by Claire Frank
Daro charged the Wielder and their swords clashed with a metallic ring. Daro thrust, and the Wielder blocked while he dug into a pouch at his waist. He tossed another rock, which Daro smacked with his sword, sending it flying as it burst apart with a loud pop.
Cecily Reached, gripped the Wielder’s sword, and Pulled to send his arm swinging wide. He stepped around and threw another rock at her, rotating his sword in time to block Daro’s strike. Cecily dove back into the brush as the rock exploded, hitting her with debris.
She got up and lurched back to the road as a crackling line of frost raced across the stone toward her. The third figure stood against the tree line, black against the brush behind him. His face was covered, nothing showing but the slit around his eyes. He lifted his hand and the air around him shimmered, the frost spreading wide. The plants at his feet withered and turned brown, their leaves curling inward. Daro and the rock Wielder still fought, the clang of their swords ringing in the air. He threw another rock but Daro jumped to the side and came down with his blade, hitting the other man hard.
Cecily hesitated and watched the man across the road. The plants around him continued to wither, crusting over with frost. She’d never seen anything like it. Was he some kind of Absorption Wielder? She’d never seen one so strong.
Daro spun, and his sword smashed against the rock Wielder’s blade. He drove the man backward as he swung relentlessly. Cecily’s eyes flicked back to the man across the road and she shot her Reach toward him.
He lifted his hand and she flew backward through the air. It felt as if something had exploded in her chest and her Awareness came crashing in. She hit the ground in a blast of pain that was quickly swallowed in blackness.
Cecily heard muffled voices, distant, as if heard through a closed door. Someone was saying her name.
Her body felt watery, useless. She couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Her mind was fuzzy and confused. Where was she? She heard her name again, but it sounded strange, like it should belong to someone else. She struggled to breathe. Her lungs felt seared, but not by heat. They felt frozen, burning with cold as if they were caked with ice.
She opened her eyes, her mind groggy, and her breath misted out in a cloud. She blinked against the light and winced at the pain. Something in the back of her mind told her to look, to Reach out, to see. But she was too weak to Wield, to open her Awareness even a fraction of an inch.
She tried to move, but something was on her chest, holding her down. A boot. That’s odd. Where did that come from…?
“... won’t hurt her… weapon down… come with us…” Snatches of words broke through the haze, but she couldn’t understand what they meant.
As she turned her head, she was finally able to focus enough to recognize who she was looking at. Daro. He slowly lowered his sword, laying it on the ground, his arms outstretched. “Just let her go.”
The boot lifted off her chest. She couldn’t see anything and realized she’d closed her eyes. The blackness felt so nice, so quiet. Maybe she would stay here, just a while longer.
“Cecily!” Daro’s voice again.
She forced her eyes open. Things were starting to come back, make sense. She blinked and looked at Daro.
“See? She will be fine. In an hour or so, she’ll be back on her feet. Just come with us, and she goes free.” A man was standing over her, his face covered with a black mask. He looked down at her, his eyes an unnatural swirl of colors, brown and blue mixed with green. She blinked to clear her vision, but his disturbing eyes remained the same. They seemed to shine from the blackness of his cowl. “Or I can finish her now.” He held his palm outstretched over her.
“No,” Daro said, his voice thick with alarm. He held his hands up in front of him and locked eyes with Cecily. “No,” he said again, barely above a whisper. His face was pure anguish. Cecily had never seen that look on his face, and it terrified her.
Other figures swam into view, two other men in masks. One approached Daro and placed a hand on his arm. The blackness threatened to overtake her. Her lungs burned and her eyes went in and out of focus. Nothing made sense. She blinked, her eyelids heavy. Someone was speaking again but she couldn’t make it out. Daro gave a small nod. Panic arose deep inside, but she was too weak to move. Daro looked at her, his jaw clenched tight. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away, letting the man lead him out of her sight. She tried to take a breath and cry out but her lungs burned and she felt herself slipping down, back into the dark, into nothing.
10. ON THE RUN
Cecily looked up and blinked. Tall trees crowded above her, bits of sunlight peeking through. Everything looked unnaturally bright and she raised her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes from the light. Her arm felt heavy and awkward, and her mind swirled with confusion.
Panic seized her and she struggled to sit up. Daro. Where is Daro? Vague images flashed through her mind: Daro putting down his sword, his face full of anguish; someone leading him away. She sat up, pressed her palms to her face, and fought through the weak, sick feeling. She took a few deep breaths, her lungs still burning as if they’d been frozen and were taking their time in thawing.
She glanced around and turned her head to look up at the sky. The forest was thick but she could see the sun glinting through the boughs above. She hadn’t been unconscious long—it was still midday. She took another breath to calm herself and opened her Awareness. Even with just a small circle, the image was fuzzy and uncertain. What had they done to her?
As she struggled to her feet, she looked around again. Little lines of blood ran down her stinging legs and her left arm was heavy with pain. Her bloody shirt stuck to her shoulder. She tucked her injured arm close to her body and left the road, seeking the relative shelter of the trees.
Holding her Awareness open took effort, and her body felt sluggish and frail. She pushed it out, desperately hoping to find some sign of Daro and his captors. The Sensor would be hiding their movements, so she concentrated, looking for any signs of rippling, but found nothing. A knot of fear grew as she realized Daro was gone. She leaned her back against a tree and closed her eyes.
Strength seeped back into her body, and her mind drifted into focus. Instinct told her to move. She could still be in danger. Someone might be coming back to finish her off. It was what she would do—send someone back to tie up the loose ends.
She limped through the trees, heading east, and held her Awareness open as far as she could. Her circle widened as her Wielding Energy gradually returned. Her breath came easier and she moved quickly through the brush, fear pushing her on.
A figure appeared at the edge of her Awareness, as if materializing from nothing. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground. Three arrows sliced past and stuck into a tree behind her, each with a dull thud. She crawled across the ground on her belly and scurried behind another large tree. Loose end, indeed. She had him in her Awareness, could sense him readying another arrow. He took a few steps toward her, his bow raised.
Keeping still, her heart pounding, she barely dared to breathe. She was still weak and wasn’t sure what she could manage against this strange adversary. Another arrow flew by, followed by another as he kept moving toward her. He’s trying to draw me out. As she felt him move closer, she waited.
With a flick of her Reach, she snapped a twig behind a nearby tree. Her pursuer stopped and turned in the direction of the noise. She held her breath and kept silent. After a pause, she Reached again and Pushed down on the underbrush, making the leaves rustle. He was in her vision now, angling off toward the sound. Holding her position, she waited for him to get closer.
As she Pushed a pile of dead leaves, she swished them across the dirt and cracked another twig behind the next tree, hoping it sounded as if she’d dashed to a new hiding spot. Seeming to follow her ruse, he took careful steps toward the sound. She could see him clearly now; he wasn’t ten feet away.
Springing from her hiding spot, she threw her Wielding
Energy around his throat and squeezed, slamming him with Pressure. She grasped him as tightly as she could, squeezing with all the force she could muster. He dropped his bow, and his hands lurched to his neck. She Pushed harder, clenching her teeth against the pain in her shoulder.
She was too weak to keep her grip on him and he rounded on her, snarling behind his mask. He had unnatural eyes, several bright colors swirling together around his black pinprick of a pupil. As he lunged toward her, she jumped to the side to avoid his wild advance. She struck him with her elbow as he passed, but he turned and grabbed her arm. Twisting, she gripped his wrist with Pressure. With a shout, he let go of her arm, but swung with his other fist, striking her hard across the face. Pain erupted in her cheek as her lip split open and blood ran down her chin.
He grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her. Throwing her head backwards, she hit him in the face. Despite the blow, he held on, so she threw her weight forward and bent over as far as she could. He slammed his Wielding Energy into her but she Pushed back, making him lose his footing. They both stumbled and rolled over each other on the ground. With a kick, she broke his hold, then scrambled back to her feet, dirt and dead leaves clinging to her. She tried to pin him down with Pressure, but she was too spent to hold him. He struggled up, growling in frustration.
Without a thought for direction, she turned and ran. Darting in and out of the trees, she knew her pursuer was close behind. As she looked ahead, she grabbed random bits of forest debris with her Reach and tossed them behind her, hoping to make the Sensor at least stumble and put more distance between them.
With gasping breaths and burning legs, she leaped over a fallen log and Reached to toss another branch behind. The footfalls of her pursuer still followed. She didn’t risk a look behind and was too weak to open her Awareness. It felt like running blindfolded.
The sound of rushing water roared nearby and she veered toward it. Something hard pelted her in the back and nearly sent her sprawling, but she kept her feet and pushed harder as she ran toward the water.
The forest opened up and she skidded to a halt at the edge of a ravine, the churning water of a river below her. The drop was twenty feet straight down. She darted a quick look over her shoulder and saw the Sensor. He’d picked up a straight, pointed stick and drew his arm back to hurl it at her.
She pushed off the edge of the drop and leaped into the air, her feet slipping on the loose soil, sending rocks and dirt falling. As the water rushed toward her, she desperately Wielded, using every ounce of energy she had left and Pushed against the water, hoping to slow her descent. She pulled in her legs and gripped them with her hands as she splashed into the icy water.
The freezing glacial melt knocked the breath out of her as she plunged downward. Trying to kick up, she pushed against the riverbed to the air above, but her legs barely moved. The freezing water assaulted her, sucking the heat from her body. She struggled to the surface and felt the rushing water pull her downstream. Her head broke the surface and she took a gasping breath. As she turned to look, she could see the Sensor still standing on the cliff side, watching her until the river quickly took her around a bend, out of sight.
11. SOLACE
Cecily dragged herself from the water onto the riverbank, shivering uncontrollably. She’d ridden the current downstream until the sides of the ravine sloped downward, gradually lowering to meet the level of the river below. As the river widened, the current slowed and she was able to struggle to the side and haul herself up onto the muddy bank.
She coughed and spit up water as she crawled out of the mud on her forearms and knees. Her fingers were stiff and useless from the cold, her body convulsing with violent shivers. With chattering teeth, she turned over and sat on the dirt a few feet out of the water. Her clothes hung off her, wet and heavy, and water dripped from her hair, onto her face and down her back.
She hoped the Sensor had been left far behind, but she couldn’t be sure. She’d stayed in the river as long as she could stand, moving faster than someone on foot. As she stood, she stumbled on her numb feet. She needed to get warm, but as she looked around, she wasn’t sure how.
With a shuddering breath, she wrapped her arms around herself and opened her Awareness. Despite her freezing body, her Wielding Energy was returning, her image of the surrounding area sharp. Though she couldn’t feel any sign of her attacker, she didn’t assume he was gone. If he was tracking her down the river, he’d be Shielding. She pushed outward, looking for anything that might help her. There was nothing. The forest spread around her, only tall pines and ivy, low ferns and moss.
She felt an overwhelming desire to lie down and close her eyes, but something told her she wouldn’t get up if she gave into that dark temptation. Her first thought was to get away from the river, so she dragged herself along on numb feet, arms tucked into her body. Her vision grew blurry and her knees would scarcely bend, leaving her feet to scrape along the dirt as she walked.
One step at a time was all she could do. She was sure each stride would be her last, that her leg would slide forward, only to crumple, and she would fall to the ground. Somehow she kept her feet and continued forward, step after painful step, away from the river.
Her mind felt numb and nothing seemed to exist but the dirt under her feet. She forced herself to keep moving despite the violent shivers that wracked her body. A noise in the distance caught her attention, the sound of running feet, a body brushing past leaves and underbrush. She dragged her foot forward and leaned into her step. Her leg finally gave out and she collapsed to the forest floor. The footsteps raced closer, but her hazy mind was too weak with exhaustion to Wield.
A sharp bark rang out through the trees. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees as something darted in front of her. She blinked hard and looked up through her bedraggled hair. A large dog jumped around her, dark brown with a bushy black tail, tall pointy ears, and a long muzzle topped with black. He barked again, turning as if he called to someone, and circled back around to sniff at Cecily’s face.
“Beau?” she said, her voice hardly more than a breath.
Beau barked and shuffled around her on his huge paws. He leaned in to sniff her again and let out a low whimper in his throat. She clenched her teeth and lowered herself to the ground, still shaking. “Good boy, Beau,” she whispered, her voice rattling with her shivers. “Go get Merrick.”
Beau barked again and she heard a voice calling back to him through the trees. “Beau!” Footsteps rushed toward her and she forced herself to keep her eyes open. “Oh gods, Cecily?”
She felt something soft settle on top of her and strong arms pull her up off the ground. “Merrick?” she said.
“Stay with me,” Merrick said. “I’ve got you.”
“Daro,” she whispered.
“Okay,” he said, “but we have to get you warm.”
Cecily tucked herself into him, leaning her head against his shoulder, and rocked to the brisk rhythm of his footsteps. She drifted in and out of consciousness as he carried her. Occassionally, she felt him shift her weight in his arms and he spoke to keep her awake. After what felt like an eternity, they stopped and he slowly lowered her legs to the ground, keeping one arm around her. As she wavered on her feet, he opened the door to his cabin and ushered her inside.
Her teeth chattered painfully and her body shuddered as he pulled a chair up to the fire and draped it with a thick blanket. He unfastened her belt, helped her pull her freezing wet clothes off, and tossed them to the side. She winced as he pulled her tunic over her injured arm. He quickly wrapped the blanket around her and lowered her into the chair.
“Where’s Daro?” he asked.
She tried to sit up. “I don’t know,” she breathed and clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering.
“Okay, sit back now,” he said, his voice soothing as if he were speaking to a nervous animal. He gently pressed her back into the chair. He tucked the blanket around her and tossed more wood on the fire.
Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes.
She heard the sounds of Merrick bustling about the cabin as she warmed next to the fire. Her shivering subsided as the heat melted into her body.
Merrick crouched down next to her and lifted her injured arm from inside the warm blanket. She felt his fingers gently press the skin around the wound but the effort to open her eyes was too great.
“This is going to hurt,” he said. He held her arm out straight and gripped her wrist with a firm hand. She felt liquid trickle down her shoulder and flinched. “I know,” he said, his voice gentle, “but I have to clean it.” Her eyes fluttered open as he dabbed the wound with a cloth and the blistering pain began to dull. He pulled out a needle and she closed her eyes again. “It’s deep. I have to stitch it closed.” She nodded, set her jaw and held her arm still.
He dabbed a poultice over the stitches and wrapped her arm in a bandage. Her tight muscles relaxed as the heat of the fire soaked into her. Her shoulder ached, but it was no longer the searing pain of an open wound. He leaned down in front of her face and touched her chin to inspect her cheek and split lip. “This is going to look bad for a while, but it isn’t serious.” He gently probed her jaw, touching his fingers to her cheek and nose. “Nothing is broken.”
He sucked in a breath when he saw her legs. “What in the name of the gods happened to you?” He picked up one leg and balanced it on his knee to pick out bits of stone. Cecily couldn’t yet find the strength to answer. She let him dab her wounds with poultice and wrap her legs in bandages.
When he finished, he poured her a cup of hot tea. She held it in her hands and relished the warmth, keeping the blanket tucked around her. Beau laid down at her feet, watchful, his tall black ears twitching toward her. Merrick pulled up a chair and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
