Bonded: Book One of the ShadowLight Saga, an Epic Fantasy Adventure (34 page)

Confused at the beasts’
odd behavior, both Hallad and Erik stared across the distance at one another
for a moment. Finally, Erik rushed forward. Hallad spread his arms to embrace
him, warmth spreading his chest, but Erik dashed by him, his aim—Swan.

As Erik neared, his
sword angled straight outward. Rota spun around to protect Swan while Olrun
swiveled to face the onslaught of Erik. The drengmaer’s longer sword would
reach Erik before he was ever close enough to damage Swan, but Erik raged
onward any way, speeding as he closed the distance.

“Stop!” Hallad screamed.

Erik ignored him,
barreling toward the drengmaers and his target.

“Erik! Blood brother!
Stop!”

“I am not your blood
sworn!" Erik skidded to a stop, turning toward Hallad.  "You have
betrayed me!”

“Nei, Erik, listen.” Hallad’s
heart hammered at the fury filling his friend's face.

“Nei! You listen for
once!
That
,” he pointed his sword toward Swan, “shadow-thing imprisoned
your sister.”

“You’re wrong.” Hallad
said, his tone level.

“I saw her! Swirled with
blackness. Emma screaming!”

“Nei, Erik. Lothar
imprisoned Emma and he holds Swan’s spirit as well. That must be what you saw.”

Erik’s face strained,
eyes flashing, mind working.

“You know of Lothar?”

“Ja,” said Hallad. “Both
Emma and Swan’s spirit are there.” Hallad gestured toward the towering rock of
Castle Grimnear looming above them. “There is nei point of us fighting,
whatever you believe of me. But if you join me, we have a better chance to free
them.”

The veins in Erik’s
temples receded, his anger fizzling. Reason won over, but Hallad pressed on.

“With or without you,
Erik, I must proceed.”

The two locked eyes,
examining one another for long moments until a faint intake of breath fluttered
behind Hallad. Hallad surged. The place inside him belonging to his sister
stirred then faded. Expiring. Spinning on his heel he sprinted to Rota, taking
Swan from her—his sister’s body limp, cold and pale.

“She dies,” said Hallad,
his voice small in his throat.

“She cannot,” said Ase.

“I can feel her leaving
me.” Hallad’s face flushed with heat, his teeth grinding into one another. A
piercing pain flared in his chest. “Nei,” he whispered. “I have not even gotten
to know you, sister. You cannot leave me.”

The spot belonging to
Swan trembled within him—weakening, waning, dwindling.

“You must bond,” stated
Ase. “Now. The bond must happen now, before she heaves her last breath.”

“How?” Hallad looked up
through bleary eyes.

Rolf, a woman, and a
dwarf approached from out of the cavern at the cliff’s edge.

“Nine.” Ase glanced
around her, counting. “We need nine to complete the circle. I do not have the
powers needed for the bond, but we must try.”

The woman alongside Rolf
stepped forward, her tone light and rich at the same time.

“I do. I am Seretta, a
songvari touched with all the elements of the Mother.”

Ase’s eyes widened at
the woman’s statement.

“What about these lands?
Are they too broken for a connection?” the priestess asked.

“For me alone,” said the
woman. “But we have two.” She gestured for Rolf to come to her side. “This man
has the touch, and I believe he is strong enough to be a songvari. Our joined
song may be able reach the Mother, even here, where she lies dormant.”

Ase nodded while
recalculating Rolf. Then she gathered them in a circle as she addressed the
drengmaers.

“You know the words,
taught to us by Serpent Mother for the bonding between sal drengmaers. For
those of you who do not know them,” Ase gestured toward Rolf, the dwarf, Jorn
and Erik, “you must concentrate on connecting these two souls. Join hands and
let’s begin.”

Erik stood apart,
refusing to come to the circle.

Ase gestured him forward.

“We need nine,” she
said.

“Nei,” replied Erik.

“Come brother,” pleaded
Rolf, but again, the elder brother shook his head, defying their plea.

Hallad turned his eyes,
heavy with wetness, on his friend.

“Erik. Please,” he
begged.

Erik stared at Hallad. His
gaze flicked to Swan, draped over Hallad’s arms, limbs slack, skin so white she
seemed tinted blue. Erik lowered his eyes to study the ground.

“Her time runs short,
Erik.”

Erik twitched, digging
the ground with the toe of his boot, lost in thought.

“I owe you my life,
Erik. I have not forgotten the bond that we have and I will always honor it whether
you want me to or not.”

Erik’s eyelids flicked,
considering.

The dwarf interrupted. “I
have traveled with you, Erik, because I believe in your quest, but more so, because
I believe in you.” The little man’s eyes lit with compassion. “Over the many
days of our travel I have come to know the man behind the stoic face. He’s a
man who risks his own life to save a fallen dwarf. He’s a man who holds his
brother’s love above the call of the Shadow. He’s a man who would not turn his
back on his friend’s plea.” The dwarf held his fist over his chest. “He’s a man
whose heart is larger than his pride.”

Erik bowed his head at
the dwarf’s words, nodding, acknowledging the little man with a slight grimace.
Reluctantly, Erik stalked into the circle, joining hands with the others.

Hallad heaved air into
his lungs, and whispered, “Thank you, Erik. I will never forget this.”

But Erik still refused
to meet his gaze.

The bonding song filled
the air around them. White light coursed through Seretta’s—then Rolf’s—hands,
seeking an outlet through the others, lighting the participants with a glow. Rota's
and Olrun’s voices joined, rough against the smooth tenor and falsetto of the
songvaris. Rolf uncannily picked up the words as he watched Seretta’s lips,
singing as if he already knew the song. Ase and Gisla sang as well, the foreign
words flowing out of their mouths, while the dwarf squeezed his eyes shut in
concentration. Jorn stared, his mouth hung wide as the beam of light spread,
turning into a half circle above the ground, enveloping the circle.

The radiance warmed
Hallad as he turned his attention to his sister, cradled within his lap. He
pulled her tighter into his arms, staring down upon her placid face, her
features like a sculpture in ice. Tipping his forehead to hers, he closed his
lids and took in the coolness of her skin against the heat of his own.

Please, sister
, he thought.
I need you.

As he said the words,
understanding seized him. He could not live his life and uphold his duties
alone. He
needed
her. Hallad had worn his responsibilities like a badge,
seeking his honor in the fulfillment of everyone else’s needs. As he looked
back over the past, he realized he bore the brunt of everyone else’s
troubles—trying to fix difficulties that did not belong to him. What belonged
to him was a shared destiny with Swan. And this woman—his sister—who lay in his
arms, was the first person to ever stand by him and try to remove the
overwhelming burdens from his shoulders. He loved her more than he imagined he
could love anyone.

Swan appeared in his
mind. Black tendrils snaked around her white form. Her head lulled to one side,
the blue-black of her irises hiding behind the curtain of her heavy lids.

Sister
, he said.

Swan opened her eyes and
lifted her head at his voice, her bottomless gaze searching out his own. A
smile lifted the corners of her lips at the sight of him, but her strength
failed, and they sank to a half-grimace. Her voice chimed in his mind—a lilting
song lifting his spirit like bells at Springtide, clear as the blue of the sky,
soft as a spring rain.

The Shadow comes,
Swan said, defeat stomping out the light in her
eyes.

Only if you allow him
to.

Around them, a river of
black undulated, pressing toward them. A circle of white separated the darkness
from them, but blackness splotched over the light, like ink spreading over
linen.

My ward weakens and I
cannot break free of the bonds that bind me. Lothar is too strong.

Nei, sister. Lothar
is not the cause. You can only be held in the walk by your own fear.

A hole ripped through
the curtain of white, tendrils of blackness pouring through like the rush of a
river.

What do you fear,
sister?
asked Hallad.

I thought I could
free Emma and make it right for you and Erik,
she said.
I felt the pain within you brother.
I know I was the cause.

The blackness snaked
through the space heading toward Swan.

Nei
, Hallad said.
I caused my own pains by my
inflated belief in my importance, making me believe I had to shoulder
everyone’s problems.
He paused.
But what is it that you fear?
he
asked again.

The blackness reached
Swan, swirling up before her, the river of dark turning into a figure.

I fear I am a burden
to you, brother—that  your life would have been better off without me in it.

My whole existence
has been spent alone. Until you. You fill the space inside me I always knew
existed. I need you, sister.

My strength wanes. I
cannot hold back the Shadow any longer.

You have me, sister. I
am your strength,
said Hallad,
finally understanding his role as Guardian.

He reached toward his
sister and within a breath he stood next to her, blocking the ooze threatening
to form in front of her. He grasped her hand through the spirals of black
swirling about her. As he touched her, he focused on sending all his strength
to her. A brilliant light bloomed where he held his sister's hand and the
darkness binding Swan disappeared.

The glow of white intensified.
Hallad felt Swan's power return as her limbs and body lit, glowing around the
edges. He sensed her draw a rune within her mind. The symbol illuminated the
air, beaming in front of them then burst into a cloud of white, pushing back
the Shadow until they stood alone inside the gray landscape.

How is it that I am
here with you? How are we speaking without saying the words aloud?
asked Hallad.

We are bonded. I feel
your strength running through me.

Swan smiled, the blue in
her eyes bright against the burst of black.

Hallad felt the truth of
her statement. The place within him that had belonged to his sister bloomed
with renewed potency, filling him up, the emptiness vanquished and for the
first time in his life, he felt whole.

We must free our
sister from Lothar.

Hallad nodded in
agreement, belatedly realizing that Emma was her sister too.

I will take us out of
the shadowwalk
.

Swan’s voice echoed in
Hallad’s mind as he opened his eyes. His sister still lay in his lap, but her
face flushed. Her eyes opened, meeting his, and a smile spread her face,
breaking the illusion of an ice carving.

The circle of onlookers,
still grasping hands, beheld the twins as their song ended. Silence pervaded,
except for the occasional yip in the distance. Swan stood, testing her legs.

Olrun barreled toward Swan,
wrapping her massive arms around the young woman. Hallad felt the air squeezing
from Swan’s lungs as the drengmaer lifted his sister and swung her in circles. Rota
broke Olrun’s grip, rescuing Swan from her sal drengmaer’s hug, nudging in to
deliver a hearty pat on Swan’s shoulder. The drengmaer turned to Hallad and
slapped him on his back as well.

“You truly are sal drengrs,”
said Rota, a smile cracking her rocky façade.

As the others
congratulated Swan on her recovery and their new bond, Swan searched for Erik,
but he refused to meet her gaze.

Suddenly, from high
above, a scream broke loose—a high pitched, terror-stricken, scream—Emma’s
scream.

“What have you done?”
cried Emma as she caught sight of Whitefoot hanging from Lothar’s clenched
fist. Emma knew she should stay clear, but instinct caused her to rush forward,
grasping for the polecat.

“You called off my
wolves.” Flatness deadened Lothar’s black eyes as he stared at her.

“They are not yours to
command, or to starve until they’ve gone mad. They are gentle creatures and you
abuse them to make them cruel.”

Emma lunged for
Whitefoot, but Lothar lifted his arm upward, the polecat out of her reach, Whitefoot's
long body flopping with the movement. With his free hand the lord clutched the
front of Emma's dress, wrinkling the sparkly material into a knot underneath
his fist.