Bound (9 page)

The tingle was racing up her arm and her fingers felt flayed but she pressed down hard on her hand, clawing her burning fingers into the dirt, and then it was there, the more she had wanted. Thoughts ran through her mind, their tenor marking them clearly as not her own. Its real prey was close, not these pitiful things that were no challenge. It raced through the forest as the midday sun warmed its back through the occasional break in the canopy overhead. The creature knew that the old man would be destroyed this day.

Just as this thought electrified her own mind with understanding, hands grasped her shoulders. They pulled her up to her feet and shook her until she opened her eyes. Tavis' green eyes were angry under his worried, furrowed brows, grounding her back in her own senses. When he spoke, his fear-filled voice was like a slap, bringing her all the way back to herself. "Fay, are you all right? Why did you do that? How could you take a risk like that? I mean, your arm looks..."

As he trailed off, she struggled to make sense of his words. Her mind felt turned inside out, her head squeezed by giant hands and she knew she was letting him hold her up far too much, but her legs didn't seem to want to do the job. His gaze shifted and she followed it down to the hand she had laid on the trace. What she saw filled her with horror. Her skin and tunic were the same yellow as the trace, solid all the way to her elbow, then beginning to fade away down the length of her upper arm. It almost looked like her arm had been dipped in the trace and it made her more aware of the way her arm burned everywhere, as if she had thrust it into a bonfire.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she watched the color continue to retreat down her arm, the flayed sensation going with it.

His eyes returned to her face and the anger went out of them. "You didn't know."

"That it would do that?" she nodded at her arm, then shook her head. "No. I've never tried that before. And I think I can manage standing on my own now. Thank you, Tavis."

He flushed at her words, then slowly released her from his grip, his hands hovering close for a minute, ready to catch her if she faltered, before falling back to his sides. "I couldn't- You were making such strange noises. It was- Don't do that again, please."

She gave him a small, rueful smile. "Not likely, and no need. I-" She broke off, shock choking her words as she remembered what she had learned. She ran to Rain and scrambled into the saddle. "Come on, we have to hurry. I think it's after Eliar!"

Fay didn't wait for him to react, simply booted Rain into a gallop. Following next to the trace, she barreled through the woods. She was dimly aware that there was a track of some kind nearby because the wind sounded different there, but was too intent on the trace to look for it. She heard frantic hooves beating the ground behind her and knew Tavis was with her. Part of her screamed to send him away, not to put him in this danger, but she didn't dare stop. The beast had gone through here hours earlier. It could already be attacking the old man, and she suspected it was dangerous enough that she might need the help.

Ahead of them the wind again sounded different to her amplified hearing, no longer flowing through the trees but across a wide, open space. She slowed Rain down until he was walking, and brought him up to a halt just before the forest gave way to a broad meadow. It was a beautiful spot, with flowers and grass everywhere, and a fast stream flowing past a cottage on one side. There was no sign of life in the meadow save the occasional bird and smoke rising from the chimney. The creature, whatever it might be, was nowhere to be seen.

Fay slid from the saddle just as Tavis brought Swift up behind the stallion. She let the reins fall to the ground, not wanting to tie Rain to a tree in case the creature came after him. Her senses reached out as far as they could for any sound that might hint at the creature's location, and she crept forward slowly, edging out just into the meadow. Tavis' breathing, right behind her, was the only sound she heard that was out of place. Nothing else moved. She took another crouched step into the meadow, clearing the trees entirely, but still, nothing happened. She swept her eyes around every part of the meadow she could see. There was nothing but the trace that went across and back into the forest on the far side.

Maybe I misinterpreted what I read in the trace, she thought as she straightened and started walking toward the cottage. Suddenly, Tavis grasped her arm and pulled her back, falling to the ground with her in his arms as a vicious snarl ripped through the air. She saw a gray-green blur streak through the air over them toward where she had been only a moment earlier. She landed on top of him and turned to see what had attacked them. It landed and whipped around to face them. Golden eyes glowed above three pairs of large fangs, easily visible with its lips pulled back in a continued snarl. The creature was enormous, the tops of its shoulder blades as high as Swift's back. It looked like some sort of feline, but Fay had never heard of one so large as this. Its paws were larger than her head and the claws that sprouted from it gouged the earth deeply as it flexed its toes, ready to launch again. A long twitching tail, held high in the air, was tipped with a tuft of green fur that matched the crest running from the top of its head down almost to the base of its tail, growing shorter as it went. Large ears, laid back against its head, were also tipped with green tufts. The rest of the sleek, muscular body was covered with short, charcoal gray fur. She was certain it was the same thing that had left the trace she read, and she was suddenly afraid.

It stalked toward them a step as they both scrambled to their feet. I have to protect Tavis, she thought, because I'm the one who knows what they're doing with magic. The creature let out a yowling cry and started to circle around her. Knowing she couldn't let it get behind them, she stepped around Tavis, keeping herself between him and the creature.

He put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Fay, don't. It's too-"

She hissed at him without turning around and shrugged his hand off. He tried again, both hands on her shoulders as she continued to keep her body between the circling beast and him. "I don't want-"

She shook him off more forcefully this time, and cut across him, saying, "Look, I'm the one who knows how to use magic here. I'll be okay."

She heard a soft, frustrated growl behind her. "I'm not totally-"

The creature let out another screaming cry and bounded in toward them. Fay had been waiting for this and caught the creature in the middle of its second leap from the ground with the force of her will, interwoven with the air itself and her intent to push the creature back. It flew backward, screaming again, but this time she heard pain in the sound as well as rage. Before it could hit the ground though, another spell struck the creature from the side, slamming it into a large tree it had been about to fly past. She felt shock course through her. It took all of her control not to turn around and stare at Tavis. That had been his work, she was certain. She didn't understand where he had learned it though. Surely not from his mother.

The creature picked itself up out of the large impression it had made in the ground and shook its head, then turned to face them. It let out a loud roar of defiance.

What if we did that together, she thought frantically, how far could we send it flying? "Tavis, can you do that again when I tell you to?"

"I think so, yes."

She could hear both strain and determination in his voice. We'll only get one shot at doing this, she thought. "Okay, be ready. We have to time this right."

The beast had begun to pad forward during their exchange. Suddenly it coiled and sprang forward in a blurred, bounding run. It was so fast that, for a split second, Fay doubted they could do it. Her hand darted back and, as soon as she made contact with Tavis' body, she yelled, "Now!"

Her own spell hit the creature just as its paws touched the ground a short distance from them, and an instant before Tavis'. She thought the effect might actually have been better than if their two spellworks had landed at the same time. Hers tossed the creature up into the air a short way before his connected and increased the speed it was building as it flew backward. It arced up and over the trees. It was just starting to fall back toward the ground when it dropped behind the trees at the edge of the meadow. Even with her senses amplified, she didn't hear it land, though she saw a few birds shoot into the sky in the distance after a while.

A minute passed in silence before she turned to Tavis, delighted. His own eyes were shining and the broad smile was back. She realized how much she liked that smile. He took her hand in his, his eyes never leaving her face. Before she could decide what to do or what she wanted, the sound of a door slamming open came from behind them. She turned and saw an old man stalking toward them. His long white hair was tied back, and the ankle-length dark red robe he wore was fluttering out behind him with the speed of his advance. His lined face was thunderous and his mouth set in a hard grimace. In one hand, he carried a stout club.

"What did you do with Ganson? Left him behind? Gave him the slip?" His angry yell shocked Fay, but she heard a surprising edge of hope threading through it. "Where is he? Where's your mentor, Derrion?"

She edged back from this man and the acid that dripped from his voice as he called her by the name of her House. Stammering and uncertain, she asked, "Are you Eliar?"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't already know the answer to that, girl." Her question seemed to have inflamed his anger and the hope was so completely gone that she thought she must have imagined it. "Did you do something to Ganson? Trick him into telling you about me? Or was it your father? Where is he?"

"I'm not here with or because of my father. Professor Ganson sent me to you. He- I- I don't know what happened. He told me you would help. He- How do you know he was my mentor?" she asked, changing the subject, trying to keep her grief under control.

"
Was
your mentor?" he asked after a long silence, and she thought she heard the slightest shake in his voice. His words became more gentle as he asked, "What happened to him?"

Tears started to well up in her eyes and she knew the battle was lost. "I- I don't know. It was all so confusing, I don't understand. But I think he's-"

She couldn't make herself say the word, couldn't make it real that way, but even left unsaid, the word undid her precarious control and tears begin to leak down her face. She felt Tavis put his arm around her shoulder. She saw Eliar nod stiffly, as if he didn't want to hear it anymore than she could say it. His head bowed with his own grief for a moment while she struggled to regain control of herself. As Fay wiped her face, the tears dammed up for the moment, he turned to Tavis, and said, "Thank you for help-"

He abruptly cut off and his eyes widened until Fay thought they might fall out of their sockets. His mouth worked and the hand not holding the club went slowly to his chest. He started shaking his head in clear disbelief. When he spoke, the words were barely audible. "Lydia and- You're Lydia's child."

Fay turned to Tavis, who looked nearly as shocked as Eliar. "How did you know my mother's name?"

Instead of answering, Eliar grabbed the sleeve of Tavis' tunic and started dragging him toward the cottage. Fay turned, retrieved their horses and crossed the meadow. She felt entirely confused by what had happened, sad and worn out from trying to keep her grief from overwhelming her. More than anything, she hoped that Eliar would explain to her what was going on.

The cottage was small but when they got closer she saw that it was in surprisingly good repair, despite being owned by such an elderly man. Eliar led Tavis inside and left the door open. She tied Rain and Swift to the stake set in front of the cottage, took down their bags and went inside, closing the door behind her. Tavis got up from the small table where Eliar had evidently seated him and took the bags, setting them in a corner after waving her to a seat. Eliar was busy by his fire, boiling water from what she could see. Fay sat down and Tavis joined her.

Over his shoulder, Eliar's voice remained softened as he said, "Tell me, Visconta, what happened to my former student? Why did he not accompany you? To send you to me alone, I know he would never take such a risk with any alternative available. He was not to ever- Tell me everything."

Tavis turned to stare at her, and she felt her face heat at the use of her title. "No one calls me that. Please, call me Fay."

"What I might call you or not call you doesn't change my question. Tell me."

Fay considered for a moment how to explain something she didn't understand. "I'm not sure what happened. We were having dinner a couple of nights after my graduation. Professor Ganson's partner, Dal Brinds, burst in and he was yelling about something. The professor introduced him and was trying to get him calmed down when suddenly one of the bell jars in the study burst and this awful darkness poured out. It attacked- Took them- He tried to stop it, to save me. I don't know-"

She lost control utterly then, sobbing and unable to continue. She buried her face in her arms on the table and surrendered to her grief. It hadn't occurred to her until that moment how important Ganson had become in her life, but the idea of him being gone forever tore her apart. Even her mother's death hadn't hurt this much, perhaps because she had been very young at the time. Tavis' hand rubbed her back as she cried, but she was surprised when a different hand touched her arm and she heard Eliar's voice above her, gentle and consoling.

"I'm sorry. I know he was at that academy for you, and that you and he spent a lot of time together. He was a good man, though he took quite a risk, trying to stand between your father and what he wants. I told Samell it would be dangerous before he agreed to the request."

They let her cry herself out, which took a long time. Eliar provided her a handkerchief to clean herself up with when she finally stopped. Once she had herself back under control, he said, "Now, tell me about this darkness, everything you can remember about it. What jar it came from, any detail about it, no matter how small. I need to know as much as possible to help you."