“This is the place you will unite them,” Veyra said, gesturing towards the circle’s centre.
“Right,” Sebastian said shortly. “No riddles this time. What exactly do you need us to do?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Not what I need, Warrior. What the Arcanth demands.”
“Which is?” Sebastian asked impatiently.
She smiled at him. “When you place the Shards together this time, they will respond to what now lies between you.”
“Our Soulbond,” Kara said, her cheeks flushing pink.
Veyra inclined her head. “Yes. You will focus on each other. Call to one another with your magic. Feel it. Will it. And the Shards will answer.”
There was a long silence. Sebastian laughed incredulously under his breath. “Feel? That’s it?”
Kara smacked his arm lightly. “Sebastian.”
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “What? I thought it’d be more complicated.” His shrug was all carelessness, but Kara knew better. The tension in his face betrayed him, and it echoed across the bond.
Veyra only smiled. “When you are ready.”
Sebastian dropped to one knee and unclasped the satchel. The Shards clinked quietly inside, catching the sunlight, sending facets of colour into the air. He tipped them out gently onto the floor and looked up at Kara.
“Ready, Healer?”
She took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
The memory of their previous failure was vivid in her mind. But it was different now.
It would work.
She eyed the Shards on the floor, and without speaking, they reached for two each. He picked up the Fire Shard, its crimson heat crackling against him, and the Earth Shard, its golden glow gentle and reassuring.
She gathered the mint-white Air Shard, which was light as a feather, and the Water Shard, which rippled cool and soothing against her palm.
Four Shards. The four elements. They stood facing each other, barely two steps between them, one Shard in each hand. Kara could see her own nerves reflected in his face.
“Together?” he asked.
“Together.”
They reached forward with the Shards at the same time, pressing them together. The moment the four crystals touched, golden tendrilserupted from their hands, a hum split the air and the ground beneath the circle trembled.
“Show it,” Veyra called. “Show the Arcanth your bond.”
Kara shut her eyes and allowed her mind to fill with thoughts of Sebastian. She opened herself wide inside the bond; no hesitation, no shields. She let it all pour through–
Everything vanished.
Their bond went silent. Kara’s eyes flew open, but she couldn’t see anything. Not Sebastian. Not the training ground. Not even the Shards in her hands.
Just darkness.
A vision slammed into her. Not what had happened. But what could have.
Sebastian tied to that Godsforsaken tree, bound in nightshade. Her standing over him. But this time, she wasn’t letting him go.
His voice, disbelieving, “Kara–”
