by Meg Anne
Von’s brow lowered over heated gray eyes. “You promised.”
“A woman, especially a Kiri, has every right to change her mind.”
“I was teasing!”
“Maybe you should have saved your teasing until after I had my tea, Mate,” came the haughty reply.
“Technically I did –”
Helena scowled at Von from across the training circle Ronan had corded off.
More laughter was threatening to spill from his lips as he studied the aggrieved woman standing before him. Her face was flushed with color, her aqua eyes sparkling beneath her sooty lashes. She was breathtaking.
“Truce, my love,” he said soothingly. “It seems we are both feeling on edge this morning.”
Helena crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in response.
“I’m sorry for teasing you, Mira, I promise to make it up to you later.”
“How?” she asked, narrowed aqua eyes meeting his.
Von sent her an image of exactly what he planned to do, chuckling to himself when her gaze became unfocused and her scowl slackened.
“Alright, you two, enough of that.” Ronan grunted, a flush stealing up his own cheeks as he adjusted his pants.
Serena shifted beside him uncomfortably, pulling at her shirt as if seeking a breeze.
Blinking, Helena refocused on her friends. Noticing their reaction, she threw her hands up in the air, “Oh for the love of the Mother!”
Von’s shoulders shook with mirth.
She pointed an accusing finger at him, “Don’t you start! This is your fault.”
“My fault?” he asked with faux innocence.
“You know exactly what you did.”
“It would seem to me that Ronan got exactly what he deserved for his wake-up call this morning.” Von smiled seeming pleased with himself.
“Apparently, we all have extra energy to burn off this morning,” Ronan replied dryly.
“I’m sorry,” Helena offered softly, embarrassed that once again her feelings were not only transparent but could so easily manipulate her friends.
Serena smiled, “Don’t be, Kiri.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Serena wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed, whispering in her ear. “I will teach you some things you can try when you are alone together that will wipe that smug smile right off his face.”
“What’s all that scheming going on over there?” Von called.
Helena responded with her own smug smile causing Von’s brows to lift in surprise.
“If we’re all done wasting time,” Ronan started, his voice no longer the teasing voice of her friend but the annoyed snap of her commander, “perhaps we can begin our lesson?”
Helena turned her gaze back to Ronan, her body falling into the stance he had taught her during their first session. Legs shoulder width apart, shoulders back, chin up, eyes straight ahead and arms behind her back, each hand grasping the opposite elbow. It was the position all Daejaran trainees assumed when they were at attention. Not only was it a position of respect, it was also one of submission. With their arms in that position they were unable to draw a weapon or defend themselves, or at least in the case of the recruits. Any fully trained warrior would be able to cause massive damage even without their weapons, but it was a symbolic position as much as anything.
“Very good, Kiri.” Ronan murmured before continuing, “Today we will practice shielding. Are you familiar with how to cast a shield?”
Helena shook her head.
“Shielding most commonly comes from the branch of Air. Most warriors create an impenetrable barrier that they wrap around themselves for protection. However, those that are not gifted in that branch have learned how to use their other talents in a similar fashion. Those with Earth may reinforce their skin with its strength, making it all but impossible for a weapon to penetrate. Those with Fire may make their skin so hot it can melt any weapon or burn any who touch it.”
Helena listened, fascinated.
“It is one thing to be able to form a shield and another to be able to fight while maintaining one. Serena, help me demonstrate.”
Serena stepped in front of him, violet eyes shining as she called her power to the surface.
There was not a visible shift in the air, but Helena could feel the shift in the air as it thickened and reformed around Serena. It was not a bubble as Helena had assumed, but a skin-tight layer that moved as she did.
“May I?” Helena asked, lifting a hand.
Serena nodded while Ronan and Von watched in silence.
Moving towards her, Helena pressed her hand against her friend’s arm, feeling a slight resistance before her hand settled on warm skin.
“How can I still touch you?” Helena asked curiously.
“My magic recognized you as a friend.”
“Shields can work in a variety of ways, Kiri, it depends on the talents of the Chosen that has called it. Serena is gifted with Air and Fire. Her shield is both barrier and transformative. It will keep magic and weapon from breaking through, at least so long as her magic can sustain the shield, but it will also adapt to the threat.”
“How is that possible?”
“Fire is known for its transformative properties. It not only burns, it makes the elements shift between their various forms. When I weave it into my shield, it adds an additional layer of protection. Here, it will be easier to show you than explain. Try summoning a ball of Water and throwing it at me.”
Helena raised a dubious brow but called her magic to her. She felt the cooling rush of Water as it rose to the surface. Concentrating, she willed the Water to begin filling the palm of her hand. She let it go when the Water was the size of a melon swirling and spinning in her hand.
Lifting iridescent eyes, she drew back her arm and willed the ball of Water towards Serena’s chest.
The Water sizzled turning to steam as soon as it made contact with the shield. Serena grunted and took a startled step back, her hand lifted to rub at her chest.
Ronan placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.
Shaking her head in surprise, Serena looked up at them with wide eyes, “Usually I do not feel much of an impact through my shield, but your magic felt like a full grown Talyrian running straight into me. I was not expecting it.”
Helena grimaced, “I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“Nonsense, Kiri. It is I who was unprepared. You have reminded me that even in practice I cannot lower my guard.”
Serena bowed her head in thanks before offering her usual sassy smirk. “Perhaps you should help the men learn that lesson as well.”
Seeing the playful light in her friend’s eye, Helena’s own smile grew in response.
“What?” Ronan asked as Von shouted, “Wait!”
It was too late, calling twin balls of Water to each hand, she flung the magic out to both men, aiming for their heads.
The unexpected assault had both men sputtering and dripping. Ronan shook off, his long braid causing droplets to fly and shimmer in the morning sun.
Von stalked towards her, a low snarl lifting his upper lip.
Helena’s laughter froze as she shifted her body bracing for his attack.
One moment he was across the clearing, the next he was standing directly before her. Helena hadn’t even blinked, but Von had cleared the distance in an instant.
Before she could ask how he managed it, his arms were wrapped around her pressing his drenched clothing into her.
She squirmed in his arms, but his hands moved faster than she could track them to begin tickling her sides.
“No fair!” she cried between bursts of laughter.
“Keep squirming against me like that and I’m throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you back to our tent, no matter what Ronan threatens,” he whispered hotly in her ear.
Helena felt the stirring low in her belly at the words. Still, his hands continued their assault.
“Shield.” H
is voice commanded in her head.
Trying to focus, Helena called her power to her once more. She tried to weave Fire and air to make a shield like Serena’s, but it felt unwieldy and she could not make it take shape.
“Focus,” Ronan called.
“I am!” Helena panted, still twisting in Von’s arms.
“It should feel natural, Kiri. You should not have to force it into being, merely call it to you,” Serena offered.
“If he would just. Be. STILL!” Helena emphasized each word before shouting the last, Von freezing in place around her.
She watched his eyes move comically side to side before looking up at her in approval.
“Well, that’s one way to do it,” he drawled.
Serena had her hand clasped over her mouth to hide her smile. Ronan shook his head smirking at the pair.
“Release me, darling?” Von’s sweet words in sharp contrast to the molten heat in his eyes. Helena’s heart fluttered in her chest.
Be free, she thought, pulling her magic back towards her. Von’s limbs lowered until he was standing relaxed before her again.
“And again!” Ronan shouted, giving her no time to prepare.
Von dipped low, aiming for her knees.
Twirling, Helena sidestepped him and called her magic to her. Instead of trying to force it she merely shouted into the swirling depths of her power: shield! As Von reached her, she felt her magic snapping into place, Von making contact only briefly before flying away from her and landing on his back in the dirt.
She felt the impact through their bond, her own breathing a bit strained as a result.
Gasping, Helena rushed over to him and knelt at his side. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
Von struggled to sit, bemused eyes meeting hers, “Next time, Mate, Ronan gets to be your target.”
The group exchanged amused glances before laughing.
“I think that’s enough for today. With the day’s ride still ahead of us, I’m not sure we can withstand too much more of your abuse, Kiri,” Ronan said with the laughter still sparkling in his blue eyes.
The teasing tone of his voice removed the sting of his words. She still had much to learn about controlling her magic, and even more still about its limits, but each day she could feel that simmering pool inside her becoming more responsive to her will. She just hoped that she would be ready when it mattered.
Chapter Seventeen
The group was scattered around the campfire, it had been another long day of travel and many had already sought out their tents to get some rest. The Circle, along with Helena and some of Von’s men remained.
Von’s arm was snaked around Helena’s waist as her head rested on his shoulder. She stared into the center of the fire, watching it dance in the gentle breeze. Next to her, Kragen sat, his legs stretched out in front of him as he leaned back against a tree. Darrin was beside him, arms crossed over his chest. Serena and Ronan were seated to his right both sharpening their blades in companionable silence. Across from Helena, Joquil and Timmins were chatting softly, voices indecipherable over the flicker of the flames.
The scenery had started to change that afternoon, shifting from the gentle sloping hills into the harsher jagged peaks of the mountains. The air was already feeling cooler and smelt more of pine than the heady scent of flowers that had been following them from the Capital. It was peaceful there, around the fire, but Helena could not escape the feeling that something was waiting for them.
A shiver raced down her spine causing Von’s arm to flex and pull her closer.
She felt the ripple of a question within her mind and offered him a small smile in response.
A rustle caused the group to shift as they sought out the source. From the back of the camp, Gillian stepped out from her tent and walked over to the group, pulling the sides of her dark cloak tighter around her.
“I’m exhausted but I can’t sleep,” she pouted as she stepped over Kragen’s legs and folded herself into the space next to Darrin.
Darrin shifted over to accommodate her, but she scooted closer, her body following his.
“It’s cold out tonight,” she murmured, pressing against him.
Darrin eyed her warily but wrapped his arm around her shoulder to offer her his body heat.
“What are you all doing out here?” she asked, her voice loud after the silence.
“Just enjoying the evening,” Helena responded in a more subdued tone.
“Are you just sitting here in silence?” she asked almost accusingly as she looked around at them.
“Would you like a story?” Timmins offered before anyone else could speak.
It wasn’t clear how Gillian felt about the suggestion, her face obscured by the shadows.
“You did promise me some stories, Timmins,” Helena offered when Gillian didn’t respond.
“In the tradition of the campfire, I suppose I shall make it a good one,” Timmins said with a laugh.
“If by good, you mean bloody, by all means,” Ronan chimed in with his deep growl, setting his ax down and resting his elbows on his knees.
Timmins offered a dark smile and took a moment to settle himself, eyeing each of them before clearing his throat and beginning.
“Many generations ago, long after the Mother had found her Mate and given birth to the Chosen, a prophet arose foretelling the fall of the Chosen. As the Mother’s children, the Chosen ignored the warnings of the prophet and as the years passed the warnings were forgotten.”
“Time went on and the Mother’s gifts began to weaken, fewer of the Chosen were able to access more than one of her branches. Of those, few, if any, ever learned to Master their branch. And still, the Chosen flourished-”
“So much for the prophecy,” Gillian snorted as she interrupted Timmins’ recounting.
Timmins raised a brow, waiting for her silence before he continued.
“And so it was, years turning to centuries. There were some that had not forgotten the words uttered by the prophet, those that had continued to pass the warning through the generations, knowing the day would come when it could no longer remain unheeded.”
“Finally, the day had come when the first of the prophets’ signs came to be: a Daughter of Spirit would be born on the longest day of the year. This girl would be marked by the Mother, bearing her sign on her flesh.”
Helena’s spine stiffened, the hand that was interwoven with Von’s going slick with sweat.
“It can’t be me they’re speaking of,” Helena sent the worried thought to Von, “They got the prophecy wrong. I wasn’t born in the summer, and I don’t bear any mark of the Mother.”
Phantom hands brushed the hair off of her face while his warm hand squeezed hers reassuringly.
Unaware of the silent exchange, Timmins continued. “This Damaskiri’s Circle would never be complete as she would not find her Mate. Feeling betrayed by the Mother she would seek to grow her power. Eventually, she would learn how to twist the Mother’s most sacred branch of magic, and thereby corrupt it completely.”
“How –” Helena began, but Timmins silenced her by holding up his hand.
“The Chosen were unaware of this corruption and continued to serve their Lady faithfully. By that time, the second of the prophecy’s signs came to be: A Mother of Spirit would be born, and she would grow to be more powerful than any in living memory, her power more akin to the First Born, the original Chosen. She would be born to an Ungifted, identified again by the Mother’s mark upon her flesh. She would rise once the ultimate corruption had occurred.”
Despite her attempts to tell herself it was just a silly story, panic rose in Helena’s chest, her hand clamping down and squeezing Von’s as she fought to breathe.
“Once this Kiri came into her power, she would become the ultimate vessel of the Mother. Her purpose to seek out the corruption that continued to spread across the land. She would use her gifts, like calling to like, so that she may identify the unworthy and destroy them.”
> Timmins paused and Helena felt herself shaking in Von’s embrace.
Gillian yawned loudly, “A tale that has been told to every Chosen child so they would jump at shadows. Everyone knows no Kiri has ever been born of an Ungifted.”
The family that she had never met... was is possible it was because they had never existed? Had Miriam really been her birth mother, never realizing who her daughter was destined to be? The questions whirled in Helena’s mind, her heart continuing to race as she struggled to make sense of the story.
“I had heard,” Helena stopped to lick her lips, mouth suddenly dry, “that it was possible for this Kiri herself to be corrupted, that she could give rise to the Shadow Years?” The last word a question.
Timmins tilted his head quizzically, studying Helena across the fire. The flames casting eerie shadows across his usually kind face.
“And what have you heard of the Shadow Years, Kiri?” Timmins asked.
“Only that it would be a dark time when the Chosen were tested, and that if the Kiri was corrupted, she would destroy those that had remained true to the Mother’s gifts.”
“I suppose that is one way of looking at it,” Timmins murmured.
The men shifted around her, the rustling of clothes blending into the crackling of the flames.
“The Shadow Years refer to the rise of the Shadows, although no one has seen a Shadow for thousands of years.” Joquil offered.
“I’ve only ever heard whispers about the Shadows,” Ronan said, his voice somber.
“What’s a Shadow?” Von asked, Helena’s thoughts echoing his question.
“A Shadow is the remnant of a Chosen.”
“A remnant?” Helena asked, still confused.
“When a Mother or Daughter of Spirit is corrupted, they use their ties to the Spirit branch to enslave the Chosen. Over time the souls of the Chosen are consumed by the one controlling them, burning out all that they are until they are mere shadows of themselves. Even after their souls have been expended, a Damaskiri can continue to control the Shadow, creating a mindless husk that thinks or feels nothing other than what it is told to.”
Ice ran through Helena’s veins. This was what they feared she would do? Create an army of soulless warriors? Why put her in power at all if that was what she was capable of?
