Olbric sighs as he uncrosses his arms. He drags his fingers through his hair before he meets my eyes in the sending with a helpless sort of shrug. “You were busy.”
I was expecting him to give some excuse, say that they were afraid I’d tell Arlon. But there’s a truth to Olbric’s statement that hits hard and unexpected. Yet before I can respond, the world around me flashes bright.
I gasp in surprise, eyes clenching shut against the sudden flash. Beside me, Garrett swears as the Crux around us lets out a low rumble. For a moment, it almost sounds like the rockslide Dom diverted in the Crags, a deep grinding noise like stone against stone. Through my eyelids, the light fades, and I wait a moment longer before I warily open them. I blink the spots away before I look up at Garrett.
His eyes are wide, and he asks exactly what I’m thinking as he chokes out, “What thefuckwas that?”
I look to where Arlon and Olbric had been, but they’re gone. Either the sending broke apart, or whatever that... surge was disrupted it. I hold my breath, waiting to see if it happens again, but the shimmering in the tower around us gradually fades to back its usual soft, inert glow.
“I don’t have a clue,” I say, a little dazed. The spots in my eyes are stubborn, but as the minutes tick by and no new catastrophic flashes of light occur, they fade. I reach for my spells on instinct only to pull my hand away with a gasp.
The marble that Arlon left for me is hot to the touch, the light of magic pulsing faintly within it. I don’t know what to make of it. I still haven’t figured out what the spell evenis.
“Where’d that come from?” Garrett asks as he notices the spell.
I shake my head. “Arlon left it for me. He didn’t say what it did, but I think it’s... connected to the Crux, somehow.”
Garrett frowns, but at my curious look he says, “He never toldmeanything about it. He has so godsdamned many, it’s no wonder he hates wearing them.”
I carefully wrap my hand around the hot focus, yet even as I hold it, it starts to cool to my temperature. The light inside of it fades as well, but for some reason, the even pulse of energy reminds me of the sirens scattered throughout Kiali. A warning to reach higher ground before a storm hits.
IN BARROWIN, I SAYgoodbye to Valar. It’s a lucky thing, too. I don’t run into Jessic or Vanya again, but there’s a royal courier from Frostcliff on his way to Straetham with a small retinue who’s willing to pony her back down the mountain.
I’m pretty sure the uptight man thought I’d stolen her until he glimpsed the spells peeking out from under my shirt. Once he spotted those, he was all too happy to return her to the Crux for me. Tried to do it for free, even, though I made him accept my coin and the understanding that this was a job bought and paid for. The last thing I want is for Arlon to have to entertain some favor in exchange for Valar’s safe return.
It’s bittersweet watching her head off with the small group. It’s made even worse by Mo’s sad little whinny as she’s led away. No small part of me wishes I was heading that direction too.
But I don’t dare stay on the main road for long, and instead of staying at the inn in Barrowin, I head back into the hills. By nightfall, I regret that decision.
The weather’s getting worse. The drizzling has subsided, leaving behind gray clouds and a heaviness in the air, but when the sun goes down, the cold hits like a rock.
I stubbornly reserve my conjurations. It’s only going to get colder, so I don’t want to use them unless I absolutely have to. Besides, I’m only a few days out from Airedale, and there, I’ll replace my tent to make my nights a little less miserable.
Mo seems just as over it as I am. His steps plod along steadily, his head low, but just like me, his heart doesn’t seem to be in it. Or maybe he’s tired, just like I am. The desire to pack it up and go home is stronger than it’s ever been.
But I don’t. Airedale is only a few days away, and there, I can truly start my search.
I stay off the main road as we head out. Nik is likely talking to folks on the road, and that courier saw my spells. It feels like every moment I’m not moving, Nik’s getting that much closer to me, so I keep my pace up, starting early and stopping late into the night.
Mo is anxious without his herd mate around, but he gradually settles into our new routine. He moves a little slower having to carry me and what’s left of our supplies, but the past weeks on the road have strengthened him to it. Strengthened both of us, really.
I can’t help but remember my first ride up the mountain, barely a month after I arrived at the Crux. It had been a shorter road to the Black Burrows, but a much quicker one. After Olbric got nabbed by Diran, it was a mad dash to try and track him down.
Yet the thought of Olbric makes that familiar ache settle in my chest. It’s been over a week since he introduced me to Samira, and I haven’t heard another peep from him since. Not knowing what’s happening with him in Cairish makes a knot of unease twist around my heart.
I have to keep reassuring myself that Olbric will be fine. Arlon was forced to bring him, but there’s no way he’dleaveOlbric in Cairish.
Right?
But I’ve seen how his position fetters him. How the role ofGrandmasterovershadows everything else. Even casting partners, lovers.
Fuck, but he might not have a choice.
The thought keeps me up at night, watching the air over my fire in the hope that Olbric’s face will appear. Sparks rise into the darkening sky, but there’s just enough sunlight left to send a scatter of rainbow iridescence through the wispy clouds overhead.
It looks like magiline, yet as I focus on the splotch of color, the world around me shifts. It’s almost a familiar sensation by now. Like I’ve suddenly fallen asleep, fallen into a dream.
Yet this dream flashesbright, the rainbow of color exploding in a burst of light. I swear, blinking the spots from my eyes to find Lucien standing in front of the crossed pillars.
