what had been an off-white light, became a definite grey. It’s just a cloud blocking the moonlight, the assassin told herself. She looked up to see a full moon in a sky virtually clear of clouds. She’s not turning, she thought desperately, even as her hand reached for her dagger. She’s searching for Spider. She’s not turning. Light, Anna, please find them.

  Finn saw Seleste’s face. This was more than concern for Spider. “What’s happening?” he asked her quietly.

  Seleste wavered. If she told him the truth, he might act too quickly and ruin their best chance at finding Spider and Sy. “I don’t know,” she told him, “and we mustn’t overreact, but whatever she’s doing has turned her aura grey.”

  Finn’s hand tightened on his dagger. “Are you sure?”

  “It might go straight back to white when she stops doing whatever she’s doing.”

  Finn nodded, but moved so he was standing right behind the entranced Shaper. He kept his eyes fixed on Seleste. She stood in front of Anna, her eyes glued to the grey aura, praying for it to go white.

  Anna was lost. Her mind swam in power. She could sense it went on forever. It was infinite. She was infinite. Over there it was red. There, green. A swirl of a hundred shades of blues was on the left. White, no, the palest lilac shone on the right… It was a rainbow kaleidoscope, the colours entwining and merging then exploding outwards. It was more beautiful than anything she’d ever seen before. A smudge of bronze spoiled her view. It didn’t belong. Bronze… Why was that familiar? She raised a hand to rub it out so the rainbow was whole again. Bronze, begone, she thought, and giggled at her alliteration. Her laughter sent waves out across the energy field. It was so pretty. She paused in admiration, distracted, the act of striking out the bronze temporarily forgotten.

  Hew, Lachlan and Jimmy had immediately rushed off as soon as Anna had raised her hand. Malik and Beitris still held her between them. “Best tell me what the hell is going on,” Malik said, looking through narrowed eyes at the assassin.

  Seleste didn’t answer. She was watching in horror as dark grey rippled across Anna’s aura. She stepped forward, drew back her fist and sent it crashing into Anna’s jaw. The Shaper slumped between her two supports, out cold.

  “Nice punch,” said Malik, his voice perfectly calm. “Now, perhaps you’ll tell us why it was necessary?”

  Hew’s bellows spared Seleste the necessity of an answer. “They’re over here! Here! I heard something!”

  Malik and Beitris gently lowered Anna to the ground and ran in the direction of the shouts. Finn and Seleste shared a worried look. They stood guard over the body, leaving the others to begin the rescue.

  Anna began to stir within minutes. She awoke to find Seleste standing over her, both hands on daggers. She wondered why the woman looked angry. It took a few moments for her to remember feeling irritated with the bronze smear in the rainbow and deciding to get rid of it. But why would this anger anyone? Then she realised the bronze light had been someone’s aura. Should this matter? She felt her stomach rebel at the pain in her jaw and leaned over to vomit. Her brain finally made the connection between Seleste and a bronze aura. She looked up at Spider’s sister. “Is he all right?” she asked, her voice cool.

  “I don’t know,” the assassin replied angrily, her aura flashing with brilliant shades of red. “What the hell did you do?”

  “I… I don’t know,” Anna answered, her eyes welling with tears at being sworn at so harshly. She started to cry, but Seleste offered no comfort.

  Finn’s voice came from behind. “Seleste?” he asked.

  Seleste shook her head. “It’s all right. She’s white.” Or so it appeared in the moonlight.

  Finn sheathed his dagger and left at a run. They had work to do.

  Two hours of careful digging finally revealed an air pocket just big enough for the three men to have squeezed into; Sy’s gift had sent them to perhaps the only place they could have survived. Protected by two mammoth rocks, the second landslide had flowed around and over their hiding place. They were finally pulled from their hole just as the sun was rising. All three were bruised, but alive.

  Anna was sulking over by the horses when the others made it off the landslide. She heard the Lieutenant speak briefly with Finn. He’d sent for two lads from the Fork Post who were gifted with stone and earth, but he suspected they’d find no other survivors. Anyone who’d lived through the first slide would have been crushed in the second. They’d keep looking, but there was no reason for Finn and his team to stay. He knew they had to get back on the road.

  Anna shut out the sound of the group settling nearby and Finn asking Beitris and Hew to go back to the last Post to get their bags. She admitted to herself she felt mildly guilty, but it wasn’t like she’d known it was Spider. It was wrong of Seleste to shout at her. Her brother was fine after all. And they might never have found him without her help. Seleste should be grateful, not angry. She supposed she should offer to Heal the men’s bruises, but she decided she wasn’t going to do anything until someone at least said thank you. Instead, she remembered the wonder of the rainbow, the incredible feeling of endless power, how nothing else seemed to matter when she was there. She sent a tiny sliver of her gift into the ground and felt power rush to its call. Her nagging headache and nausea vanished as she let it fill her body and soul. Everything stopped being annoying. She leaned against Hope and closed her eyes, letting her mind go wherever the crystal took her.

  Hope began to snort and stamp her front hooves on the ground. Blue followed seconds later, barging against a sleepy Rojoch who complained noisily. Spider was the first to reach them. He found Anna lying unconscious, a small smile on her face. He couldn’t wake her. He shouted for his sister.

  Seleste could see the Shaper’s aura was a myriad of flickering colours. As she watched, she saw Anna’s smile disappear and the colours mingle until only grey remained. “We have to wake her,” she said, her voice urgent. “Now, Spider!”

  Shaking, shouting and slapping Anna’s face failed to rouse her. She finally woke spluttering when Sy emptied a potful of icy cold water in her face. Her aura remained grey. “What the hell did you do that for?” she snarled, annoyed at the interruption, never mind getting soaked.

  Shocked faces were her only answer. This was no Anna they were accustomed to.

  �
�Anna, where were you?” asked Finn.

  The Shaper looked at him with disdain. “Nowhere you’d understand.”

  “Try me,” he said firmly.

  Anna sighed. Her answer was a sullen, “Fine. There’s an energy field here I can send my gift into. It’s nice. I like it there. It’s certainly better than hanging round here and getting shouted at for no reason then water poured all over me.”

  Finn held up a hand to stop any reaction from the others. “Have you been there a lot today?”

  “When I can. I found it when I broke the King’s Oath. It ended up being really easy. Everything’s easy there.”

  Finn threw a disappointed look at Seleste. She hadn’t noticed Anna’s golden badge was missing.

  The assassin held a hand up in apology, but she knew she would be on the receiving end of a serious reprimand later.

  “Would you like to say the oath again, Anna?” Finn asked. “We could all do it together.”

  “No,” the Shaper almost growled. “I don’t want my mind controlled, thank you.”

  Spider and Sy shared a worried glance. “Anna, do you trust me?” Sy interrupted gently.

  Anna’s stern face eased a fraction as she looked at the big Seaskian and his magnificent stone wall of an aura. “Yes. Yes, I think so,” she said uncertainly.

  “Will you tell me about your mother? Please, Anna?”

  “Mama? Why do you want to know about mama?” asked the Shaper, suspicion in every word.

  “She was a Healer, wasn’t she?”

  “What? Oh, yes, she was a Healer.”

  “You loved her very much, didn’t you? She was such a good person.”

  Unbidden, Anna’s mind flooded with memories of her mother. The more she remembered, the whiter her aura became. “Good? Light, yes. She was the best, the kindest person I’ve ever met. She could be serious and even sad at times, but she loved to laugh and sing and dance.” A fond smile transformed the Shaper’s face. “She was always pretending the broom was a dance partner. Twirling around as if she were at a great ball. And she told the worst jokes, but I couldn’t help but laugh. She used to say making people happy and healthy was the greatest gift in the world. She gave everything of herself to others.”