My throat bobbed, and I shook my head. “She has a way of sinking her claws into people,” I muttered.
Kellan pursed his lips and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m not leaving you,” he replied into my hair.
I closed my eyes as the words found their mark.
“I have something I need to tell you,” I said, my voice coming out quieter than intended.
Kellan’s chin rested on the top of my head as he waited, but nerves fluttered wildly in my chest, smothering the forming words. What would he say? Did it even matter if I had the ability to break a bond like that?Would he believe me?
A summer breeze floated through the surrounding trees, clearing a loose strand of hair and brushing away the question as soon as it had formed.Of course, he would.
He was Kellan. And he was mine. My powers hummed encouragingly in my chest as the rest of our group departed.
“When you’re ready,” he said quietly, pulling away and sliding his hand into mine.
I heaved a breath and opened my lips when a set of glowing, golden eyes blinked in the shadowed forest.
Kellan froze as he turned, and a large form took shape in the shadows. His hand slowly moved to the dagger at his belt.
“Wait,” I breathed, drifting my fingers to the top of his hand.
The golden eyes blinked once, and the creature’s massive head dipped, swooping its large snout to the side, as if scenting the air. My heart beat in awe as a light-brown wolf crept through the shadows and into the light of the large clearing.
My breathing had stopped, and I took a tentative step toward the Lotrennian wolf, the guardian of the Land of Light and Life. I slowly dropped a knee to the long grass and stretched my hand out.
The golden eyes darted between Kellan and me, wary, yet curious. Large paws padded slowly across the grass, and I opened the casting connection to Tiberius. My caeluma blinked his eyes open behind my own, and the wolf paused, cocking its big head.
A soft whine escaped its maw, and she stretched her neck out, her wide, wet nose brushing against the tips of my fingers. A howl echoed in the distance, and the wolf spooked, her hackles rising in a long line of fur before she darted from the clearing.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
DRYSTAN
We need your help. The Realm of Vael must unite if we are to defeat the Ehp’uch.
– Correspondence from White Hawk to New Dragon.
Drystan – Borva, Votruvia
Isla’s brows furrowed as she bent over the cauldron, and I wiped the little beads of sweat dripping from my nose. The heat of Votruvia’s massive forge kissed my skin. My nose crinkled against the metallic burn of hot steel, and I ran a hand through my hair.
I’d shrugged out of my robes as soon as we’d arrived with the leaves from the Living Library. Raek stood across the room in deep discussion with the blacksmiths used to working on more refined materials like jewelry.
The rest of them continued their work on the weapons, tools, and horseshoes needed to supply an army preparing for war. My eyes cut to the corner room, where the last of the Larimerstone was shaped into rubelline cuffs, arrowheads, and air cannonballs.
Isla stood, her small hands moving to her lower back as she stretched and twisted.
“We should be ready,” she signed.
I waved Raek over. He joined us with a large, burly man with a sheared head and a long, red beard. Ezrich followed quickly behind. Bear’s son had a keen interest in the work taking place. Isla explained what needed to be done, and the man’s bristly brows furrowed as he leaned over the cauldron, eyeing the shimmering white mixture.
Tiny rainbows reflected off his dark leather apron as he straightened, nodding once to Raek before barking directions at his crew. Isla wiped the sweat from her brow, and I lifted my hands to suggest she take a break when a foreign sense of urgency washed over me.
Isla’s hand gripped my arm a moment later, her wide amber eyes pinned on mine beneath narrowed, ebony brows.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she scanned me.
A push of concern followed, and the bizarre sensation of feeling another’s emotions rolled inside of me. I rushed from the forge.
