“I’ll bring it m’ando…hope,” I signed the word, my eyes boring into Drystan.
His raven brows pinched as his eyes narrowed on me.
“DrystanAmando. Drystan, it’syou. This is your power.”
His head began to shake as Vienah and Carina eyed me with uncertainty.
“This is it,” I said, my words and hand signals firm with conviction. “Drystan, you have always been my hope. Our years in study… As friends… Last year, when we found Enya’s chamber... When you came for me in Kayj… You bring hope to everyone. And your surname,Amando...”
A smile formed on my lips as I continued. “M’andois hope in Rhashtai.Youare Rhashtai. This power is yours.”
Drystan’s throat bobbed as he continued to shake his head. Drystan had been orphaned in Krestwood. He’d never known his family.
“Prove me wrong,” I said, the grin widening on my lips. “I’ve been talking to this damn stone, and it has beenlaughingat me. You need tosignit. Here.”
I motioned to the smooth indentation as I shoved the stone in Drystan’s shaking hands. His eyes slid down, examining the space.
“I am not a Bellator. I’m—” he finally replied, dragging his gaze back to mine. Doubt and fear hovered over him.
I reached forward and clasped his hand in mine. “You arehope, Drys.”
His hand hovered over the space for a moment before he signed the word forhopeinto the indentation. How the Bellators of old knew the next person to claim this power would use hands to communicate was beyond me, but I didn’t care.
Vienah gasped as wind stole through the room, followed by a smooth hush like the brush of sand as the round stone dissolved in Drystan’s hands. The ivory Advetis Bone purred in excitement upon finding its master.
The shrill cawof crows perched along the makeshift fence cut through the autumn wind that floated over the browning grass we stood in. Drystan’s fingers wrapped tightly around the Advetis Bone, his knuckles whitening as his brows pinched in concentration, yet something vulnerable flickered in his eyes.
Drystan’s eyes pinched closed, and he blew a tight breath through his lips. His muscled shoulders tensed for several seconds before he threw his head back and chucked the bone into the grass, letting out a frustrated growl. We’d been at it for hours.
“It’s okay,” I signed once he brought his gaze back to my own. “I get how you’re feeling. The Obscura did nothing for me for days.”
We still had no idea what power rested in the Advetis Bone, which significantly impacted our training sessions. What were we even trying to do? He ran his copper fingers through his long black hair and frowned at me before pulling his hands roughly away.
“It only worked for you when your life was at stake,” he interjected.
I plucked the ivory bone out of the grass and handed it back to him, a thought popping into my mind.
Before I could question it, I slammed my fist into his cheek.
Drystan let out a shocked yelp, his hands flying to his face where a flood of blood rushed from his nose. Immediate regret choked out the feeling of utter stupidity, and my hands slapped over my mouth.
“I’m so sorry!” I signed and cried aloud. “I thought maybe it was a reflex thing! Like you needed to be in danger and the bone would activate!”
Crimson lines dripped down Drystan’s chin as he leveled an incredulous look at me. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head before letting out a soft chuckle.
“I think I’m done for today,” he finally signed.
I pulled out a dirty handkerchief from my coat and reached for him, but he waved me away, giving me a cautious, friendly smile instead, before returning to the prison.
Though no more ofDrystan’s training sessions with the Advetis Bone ended with bloody noses, the results remained the same, and after a while, his soft reluctance grew into deep doubt.
The eve before our trek to Skyscape Pass, I found myself on the back of the testy mare. I’d been able to slide a rope halter on her head and tied her lead into makeshift reins.
Tiberius had some influence over the agrippa. They all seemed to defer to him, to recognize him as herd leader. But this one. She was fierce. Unbridled. A storm of her own… Atempest.
Though she was thinner than Tiberius before his transformation, she was tall. My legs dangled over her sides as she stood ramrod straight in the field, head high, and ears back. I relaxed every muscle in my lower body, feeding her as much calm energy as I could muster, despite the growing tempest within my own being.
I slid my hand through her mane as I gripped her leather lead and let my legs drift to the edge of her sides. Her ears flattened, but she didn’t buck. I rubbed the side of her neck, doing my best to soothe her, as thunder cracked from above. Tempest twitched, and then she exploded.
