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Loris grimaced, “It’s powerful magic. Old magic. We’re lucky to have access to it after—”
“After they slaughtered our kind,” Finn seethed.
Slaughtered.It was all coming back, the Alchemists… they were the reason Meloran, and the Fae cut themselves off from Emeris and all other lands.
The Draconian race were feared back then, for their inability to fully control themselves in dragon form. When the Alchemists rose to power in Emeris, they made it clear the shape-shifters were not welcome in their lands.
But Emeris’ Mount Ignis was the birthplace of the Draconian race, and the shape-shifters were drawn to it as a babe its mother’s breast. It was there they were created, and it was there the Alchemists destroyed them.
“We were lucky to make it out of there alive. Others weren’t…” Finn continued, his glowing yellow eyes downcast, wings itching for release.
Loris chewed at her bottom lip, “I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. I heard they were among the last of their kind able to shift fully.”
Their parents?I had never asked about their family, or Alaric’s for that matter. A profound sadness tore at my chest, opening a dark chasm there. Seeing the pain in the eyes of my males made my blood turn cold in my veins and my skin heat with anger at what the mortal race did to them.
“I didn’t know,” I heard myself say, taking the hand of Finn, who offered me a tight-lipped smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Kade ground his teeth, turning away from me when I reached out to comfort him.
“I’ll wait outside,” he said, his voice an emotionless monotone.
Finn squeezed my hand, “He’s fine. We both are. It was a long time ago.”
I nodded, trying and failing to set my mind back to the task at hand.
Aisling approached Valin, considering his many external injuries. Bruises, small lacerations and a general weakened paleness being the most obvious. “He’s lucky he was Graced with strength or he may not have survived his injuries,” she said, mostly to herself.
“I wonder if he’s as strong as they say,” I overhead Finn muse.
Kade whistled low between his teeth, “After a thousand years…”
Finn nudged me from behind and I started, “Go,” he said encouragingly, “You need to develop your Grace.”
He was right. I had had some practice with fire and ice and could now wield small amounts without direct contact, but my other Graces of healing and air still evaded me. To be able to heal my males would set my mind at ease.
“How do we begin?” I asked Aisling, “I haven’t used my Grace since the…incident.”
She placed her hands against the warrior’s bare chest and gestured for me to do the same.
The old healer looked as though she didn’t approve of our aid and took a step forward as though to stop us, but a cutting glance from Finn had her back at her workbench, grinding her herbs with a renewed fervor.
I set my hands next to Aisling’s, feeling the shallow rise and fall of Valin’s chest and the erratic beating of his heart. His skin was cool to the touch, and dampened with sweat.
“Concentrate,” she said, closing her eyes, “Feel for his injuries, they feel sort ofwrong,or like darkness. Yes, that’s it, like small spots of darkness in the light. When you find one, push your Grace into it until the darkness recedes.”
I did as she said, but found nothing within myself, nor within Valin. The Grace wouldn’t awaken. Concentrating harder, I tried to force it, pulling from within, but again, was disappointed. I adjusted my hands, moving them slightly so the tip of my middle finger met with Aisling’s hand.
A surge of power tore through me at the contact. I gasped at the rawness of it, lightheaded, my blood thrumming. Pulse soaring.
Focus,Liana. Control it.
With all the meager brain power I could muster, IfeltValin. He felt like life beneath my palms. Glowing. Bright. But flickering, and with spots of writhing darkness. Aisling was right, the dark spots, they feltwrong,and my Grace of healing recoiled. I pushed, gritting my teeth. Bringing the warmth of the Grace up from my core, gathering it, and forcing it into the dark.
Within seconds the pulsating mass of black around Valin’s heart lessened, and after a few seconds more, it vanished entirely. I came back to myself and my eyes flew open.
Unsteady on my feet, I released my hands from Valin only to clutch at the edge of the table for balance, my vision blurred and throat suddenly dry. A cool sweat broke out over my chest and my legs wobbled under me as though I’d become heavier and they couldn’t support my weight anymore.
“How?” I heard Aisling say, “How did you do that?”
Finn was at my side in a flash of black wings, holding me up with an arm braced around my waist. “Liana,” he nearly shouted, “Are you hurt?”
