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“Exactly.”
I turned back to the water, my braid falling over my shoulder, and saw his reflection in the still pond, the black of his hair was stark against the colorful hues of the sunset painting the sky. Next to him, where I should have seen my own reflection, I saw nothing. My eyes widened in realization and I jumped back.
“Can youseeme?” I asked.
“No. But I can hear you.”He turned his head in the direction of my voice.
Interesting.
I placed my hand on his shoulder just above his wing. His skin twitched. To me, my skin shimmered slightly.
“And you can feel me. You can’t see me but I can see myself. My skin looks almost shiny.” A rueful smile crossed my lips.
I removed my hand from him. I closed my eyes and reached for that bright tether to Odarum inside of me. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hold on to both at the same time.
“If I stayed silent and only spoke through my mind, you wouldn’t know where I am.”I said, silently stepping around to his other side.
“In theory. But I am able to hear well. I can hear your breathing and your steps in the grass.”He snapped his head to his other side and I held my breath, his nose right in front of me.
I poked him right between his nostrils and he squealed, pinning his ears back.
“Stop that.”
I chuckled. I could feel myself getting weak and exhausted.
“So how do I make this,” I gestured to myself, forgetting that he couldn’t see. “Go away? Or come back, I guess.”
“Let go of that connection,”he stated matter-of-factly.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was almost as hard to let go of that orb as it was to grab. When I finally did unravel myself around it, I opened my eyes and exhaled.
My body felt heavy, like I barely had enough strength to keep myself standing.
“Well done. Using magic such as this will drain you quickly. It is like a muscle that is untrained. It will tire with use. You are using your body to harness that magic and channel its energy. You must train yourself to build stamina with magic.”I felt lightheaded and dazed as he continued.“But for now, you require rest—”
I didn’t hear the remainder of what he said as I fell to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kya
When I came to, I found myself sitting. My back slumped against a warm chest, an arm around my waist, as I rhythmically swayed from side to side. The creaking of leather and sounds of hooves stepping against the dirt roused me further. I squinted at the blinding light piercing my vision as I opened my eyes and lifted my sagging head. I felt like shit, but at least the burning was gone again.
“Damn Kya. You had us scared,” Malina said from her horse, next to me.
I turned my head and saw Nikan looking at me with concern, but I could tell that he was infuriated. I looked around and noticed that we were walking along a well-traveled path through sparse trees.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked, rubbing my eyes and stretching my back.
“A day and a half,” Nikan bit out through gritted teeth.
I knew he’d be pissed.
Malina pointed her thumb over her shoulder to Odarum. “Pony express here brought you back unconscious. I thought Nik was going to crush him under a rock. I would have paid agood amount of coin to see that,” she huffed a laugh at that last part.
“Care to explain what happened?” Nikan asked me.
I sighed heavily, still feeling tired and weak.
